Corso BO

This is easily a "super super blues bust." Power trios, of course, were hip in the late '60s – even at down-home Chess Studios, where ad hoc "supergroups" were assembled for 1967's Super Blues and its sequel, Super Super Blues Band. (No one ever accused Chess Records of being subtle.) The band on Super Super Blues Band included two-thirds of the original Super Blues headliners – Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley – with Howlin' Wolf replacing Little Walter to round out the trio. Unlike Walter, who was willing to cede the spotlight to Diddley and Waters on Super Blues, Wolf adamantly refuses to back down from his rivals, resulting in a flood of contentious studio banter that turns out to be more entertaining than the otherwise unmemorable music from this stylistic train wreck.

Two Great Guitars (1964). Two Great Guitars is a studio album by Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry, released in August 1964. It was the first studio album issued by Berry after his release from prison. The two men were friends, and both recorded for Chess. The album consists of two lengthy spontaneous instrumental jams plus a couple of recently recorded instrumentals by the two guitarists. The album cover shows a Gibson ES-350T owned by Berry and a guitar created by Diddley.
The Super Super Blues Band (1968). This is easily a "super super blues bust." Power trios, of course, were hip in the late '60s - even at down-home Chess Studios, where ad hoc "supergroups" were assembled for 1967's Super Blues and its sequel, Super Super Blues Band…

With Bo Diddley's various hits and anthology packages all out of print and the multi-disc deluxe box set out of pocketbook reach for most casual consumers, MCA finally comes up with a 20-track compilation that hits the bull's-eye and makes this rock pioneer's best and most influential work available to everyone. The song list reads like a primer for '60s British R&B and '90s blues bands: "Bo Diddley," "I'm a Man," "Diddley Daddy," "Pretty Thing," "Before You Accuse Me," "Hey! Bo Diddley," "Who Do You Love," "Mona," and "Roadrunner" are the tracks that made the legend and put his sound on the map worldwide. The transfers used on this set are exemplary, the majority of them utilizing masters that have a few extra seconds (or more) appended to the fades, which will cause even hardliners to hear these old standards with fresh ears; especially revelatory are the "long versions" of "I Can Tell" and "You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover."

J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy provide the inspiration for a series of strange, other-worldly tracks that transcend their source material. Hansson's keyboard playing is quite unlike the work of such rivals as Keith Emerson or Rick Wakeman, less heavy and "gothic" and more oriented toward jazz. His guitar work as is flashy and aggressive as his keyboards ("The Black Riders/Flight to the Ford" is a great showcase for both), and the backing by sax, flute, and drums creates an overall rich sonic palette.
The album was first released on CD in 1988 as an "extended remixed version", with an additional eleven bonus tracks taken from Hansson's other 1970s albums "Magician's Hat" and "Attic Thoughts."

Some of this third Bo Hansson album was done at home while most of it was a formal studio creation. Violin and acoustic guitars are added to the mix of sounds on this proto-new age collection of instrumental music. The organs and synthesizers still swell in impressive solos - especially on the title track - and some of the tunes are fairly memorable, although some of the "tracks," such as "Time and Space," are nothing but short instrumental interlude. Without the dramatic pacing of Hansson's first album, this recording ultimately overstays its welcome.

For some odd reason, this later album by Swedish artist Bo Hansson is frequently considered a real drop in quality from his previous works, and it's hard to understand why. "Music Inspired by Watership Down", based around the well-known Richard Adams novel, is still full of all the colour, shimmering keyboards and unpredictable quirks usually associated with Hansson's work, and there's still plenty of traces that made his earlier albums so memorable and delicious to the ear. Like with an earlier album `Lord of the Rings', Mr Hansson once again turned to a beloved novel for initial inspiration, and the results are perhaps one of the most tasteful and exquisite instrumental prog albums, and certainly one of the most gentle!

Ewell Goldyn Rhambo, known as Bo Rhambo, (born September 21, 1923, Austin, Texas - November 24, 1988 in Los Angeles, California) was an American trumpeter and tenor saxophonist…

If ever there was a baritone voice made for this music, Bo Skovhus’s is it…Except for the Lange-Müller and Malling items here making their debut on disc, most of the songs on this CD have been recorded before, but mainly in mixed programs, and not, in my opinion, as consistently well sung and beautifully played as they are on this Chandos release. Bo Skovhus is phenomenal, and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Michael Schønwandt is equally magnificent. This is a must-have CD.