VA - Ladies Sing The Boss (2022) [FLAC]

As one of rock's most prolific songwriters, Bruce Springsteen has covered a lot of bases, building a catalogue of albums that has seen him deliver stadium rockin' anthems and then switch horses mid-stream and riding solo with noir, character-based long players. In the mid-70s, Bruce's songs started to look at where he fitted in (or not). Much of the public's perception of Bruce is wrapped up in his male persona, singing songs about girls and cars, a hyper masculine image. So, how do women relate to this? Part of the inspiration for this compilation came from seeing the all-female Bruce tribute act the She Street Band at the Clapham Grand in 2019 and experiencing how these songs, which I had known all my life, took on another perspective when seen through the filter of a female protagonist. Includes tracks by the Patty Smith Group, Darlene Love, Deana Carter, Cowboy Junkies, Hem, and others.

 

01 Because The Night - Patti Smith

02 Dancing In The Dark - Lucy Dacus

03 Night Closing In - Darlene Love

04 Devils And Dust - Jessie Kennedy

05 State Trooper - Deana Carter

06 Ghost Of Tom Joad - Solas

07 Waiting On A Sunny Day - Piney Gir

08 I'm On Fire - Soccer Mommy

09 Highway 29 - Moa Holmsten

10 Thunder Road - Cowboy Junkies

11 Streets Of Philadelphia - Bettye LaVette

12 Valentine's Day - Hem

13 Factory - Lucinda Williams

14 Johnny 99 - Shovels & Rope

15 Cover Me - Thea Gilmore

16 Secret Garden - Kerry Hart

17 Fire - Anna Calvi

18 Nebraska - Aoife O'Donovan

19 My Father's House - Emmylou Harris

VA - Our New Orleans (Expanded Edition) [2021]

 A remastered, expanded edition of the 2005 record Our New Orleans is available for the first time on vinyl and digitally here via Nonesuch Records. The new version includes five previously unreleased tracks: “Do You Know What It Means,” by Davell Crawford; “Let's Work Together,” by Buckwheat Zydeco and Ry Cooder; “Crescent City Serenade,” by Dr. Michael White; “Walking By the River,” by Dr. John; and “Do You Know What It Means,” by The Wardell Quezergue Orchestra featuring Donald Harrison.

01. Allen Toussaint - Yes We Can Can (4:15)

02. Dr. John - World I Never Made (4:01)

03. Irma Thomas - Back Water Blues (3:32)

04. Davell Crawford - Gather by the River (3:40)

05. Buckwheat Zydeco - Cryin' in the Streets (8:44)

06. Dr. Michael White - Canal Street Blues (3:40)

07. Wild Magnolias - Brother John Is Gone / Herc-Jolly-John (5:31)

08. Eddie Bo - When the Saints Go Marching In (2:19)

09. Dirty Dozen Brass Band - My Feet Can't Fail Me Now (4:38)

10. Carol Fran - Tou' les jours c'est pas la meme (Every Day Is Not the Same) (3:59)

11. BeauSoleil - L'ouragon (The Hurricane) (3:58)

12. Preservation Hall Jazz Band - Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans (2:42)

13. Charlie Miller - Prayer for New Orleans (2:15)

14. The Wardell Quezergue Orchestra - What a Wonderful World (feat. Donald Harrison) (3:51)

15. Allen Toussaint - Tipitina and Me (2:52)

16. Randy Newman - Louisiana 1927 (with Members of the New York Philharmonic) (3:05)

17. Davell Crawford - Do You Know What It Means (3:40)

18. Buckwheat Zydeco - Let's Work Together (3:13)

19. Dr. Michael White - Crescent City Serenade (5:27)

20. Dr. John - Walking By the River (3:48)

21. The Wardell Quezergue Orchestra - Do You Know What It Means (feat. Donald Harrison) (3:26)

VA - African Guitar Box [5 LP, 2012]

 

5 LP box set of classic African guitar based music recorded between 1951 & 1970. Mostly solo performances with guitar & vocals. 

The first disc features classic acoustic guitar music from all over the African disporia, with an emphasis on Congolese & Kenyan artists. The second disc has all electric guitar performances with minimal accompaniment on percussion – nothing remotely funk based. The third disc features a mix of acoustic & electric performances. Disc four presents more challenging compositional music on acoustic guitar than found on the previous 3 discs – not easy listening by any means, but very rewarding. The final disc is the most sublime & peaceful acoustic guitar & vocal performances you could ever imagine!

