A great and rare solo guitar record by Lena Hughes – issued here by Tompkins Square – a label that's put out some of the best fingerstyle guitar folk releases in recent memory – in both the contemporary and archival realms! Queen Of The Flat Top Guitar is an archival release in their Long Gone Sound Series – and it's one of best yet! Lena, born in 1904, was rural Missourian amateur guitarist and mainstay at Ozarks area folk festivals. This record is her one-and-only known album – and though she's also remembered as a fine fiddler and banjo player, it finds her focusing on flat top guitar in the tradition of 19th century parlor music. Warm and wonderful stuff – as inviting as anything we've heard on Tompkins Square. Includes "Pearly Dew", "Under The Double Eagle", "Letter Edged In Black", "Blue Heaven", "Galloway Bay", "You Are The Only Star Of My Blue Heaven", "Spanish Fan-Dango", "Kentucky Moon Waltz", "Silver Treads Among The Gold", "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" and"Cedar Brook Waltz". CD

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One of the most comprehensive sets we've ever seen to look at the legacy of the legendary Lee Hazlewood – and one of the few to focus on the impact he's had on the 21st Century! Lee's songs have become the stuff of legend over the years – not just his own recordings, but classic tracks sung by the Sinatra family members, Dean Martin, and countless others – who are usually features on similar sets under the Hazlewood banner. But this package goes those one better – and looks mostly at material from the past 20 years – plus a few older songs – showing that, if anything, the present century has given Lee's music even more power than ever in the hands of diverse talents like these. As with more "vintage" sets from Ace Records, the presentation is great – a lot of tracks, and very detailed notes that really like the Hazelwood heritage to all this recent music. Titles include "A Cheat" by Jarvis Cocker & Richard Hawley, "Some Velvet Morning" by Primal Scream & Kate Moss, "First Street Blues" by Mick Harvey, "I'm Glad I Never" by Jesus & Mary Chain, "Sand" by Holly Golightly, "Look At That Woman" by Gallon Drunk, "You Turned My Head Around" by Dean & Britta, "I'd Rather Be Your Enemy" by Boyd Rice, "Summer Wine" by Ville Valo & Natalia Avelon, "Paris Summer" by Frances Ruffelle, "My Autumn's Done Come" by Mark Morriss, "No Train To Stockholm" by Dan Michaelson & The Coastguards, and "Long Black Train" by Thriftstore Masterpiece with Frank Black. Also includes vintage songs – "She Comes Running" by Waylon Jennings, "The Man Who Made An Angel Cry" by Loy Clingman, "Lady Bird" by Virgil Warner & Suzi Jane Hokom, and "Friday's Child" by Billie Dearborn. (Rock, Folk/Country) CD