You've heard of the one-hit wonder. That's the artist scoring big with a single song, then fading just as quickly from the scene. The list is long and grows by leaps and bounds every year.

One-hit-wonder status also can be applied to albums, extended works that showed flashes of brilliance before the various collaborators went off in different directions. Here are a dozen or so in my collection:

- "Safe At Home," International Submarine Band (1968). This is as good a place as any to find the roots of country rock, as developed by the innovative Gram Parsons. By the time the ISB's only LP was released, Parsons was a member of the Byrds, steering that band in a similar direction with the classic "Sweetheart of the Rodeo."

- "A Long Time Comin'," The Electric Flag (1968). The Flag did release a follow-up later the same year, but it was without guitarist Mike Bloomfield, the key cog in the machine. And Bloomfield returned for a reunion six years later, but that was nothing to write home about, either. The debut represents the best mix you'll find of rock with a horn section, paving the way for artists like Chicago. Speaking of which ...

- "Chicago Transit Authority," Chicago Transit Authority (1969). The band has made at least XXV more albums under a truncated version of the original name, but none of them measure up to the Authority. The late Terry Kath's guitar jam at the start of "Poem 58" shows this band could really smoke, believe it or not.

- "Projections," Blues Project (1966). The discography for this band shows numerous releases, but most of those waver between concert albums ("Live at the Cafe Au Go Go"), pseudo-concert albums ("Live at Town Hall") and works featuring just the original band's rhythm section ("Planned Obsolescence"). "Projections" is left as the only fully realized work by a band of many talents that really honed in on a number of rock genres in addition to the blues.

- "Hollywood Dream," Thunderclap Newman (1969). Pete Townshend produced the only offering from this unlikely trio, which featured a postal clerk (Andy Newman) on piano, a teenage whiz-kid (Jimmy McCullough) on guitar and a reedy-voiced singer and drummer (Speedy Keen). Their single "Something in the Air" used to be a staple of "classic rock" radio, and was given new life when covered in the '90s by Tom Petty. The rest of the album contains plenty of gems, particularly the celebratory "Wild Country" and the instrumental title track.

- "Blind Faith," Blind Faith (1969). The story of "rock's first supergroup" has been told and retold too often to give it one more time here. Suffice it to say, it never quite lived up to its billing. But this collaboration between Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ginger Baker and Ric Grech makes for a great listen all the way until the fumbling around at the end of "Do What You Like." Clapton's guitar on the opening track, "Had to Cry Today," is a gem in his extensive catalog, which also includes ...

- "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs," Derek & the Dominos (1970). Yes, a live album was released under this band's name, and it's also highly recommended. But this is the one that featured Duane Allman hooking up with Clapton for all those amazing guitar duos. Among all the songs that turn up on the radio, a radical reworking of Hendrix's "Little Wing" - recorded just days before Jimi died - might be a forgotten highlight.

- "Renaissance," Renaissance (1969). Here's a band with a bizarre history: Ex-Yardbirds Keith Relf and Jim McCarty led the band that recorded the debut, with Keith's sister Jane contributing vocals on a work that veered between folk and classic influences. This lineup recorded a follow-up that went unreleased for decades, and then all the original members went their separate ways. McCarty hung around long enough to welcome a new cast, including stunning lead singer Annie Haslam, that went on to record numerous albums under the Renaissance name, leaning more toward the classical end of the spectrum.

- "Septober Energy," Centipede (1971). Pianist and sometime King Crimson collaborator Keith Tippett had the idea of incorporating 50 musicians into a rock-based performance - hence the hundred-legged designation for his band. Centipede actually is a one-hit wonder with regard to song as well as album: "Septober Energy" actually is a single composition spread out over four album sides, or two compact discs. It has its moments, but it's tough to sustain momentum over 80-plus minutes.

- "Seconds of Pleasure," Rockpile (1980). The highly regarded live collaboration between guitarist Dave Edmunds and bassist Nick Lowe resulted in just this one LP for Columbia. It's a great rock 'n' roll record released at a time (I was a college freshman) when that type of music was difficult to find, to say the least.

- "Contents Dislodged During Shipment," Tin Huey (1979). I heard this album in college by way of a friend who went to Slippery Rock and was turned onto it by buddies there who hailed from Ohio. One of the hot bands around those parts at the time was Tin Huey, which comes across on its only release as a cross between Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart (musically, that is - no way to replicate either of those guys' vocals). I hadn't thought about Tin Huey in more than two decades before I read about Collectors Choice Records resurrecting the band's only major-label release for CD reissue. Out of curiosity, I went ahead and bought it, and it's been frequently played since.

- "KBC," KBC Band (1987). Sure, this is almost 20 years old, but it's as contemporary as I'm going to get ... This was one of the many Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship offshoots, featuring Paul Kantner, Marty Balin and Jack Casady. The music is a lot more solid than what was passing for Starship at the time, with the added bonus of featuring talented lead guitarist Mark "Slick" Aguilar. The highlight among the songs is Kantner's "America," which still is a showcase at Jefferson Starship concerts.