Blues / Rhythm & Blues
Result of your query: 2222 products
| VA: - Jewel Spotlights The Blues Vol. 1 12 biisiä Paula Recordsilta |
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Jewel Records 1994 | CD | 18.00 € |
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| VA: - Jewel Spotlights The Blues Vol. 2 13 biisiä Paula Recordsilta |
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Paula Records 1994 | CD | 18.00 € |
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| VA: - Jim Jam Gems Vol. 1 |
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Stag-O-Lee Records 2013 | 10" LP | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Jim Jam Gems Vol. 2 |
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Stag-O-Lee Records 2013 | 10" LP | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Jimmy Dawkins Presents: The Leric Story Blues artist Jimmy Dawkins had his own record label in the 1980s, Leric Records, with 45s issued by Tail Dragger, Queen Sylvia Embry, Little Johnny Christian and Nora Jean Wallace. Delmark is re-issuing these recordings now on CD for the first time with the addition of unissued sides by Vance Kelly and Big Mojo Elem. 15 songs, 60 minutes with various sidemen including Jimmy Dawkins, Johnny B. Moore, Lafayette Leake, Willie Kent, Eddie "Jewtown" Burks, Michael Coleman and Chico Banks. |
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Delmark Records 2010 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Jiving Jamboree 25 Real gone dancers ... |
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Ace Records 1995 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Jiving Jamboree Vol. 2 24 biisiä Jive, Jump R&B... |
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Ace Records 1999 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Jiving Jamboree Vol. 3 24 hottest Jump & jive tracks from King / Federal vaults |
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Ace Records 2002 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Joe Meek Shall Inherit The Earth tribute to Joe Meek. 25 biisiä |
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Western Star Recording Company | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Jook Block Busters Vol. 1 - 100% Bona-Fide Rhythm And Blues |
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Valmor Records | CD | 18.00 € |
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| VA: - Jook Block Busters Vol. 2 - 100% Bona-Fide Rhythm And Blues 100% Bona-Fide Rhythm And Blues |
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Valmor Records | CD | 18.00 € |
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| VA: - Juke Joint Blues Vol. 2 2CD = 54 tracks |
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JSP Records | 2-CD | 13.00 € |
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| VA: - Juke Joint Jump - A Boogie Woogie Celebration 20 tracks |
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SPV Blue Label 2008 | CD | 13.00 € |
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| VA: - Jukebox Mambo Rumba and Afro-Latin accented R&B 1949-1960. Compiled by Liam Large. 22 tracks. |
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Jazzman Record Co 2012 | CD | 18.00 € |
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| VA: - Jump & Swing with Black Top Rod Piazza, Grady Gaines, Guitar Shorty, Rusty Zinn... |
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Black Top Records 1997 | CD | 12.00 € |
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| VA: - Jungle Exotica Vol. 1 |
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Strip Records | LP | 15.00 € |
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| VA: - Jungle Exotica Vol. 2 |
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Strip Records | LP | 15.00 € |
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| VA: - Just For Kicks CD accompanying the Rollercoaster book of the same name by Johnny "Chester" Dowling |
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Rollercoaster Records 2008 | CD | 19.00 € |
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| VA: - Just Go Wild Over Rock'n'Roll |
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Roll Rock & Rhythm Records 2010 | CD | 15.00 € |
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| VA: - Just Shuckin' Around 1953-1963 Wild And Crazy L.A. R&B |
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Panic Records | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Just Think About Rock & Rhythm 26 tracks |
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Still Records 2010 | CD | 15.00 € |
