... CD

More sweet and smooth than muddy – but that's what we'd expect from James Taylor during these classic years! Titles include "You've Got A Friend", "Riding On A Railroad", "Highway Song", "You Can Close Your Eyes", and "Soldiers". CD

Mighty nice work from The Brother Boys – a contemporary group, but one who've got a sound that's very steeped in older folk and country styles – all at a level that makes them a perfect group to focus on in this excellent series! As you might guess from their image on the cover, the group work heavily with acoustic instrumentation – in ways that move forward from postwar bluegrass and hillbilly styles, but which often have some of the sensitivity of the hipper country-inspired singer/songwriter scene – with echoes of Gene Clark or Gram Parsons from time to time! The double-length package features lots of work from the group's earliest years, and later material too – a total of 51 tracks that include "Pinto Pony", "Blue Days Black Nights", "Two Men", "Majestic", "The Diamond Stream", "Blue From Now On", "Band Box", "Moosnhine Grin", "I Just Roll Along", "Conversation With Death", "The Ramshackle Shack", "Crazy Heart", "Darkest Day", and "Gonna Row My Boat". CD

A wicked post-Blue Note session from Bobby Hutcherson – one that's put together in a different way than his previous work, but still completely sublime throughout! The feel is almost to Hutcherson's earlier work what Woody Shaw's Columbia recordings were to his – tighter, with sharper production – yet still wonderfully soulful and with a strong sense of spirit. Key soloists include Freddie Hubbard on trumpet and Hubert Laws on flute – and the record also features George Cables on acoustic and electric piano, Cedar Walton on acoustic piano, and Eddie Marshall on drums. Includes the lovely "Sweet Rita Suite", plus "Circle", "Secrets Of Love", and "Bouquet". LP, Vinyl record album

More sweet and smooth than muddy – but that's what we'd expect from James Taylor during these classic years! Titles include "You've Got A Friend", "Riding On A Railroad", "Highway Song", "You Can Close Your Eyes", and "Soldiers". LP, Vinyl record album

Lots of great blue-tinged material from this early southern rocker – a fair bit of original tunes, too – with titles that inlcude "Don't Look At Me", "Nothing Left For Me", "I'm Gonna Try", "You'll Never Know", "You Better Settle Down", "You Kissed A Fool Goodbye", and "Highway Bound". LP, Vinyl record album

Four of the more obscure RCA albums from the great Bobby Bare – all brought together here in a single set! First up is the very unusual English Countryside album – a special set that has the vocals of Bobby Bare paired with a group from the UK – Liverpool's Hillsiders, who sing with a style that's a bit folk, and a bit rock – but which takes on a very distinct country vibe amidst the RCA production of Chet Atkins! Both Bare and The Hillsiders sing solo on the record – but most of the set has them paired together, and the presence of all those voices on the tracks create a nice sense of spontaneity – maybe a hint at the more relaxed recording approach that Bobby would use on his big albums of the mid 70s! Titles include "Sweet Dreams", "Six Days On The Road", "Find Out What's Happening", "Love's Gonna Live Here", "Goin Home", "Blue Is My Lonely Room", and "I Washed My Face In The Mountain Dew". Margie's At The Lincoln Park Inn is a seminal album in the career of Bobby Bare – and the record that really has him turning from a young smiling country singer to the kind of more adult, mature talent that would really send him over the top! The album's promise of "controversial country songs" is certainly apt – as in addition to the great Tom T Hall title cut, the album also features Bare taking on great material from Kris Kristoffersen, Mel Tillis, and even the team of Spooner Oldham and Dan Penn – all set to arrangements that are nicely more sophisticated than those used on the more pop productions of some of Bobby's earlier albums. Titles include "Margie's At The Lincoln Park Inn,", "The Law Is For The Protection Of The People", "Watching The Trains Go By", "Skip A Rope", "Rainy Day In Richmond", "Cincinnati Jail", "Wild As The Wind", and "Drink Up & Go Home". I Hate Goodbyes is the record that marked the return of Bobby Bare to RCA Records in the early 70s – and one that also marks the start of a very different phase in Bare's career! This time around, Bobby's handling the production himself – working with the kind of thoughtful, mature material that would really let him open up – songs from Billy Joe Shaver, Mickey Newbury, the team of Bill Rice and Jerry Foster, and even an early tune from Shel Silverstein – who would soon become one of the biggest contributors to Bobby's records. The vibe is very different than his RCA material of the mid 60s, and in a great way – on titles that include "I Hate Goodbyes", "Restless Wind", "Ride Me Down Easy", "Send Tomorrow To The Moon", "You Know Who", "An Offer She Couldn't Refuse", "What's Your Mama's Name Child", and "Poison Red Berries". Last up is Cowboys & Daddys – an overlooked gem in the mid 70s RCA years of the great Bobby Bare – and a set that really shows the dedication that Bare had during these years to finding the most sophisticated material of the new country generation! The list of songwriters alone is great – as the set features tracks from Terry Allen, Shel Silverstein, David Hickey, and Tom T Hall – plus an early contribution from Bob McDill, with whom Bare would soon record a lot more material on albums to come. There's a mature, laidback vibe to the whole set – different than some of the more playful Bobby Bare albums of the time – and titles include "Chester", "The Cowboy & The Poet", "Amarillo Highway", "Speckled Pony", "Calgary Snow", "Last Dance At The Old Texas Moon", "Pretty Painted Ladies", and "The Stranger". CD

