The Ideal Copy

2006 digitally remastered reissue of this album, originally released in 1982, and was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales with producer Paul Muggleton. Includes four bonus tracks; two single B-sides ('Sold A Rose' and 'Run On Luck') along with two previously unreleased demos ('I'm Not a Loser' and 'How Do I Feel').

The Andrews Sisters were the most successful female vocal group of the first half of the 20th century in the U.S. One source lists 113 singles chart entries by the trio between 1938-1951, an average of more than eight per year. They boasted an exuberant, close-harmony style well-suited to cheery novelty songs, and their intricate vocal arrangements and rhythmic ability mirrored the sound of the swing bands that constituted their chief competition in their heyday. The first two discs in this set present all of their Top Ten recordings (based on the Billboard magazine), whilst the other two discs showcase many songs that have not been heard for some considerable time.

The perfect introduction to Topic Records the worlds oldest surviving independent record label, a 2 CD set featuring 28 specially selected tracks from the labels vast catalogue.
The story of Topic is synonymous with the growth of folk as a musical and social movement in Britain and these recordings demonstrate the bridge between modern music and a traditional art form. On this 2 CD set you will find some of the most remarkable singers, songs and tunes - either drawn directly from the tradition or inspired by it.
Tracks featured include John Tam's, Unity, Steve Ashley's ,Ships of Shame, Dick Gaughan's, Both Sides the Tweed and Ewan MacColl's, Dirty Old Town.

This 77-minute CD is close to an ideal compilation, reaching back to before the band's beginnings for the original 1965 recording of "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag" and across seven of the better cuts off of Electric Music for the Mind and Body, up through the Woodstock Festival and the band's farewell concert that same year at the Fillmore West. It reels in most of the notable album cuts in between, all in surprisingly good sound (not usually a strong point on Vanguard CDs of the late '80s). The 19 songs, which don't follow a strict chronological order, encompass some of the band's most celebrated experimental material, as well as more traditionally structured songs such as the fiery double-lead guitar workout "Death Sound Blues," the catchy, folk-rock-style "Sing Sing Sing," and the counterculture singalong "Marijuana" and works of serious personal significance (and intimately focused genius), including "Grace" and "Janis." The disc offers a good balance between the various sides of the group's sound and includes several notable live tracks, including the November 1968 Fillmore East performance of "Superbird," an anti-Lyndon Johnson song that dated back to 1965 and which is adapted here to include an attack on president-elect Richard Nixon. The sound is amazingly good and consistent throughout, and the track order, as well as the music itself, is downright spellbinding at times; the annotation is minimal, but this CD really has only a single flaw – apparently, between the 1965 original version of "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag" and the 1969 Woodstock performance, there was no room for the standard studio version off of the band's second LP.