Robeson The Truth

Have you ever been so weighed down you almost gave up? // Ever since I was a young singer, I’ve been compared to Paul Robeson. I was asked constantly if I sang his trademark song “Ol’ Man River” and was told my voice reminded people of his. To be honest, I didn’t know much about him at the time and became annoyed that people kept asking me to sing what I considered a minstrel song.

My Name Is Buddy: Another Record by Ry Cooder is the thirteenth studio album by Ry Cooder. It is the second social-political concept album by Ry Cooder. Cooder has described it as the second in a trilogy that began with Chávez Ravine and concluded with I, Flathead. The album is packaged in a small booklet that includes a brief story and drawing to accompany each song. Both the songs and the stories relate tales from the viewpoint of the characters, Buddy Red Cat, Lefty Mouse, and Reverend Tom Toad. The liner notes ask listeners/readers to join them as they "Journey through time and space in days of labor, big bosses, farm failures, strikes, company cops, sundown towns, hobos, and trains… the America of yesteryear".

The Manic Street Preachers will reissue their 2001 album Know Your Enemy this September with CD and vinyl formats offering ‘remixed and reconstructed’ editions to form two separate albums, as was the original plan.