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| VA: - Kent Harris' R&B Family Kent Harris’ strong point was undoubtedly his witty and topical lyrics, allied to having his ear to the ground for the latest trends in black music. His most famous work – ‘Clothes Line’, recorded under his alias Boogaloo & His Gallant Crew – was plundered by Leiber and Stoller for the Coasters’ ‘Shoppin’ For Clothes’ and is already out on an Ace compilation. All four of his Crest sides are humorous, streetwise and down with the groove of the day. ‘Big Fat Lie’ concerns a visit to the pawnbrokers, which a lot of black audiences could relate to in the 50s. Other novelty songs include ‘Big Chief Hug-Um An’ Kiss-Um’ by James Shaw, later to be known more grandly as the Mighty Hannibal, and the newly-discovered Boogaloo recording ‘I’m In The Dog House Again’. He’s so late back his woman won’t let him into the house and he has to kip down with the dog. ‘Double Locks’, which Kent wrote for Johnny Gosey, deals with an angry landlady putting locks on the tenant’s crib until the back rent is paid. Kent’s arrangements were innovative too. On the Francettes’ ‘He’s So Sweet’, he and group manager Frances Gray combined to get the backing girls calling and responding and throwing in their own seemingly ad-libbed comments rather than just filling in the harmony. The CD embraces the whole of the Harris family and the notes describe what an influential Los Angeles clan they were. The much missed sister Dimples is a major contributor, rocking it up with her sisters on ‘Kissin’ Bug’ from 1955 and also recording solo and accompanying her big brother under his pseudonym of Ducky Drake. She cut as a solo under her married name of Dimples Jackson in 1960 and with her new husband Harold, helping him out on his astonishing ‘The Freedom Riders’ 45. New Breed R&B lovers will appreciate Dimples’ ‘Love Came Tumbling Down’, while the new version of Donoman’s ‘I’m The Only One’ by the Phillips Sisters is a big bonus. The whole mysterious Donoman / Cry Baby Curtis story is related in the booklet. His ‘Monday Is Too Late’ has a New Orleans meets ‘Turn On You Lovelight’ vibe that will thrill traditional R&B lovers. Though Kent Harris had many high quality soul productions (they’ll feature on a future Kent CD) he always had a bias towards the blues and you feel that the ‘You Ain’t Right’ wailer from Faye Ross was the side the musicians had their hearts in, rather than the Motown-esque ‘Faith, Hope And Trust’. Kent’s partner, and love of his life, Ty Karim, was primarily a soul singer but when they worked on a blues like ‘Take It Easy Baby’, it was as intense as anything they cut together. Vocal group collectors will be pleased with the new version of ‘Diddy Bop’ that predates the Valaquons’ Rayco release and the splendid Lon-Genes provide an incredibly rare harmony ballad as well as a new twist on an old dance craze. We have chased tapes, 45s and label scans all across the world to get the productions and recording facts of a seriously overlooked R&B producer into an accurate history. Though a large amount of information has been discovered, we are positive there are more obscure 45s out there featuring Kent’s work. If you know of any, please do let us know. Footnote: I’ve been chasing the missing Romark 103 release by the Phillips Sisters ‘After Tonight’ / ‘The Wiggle’ for months but only tracked down a copy after this CD’s deadline had gone. I clicked on the soundfile with great hope of finding a previously unissued R&B gem, but sadly it was a disappointment. The vocals on ‘After Tonight’ leave a lot to be desired on an, at best, average song while the flip is an instrumental; at least it’s not a crucial omission on here. By Ady Croasdell (Ace Records) |
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Ace Records 2012 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - King New Breed Rhythm & Blues Vol. 2 In the ten years it’s taken for this second volume of “King New Breed R&B” to come to fruition the R&B collecting scene has gone from strength to strength. Many great sounds have been discovered languishing in shops and collections and the phenomenon has become truly international. A lot of these records have crossed over to the Northern soul, popcorn and mod music scenes. Mike Pedicin’s ‘Burnt Toast And Black Coffee’ and Little Willie John’s ‘I’m Shakin’’ from our first King volume have become mainstream retro music classics, outselling even the biggest Northern soul 45s we’ve issued in this period. I’m guessing that our opening track is going to be a rising star of the vintage black music world. Hal Hardy’s ‘Love Man’ is best known for its Northern soul flip ‘House Of Broken Hearts’. I found ‘Love