Hootie and The Blowfish Cracked Rear View (Vinyl LP) * * *

Unavailable on Vinyl Since First Pressing in 1995 / Call To Confirm Colored Copies Are Still Available

With the rich, bluesy vocals of Darius Rucker and gleeful harmonies of guitarist Mark Bryan, bassist Dean Felber and drummer Jim "Soni" Sonefeld, Hootie & the Blowfish hit it big with their 1994 debut Cracked Rear View and smash singles "Hold My Hand," "Let Her Cry" and "Only Wanna Be With You."

The album had been out for six months before the band played on the Late Show with David Letterman where the maverick talk show host told his audience "If you don't have this album, there's something wrong with you." The day after the show aired, sales went from four or five thousand a week to 17,000 a week, and eventually No. 1 on the Billboard charts the following spring.

At the end of the year, Cracked Rear View and the band won two Grammy's - Best New Artist and Song of the Year by duo or group for "Let Her Cry." Cracked Rear View went on to earn the band Billboard's Band of the Year Award in 1996 and the RIAA's Diamond Award for sales of 10 million units. The cornerstone release remains the twelfth best selling album in music business history.