Amos 23

These 20 CDs comprise over 25 hours of music captured on-stage in the 1940s, ‘50s, and ‘60s at KWKH’s legendary Louisiana Hayride radio show. Staged live in Shreveport, the Hayride featured national country music stars, soon-to-be legends, regional break-outs, and talented newcomers. Most of this music has not been heard since the day it was broadcasted.

PHOENIX performs Bach's Goldberg Variations in an outstanding arrangement for strings and continuo made by conductor Bernard Labadie.

A critical and commercial flop at the time of release, Y Kant Tori Read was seemingly doomed from the start. Yet, as the decades passed, the only album recorded by Tori Amos' ephemeral late-'80s synth rock outfit managed to become a beloved fan favorite and a crucial stepping stone on the path to her '90s breakthrough as a confessional singer/songwriter. Hints of her future lie hidden beneath thoroughly '80s production – courtesy of Joe Chiccarelli (Pat Benatar, Frank Zappa) – and contributions by a team of musicians, including Steve Caton (who would later be featured on her solo albums), Matt Sorum (Guns N' Roses), Brad Cobb (Stryper), Merry Clayton (vocalist on the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter"), Rick Nielsen and Robin Zander (Cheap Trick), Steve Farris (Mr. Mister), the Valentine Brothers, and Kim Bullard (Kajagoogoo).

A critical and commercial flop at the time of release, Y Kant Tori Read was seemingly doomed from the start. Yet, as the decades passed, the only album recorded by Tori Amos' ephemeral late-'80s synth rock outfit managed to become a beloved fan favorite and a crucial stepping stone on the path to her '90s breakthrough as a confessional singer/songwriter. Hints of her future lie hidden beneath thoroughly '80s production – courtesy of Joe Chiccarelli (Pat Benatar, Frank Zappa) – and contributions by a team of musicians, including Steve Caton (who would later be featured on her solo albums), Matt Sorum (Guns N' Roses), Brad Cobb (Stryper), Merry Clayton (vocalist on the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter"), Rick Nielsen and Robin Zander (Cheap Trick), Steve Farris (Mr. Mister), the Valentine Brothers, and Kim Bullard (Kajagoogoo).

This 52-disc (no, that is not a typo) comp, ABC of the Blues: The Ultimate Collection from the Delta to the Big Cities, may just indeed live up to its name. There are 98 artists represented , performing 1,040 tracks. The music begins at the beginning (though the set is not sequenced chronologically) with Charlie Patton, Son House, and Robert Johnson, and moves all the way through the vintage Chicago years of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, with stops along the way in Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, New York, and all points in between. Certainly, some of these artists are considered more rhythm & blues than purely blues artists: the inclusion of music by Johnny Otis, Wynonie Harris, Bo Diddley, and others makes that clear…