VA - 100 Hot Rhythm & Blues Tunes from...The R&B Years: 1949 [4 CD, 2004]

 

At the end of that troubled decade, the 1940s, for many Americans rhythm and blues was providing a welcome release from the recent memory of WWII. Social life was back on the rails; men and women were dressing up, going out and having fun. To the rest of the world, America-s consumer economy seemed like a futuristic wonderworld only Flash Gordon would recognise. Some of the artists featured here would enjoy careers and reputations which are still current today. T-Bone Walker, Joe Turner, Ivory Joe Hunter, Pee Wee Crayton, Amos Milburn, Lucky Millinder, Jimmy Witherspoon, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Jordan, Dinah Washington, Johnny Otis, Wynonie Harris, Ray Charles and Memphis Slim are all legendary R&B figures gracing this 101-track collection whose careers can be easily accessed on-line or in any good text book. But there are many others here who, though famous in their time, have faded into relative obscurity, so here we offer them the opportunity to take - in most cases - a posthumous bow. In many ways the R&B of 1949 could be called -Blues Before Sunrise-. That imminent dawn had already been voiced here with Wild Bill Moore-s Rock And Roll, long before Alan Freed claimed the phrase as his own. In the coming decade the exciting, creative yet racially insulated world of R&B would break through it-s borders into mainstream pop. Let-s give thanks that it did - we-re still enjoying the result.

Disc One:

01. Jimmy Liggins - Homecoming Blues
02. Paul Williams - Walkin' Around
03. Piney Brown - Mourning Blues
04. Jay McShann - Hot Biscuits
05. Cousin Joe - Beggin' Woman
06. Roy Brown - Rainy Weather Blues
07. Andrew Tibbs - I Feel Like Crying
08. Big Jay McNeely - Deacon's Hop
09. Joe Turner - I Don't Dig It
10. Joe Morris - Weasel Walk
11. Buddy & Ella Johnson - I Don't Care Who Knows
12. Paul Williams - The Hucklebuck
13. Wynonie Harris - I Feel That Old Age Coming On
14. Edgar Hayes - Fat Meat 'N' Greens
15. Jimmy Witherspoon - Ain't Nobody's Business Pt. 1
16. Jimmy Witherspoon - Ain't Nobody's Business Pt 2
17. Dee Williams - Bongo Blues
18. Julia Lee - I Didn't Like It The First Time
19. King Porter - King Porter Special
20. Earl Bostic - Blip Boogie
21. Roy Brown - Rockin' At Midnight
22. Saunders King - Empty Bedroom
23. Mabel Scott - Just Give Me A Man
24. T-Bone Walker - T-Bone Shuffle
25. June Richmond - 47th Street Jive
26. Hal Singer - Beef Stew

Disc Two:

01. Chicago Davis - I Feel So Good
02. Sonny Thompson - Blue Dreams
03. Don Johnson - State Street Boogie
04. Stick McGhee - Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-o-Do
05. Lucky Millinder - D'natural Blues
06. Cecil Gant - I'm A Good Man But A Poor Man
07. Roy Milton - The Hucklebuck
08. Jimmy Preston - Hucklebuck Daddy
09. Amos Milburn - Hold Me Baby
10. The Orioles - Tell Me So
11. Charles Brown - Trouble Blues
12. Pete Lewis - Midnight In The Barrel House
13. King Perry - Sarah! Sarah!
14. Todd Rhodes - Pot Likker
15. Joe Turner - B&O Blues
16. T.J. Fowler - Red Hot Blues
17. City Jimmy - Saturday Night Kansas
18. Frank Culley - Cole Slaw
19. Five Scamps - Red Hot
20. Wild Bill Moore - Rock and Roll
21. Jimmy Witherspoon - Take Me Back Baby
22. Edgar Hayes - Sunday Mornin' Blues
23. Roy Milton - Junior Jump
24. Max Bailey - Delinquency Blues
25. Bob Call - Call's Jump