Man’ on YouTube and immediately fell in love with it. It’s a record that defies the blues, soul or funk tags and powers this CD off with a blast. More familiar territory comes with the blues classics ‘I’m Tore Down’ by Freddy King, Little Willie John’s ‘All Around The World’ and Johnny Watson’s ‘Gangster Of Love’. They’ve all been comped before, but sound terrific strategically placed throughout this CD. 1955 is an early starting point to what is, in the main, an early 60s sound but Mel Williams’ ‘Send Me A Picture, Baby’ fits snugly next to the blues grooves of its later vintage companions. The 1957 offerings from Donnie Elbert and Dolph Prince have a ‘Fever’ groove that epitomises the Popcorn end of the scene’s sounds. The earliest-sounding numbers are the doo wop-inspired 1960 recordings from the Hi Tones and Lee Williams & the Moonrays. We were hoping to feature ‘Just A Little Bit Of Everything’ by Herb Hardesty but had tape problems that need a little more time to sort. (The track will definitely be on Herb’s solo CD out later this year.) In its place we opted for ‘Why Did We Have To Part’, featuring a full vocal from Herb’s co-writer Walter Nelson. The “5” Royales are here with their swaying ‘It Hurts Inside’ featuring the soulful vocals of Lowman Pauling, who also teams up with the band’s guitarist Royal Abbit on ‘I’m A Cool Teenager’, a blueprint for the well-groomed youth cults to come. Lowman Pauling also co-wrote the Hi Tones’ song. There is a Willie Wright track not previously issued on CD and a great Eddie Kirk side co-written with future Stax/Volt singer Oscar Mack. Eugene Church describes his girl Geneva’s charms so effectively that I was blushing at one point and the King Pins’ update of the Charms’ ‘Two Hearts’ simply rocks the joint. In researching this CD I was turned on to a wealth of good music and I’m sure the majority of these will be new to the ears of most black music aficionados. By Ady Croasdell (ACE Records) |
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Ace Records 2012 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - King Vocal Groups Vol. 4 Do Be You 24 tracks |
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Ace Records 2005 | CD | 18.00 € |
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| VA: - La Bamba soundtrack |
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Slash Records 1999 | CD | 10.00 € |
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| VA: - Land Of 1000 Dances 30 tracks |
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Ace Records 1999 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Land Of 1000 Dances - All Twistin' Edition In an era when we’re supposed to be running scared from warnings about the global effects of Swine Flu, Bird Flu and other pandemic ailments, it’s nice to recall a time when the only thing that was sweeping the world and causing mayhem everywhere that it went was an easy to master and perfectly innocuous dance called the Twist. Twistin’ affected the global template of dance like no other craze before or since and, at weddings, christenings, bar mitzvahs and social gatherings everywhere, people are still prone to go roundandaroundanda-upandadown whenever a Dave Doubledecks lets ‘Let’s Twist Again’ or ‘Twistin’ The Night Away’ fly – even people whose parents’ parents were not born when Chubby Checker first demonstrated how to do the dance on American Bandstand. Originated by a giant of R&B, popularised by a Pennsylvanian former chicken plucker and sung about by everyone from the Chipmunks to the Beatles to Frank Sinatra, the twist is celebrating its 50th birthday this year. Needless to say, just about everyone above a certain age at Ace has grown up with the twist, so we thought we’d offer a salute to the Grand Dame Du Danse, in the shape of a new addition to our “Land Of 1000 Dances” series. To be 100% accurate, the twist really celebrated its half-century last year, but Hank Ballard’s original 1958 recording sat in a tape vault until 1995 so we’re counting up from the original release of his and the Midnighters’ King 45 in January 1959. One or two big names of twistin’ claimed a prior engagement and couldn’t make our party, but we’ve pulled together 24 tracks that really represent the full spectrum of what the twist actually embraced. Here you’ll find high-profile rock’n’rollers (Bill Haley, Danny and the Juniors), R&B greats (Isley Brothers, Freddie King, Linda Hopkins) European Pop royalty (Petula Clark), TV and radio DJs (Clay Cole, Murray the K), hipsters (Louis Prima), doo woppers (the Zircons, the Marcels), hillbillies (the Sprouts) twist legends (Joey Dee) out and out novelties (Tyrone O’Saurus and