Think King Curtis only recorded great albums for Atlantic Records? Guess again – because this CD features 2 early gems for Prestige! Trouble In Mind is an unusual early one for King – a special album in that it features him singing and playing guitar, in addition to his usual work on alto sax! The session was cut early in his career, before he'd forged the trademark approach that kind of locked him in in later years – and it's a bit of a blues effort, a bit of a jazz effort, with backing by a combo that includes Al Casey on guitar, Paul Griffin on piano, and a backing group of female singers on a few cuts. Titles include "Jivin Time", "But That's Alright", "Deep Fry", "Don't Deceive Me", "Woke Up This Morning", and "Bad Bad Whiskey". Party Time is hard-wailing early work from King Curtis – one of his few full-out stormers from the time! The set was done for the Tru-Sound subsidiary of Prestige Records – and like the few other albums on the imprint, it's got a heavy-duty sound that's a big departure from the other titles on Prestige – much more R&B influenced, with King blowing heavily on tenor, in a really lively feel. Tracks are short and firey, and titles include "Free For All", "Easy Like", "Hot Saxes", "The Party Time Twist", "Low Down", and "Keep Movin". CD

Comeback LP that Louis Jordan recorded for Ray Charles' Tangerine label during the mid 60's, with some reprises of his old stuff like "Saturday Night Fish Fry" and "Cole Slaw", plus other stuff like "Honey Bee", "The Troubadour", "Hop, Skip & Jump", "El Camino Real", and "Time Is Running Out". Louis' style totally benefits from the good recording quality of Tangerine, and the set's a great updating of his music, with excellent backing, and some very nice production on Louis' vocals and sax solos. LP, Vinyl record album