Kent And Modern Records Blues

The blues didn’t stop with the end of the 50s – as soul ruled the charts, the grittier end of black music was well represented by the artists on this compilation. Great guitar playing to the fore.

The blues didn’t stop with the end of the 50s – as soul ruled the charts, the grittier end of black music was well represented by the artists on this compilation. Great guitar playing to the fore.

B.B. King - "Here's One You Didn't Know About": from the RPM & Kent Vaults (2015) {Ace Records CDTOP1457 rec 1954-1962}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 413 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 191 Mb
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© 1954-62, 2015 Modern Records / Ace Records | CDTOP 1457
Blues / Modern Electric Blues / Soul Blues / Early R&B / Memphis Blues

The great bluesman B.B. King, who died in 2015, was one of the few artists whose every note was of interest. This 25-track CD of mostly previously unissued recordings are drawn from his sessions for Modern Records between 1954 and 1962. Be Careful Baby is a rare thing a B.B. King song that has never been released before in any version, while two tracks appeared on Ace's 2014 RPM compilation Speak Easy. The version of Catfish Blues is from a completely different session to the familiar issued version and from B.B.'s commentary appears to be the version he played on the road. There are many comments from B.B. and the band which provide an insight into the recording process and B.B.'s relaxed and informal manner in the studio. The CD ends with a previous unheard interview, recorded backstage at the Fillmore Ballroom in San Francisco with radio station KSAY at the 10/10 spot on your dial. All tracks are from the original master tapes.

Ace does it again - of course. These two discs, The Complete Modern and Kent Recordings, contain every side that the young powerhouse Etta James cut for Modern, Crown, and Kent between 1955 and 1961. There are 42 cuts on these two discs, remastered and sequenced painstakingly according to release date. There are no less than seven previously unissued cuts, and two more that have appeared only on Ace compilations. (There's a killer alternate take of "Hey Henry" here that rivals the released version). Fans will have a lot of this material in various places, but this collection puts everything together in one slamming package. The first disc is comprised exclusively of sides recorded for Modern between '55 and '57…

B.B. King - The Blues (1958) {2005 Remastered & Expanded, Crown–Ace Records CDCHM1084}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 165 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 105 Mb
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© 1958, 2005 Crown Records | Ace Records | CDCHM 1084
Blues / Modern Electric Blues / Soul-Blues / Memphis Blues

Originally released in 1958 by the budget-priced Crown label, The Blues collected a dozen sides B.B. King cut for RPM and Kent between 1951 and 1958. (RPM and Kent were owned by the Bahari Brothers who also ran Crown, which explains how one of the true prestige artists of the blues ended up on such a notoriously cheap-o label.) As was often the case with Crown's product, The Blues used a single hit tune (in this case "When My Heart Beats Like a Hammer," a Top Ten R&B chart entry in 1954) to help sell a package of lesser-known material, but thankfully the label also picked some great tunes that hardly sound like filler, even if they didn't make the charts.

His complete recordings for the Bihari brothers’ Kent label, together on one package for the first time, including many making their CD debut.

Various Artists - Speak Easy: The RPM Records Story Volume 2, 1954-1957 (2014) {2CD Set, Ace Records CDTOP2 1421}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 567 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 347 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 45 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1954-57, 2014 RPM Records / Ace Records | CDTOP2 1421
Blues / Rhythm & Blues / Rock & Roll

As proof that Ace remains committed to the music that helped build its reputation as a foremost archivist of vintage R&B, this month we bring you our second package chronicling the output of Modern’s longest-running subsidiary of the 1950s, RPM. “Speak Easy” joins the RPM catalogue at the end of 1953 – the point where we left it on the first volume – and carries on through to the label’s final releases of late 1957. Although the focus is primarily on blues and R&B, a smattering of pop and rockabilly is also included. Every one of the important artists to record for RPM is heard on at least one selection – more in the case of bigger names such as B.B. King.