Blues Masters Vol. 26

Bo Diddley - Road Runner: The Chess Masters, Vol. 2 - 1959-1960 (2008) {2CD Set Geffen–Hip-O Select B0011076-02}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 987 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 360 Mb
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© 1959-60, 2008 Hip-O Select / Geffen Records / Universal | B0011076-02
Rock and Roll / Rhythm and Blues / Early R&B / Blues / Electric Chicago Blues

Road Runner, the second volume of Hip-O Select's ongoing chronicle of Bo Diddley's complete Chess/Checker master recordings, covers roughly one calendar year whereas its predecessor, I'm a Man, spanned four — a good indication that 1959 was an eventful year for Bo. During this one year, he had his biggest pop hit in the jive-talking "Say Man" and had another sizable R&B hit with "Crackin' Up," but both these sides were cut in 1958 and released as a single in 1959.

Bo Diddley - I'm a Man: The Chess Masters, Vol. 1 - 1955-1958 (2007) {2CD Set Geffen–Hip-O Select B0009231-02}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 866 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 318 Mb | Artwork | 5% repair rar
© 1955-58, 2007 Hip-O Select / Geffen Records / Universal | B0009231-02
Rock and Roll / Rhythm and Blues / Early R&B / Blues / Electric Chicago Blues

In May 1955, an unknown Mississippi-born blues singer stormed up the US R&B charts with a song called Bo Diddley, a mesmeric combination of chanted vocals, choppy tremolo guitar and pounding tom-tom drums. Raw, primal, and boasting a refrain as addictive as heroin, it was unlike anything that had been heard before. Record buyers may have been a tad perplexed by the fact that the artist’s name was also Bo Diddley, but that didn’t stop them buying enough copies to send it rocketing to No 1.

Bo Diddley - Ride On: The Chess Masters, Vol. 3 - 1960-1961 (2009) {2CD Set Geffen–Hip-O Select B0012946-02}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 845 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 340 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 120 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1960-61, 2009 Hip-O Select / Geffen Records / Universal | B0012946-02
Rock and Roll / Rhythm and Blues / Early R&B / Blues / Electric Chicago Blues

One of the great things about Bo Diddley, something that often goes unmentioned, is that he was a home-recording pioneer, building his own studio years before any other rocker. The full fruits of this labor can be heard on Ride On: The Chess Masters, Vol. 3 – 1960-1961, Hip-O Select's third installment in their complete Bo Chess/Checker masters and easily the weirdest set yet. All 54 songs here were recorded over the course of 13 months: a whopping 17 them have never been released (an additional seven have never seen release in the U.S.), every one of them was cut in his home studio in Washington DC, and not a one reached the charts.

The Bobbin Blues Masters Part 1 (1994). Reissuing the Bobbin recordings of Little Milton and Clayton Love on the same compilation makes sense, although the two men sounded enough alike during the 1950s that some might find it hard to tell where one leaves off and the other begins. Both men were born in Mississippi; Milton Campbell was co-founder and A&R director of the Bobbin record label in East St. Louis, and Clayton Love rose to prominence as Ike Turner's pianist. Compiled and released by the budget Collectables label in 1994, this first volume of Bobbin Blues Masters consists of eight titles by Little Milton (including his first major hit "I'm a Lonely Man," 1958) and three by Clayton Love, whose "Limited Love" (also a hit single in 1958) had instrumental support from a group led by bassist Roosevelt Marks…

Massimo Faraò studied with Maestro Flavio Crivelli and began his career collaborating with musicians from the Genoa Area, especially with the bassist Piero Leveratto. In 1993, he was invited to the US to play with Red Holloway and Albert “Tootie” Heath on a West Coast tour. In the same year, he founded the “We love Jazz” workshop, now one of the biggest events in Europe for jazz teaching.