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Result of your query: 1688 products

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VA: - Like What We Wrote -The Songs Of Johnny And Dorsey Vol. 3
Hydra Records 2010 CD 15.00 €
VA: - Like Wow
Pan American CD 15.00 €
VA: - Live & Jive Legends Vol. 2
We noticed there was a big demand for a second volume of the Live & Jive Legends compilation, since the release of volume 1, about 5 years ago. So, we gathered about 20, out of the many great bands that have played L&J to participate on this record.

We wanted to display the variety of styles that has made the Live & Jive international music festival famous.

You will of course find amazing rockabilly bands such as The Go Getters and Eddie & The Flatheads on this compilation, but also one of the best surf bands on the scene, The Barbwires. There is plenty of action on this compilation, punkrock legends The Accidents, and the insane international collaboration The Dragtones, featuring members from The Hives, and Fatboy will make sure of that! Not to mention the previously unreleased track by psychobilly legends Batmobile.
Heptown Records 2012 CD 13.90 €
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)
Ace Records 2012 CD 18.00 €
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)
Ace Records 2011 CD 17.00 €
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)
Ace Records 2010 CD 17.00 €
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)
Ace Records 2009 CD 17.00 €
VA: - London American Label Year By Year 1961
To no one’s surprise, the “London American Year By Year” series has proven to be an instant success for Ace. The combination of nostalgia for both the era that the series will cover and for the label itself, not to mention the prospect of owning hundreds more vintage gems on Ace CD for the first time, has ensured that – as the late Fergus Cashin of the Daily Sketch might have put it - “this one will run and run”.

Indeed, such is the demand for future volumes that we’ve already stepped up the scheduling of LAYBY from two to three times a year. (Well, your compilers will both be well into their seventies by the time of the intended final volume, and like you we’d prefer to live to see the series through to its grand finale – thus it seemed a sensible thing to do…). Fans can expect this January release of this 1961 volume to be followed by 1962 in October, with our first backtrack to 1959 as the tasty filler for this musical sandwich in June. We’d like to step that schedule up even more if we could – but as you can imagine, each volume is a mammoth undertaking for Ace’s licensing department, not to mention the amount of work that goes into sourcing the original London tapes and the matching the audio to the sound of the original 45s by the guys at Sound Mastering. These things just do not happen overnight, and we do need to put some other CDs out in between and around these releases to stay in business, y’know…

All this notwithstanding, we kick off the ‘tennies’ with LAYBY 1961, which we feel more than upholds the standard set by its acclaimed predecessor. One of the main promises we made to the collector was that each volume would feature at least 20 tracks that were new to Ace CD. On this occasion, only one of the featured tracks has ever been heard on Ace before (Timi Yuro’s ‘Hurt’). This is quite astounding when one considers that debutantes here include Eddie Cochran’s ‘Weekend’, Del Shannon’s ‘So Long Baby’ and Jerry Lee Lewis’ ‘What’d I Say’, to name but three. It really does demonstrate how much rock ‘n’ roll gold there still is in ‘them thar hills’ to mine, doesn’t it?

As ever, there’s extensive track-by-track commentary, with a shot of every featured London 45 to complement the annotation. An intro by long-time London collector Roger Cope perfectly sums up the feelings of everyone who ever put their pocket money or part of a meagre pay packet towards the purchase of one or more of these goodies, your compilers included. And the best news of all is that all of the songs run for less than two and a half minutes, so if there’s something here you don’t like (and we truthfully don’t expect everyone to enjoy everything that’s on offer across the series) you’re seldom more than 150 seconds away from something that you will!”

By Tony Rounce (Ace Records)
Ace Records 2010 CD 17.00 €
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)
Ace Records 2011 CD 17.00 €
VA: - Long Gone Cats Vol. 2
Sheik Records 2012 LP 15.00 €
VA: - Lost In The 60's - Frat Rocker And Garage Sounds From Obscur
16 tracks. Frat Rocker And Garage Sounds From Obscureville
SilverTown Records 2009 LP 14.00 €
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.
Norton Records 2009 LP 13.00 €
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.
Norton Records 2009 CD 17.00 €
VA: - Mad Mike Monsters Vol. 2 - A Tribute To Mad Mike Metrovich
The story continues in this massive gatefold second volume
Norton Records 2009 CD 17.00 €
VA: - Mad Mike Monsters Vol. 2 - A Tribute To Mad Mike Metrovich
The story continues in this massive gatefold second volume
Norton Records 2009 LP 13.00 €
VA: - Manhattan Soul
Kent Records cut its teeth on these great New York labels’ recordings. The imprints were so much more than the sum total of their hits. Many of the big records are out on Kent already, so we have gone back to the one-offs, neglected sides and the newly-discovered that have turned up more recently: for soul collectors only.

Dancers are catered for by Northern Soul’s adopted sides such as Marie Knight’s ‘That’s No Way To Treat A Girl’, here in the intriguing long version that Kent first discovered, Betty Moorer’s Latin-tinged ‘Speed Up’, Diane Lewis’ Detroit opus ‘Without Your Love’ and J.B. Troy’s current in-demander ‘Live On’.

There are some choice unissued recordings from the unknown Helen Henry, singer/producer Ed Townsend (who purveys a beaty proto-soul number written by none other than a Poet) and a terrific slab of early funk from the mighty Jackie Moore. An Ashford, Simpson and Armstead number ‘One Time Too Many’ is a mouth-watering taster of a forthcoming CD of unissued Shirelles’ recordings. A further previously unheard debut comes from the Fabulous Dinos (a group well from their King recordings as the Fabulous Denos), whose ‘Diamond Ring’ is a different song to Sammy Ambrose’s ‘This Diamond Ring’, although cut for the same Musicor stable. Conversely, debutant recording artist Lee Thomas’ ‘Millionaire’ is the same song Chuck Jackson cut in the early 60s and which caused quite a stir in rare soul circles when first played out and eventually released in the mid-80s.

