Pop & Rock News

Mosaic is, as Allmusic puts it, 'the one that started it' for The Messengers and is a constant staple in 'best of' lists.
As music critic Seb Kirby remarks, 'Mosaic, remains probably the best of some dozen albums by Blakey and is essential
listening for anyone interested in hard bop'.


Side 1
1. Mosaic
2. Down Under
3. Children Of The Night
Side 2
1. Arabia
2. Crisis

The pairing of tenor Saxophonist Stan Getz and trombonist J.J.Johnson resulted in one of the finest sessions in Jazz
history, 'At The Opera House' remains a career landmark for both men.

Side 1
1. Billie's Bounce
2. My Funny Valentine
Side 2
1. Crazy Rhythm
2. Yesterdays
3. It Never Entered My Mind
4. Blues In The Closet

The Grateful Dead's long strange trip reaches an important mile marker this year with the celebration of the band's 50th anniversary. 2015 is already shaping up to be an epic year thanks to news of the original members reuniting for three final shows this July. A documentary about the Grateful Dead from award-winning filmmaker Amir Bar-Lev and executive producer Martin Scorsese has also been announced.

This career-spanning, two LP cut-down of the CD collection is filled with 80 minutes of the legendary group's best studio work, with the 20 tracks featuring music from 1967 - 1977

Arranged chronologically, the tracks reflect the evolution of the group's sound - and its membership - across the first decade. Listeners will find the essential tracks that made the band such a cultural phenomenon, including such fan favorites as St. Stephen,' Casey Jones,' Sugar Magnolia,' Friend of the Devil,' and Scarlet Begonias.'

2LP vinyl set with insert
32 uninhibited, rocking vocal performances from the '50s and '60s, selected from the 76-track 3CD set
Compiled and annotated by Lois Wilson
Famous names like Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Big Maybelle, Big Mama Thornton, Little Esther and LaVern Baker rub shoulders with lesser-known R&B singers revered by collectors

From the mid-'50s to the early '60s, R&B belonged not just to men with guitars, but to women who sang with hungry voices on stages and in studios across the US. Their roots were planted in the blues of Ma Rainey, Mamie Smith, Ida Fox and Bessie Smith, the gospel of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the jazz of Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington. Their legacy lies in the recordings collected on Ain't Gonna Hush by journalist (Mojo, Record Collector) and R&B authority Lois Wilson.

Selected because of their collectability and popularity on the club scene, the 32 tracks selected from the 3CD set Ain't Gonna Hush include contributions by crowned queens of soul Etta James and Aretha Franklin, and other luminaries like Big Maybelle, Little Esther, LaVern Baker and Baby Washington. But lesser-known names are also well represented, whose recordings, like most of the songs collected here, sold poorly, but fetch huge prices today. Their lack of success was not due to ability, performance or quality of songwriting; every artist here shouts, screams and hollers as if their lives depend on it, every song is perfectly crafted. But due to bad luck, lack of promotion or simply the fact that with a market flooded with choice, the competition was tough and these 45s fell through the cracks. Here those unfortunate turns of fate are redressed with a collection that compiles the forgotten alongside the famed. Ain't Gonna Hush reasserts the eminence of revered voices and proposes the coronation of a larger cast of R&B Queens.

Enjoy amazing and danceable tunes from the late 50s and early 60s - a handful of popcorn dancefloor smashes, a few grinding tittyshakers, awesome rhythm & blues - most of them with an exotic twist! 12 songs each on nice 10" vinyl (only)! Tracks:

Enjoy amazing and danceable tunes from the late 50s and early 60s - a handful of popcorn dancefloor smashes, a few grinding tittyshakers, awesome rhythm & blues - most of them with an exotic twist! 12 songs each on nice 10" vinyl (only)! Tracks:

Slow Grind Fever Vol. 4 was compiled by DJ Diddy Wah from London. Insiders know him from his Diddywah Blog, his radio show and from constantly DJ-ing in London hosting his own nights like Heavy Sugar, Get Rhythm and others. Tracks:

