Do you ever feel like those standard hits-of-the-70s compilations don’t quite capture the 1970s that you remember? Do you feel like many of your personal favorites, even when they were big hits, are rarely if ever included? That’s why we created Hard To Find 45s On CD, Volume 18: 70s Essentials – to bring back all those seldom-heard classics that other collections seem to have forgotten. And we make them sound better than ever!

It’s been a little while since Eric Records’ acclaimed “Hard-To-Find 45s on CD” series visited the 1970s. And, we’ve never stretched into the ’80s! That makes Hard-To-Find 45s on CD Vol. 14: 70s & 80s Pop Classics a welcome addition to the family, as it celebrates the glittering decades that found popular music getting more popular – and unpredictable – than ever before. Hold on tight – or you might get whiplash as we survey nearly 20 years’ worth of pop rarities!

Remixed and expanded (with two additional tracks recorded but chopped off the vinyl version) for its debut on CD in 1999, this is a sturdy, workmanlike Rory Gallagher release. Reverting back to a trio, Gallagher toughens up his sound and blazes through some robust blues rockers like "Last of the Independents," "Shadow Play," and "Brute Force & Ignorance" (one of his best hard rock riffs) with nervy energy. Gallagher's swampy side emerges on "Cloak & Dagger," another song that explores his fascination with B-movie gumshoes, a common theme for the Irish blues-rocker.

When he gave a speech inducting the Band into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Eric Clapton said that after he heard their debut album, Music from Big Pink, he wanted to join the group, the fact that they already had a guitarist in Robbie Robertson notwithstanding. In the winter of 1975-1976, when he cut No Reason to Cry at the Band's Shangri-La Studio in Malibu, California, he came as close as he ever would to realizing that desire. Clapton is a musical chameleon; though some of No Reason to Cry is identifiable as the kind of pop/rock Clapton had been making since the start of his solo career (the best of it being "Hello Old Friend," which became his first Top 40 single in two years), the most memorable music on the album occurs when Clapton is collaborating with members of the Band and other guests.

Listen to this collection, put together to capitalize on the explosive growth in the group's audience after Aqualung, and it's easy to understand just how fine a group Jethro Tull was in the early '70s. Most of the songs, apart from a few heavily played album tracks ("Song for Jeffrey," etc.) and a pair of live tracks from a 1970 Carnegie Hall show, came off of singles and EPs that, apart from the title song, were scarcely known in America, and it's all so solid that it needs no apology or explanation. Not only was Ian Anderson writing solid songs every time out, but the group's rhythm section was about the best in progressive rock's pop division. Along with any of the group's first five albums, this collection is seminal and essential to any Tull collection, and the only compilation by the group that is a must-own disc.

This album highlights the remarkable talents of Markolino, who wrote and arranged every selection. His expressive keyboard work serves as the driving force behind the orchestra, guiding dynamic arrangements that flow effortlessly and invite the listener into the music. This album delivers energy, groove, and artistry in every note.

Paul McCartney has today announced WINGS, a new Wings ‘best of’ that will be available across a number of formats including a McCartney and SDE-exclusive blu-ray audio with Dolby Atmos Mixes. Unlike the Wingspan compilation from 2001, this new collection sticks strictly to songs from Wings albums (and Wings non-album singles) and so doesn’t include any solo hits adjacent to this era (such as ‘Another Day’ or ‘Coming Up’) or anything from 1971’s Ram (credited to Paul and Linda McCartney), despite ‘Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey’ being a US No 1 hit single in September 1971.

Originally finding fame with The McCoys, Rick Derringer worked with both Johnny and Edgar Winter, as well as Steely Dan, before going solo in 1973 for All American Boy. Co-produced with Bill Szymczyk, who would later produce the Eagles, All American Boy features guest appearances from Joe Walsh, Suzi Quatro and Edgar Winter, and features his best known hit, 'Rock And Roll Hoochie Koo'. The album also features 'Hold', a song co-written with a then relatively unknown Patti Smith. The bonus tracks include mono single versions of 'Rock 'n' Roll Hoochie Koo' and 'Teenage Love Affair'. Produced by Rick himself, Spring Fever followed in 1975, and includes a revisit to the McCoys' 'Hang On Sloopy', as well as the Rufus Thomas classic, 'Walkin' The Dog'. The album includes guest appearances from Chick Corea on moog, New York Doll David Johansen on electric harmonica, as well as both Johnny and Edgar Winter.

Though he had been a key session player for Atlantic since the late 1960s, guitarist Cornell Dupree was finally given the opportunity to record his own date for the label in 1974. Teasin' was co-produced by Mark Meyerson and Michael Cuscuna. Dupree's band for the date was made up of ace session players including drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, bassist Chuck Rainey, percussionist Ralph MacDonald, his fellow Stuff co-founder Richard Tee on keyboards, and saxophonist David "Fathead" Newman. Other horn players on various tracks include Joe Farrell, Ernie Royal, Jon Faddis, Joe Newman, Ernie Royal, Seldon Powell, and Garnett Brown. Given Dupree's pedigree, there's an unmistakable Southern Texas vibe on the set, although it was recorded in New York.

This two-disc, 32-track compilation brings together highlights from Mayall's output for ABC Records in the 1970s, pulling from the albums New Year, New Band, New Company; Notice to Appear; Lots of People; A Banquet of Blues; A Hard Core Package; and Last of the British Blues. These cherry-picked tracks do a nice job of highlighting Mayall's estimable writing skills as well. Highlights include "Seven Days Too Long," "Old Time Blues," "You Can't Put Me Down," "Sitting on the Outside," "My Train Time," and the title track. As a special bonus, there's the second-disc inclusion of four live tracks from a 1982 Bluesbreaker reunion gig, featuring John McVie back at his original post on bass and Mick Taylor on lead guitar providing the fireworks.