James « Sugar Boy » Crawford

Various Artists - Heavy Sugar Second Spoonful: More Pure Essence Of New Orleans R&B (1954-1960) {3CD Fantastic Voyage FVTD131 rel 2011}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 527 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 362 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 16 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1954-60, 2010 Fantastic Voyage | FVTD131
Rhythm & Blues / Rock ‘n’ Roll / Rockabilly

Following the critical acclaim and enthusiastic response to Heavy Sugar: The Pure Essence of New Orleans R&B, compiler Stuart Colman has dug deep into the city’s unique recording legacy to bring about a sumptuous second helping. In addition to the requisite sourcings, the net has been cast wider still in order to focus on material gleaned from such picayune outlets as Rustone, Pontchartrain, Athens, Winner and Spinett. There is a very good reason for this.

In 2008, the idea of a rock band doing their proverbial thing in Egypt holds far less cache than it did 30 years prior. However, it was unquestionably a novel notion when the Grateful Dead sought to begin diplomatic talks between the U.S. Government and Egyptian officials to allow for the band to bring their "long, strange trip" to Cairo's Gizah Sound & Light Theater in mid-September of 1978. Considering the precarious political state of the world at the time, it is a minor miracle that these shows came off at all. Rocking the Cradle: Egypt 1978 (2008) gathers two-and-a-half hours of highlights from the September 15 and 16, 1978 performances – with the vast majority coming from the latter date. While they played on the 13th (as a sort of sound check) and the 14th as well, there is no music from either date located here…

Various Artists - The Chess Story: 1947-1975 (2000) {14CD Box Set, MCA–Universal 3805962}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 4.61 Gb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 178 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1947-75, 2000 MCA / Universal | 3805962
Blues / Chicago Blues / Electric Blues / Regional Blues

First the good news, which is really good: the sound on this 340-song set is about as good as one ever fantasized it could be, and that means it runs circles around any prior reissues; from the earliest Aristocrat sides by the Five Blazers and Jump Jackson & His Orchestra right up through Muddy Waters' "Going Down to Main Street," it doesn't get any better than this set. The clarity pays a lot of bonuses, beginning with the impression that it gives of various artists' instrumental prowess. In sharp contrast to the past efforts in this direction by MCA, however, the producers of this set have not emasculated the sound in the course of cleaning it up, as was the case with the Chuck Berry box, in particular.

Various Artists - Rhythm 'n' Bluesin' By The Bayou: Rompin' & Stompin' (2014) {Ace Records CDCHD 1388}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 222 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 135 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 33 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2014 Ace Records | CDCHD 1388
Rock & Roll / Rhythm & Blues / Blues / South Louisiana

Letting the good times roll again, with this second visit to the dynamic South Louisiana R&B scene there is no waver in the quality of music. We’ve added the work of another Louisiana record man, Sam Montel from Baton Rouge, to the vast stockpile of material in the vaults of J.D. Miller, Eddie Shuler, Floyd Soileau and Jake Graffagnino. Sam (originally Montalbano) got into the music business when his childhood friend Jimmy Clanton hit the charts. Sam became his road manager and the whole scene got into his blood. He decided to start his own record label when only 18 years old. His first release, Lester Robertson’s ‘My Girl Across Town’, is included here, as is a previously unissued outing from Robertson.

New Orleans surely has one of the richest musical cultures of any metropolitan area in the world. In addition to being hailed as the birthplace of jazz, it has also spawned nationally successful and creative musicians in every imaginable musical genre: the blues like Snooks Eaglin, soul singers like Irma Thomas, Aaron Neville, and Lee Dorsey, the R&B from Ernie K-Doe, and genre-hopping figures like Allen Toussaint and Dr. John, to name just a few. There are tracks from many well-known figures, Clifton Chenier, Professor Longhair, a cut of bluesy jazz made famous by Louis Armstrong and a wave in the direction of Latin music, the funk, the brass and of course Mardi Gras tunes and the many tunes for horn lines.