The Yardbirds,”Beck’s Blues” (Charly)- Here’s another splendid vinyl anthology from the good people at Charly Records, this time focussing attention on the contribution made to their sound by the late great Jeff Beck during his short stint with the band in the mid sixties. The mercurial musician had joined their ranks when Eric Clapton left the fold in 1965 after growing increasingly disillusioned with their refusal to fully embrace the spirit of the blues, and his innovative guitar work underpinned a string of singles successes as the decade progressed, with “Evil Hearted You,” “Heart Full of Soul” and “Shapes of Things” capturing the essence of their progressive but highly commercial sound. The astute compilers have also found space here for some classic musical outings from the archives, including the band’s rip roaring revamp of rhythm and blues bandleader Tiny Bradshaw’s “The Train Kept A-Rollin’.”

The Slambovian Circus of Dreams, “The Good Thief Tips His Hat” (Talking Elephant)- This fine American outfit have tipped a whole host of musical influences into their creative melting pot and emerged at the end of the process with one of the most beguiling sounds that you could ever wish to hear. Echoes of everyone from David Bowie to The Band and Dylan inform this enticing collective’s memorable approach to the art of music making and they’ve chosen to mark their twenty fifth anniversary as a performing unit by making their 1999 debut set, “The Good Thief,” available to the U.K. public for the first time. Their unique blend of southern rock, folk and psychedelia finds frontman Joziah Longo and his like minded cohorts harking back to the anarchic spirit of the sixties via memorable ditties such as “Genius,” “Never Fit” and the eerily compelling title track.

Lightnin’ Hopkins,”Live From the Ash Grove...Plus!” (Wienerworld)- Los Angeles’ Ash Grove club provided a welcoming venue for a whole host of top notch blues and folk performers during its decade and a half existence, and this atmospheric vinyl release brings together recordings made at two of legendary guitarist Lightnin’ Hopkins performances at this illustrious location. These hithero unreleased recordings from 1965 and 1970 sit snugly alongside four tracks which were captured for posterity at Paolo Alto’s In Your Ear club in 1971 by the great man and an electric band. It’s Lightnin’s intimate acoustic work outs which steal the show however, including a distinctive revamp of Ray Charles “What’d I Say,” with this unique character’s playing revealing the rare qualities which prompted no less a luminary than B.B.King to declare that “Lightnin’ Hopkins may not have known many notes, but he knew the right ones, and he knew where to put them.”