VA- Day of the Dead [3 CD, 2016/320+FLAC]

 

Day of the Dead is the twenty-fifth compilation release benefiting the Red Hot Organization, an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS. Featuring fifty-nine exclusive recordings of covers of Grateful Dead songs by a number of independent artists as a tribute to the band and creation and curation by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National.

 

VA - Next Stop Is Vietnam - The War On Record, 1961-2008 [13 CD, 2010]

 

...NEXT STOP IS VIETNAM: The War On Record, 1961 - 2008 is a stunning, years-in-the-making anthology of the Vietnam War's musical legacy. Presented on 13 CDs with a 304-page book illustrated with numerous archival photographs, this collection examines the war in a powerful and unprecedented way. Over 330 music and spoken word tracks take the listener through a guided tour of this epochal period of modern history. From America's first, naïve impressions of a country called Vietnam through the spirited musical debate over the morality of the war to the healing meditations on the conflict's lengthy aftermath, this set captures it all and more.

Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Merle Haggard, Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen, Phil Ochs, Johnny Cash, Yoko Ono, John Lennon, The Doors, Country Joe McDonald and dozens of other artists including many Vietnam veterans are the tour guides through this enlightening and entertaining journey. Rarely heard documentary material including patriotic Public Service Announcements, field news reports and intercepted North Vietnamese radio transmissions of Jane Fonda and Hanoi Hannah.

The heavily illustrated, full-color 304-page book that accompanies the music is packed with information on the songs and the artists who recorded them by music scholar Hugo A. Keesing; a history of the war by Vietnam historian Lois T. Vietri; and an oral history of the tunes that 'in country' vets loved best by authors Doug Bradley and Craig Werner. The introduction to this remarkable tome is written by the legendary Country Joe McDonald. Strap in for a long and fascinating ride

...NEXT STOP IS VIETNAM is the most comprehensive anthology of music inspired by the Vietnam War ever released.

                                                                  
 

VA- Chicago Blues Box [8 CD, 2013/FLAC

 

The brief and dazzling life of MCM Records was a labor of love that captured many treasurable live performances from the last flowering of the classic Chicago Blues age. A young French woman Marcelle Chailleux Morgantini was married to Jacques Morgantini who changed her life into American jazz and blues.

Guitarist Jimmy Dawkins was a good friend and helped them in Chicago to meet and hear the many good blues musicians that played at the different clubs in Chicago. Marcelle returned from her Chicago pilgrimage filled with excitement. Says Jacques Morgantini: It was the year of Marcelle’s 50th birthday and she came into some money from her family. She said to me, “I do not want an expensive coat or jewels – I want to go to Chicago to record the blues. She knew that it could only be done if she had her own record label and complete artistic control. Marcelle made three trips to Chicago in 1975,1976 and 1977 and arrived with her Nagra machine, a small mixing desk and a selection of microphones.

She recorded live: Magic Slim, Big Mojo Elem,John Littlejohn, Eddie Clearwater,Eddie Taylor, Bobby King,Jimmy Johnson, Luther Johnson Jr.,Willie Kent, James Lyons,Hip Lankchan,Big Vocie Odom,Bluebloos McMahon, Joe Carter and Jimmy Dawkins at “Ma Bea’s”, “Golden Slipper”, “Queen Bea’s”, and “Big Duke’s”, on Chicago west and south side. Many of the blues musicians had not recorded before and can only been found on the Storyville label that issued all the recordings on CD’s. She was at the right place at the right time.

VA - The History of Rock music - Pure Rock 1970 - 1990 (21 CD, 1998)

 

German compilation series with best rock anthems of the 70's and 80's

VA - The Krautrock & Progressive Box Set (6 CD, 2016/FLAC)

 Six CD set. 2018 collection. Music Brokers' exploration into legendary progressive rock keeps expanding. After the success of our progressive and krautrock box, we return to the rock sub-genre that combined complex arrangements and improvisation with fantasy aesthetics and lyrics. 

