Out of print in the U.S.! When an exceptional package like this hits the market (no pun intended), the world should join together and breathe a loud (and sensual) 'thank you' to everyone involved. The 56 tracks on this triple disc set are essential to any music lover's collection. Spanning the first decade-and-a-half of his career, every track is a classic or near-classic. The first two discs are the Hits 1 and Hits 2 compilations that were also available separately.
Rice Miller (or Alec or Aleck Miller – everything about this blues great is somewhat of a mystery) probably didn't need to take the name of the original Sonny Boy Williamson (John Lee Williamson) to get noticed, since in many ways he was the better musician, but Miller seemed to revel in confusion, at least when it came to biographical facts, so for whatever reason, blues history has two Sonny Boy Williamsons. Like the first Williamson, Miller was a harmonica player, but he really sounded nothing like his adopted namesake, favoring a light, soaring, almost horn-like sound on the instrument…
The definitive collection of PJ Harvey B-Sides, rarities and non-album demos. 59 tracks, 14 previously unreleased, spanning 3 decades.
In 1952, Folkways Records published the legendary 6-LP series entitled the Anthology of American Folk Music, compiled from original 78s by record collector, filmmaker, artist, and anthropologist Harry Smith. Many historians and musicians cite Smith’s reissue, with its recordings of country, blues, Cajun, and gospel music from the 1920s and ‘30s, and its booklet containing idiosyncratic liner notes, esoteric artwork, and handmade design as a major impetus for the folk music revival of the 1950s and ‘60s and as a source of profound cultural change.
As one of the most popular bands of the '80s, U2 didn't quite fit into any particular category. They were a post-punk band that quickly found acceptance from a hard rock audience, a group that made fully formed albums but often made their best statements on individual songs, especially during the '80s…
For many, the name Fred Neil will be familiar only as that belonging to the songwriter of the modern classic "Everybody's Talkin'," or perhaps "Candyman," "The Dolphins," or "Other Side of This Life," songs that Roy Orbison, Tim Buckley, and the Jefferson Airplane, respectively, recorded. However, Neil's influence extends much farther. John Sebastian, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Bob Dylan all claimed him as an influence, since he blended traditional and contemporary folk, blues, rock, gospel, Indian, and pop influences into a distinctive, idiosyncratic style. His music was not only influential, it was quite rich on its own terms and some of the best music of its era.
Being released on the same day as the companion piece to the CD/DVD package Meet the Eels: Essential Eels, Vol. 1, Useless Trinkets: B-Sides, Soundtracks, Rarities and Unreleased 1996-2006 is a true delight for those who have followed the unwieldy, elliptical career of Mark Oliver Everett (aka "E"), who has employed more musicians than probably even he can count under the Eels moniker.