The more modern sounds of the labels’ influential 70s singles are represented by a southern-sounding Ann Bailey, a Curtis Mayfield-inspired Patti Jo and the oddly named, but surprisingly soulful, Buckeye Politicians, whose fascinating biog is featured in the booklet. Two crossover ballads cut in Philadelphia by Winfield Parker and George Tindley are from the turn of the 60s and show how Wand had a great ear for quality music, even if the sales were disappointingly low – what they lost in $, we’ve repaid them in admiration over the past decades. From the same city, but from a musical era a world away, comes one of the first deejays to cut (as opposed to spin) a disc, Douglas “Jocko” Henderson. His ‘Blast Off To Love’ is a catchy mover that was style over soul, as befits a hip wordsmith.

Overlooked 45s such as the Tabs’ ‘Take My Love Along With You’ sound great from a new mix-down from the original multi track tape, while Johnny Maestro’s ‘Afraid Of Love’ (the flip of ‘Stepping Out Of The Picture’) has been neglected solely because of the attention paid to its topside (well, that and the four-figure price tag). Dan & the Clean Cuts substantially cheaper ‘Walking With Pride’ epitomises cool long before the term was universally applied to anything vaguely half-decent.

The booklet has some stunning photos of the artists along with a nice selection of label scans to pretty up the several thousand word musical and historical appraisal. Welcome back Scepter, Wand and Musicor. It’s been too long.

By Ady Croasdell (ACE Records)
Ace Records 2011 CD 17.00 €
VA: - Manhattan Soul Vol. 2
Scepter, Wand and Musicor have been a staple of the Kent connoisseur’s diet for nearly thirty years, since Jack Montgomery’s ‘Dearly Beloved’ opened the “Club Soul” Kent LP in 1984. Along with stunning solo compilations from Maxine Brown, Tommy Hunt, Chuck Jackson and the Shirelles there have been about a dozen LP and CD compilations of all the great artists who didn’t have enough tracks for solo albums. These varied from out-and-out Northern Soul, to big city ballads, to Southern Soul to Modern and funk. We don’t categorise quite as much nowadays and Kent has always been liberal in its mixing of the genres, so it is not surprising to see a typically diverse selection on our latest Manhattan Soul volume.

One of the main reasons we’ve re-visited the series is the new access we have had to the multi-track tapes, which either contained previously unheard songs or offered great tape quality on seminal tracks that had been dubbed from disc n the past. The “new to our ears” recordings on this compilation include Jimmy Radcliffe’s original demo (or first stage recording) of his classic self-penned song ‘Deep In The Heart Of Harlem’, a Benny Gordon rousing vocal work-out to his fast and funky ‘Horsin’ Around’ groove, Lois Lane’s rhythm & soul with a touch of gospel ‘No Jealous Lover’ and the Catalinas’ blue eyed beach music of ‘Who Knows Better’.

Greatly improved sound quality can be heard on the Soul Brothers beat ballad ‘The Parade Of Broken Hearts’, Ed Bruce’s sublime study in melancholy ‘I’m Gonna Have A Party’ and the most infectious dancer since ‘Dance To The Music’ in Lou Lawton’s ‘Knick Knack Patty Wack’; don’t let that title phase you.

While we were recreating those sessions from the 60s we looked at the whole of the formidable catalogue and found some wonderful masters that hadn’t been available since the vinyl to CD switch. Tracks from soul legends such as Big Maybelle with ‘How Do You Feel Now’, Roscoe Robinson and his plaintive ‘Lonesome Guy’ and tommy Hunt's ‘New Neighbourhood’ which took me back to those rammed-out, steamy 100 Club all nighters of the mid 80s. Other gems like Willie Hatcher’s magnificent ‘Who Am I Without You Baby’, Joe Perkins’ atmospheric ‘Runaway Slave’ and the close soul harmony of the Premiers on ‘Lonely Weatherman’ had never graced a digital disc before.

Researching the music was no less interesting than listening to it. We unearthed a current member of the US House Of Representatives; a lead singer who flew his plane into a mountain; and a one-single wonder who still plies his trade crooning in Las Vegas.

Apart from the Big Apple, there’s a hunk of Philly, a splash of Chicago and some Memphis grits; all making for a soul food sandwich to savour.

By Ady Croasdell (Ace Records)
Ace Records 2012 CD 17.00 €
VA: - Medisiinari - Puhdasta sukupuoli asiaa
M.A. Nummisen tuottama Medisiinari-levy tehtiin vuonna 1970 Medisiinari-lehden seksinumeron äänilevyliitteeksi. Julkaisun koelevyversio sisälsi seitsemän esitystä, mutta tekijöidenkin rohkeus petti lopulta sen verran, että Muksut-yhtyeen “Runkkarin laulu” päätettiin sensuroida lopulliselta versiolta pois. Levystä julkaistu sensuroitu versiokin herätti kuitenkin runsaasti paheksuntaa ja lukuisat närkästyneet Medisiinari-lehden lukijat peruivat sen vuoksi lehtitilauksensa. Nyt tämä levyharvinaisuus julkaistaan ensimmäistä kertaa cd-muodossa, luonnollisestikin sensuroimattomana versiona. Medisiinari-levyllä esiintyvät M.A. Numminen, Muksut, Rauli Badding Somerjoki, Kari Rydman, Heikki Kinnunen, Liisamaija Laaksonen sekä Juha Virkkunen.

