Texas Cannonball

Similar to his first Shelter outing (Getting Ready), but with more of a rock feel. That's due as much to the material as the production. Besides covering tunes by Jimmy Rogers, Howlin' Wolf, and Elmore James, King tackles compositions by Leon Russell and, more unexpectedly, Bill Withers, Isaac Hayes-David Porter, and John Fogerty (whose "Lodi" is reworked into "Lowdown in Lodi"). King's own pen remained virtually in retirement, as he wrote only one of the album's tracks.

Similar to his first Shelter outing (Getting Ready), but with more of a rock feel. That's due as much to the material as the production. Besides covering tunes by Jimmy Rogers, Howlin' Wolf, and Elmore James, King tackles compositions by Leon Russell and, more unexpectedly, Bill Withers, Isaac Hayes-David Porter, and John Fogerty (whose "Lodi" is reworked into "Lowdown in Lodi"). King's own pen remained virtually in retirement, as he wrote only one of the album's tracks.

After having lived in semi-obscurity ever since his deal with King/Federal fell through in the mid-1960s, the Blues Boom that was spreading across America and the UK in the late '60s gave Freddie King the opportunity to revive his career. He did so by signing on to Atlantic Record's subsidiary Cotillion.
Having been known mostly for his ferocious instrumental workouts ("Hide Away", "Just Pickin'", "San-Ho-Zay", "The Stumble"), soul genius and sax player King Curtis, who would produce the blues man's entire Cotillion output - decided to put an emphasis on King's vocal prowess as well. 'Freddie King Is a Blues Master' is therefore divided in a vocal and an instrumental side…

After having lived in semi-obscurity ever since his deal with King/Federal fell through in the mid-1960s, the Blues Boom that was spreading across America and the UK in the late '60s gave Freddie King the opportunity to revive his career. He did so by signing on to Atlantic Record's subsidiary Cotillion.
Having been known mostly for his ferocious instrumental workouts ("Hide Away", "Just Pickin'", "San-Ho-Zay", "The Stumble"), soul genius and sax player King Curtis, who would produce the blues man's entire Cotillion output - decided to put an emphasis on King's vocal prowess as well. 'Freddie King Is a Blues Master' is therefore divided in a vocal and an instrumental side…

Interesting little hodgepodge of various Freddie King recordings between 1974 and 1976. Freddie was one of the all time Blues greats. Even Eric Clapton was quoted as saying "Until I met Freddie, I just played the guitar. Freddie taught me how to make love to it." And with such great players like Eric Clapton, George Terry, Jamie Oldecker, & Carl Raddle, and the song "Sugar Sweet", produced by the late great Tom Dowd, this album is a must have to any Blues music library.

After having lived in semi-obscurity ever since his deal with King/Federal fell through in the mid-1960s, the Blues Boom that was spreading across America and the UK in the late '60s gave Freddie King the opportunity to revive his career. He did so by signing on to Atlantic Record's subsidiary Cotillion.
Having been known mostly for his ferocious instrumental workouts ("Hide Away", "Just Pickin'", "San-Ho-Zay", "The Stumble"), soul genius and sax player King Curtis, who would produce the blues man's entire Cotillion output - decided to put an emphasis on King's vocal prowess as well. 'Freddie King Is a Blues Master' is therefore divided in a vocal and an instrumental side…

Cannonball Adderley - Love, Sex And The Zodiac (1974) {Fantasy–BGP Records CDBGPM235 rel 2011}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 217 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 92 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 16 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1974, 2011 BGP Records | CDBGPM 235
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Hard Bop / Jazz Funk / Saxophone

Jazz saxophone great Cannonball Adderley is not usually thought of as a novelty artist, or even one who made embarrassing sellout moves to the pop market, regardless of his success with soul-jazz and his hit 1967 single "Mercy Mercy Mercy." This 1974 album, however, can scarcely be thought of as anything but an embarrassing novelty, and one that will have little appeal to fans of the records for which Adderley is most famous. The real artist on this album is not so much Adderley as Rick Holmes (jazz DJ on Los Angeles radio station KBCA), who wrote and narrated the voice-overs to which Adderley and other musicians supplied a musical backdrop.

Melvin Sparks - I'm A Gittar Player (1997) {Cannonball Records CBD27101}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 301 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 111 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 14 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1997 Cannonball Records | CBD 27101
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Jazz Funk / Guitar

Although he appeared on countless R&B and soul-jazz sessions in the 1960s and early 1970s, Melvin Sparks has recorded only sporadically as a leader over the years. The late 1990s found the swinging, Grant Green-influenced guitarist recording for the Minneapolis-based Cannonball label and playing much the same type of groove-oriented organ-combo music he'd been embracing 25 and 30 years earlier. Recalling his work with Charles Earland, I'm a 'Gittar' Player employs Ron Levy on the Hammond B-3 and offers a very accessible fusion of jazz, R&B, blues and pop that often sounds like it could have been recorded in 1970.