A fantastic document of the first-ever Ann Arbor Blues Festival – the start of a great event that would blossom into other styles of music in the 70s, but which stood as a strong blues-based event in its initial year of 1969! In some ways, the three day series of concerts is a roots answer to Woodstock – which took place just a few weeks before – as the festival featured a great scope of blues talents, from the rootsier sort of artists who were recording for labels like Folkways or Arhoolie, to some of the sharper modern talents rising to the top on Chess or Delmark! The package alone is almost worth the price of admission – beautiful photographs of the event, detailed notes, and the first-ever release of this music – which has sat in the vaults for decades, finally to see the light of day. Titles include "Dirty Mother For You" by Roosevelt Sykes, "So Glad You're Mine" by Arthur Big Boy Crudup, "Everybody Must Suffer/Stone Crazy" by Luther Allison & The Blue Nebulae, "Help Me" by Junior Wells, "I Wonder Why" by Jimmy Dawkins, "Too Much Alcohol" by JB Hutto & His Hawks, "So Many Roads So Many Trains" by Otis Rush, "Long Distance Call" by Muddy Waters, "Off The Wall" by James Cotton Band, "Juanita" by Big Joe Williams, "Jelly Jelly Blues" by Shirley Griffin, "I Feel So Good" by Magic Sam, "Call It Stormy Monday" by T-Bone Walker, "Death Letter Blues" by Son House, "Key To The Highway" by Sam Lay, and "Mojo Hand" by Lightnin Hopkins. CD

Fantastic Fender Rhodes from Yusuke Hirado – plus a fair bit of other keyboards too – all delivered in a set that mixes 70s space jazz funk with some great contemporary elements, and in a way that's nicely different than Hirado's work in the group Quasimode! The set's got some old school rhythms, but plenty more moments that soar and take off with very contemporary cosmic energy – very strongly in a jazz perspective overall, but with a strong knowledge of all the other musical changes that have taken place on the hipper scenes around the globe over the past 20 years – woven into classic keyboard sounds that take on a whole new shape in the setting! Titles include "The Kicker", "Early Bird", "Sonar", "Blue Sky", "Circle", "Galaxy Highway", and "Heady Dayz". CD

Late sound library grooves from the UK scene – but still pretty darn groovy! First up is Metropolis Now – a 1980 set from arranger Dick Walter, with production from Syd Dale – who clearly keeps things in the same groovy style as his own excellent work for Amphonic! Instrumentation is jazzy, but mixed with a good deal of electric funk – almost making the record sound like one of those great electrified big band albums from the mid 70s that were burning big – a groove that's even more surprising coming from an obscure sound library source at the start of the 80s! Titles include "Times Square", "Greyhound Runaround", "Vegas Venue", "Texas Turnaround", "Metropolis Now", and "Pacific Coast Highway". Otto Keller comes up with some warm grooves for Mix & Match – a set that's got the same sweet jazzy overtones as the best German sound library records from the mid 70s! There's a nice sort of sparkle to most of the tunes – some nice 60s easy and bossa influences in the music – and production and instrumentation that's much more mid 70s than you'd guess from the date of the session. Syd Dale handled production and musical direction – and titles include "Bella Vista", "Spanks", "Walk The Lonely Road", "Blue Monday", "Catwalk", "Sun City", and "East River Mist". CD

