Leadbelly

Like Leadbelly and Mississippi John Hurt, the designation as strictly a blues singer dwarfs the musical breadth of Mance Lipscomb. Born on April 9, 1895 in Navasota, TX, Lipscomb was a sharecropper/tenant farmer all his life who didn't record until 1960, "songster" fits what Lipscomb did best. A proud, yet unboastful man, Lipscomb would point out that he was an educated musician, his ability to play everything from classic blues, ballads, pop songs to spirituals in a multitude of styles and keys being his particular mark of originality.

Frantic manages to touch upon virtually every musical style of Bryan Ferry's career. Ferry has proved to be as interested in covering other artists' material as penning original songs, and he straddles a smart mix of originals and covers here. Two brilliant Bob Dylan songs appear among the opening tracks: "It's All Over Now Baby Blue" sees a return to the eclectic, energetic experimentation of Ferry's early albums with Roxy Music as a lush modern swirl of instruments mingles with the singer's stylized vocals and throwback harmonica; "Don't Think Twice It's Alright" completes the Dylan pair, as Ferry intones with confidence and again takes up harmonica over Colin Good's rolling piano.

The Byrds - Untitled & Unissued
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 753 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Columbia / Legacy # 495077 2 | Country/Year: Europe 2000, 1970
Genre: Rock | Style: Classic Rock, Country Rock

No album by the Byrds – at least, among those that weren't originally regarded as well-nigh perfect – has risen more in some reviewers' estimation in the time since its release than Untitled. True, it always had a following – and among the later (i.e., post-1968) Byrds albums, it was always the one to own, even if you weren't a huge fan…

At the ripe old age of 21, James Morrison became an overnight sensation in the U.K. with the release of his debut album, 2006's Undiscovered, which wasted little time going platinum in the British Isles. Blessed with a fresh, soulful voice that alternated between smooth and rough tones (and suggested a British Stevie Wonder), Morrison recalled both the passion of classic soul music and the confessional lyrical stance of the singer/songwriters of the 1970s. Morrison was born in the West Midlands town of Rugby, where he soaked up the influence of his parents' record collection. His mother was a fan of soul, especially artists like Otis Redding, Van Morrison, and Al Green, while his dad was big on country and classic folk musicians such as Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie…

Taking his cues from the '70s output of Ry Cooder, there is nothing in the sound of the Dutch-born and raised Hans Theessink that would indicate he learned his craft from albums and not from being raised in the swamps of Mississippi. His dusky baritone, greasy slide licks, and soulful male backup singers (led by Cooder vet Terry Evans who turns in a stunning performance throughout) plant him firmly into the deep South. The gospel feel of the title track, along with its subtle shuffle beat and rousing yet mellifluous supporting vocalists, sounds as natural as if he spent his entire life soaking up the spirits of the bluesmen he obviously adores. When he and the elegant singers harmonize on "Set Me Free," with pedal steel crying and longtime cohort John Sass' tuba counterpointing the bass, you can almost feel the flies buzzing around your head as you sit beside the banks of the mighty Mississippi…