This second volume features a collection of highly obscure RHYTHM & BLUES singles from the '60s. Tracklisting: A SIDE:
1. TROUBLES / LEE ROGERS (MASHS 0009)
2. CATCH UP WITH YOUR CROWD / RICKY ALLEN (AGE 29120)
3. SOMETHING FOR YOU BABY / MARY "B" (FLING 725)
4. IF THINGS DONT CHANGE / LITTLE JIMMY GRIFFIN (R 508)
5. HOODO PARTY / TABBY THOMAS (EXCELLO 2212) B SIDE: 1. ITTY BITTY LOVE / HANNAH DEAN (COLUMBIA 4-41768)
2. I DONT KNOW / CALVIN AND CLARENCE (FAIRLANE 21018) 3. PLEASE, PLEASE, BE MINE / EL PAULING (FEDERAL 12398)
4. THE CHASE / DAVEY JONES (GLADES 605)
5. LOOKING FOR MY BABY / JIMMY DOTSON & Blue Boys (ZYNN 511)

This is the first of two 10"-es. Deep down from the swamp delta of Berlin, D.C., and straight outta Gin Lane, Londinium: The feral stepsons of carpet dealers and long forgotten record sellers, Don Rogall and Earl Zinger, with their long awaited debut. Rockin' blues, dealing with some nasty boogie, jive and ingredients of exotic origin - a new breed of juke joint anthems. All efforts have been made to make this release possible, it took years to distill these tunes out of live performances and studio recordings. Already solid hits in the Berlin underground, these releases on Stag-O-Lee are a document of something that otherwise would have been left to the "oral culture" - forever. Tracks:

Deep down from the swamp delta of Berlin, D.C., and straight outta Gin Lane, Londinium: The feral stepsons of carpet dealers and long forgotten record sellers, Don Rogall and Earl Zinger, with their long awaited debut. Rockin' blues, dealing with some nasty boogie, jive and ingredients of exotic origin - a new breed of juke joint anthems. All efforts have been made to make this release possible, it took years to distill these tunes out of live performances and studio recordings. Already solid hits in the Berlin underground, these releases on Stag-O-Lee are a document of something that otherwise would have been left to the "oral culture" - forever. Tracks:

Buena Vista Social Club release 'Lost and Found,' a new rarities compilation packed with previously unheard live and in-studio material.

Coming almost two decades after the release of the original Grammy-winning, self-titled LP, the new album is a collection of previously unreleased tracks—some of which were recorded during the original album's sessions in Havana and others from the years that followed. Lost and Found is available to pre-order in iTunes and the Nonesuch Store (and outside of North America in the World Circuit Store) with an instant download of the album track "Macusa."

The studio tracks on Lost and Found were recorded at the 1996 Egrem studio sessions in Havana and during a period of rich and prolific creativity stretching into the early 2000s following the recording of the original album. Lost and Found also features live recordings from the world tours of Buena Vista's legendary veterans.

"Over the years we were often asked what unreleased material was left in the vaults," says World Circuit's Nick Gold. "We knew of some gems, favorites amongst the musicians, but we were always too busy working on the next project to go back and see what else we had. When we eventually found the time, we were astonished at how much wonderful music there was."

The original Buena Vista Social Club album became a surprise international best seller and the most successful album in the history of Cuban music. It was recorded for World Circuit Records by Ry Cooder over seven days in Havana in 1996, bringing together many of the great names of the golden age of Cuban music in the 1950s, several of whom were coaxed out of retirement for the sessions.

Buena Vista Social Club release 'Lost and Found,' a new rarities compilation packed with previously unheard live and in-studio material.

Coming almost two decades after the release of the original Grammy-winning, self-titled LP, the new album is a collection of previously unreleased tracks—some of which were recorded during the original album's sessions in Havana and others from the years that followed. Lost and Found is available to pre-order in iTunes and the Nonesuch Store (and outside of North America in the World Circuit Store) with an instant download of the album track "Macusa."

The studio tracks on Lost and Found were recorded at the 1996 Egrem studio sessions in Havana and during a period of rich and prolific creativity stretching into the early 2000s following the recording of the original album. Lost and Found also features live recordings from the world tours of Buena Vista's legendary veterans.

"Over the years we were often asked what unreleased material was left in the vaults," says World Circuit's Nick Gold. "We knew of some gems, favorites amongst the musicians, but we were always too busy working on the next project to go back and see what else we had. When we eventually found the time, we were astonished at how much wonderful music there was."

