c. r. Grey

VA - A Time To Remember 1950-1959: 10 CDs each one including an exclusive 20-track music compilation of original hit recordings by the original artists.

Charlie Musselwhite continues his prolific four-decade career jumping over to Telarc for his first album of the millennium after spending the '90s recording for Alligator and Virgin. A recap of his formative Memphis roots, Musselwhite receives substantial assistance from guests Robben Ford on guitar (Musselwhite provided Ford with his first gigs when the guitarist was in his late teens), Texas vocalist Kelly Willis, and guitarist/mandolin player Marty Stuart; the last two bring a rootsy, laid back country feel to the album that effectively fuses the swampy C&W, R&B, and blues of Memphis into a cohesive statement. Musselwhite blows unamplified harp on every track, but it's his weathered, understated vocals that infuse these songs with down-home charm. Covers from Jimmy Reed, Los Lobos (the album takes its title from their "One Time One Night"), Ivory Joe Hunter, and Kieran Kane flow beautifully into each other as the artist masterfully blurs the lines between genres.

Particles presents the first ever box set anthology of Ireland's 1960s rock music scene. Only two long-out-of-print compilations have ever emerged to profile Ireland's rock roots, making this anthology doubly inviting. From the R&B/blues scene in Belfast to the late 1960s psychedelia of Dublin, People! Let's Freak Out reveals a wider account of the beat scene, and its transition into psychedelia and blues rock. While Ireland has never been given equal acclaim to that of its neighboring England, it nevertheless produced some of the most iconic and influential bands of the period. As Van Morrison and Them were leaving Belfast for London, a slew of new hopefuls arrived to establish their own niche under the nose of the dominant showband scene. Compiled here, are 125 original recordings featuring various groups from Eire and Northern Ireland, some of whom went on to huge success in the 1970s. From Ian Whitcomb to Eire Apparent, The Bye-Laws to the Belfast Gypsies and Gentry to Sugar Shack, People! Let's Freak Out is a fascinating account of Ireland's more obscure and vibrant music scene of the 1960s. Spanning five discs with rare and previously unreleased recording People! Let's Freak Out offers an excellent companion to similar anthologies such as Nuggets, Rubble, and Buried Alive.