Back in the Day, 1974

Blue Öyster Cult

Secret Treaties

(Columbia / CBS))

Secret Treaties thrived on '74 U.S. charts for some 14 weeks, long before Eric Bloom and fellow metal-stringed cultists crooned of love's permanence despite the Reaper's inevitability. BOC commanded complex, cascading sheets of adamantium chordslides, killer riff-blitzes, and light-speed convolutions that surely were vital instructions for novice fret-neck throttlers the world over. All that and the staggering brainpower behind the Cult's fantastic lyrical spectacles (various pennings are by producer Sandy Pearlman, critic Richard Melzer, and singer/poet Patti Smith) meant such peers as were on the 1970s arena scene could only ponder their own stacked heels.

(In 1992, Treaties was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. The LP was reissued, including by Sony and CD Media Records. A 2001, remastered CD contained five additional selections.)

Recommended: "Career of Evil," "Subhuman," "Dominance and Submission," "ME 262," "Cagey Cretins," "Harvester of Eyes," "Flaming Telepaths," "Astronomy"

Video: "Career of Evil"   "Dominance and Submission"   "Harvester of Eyes"   "Astronomy"

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Back in the Day, 1964

Scotty Moore

The Guitar That Changed the World   vinyl 

(Sony Epic)

Of course, truck-driving kid Elvis loomed highest on the earlier Sun was incarnations of these earthquake, but the late Scotty and his polished, back-country master picking also claimed abundant regard; indeed, so much so that the inspirational flames he ignited then will surely blaze into perpetuity. As the legendary string-maestro enjoys instrumental latitude in these reinterpretations, his soloing is of greater body, its poised pronouncements make idiosyncratic impacts, and consistently adventurous articulations - ones echoing hillbilly persuasions and youthful exuberance - knock cats seasoned and crisp off their feet.

The cover asserts lofty credit: "And at [Elvis's] right hand from the beginning - from ragged rehearsals in a boardinghouse room and first record sessions to barnstorming the flatbed truck circuit, from flat-broke to that historic first appearance with Tommy Dorsey, from roadhouse to the glittering spotlight in Las Vegas, from hillbilly honky-tonk to Hollywood - Scotty was there."

In later years, this 1964 LP was rereleased in CD format.

Recommended: "Hound Dog," "Loving You," "Money Honey," "My Baby Left Me," "Heartbreak Hotel," "Don't Be Cruel," "Love Me Tender," "Mean Woman Blues"

Videos: "Money Honey"    "My Baby Left Me"   "Heartbreak Hotel"   "Mean Woman Blues"

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