the Cro-Magnons), the terminally obscure (Billy Huhn, Robbie Lawrence) and much more, all united in the intent to cause a mass outbreak of gyrationitis like they did last summer. Well, as many as 50 summers ago in reality, but who’s counting? For a few years, the twist was as newsworthy as any big political story of the day – and given that most of those who made the news were to be found twistin’ their nights away at clubs, lounges and parties, that’s not so surprising. In the 21st century it’s not likely to dislodge the credit crunch and MP’s expenses from the top of any news bulletin, but the next time some earnest newscaster is reporting on a new outbreak of some fever of another, it might just be Twist Fever. Shake it up baby, we got a new dance and it goes like this: come on everybody let’s twist – around the clock! “Eee-aaah, Yeah, just like this….” By Tony Rounce (Ace Records) |
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Ace Records 2009 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Las Vegas Grind Vol. 6 |
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Crypt Records | LP | 15.00 € |
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| VA: - Laughin' At The Blues 27 tracks |
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Rev Ola 2007 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Leather Soul Vol. 1 - Where The Bop Meets The Buzz |
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Oosoul 2011 | CD | 10.00 € |
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| VA: - Legends Of Traditional Fingerstyle Guitar 58 min Merle Travis, Sam & Kirk McGee, Mance Lipscomb, Roscoe Holcomb, Doc Watson, Rev Gary Davis.. |
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Vestapol | DVD | 34.00 € |
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| VA: - Leiber & Stoller Story Vol. 3 Shake 'Em Up & Let Roll 24 tracks 1963-1969 |
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Ace Records 2007 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Let The Boogie Woogie Rock And Roll |
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Ace Records 1999 | CD | 18.00 € |
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| VA: - Let's Crossover Again |
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Ace Records 1999 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Let's Go Jivin' to Rock N Roll |
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Bear Family 1990 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Let's Go Trippin' 30 Classic Tracks From The Surf & Hot Rod Era |
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Ace Records 1996 | CD | 18.00 € |
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| VA: - Let's Jump! Swingers & Humdingers Those with longish memories may recall the UK's brief swing revival of the mid 1970s, when the 70s soul played by UK DJ Chris Hill at his gig at Canvey Island's "Goldmine" briefly ceded its domination of that Essex venue's dancefloor to the orchestras of Count Basie, Jimmie Lunceford, Chick Webb and Benny Goodman. "Goldmine" goers caught swing fever for, ooh, at least 10 minutes - and attracted the attentions of Britain's national press in the process - before tiring of dressing up like their parents and grandparents every weekend and returning to the safer and more familiar environs of the Salsoul Orchestra and their ilk. A couple of decades later, and a few thousand miles away in California, things were again 'in full swing'. This 'revival', though, was not the flash in the pan that the earlier British equivalent had been. As well as embracing the great records of the original 1930s/1940s orchestras, the 1990s West Coast Swing scene thrived on, and was fuelled by, a number of bands that played original material with the same fire and passion as had the past masters from whom they drew their inspiration. A further decade on (and several unfulfilled prophecies of its demise later) said scene continues to flourish - each weekend, scads of dancers jitterbug and lindy hop their way through the night like Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Little Richard had never happened, to a balanced mixture of live bands and hot records from the music's first Golden Age. Those live bands are well represented elsewhere on CD, but until recently there has been a dearth of compilations devoted to this 'local phenomenon with international appeal'. Ace's Let's Jump!, put together by renowned collector/songwriter/performer/all-around mine of information and long-time L.A resident Billy Vera, remedies that dearth in part, and also offers a man-on-the-spot's perspective on what's still keeping California jumpin' more