The original Buena Vista Social Club album became a surprise international best seller and the most successful album in the history of Cuban music. It was recorded for World Circuit Records by Ry Cooder over seven days in Havana in 1996, bringing together many of the great names of the golden age of Cuban music in the 1950s, several of whom were coaxed out of retirement for the sessions.

01. "Bruca Manigua"
02. "Macusa"
03. "Tiene Sabor"
04. "Bodas De Oro"
05. "Black Chicken 37"
06. "Habanera"
07. "Como Fue"
08. "Guajira En F"
09. "Quiéreme Mucho"
10. "Pedacito De Papel"
11. "Mami Me Gustó"
12. "Lágrimas Negras"
13. "Como Siento Yo"
14. "Ruben Sings!

Death Is Not The End release a cassette-only collection of Lonnie Farris' Hawaiian-style slide guitar gospel recordings from the early 1960s, all taken from from the Reverend's own Farris Records label.
Some of these tracks have appeared on the Tompkins Square label's 'Fire in My Bones' and 'This May Be My Last Time Singing' collections, and on Mississippi Records' 'Life is a Problem' and 'Oh Graveyard, You Can't Hold Me Always' LPs.

Seasick Steve veröffentlicht sein sensationelles neues Album Sonic Soul Surfer bei Caroline International.

Sonic Soul Surfer ist Seasick Steves siebtes Studioalbum und wurde von ihm selbst zuhause auf seiner kleinen Farm geschrieben und produziert. Neben Langzeit-Kollaborateur und Drummer Dan Magnusson sind Luther Dickinson (Mississippi All Stars), der bei zwei Songs Slidegitarre spielt, Georgina Leach an der Geige und Ben Miller an der Maultrommel zu hören - Letztere auf dem Lead Track - Summertime Boy', einem Song, der das sonnige Leben Kaliforniens zelebriert.

'The whole record is mostly me and Dan sitting there drinking and playing,' sagt Steve. 'There ain't a whole lot of producing going on! But I know what I'm doing and I know what I want.'

Seit seinem Auftritt bei Jools Hollands 'Hootenanny New Year's Eve' 2006 reißt die Erfolgegeschichte von Seasick Steve nicht ab. Viel ist seitdem passiert und mittlerweile hat er sich den Ruf als einer der besten Liveacts dieser Zeit erspielt. Fans aller Altersstufen, die Seasick Steve in Clubs und auf Festivals in der ganzen Welt erlebt haben, werden dies bezeugen.

Mit Sonic Soul Surfer erschließt sich Seasick Steve auch musikalisch neues Terrain: vom verwunschenen Hillbilly Twang - In Peaceful Dream' über den schlüpfrigen Shuffle - Barracuda 68' bis hin zum stampfenden Groove im - Sonic Soul Boogie'. Auch textlich wagt sich Seasick Steve weiter hinaus als zuvor. Zu den bekannten Themen um Wanderlust und Herumtreiberei gesellt sich gedankenschweres Grübeln über die verrinnende Zeit, was besonders eindrucksvoll bei - Heart Full Of Scars' zum Ausdruck kommt, einem Song, in dem Steve darüber nachsinnt, dass die emotionale Last, die jeder einzelne zu tragen hat mit dem Alter schwerer und schwerer wird.

Sonic Soul Surfer ist Seasick Steve's erstes Album seit 'Hubcap Music', auf dem Gäste wie John Paul Jones und Jack White zu hören sind. Neben diversen Nominierungen für die Brit Awards hat er den Mojo Award als - Best Breakthrough Act 2007' gewonnen - mit damals immerhin schon weit über 60 Jahren.

