Seisaku's Wife (1965)

There's something affecting about Lightnin' Hopkins' off-the-cuff approach. Whether he's in the studio or before an audience, he gives the impression of a guitar player and singer who's just doing his own thing. When he breaks out a signature piece like "Mojo Hand," he isn't really trying to impress the listener as much as do what he does best: just play a little blues. Recorded in 1965, Live at Newport captures Hopkins in a loose mood communing with an appreciative audience. The mostly solo electric set apparently didn't cause any controversy (as Dylan's electric set with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band would in 1965). The nice thing about the album is that all the material seems to have come from the same set, giving the listener a taste of what seeing Hopkins at Newport might have been like…

"Mississippi" Fred McDowell played simple, haunting blues with vivid, demonstrative passion and power. He wasn't a great guitarist, but his voicings and backings were always memorable, while his singing never lacked intensity or conviction or failed to hold interest. This 1965 set contains mostly McDowell compositions, with the exception of the set's final number, a nearly seven-minute exposition of Big Bill Broonzy's "Louise." Assisted only at times by his wife Annie, Fred McDowell makes every song entertaining, whether they're humorous, poignant, reflective, or bemused.

The classic John Coltrane Quartet made one of its final appearances at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1965. The tension among bandmembers is evident on the advanced versions of "One Down, One Up" and "My Favorite Things." Coltrane's performance is moving…yet weary. It's apparent the saxophonist wasn't getting the sound he wanted and by the end of the year he would take a different direction, hiring Pharoah Sanders and wife Alice Coltrane for the band. Tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp's earlier afternoon New Thing performance includes engaging versions of "Call Me by My Rightful Name" and "Gingerbread, Gingerbread Boy" (included as a bonus track on this package) with Bobby Hutcherson on vibes.

This limited-edition version of The Cutting Edge 1965-1966 is where Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series meets Sony's Copyright Extension series…

In 1998, BGO released Del Shannon Sings Hank Williams/One Thousand Six-Hundred Sixty-One Seconds of Del Shannon, combining his last two albums for the Amy label on one CD. The two are rather different records conceptually; one devoted to the work of a single composer, while the other shows Shannon covering many of the hits of the day in its own style, as well as presenting his version of an original - "I Go to Pieces," which was a hit in the hands of Peter & Gordon - is linked to Shannon's version by some of the backing musicians he uses, as well as the chronology, and the CD also constitutes a pretty strong display of Shannon's range as a performer and recording artist, encompassing everyone from Hank Williams to the Four Seasons with astonishing consistency.