CD:n bonusraitoina kuullaan M.A. Nummisen ns. sex-ep vuodelta 1966. Kyseisellä ep:llä kuullaan lauluja, jotka kantaesitettiin Jyväskylän kesässä vuonna 1966. Tämä esitys päättyi ennenaikaisesti virkavallan keskeyttäessä keikan. Kappaleiden levytetyt versiot puolestaan päätyivät kaikki radiosensuurin uhreiksi.

Levyn kansilehdestä löytyy M.A. Nummisen kirjoittamat saatesanat.
Rocket Records 2011 CD 13.00 €
VA: - Meet The Pearls - Juke Box Pearls Series
Bear Family 2012 CD 17.00 €
VA: - Memphis Boys - The Story Of American Studios
There can be few with an interest in the music of the American South who didn’t welcome the recent publication of Memphis Boys, Roben Jones’ essential history of American Studios.

Established by songwriter-producer Chips Moman and his business partner Don Crews in 1964, it took a couple of years for American to find its true audio identity, but once the in-house group of key musicians – the Memphis Boys of Roben’s title – were all in place the steady trickle of hits and future classics quickly became a flood. Thanks to those players – Tommy Cogbill, Reggie Young, Bobby Emmons, Gene Chrisman, Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham and others – the American sound became as important a part of recording history as that which emanated from the studios of Motown, Cosimo’s, FAME and Memphis neighbours Sun, Stax and Hi.

The first Hot 100 biggies to be recorded at American – James & Bobby Purify’s ‘Shake A Tail Feather’ and Oscar Toney Jr’s ‘For Your Precious Love’ – were taped at the same session in March 1967, around the same time as Dan Penn was putting the Box Tops through their paces on ‘The Letter’, one of the biggest hits of 1967 and American’s first worldwide chart-topper. Not a bad year by anyone’s standards.

How quickly American’s stock rose in the eyes of others – particularly the companies that used the studio and the Memphis Boys on a regular basis – can be assessed by the fact that, by 1968, American was entertaining a client roster that included Neil Diamond, Petula Clark, B.J. Thomas, Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield and a local boy by the name of Elvis Presley who was looking to make his music as relevant as it had been 15 years earlier.

Although this collection doesn’t contain every major hit that came out of the funky little studio on Thomas Street, Memphis (we’re saving some for a possible second volume), as a listening experience it’s hard to beat – particularly when enjoyed in conjunction with Roben’s brilliant book.

By Tony Rounce (Ace Records)
Ace Records 2012 CD 17.00 €
VA: - Miss Mary Ann, Ragtime Wranglers, Ranch Girls
Selections 1993-2008: A 15 year retrospective from rockabilly singer Miss Mary Ann with her Ragtime Wranglers, and also some tracks as the Ranch Girls duo. 20 tracks, all unreleased, very rare, out of print, or remastered. Top notch rockabilly presented in a smart DVD-size digipack with beautiful 1950s rock'n'roll poster-like artwork.
Sonic Rendezvous Records 2009 CD 17.00 €
VA: - Mit der Raupe fahr'n...
Das waren noch Zeiten: Ab an die Raupe! Denn da lief die neueste Musik auf dem Freimarkt in Bremen, dem Oldenburger Krammermarkt, dem Hamburger Dom oder auf anderen Rummelplatz - Sausen. Discotheken gab's noch nicht - und wo sonst konnte man mit den Mädchen so schön flirten und bei geschlossenem Verdeck unbemerkt knutschen?! Die ersten Schmatzer in der Raupenbahn klingen bis heute nach, die Liebesschwüre hängen noch immer zwischen den alten Kufen der Bahn... Das Bremen - Eins - Team der 'Oldiebörse' holt diese unvergesslichen Erinnerungen und handfesten Gefühle zurück - die bei intensivem Hinhören plötzlich gar nicht mehr so alt erscheinen... Die RAUPENHITS der Oldiebörse, präsentiert von BEAR FAMILY RECORDS: ein Muss - nicht nur für den großen Rummel!
Bear Family 2010 CD 17.00 €
VA: - Mod Jazz Forever
The night is dark, and crisp enough to require a dark blue woollen overcoat over your midnight blue two-button narrow-lapelled, slim-fitting suit. Your loafers are oxblood and polished to a shine that reflects well on the rest of your outfit. You’re looking for the perfect soundtrack for a night on the town, not just any town, but a city, a bustling metropolis lit by neon and a full of a million souls – although you only want to be seen with a small percentage, the ones who can share your outlook and need the right sort of sounds.

Fortunately for you the mod jazz crew are back in town and we have scoured the world to provide you with the perfect blend of jazz, with a touch of the blues, a shake of soul and a pinch of latin. Whether you are sipping a whisky sour in a wood-panelled bar, trying to created the perfect Mad Men moment, or working up a sweat, we have the number for you.

As usual, we pay only lip service to genre divides, and bring you lots of great jazz vocals, often with an R&B twist. Check Troy Dodds’ ‘The Real Thing’ (the B-side of a super-expensive Northern soul hit) or Floyd White’s ‘Finders Keepers’, lifted from a previously unreleased Invader session. Mod jazz favourite Mark Murphy turns up with the amazing rare 45-only ‘It’s Like Love’ and Clint Stacy, Bobby Jenkins and Little Bob all help keep the mod jazz quality high. On the female side we have the phenomenal Tobi Lark, who is known for her soul numbers but was a consummate jazz performer, as was Byrdie Green, who gives us her take on Freddie Hubbard’s ‘Return Of The Prodigal Son’.