FULL PAGE 8/10 REVIEW IN CLASSIC ROCK : 'SINCE ROARING OUT OF LATE 70'S MEMPHIS WITH RUNNING BUDDIES ALEX CHILTON AND JIM DICKINSON, HE HAS RIDDEN EVER-CHANGING LINEUPS THROUGH 12 IDIOSYNCRATIC ALBUMS OF SOUTHERN GOTHIC HOODOO, PRIMAL ROCKABILLY AND HELLBOUND BLUES. IN THE PROCESS HIS VOLUMINOUS BACK CATALOGUE HAS BECOME A SPRAWLING, RARITY STUDDED BEAST. HOPEFULLY , 2015 WILL SEE THAT SITUATION RECTIFIED WITH A NEW REISSUE PROGRAMME ...
Frenzi Records presents a deluxe double disc remaster of Life Sentence in the Cathouse, the sixth studio album by maverick American artist Tav Falco and his 'wreckabilly' combo Panther Burns.
Raised in rural Arkansas, Tav Falco formed the first incarnation of Panther Burns in Memphis in 1979, offering an artful mix of punk, garage, rockabilly and 'art damage' influences, sharing stages with the likes of The Cramps and The Gun Club. Legendary friend and mentor Alex Chilton (ex-Box Tops and Big Star) orchestrated their acclaimed debut long player Behind the Magnolia Curtain for Rough Trade, before going on to produce the next three Panther Burns albums, using vintage Memphis studios such as Ardent, Sam Phillips Recording and Easley McCain.
Life Sentence... is the sixth Panther Burns album, produced by Chilton and originally released in 1991. 'This was our last album recorded in Memphis,' explains Tav. 'We invited the finest musicians we knew in our sphere: Mabon 'Teenie' Hodges, the Hi Records guitarist and hit maker for Al Green, wrote a song for the album and played guitar. Jim Dickinson came in on piano and acoustic guitar on which he always played in only one key: open G. On bass we had Roland Robinson, who at 14 years of age started on the road as bandleader for Eddie Floyd. The Easley brothers played dog house bass and guitars.'
 
Stand-out tracks include Torture, Guarda Che Luna and a muscular version of Cropper/Floyd classic My Mind Was Messed Up At the Time. Disc 2 offers a complete (and thunderous) live show recorded at the band's tenth anniversary show at the Messepalast, Vienna, in May 1988.
Tav Falco & Panther Burns have been cited as an influence by everyone from Jon Spencer Blues Explosion to The Fall, Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized. 'Renegade Tav Falco explores a highly personal vision of rock n' roll,' enthused Edwin Pouncey in The Wire in November 2014. 'Possessed by a wide range of influences that range from country and blues, novelty numbers and punk rock, to La Monte Young styled drone. But Falco has earned the right to stand shoulder to shoulder with the musicians and artists he so fervently admires.'
Life Sentence in the Cathouse is released through bespoke imprint Frenzi in an attractive tri-fold digipack. Also released are deluxe 2xCD editions of The World We Knew (1987) and Return of the Blue Panther (1990), plus 'best of' anthology Hip Flask.

01. My Mind Was Messed Up At the Time
02. Torture
03. Vampire From Havana
04. Make Me Know You're Mine
05. Go On Home
06. Auto Sapien
07. Guarda Che Luna
08. Oh, Girls, Girls
09. I'm Gonna Dig Myself a Hole
10. Sent Up
11. What's Wrong
12. Why Was I Born
13. Only the Lonely

01. Pass the Hatchet 
02. Arkansas Stomp
03. Mona Lisa 
04. River of Love
05. She's the One That's Got It
06. Ditch Digging
07. Oh, Pretty Woman
08. Tina, the Go-Go Queen
09. Dateless Night
10. Shade Tree Mechanic
11. She's My Witch
12. Running Wild
13. It's Only Make Believe
14. Drop Your Mask
15. Cuban Rebel Girl
16. Brazil
17. Poor Man
18. Have Love, Will Travel

Gatefold 2LP with download card. It features 2 180-gram vinyls comprising the entire set with Toots, plus two additional reggae-ified Mule-only songs (& a download code for the digital files)
* (with Toots Hibbert)

Limited to 100 copies.

Horace Sprott performed on Volumes 2, 3, and 4 of folklorist Frederic Ramsey, Jr's Music of the South series of field recordings released in 1955 on Folkways. 'Ain't This a Mean World' pulls together tracks from all three of these volumes.

Ramsey Jr. met Sprott in Marion, Alabama in 1954 and subsequently recorded seven sessions with him in April and May of that year. Born some time between 1886 and 1890 in Talladega Forest, Alabama, Sprott learnt the old religious songs of the bush arbor and the plantation from his mother and grandmother, and from his father, the "worldly songs" that religious people refused to sing. These are the songs that are preformed by Sprott, mostly unaccompanied and at times combined with short discussion, on these rough and ready field recordings.

