You Can't Lose Them All

Ray Charles - The Complete Country & Western Recordings 1959-1986 {4CD Box Set Rhino R2 75328 rel 1998}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.80 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 704 Mb
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© 1959-86, 1998 Rhino | R2 75328
Jazz / Country Soul / Jazz Blues / R'n'B / Soul

Ray Charles' explorations into country music were no mere dalliance. They have their genesis in "I'm Movin' On," the last record he made for Atlantic before moving on to ABC Paramount in 1960. But it was with the enormously successful Modern Sounds in Country & Western series of albums in 1962 (and the career making single "I Can't Stop Lovin' You") that made their mark, crossing over genre boundaries that were unthinkable at the time. An African-American doing hillbilly music was not a first, nor were uptown arrangements of hillbilly songs, but here was the Genius of Soul validating the music of the white working class, plain and simple.

One of America's best blues-rock guitarists, Jimmy Thackery plays hard-driving music that is best suited for the stage, but this album does him justice. He can get down and boogie with the best of them (as he shows on the good-natured opener, "Let the Guitar Do the Work"), play a stunning instrumental ("Fender Bender"), or just plain rock hard ("Devil's Toolbox"), and his music is leavened with a sense of humor – listen to him rework Henry Mancini's "A Shot in the Dark" as a sort of surf blues. This is not really subtle music, but it's all mightily effective, and Thackery is a seasoned enough professional not to become self-indulgent with his solos. He gets in, does the job, and gets out again.

DEPECHE MODE Singles 1 - 36. Set of six - yes SIX - 2004 US issue 6-CD single box sets, featuring all the singles from Dreaming Of Me through to Dream On, plus remixes, live recordings and CD-Rom videos, all housed in six 6" x 5" black boxes numbered in white. The boxes on this set all have marks on the front from the original deletion strikes, made through the barcodes when they were still sealed. Still a stunning set and a fantastic way to secure a full set of boxes, a greatprice at far less than buying individually - if you can even find them!