A deluxe 4cd set and a 2cd set. The annoying thing is that the 2cd set has a few songs that arent on the mega 4 disc version, so if you're a completist, you will need both and you end up with a lot of duplicate material. That is my only real problem with mofo, pretty much everything else about this box is fantastic. For me, the best part is the beautiul remaster of the original 1966 Stereo mix of "Freak Out!". The Freak Out cd that frank released in the 80's and is currently in print through rykodisc was a re-mix which sounds pretty good, but this original mix is much warmer and full of life. There is no contest as which mix I prefer, the original 1966 version is far superior in my opinion. The rest of the sets contains various alternate mixes, backing tracks, interviews, studio improvisations (all lead by Frank) and some early live recordings. There is one bonafide outtake "Groupie Bang Bang" which is as good as anything elese on the album. A great Bo Diddley type rhythm with hilarious lyrics (sung by Ray Collins) about, you guessed it, a groupie!
When The Rolling Stones’ former manager Allen Klein assembled one of the band’s earliest compilation series in 1971 and 1972 (Hot Rocks 1964-1971 and More Hot Rocks), he was surveying an entirely different group than the one we know today. Four and a half decades later, there’s a whole lot more catalog to consider than what that original, unassailable run of ’60s albums offered at the time. Honk essentially picks up where Hot Rocks left off, plucking 36 tunes from a range of LPs starting with 1971’s Sticky Fingers and ending with 2016’s Blue & Lonesome. But while that timeframe is broad, the focus is stylistically tight. Aside from a few classic ballads (“Wild Horses,” “Angie”), Honk serves as a reminder of what the band built their name on: strutting rockers and barroom stompers.
The late Esther Phillips (1935-1984) has often been considered one of the ‘unsung’ pioneers in the world of R&B, stretching back to the early ‘50s when as a child star working with famed bandleader Johnny Otis, she enjoyed a run of chart-topping singles at the age of 15, making her the youngest female artist to ever have an No. 1 R&B hit at the time. The Texas-born vocalist returned in 1962 with a soulful version of the country hit, ‘Release Me’ for Lenox Records, subsequently signing with Atlantic Records for whom she recorded a total of four full albums between 1964-1970 with a brief spell at Roulette Records in 1969.
For 30 years, Backyard Babies has delivered top of the line rock'n'roll, both live and recorded. The fact that the original four guys that started the band still are playing together, is next to unique.
Classic Hits 1938-52 is a five-disc, 123-track collection of Big Joe Turner's earliest recording sessions before finding stardom with his mid-'50s R&B sides. While this JSP set isn't extravagant, it's a luxury to have Turner's sides for National, Aladdin, Freedom, MGM, and Imperial remastered and together in one collection. The final disc also includes the Boss of the Blues' first recordings for Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun of Atlantic Records: "Chains of Love," "Sweet Sixteen," "Poor Lover's Blues," and "Still in Love (With You)." Turner tackles blues, swing, and fiery up-tempo jump blues, assisted by Pete Johnson, Wynonie Harris, Pee Wee Crayton, Budd Johnson, Dave Bartholomew, Fats Domino, Joe Houstin, Albert Ammons, Don Byas, Art Tatum, and Hot Lips Page. While this is a collector's dream, the casual listener would do better with Big, Bad & Blue: The Big Joe Turner Anthology on Rhino.
This is a great collection of rare and hard to find tunes compiled by Jeffrey Glenn. Hundreds of odds & ends by little known groups, famous singers, and famous singers before they became famous.
Whoa. There are many Etta James collections out there. The standard-bearers thus far have been the Chess Box and the Essential Etta James. This set attempts to do something else and goes deep into her catalog to dig out the gems from her years with Modern, Argo, Cadet, Chess, Warner Brothers, Island, and Private Music/BMG, and presents the full spectrum of her five-decade career. As such, there are many different kinds of songs here revealing the complexity of the vocalist herself, and as such, thus becomes a real portrait of the artist. Juxtapose, for instance, early sides like "The Wallflower Dance (Dance With Me Henry)," with its wild R&B bravado and the deep soul-blues of "All I Could Do Is Cry," the balladry of "The Man I Love," the bone-crushing blues of "The Sky Is Crying," and the torch song ballad technique on "My Dearest Darling," and the despairing soul inherent in songs such as "All the Way Down," and the listener begins to get an idea of just how vast and deep James talent really is. These 23 cuts give a fine and full picture of all that diversity without sacrificing a note of quality.