than half a decade after the swing thing originally kicked in. Those expecting wall-to-wall jivers might be initially surprised to find that BV's swing panorama also takes in frantic bebop, rockin' doo wop, boisterous blues shouting and even a brace of instrumental smoochers. But as Billy himself will tell you, the scope of the scene allows plenty of room for this kind of musical interloping. And as for the slowies, well, even the most driven of dancers have to chill out from time to time, don't they? This compilation - drawn exclusively from masters originally recorded for, or acquired by, Modern Records - may be primarily aimed at Swingers. But you don't have to be exclusively a swing fan to appreciate the content here. You don't even have to be from California. The appeal of this music transcends boundaries of category. Its content is sure to excite all fans of R&B and rock'n'roll, thanks to Billy's astute inclusion of splendid sides by the Flairs, Gene Phillips and Oscar McLollie. And we promise, too, that renowned jazzers like Ike Carpenter, Ben Webster and ex-Benny Goodman saxblaster Vido Musso also rock pretty hard when the mood demands, as it often does here. To add to Let's Jump!'s all-round appeal, many of its tracks are making their first appearance on CD. Several others have never been reissued since their original appearance on 45 or 78, and there are even one or two cuts that are receiving their world premiere issue (Don't worry I've already thanked Billy on your behalf...) ...roll back the rug, get on the floor, Swing is king forever more. Do YOU wanna jump, children? By Tony Rounce (Ace Records) |
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Ace Records 2002 | CD | 18.00 € |
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| VA: - Let's Paint The Town Red Vol. 2 |
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Floridita Records 2008 | LP | 13.00 € |
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| VA: - Like An Atom Bomb 18 tracks - Apocalyptic Songs From The Cold War Era |
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Buzzola 2004 | CD | 15.00 € |
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| VA: - London American Label Year By Year 1956 Most Ace customers will know by now that both my grandfather and father had general (and considerable) influence on my collecting habits, thanks to the records they introduced me to even before I was old enough for school. Needless to say, I’m eternally grateful to them for showing me the value of music at an incredibly early age. Grandad bought 78s up to the point where the major labels announced their imminent discontinuance in late 1959. He then continued to buy two 45s each week from theUKcharts, all the way though to 1980 when he turned 78. Dad was somewhat quicker to adapt to the newer medium; the first 45 that ever came into our house arrived three years earlier. It’s almost inevitable somehow that said 45 was on London. Andy Williams’ ‘Canadian Sunset’ joined 78s by Tennessee Ernie, Hank Williams, Bill Haley, Guy Mitchell, Frankie Laine and other family favourites in 1956, and was quickly followed by others that fascinated me almost as much for their size and for their tri-centres as for the music they contained. The family Dansette regularly rocked to the sounds of ‘Rip It Up’, ‘When My Dreamboat Comes Home’ and other great records. I’m not sure where ‘Canadian Sunset’ fitted into all this – it may have been a purchase for my mum – but I liked it as much as anything else from Dad’s fast growing collection of 45s by Fats Domino, Little Richard and that bloke with the crazy name of Elvis something. More than 50 years later I still like ‘Canadian Sunset’, and it’s pleasing to be able to include it on the latest in our London American series. which overviews 1956. It’s also good to include the aforementioned Fats and Richard singles, as well as others that a number of Ace buyers will also have grown up on – plus even more that most of us didn’t hear until long after the event, thanks to the limited exposure pop music received in the UK in the mid-50s. Many of the greatest rock’n’rollers debuted on London during 1956, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry and Mr. Penniman being just three. It was also the year that the London A&R team slipped the likes of Werly Fairburn and Faye Adams past their bosses, who may have been less pleased with those sales than with ‘Rip It Up’ and the ubiquitous ‘Davy Crockett’! As ever, most of our inclusions sound as they did on their original London releases, having been mastered from the same tapes. Several have never been legally reissued in the UK before, and others have never been reissued at all. Ace’s beloved founder Ted Carroll shares his own memories of London’s musical impact on his youth and life in the foreword, and as always there’s copious track-by-track annotation and at least one scan of every 45 (or 78) featured in our programme. Move over London 2012 – here comes London 1956! By Tony Rounce (Ace Records) |
