Truck Xxl From Nr.14, 29 Juni 12 Juli 2015

"In our imaginations, John was Buddy Holly and I was Little Richard." So said Paul McCartney many moons ago, admitting the key influences on both himself and John Lennon in terms of the pair’s initial vocal styling. In fact, Messrs Holly and Penniman were just two artists whose impact on The Beatles was evident from the band’s choice of cover tunes. Indeed, all of the tracks featured on this bespoke Mojo compilation were covered by John, Paul, George and Ringo during the band’s formative period.
Our 15-track collection starts with The Isley Brothers’ uproarious 1959 hit, Shout. The Beatles themselves first cut their version at London’s IBC Studios on April 19, 1964, for inclusion in Jack Good’s TV extravaganza, Around The Beatles. The latter was broadcast in the UK on May 6 and November 15 in the US…

Jimmy LaFave’s rich, effusive vocals command attention and when the Austin, Texas-based singer pairs them with the right material, wonderful music results. That’s what happens on nearly every track on his self-produced latest album. LaFave—whose voice reminds me at times of the great Michael Fracasso’s—brings out every bit of melancholy in Neil Young’s “Journey through the Past” and serves up a soulful, anthemic reading of Bob Dylan’s classic “Queen Jane Approximately.” (LaFave is no stranger to Dylan covers: a 1999 retrospective includes a dozen of Bob’s songs and 2007’s Cimarron Manifesto features a reading of “Not Dark Yet” that nearly equals the spellbinding original.)

UK four CD box. This is a 74 track set featuring pretty much all the band recorded during their time with Virgin Records. Includes the hit singles "Babylon's Burning" (#7), "Something That I Said" (#29), "Staring At The Rude Boys" (#22) and "West One (Sine On Me)" (#43). Disc 1 has the #16 charting debut LP The Crack bolstered by six non LP bonus tracks. Disc 2 features the Top 30 Grin N Bear It odds n sods LP which now comes with two bonus tracks plus previously unreleased BBC Radio 1 Kid Jensen session that is something of a "Holy Grail" amongst Punk collectors. The third disc comes with three John Peel sessions plus a lively nine track BBC In Concert show from 1979. The fourth disc is a warts n all show from The Marquee in July 1979, never before officially released and capturing the band at their "in yer face" confrontational best. Packaged in a clam shell box with a 20 page booklet featuring detailed liner notes by Roland Link who has just published the bands biography Love In Vain.

In Spring 2015 the Academy of Ancient Music – described as “the finest period-instrument orchestra in the world” by Classic FM – releases a significant new recording of JS Bach St Matthew Passion BWV244, directed from the harpsichord by Richard Egarr.
Performed in the original 1727 version, and with a superlative roster of soloists, this recording is striking in its immediacy, clarity and directness, with numerous insightful and compelling details lost in subsequent versions.

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.