Alan Meyers

Various Artists - The Bakersfield Sound - Country Music Capital Of The West 1940-1974 (2019) {10CD Set Bear Family BCD16036}
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© 1940-74, 2019 Bear Family Records | BCD 16036
Country / Traditional Country / Bakersfield Sound / Honky Tonk

Buck Owens turned Bakersfield, California into the epicenter of hip country music in the mid-'60s. All it took was a remarkable streak of number one singles that steam rolled right through Nashville with their electrified twang, forever changing the notion of what constituted country music and codifying the Bakersfield sound as hard-driving rhythms, trebly Telecasters, and lean arrangements suited for honky tonks, beer joints, and jukeboxes all across America. Half-a-century later, these remain sonic signifiers of Bakersfield, so the term no longer conveys a specific sound, place, and era, a situation the weighty Bear Family box The Bakersfield Sound: Country Music Capital of the West 1940-1974 intends to rectify.

This UK studio group comprised several of the country’s leading blues musicians. Saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith was a veteran of Blues Incorporated, the Graham Bond Organisation and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers before becoming a founder member of Colosseum, while John O’Leary (harmonica) and Keith Tillman (bass) were concurrently members of the John Dummer Blues Band. Stuart Cowell (guitar), Sam Crozier (piano), Junior Dunn (drums) and vocalists Annette Brox and Alan Greed completed the Sweet Pain line-up featured on the unit’s lone album…

Playwright Travalian feels pulled limb from limb these days. He has a Broadway play in rehearsal and they want rewrites. His tramp wife is leaving him, leaving him as well with four children from her previous marriages plus his own son. And his lead actress wants to move in with him but isn't used to kids.

Sarah Vaughan - The Complete Roulette Sarah Vaughan Studio Sessions (2002) [8CD BoxSet] {Mosaic 24-bit Remaster}
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© 2002 Mosaic Records / EMI-Capitol | MD8-214 | 24-bit remaster
Jazz / Vocal Jazz

Sarah Vaughan recorded frequently during her three years with Roulette, and all 16 albums she completed for them plus five previously unissued tracks are included in this comprehensive eight-CD boxed set from Mosaic. The gifted singer is heard in a variety of settings, from superb small-group sessions to big-band settings and various dates bordering on easy listening; the sessions omitting the often syrupy string sections are the cream of this bumper crop.

Eleven albums into their storied career, 1981's Raise! shows that Earth, Wind & Fire's signature blend of soulful grooves and sweet pop hooks remains unmatched. In fact, kinetic leadoff "Let's Groove" is one of the band's most timeless singles, with a rubbery Verdine White bassline that fills any dance floor within seconds. The jazzy, romantic swing of "Wanna Be With You" showcases Philip Bailey's keening falsetto, while the jittery "I've Had Enough" adds a note of New Wave snap to these smooth, slick tunes.