Thirteen of the finest tracks culled from 'The Rough Guide to Blues Legends: Howlin' Wolf' on 180 gram vinyl. The LP includes a download card allowing you to download the album plus extra tracks by Howlin' Wolf, as well as the bonus album 'The Rough Guide To Wolf's Inspiration'.

What kind of a man gets a nickname like 'Howlin' Wolf' Well, a three hundred pound giant with a voice so powerful it sounds as if it could knock down buildings fits the brief! Wolf dominated the post-war Chicago blues scene in every way.


Enjoy some of his most ferocious and emotionally intense work on this outstanding Rough Guide, which has been painstakingly re-mastered and restored to world class sound quality. Includes the timeless classics 'Smokestack Lightning', 'Spoonful', 'Back Door Man' and 'Evil (Is Going On)'.

Tracks: Smokestack Lightning / Moanin' At Midnight / My Baby Walked Off / Evil (Is Going On) / Well That's All Right / My Troubles And Me / Back Door Man / Spoonful / You Gonna Wreck My Life / I Asked For Water And She Gave Me Gasoline / Don't Mess With My Baby / Baby How Long / Forty Four

Well, no one can accuse us of rushing things: it's been a year since Jump Blues Jamaica Way became the third volume in our Jamaican Sound System Classics series, but here at long last is the fourth instalment. It's Jamaica Jump Blues Time! is available as both an 84-track 3CD selection and also a 28-track 2LP vinyl collector's edition. These will be of equal interest to both Jamaican music fans and connoisseurs of classic US rhythm & blues. Since Fantastic Voyage released Jumping The Shuffle Blues back in 2011, each successive volume in the series has been eagerly awaited by lovers of the music, some of whom have even suggested tracks for the consideration of compiler and annotator Phil Etgart.

Over the last twelve months Phil has been busy researching what records were favoured by the Jamaican sound systems. This is no easy matter, considering that many had their labels scratched out and were retitled by DJs keen to preserve their 'exclusives', meaning that they were known on the island by their sound system titles. This is the music that provided the inspiration for Ska and all that followed. So enjoy sound system favourites by Louis Jordan, Joe Liggins, Wynonie Harris, Fats Domino, Lowell Fulson, Roy Milton and a host of other names, both famous and obscure. Maybe we'll do it all over again sometime, but you can't hurry a good thing!

'Tell Mama' by Etta James was originally released in 1968 and it put her back in the top 10 with the single 'Tell Mama'. Produced by Rick Hall at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama this album is a stone cold soul - blues classic from start to finish. Standout tracks include the title track, a cover of Otis Redding's 'Security', 'I'd Rather Go Blind' and 'Don't Lose Your Good Thing'. Easily one of the best albums of her long career it is now being reissued on 180 gram vinyl in glorious mono!

Piano driven jump blues, his two best sides coupled together for the first time

**Recordings of 1950s folk-blues-gospel music from inmates of the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, issued here on a lovingly packaged and designed cassette**

New reissue label Death Is Not The End debut with a limited cassette release of folklorist Dr. Harry Oster's collection of recordings from Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, originally released in 1959 on the Folk-Lyric label.

For a brief period, the American South was full of musicologists keen to record and archive the great and expansive tradition of folksong. The context of these particular recordings conveys the contrast between the stark dignity of the performers and the unpleasant circumstances through which they found their way into Angola. Here amongst them appears one of Angola's most notable blues players Robert Pete Williams, having served time for murder in the 1950's and going on to enjoy a fruitful and expansive recording career. For the most part though these voices belong to otherwise unknown inmates such as Tom Dutson, Andy Mosely, Roosevelt Charles and Robert 'Guitar' Welch.

Good Lord. Bo Diddley came out with all guns blazing on his floor-rattling romp from 1960, Have Guitar Will Travel. The LP would become a blueprint for SO much great rock 'n' roll that followed: the Stones covered Mona' in 1965, the Masters Apprentices walloped Dancing Girl,' the Downliners Sect blasted through Nursery Rhyme,' and Cops and Robbers' even named one of the baddest mid-'60s UK R&B combos ever! Really... Who in the hell wouldn't be inspired by hearing this opus that followed on the heels of Bo's devastating first two albums Have Guitar Will Travel was packed with the same badass guitar, bolder-than-bold vocals, and trademark Diddley beat that had already made Bo a stone legend and man-among-men. Kicking off with the gospel-shouter She's Alright,' (with the background singers answering Bo's every word), we stomp through the trash-talking Say Man, Back Again,' Bo's run-through-the-jungle Run Diddley Daddy,' the amorous I Love You So,' we hear hot, distorted licks traded with Lady Bo on the monstrous Mumblin' Guitar,' and SO MUCH MORE.... The album also dipped into the vaults for the killer Diddley beater Dancing Girl,' the exotic instro Spanish Guitar,' and the mind-blowing Mona' (titled I Need You Baby' for this LP).