The Progressive Rock Box: The Secret Archives digs deep into some of it's lesser known artists like Mogul Trash, Beggars Opera, Ashkan and Agitation Free and combines them with many of the most essential names of the '60s and '70s like Carmen, Andromeda, Atomic Rooster, Greenslade and John Gustafson. With fantastic artwork and remastered sound, The Progressive Rock Box: The Secret Archives is another essential addition to your collection

 

VA - Roots & Blues [20 CD, 2014/FLAC]

 

 The 20-CD Bear Family Collection The Roots And Blues Collection takes you into the heart of Americana, back to the time when this groundbreaking recordings were made. "

Title of the individual albums:

Roots N 'Blues: The Retrospective Vol. 1
Roots N 'Blues: The Retrospective Vol 2.
Roots N 'Blues: The Retrospective Vol. 3
Roots N 'Blues: The Retrospective Vol 4.
Legends Of The Blues Vol. 1
Legends Of The Blues Vol. 2
Great Blues Guitarists: String Dazzlers
The Slide Guitar: Bottles, Knives & Steel
The Slide Guitar: Bottles, Knives & Steel Vol 2.
Lonnie Johnson: Steppin 'On The Blues
Good Time Blues: Harmonica, Kazoo, Washboards & Cow Bells
News & The Blues: Telling It Like It Is
Booze And The Blues
Messed Up In Love ... And Other Tales Of Woe
Raunchy Business: Hot Nuts & Lollipops
Cajun Vol 1: Abbeville Breakdown 1929-1939.
Cajun Dance Party: Fais Do-Do
White Country Blues 1926 - 1938: A Lighter Shade Of Blue Vol 1.
White Country Blues 1926 - 1938: A Lighter Shade Of Blue Vol 1.

 

 

VA - NOW presents The 70's (5 CD, 2021/FLAC)

 

Disc: 1 (1970-1971)

01. Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water

02. Bread - Make It with You

03. Elvis Presley - Suspicious Minds

04. Deep Purple - Black Night

05. Free - All Right Now

06. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - The Tears Of A Clown

07. Jackson 5 - I Want You Back

08. Stevie Wonder - Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)

09. Elton John - Your Song

10. Rod Stewart - Maggie May

11. Slade - Coz I Luv You

12. The Who - Baba O'Riley

13. Ike & Tina Turner - Proud Mary

14. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On

15. Diana Ross - I'm Still Waiting

Disc: 2 (1972-1973)

01. Don McLean - American Pie (Pt. 1)

02. Sly & The Family Stone - Family Affair

03. Bill Withers - Lean on Me

04. Harry Nilsson - Without You

05. Roxy Music - Virginia Plain

06. T. Rex - Metal Guru

07. Mott the Hoople - All the Young Dudes

08. Lou Reed - Perfect Day

09. Roberta Flack - Killing Me Softly with His Song

10. Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - If You Don't Know Me by Now

11. Kiki Dee - Amoureuse

12. Sweet - Ballroom Blitz

13. Wizzard - See My Baby Jive

14. Billy Joel - Piano Man

15. Bob Dylan - Knockin' On Heaven's Door

Disc: 3 (1974-1975)

01. Queen - Killer Queen

02. Paul McCartney, Wings - Band On The Run

03. Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells

04. Suzi Quatro - Devil Gate Drive

05. Mud - Tiger Feet

06. Sparks - This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us

07. Barry White - You're The First, The Last, My Everything

08. The Three Degrees - When Will I See You Again

09. John Lennon - Imagine

10. 10cc - I'm Not In Love

11. Barry Manilow - Mandy

12. Bay City Rollers - Bye Bye Baby

13. David Essex - Hold Me Close

14. Steve Harley, Cockney Rebel - Make Me Smile (Come up and See Me)

15. The Stylistics - Can't Give You Anything (But My Love)

16. Minnie Riperton - Lovin' You

Disc: 4 (1976-1977)

01. ABBA - Dancing Queen

02. The Four Seasons - December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!)

03. Chicago - If You Leave Me Now

04. Joan Armatrading - Love And Affection

05. Electric Light Orchestra - Livin' Thing

06. Thin Lizzy - The Boys Are Back In Town

07. John Miles - Music

08. Fleetwood Mac - Don't Stop

09. Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell

10. Status Quo - Rockin' All over the World

11. Donna Summer - I Feel Love

12. Baccara - Yes Sir, I Can Boogie

13. David Soul - Don't give up on us

14. Commodores - Easy

Disc: 5 (1978-1979)

01. Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights

02. Althea & Donna - Uptown Top Ranking

03. Chic - Le Freak

04. Boney M. - Rivers of Babylon

05. The Jam - Down In The Tube Station At Midnight

06. The Boomtown Rats - Rat Trap

07. Siouxsie and The Banshees - Hong Kong Garden

08. The Clash - London Calling

09. The Police - Message In A Bottle

10. Pretenders - Kid

11. Blondie - Heart Of Glass

12. Earth, Wind & Fire with The Emotions - Boogie Wonderland

13. Tubeway Army - Are 'Friends' Electric?

14. The Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star

VA - The Many Faces Of Queen (3 CD, 2018) [FLAC]

 

Few bands embodied the pure excess of the '70s like Queen. Embracing the exaggerated pomp of progressive rock and heavy metal, as well as vaudevillian music hall, the British quartet delved deeply into camp and bombast, creating a huge, mock-operatic sound with layered guitars and overdubbed vocals. Queen's music was a bizarre yet highly accessible fusion of the macho and the fey. For years, their albums boasted the motto "no synthesizers were used on this record," signaling their allegiance with the legions of post-Led Zeppelin hard rock bands. 

 In The Many Faces of Queen we will delve into the inner world of the legendary British foursome including their early recordings, collaborations and their fantastic repertoire. With remastered sound and fantastic artwork, The Many Faces Of Queen is an essential addition to your rock music collection. Disc One features early recordings by members of Queen including tracks by Smile, Larry Lurex (AKA Freddie Mercury), Eddie Howell featuring Brian May & Freddie Mercury and more. Disc Two features the songs of Queen as interpreted by rockers like Lemmy, Yngwie Malmsteen, Bob Kulick, Robin McAuley and many others. Disc Three includes symphonic interpretations of Queen classics like "Under Pressure," Love Of My Life," "We Are The Champions," and, of course, "Bohemian Rhapsody."

VA - Billboard Top 500 songs of 80's

 

The Billboard Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming in the United States.

VA - Harvest Festival 1969-79 (5 CD, 1999/FLAC)

 

Harvest Festival is a genuinely comprehensive and thorough look at the one British major label venture into psychedelia and progressive rock that actually worked, commercially and artistically; it's a panoramic journey though a major part of British rock as it developed over a period of just under a decade. Over the five CDs and 119 songs, more than two dozen acts are featured, ranging from purely English phenomena like Michael Chapman, Quatermass, and Pete Brown to mega-arena acts like Pink Floyd, and the set comes complete with a built-in 120-page book. 

Beginning with the Edgar Broughton Band's Jimi Hendrix meets the Crazy World of Arthur Brown track "Evil," the programming goes a long way to explaining why Harvest worked while other attempts at forming psychedelic and progressive labels in England failed -- in contrast to the slick, commercial psychedelic ventures at rival Deram Records, Harvest always gave its artists the freedom to be louder (or softer) than the norm, and to be bold in their expressions. Moreover, the diversity of form was astonishing, from the acoustic instrumental chamber music rock of the Third Ear Band, to the lively acoustic psychedelia of Syd Barrett and Kevin Ayers, to the high-energy attack of Deep Purple, Quatermass, and Bakerloo -- it all sounds amazingly strong, well crafted, and exciting. 

Harvest had room for jugband music, traditional acoustic folk, progressive folk-rock, spoken word, and, full-circle commercially from Harvest's late-'60s origins, psychedelic Beatles-influenced commercial rock by way of ELO. Harvest also grew to embrace sounds that would have been inconceivable for EMI to have signed when they started, including Be-Bop Deluxe (versions 1 and 2), Bill Nelson's Red Noise, the reggae outfit Matumbi, the Shirts with Annie Golden, and the punk band Wire. It's all fascinating stuff, told in great detail in the accompanying book, but ultimately, a set like this stands or falls on the music.

 The archivists have dug deeply enough to find material that makes Barrett's output look tame and conventional, specifically Tea & Symphony, whose "Maybe My Mind (With Egg)" is a truly dissonant and strange journey into thought processes bent by the prism of drugs and meditation. Not everything on this set will be to everyone's liking, but anyone inclined to enjoy Pink Floyd or Syd Barrett's solo stuff will be entranced by most of the content. The sound has been treated first-class, with new state-of-the-art 1999 remasterings. 

