Mary Stallings sings 12 excellent and soulful interpretations of songs by such great composers as Cole Porter, Burton Lane, Louis Prima, and Duke Ellington on her second release for the Maxjazz label, Live at the Village Vanguard. Her voice is strong, rich, and full of the introspection that only comes with musical growth. Accompanied by Ron Blake on tenor saxophone, Eric Reed on piano, Vicente Archer on bass, and Carl Allen on drums, Stallings is in touch with her music and in sync with her emotions on such notables as "You're Sensational," "Sunday Kind of Love," "All Night Long," and "I Didn't Know About You." Mary Stallings brings her seductive concept to listeners and will floor you with her exceptional phrasing on "Sunday Kind of Love" and "All Night Long"…
In the golden age of the British R&B revival, few groups created as much excitement and controversy as the Pretty Things. They came up alongside the Rolling Stones in the early 1960s, but were deemed by critics and fans as wilder and bluesier than even Mick Jagger & co. When long-haired Phil May sang and shook his maracas with manic intensity, audiences and record buyers knew they were in for a wild ride.
It goes without saying that 1968 doesn't have the same kind of cachet as 1967 - a year that, in musical terms, will always be indelibly associated with the Summer of Love, Sgt Pepper and the emergence of psychedelia. But although the major players turned away from the excesses of the previous year in favour of a back-to-basics musical approach, there were arguably a greater number of psychedelic records made in 1968 than during the preceding twelve months. Vital, lysergically-inclined 45s emerged from a whole host of younger groups, with The Factory, Mike Stuart Span, Fleur de Lys, The Fire, The Barrier, Boeing Duveen, Rupert's People and numerous others all releasing singles that have long been widely regarded by psychedelic collectors as genre classics.