Electric Rider

Wild & greasy blues at its best, a two-song session for an anthology turned into an all-night, live-in-the-studio jam. Sounds like it was great fun.
Signing to Alligator in the mid-'80s, they released their debut album, Roughhousin', in 1986 and found themselves receiving national attention. They began playing urban clubs and festivals all over the country and eventually toured Canada, Europe, and Japan.

Wow, but, this is a great movie! With an excellent topic: Two young rebels and… traffickers, running on their motorcycles in the middle to "The Flowers Era." With good performances, great actors: Nicholson, Fonda, Hopper and… the music!

Cut of the same cloth as his famous father, Elmore James, Jr. is a legitimate blues man in the best sense. He plays electric guitar and sings quite well, not with the intensity of his dad, but that shouldn't be expected. What he has become is a seasoned professional with the right attitude, consistently interpreting Chicago-style 12-bar blues without watering it down. In a world where contemporary pop and soul have invaded authentic blues, what James is laying down is definitely the real thing. It's also commendable that he borrows from a repertoire of well-known songs, while adding others that have a certain flair and originality, keeping the fire of his legendary father burning brightly on both ends.

Second Winter, Johnny Winter's second album for Columbia, originally had the distinction of being the only album in rock history that was a three-sided double LP. Musically, 35 years after its original release, Second Winter is still an oddity. Issued by Sony's Legacy division, the set has been painstakingly remastered, and expanded by bonus cuts and an entire disc of live material. It's too bluesed-out to be a pure rock record, and too psychedelically dimensioned to be a pure blues album. Tommy Shannon calls it "power blues." And as for whatever else passed for blues-rock at the time – Cream, Hendrix, Canned Heat, etc. – forget it. This set is a whole different animal. Cut in Nashville with all tracks begin done within one or two takes, the energy of Second Winter is undeniable. The sheer range of styles Winter assaulted in his restless quest is astonishing too.

Duane Allman - An Anthology, Vol II (1974) {2CD Set 2008 SHM-CD Japan Mini LP, Universal Japan UICY-93509~10}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 546 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 190 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 18 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1974, 2008 Universal / Capricorn | UICY-93509/10
Rock / Blues Rock / Southern Rock / Blues

Cardboard sleeve (mini LP) reissue from Gregg Allman featuring the high quality SHM-CD format, the latest remastering, and Cardboard sleeve replica of the original English LP artwork. The session work with other players here isn't quite as good as the material on the first anthology, but An Anthology, Vol. 2 does feature a live cut by Delaney & Bonnie, plus a pair of what were then previously unissued Allman Brothers Band live tracks (among them "Midnight Rider" from the Fillmore East in June 1971). There's another good Duane Allman solo number and a good Hour Glass track ("Been Gone Too Long"), more session work with Aretha Franklin and King Curtis, Ronnie Hawkins ("Matchbox"), Wilson Pickett ("Born to Be Wild"), Johnny Jenkins, Boz Scaggs, Sam Samudio, and Otis Rush. The annotation here isn't as thorough as it was on the first volume, but anyone who owns the first double-CD set will almost certainly have to own this one as well, and for a set there's a lot of very good music.