Lead Belly - The Smithsonian Folkways Collection [5 CD, 2015/FLAC]

 

Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection, the first career-spanning box set dedicated to the American music icon, is a 5 CD, 140-page, large-format book featuring 5 hours of music with 16 unreleased tracks.

A companion to 2012 s GRAMMY-winning Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection, Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection chronicles the recordings of Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter (c. 1888¬ 1949) in 108 tracks over five discs, including Lead Belly s beloved classics "The Midnight Special, " "Goodnight Irene, " and "Black Girl (Where Did You Sleep Last Night) " among many others. The collection also boasts 16 previously unreleased recordings, including four never-before-available original songs, and radio programs Lead Belly made for WNYC which can be heard for the first time since airing in 1941.

The set also features many rare photos, among them an intimate portrait taken shortly before his untimely death from ALS (Lou Gehrig s Disease) in 1949. It is one of the few known color photographs of the legend.

 

Furthur 2012 Tour (40 shows)

 A 2012 East Coast spring tour, which included only three venues, began on April 5 at Wang Theatre in Boston and ended with an eight-night run at the Beacon Theatre in New York, including an April 7 show at Toyota Presents: The Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford, Connecticut. Preceding the spring tour Furthur played two shows at the Wanee Festival in Live Oak, Florida, on April 20–21. The band played a rare single "extended" set show both nights with no set break. For the April 21 show Jeff Chimenti did not play the Hammond B3 organ because of the rain. 

A summer tour of the East and Midwest took place in July. The tour began at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, on July 5 and ended at the Meadow Brook Music Festival in Rochester Hills, Michigan, on July 18. 

A West Coast Tour in September began with a 3-night run at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado and ended on October 7 at the Santa Barbara Bowl in Santa Barbara, California. Furthur's traditional New Year's Eve run took place on December 29, 30, and 31 at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. 

The Doors - Live at the Bowl '68 (DVDRIP + FLAC-HD)

 

On July 5th, 1968, The Doors took to the stage of the Hollywood Bowl for a concert that has since passed into legend. The Doors were performing on the back of their 3rd album release Waiting For The Sun and the US No.1 single Hello, I Love You. They had been honing their live performances over the previous 2 years and were on absolute peak form. Now for the first time the original film footage from the Hollywood Bowl has been digitally scanned and restored to present the show better and more complete than it's ever been seen before, with 2 previously unreleased tracks (Hello, I Love You & THE WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat) (aka just Texas Radio And The Big Beat) returned to the running order and with sound newly remixed and mastered from the original multitrack tapes by The Doors engineer and co-producer Bruce Botnick. 

 

Mike Bloomfield - The Gospel Truth (2 CD, 2021/FLAC)

 New 2 CD Set, a combination of Rarities, Hits & Previously Unreleased Live Recordings. Blues Hall Of Fame and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Mike Bloomfield is ranked #22 on Rolling Stone's list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time."

Michael Bloomfield was one of America's first great white blues guitarists, earning his reputation on the strength of his work in the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. His expressive, fluid solo lines and prodigious technique graced many other projects -- most notably Bob Dylan's earliest electric forays -- and he also pursued a solo career, with variable results. Uncomfortable with the reverential treatment afforded a guitar hero, Bloomfield tended to shy away from the spotlight after spending just a few years in it; he maintained a lower-visibility career during the '70s due to his distaste for fame and his worsening drug problems, which claimed his life in 1981. During the late '70s, Bloomfield recorded for several smaller labels (including Takoma), usually in acoustic settings, authentic and personal. Disc 2 features a previously unreleased 1971 concert from the archives.

Jerry Garcia Band - GarciaLive Volume 17: NorCal ’76 (2021/FLAC)

 

GarciaLive Volume 17: NorCal ’76 presents highlights from three stand-out Jerry Garcia Band performances captured over the span of a week. While a myriad of challenges from reel damage to tape loss and other assorted technical difficulties spoil any opportunity to feature the complete performances, what remains of Betty Cantor-Jackson’s original recordings offers some of the finest performances from this iteration of the Jerry Garcia Band.