VA - Many Faces of Elvis (3 CD, 2015/FLAC)

 

A Journey Through The Inner World Of Elvis Presley with music by long-time friends, musical colleagues and companions throughout Elvis' career from the Rock'n'Roll years up to the 1970s Las Vegas years. Featuring many originals covered by Elvis plus cover versions of Elvis originals.

VA - The Beat Goes On - The Greatest Hits Of The 60's And 70's (10 CD, 1998) [FLAC]

 

VA - Roots Of Funk 1947-1962 Vol.1-3 (3 CD, 2005/FLAC)

 

What are the roots of funk? Since the early Twentieth Century, this term has come to mean sweat, unpleasant body odor and, by analogy, heartfelt dance music.

 
Symbolic of “Black Power” and African-American liberation culture, funk has deep roots embedded in the intense afro-caribbean musics of Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica, and New Orleans.

 
Starting with “funky” jazz, “soul jazz” and soul, up to the 1960’s syncopated musics, it has had illustrious “rare groove” precursors such as Bo Diddley, or Sun Ra, whose afro-futurism left its mark on George Clinton, Herbie Hancock and the like. Keeping in line with his “Roots of Punk Rock”, “Roots of Ska” and “Roots of Soul” collections, Bruno Blum has gathered this eclectic selection from the roots offunk music. He recounts here the spirit and influences that shaped the early hits of James Brown, The Meters, Eddie Bo, Funkadelic and others.

VA - Good Whiskey Blues Vol. 1 - 18 [18 CD, 2002/FLAC+320]

 

For fans of the American blues-rock Good Whiskey Blues - just a gift. 

 Bluesmen such as Bleu Jackson, Freddie & The Screamers, Sy Clopps, would look absolutely win-win next to any superstar, and slide guitar of Michael Henderson is not worse than, say, the same Dave Hole. And the harmonica, and just guitarists also did not disappoint, maybe not so surprising - the performers who have reached this skill, but not spoiled by fame, as a rule, do not allow to boil the pot itself.

Perfect music for the car. Checked - "comes" wonderful. You can twist everything, nothing is throwing. And when will play amazing "Cold Blue Steel" with his body and measured, "rolling" the tempo, then forget about everything and dream to fly over the road and the song did not end …

VA - God Save This Box (Punk) [10 CD, 2005/FLAC]

 

Punk was more than a style in music. It was a style in society. It was basically antisocial, evoking opponents if not enemies, or simply conjuring them from thin air - well, thin air is a way of speaking - from the thickness of a social climate that was saturated with consumption, and that was only the beginning, and that was also corrupted and rotten from the inside by a disease that was incurable, consumption again. That was a turning point in western history.

VA - Legend of a Mind: The Underground Anthology (3 CD, 2003/FLAC)

 You sort of have to pity Decca Records after listening to this three-CD set -- the company, once the biggest label in England, started the 1950s with a technical leg up on all of its competition, jumped into skiffle and rock fast and early (and accidentally in the former case) with Lonnie Donegan, and was still going strong at the dawn of the '60s with the likes of Billy Fury on its roster. And then something went wrong, and even with the Rolling Stones, the Small Faces, and the Moody Blues recording for them, Decca began coming up a day late and a dollar short on a regular basis, beginning a slow fade in the mid-'60s that led to its eclipse in the 1970s. After hearing Legend of a Mind, you'll probably wonder why -- the three-CD set is devoted to Decca's "underground" side, which offered some prime psychedelic and progressive rock, along with some arena-style blues-rock. 

 

VA - The Casablanca Records Story (4 CD, 1994/FLAC)

Casablanca Records, Inc. was formed in 1973 by former Buddah Records executives Neil Bogart (who named the label as an homage to the classic film Casablanca), Cecil Holmes, Larry Harris and Buck Reingold.

Casablanca's first major signing was Kiss. Casablanca became most successful as a disco label, signing artists like Donna Summer, Giorgio Moroder, the Village People, Brooklyn Dreams, Patti Brooks and Lipps, Inc. (with lead vocalist Cynthia Johnson) as well as Four Tops, Cher, Irene Cara, Captain And Tennille, Dr. Hook, Mac Davis and George Clinton's great P-Funk band Parliament.