Gettin It 2006

To get an idea of exactly how many Ronnie Milsap collections are on the market, just turn to the back page of the booklet for RCA/Legacy's 2006 double-disc set The Essential Ronnie Milsap, where it lists other Ronnie albums you might also enjoy. There are ten listed, all but one of them a compilation (that would be his very, very good 2006 comeback, My Life). Which begs the natural question, is The Essential Ronnie Milsap needed? Especially since there is already another compilation called The Essential Ronnie Milsap (dating from 1995), and there already was an excellent double-disc set called 40 #1 Hits released six years earlier? The answer is, yes it is, particularly since 40 #1 Hits has fallen out of print. Of course, it also helps that Essential is an expertly chosen and sequenced collection of Milsap's best work, from 1973's "(All Together Now) Let's Fall Apart" and running all the way to 1989's "A Woman in Love."

This 30-song, double-CD set is the 21st century successor to Rhino's 1990-vintage single-disc Tommy James & the Shondells Anthology. The same 27 songs by the group are here in state-of-the-art remastering (not that the older disc was bad, by any means), a few switched in order, and they're augmented by a trio of Tommy James solo sides, "Draggin' the Line," "Nothing to Hide," and "Tighter, Tighter," and new notes by Bill Holdship. From "Hanky Panky" (which hit nationally in 1966) to 1970s "Come to Me," it's all great fun, though with few surprises for longtime fans. For the uninitiated who only know this outfit for a few songs, however, there may be a minor revelation or two in the range of material that this group seemed to toss off so cavalierly into the AM radio ether – from crunchy rock & roll and sugary pop/rock to shimmering psychedelia and sunshine pop, they did it all well, and in about as listener-friendly a fashion as anyone this side of the Beatles. Indeed, this set is another reminder that, like their AM radio rivals Paul Revere & the Raiders, Tommy James and company were underestimated even by a lot of their fans, and certainly by most critics.

Die Hamburger Jazzszene ihre Vielfalt und Lebendigkeit bringen so manchen Musikliebhaber zum Schwärmen. Nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg fanden sich in der Stadt an der Elbe hunderte spielhungriger Bands zusammen, für die bald auch unzählige Auftrittsorte entstanden. Der Cotton Club oder Dennis Swing Club wer kennt sie nicht? Für die Fans des Hamburger Jazz und alle, die mehr darüber erfahren möchten, entstand diese umfangreiche Kollektion. In Wort, Bild und Ton wird der Werdegang einer einmaligen Szene lebendig: von der Zeit, als die Hafenstadt in Trümmern lag, bis hin zum Sound von heute. Sie halten ein Set in Händen, das aus 18 CDs und einem 300 Seiten starken Buch besteht.

A second helping of rare and obscure 1970s dance music. Includes exclusive re-edits and cover-ups. Contains ultimate rare disco collectors items!

A capable purveyor of R&B, intimate ballads, or boogie-woogie piano who sang in a high, sweet voice with soul and chutzpah similar to that of Lula Reed, Lil Green or Julia Lee, Viviane Greene made a series of fine little recordings for five different labels in San Francisco and Los Angeles between late 1947 and July 1955. This compilation claims to contain all of her recorded works with the exception of her 1962 Finer Arts material. The most dazzling tracks are without question her instrumentals, for Viviane Greene was a classically trained pianist who developed her chops working steadily at nightclubs in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Denver, Colorado.

Josefus' second album was actually an improvement over the band's first (Dead Man), by virtue of its more versatile songwriting, slightly better riffs, and occasional drifts beyond sub-Led Zeppelin-style early metal. All that considered, it's still a pedestrian Led Zeppelin-like Texas take on early hard rock-metal, though Pete Bailey's vocals are a little less obviously in the Robert Plant mold this time around. Less blues-based than Dead Man as well, it contains some of their better songs in "America," which shows the influence of lighter California-styled psychedelia, the odd "Jimmy, Jimmy," apparently about a friend unfairly institutionalized for freaking out (inspired by fellow Texan Roky Erickson by any chance?), and, most surprisingly, the gentle country-rock of "Such Is Life."