Bobby Bland - Turn on Your Love Light: The Duke Recordings, Vol. 2. [2 CD, 1994/FLAC]

 

Bobby Bland earned his enduring blues superstar status the hard way: without a guitar, harmonica, or any other instrument to fall back upon. All Bland had to offer was his magnificent voice, a tremendously powerful instrument in his early heyday, injected with charisma and melisma to spare.

The fifty selections on Turn on Your Love Light - The Duke Recordings Vol. 2 (with material from1960-1964) represents Bobby "Blue" Bland at the height of his powers. By 1960, he had been ensconced at Duke for several years, and label owner Don Robey had successfully assembled a musical crew that consistently worked wonders with the singer in the studio. Not surprisingly, this set contains the largest number of titles with which even the most casual fan of Bland will be familiar.

 

 

Bobby 'Blue' Bland - The Duke Years 1952-1962 (3 CD, 2014/FLAC)

 Bobby Bland earned his enduring blues superstar status the hard way: without a guitar, harmonica, or any other instrument to fall back upon. All Bland had to offer was his magnificent voice, a tremendously powerful instrument in his early heyday, injected with charisma and melisma to spare. Just ask his legion of female fans, who deemed him a sex symbol late into his career. For all his promise, Bland's musical career ignited slowly. He was a founding member of the Beale Streeters, the fabled Memphis aggregation that also included B.B. King and Johnny Ace. Singles for Chess in 1951 (produced by Sam Phillips) and Modern the next year bombed, but that didn't stop local DJ David Mattis from cutting Bland on a couple of 1952 singles for his fledgling Duke logo. 

 

 

Bobby "Blue" Bland - Further On Up The Road: The Duke Recordings 1955-1962 [2 CD, 2016/FLAC]

There's nobody like Bobby Blue Bland on Duke Records – especially during the early years that are featured on this collection! Bland came out of Memphis with a very unique, really amazing sound right from the start – an approach to blues that was a lot more sophisticated than most of his contemporaries, even those on the LA scene – with lots of jazz in his phrasing, and his backings as well – and this sublime vocal approach that often had Bobby growling in a way that seemed to come from deep down in the depths of his soul, but never in any sort of gimmicky sort of style. Bland was always the perfect balance of cool, class, and outright blues power – and that was never more true than on these sides.

This all-new compilation from Southern Routes presents a powerful set of Bobby Blue Bland's sublime recordings for Don Robey's Houston TX-based, Duke Records, originally released from 1955 through the end of 1962. During this term his music was a Tour de Force, Bland's powerhouse vocals backed by savage, slashing guitars. He delivered hit after hit and by 1961 with the release of his legendary LP "Two Steps From The Blues" (included herein) Bobby Bland had redeemed Texas Electric Blues and Southern Soul simultaneously. This is excellent, essential music – without a doubt, some of the greatest blues and soul material ever recorded…