The Long Ryders were formed by several American musicians influenced by Gram Parsons and the Byrds, with country and punk rock influences. The band featured Sid Griffin on guitar, autoharp, and bugle, Stephen McCarthy, guitar, steel guitar, mandolin, and banjo, Des Brewer, as bassist, (later replaced by Tom Stevens) and Greg Sowders, playing drums and percussion. With a sound reminiscent of Gram Parsons, Buffalo Springfield and The Flying Burrito Brothers, but with a harder edge, they anticipated the alternative country music of the 1990s by a decade. This 4-CD career overview has been compiled with both Sid Griffin and Tom Stevens from original tapes (where they exist) - Sid has contributed a track by track breakdown for the set. The set features all the original albums as well as demos, singles and rare live recordings. Re-mastered by Andy Pearce the recordings and in Sid's opinion have never sounded so good. A new booklet designed by Phil Smee contains many rare photos and memorabilia.
Limited 50 CD box set. Al Stewart's 60-year career in music has made him one of the most successful folk-rock artists the British Isles have ever produced. The Admiralty Lights shines a light on how a Skiffle-mad kid from Bournemouth conquered the world. The Admiralty Lights is a career spanning, definitive collection of Al Stewart's work. Comprising 50 discs, this astounding set follows the legendary singer-songwriter from humble beginnings in 1964, to global stardom in the '70s, through to his most recent recordings in 2009. Contains Al's complete original run of 21 studio albums in original sleeves and lovingly presented in deluxe LP style jackets. Also included are 18 discs featuring never-before-heard live concert recordings from 1970 to 2009, 3 discs of rare BBC Sessions from 1965 - 1972 and 8 discs of Demos, Outtakes and Rarities, offering a rare inside look into Mr Stewart's world. A beautiful 160 page hardback coffee table book is at the center of this spectacular package, featuring comprehensive liner notes from author and Al Stewart expert Neville Judd and previously unseen photographs, flyers and ephemera from across his illustrious career. Rounding off this smorgasbord of Al Stewart delights is a 'Year of the Cat' print, individually signed by Colin Elgie, three posters including one specially designed by Colin Elgie and a 24 page Collectors' Book, detailing all of the rare recordings in the set.
Misfits: The Mercury Years 1986-1990 is a new four-CD box set featuring eighties British pop band Curiosity Killed The Cat. Two and a half years in the making, this set has been compiled by SDE Editor Paul Sinclair and has been put together with the cooperation of the band. Curiosity Killed The Cat were fronted by the charismatic Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot and they enjoyed a number one album and a string of hits in the late 1980s, including Down To Earth, Ordinary Day, Name and Number and Misfit. The promo video for the latter was memorably filmed by – and co-starred – Andy Warhol, who took a shine to the band and invited them over to New York in 1986.
Three of the albums represented here feature the trio of the Dallas-born pianist Red Garland, a force to be reckoned with in the mid-to-late nineteen fifties. The fourth is of his quintet and counts as one of Garland's finest recordings. The personnel remained unchanged in each case for the trio dates. Garland himself was Miles Davis' pianist of choice from late 1955 through most of 1957, and again in 1958-59. Paul Chambers, a bassist in the tonal walking line tradition of Jimmy Blanton, was also with the Davis quintet and subsequently with his sextet, a sideman with Davis for no less than seven and a half years. Art Taylor, listed on the credits here as 'Arthur', was a dynamic musician who was effectively by the late '50s the house drummer for the Prestige label.