Mark Smotroff

For a moment in time, The Strawbs were an important and influential progressive folk rock band, touching angel wings with future icons like keyboard wizard Rick Wakeman and legendary singer-songwriter Sandy Denny. Beginning in English folk traditions and morphing into progressive rock territory by the 1970s, The Strawbs have left behind a wealth of lovely and often incredible music.

John Lee Hooker’s 1960 Riverside Records album That’s My Story is a sweet blues gem that I suspect not a lot of people have heard, largely because it remains fairly rare. Recently reissued by Craft Recordings, the boutique arm of Concord Music and owner of the catalogs of esteemed labels such as Riverside, Vee-Jay, Fantasy, Milestone, and others, the album has been restored as part of Craft’s terrific Bluesville reissue series.

I didn’t plan on reviewing a new vinyl edition of previously unreleased, orphaned tracks from a short lived lineup of one of my favorite progressive rock bands, Yes. Frankly, I didn’t even buy the original four song From A Page mini album CD when it was released in 2019. But then a dear friend, the most committed Yes fan I know, and someone whose taste and insight I trust, sent me the new 2026 expanded 2LP vinyl edition and urged me to give it a proper listen.