Disc Three:

01. Chris Powell - Hot Dog
02. Amos Milburn - In The Middle Of The Night
03. Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Jordan - Baby It's Cold Outside
04. Ravens - Ricky's Blues
05. Louis Jordan - Every Man To His Own Profession
06. Floyd Dixon - That'll Get It
07. Dinah Washington - Baby Get Lost
08. Louis Jordan - Beans And Corn Bread
09. Dinah Washington - Long John Blues
10. Little Willie Littlefield - It's Midnight (No Place To Go)
11. Dave Bartholomew - Mr. Fool
12. Russell Jacquet - Cross Bones
13. T-Bone Walker - Hypin' Woman Blues
14. Goree Carter - Hoy Hoy
15. Wynonie Harris - All She Wants To Do Is Rock
16. Freddie Mitchell - Doby's Boogie
17. Joe Lutcher - Mardi Gras
18. Amos Milburn - Roomin' House Boogie
19. Roy Brown - Please Don't Go
20. Great Gates - Late After Hours
21. Eddie Williams & Floyd Dixon - Broken Hearted
22. Buddy Banks & Baby Davis - Happy Home Blues
23. Amos Milburn - Empty Arms Blues
24. Walter Brown - Lying Woman Blues
25. Jimmy Preston - Rock the Joint

Disc Four:

01. Joe Thomas - Page Boy Shuffle
02. Roy Hawkins - Mistreatin' Baby
03. Jimmy Witherspoon - In The Evening
04. Sugar Chile Robinson - Numbers Boogie
05. Johnny Moore's Three Blazers & Billy Valentine - Walkin' Blues
06. Louis Jordan - Saturday Night Fish Fry
07. Billy Wright - Blues For My Baby
08. Ivory Joe Hunter - Landlord Blues
09. Bull Moose jackson - Why Don't You Haul Off And Love Me?
10. Ruth Brown - Rockin' Blues
11. Marion Abernathy - Ja-Hoosey Baby
12. Bumps Mayers - Memphis Hop
13. Larry Darnell - For You My Love
14. Clarence Gatemouth Brown - My Time Is Expensive
15. Memphis Slim - Nobody Loves Me
16. Roy Brown - Boogie At Midnight
17. Red Eddie Vinson - Somebody Done Stole My Cherry Red
18. Eddie Davis - Mountain Oysters
19. J.B. Summers - Drinkin' Beer
20. Ray Charles - How Long Blues
21. Charles Brown - Homesick Blues
22. Eddie Mack - Kind Loving Daddy
23. Johnny Otis - Thursday Night Blues
24. Pee Wee Crayton - Bounce Pee Wee
25. Jimmy Witherspoon - Big Fine Gal

Johnny Cash - Unearthed [5 CD, 2003]

 

Unearthed is an acclaimed box set by Johnny Cash released in 2003.

The first three discs feature outtakes and alternate versions of songs recorded for American Recordings, Unchained, American III: Solitary Man and American IV: The Man Comes Around. The fourth disc, My Mother's Hymn Book features gospel songs Cash first learned from his mother as a child. The final disc is a best of distillation of the first four American albums.


disc 1- Who's Gonna Cry
disc 2- Trouble In Mind
disc 3- Redemption Songs
disc 4- My Mother's Hymn Book
disc 5- Best of Cash On American

Bessie Smith - Chattanooga Gal [4 CD, 2004]

 

Bessie Smith's big, beautiful voice and emotionally naked interpretation made her into one of the all-time stars of the gramophone record, influencing talents as wide ranging as Billie Holiday, Mahalia Jackson and Janis Joplin. This 4CD set includes all of her best known songs, whose raw energy and emotion shine out across the decades and show just why she became such a star. Transcending the worlds of blues, gospel and popular song, Bessie is a seminal figure in modern music and this box is the ultimate overview of her career.




