Boy And Bear

Formed in 2009 as a solo vehicle for Sydney-based singer/songwriter Dave Hosking, Boy & Bear specializes in evocative and heartfelt indie folk-rock in the vein of contemporaries like Fleet Foxes, Bombay Bicycle Club, and Mumford & Sons. Rounded out by guitarist Killian Gavin, bass player Dave Symes, and brothers Tim (drums) and Jon Hart (mandolin, keyboards), the Aussie quintet inked a record deal with Island Records on the strength of its independently released first single, "Mexican Mavis." The group's debut EP, With Emperor Antarctica, dropped in early 2010, followed in 2011 by Boy & Bear's debut long-player, Moonfire, which went platinum in their native Australia. The band's sophomore outing, 2013's Harlequin Dream, would go gold.

Fats Domino - I've Been Around: The Complete Imperial and ABC-Paramount Recordings (2019) {12CD Set, Bear Family BCD17579}
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© 1948-65, 2015 Bear Family Records | BCD 17579
Early Rhythm & Blues / Rock & Roll / New Orleans R&B / Swamp-Pop / Piano Blues

We could have taken the easy way out. The original 1993 box set was out of stock. We could simply have printed more copies and filled orders. Of course, we didn’t. This is Bear Family Records and we don’t take shortcuts. We’ve invested more than 1000 hours in re-writing, recompiling and re-mastering this box. The brilliant engineering by Christian Zwarg will leave you shaking your head in admiration. You won’t quite recognize some of your favorite Fats Domino tracks because they’ve never sounded this good.

Freddie Hart - Juke Joint Boogie (2004) {Bear Family Records BCD16727AH rec 1953-1961}
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© 1953-61, 2004 Bear Family Records | BCD 16727 AH
Honky Tonk / Country Pop / Rockabilly / Rock & Roll

Many fans of Freddie Hart's sexy '70s love songs may not realize that his recording career began way back in 1953 when he was an aspiring honky-tonker and songwriter. Juke Joint Boogie is a 33-track anthology that looks at the early years of Hart's career when he recorded with producers Ken Nelson and Don Law at Capitol and Columbia Records, cutting straight country as well as hybridized songs intended to catch some of the pop market. Juke Joint Boogie offers an extended but incomplete survey of Hart's recordings from 1953-61, omitting dozens of tracks in spite of its generous program.

Any casual listener looking over this 132-track five-CD set would probably conclude that it was far more Bill Haley than they need bite off in one gulp - and they'd be right, as casual listeners. For the serious rock & roll enthusiast, as well as the hardcore Bill Haley fan, however, there's a wealth of worthwhile material to be found here, some of which will amaze even those fans: a dozen great songs and 55 or so more that are good, and another 20 that are fascinating mistakes, and that's a good average for an artist who is generally thought of as having generated just a handful of important records. What Haley had most of all was a distinctive sound - between the backbeat, the country boogie roots, and the R&B sources - that pretty much defined white rock & roll for almost its first two years (until Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins emerged in the spring of 1956); the first two CDs here offer that sound in abundance…

Johnny Burnette - Johnny Rocks (2008) {Bear Family Records BCD16992AR rec 1956-1960}
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© 1956-60, 2008 Coral / Imperial / Liberty / Bear Family Records | BCD 16992 AR
Rock & Roll / Rockabilly / Early Pop

The original rockabilly wildman, Johnny Burnette led the seminal Rock 'n' Roll Trio, which slightly predated Elvis Presley. Their raw, unfettered sound inspired several generations of rockers, and the best of their output is featured in this collection, along with a generous helping of material from Burnette's later (1957-1960) solo recordings. While some of the solo sides bear a bit more of a pop sensibility, there's always plenty of rock-&-roll abandon in Burnette's delivery, and the driving force of the Trio tracks is still a wonder to behold. Hardcore Burnette fans will be particularly impressed by the inclusion of 11 rare demo recordings, further illuminating the too-short story of Burnette, who died by drowning in 1964 at the age of 30.

Chuck Berry - Rock And Roll Music: Any Old Way You Choose It (2014) {16CD Box Set Bear Family Records}
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© 2014 Bear Family Records | BCD 17273 PL
Rhythm & Blues / Blues / Rock & Roll / Early R&B

Chuck Berry fanatics, your ship has come in, and it’s the Queen Mary — or maybe we should call it the Queen Maybellene. As you’d expect from the Bear Family label, which specializes in gargantuan reissues, this 16-CD, 396-song box doesn’t simply span Berry’s career, it embraces virtually every musical note the man has ever issued. You’ll find all of his released album tracks and singles, starting with an obscure 1954 recording and including everything from the Chess, Mercury and Atco labels, plus every surviving alternate take. Also here are five CDs’ worth of concert performances from 1956 to 1972.

Pat Boone - The Fifties Complete (1953-1959) {12CD Set Bear Family BCD15884 rel 1997}
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© 1953-59, 1997 Bear Family Records | BCD 15 884 LK
Pop / Early Pop / Rock'n'Roll / Ballad / Vocal

This 12-CD box set containing 347 songs – Pat Boone's entire 1950s recorded output, including over 80 previously unissued tracks – deserves an honest, open-minded, and thorough examination. Listeners may like or dislike Pat Boone's early R&B hits – "Two Hearts," "Ain't That a Shame," "Tutti Frutti," etc. – but it is important to remember that those songs comprise but a very small part of his 1950s recorded output and demonstrate one side only of his amazing versatility.

It's a statement of Johnny Cash's longevity that the eight albums collected here – each one a concept collection devoted to American historical themes – were considered worthy and viable commercial releases back when, and that most were very successful. This four-CD set assembles Ride This Train, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Bitter Tears, Ballads of the True West, Mean as Hell! (Johnny Cash Sings Ballads from the True West), America: A 200 Year Salute in Story and Song, From Sea to Shining Sea, and The Rambler, all in one place. They fit together as a body of work, and he put a lot of heart into all of these songs individually…