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Ace Records 2012 | CD | 18.00 € |
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| VA: - London American Label Year By Year 1958 1958 as documented by the releases of the UK’s most famous source for US rock’n’roll, pop and R&B. Our “London American Label Year By Year” series has been among the most popular we’ve come up with since we opened for business. A lot of work goes into producing three of these projects a year, but the acclaim we’ve had more than justifies the effort that goes into their creation. This year we’ve already presented a selection of true delights from London’s 1963 release schedule, and there are still many more years from the Swinging 60s that we have designs on anthologising. For the rest of this year, however, we’re in reverse. 1957 will be our October offering, and most of its contents are already licensed and ready to sequence. This month it’s the turn of 1958 to show us just some of the many goodies that London brought us in order to further Great Britain’s musical education. London released 242 singles in ’58 – a staggering total that was difficult to reduce to just 28 representative examples. Fortunately, other Ace series have previously done London proud, and you can find many of the label’s classic releases on “Golden Age”, “Teen Beat” and suchlike. However, there many gems that you can’t yet find elsewhere on Ace, and 27 of our inclusions are making their catalogue premiere here. More than 20 are brought to you directly from the mono tapes used to manufacture the stampers for the original London 45s and 78s over 50 years ago. It’s hard to imagine how we could get any more authentic, really. As with all the other volumes, 1958 offers a splendid mix of proven classics and arcane obscurities. For every Eddie Cochran and Duane Eddy, there’s a Ganim’s Asia Minors or Frank DeRosa that have seemingly been reissued nowhere at all, until now. It would have been easy to just pull together London’s biggest hits to represent the label for the year, but that would have failed to show the full range of what could be bought by anyone with a spare 7/6 in their pocket, and an urge to connect with an America that was so far beyond the physical reach – and the affordability – of most UK teens of the time, that it might as well have been on Mars. As always, the booklet features a label shot for every track – not all of which were easy to locate, but you know us when it comes to completism! – and a 7000+ word essay featuring individual annotation for all 28. The 1958 foreword is written by John Broven, who won’t mind me saying that his appreciation of London was already bordering on an obsession even then. On a personal note, ’58 was the year in which I saved enough pocket money to buy my first London 45. Naturally, it’s included here, but you’ll have to buy a copy to find out what it was. By Tony Rounce (Ace Records) |
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Ace Records 2011 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - London American Label Year By Year 1959 They say that as one gets older the passage of time becomes ever faster. That’s only true if you are not compiling CDs of music from bygone days. At the moment, and thanks in no small way to the “London American Label Year By Year” series, Peter Gibbon and I feel as though we’re permanently stuck in the late 1950 and early 1960s, reliving our youth over and over again in a skewed cross between Groundhog Day and Life On Mars. Roll over Doctor Who, and tell Gene Hunt the news. The late 50s and early 60s are a long way from the worst years to find yourself reliving. I would bet that I am far from the only person here who, given the choice, would not permanently reset his personal controls for a one-way ticket to a similar time frame. However you slice it, the soundtrack to that period is worth abandoning DAB for in favour of the return of Fabulous 208, Juke Box Jury and ceaseless attempts to locate AFN’s signal. The series continues to offer Ace fans their own personal time machine via some of the best American records of their era, all of which appeared on the cherished black-and-silver imprint. This month Ace’s equivalent of the TARDIS lands in 1959 – a pivotal year in popular music that managed to survive the US payola