A great overview of the early years of Richard Thompson – a set that brings together some rare material and classics, all at a level that really shows the multi-faceted genius he had right from the start! In later years, Thompson continued to be known as a skillful singer/songwriter – but here, he's almost as much a guitar hero as he is a vocalist – a sharp-edged talent, no matter what the setting! Highlights include unissued live takes on "Dark End Of The Street", "The Cavalry Cross", "Night Comes In", and "Sweet Little Rock & Roller" – and other titles feature solo work, duets with Linda Thompson, and even a few with Fairport Convention – titles that include "Mr Lacey", "Ballad Of Easy Rider", "Poor Will & The Jolly Hangman", "Flee As A Bird", "A Heart Needs A Home", "It'll Be Me", and "The Pitfall/The Excursion". (Rock, Folk/Country) LP, Vinyl record album

A really cool little package – one that features rare 20s recordings from the Middle East, alongside a host of modern "responses" to the original music! The first half of the set follows beautifully in the spirit of other recent sets from Honest Jons – digging through the archives of EMI to find some amazing sounds recorded in Egypt, Iran, Iraq, and Turkey – all presented here with sound that's infinitely better than their original 78rpm singles – a production job that's almost as mesmerizing as the music included in the package! The second half features new music commissioned for the package – all done by artists who are very sensitive to the original spirit of the first selections, working here with spare, acoustic instrumentation in an equally exotic way. At points, it's honestly hard to tell the difference between the old stuff and the new stuff – another achievement for the set – and rather than make that distinction, we'll just let you know that artists include Sir Richard Bishop, Haigo, Moustapha Bey Rida, Nechat Bey, Oudi Yorgho, Abdul Hussein Khan Shahnazi, Sami Chawa, Michael Flower, Micah Blue Smaldone, Paul Metzger, MV & EE, and Steffen Basho. 2CDs with lots of music! (Global Grooves, Folk/Country) CD

Music from Sweet Honey In The Rock, Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Little Richard With Fishbone, Arlo Guthrie, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Taj Mahal, Brian Wilson, and more. CD