Personnel: Bessie Smith (vocals, kazoo); Lincoln Conaway, Bobby Johnson (guitar); Elmer Snowden, Buddy Christian , Charlie Dixon (banjo); Abraham Wheat (clarinet, soprano saxophone); Ernest Elliott (clarinet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Don Redman, George Baquet, Benny Goodman, Buster Bailey (clarinet); Garvin Bushell (alto saxophone); Chu Berry, Coleman Hawkins, Greely Walton (tenor saxophone); Frankie Newton (trumpet); Ed Allen, Louis Armstrong, Tommy Ladnier, Shelton Hemphill (cornet); Joe Williams , Jack Teagarden, Jimmy Harrison, Charlie Green (trombone); Cyrus St. Clair, Bob Escudero (tuba); Fred Longshaw (piano, reed organ); Clarence Williams, Fletcher Henderson, Isadore Myers, Irving Johns, James P. Johnson, Jimmy Jones , Steve Stevens , Porter Grainger, Buck Washington (piano).


CD1- Down Hearted Blues {01:15:06}


01. Down Hearted Blues [03:28]
02. Gulf Coast Blues [03:07]
03. Beale Street Mama [03:37]
04. Baby Won't You Please Come Home [02:58]
05. 'Tain't Nobodies Bizness If I Do [03:29]
06. Bleeding Hearted Blues [03:08]
07. Lady Luck Blues [03:09]
08. Midnight Blues [03:20]
09. Whoa, Tillie, Take Your Time [03:12]
10. Any Woman's Blues [03:27]
11. Chicago Bound Blues [03:18]
12. Moonshine Blues [03:19]
13. Work House Blues [03:23]
14. House Rent Blues [03:07]
15. Rainy Weather Blues [03:37]
16. Weeping Willow Blues [03:12]
17. The Bye Bye Blues [03:20]
18. Sinful Blues [03:11]
19. Dying Gambler's Blues [03:00]
20. The St. Louis Blues [03:12]
21. Reckless Blues [03:05]
22. Sobbin' Hearted Blues [03:02]
23. Cold in Hand Blues [03:14]


CD2 - Careless Love Blues {01:16:36}


01. You've Been a Good Ole Wagon [03:31]
02. Cake Walkin' Babies (from Home) [03:11]
03. The Yellow Dog Blues [03:04]
04. Soft Pedal Blues [03:21]
05. Careless Love Blues [03:27]
06. Nashville Woman's Blues [03:45]
07. J.C. Holmes Blues [03:05]
08. I Ain't Goin to Play Second Fiddle [03:23]
09. He's Gone Blues [03:12]
10. I Ain't Got Nobody [03:11]
11. I've Been Mistreated and I Don't Like It [02:57]
12. Red Mountain Blues [03:13]
13. Golden Rule Blues [03:05]
14. Lonesome Desert Blues [03:26]
15. Them 'Has Been' Blues [03:33]
16. Squeeze Me [02:54]
17. What's the Matter Now? [02:46]
18. I Want Every Bit of It [02:38]
19. Jazzbo Brown from Memphis Town [03:21]
20. The Gin House Blues [03:14]
21. Money Blues [03:11]
22. Baby Doll [03:01]
23. Hard Driving Papa [02:58]
24. Lost Your Head Blues [02:55]


CD3 - Young Woman Blues {01:15:01}


01. Hard Time Blues [03:15]
02. Honey Man Blues [03:15]
03. One and Two Blues [02:55]
04. Young Woman's Blues [03:09]
05. Preachin' the Blues [02:52]
06. Backwater Blues [03:19]
07. After You've Gone [02:58]
08. Alexander's Ragtime Band [03:00]
09. Muddy Water (a Mississippi Moan) [03:08]
10. There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight [03:20]
11. Trombone Cholly [03:12]
12. Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair [03:23]
13. Sweet Mistreater [03:02]
14. Lock and Key [02:59]
15. A Good Man Is Hard To Find [03:01]
16. Dyin' by the Hour [03:00]
17. Foolish Man Blues [02:55]
18. Thinking Blues [03:10]
19. I Used To Be Your Sweet Mama [02:51]
20. Spider Man Blues [03:24]
21. Empty Bed Blues, Pt 1 [03:03]
22. Empty Bed Blues, Pt 2 [03:22]
23. Put It Right Here (or Keep It Out There) [03:00]
24. Yes Indeed He Do! [03:16]