A good mod jazz record needs plenty of roaring Hammond organ, which we give you by Brother Jack McDuff, Johnny “Hammond” Smith and the great Reuben Wilson with one of his earliest recordings. That other great Hammond exponent Billy Larkin sings like Georgie Fame and strokes some piano keys on ‘Looking’, which sounds rather like ‘Fever’, a song served up in a wonderful version by Buddy Guy. The Night Beats deliver a garage jazz take on ‘Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf Pt 2’ mod jazz regulars Hank Jacobs, Dave Hamilton and Johnny Lytle keep our toes tapping and our fingers clicking. As you leave the room to the previously unreleased British jazz cut ‘Sunshine Superman’ by Bocking, Robinson, Morais you will be feeling as sharp as ever. Another mod jazz miracle.

By Dean Rudland (Ace Records)
Ace Records 2012 CD 17.00 €
VA: - Monster Raving In The Long Black Coffin
Monster Raving In The Long Black Coffin - A Tribute To Screaming Lord Sutch
Western Star Records 2011 CD 15.00 €
VA: - More Lost Legends Of Surf Guitar 2LP
It's hard to think of a musical style that's more quintessentially American than surf music. Springing up along the California coast in the early 1960s, the surf sound—characterized by "wet"-sounding guitar reverb that echoed the sound of the sea and pummeling rhythms that emulated the ocean's currents—was originally inspired and nurtured by the culture that surrounded the sport. Despite its provincial origins, the surf genre captured the imagination of teenagers around the world, and spawned a remarkably large body of highly original music, with an emphasis on innovative guitar instrumentals that would influence rock axemen for decades to come.

Much of that vintage surf music was originally released on small regional labels, and many of the acts that created some of the greatest surf music never released more than a handful of singles. Those factors resulted in many original surf classics remaining difficult to obtain in recent years. Sundazed Music, a longstanding champion of vintage surf music, went a long way towards remedying that situation with the release of its CD series Lost Legends of Surf Guitar. The series has been widely recognized for rescuing numerous rare, obscure and/or lesser-known gems from surf music's golden age. Now, the landmark series moves into second gear, progressing into the vinyl format with a pair of double-LP collections, each of which features 28 below-the-radar vintage surf killers.

More Lost Legends of Surf Guitar ups the ante with 28 more vintage surf winners, with additional performances by the Challengers, Jerry Cole & His Spacemen, the Surfaris, the Tornadoes and the Trashmen, plus terrific tunes by surf innovators the Belairs, session guitar great Al Casey and regional legend Thom Starr & the Galaxies.

This essential collection, meticulously mastered from rare vintage tapes and pressed on high-quality vinyl, is the perfect collection for gremmie and ho-dad alike, so grab this wave and jump head-first into the surf!!!
Sundazed Music 2012 LP 35.00 €
VA: - More Miles Than Money 2CD
More Miles Than Money: Journeys Through American Music is a book I researched and wrote between 2006-2008. In many ways I’d been waiting my entire life to write More Miles. Growing up in Mt Roskill – a working class suburb of Auckland, New Zealand, where there were no music venues, cinemas, pubs, nothing but churches and rugby fields – I took refuge in Mark Twain and Jack Kerouac’s adventures while AM radio (modelled on US radio) spun hits by Freddy Fender, the Amazing Rhythm Aces, Little Feat et al. I dreamed of escaping Auckland’s suburbs to ride Route 66 and Highway 61, ears and eyes open. Eventually I got to live my dream and More Miles is the story of those travels.

I didn’t know it back then but Kiwi radio was often playing music akin to that which Charlie Gillett played on his Honky Tonk radio show in London. Discovering Charlie’s book The Sound Of The City sent me scouring through secondhand bookstores in search of old copies of Cream, Creem and Let It Rock, where the writings of Charlie and other likeminded journalists appeared. I’d go so far as to say that a feature Charlie wrote on the great New Orleans producer-arranger Harold Battiste (Cream #5, Sept 1971) was what initially inspired me to want to search out the largely unsung heroes of American music.

At the same time as reading Charlie Gillett I was buying US imports on a variety of labels, with Arhoolie being my favourite. Mexican culture fascinated me, especially that which arose from the borderlands, the Tex-Mex/Tejano music. (Blame this on my dad taking me to see Sam Peckinpah’s westerns.) Discovering a bin full of Arhoolie Records in a downtown record shop introduced me to a treasure trove of magical Mexican American music and reading about Arhoolie founder Chris Strachwitz’s efforts to record the finest American vernacular music provided even more inspiration. Later on, Canyon Records would open my ears to how Native American culture celebrated its survival. Around the same time an uncle who loved jazz gave me Curtis Mayfield’s “Superfly” album – he found it too funky for his tastes. Talk about life-changing records: to this day Curtis remains my favourite US soul singer.

I dedicated More Miles Than Money to Charlie, Chris and the indomitable spirit of Curtis Mayfield. Tragically, Charlie died earlier this year. He, like Curtis, lives on as an indomitable spirit and continues to inspire me. This compilation is, again, dedicated to Charlie, Chris and Curtis: the three Cs who helped me hear America.

More Miles Than Money reflects on an America that made the mightiest music of the 20th Century. This compilation aims then to salute those who inspired me to ride US highways and document those I encountered as I wandered through honky-tonks, juke joints and barrios. Enjoy!