This killer 180-gram edition - from the magnificent original Chess mono master reels - finally puts this album back in print on vinyl, properly. Accept no damn imitations.

Re-mastering by: Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London

Guitarist Melvin Taylor's fluid, smartly constructed solos and understated yet winning vocals are surprises on this 1984 nine-track set recorded for Isabel. Taylor is not a fancy or arresting singer but succeeds through his simple, effective delivery of lyrics, slight inflections, and vocal nuances. His guitar work is impressive, with skittering riffs, shifting runs, and dashing solos. Organist/pianist Lucky Peterson is an excellent second soloist, adding cute background phrases at times, then stepping forward and challenging or buttressing Taylor's playing with his own dazzling lines. Ron Wynn/AMG

Personnel: Melvin Taylor, guitar, vocals/ Lucky Peterson, organ, piano / Titus Williams, bass guitar / Ray Allison, drums

A1 Talking To Anna-Mae, (Part 1)
A2 T.V. Mama
A3 I'll Play The Blues For You
A4 Born To Lose
A5 Tribute To Wes
B1 Cadillac Assembly Line
B2 Voodoo Daddy
B3 Talking To Anna-Mae, (Part 2)
B4 Groovin' In Paris

**A collection of recordings from the Mississippi State Penitentiary in 1947, issued here on a lovingly designed cassette, limited to 100 copies**

"I ain't got long, I aint got long, in this murd'er's home..."

The Death Is Not The End label return for a second cassette reissue of penitentiary field recordings, in the form of the Alan Lomax compiled 'Murderers' Home' LP - a collection of work songs and field hollers performed by inmates of the Mississippi State Penitentiary (also known as Parchman Farm) in 1947. Originally released in 1957 on the UK's Pye Nixa label, many of these recordings also found their way onto the 1958 LP 'Negro Prison Songs', released by US label Tradition.

"These songs belong to the musical tradition which Africans brought to the New World, but they are also as American as the Mississippi River. They were born out of the very rock and earth of this country, as black hands broke the soil, moved, reformed it, and rivers of stinging sweat poured upon the land under the blazing heat of Southern skies, and are mounted upon the passion that this struggle with nature brought forth. They tell us the story of the slave gang, the sharecropper system, the lawless work camp, the chain gang, the pen." - Alan Lomax

Archival reissue of the garage-psych Zamrock masterpiece (1974)!! The entirety of WITCH's second album, restored and remastered from master tapes, and presented as an archival reissue. 'Electrified by a diet of James Brown, the Stones and Deep Purple, WITCH were the stadium-filling kings of 70s Zamrock. MOJO // Our comprehensive overview of Zambia's premier garage-, psych-, prog-, funk-,afro-rock ensemble WITCH, We Intend To Cause Havoc!, is now sold out in its 6LP box set form. So we are making the first four WITCH albums available in archival reissue form. As with our box set, the audio is nigh-perfect - restored and remastered from the original master tapes. WITCH's musical arc is contained to a five year span and, in retrospect, is a logical one. The band's first two, self-produced albums - released in unison with the birth of the commercial Zambian recording industry - are exuberant experiments in garage rock, and are as influenced by the Rolling Stones as they are James Brown. In The Past, their second album, is the perfect follow-up for anyone exposde to the WITCH band through their landmark Introduction.

"The most soulful, transcendent piece in all American music." - Ry Cooder

"The greatest example of slide guitar ever recorded" - Jack White (White stripes)

"The most intense and startling blues record ever made" - John Clark - The Times

"In terms of its intensity alone—its spiritual ache—there is nothing else from the period to compare to Johnson's 'Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground', on which his guitar takes the part of a preacher and his wordless voice the part of a rapt congregation. Francis Davis - Blues Historian

Nach dem Erfolg des ersten Teils der Compilation, die
sich dem verrauchten Bluesy Bar-Sound widmet, jetzt der
zweite Teil mit noch mehr - Smoky-Bar'-Sound, wie man
ihn sich vorstellt und liebt.
Hier finden unsterbliche Blueslegenden ihren Platz
neben aktuellen Stars der Szene und vielversprechenden
Newcomern. Hauptsache: Der Sound stimmt und passt zur
Stimmung!

