CD issues of 4 classic Walter Jackson albums from his Chi-Sound Records years 1976-1983
This 52-disc (no, that is not a typo) comp, ABC of the Blues: The Ultimate Collection from the Delta to the Big Cities, may just indeed live up to its name. There are 98 artists represented , performing 1,040 tracks. The music begins at the beginning (though the set is not sequenced chronologically) with Charlie Patton, Son House, and Robert Johnson, and moves all the way through the vintage Chicago years of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, with stops along the way in Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, New York, and all points in between. Certainly, some of these artists are considered more rhythm & blues than purely blues artists: the inclusion of music by Johnny Otis, Wynonie Harris, Bo Diddley, and others makes that clear…
The set Roots N' Blues features many hours worth of early blues, folk/country and gospel recordings from a variety of American artists.
Dust to Digital always does an impressive job of providing compelling thematic material in artfully designed packaging. This has been true since their debut offering, Goodbye, Babylon, that showcased Southern sacred song and oratory. Baby, How Can It Be? Songs of Love Lust and Contempt from the 1920s and 1930s (the label's 16th release), follows suit. Assembled from the 78 collection of John Heneghan, this three-disc, 66-track set looks at its title subjects from all sides. It travels disc by disc from the first flush and ardor of romance, through the heat and passion of eros, to the tales of terror, depression, and violence that occur when the flower of belladonna replaces the rose's bloom.
is the first album by , released in 1962. It's one of the rare folk albums to reach US # 1 - staying for over a month. The lead-off singles "If I Had a Hammer" and "Lemon Tree" reached numbers 10 and 35 respectively on the Billboard Pop Singles chart.
On his second album, The Fatalist, Carl “Buffalo” Nichols does things with the blues that might catch you off guard. There’s 808 programming, chopped up Charley Patton samples, washes of synth. There’s a consideration of the fullness of the sonic stage and the atmospherics of the music that can only come with a long engagement with electronic music. But this is no gimmicky hybrid or attempt to turn the blues into 21st century music by simply dressing it with skittering hi-hats. Nichols’ vision for the blues is of a form of music that’s intimately tied to everyday life in 2023, something that’s reflected not only in the choice of instrumentation, but in the complexities of the songwriting and the gray areas his lyrics explore. This is music that comes straight from the present, and as such, it’s a reminder that the same shit that drove the first blues singers to pick up a guitar is still present behind the throbs of deep bass hits today. The Fatalist sounds unlike any blues record you’re likely to hear in 2023.
10 CD box set featuring thirteen original albums, plus an incredible 101 bonus tracks by the legendary "Father of Swing", Glenn Miller. These historic recordings contain many stars from the big-band era and present a wonderful opportunity to hear worldwide hits, such as "American Patrol", "In the Mood", "Perfida", "St. Louis Blues" and "Stardust".
Led by Garth Watt-Roy and his younger brother (future Blockhead) Norman, five-piece Harlow band Living Daylights signed with Beatles publisher Dick James in 1967. Paired with a studio production team that included Caleb Quaye, the band were given a song that James published, 'Let's Live For Today', as their debut single. Released in April 1967, it entered Radio London's Fab Forty after being championed by the pirate station's DJ John Peel. Also issued in America, the song showed significant sales potential, and Dick James decided the band should record an album that would be rushed out if the single became a success. Unfortunately, 'Let's Live For Today' lost out to a cover version by American band The Grass Roots, who scored a US Top Ten hit. Without a hit to support it, the Living Daylights' album failed to appear, and the band split after a second single failed to find favour. 55 years later, that album finally gains a release, with mono and stereo mixes joined by their UK singles and American and Japanese versions. 'Let's Live For Today: The Complete Recordings' is a vital addition to the pantheon of British psychedelic pop albums from the epochal year of 1967.