Who remembers Sampler Albums?

The very first proper LP I ever bought was a sampler, CBS Records' Fill Your Head With Rock. It was a double album and featured some amazing artists; Blood, Sweat and Tears, Laura Nyro, Taj Mahal, Johnny Winter, The Flock, Janis Joplin, Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper and many more (see below).

The cover was particularly striking (it is The Flock's violinist Jerry Goodman, later of Mahavishnu Orchestra fame);



Record 1, Side 1
1. Listen - Chicago (3:22)
2. Savour - Santana (2:46)
3. Give A Life, Take A Life - Spirit (3:47)
4. Passing Through - Steamhammer (5:17)
5. Smiling Phases - Blood, Sweat And Tears (5:10)

Record 1, Side 2
6. Tired Of Waiting - Flock (4:35)
7. Come To The Sabbat - Black Widow (4:55)
8. Dance In The Smoke - Argent (6:10)
9. Gunga Din - Byrds (3:02)
10. Living In Sin - Skin Alley (4:35)

Record 2, Side 1
11. Gibsom Street - Laura Nyro (4:30)
12. You Know Who I - Leonard Cohen (3:22)
13. Stomping Ground - Moondog (2:36)
14. The Inbetween Man - Amory Kane (2:40)
15. The Garden Of Jane Delawney - Trees (4:05)
16. A Small Fruit Song - Al Stewart (2:00)
17. Driving Wheel - Tom Rush (5:22)

Record 2, Side 2
18. Try (Just A Little Bit Harder) - Janis Joplin (4:13)
19. One Room Country Shack - Al Kooper (3:35)
20. Six Days On The Road - Taj Mahal (2:55)
21. Don't Think About It Baby - Mike Bloomfield (3:34)
22. Bluesbuster - Pacific Gas & Electric (2:56)
23. I Love Everybody - Johnny Winter (3:50)

There were plenty of these albums around, usually very cheaply priced too. Atlantic had a great one called The New Age Of Atlantic, which featured a Led Zeppelin track that wasn't even on any of their records!



Side 1
1. Hey hey what can I do - Led Zeppelin (3:53)
2. Motel Blues - Loudon Wainwright lll (2:43)
3. Sitting by the fire - Gordon Haskell (3:41)
4. Where ya at mule - Dr. John (4:55)
5. Bluebird - Buffalo Springfield (4:28)
6. Only you and I know - Delaney and Bonnie (3:24)

Side 2
7. Long tall sally - Cactus (3:03)
8. Everybody knows her - Jonathan Edwards (1:53)
9. I don't need you no more - J. Geils Band (2:35)
10. Sam Stone - John Prine (4:14)
11. America - Yes (10:30)

All the major labels released them, I suppose it was a good way of getting people to hear bands and performers that they otherwise might not know about. Back in those days, before the advent of the internets, getting access to new music was from whatever you could find on late night radio or by word of mouth from friends.

Who else remembers these records with fondness?