Baby Dynamite

Various Artists - Boppin' By The Bayou - More Dynamite (2013) {Ace Records CDCHD 1380}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 286 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 151 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 29 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2013 Ace Records | CDCHD 1380
Rock & Roll / Early Rock / Rockabilly

Ace spent a good chunk of 2013 boppin', bouncin', and rockin' on the bayou, and their autumn release, Boppin' by the Bayou: More Dynamite, is one of the liveliest of their excavations of the vaults of Louisiana music moguls Eddie Shuler, Charles "Dago" Redlich, J.D. Miller, and Carol Rachou. Once again, this is hardly reliant on recognizable names. There is the New Orleans giant Bobby Charles, rocking & rolling with the previously unreleased "Teenagers," but that's about it. The rest of this is jumping New Orleans R&B and rock & roll recorded during the late '50s and early '60s but sitting unreleased until this 2013 collection.

James Brown - Pure Dynamite! (1964) {Universal Music Japan Mini LP UICY-9284 rel 2003}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 174 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 68 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 47 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1964, 2003 Polydor / Universal Music Japan | UICY-9284 | Cardboard Sleeve | 24bit remastering
Funk / R'n'B / Soul / Funky Jam

Limited to 5000 copies. Paper sleeve. PURE DYNAMITE! LIVE AT THE ROYAL was released in 1964 as KING K-883 with a gatefold cover that included photos and a biography. It reached #10 on the Billboard album charts. When Polydor reissued it they kept the "883" code number. In England it was released on the Stateside label. Most of the album was recorded live except for "Oh Baby Don't You Weep," which was originally a two-part single, here it's the whole take with overdubbed applause. All of the material performed here charted except for "I'm Tired But I'm Clean" a comedy routine featuring Bobby Bennett. The original release info and chart positions follow the song titles. The sound quality is what you expect for a live recording by a regional label in 1963, but it's not bad if you crank it up.

Tampa Red - Dynamite! The Unsung King Of The Blues (2015) {2CD Set, Ace Records CDTOP2-1440 rec 1945-1953}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 388 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 335 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 57 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1945-53, 2015 Ace Records / Sony Music | CDTOP2 1440
Blues / Slide Guitar Blues / Acoustic Chicago Blues / Early American Blues

Tampa Red's influential later recordings for RCA Victor (1945-53) have never been officially reissued on CD and rarely on LP, yet are a crucial element in the post-war blues canon. Many of his songs were covered by B. B. King, Muddy Waters and other top bluesmen. They feature the majestic piano of latter-day Elmore James sideman, Johnny Jones and include the harmonica of Big Walter 'Shakey' Horton and Sonny Boy Williamson II. There are four previously unissued tracks but none are available on authorised CD, not even on OOC releases.

Amazingly, many of the recordings guitarist Tampa Red made for RCA Victor and Bluebird in the '40s and early '50s never saw reissue until this 2015 double-disc by Ace. As John Broven points out in his rightly evangelical liner notes for Dynamite! The Unsung King of the Blues, CD-era reissues of Tampa Red usually began at the beginning, which for the guitarist meant 1934, and petered out by the late '40s, which is when Tampa Red eased away from hokum and into earthy guitar-and-piano blues that had substantial influence on the electric blues of the '50s. On Dynamite! The Unsung King of the Blues, the interaction between Tampa Red and his pianists Big Maceo Merriweather and, later, Maceo's protégé Little Johnnie Jones certainly points the way to the classic sound of Chicago blues - particularly when it's paired with a big, swinging drumbeat - and the bluesman's repertoire was also cherry-picked by B.B. King…

Clifton Chenier was to zydeco what Elvis Presley was to rockabilly, only more so - the genre's founding father and tireless ambassador. Rhino has done an admirable job of collecting the accordionist's important work for this two-disc, 40-track set, harking back to a wonderfully chaotic "Louisiana Stomp" that he waxed in Lake Charles, Louisiana in 1954 for J.R. Fullbright's tiny Elko label. Whether you're in the market for one zydeco collection to summarize the entire genre or ready to delve deeply into the legacy of the idiom's pioneer, this is precisely where to begin.

Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Performing rockabilly, pop and country music, she had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s and is ranked fourth in that decade, surpassed only by Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Ray Charles. She is known for her 1960 hit "I'm Sorry", and 1958's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", which has become a Christmas standard…

Five hours of pure gold on four CDs, covering the 127 songs that Brenda Lee recorded during the years 1956 through 1962, with the added allure of an 84-page hardcover book. What's more, there's hardly a second-rate song or performance here, and Lee's singing style evolved so far that there are surprises throughout.