By Garth Cartwright (Ace Records)
Ace Records 2010 CD 20.00 €
VA: - Mostly Ghostly - More Horror For Halloween
Ace Records 2010 CD 17.00 €
VA: - Move With The Groove - Hardcore Chicago Soul 2CD
Charly Records 2012 CD 17.00 €
VA: - My Baby Scares Me
Pan American CD 15.00 €
VA: - My Kind Of Woman
Pan American CD 15.00 €
VA: - Nasse Sedän Lastentunti
uonna 1987 ilmestynyt Nasse-sedän lastentunti julkaistaan ensimmäistä kertaa cd-muodossa. Tämä albumi sai ilmestyessään suuren suosion ja myi heti julkaisuvuotenaan yli silloisen 25 000 kappaleen kultalevyrajan. Albumilla esiintyy joukko maamme eturivin laulajia, kuten Vesa-Matti Loiri, Kirka, Carola ja Vicky Rosti. Sekä tietenkin Nasse-setä, jonka kappale-esittelyitä ja legendaarisia vitsejä kuullaan laulujen välissä. Albumin kappaleiden sovituksista vastaavat Olli Ahvenlahti ja Kassu Halonen.
Rocket Records 2012 CD 17.00 €
VA: - Nastolan Rautalankafestarit 2011
28 tracks recorded live at Nastola Rautalanka (instrumental music) festival 2011.
EJK Media 2012 DVD 12.00 €
VA: - Nasty Rockabilly 10 CD Box
10CDs = 310 tracks + full color 28 page booklet (10" size). Label shots for every record + XXX-rated porno pictures .
B-Sharp Records 2011 CD-Box 60.00 €
VA: - Nasty Rockabilly Vol. 19
Rare 50s Rock & Roll / Rockabilly. X-rated sleeve
B-Sharp Records 2010 LP 15.00 €
VA: - Nasty Rockabilly Vol. 20
Rare 50s Rock & Roll / Rockabilly. X-rated sleeve
B-Sharp Records 2010 LP 15.00 €
VA: - New Breed Blues With Black Popcorn
Make way for a brand new selection of collectables, curios and rug-cutters for R&B fans who feel the beat and need new sounds to scratch their itch.

Tracks such as Marva Josie’s ‘You Lied’, Sinner Strong’s ‘Don’t Knock It’ and the Idols’ ‘Just A Little Bit More’ seem to have been around for an eternity without being properly comped, whereas ‘Why Oh Why’ by Austin Taylor, ‘Well I Done Got Over It’ from Bobby Mitchell and Dolores Johnson’s ‘What Kind Of Man Are You’ are currently raising eyebrows and overdrafts. J.J. Jackson’s ‘Oo-Ma-Liddy’, Little Johnny Taylor’s ‘Somewhere Down The Line’ and Etta James’ ‘Nobody Loves You Like Me’ are perfect for this CD.

Kent’s forte is the previously unissued humdinger and here we have a handful of the best to tempt even the most OVO (original vinyl only) of collectors to shell out for this piquant package. Two gems from earlier Ace CDs can be found in Art Wheeler’s Downey side ‘Baby We’re Through’ and Carl Edmondson & the Charmaines’ Fraternity number ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’, while the more recently issued 45 of ‘I Ain’t Talkin’’ comes from last year’s CD of Kent Harris’ R&B productions.

Inevitably it’s the debutantes that will steal the show and attract the more traditional R&B fan. There is a pounding blues by Freddie North from Bob Holmes’ tapes, when he was working with Freddie along with Slim Harpo in Nashville in the late 60s. From Los Angeles there is Adolph Jacobs’ unreleased Class recording ‘Cannibal Stew’ that sounds like the Coasters and might even have them singing behind him (he was their guitarist at the time). Then we have a taster for the forthcoming Ace CD of Richard Stamz’s Chicago blues productions, with a fine mover from Tony Gideon called ‘So Strange’.

Finally, there is a track that put me into a state of frenzy, ‘When You See Me Hurt’ by Carl Lester & the Showstoppers – 2 minutes 30 of unadulterated hip-shaking heartbreak. I must have one now!



By Ady Croasdell (Ace Records)
Ace Records 2013 CD 18.00 €
VA: - Next Stop Is Vietnam - The War On Record 1961-2008
(13-CD set, LP-sized slipcase with 304page hardcover book. 334 tracks, playing time: more than 16h:49min). The most comprehensive anthology of music inspired by the Vietnam War ever released. Over 330 titles covering all facets of the war and its aftermath featuring The Doors, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Country Joe McDonald and dozens of other artists. Rarely heard documentary material including patriotic Public Service Announcements, field news reports and intercepted North Vietnamese radio transmissions of Jane Fonda and Hanoi Hannah. A heavily illustrated, full-colour 304-page book containing extensive artist/song notes, Vietnam War history and recollections by vets on their favourite songs. Two discs of music exclusively by Vietnam veterans. Never-before-released tracks recorded during the war by in-country soldiers. Mister, Where Is Vietnam ...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, na‹ve 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. - The full-color 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 'incountry' 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.



Bear Family 2010 CD-Box 200.00 €
VA: - Nippon Girls
By popular demand, the series kicks off with “Nippon Girls”, a celebration of the female side of Japan’s 1960s pop scene. The LP comprises a dozen highlights from the CD of the same title issued on our Big Beat International logo a couple of years back, one of our recent top sellers. Compiled by DJ Sheila Burgel, a former Tokyo resident, the “Nippon Girls” CD raised a few eyebrows here at Ace HQ, but girl-pop maven Sheila knew what she was doing. The collection drew rave reviews, becoming something of a left-field hit with the club crowd and young hipster types.

Sheila also supplied the fascinating and scholarly liner notes, from which we learn that bikini-clad cover girl Jun Mayuzumi’s ‘Black Room’ “boasts booming bass lines and a dancefloor readiness that’s already caught the ear of freakbeat collectors, while Mie Nakao’s fuzz-rocker ‘Sharock No. 1’ takes ‘Green Onions’ as its template. ‘Tsukikage No Rendezvous’ by Keiko Mari is a tamer affair, with Latin rhythms and cute banter between Mari and her all-male chorus. J Girls were sisters Shinobu and Jun Hazuki. Their ‘Kiiro No Sekai’ was recorded in 1969 but remained under wraps until 1995’s “Cutie Pops Collection”. Reiko Ohara’s ‘Peacock Baby’ was released in 1968 and came in a mouth-watering gatefold sleeve. Mieko Hirota was a music heavyweight, close to Dusty Springfield in the ability to inspire awe with her voice. In the mid-60s, she was paired up with Kyohei Tsutsumi, one of Japan’s greatest pop writer/producers. His love of Anglo-American records is clearly audible on ‘Nagisa No Tenshi’, its backing track not very subtly swiped from ‘Cool Jerk’.”

