The legendary King Records is known as an important label for R&B and hillbilly music – but the label also has a surprisingly strong legacy in the early years of rock as well – maybe in part because it did such a good job of keeping its ear to the ground with those other important styles! King never got the chart-topping hits of a label like Sun Records, but it did manage to draw together an equally impressive array of talents – some still underground names after all these years, others now elevated in the secret history of rock and roll through their work for the label! The set brings together 30 tracks from King and related Federal and DeLuxe labels, all with the detailed notes and well-chosen cuts that continue to make this series so important, even after many years and dozens of releases – a legacy that's really supported here by cuts that include "Say So" and "If I Had A Woman" by Mac Curtis, "Stop The World" by The Bon Aires, "You're Gonna Like My Baby" by Bill Beach, "Haulin Freight" by Bob Newman, "Jungle Rock" by Hank Mizell, "Top Ten Rock" by Fuller Todd, "Put The Chain On The Door" by Boyd Bennett & His Rockets, "No Good Robin Hood" by Delbert Barker, "One Hand Loose" by Charlie Feathers, "Your Kind Of Lovin" by Donnie White, "Bip A Little Bop A Lot" by Joe Penny, "I'm Mad With You" by Moon Mullican, "Midnight Blues" by The Town Three, and "Good Good Good" by Ken McDonald. (Rock, Folk/Country) CD

50 songs from The '4' Deuces, Billy Grammer, Gloria Lynne, The Baysiders, The Curls, The Lexingtons, Patsy Cline, Jimmy Isle, King Curtis, Doris Payne, The Renowns, Randy Lee, The Boulevards, The Supertones, and more. (Rock, Folk/Country) CD

Lots of older record companies got in on the action during the early days of rock and roll – but few folks did it as well as RCA Records – home, of course, to Elvis Presley – and also to all the great lesser-known gems featured in this set! Some tracks are by artists who would break big on later labels, or others who might have stepped over a bit from country – but the bulk of the collection represents all the great singles that RCA cut during the late 50s and early 60s – including some on its sub-labels, where the company was going strong in the worlds of underground styles! Given that this excellent series already looked at RCA once before, it's a further testament that there's an additional 35 rocking gems to be pulled from the label's catalog – as you'll hear on cuts that include "Wild Child" by David Hill, "Get On The Right Track" by Joe Clay, "Rainbow Doll" by Jimmy Dell, "Welcome To The Club" by Jean Chapel, "Wolf Boy" by Sammy Salvo, "Hoebe Snow" by Benny Martin, "Never Been Kissed" by Marlin Greene, "Chicken House" by Dave Rich, "Heart Of A Fool" by Lee Denson, "Almost Eighteen" by Roy Orbison, "That Weepin Willow Tree" by Ray Griff, and "Dumb Bunny" by Bill Carlis. (Rock, Folk/Country) CD

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Really special sounds from a short-lived label – Tumbleweed Records, a company that was conceived in LA, and born in early 70s Denver – perfectly suited to focus on the hipper strands of singer/songwriter material of the time! The vibe here is a bit like the best work on the early Asylum Records, with maybe more of the diversity of Blue Thumb – and, like both of those special imprints, there's an above-the-usual level of quality going on here – great songwriting, understated production, and artists who really feel free to do their thing in the best way possible! Many of the tracks have kind of a homespun vibe, but top-shelf presentation – tight, but never slick – and the occasional twang really brings the right sort of humanity from time to time. Titles include "Turn Of The Century" and "Abyss" by Robb Kunkel, "Colorado" and "Hick" by Danny Holien, "Rosewood Bitters" by Michael Stanley, "Sweet As Spring" and "Do On My Feet" by Dewey Terry, "Late Letter" by Pete McCabe, "Plain Talk" by Arthur Gee, and "Sunday Sherry" by Arthur Gee Whizz Band. (Rock, Folk/Country) CD