CD4 - Me & My Gin {01:14:55}


01. Devil's Gonna Git You [03:13]
02. Poor Man's Blues [03:26]
03. Please Help Me Get Him Out of My Mind [02:57]
04. Me and My Gin [02:52]
05. I'm Wild About That Thing [02:49]
06. Kitchen Man [02:58]
07. I've Got What It Takes (but It Breaks My Heart To Give It Away) [03:11]
08. Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out [02:59]
09. He's Got Me Goin' [03:14]
10. It Makes My Love Come Down [02:58]
11. Dirty No-Gooders Blues [02:57]
12. Blue Spirit Blues [02:57]
13. You Don't Understand [03:06]
14. Don't Cry Baby [03:11]
15. Baby Have Pity on Me [03:21]
16. On Revival Day [02:57]
17. Hustlin' Dan [03:32]
18. Black Mountain Blues [03:09]
19. Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl [02:49]
20. Safety Mama [03:26]
21. Do Your Duty [03:26]
22. Gimme a Pigfoot [03:30]
23. Take Me for a Buggy Ride [02:37]
24. I'm Down in the Dumps [03:11]

Billy Cobham– The Atlantic Years 1973-1978 [8 CD, 2015]

 

At the dawn of the 1970s, Billy Cobham built his legend with his bandleader debut, Spectrum . Raw, daring and overflowing with adrenalin, the album topped the Billboard Jazz charts. Having played for Miles Davis, Horace Silver and Mose Allison, Billy Cobham had joined the legendary Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1971, before signing to Atlantic as a solo artist in 1973. Worshipped today as a titan of drumming, Billy Cobham's career is now in its fifth decade.

Hugh Laurie - Let Them Talk [2011]

Hugh Laurie's debut album 'Let Them Talk' is a glorious celebration of New Orleans blues. 'Let Them Talk' unites Laurie's musical talent with a very personal selection of standards and lost blues classics performed with his band of renowned musicians and some very special guest stars. Produced by Joe Henry and recorded at sessions in Los Angeles and New Orleans, 'Let Them Talk' sees Laurie on vocals and piano heading a team of musicians whose previous collective credits include work with artists as varied as Greg Allman, Solomon Burke, Robert Plant, kd lang, T-Bone Burnett, Alison Krause and John Legend. Together, they interpret and revive songs originally recorded by NOLA blues legends such as Lead Belly, Robert Johnson, Ray Charles and Memphis Slim. 'Let Them Talk' also features collaborations with the Soul Queen of New Orleans Irma Thomas and Sir Tom Jones on the little known 'Baby, please Make A Change'. Thomas also leads the vocals on 'John Henry', while Laurie's lifelong hero Dr. John provides a momentous collaboration on 'After You've Gone'. Another legend, the producer, musician and songwriter Allen Toussaint, contributes horn arrangements throughout.

01. St James Infirmary (6:25)
02. You Don't Know My Mind (3:39)
03. Six Cold Feet (4:55)
04. Buddy Bolden's Blues (3:12)
05. Battle of Jericho (3:47)
06. After You've Gone (4:09)
07. Swanee River (2:43)
08. The Whale Has Swallowed Me (3:37)
09. John Henry (3:34)
10. Police Dog Blues (3:33)
11. Tipitina (5:06)
12. Winin' Boy Blues (2:59)
13. They're Red Hot (1:11)
14. Baby Please Make a Change (4:57)
15. Let Them Talk (4:10)
16. Ain't Necessarily So (Bonus Track) (3:44)