Atlantic 1947

This eight-CD set should be a part of any collection that presumes to take American music - not just rock & roll or rhythm & blues - seriously. Atlantic Records was one of dozens of independent labels started up after the war by neophyte executives and producers, but it was different from most of the others in that the guys who ran it were honest and genuinely loved music. Coupled with a lot of luck and some good judgment, the results trace a good chunk of the history of American music and popular culture. Disc one opens with cuts which slot in somewhere midway between jazz, bop, and "race" music (as the term was used then). Disc two is pure, distilled R&B, the stuff filling the airwaves of black radio and the jukeboxes in the "wrong" parts of town in 1952-54….

This is the third and final volume in the complete recordings of Lil Green in chronological order as reissued by the Classics Blues & Rhythm Series. By 1947 Lil Green was beginning to sound more than a little like Ida Cox, even when handling songs from Tin Pan Alley rather than straight up out of the tried and true traditional blues repertoire. Comparisons could also be drawn between Lil Green and Nellie Lutcher or Julia Lee. While her "crossover" performances are worthwhile, there's nothing quite like hearing this woman savor the flavor of Bessie Smith hits like "Aggravatin' Papa," "Outside of That," and "You've Been a Good Old Wagon (But You Done Broke Down)." Green's own "Lonely Woman" has a powerful undercurrent running through it – there is even a remote possibility that Ornette Coleman was inspired by this record when conceiving his own composition of the same title in 1959. Even if the link is purely coincidental, these melodies have something wonderful in common. Green's final recordings for the Victor label are strengthened by the presence of tenor saxophonists Budd Johnson, Lem Johnson, and David Young.

Founded in 1947 by avid jazz fans and record collectors Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson with a $10,000 loan from Ertegun’s dentist, Atlantic Records ended up being one of the most successful independent labels in the history of recorded music, and a litany of the label’s artists over the past 60-plus years is stunning in its diversity, ranging from John Coltrane and Big Joe Turner to Kid Rock and Gnarls Barkley and several points in-between. This “time capsule” – nine discs of music, one DVD documentary, and a 45 rpm 7" of Sticks McGee's “Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-Oh-Dee,” plus several little bits of flare and memorabilia and a book of photographs, all of it housed in a sturdy metal box – simply confirms what most pop music fans already knew: Atlantic Records is one hell of a record company.

20 original albums recorded beetween 1959 and 1975 on the legendary soul label Atlantic, including Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Solomon Burke‘s masterpieces, the classic Stax/Volt recordings by Booker T. & The M.G.’s, Rufus Thomas, Sam and Dave, Eddie Floyd and Ben E. King, Percy Sledge, Don Covay and Donny Hathaway’s legendary LPs. Also includes material previously unreleased on CD, such as Sam Dee's classic The Show Must Go On.

Bob Howard made a remarkable number of recordings during 1935-38, enough to fill up five LPs. With the popularity of Fats Waller, Howard was signed by Decca as competition but he never came close despite the utilization of some notable sidemen. Howard moved to New York in 1926 and performed as a solo act. He was a fixture on 52nd Street in the 1930's, including at the Hickory House, Park Central Hotel and the Famous Door among others. Howard recorded five selections during 1931-32 for Columbia (three solo sides that included his vocals and two duets with trumpeter Manny Klein). A decent pianist, Howard stuck exclusively to goodtime vocals during his Decca period and among the other players on his records were Benny Carter (on trumpet and alto), trumpeters Bunny Berigan and Marty Marsala, clarinetists Buster Bailey, Barney Bigard, Cecil Scott and Artie Shaw, pianists Teddy Wilson…

Big Maybelle - Candy! 1956-1959 (2001) {2CD Set, Savoy–Atlantic 93018-2}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 543 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 304 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 76 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1956-59, 2001 Savoy / Atlantic / Denon Corporation | 93018-2
Blues / East Coast Blues / Jump Blues / Soul Blues

The belter moved over to Newark, NJ-based Savoy midway through the decade and continued to prosper: "Candy," "Ramblin' Blues," and the intense "Blues Early, Early" rate with her finest cuts. "Ring Dang Dilly" and "Tell Me Who" rock with the seemingly effortless swing peculiar to New York's R&B scene at the time, thanks to the presence of saxists Warren Luckey and Jerome Richardson and guitarists Mickey Baker and Kenny Burrell, among others.

In 2007 the Classics Chronological Series began reissuing every recording known to have been made by pianist Joe Bushkin (1916-2004), starting with the Commodore and Savoy sessions of 1940-1946. Released in 2008, the sequel to that amazing collection delves even deeper into the discographical dilemma of Bushkin's recording activities by tracing his movements during the years 1947-1950, beginning with six sides by Joe Bushkin & His Rhythm that originally appeared on 10" Royale and Rondo-lette LPs. This grab bag of obscure delights includes V-Disc jams, collaborations with cornetist Bobby Hackett and trumpeters Buck Clayton and Roy Eldridge, a smart take of "I May Be Wrong" sung by Liza Morrow, and a two-part romp through "Indiana" drawn from an MGM sampler called Maggie Fisher's Piano Playhouse. Tracks 15-24 are piano solos, recorded on February 24 and 25, 1950, and issued on one of the first-ever Atlantic LPs, I Love a Piano. A marvelous improviser and a skilled interpreter of popular melodies with a background in both Chicago-style and big-band swing, Joe Bushkin was now helping to establish the great mid-20th century genre of keyboard mood music.