The second side makes for an equally compelling listen. Opener Rumi Koyama was “a go-go dancer for TV show Beat Pops. Her debut single is rather square, but its jazzy flip ‘Watashi No Inori’ is just the right amount of raw and teenage. A year after the Carnabeats hit paydirt with a reading of the Zombies’ ‘I Love You’, re-titled ‘Suki Sa Suki Sa Suki Sa’, Nana Kinomi included the same song on her album “Let’s Go Nana!” with GS band Leo Beats. You can hear half-American, half-Japanese model Miki Obata struggle to hit the high notes on ‘Hatsu Koi No Letter’, but it’s considered a Japanese girl-pop staple. Ryoko Moriyama’s ‘Ame Agari No Samba’ attests to the high quality of Japanese bossa nova – as laidback and atmospheric as the Brazilian originals it emulated. Former figure skater Ayumi Ishida’s ‘Taiyou Wa Naite Iru’ is total melodrama, a whirlwind of harpsichord and strings. The star of over a hundred films, Sayuri Yoshinaga appealed to the Japanese mainstream with her modest image and ability to leave audiences in floods of tears. Her ‘Koi No Yorokobi’ is the perfect Japanese girl-pop primer – dark yet upbeat, with all-girl chorus the Schoolmates chirping in the background.”

“Nippon Girls” is highly recommended to girl group fanciers, GS groovers and anyone else with a keen ear for eclectic sounds. The LP version sports a zingy gatefold cover by designer Niall McCormack, who also created the 23-inch square poster found tucked inside.



By Mick Patrick (Ace Records)
Ace Records 2013 LP 25.00 €
VA: - Nobody Wins - Stax Southern Soul 1968-1975
One of the projects that we feel proudest of is “Take Me To The River: A Southern Soul Story”. It was a labour of love and a lot of people were very appreciative of it, justifying our own confidence in the project. In the wake of its success we thought it would be good to do some single CD follow-up projects looking at specific areas of the Southern Soul world; unfortunately other things got in the way, including the rather wondrous opportunities we have had with the chaps at Fame, so we put the idea on the back burner until we could do it properly. With “Nobody Wins” I hope we have been able to do so.

Focussing on the output of Stax Records may seem like shooting fish in a barrel, but by 1968 a lot had changed at the label that had effectively codified Southern Soul music with William Bell’s ‘You Don’t Miss Your Water’, and then took it to the world via Otis Redding. Otis had died in a plane crash in 1967 and then, at the termination of the label’s distribution deal with Atlantic, Stax had been left without its back catalogue. To combat these problems label head Al Bell had formulated a plan to make it a full-service record label, recording, manufacturing, distributing and marketing the recordings. To make this viable Stax had to compete with the biggest R&B label Motown and release far more material. With this is mind producer Don Davis was brought in to add some Detroit know-how, and music and ideas were imported from all over the USA.

Stax may not have been exclusively releasing Southern music any more but it was still a Southern label. Most of the acts were came from the local area, and as the biggest label outside R&B’s traditional Northern strongholds, it was a magnet for anyone from the region who hoped to get a record deal. On top of that the Southern sound was so successful that even records that were recorded in other parts of the country tried to emulate the sound (noticeable on Calvin Scott’s Stax album for example). “Nobody Wins” gives an overview of the prevailing developments within Southern Soul, which show a move from a Stax-dominated landscape with our earliest productions, to something that ends up looking towards the styles being championed by Hi Records on the other side of Memphis.

The music is uniformly excellent and sometimes, as on Johnny Daye’s ‘Stay Baby Stay’, William Bell’s ‘Loving On Borrowed Time’ or ‘Shouldn’t I Love Him’ by Mable John, transcendent. It is a great treat to be able to spotlight neglected cuts from Willie Singleton, Mack Rice or Freddie Waters, which have been hidden away as B-sides or on expensive box-sets. We’ve also discovered some previously unreleased gems from the previously unknown Sylvia and the Blue Jays, and from Bettye Crutcher and Chuck Brooks. It is also great to be able to focus on some better-known tracks by the Soul Children and Ollie & The Nightingales and bring them together with the other tracks featured here. From start to finish this is great, great soul music.

By Dean Rudland (Ace Records)
Ace Records 2012 CD 17.00 €
VA: - Nordic Guitars Vol. 10
Carelia Records 2012 CD 15.00 €
VA: - Nordic Guitars Vol. 11
new volume on this great series
Carelia Records 2013 CD 15.00 €
VA: - Northern Soul's Guilty Secrets
The Northern Soul scene started over four decades ago and was never meant to be more than a passing fad. It just got so good we couldn’t bear to let go, or grow up. We still have an emotional attachment to records played by teenagers to teenagers an eon ago. The music was all brand new to us at that time and being brought up in a culture thousands of miles away from its source, we had to make it up as we went along. Knowledge was limited and we had no idea of the circumstances or origins of the recordings. For all we knew, Barnaby Bye could have come straight outta Philly’s black ghetto. Actually, we wouldn’t have cared had we known they had long hair and flares; the beat and sound was all. Dance records were what we wanted. They were usually based on the classic Motown sound, but we veered off up many a dark musical alley. Soul revisionism didn’t happen until the momentum and euphoria finally calmed down in the late 70s.