scandals, a UK printers strike, a failed experiment with stereo 45s (Sun and Specialty in stereo? Methinks not, thanks) and all attempts to kill off rock’n’roll and replace it with lots of people called Bobby and Frankie, to bring us some of the most wonderful and well-remembered recordings of that life-changing decade. It’s a mark of how many great records came out on London in ’59 that only one of the tracks on our latest compilation is currently available elsewhere on Ace. Once again the diversity of the compilation reflects London’s own diversity of catalogue. (Inevitably nobody will like everything here – but, hey, Wink Martindale’s ‘Deck Of Cards’ was the label’s biggest seller of the year and that’s what the god of electronics invented that fast forward button on your CD player for.) Thanks to the foresight of the Decca (that’s D-E-C-C-A) record company in preserving the original production tapes for London 45s, we are again able to bring you more than 80% of the tracks featured from the same sources that were used to manufacture those 45s over 50 years ago. Believe me, I could chat all day about this, but the TARDIS is making that funny noise it makes when it’s about to take off and we need to make sure that our next stop is 1963. All being well, we should land there early next year. If anyone would like to apply for the post of our glamorous sidekick, we’re still taking applications. By Tony Rounce (Ace Records) |
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Ace Records 2010 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - London American Label Year By Year 1960 EMI didn’t have one until 1962, Philips never had one at all, Pye tried hard, but remained in division two for much of its life and the Rank Organisation had one that rang up such huge losses they pretty much gave theirs away. The label none of those companies could match was housed on the Albert Embankment, the home of the Decca Record Company – the label was London American and it, unlike Top Rank, Pye International and Stateside was the label you turned to most often when looking for the best in American pop, R&B and rock’n’roll. America was the first country in which a London label appeared. It was the flagship of British Decca’s American operations as far back as 1934. In Britain, the London logo made its debut in 1949 releasing material culled from its American namesake, but also from early US independents like Audivox, Jubilee, Derby, Cadence, Imperial, Essex and Jubilee. In 1954, a new prefix (HL) and numbering system (8001) was introduced and it’s this series that gave the London American label its legendary status. As rock’n’roll took hold in America new labels sprung up by the bucket load and Decca’s reputation for honest, straight forward dealing meant the new label entrepreneurs could trust Decca to pay its advances and deliver regular royalty statements and payments so the stature of the London American label grew rapidly. EMI’s Columbia, Parlophone and HMV labels had some US hits, others turned up on smaller British labels like Melodisc, Oriole and Starlite, but the cream was always to be found on the silver and black London label. Here you’d find material from Atlantic, Liberty (whose ability to survive and expand was partly made possible by a financial leap of faith by Sir Edward Lewis, the chairman of Decca who, when asked for a hundred thousand dollars advance for the rights to the Liberty catalogue in the mid-50s offered fifty thousand more, such was his belief in Liberty’s founder Si Waronker), Cadence, Dot, Jamie, Sun, Chess, Specialty, Warwick, Imperial and United Artists, most of which became major players whilst others like Greenwich, Sunbeam, Paris, Dore, Arwin, Judd, JDS and countless others turned out to be little more than ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ operations. Still, their recordings all found a home on London American. And so now Ace Records begins a year-by-year series celebrating the hits, misses and downright rarities that found a British outlet on the London American label, starting with 1960. Here you’ll find familiar recordings by Chuck Berry, Johnny Tillotson, Duane Eddy, Eddie Cochran, the Ventures, the Coasters and Johnny Burnette, but look more closely and you’ll find lesser-known records from the Delicates, whose members we now know more about than ever we knew in 1960, Teddy Redell with a track that’ll set you back £50 or £60 pounds now and Sonny Burgess, a wild rock‘n’roller who hadn’t noticed America’s chart was full of boy next door love songs in 1960. Here too, you’ll find Vernon Taylor’s sought-after version of Elvis’s ‘Mystery Train’, and even a good-time country sound from Wynn Stewart which London chose to only manufacture in Britain as an export item. But don’t let me keep you, grab your copy of The London American Label Year By Year and start re-living the sound of 1960. Then keep your eyes peeled for 1961, 1962, 1963. By Austin Powell (ACE RECORDS) |
