Underestimated, song, artist or group '' gems'' ?

Either most of the artists on my list are long forgotten or not recognized by the masses. The asterisks indicate the artist generally used good recording techniques, IMHO. If very few recordings merit playing on your system then don't bother looking. These aren't audiophile examples. Just good, solid, enjoyable music.

Jesse Colin Young.* Especially the album Heart And Soul Of A City Boy.
Al Kooper. I really like the album Super Sessions.
Dreams. This is very early Brecker brothers. Two albums were released by this group.
John Prine.*
Leo Koettke.*
Very, very early Fleetwood Mac.*
Karla Bonoff.*
The Byrds' song, Chestnut Mare.
Gram Parsons.
Gene Parsons.
Souther, Hillman Furry Band.
Greg Allman Band.* Especially Laid Back.
Leon Russell.*

Try streaming KNBA radio (KNBA org). It features artists under the radar of commercial stations. It also has David Dye's world cafe which is an excellent source of new artists that I use.

There is a lot of great music out there. A couple of my current favorites are Greg Brown, a fantastic singer-songwriter and The Tragically Hip, who are huge in Canada, awesome, and sorely underappreciated in the US.

I always thought the Joni Mitchell tune "Urge for Going" was a great song that was never on any of her record albums, and released as a single only. Many Joni fans have never heard this song. It is one of her best IMO.

Gentle Giant "In a Glass House" album was never released in the United States, and is one of their best albums(Prog-Rock). It is hard to get because there is some kind of legal mumbo-jumbo that is in the way. You can order a copy on CD from the Gentle Giant website though. The LP is very rare in the US.

Solution "Cordon Bleu" is another Prog-Rock album that is hard to get, and quite good. You can get it on CD, but you have to search a bit. Was originally on the Rocket Label LP and not released in the US.

BB King "Indianola Mississippi Seeds" LP is a rare one that has a killer version of "Hummingbird" featuring BB, Carole King, and Leon Russell.

Khachaturian Violin Concerto on Mercury Living Presence LP is about the best violin recording I know about. It has a haunting emotional gypsy-style that is very nice to listen to. It features Henryk Szering on violin. I think Dorati is conducting. Hard to find, and could be expensive.

25 Years of Jazz on Atlantic is a double LP set that features many Atlantic jazz recording artists from the pre-1975 years. There is one tune on there by the Mitchell-Ruff Trio called "The Catbird Seat" which has a very unique piano styling that I never heard before, and like alot.

There's another double LP set called "The Paul Desmond Quartet-Live" that has some of the most quintessential Paul Desmond sax artistry that I've ever heard on there. If you are a Desmond fan, this is a record for you. Very "3 o'clock in the morning and near closing time at the club" kind of stuff.

Interesting you mentioned Blue Rodeo, I'm a big fan of them (and they are excellent in concert too). I've extolled the virtues of Blue Rodeo (contry-rock stuff) and The Tragically Hip (intelligent and interesting rock) many times on this board but I have this feeling very few folks have taken the time to give them a listen.

I would suggest for those who haven't seriously considered Frank Zappa's music, take a moment and browse through his catalog. Rock, classical, jazz... pick your poison. Brilliant man, he's sorely missed.

Midnight Oil is an interesting rock act, politically driven lyrics in a straight ahead rock style. Wonderful band live. I would consider Midnight Oil and The Tragically Hip as very similar in fact.

I never really gave Tom Cochrane much credit until I purchased his box set, man he wrote a lot of really good tunes over the years!

There's a bunch of groups I enjoy but I'm not sure if other's are aware of them or not? Collective Soul, The Tea Party, Bruce Cockburn, Crowded House, The Fixx, Live, Our Lady Peace, Rough Trade, Saga, Simple Minds (early stuff).

I gotta get back to work! Jeff

Chris Whitley. He is quietly generating a large body of work. Good songwriter, great guitarist. The two albums I recommend are his first "Living with the Law" it got some airplay in the mid 90's and his last entitled " Hotel Vast Horzion". Enjoy...