A great collection of wonderful gramophone recordings from as early as 1916 up to the first half of the 60s – all from the 78s collection of Frank Fairfield – a folk guitarist profoundly influenced by such amazing old crackling records! It's music from all over the world, with a much farther reach than Americana – with recordings from around the US, Japan, Scotland and other points global. Excellent! 16 in all: "Poor Convict Blues" buy Slim Barton & James Moore, "Cambells Are Coming" by Tommy Dandurand & Ed Goodreau, "Makwatu" by Kakapti, "The Pool Of Siloam" by Rev. Frank Cotton, "Ama Ama" by Tautu Archer, "Kongshoung Niaoyu" by Professor Liu Tianhua. CD

Music from Woody Guthrie, Norman Blake, Mississippi John Hurt, David Bromberg, Etta Baker, Alison Krauss & the Cox Family, Roy Book Binder, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Marcia Ball, Irma Thomas, Boozoo Chavis, Beau Jocque & the Zydeco Hi-Rollers, Ted Hawkins, Ted Lundy, Don Stover, Boone Creek & much more. CD

One of the smaller labels to get featured on this excellent series of rockabilly gems – and a collection that also shows that the music could quickly take off in points that were far from Tennessee and other southern scenes! All the cuts here are from the catalog of the tiny Crest Records label in LA – and they've all got the kind of hard-edged, raw-ripping quality that we love on other volumes in this legendary series – one that's been a constantly rewarding one over the years, and a great antidote to all the dodgy, poorly-done CDs that usually focus on music like this! There's a few names here who broke big later on other labels, and the set also maybe has a bit of Bakersfield influence – but of the pre-country, hillbilly boogie variety – on a set of 32 titles that include "IOU" by Jack Lewis, "Let's Coast Awhile" by Bo Davis, "Stack A Records" by Tom Tall & His Tom Kats, "Do I" by Bill Great Dane, "What I Like Most Of All" by Don Thomson & The Desert Stars, "Can You Bop" by Tom Wilson, "Spotlight" by Frank & Ernie, "The Grave" by Tony Casanova, "Ummm Kiss Me Goodnight" by Buddy Love, "Night Shift" by Norm Skyler, and 'You Bet Your Little Life" by Marty Cooper. (Rock, Folk/Country) CD

A totally wonderful batch of cuts from the early years of Liberty Records, and related labels – cuts that really bristle with the kind of energy that was exploding in all sorts of styles on the LA scene at the end of the 50s! Liberty may not have the cred as Sun or Chess Records, but the company was really at the crossroads of music on the west coast, and had both the ears and the studio talent to really turn out some great singles at the time – often the sort of material that was very different than the vocals and mood music on its full length LPs. If you don't know this side of Liberty's legacy, you'll really in for a surprise – and even if you do, you'll still discover some overlooked gems in this 37 track set – presented complete with detailed notes on all the artists too. Titles include "Lies" by Lee Ross, "Buddy" by Jackie Dee, "Willa Mae" by Al Casey, "Little Bit" by Bobby Lonero, "You've Done It Again" by Andy & The Live Wires, "Sweet Baby Doll" by Johnny Burnette, "Ain't That Somethin" by Larry O'Keefe, "She's So Fine' by Andy Caldwell, "Sally Let Your Bangs Hang Down" by Johnny Olenn, "Billy Billy" by Dee Dee Dorety, and "Hey Baby" by Bill Lawrence. (Rock, Folk/Country) CD

Unpublished works by Woody Guthrie, set to music by bassist Rob Wasserman, performed by Van Dyke Parks, Lou Reed, Studs Terkel, Ani DiFranco, Jackson Browne, Pete Seeger, Tom Morello, Kurt Elling, and others. (Rock, Folk/Country) CD

Piano and violin come together beautifully here – the former by Barbara Higbie, the latter by Darrol Anger – who also plays mandolin and cello as well! There's an acoustic balance here that's more jazz than some of the other Windham Hill albums of the time – especially in the music's sense of rhythm and phrasing – and the rich acoustic tones of both players get wonderfully past some of the new age cliches that are too-often wrongly associated with the label – and remind us that at their best, records like these offer up a key flowering of the acoustic underground of the 70s. Mike Marshall plays guest mandolin on one title – and tracks include "Movie", "Tideline", "Above The Fog", "True Story", "Onyame", and "Gemini". CD