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Ace Records 2009 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - London American Label Year By Year 1963 The USA was the first country in which a London label appeared. It was the flagship of British Decca’s American operations as far back as 1934. In 1949 the first batch of these American records was made available in the UK on the new London American imprint. In 2009 Ace launched its “London American Label Year By Year” series, which with this volume devoted to 1963, stands at five volumes. 1963 was a very good year for Phil Spector, the releases on whose Philles label appeared on London American in the UK. Until very recently, Philles recordings were out of bounds for compilations such as this one, but with the record producer presently out of circulation, his catalogue has very recently become available for license. Every cloud, eh? Let’s face it, this particular edition would not have been an accurate representation of 1963 without the Ronettes, the Crystals, Darlene Love and Bob B Soxx & the Blue Jeans, all of whom are present and correct. Yay! The inclusion of Darlene Love’s ‘A Fine Fine Boy’ here marks the first time the original 45 version has been legally available on CD. (All other digital issues contain a re-edit that is the result of irreparable damage to the original master.) Spector owed a lot of his success to Ellie Greenwich and her husband Jeff Barry, with whom he collaborated almost exclusively throughout 1963. The threesome co-wrote ‘A Fine Fine Boy’, ‘Then He Kissed Me’, ‘Be My Baby’ that year, and many more besides. Greenwich and Barry also penned bathos specialist Ray Peterson’s death-disc ‘Give Us Your Blessing’ and the Raindrops’ ‘What A Guy’, included here too. (Ellie and Jeff were the Raindrops, but you knew that.) 1963 was also a prime year for girl groups and female singers in general, a fact reflected here via the Sherrys, Little Eva, Marcie Blane, Robin Ward, Shirley Ellis and Ruby & the Romantics, not forgetting 50s R&B star LaVern Baker and South African ex-pat Miriam Makeba. There’s a lot more to this CD than Phil Spector, girl groups and Brill Building songwriters, but hey, that’s me for you. In all, this collection contains the A-sides of 28 of the 178 singles released on the London American label in 1963. As the series is expanding in two directions, we’re unsure if the next volume will focus on 1964 or 1958, both of which were very good years for American music. Watch this space to find out. Either way, it’ll be a winner. By Mick Patrick (Ace Records) |
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Ace Records 2011 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Lookey Dookey - Talking Trash |
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Rhythm & Blooz | LP | 15.00 € |
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| VA: - Love Blood Hound Rhythm 25 biisiä |
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Collector Records | CD | 15.00 € |
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| VA: - Lovin' Time Blues - Great Jump & R&B Duets 27 BIISIÄ |
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El Toro 2003 | CD | 15.00 € |
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| VA: - Mad Mike Monsters Vol. 1 - A Tribute To Mad Mike Metrovich The wildest 45s discovered and popularized by enigmatic Pittsburgh hoo-doo DJ during his primo prime years 1964-67, compiled into three sets of instant party mashers! Massive gatefold LPs tell the story of the Mad One in his own words, complete with tons of memories from his many local fans, while the CD packs deliver the same in a pocket-size format! Absolutely staggering array of sounds from this Norton icon! All sizzle, no gristle! This is the first volume. |
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Norton Records 2009 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Mad Mike Monsters Vol. 2 - A Tribute To Mad Mike Metrovich The story continues in this massive gatefold second volume |
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Norton Records 2009 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Me And My 6-Strings Club - One Man Band Compilation cool collection of "one-man bands". limited pressing of 500 copies. |
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Rockin' Bones Records 2003 | 10" LP | 10.00 € |
