Randall Bramblett– 627

ALBUM: That Other Mile (1974)

MVC Rating: 4.5/$$$$

I started counting the musicians credited on this album and got to about 15 before giving up.

But listen to this bluesy, jazzy minor masterpiece and everything fits. Sax, bass, drums, wah- wah guitar, steel guitar, steel drums, keyboards, congas – you can tell there’s a lot of music going here, but it plays to a whole; every note counts. The players give each other space and let the music breathe.

I was once decades ago offered $40 for this album. I think it is not so easy to find this one, his first. As you can see, I still have it. I didn’t sell.

Bramblett for a long time lived (and may still) in my hometown of Athens, Ga. Of course, this preceded the Athens explosion of talent in the 1980s led by B-52s, REM and Widespread Panic.