Johnny Winter

Fred James & Mary-Ann Brandon are the real deal. If you like southern roots Americana and blue eyed soul music, you’ll love the sound these two journeyman performers conjure up. Their new CD release on SPV Records showcases their exceptional song-writing and musicianship. Their harmony blend is all their own but harkens back to the classic duet sounds of Delaney & Bonnie, Billy Vera & Judy Clay and Bonnie Raitt & Delbert McClinton. It’s a sound that is timeless. This record has wound up being a loose chronicle of their life together. It's a love story with all its twists and turns. Their life together has not always been easy. They have lived, loved, fought and played with passion. For this album they went back to record some of the music from the early days and dug into their country and R&B roots to bring you a southern stew pot of blue eyed soul. This is, in fact, a record that has been a quarter of a century in the making.

This is the first compilation sampling the blues roster of Alligator Records as it existed in its earliest incarnation. These 11 tunes capture several Chicago blues and modern soul-blues artists, including Lonnie Brooks, Koko Taylor, James Cotton, Jimmy Johnson, Hound Dog Taylor, Son Seals, Fenton Robinson, Albert Collins, as well as Johnny Winter, Lonnie Mack, and Roy Buchanan.

This four-disc box set was released commemorating the 25th anniversary of the original Woodstock festival that took place in August 1969, and combined both of the Woodstock albums released in 1970 and 1971 with previously unreleased material. It's a well-known part of the festival's history that many of the participants played self-confessed lackluster sets. However, considering the surrounding circumstances in which this music was conceived – not enough food or water, an abundance of drugs, and thunderstorms – these artists manage to rise above it more often than not. What is most interesting about this box set are the unreleased tracks by the Band, Tim Hardin, Johnny Winter, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Ritchie Havens. A whittled down single-disc sampler featuring many of the aforementioned unreleased tracks are also available on Woodstock Diary containing Mountain's "Southbound Train," Sly and the Family Stone's "Love City," and CS&N's "Blackbird" which aren't included on the box set.

Al Campbell – AllMusic