Category: Rarities

J&K Stonebone: Rare A&M/CTi album reissued for Record Store Day

The A&M/CTi album Stonebone by jazz trombone legends J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding (known as J&K) was shelved back in 1970, released in Japan in 1970.  Used copies can sell for several hundred dollars.  Thankfully, June 20, 2020 will see the release of this album in the US for the first time on limited edition red vinyl.

The album features such stellar artists as George Benson, Herbie Hancock, Bob James, George Benson, Ron Carter and Grady Tate.  As with the Tamba Trio California Soul record release from 2019, this will be a must-own for completists of the A&M/CTi catalog and of both groups’ output.

Be sure to join the discussion of this album in our forum.

Rare single: The Magic Mushrooms

Here’s a rarity– a single by The Magic Mushrooms.  This is one of those bands that released a single, but no album, on the A&M label.  Recorded in New York and produced by Philadelphia-based Sonny Casella, this track, “It’s-a-Happening,” is one of the earliest examples of psychedelic garage rock, sneaking onto the Top 100 chart at #93 for a single week.

Not surprisingly, there is no clue as to what “It” is (that’s a-happening).

Little is known about the band, although they did flit around a couple of labels, releasing a handful of singles and two albums that did nothing on the charts.

This tune may be best known via its appearance on the highly acclaimed 1960s garage rock compilation Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, originally released in 1972 and still available today as the original 2-LP set, or an expanded 4-CD box set.

Trippy!