01. Tom Waits. 16 Shells From A 30.6
02. Mark Selby. Trouble Wants
03. Henrik Freischlader. Lonely World
04. Greg Koch Trio. Sleep Light
05. Charles Brown. Black Night
06. Blues Pills. Black Smoke
07. Raphael Wressnig. Sometimes I Wonder
08. Bonnie Tyler. Love Is A Knife
09. Rudy Rotta. You're Gone
10. Get The Cat. Maria Knows Thems
11. Geoff Achison. Wagging The Dog
12. Dr. Will. She's Gone
13. Muddy Waters. Mean Red Spider
14. Delta Moon. Walk Out In The River
15. Earl Thomas. Standing In The Rain
16. Nina Simone. Feeling Good

01. Johnny Cash. Hurt
02. Patrick Bruel. Lequels De Nous
03. Geoff Achison. Boy
04. Leonard Cohen. Darkness
05. Rudy Rotta feat. Robben Ford. It's All Over Now Baby Blue
06. Bob Dylan. House Of The Risin' Sun
07. Timo Gross. Travellin Man
08. Willie Logan. 110
09. Marla Glen. White Roses For My Mother
10. Dr. Will. She Don't Hurt
11. Mark Selby. Moon Over My Shoulder
12. Henrik Freischlader. As Long As
13. Howlin Wolf. Wang Dang Doodle
14. John Campbelljohn. Good To Go
15. Innes Sibbun. East Monroe
16. Etta James. At Last

It almost seems hard to believe but the roots of British R&B lay less in a certain rubber lipped, snake hipped vocalist and more in an ageing, balding, ex-panel beater, nicknamed 'Squirrel'. Cyril Davies helped to pioneer electric blues in Britain as part of Chris Barber's band in 1960 alongside guitarist Alexis Korner, before the pair of them fled Barber to set up Blues Incorporated, the first amplified R&B band in the country. In March '62, after building up a sizeable following at Soho pub The Roundhouse, they moved to the Ealing Club where Charlie Watts, Mick Jagger, Art Wood and Paul Jones regularly joined them on stage. By the end of May '62, the band had a more regular line up and was offered a Thursday night residency at The Marquee in Oxford Street. Their first appearance attracted just 127 loyal followers but by October they were regularly pulling in a crowd of 1,000. In November 1962, Davies left the band to form his own Cyril Davies' All-Stars with members recruited from Screaming Lord Sutch's Savages, including drummer Carlo Little, pianist Nicky Hopkins, Long John Baldry on vocals and black female trio, the Velvettes. Davies soon claimed that weekly Thursday night Marquee residency for himself and subsequently played there every week throughout '63. He also released two singles that year, 'Country Line Special/'Chicago Calling' (at the time the only British single that 'American Only' purists bought) and 'Preachin' the Blues/Sweet Mary'. Within a year of forming his band, he unfortunately contracted pleurisy and began to drink heavily to relieve the pain throughout the band's punishing touring schedule and the cold bitter winter of 1963. The All-Stars appeared on stage with Sonny Boy Williamson at The Marquee that Christmas Eve. Davies was in his element, playing alongside one of his heroes. The first edition of Jazz Beat magazine was already out (dated January '64). It carried a half page advert for Hohner harmonicas featuring a photo of Davies and the words 'For the purist in R&B'. The gig listings in the Marquee advert for January listed all of the All-Stars' weekly Thursday night residencies but these didn't feature Davies. He passed away on January 7th 1964, two weeks before his 32nd birthday. Official cause of death was stated as endocarditis, although leukaemia is often quoted. On January 28th, the first of two benefits concerts in aid of his wife and two children took place at the Flamingo featuring Georgie Fame & the Blue Flames, Alexis Korner and the remaining All Stars under the new banner Long John's Hoochie Coochie Men. The second took place at Fairfield Hall in Croydon on Feb 21st and featured Sonny Boy Williamson and Barber's band. Cyril Davies was on the verge of national recognition. Whether he would have been successful in the long term is questionable, but it remains undisputed that he was the greatest harmonica player in this country at that time. Listen to him wail again. Paul 'Smiler' Anderson, July 2014.