I think all of the tracks on here were first played in the early 70s days of the scene (the Rumblers may have been a bit later) but hardly any of them have been played as oldies since. They’ve been airbrushed from our musical history. These are the ones we’ve removed from the DJ box, but left close to hand for that nostalgia trip. I can understand why more serious music fans look down on some of these tracks, but it really is their loss.

Ann D’Andrea is so basic I thought they’d sent a demo take, but what an uplifting bouncy, catchy number it is. I recently had a discussion about David & the Giants with a serious soul fan, who claimed their record’s appeal was down to the Fame studio musicians and production. I’m sure that was him trying to justify his love of it. I think it’s the way the group captured the essence and exuberance of young love that makes it.

That same goes for Kiki Dee’s ‘On A Magic Carpet Ride’. As a longhaired left-wing member of the Market Harborough underground in the late 60s, I couldn’t have pictured myself raving about a song featuring “rainbow’s end” lyrics in later years. John Fred’s ‘Hey Hey Bunny’ sounds like an early bubblegum record, but what fun and, if you’re a dancer, a great one to burn some energy off to.

I beg you to get past the artists and titles that have repelled you for years and give this maligned side of Northern Soul an honest appraisal. If it gets one grumpy soul stalwart skipping across the kitchen to ‘Put Me In Your Pocket’ it’ll all have been worthwhile.

By Ady Croasdell (Ace Records)
Ace Records 2011 CD 17.00 €
VA: - Odd Couples - What Were They Thinking ?
48-page booklet, 20 tracks. Playing time approx. 58 minutes. -- The 'Velvet Lounge' is a remarkable series of re-releases dedicated to music that is always elegant and entertaining - and sometimes even exotic. The series is a comfortable and welcoming home for treasures from the fabulous Fifties and the strange Sixties. It is a mark of quality placed on music we've rediscovered from long ago and far away, from a time and place between Rock and Beat ecstasy and psychedelic populism. -- This newest addition to the Bear Family contains music that comes straight from the archives of both large and small record companies, and is re-mastered to Bear Family's excellent quality, normally as a direct digitalisation of a master-tape but always with the best possible sound. What you hear is what you get, and the listener is tempted in by this music, asked to relax and savour the music, while maybe putting up their feet and slowly stirring a long drink. -- And who you hear is important; the artists' names alone make for a formidable series. Eartha Kitt, 'the most exciting woman in the world' according to Orson Welles, does her purring 'thang' on the album 'St. Louis Blues', alongside legendary West-Coast-trumpeter Milton 'Shorty' Rogers and an extravagantly exciting and highly entertaining blues program. And then on the album 'Personalities' another trumpeter Al 'Jumbo' Hirt dedicates himself to a sort of 'symbolization in sound' of sex-bomb Ann Margret, some twenty years his junior, on songs like My Baby Just Cares For Me or Baby, It's Cold Outside. Despite numerical evidence to the contrary, 'jazz' was not a four letter word back then, and even 'entertainment' did not smell funny, yet. The motto was 'anything goes' rather than 'is that allowed ' This artistic free-for-all and high quality craftsmanship produced songs that had every right to be called 'standards'. Artist-arrangers like Marty Paich or Juan Esquivel, for instance, not only showcased the abilities of some of the best studio musicians of their time, but also the songwriters. -- The 'Velvet Lounge' engages more than the ears, though. You'll need your stomach muscles, at least those involved in extensive laughter. On 'What were they thinking ' an overdue compilation with all kinds of 'odd couples', pleasure becomes a principle and the absurd gets to be ordinary. Country stars meet Exotica heroes or Easy Listening troubadours. Pop crooners like Perry Como are coupled with the Sons Of The Pioneers, and even Lotte Lenya, Kurt Weill's wife, and Bertolt Brecht's favorite mime, gets to share some hilarious studio-time with the sensational Louis Armstrong. -- Because the 'Velvet Lounge' series comes under the Bear Family banner, it is a given that the graphic design is perfectly fitting and fittingly perfect, featuring rare original photographs, exact discographies, and extensive liner notes. Everything about this series has a touch of exuberance and luxury. Everyone from the collecting specialist to the cultural crusader can feel most welcome and at home in this 'Velvet Lounge'.
Bear Family 2011 CD 18.00 €
VA: - Oh Boy ! The Brunswick Story 2CD
One Day Music 2012 CD 9.00 €
VA: - Oriental Bop
japanese authentic rockabilly. 12 tracks
Monophonic Records 2009 CD 15.00 €
VA: - Over The Top Doo Wops Vol. 1
El Toro Records 2012 CD 15.00 €
VA: - Pepper-Hot Baby
Pan American CD 15.00 €
VA: - Phil Spector - The Anthology 1959-62 2LP
Not Now Music 2013 LP 22.00 €
VA: - Phil Spector - The Early Productions
In the early 60s, pop was a hidden industry whose interface with the public existed only at performance level. The big money wasn’t around then and the record game wasn’t seen as a legitimate vocation for sons and daughters. In this subterranean milieu, income depended on factors that were both difficult to predict and control and it seemed a safer bet becoming a lawyer, a doctor or a dentist.

This was the awesome challenge facing 21 year-old Phil Spector as he barnstormed his way through recording circles, making an immediate impact with major hits such as ‘Spanish Harlem’ (Ben E King), ‘Pretty Little Angel Eyes’ (Curtis Lee) and ‘Corinna Corinna’ (Ray Peterson).

It all began for Spector with the Teddy Bears, an ad hoc vocal group he organised as a vehicle for his songs back in 1958. Events had moved fairly quickly in his life since he’d moved with his mother and sister from the Bronx to Los Angeles in 1953. By the time he’d graduated from Fairfax high School in 1957, Spector had become proficient on the guitar and turned his hand to song writing. Some crudely recorded demos including ‘Don’t You Worry My Little Pet’ (heard here) caught the attention of Doré Records who sanctioned further recordings resulting in the worldwide hit ‘To Know Him Is To Love Him’.

