Although Adrian Belew has played with some of rock's biggest names over the years (Frank Zappa, David Bowie, the Talking Heads, King Crimson, etc.), he remains one of the most underrated and woefully overlooked guitarists of recent times…
This 60th Anniversary 60-CD Deluxe Edition celebrates RCA Victor's signing of Elvis Presley-The King of rock 'n' roll. Features all of the albums Elvis recorded and RCA released in his lifetime: studio, soundtrack, and live. It also includes compilations released that featured unreleased songs or songs new to the LP format.
The Shadows are usually thought of as the quintessential British instrumental group and, along with the American band the Ventures and the Swedish group the Spotnicks, one of the most popular instrumental groups in the world. But that barely tells the story of their true significance in the history of British rock & roll – including the fact that they were the first homegrown British rock & roll band to dominate the U.K. charts, or that they weren't originally an instrumental group, either.
The most commercially successful pop group of the 1970s, the origins of the Swedish superstars ABBA dated back to 1966, when keyboardist and vocalist Benny Andersson, a onetime member of the popular beat outfit the Hep Stars, first teamed with guitarist and vocalist Bjorn Ulvaeus, the leader of the folk-rock unit the Hootenanny Singers…
Motown’s legendary songwriting/production team, Holland-Dozier-Holland, left the fold in 1967, to establish their own Invictus/Hot Wax group of labels. They had worldwide hits with their flagship act, Chairmen Of The Board, debuted the first album by Parliament, as well as scoring a UK #1 with Freda Payne’s ‘Band of Gold…
Spock's Beard began in 1992 when brothers Neal (lead vocals) and Al Morse (guitar) teamed up with drummer Nick D'Virgilio. After self-financing their first album, bassist Dave Meros joined, and The Light was recorded in 1994. Consisting of four lengthy songs, this debut album was well received by progressive rock fans, but received little public acclaim…
He was beloved worldwide as the king of the endless boogie, a genuine blues superstar whose droning, hypnotic one-chord grooves were at once both ultra-primitive and timeless. But John Lee Hooker recorded in a great many more styles than that over a career that stretched across more than half a century. "The Hook" was a Mississippi native who became the top gent on the Detroit blues circuit in the years following World War II. The seeds for his eerily mournful guitar sound were planted by his stepfather, Will Moore, while Hooker was in his teens. Hooker had been singing spirituals before that, but the blues took hold and simply wouldn't let go. Overnight visitors left their mark on the youth, too: legends like Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton, and Blind Blake, who all knew Moore. Hooker heard Memphis calling while…
1978 Roots Reggae album reissued on CD for the first time. Born 1944 in Kingston, Jamaica Pat Kelly is rightly revered as one of the island’s best ever singers although he is less well known for his considerable contribution to reggae music as a highly accomplished recording engineer. Always a keen hard working student, while studying Electrical Engineering at Kingston Technical High School, Pat worked part time at Chin’s Radio Services on Church Street in downtown Kingston where the proprietor, Ivan Chin, operated one of Jamaica’s first recording studios. Pat was awarded a scholarship to continue his education in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA where, after three years, he graduated with a degree in Advanced Electronics.