Am 05.September wird das neue Album "Step Back" des legendären Bluesgitarristen Johnny Winter veröffentlicht (Megaforce/Membran). Der texanische Musiker war am 16. Juli überraschend verstorben. Das bereits zuvor angekündigte Album stellt somit sein letztes Studiowerk dar. Dabei wird Johnny nicht nur von einer beeindruckenden Zahl an Gastmusikern unterstützt, sondern findet auch zu einem eindringlichen Blues-Stil zurück - dem Sound, der den Musiker einst zu einem der wichtigsten Vertreter des Genres werden ließ. Die Stationen seiner Karriere sind in die Musikgeschichte eingegangen. Von Grammy-prämierten Alben, die er für Muddy Waters produziert hat, über seinen Auftritt beim Woodstock Festival hin zum gemeinsamen Auftritt im Madison Square Garden mit Janis Joplin und Auftritt mit Jimi Hendrix - Winter war stets umgeben von den größten Künstlern. Und dies führt er mit "Step Back" fort. Produziert wurde das Album von Paul Nelson, als Gastkünstler treten Eric Clapton, Ben Harper, Billy Gibbons, Dr. John, Brian Setzer, Joe Perry, Leslie West und andere in Erscheinung. "Step Back" repräsentiert eine Zusammenstellung an Songs, die ihn über die Jahre beeinflusst und inspiriert haben.

LP #1: 01. MY FUNNY VALENTINE 02. NIGHT AND DAY 03. YOU BROUGHT A NEW KIND OF LOVE TO ME 04. THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU 05. YOU'D BE SO NICE TO COME HOME TO 06. I'VE GOT A CRUSH YOU 07. COME RAIN OR COME SHINE 08. SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME 09. WITCHCRAFT 10. LOVE IS HERE TO STAY 11. I GET A KICK OUT OF YOU 12. YOU MAKE ME FEEL SO YOUNG 13. EMBRACEABLE YOU 14. YOU'RE GETTING TO BE A HABIT WITH ME 15. HALF AS LOVELY, TWICE AS TRUE 16. (LOVE IS) THE TENDER TRAP

LP #2: 01. I'VE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN 02. NICE 'N' EASY 03. MISTY 04. I'VE GOT MY LOVE TO KEEP ME WARM 05. SOME ENCHANTED EVENING 06. I HADN'T ANYONE TILL YOU 07. LOVE LOOKS SO WELL ON YOU 08. OH! LOOK AT ME NOW 09. ALL THE WAY 10. I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH ME 11. I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU 12. LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE 13. I CONCENTRATE ON YOU 14. I GOTTA RIGHT TO SING THE BLUES 15. WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED LOVE 16. THE NEARNESS OF YOU 17. THEY CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME

This latest pressing of Boerum Palace is pressed on purple/white color vinyl. Included is a free download card and insert

Boerum Palace is Steve Gunn's second album, originally released in 2009. The album starts off with a headlong rush into the hypnotic 'Mr. Franklin'. Gunn's fluid playing style, especially as portrayed within this track, provides ample space for the development of infectious musical themes. The track ends in a dextrous duel between Gunn's guitar and guest Marc Orleans'
(of D. Charles Speer & the Helix, Sunburned Hand of the Man) vicious pedal steel.

The album mixes Gunn's long-form blues / raga / psych explorations alongside briefer cuts that equally display his songcraft. These tracks, such as 'Variation II' and 'Jadin's Dream,'
demonstrate that Gunn is equally confident with shorter or longer compositions. Gunn's voice is joined by an ethereal turn from the Vanishing Voice's Heidi Diehl on the album's central and haunting 'House of Knowledge.' The track opens with a building central guitar theme.

This theme allows Gunn to layer on further guitar explorations. The tone set by these musical themes builds into the duo's vocal delivery that delivers volumes despite being uttered in gentle tones. Other highlights include 'Cryin' Eyes,' an inspired reworking of J.J. Cale's 'Crying Eyes' featuring backing instrumentation from Marc Orleans, and the richly textured album finale
'Mustapha's Exit.'