Riven by personality conflicts, the Teddy Bears soon disbanded and Spector teamed up with Lester Sill and Lee Hazlewood, the force behind twangy guitarist Duane Eddy’s hits. Placed in charge of Sill’s new signing Kell Osborne, Spector wrote and produced the gritty ‘That’s Alright Baby’. Spector then expressed a desire to move back East. As a favour to their old mentor, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller agreed to look after him. Alternating between coasts, Spector recorded the Paris Sisters, a vocal trio signed by Sill. His faith in Spector was more than justified when the trio’s ‘I Love How You Love Me’ climbed to #5.

Following a short stop at Liberty records – the only official staff post he ever held – Spector walked away to concentrate on his own Philles label. Four years had lapsed since he’d stepped untrained into a recording studio with three friends to record a hit almost by chance. Since then, he’d learned his craft, paid his dues and finally become his own boss. Now, at 23, he had the industry in the palm of his hand and only himself to account to.

“Phil Spector: The Early Productions” covers this formative phase of Spector’s career without duplicating too many hits available on other Ace comps. 12 of the generous 28 tunes are new to CD and both the sequencing and mastering make them a delight to the ear while the booklet is a presentational tour de force. Let’s remember him this way rather than the other.

By Rob Finnis (Ace Records)
Ace Records 2010 CD 17.00 €
VA: - Philadelphia Pop - Rockin' And Croonin' On Bandstand 1957-59
After the initial rise of rock and roll, and with thanks to the power of TV the city of Philadelphia briefly became the centre for a new kind of teenage pop music with acts like Frankie Avalon, Fabian and Bobby Rydell who dominated the charts in the late '50s.

Featuring recordings made between 1957 and 1959 including such classics as 'At the Hop', 'Venus', 'Butterfly' and 'Tallahassee Lassie'.

Virtually every one of the 44 tracks on this great set was a chart record either in America or the UK, often both!

Fully detailed liner notes chart the rise of Philadelphia's influence thanks to the popularity of the TV show 'American Bandstand'.


Price: £8.99 / $14.83 / €10.10


Quantity:


Disc 1

1. CHARLIE GRACIE - BUTTERFLY
2. CHARLIE GRACIE - FABULOUS
3. CHARLIE GRACIE - WANDERIN' EYES
4. DANNY AND THE JUNIORS - AT THE HOP
5. BILLY AND LILLIE - LAH DEE DAH
6. FRANKIE AVALON - DE DE DINAH
7. THE SILHOUETTES - GET A JOB
8. CHARLIE GRACIE - COOL BABY
9. DICKY DOO AND THE DON'TS - CLICK CLACK
10. DANNY AND THE JUNIORS - ROCK AND ROLL IS HERE TO STAY
11. JOHN ZACHERLE (THE COOL GHOUL) - DINNER WITH DRAC
12. FRANKIE AVALON - YOU EXCITE ME
13. DICKY DOO AND THE DON'TS - NEE NEE NA NA NA NA NU NU
14. DANNY AND THE JUNIORS - DOTTIE
15. FRANKIE AVALON - GINGERBREAD
16. CHARLIE GRACIE - LOVE YOU SO MUCH IT HURTS
17. DICKIE DOO & THE DON'TS - LEAVE ME ALONE
18. FRANKIE AVALON - I'LL WAIT FOR YOU
19. THE APPLEJACKS - MEXICAN HAT ROCK
20. FRANKIE AVALON - WHAT LITTLE GIRL
21. BILLY AND LILLIE - LUCKY LADYBUG
22. THE APPLEJACKS - ROCKA CONGA
Disc 2

1. FABIAN - I'M A MAN
2. FRANKIE AVALON - VENUS
3. BOBBY RYDELL - PLEASE DON'T BE MAD
4. FABIAN - TURN ME LOOSE
5. BOBBY RYDELL - ALL I WANT IS YOU
6. FRANKIE AVALON - BOBBY SOX TO STOCKINGS
7. FRANKIE AVALON - A BOY WITHOUT A GIRL
8. CHUBBY CHECKER - THE CLASS
9. FREDDY CANNON - TALLAHASSEE LASSIE
10. BOBBY RYDELL - KISSIN' TIME
11. FABIAN - TIGER
12. FRANKIE AVALON - JUST ASK YOUR HEART
13. FREDDY CANNON - OKEFENOKEE
14. FABIAN - COME ON AND GET ME
15. FRANKIE AVALON - TWO FOOLS
16. BOBBY RYDELL - WE GOT LOVE
17. BOBBY RYDELL - I DIG GIRLS
18. FREDDY CANNON - WAY DOWN YONDER IN NEW ORLEANS
19. FRANKIE AVALON - WHY
20. FABIAN - HOUND DOG MAN
21. FABIAN - THIS FRIENDLY WORLD
22. BOBBY RYDELL - LITTLE BITTY GIRL








Jasmine Records 2010 CD 13.00 €
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31 - 32 - 33 - 34
 
 
Rock and roll news

2013-04-18
LEVYMESSUT / TAPAHTUMAT

2013-04-17
THE QUIETS The Many Faces Of The Quiets UUSI CD SAATAVANA !

2013-04-15
GOOFIN' RECORDS TULEVIA JULKAISUJA

2013-04-13
GOOFIN' RECORDS VESIVAHINKO / WATER DAMAGE

2013-04-13
ROCK AND ROLL ALL NIGHT LONG - ROCKABILLY TRIBUTE TO HURRIGANES

 
Ubangi Stomp Festival 2013