Records 1.5.4

Various Artists - The Ace Story, Volume 4 (2012) {Ace Records CDCHD1337 rec 1954-1962}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 216 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 136 Mb
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© 1954-62, 2012 Ace Records | CDCHD 1337
Rhythm & Blues / Rock & Roll / Early R&B / Soul / Funk / New Orleans R&B / Blues

The five original volumes of “The Ace (MS) Story” were part of the backbone of our catalogue during our early days. They disappeared for a long while after our licensing agreement with Johnny Vincent expired, but we were delighted to restore three of the original five to catalogue in 2010 and 2011. Judging by their sales figures, we were not the only ones to be delighted.

Del Shannon - The Complete UK Singles (and more) 1961-1966 (2013) {2CD Set, Ace Records CDTOP2 1360}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 464 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 223 Mb
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© 1961-66, 2013 Ace Records | CDTOP2 1360
Pop / AM Pop / Rock and Roll / Oldies / Early Pop / Teen Idols

Del Shannon’s formidable hit list qualifies him as one of the truly great artists of the 1960s. Del made #1 on both sides of the Atlantic with his first 45, ‘Runaway’, and for the next few years he delivered the chart goods again and again with some of the best singles ever made – most of which he wrote or co-wrote. This new Ace set is, we believe, the first to present Del’s UK 45s, as released between 1960 and 1966, in the order they appeared here and in the same couplings used on the original London and Stateside pressings (which often differed from their US counterparts).

Various Artists - The Ace Story, Volume 3 (2011) {Ace Records CDCHD1297 rec 1956-1965}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 232 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 130 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 21 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1956-65, 2011 Ace Records | CDCHD 1297
Rhythm & Blues / Rock & Roll / Early R&B / Soul / Funk / New Orleans R&B

In revisiting the strength and depth of Johnny Vincent’s original Ace imprint, and its subsidiaries Rex and Vin, what’s immediately obvious is the quality of the often freewheeling studio musicians who recorded for the label. With rampant saxes and rolling pianos, more than likely anchored by Earl Palmer’s tight drumming, the Ace ensembles hit the button every time with their rocky, earthy tracks.

Johnny "Guitar" Watson - Untouchable! The Classic 1959-1966 Recordings (2007) {Ace Records CDCHD 1180}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 235 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 158 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 24 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1959-66, 2007 Ace Records | CDCHD 1180
Rhythm & Blues / Blues / Electric Blues / Early R&B

Veteran photographer Brian Smith has good reason to remember the night of 3 April 1965 that R&B legend Johnny “Guitar”’ Watson played Manchester’s Twisted Wheel club, with sidekick- Larry Williams, “It was the first time I took out my wife [39 years married, last June] - though I still stuck to the job in hand and buggered off to the ‘Wheel All-Nighter’ after I had put her on the bus home. I got a few decent black and whites on at Twisted Wheel, and then a couple at the Princess Club, same week: on stage, and some posed too.”

The Salsoul Orchestra - Street Sense (1979) {2014 Remastered & Expanded - Big Break Records CDBBR 0264}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 455 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 149 Mb
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© 1979, 2014 Big Break Records / Cherry Red / Verse Music | CDBBR 0264
Soul / Funk / Disco / Philly Soul / Post Disco

THE SALSOUL ORCHESTRA was the brainchild of once MFSB member and legendary vibraphonist, Vince Montana Jr. Formed in 1974, THE SALSOUL ORCHESTRA, house band for the remarkable Salsoul Records, sometimes featured up to 50 members amongst its ranks including a number of former musicians from MFSB, and fused elements of Funk, Latin, Disco and Philly Soul into their compositions. Conducted and arranged by Montana, THE SALSOUL ORCHESTRA began an eight-year recording period in 1975 releasing eleven sensational albums during that time featuring production input from, Stan Lucas, Patrick Adams and Bunny Sigler through the years.

The Austrian Document Records label begins its series of CDs presenting Leadbelly's commercial recordings in chronological order from 1939, although annotator Ken Romanowski acknowledges that the singer "had recorded a combined total of well over two hundred titles" prior to that date, tracks made either for the Library of Congress or ARC Records under the auspices of John Lomax. Still, most of those tracks had not been issued, and, contrarily, most became readily available later on either Elektra or Columbia Records. Two exceptions are 1935 alternate takes of "Daddy I'm Coming Back to You" (take three) and "Shorty George" (take two), which lead this album off as bonus tracks…

The Salsoul Orchestra - How High (1979) {2014 Remastered & Expanded - Big Break Records CDBBR 0270}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 399 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 146 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 57 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1979, 2014 Big Break Records / Cherry Red / Verse Music | CDBBR 0270
R'n'B / Funk / Disco / Soul / Philly Soul

BBR is proud to bring you HOW HIGH, the seventh instalment of our Salsoul Orchestra reissues. THE SALSOUL ORCHESTRA was the brainchild of once MFSB member and legendary vibraphonist, Vince Montana Jr. Formed in 1974, THE SALSOUL ORCHESTRA, house band for the remarkable Salsoul Records, sometimes featured up to 50 members amongst its ranks including a number of former musicians from MFSB, and fused elements of Funk, Latin, Disco and Philly Soul into their compositions. THE SALSOUL ORCHESTRA began an eight-year recording period in 1975 releasing eleven sensational albums during that time featuring production input from, Stan Lucas, Patrick Adams, Bunny Sigler and Tom Moulton through the years.

After 35 years and the release of over 2800 contemporary blues tracks, it's safe to say that Bruce Iglauer's Alligator Records is the world's premier blues label, particularly if sheer numbers are factored in, and while the label's releases tend to sound mind-numbingly similar sometimes, this two-disc overview of Alligator's history shows how much raw vitality the blues still has in its tank. Alligator Records 35X35, arranged chronologically and featuring a selection drawn from each of the artist's debut albums with Alligator, gets rolling right where it all began, with Hound Dog Taylor's "She's Gone" from 1971, and marches through to 2004, closing the second disc with a stunning version of "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" (here called "A Dying Man's Plea") by the great Mavis Staples, who makes clear the deep affinity of gospel to the blues, or vice versa, since the two forms philosophically complete each other, the way Saturday marches straight into Sunday.