We're not sure we'd go as far as to say that Mike Finnigan and Jerry Wood are the crazed hipsters promised in the title – but they do a very good job here of hitting some of the more offbeat sides of the scene in the early 70s! By the time of the record, Mike had plenty of experience on a variety of keyboards with other artists – and he's cutting loose here with Jerry, who plays guitar and sings – while the duo make their way through a rootsy blend of different styles – sometimes even a bit funky, other times a bit more relaxed and down home. At the best moments, Wood's guitar is sharp and fuzzy – and titles include "Down In The Flood", "Hard Times", "Tend To Your Own Business", "Laughing Eyes", "Highway", "Rock & Roll Show", "Don't Cry No More", and "Death Letter". LP, Vinyl record album

Blues recorded in St Louis, but with a sound that's much more rural overall – maybe no surprise, given the countless travel by Big Joe Williams on the highways of the south! The setting is lean enough to be recorded out in the field – Big Joe on these wonderfully expressive vocals and his unique nine string guitar – with support from Ransom Knowling on bass, but at a level that really just helps the tunes get this subtle groove – really letting be the shining star up front! In keeping with the title of the record, many of the tunes have themes of travel in the south – titles that include "Overhaul Your Machine", "45 Blues", "Arkansas Woman", "Four Corners Of The World", "Down In The Bottom", and "Blues Left Texas". CD

Piano blues from the legendary Curtis Jones – a Texas player who first rose to fame in the late 30s, and who here still has a way with the keys and a vocal style that nobody else can touch! It's a bit hard to put the distinctness of Jones in words, but it definitely comes through on the record – piano lines that often feel as if two different musicians are playing the instrument at the same time, mixed with these casual and confident vocals that almost feel like Curtis is also standing off to the side, making commentary on the proceedings! There's no other instrumentation on the record at all – none is needed, either – and titles include "Evil Curse Blues", "Highway 51", "Curtis Jones Boogie Woogie", "Tin Pan Alley", "Black Magic Blues", and "Lonesome Bedroom Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

Piano blues from the legendary Curtis Jones – a Texas player who first rose to fame in the late 30s, and who here still has a way with the keys and a vocal style that nobody else can touch! It's a bit hard to put the distinctness of Jones in words, but it definitely comes through on the record – piano lines that often feel as if two different musicians are playing the instrument at the same time, mixed with these casual and confident vocals that almost feel like Curtis is also standing off to the side, making commentary on the proceedings! There's no other instrumentation on the record at all – none is needed, either – and titles include "Evil Curse Blues", "Highway 51", "Curtis Jones Boogie Woogie", "Tin Pan Alley", "Black Magic Blues", and "Lonesome Bedroom Blues". CD features two different alternate takes, too! CD

A hugely sprawling 2CD collection of spanning the career of the incredible Lightnin Hopkins – from his most beloved years from the late 40s to late 50s – and a quite wonderful collection of numbers from the 60s after he had captured the hearts of the young, idealistic folk crowd of the era! Disc one focuses on the years 1947 to 1959 – wonderful, wonderful solo blues recordings that are justifiably revered to say the least. Titles include "Lightin's Boogie", "Coffee Blues", "Moanin Blues", "Highway Blues", "The Foot Race Is On", "Hopkin's Sky Hop", "Short-Haired Woman", the previously unissued "Ain't No Monkey Man" and many more. 26 tracks on disc one. Disc two covers the 60s, when Lightin was recording for Fire, Bluesville, Jewel and other labels. Nice picks from the later years, including some live numbers. Includes "Mojo Hand", "Ida Mae", "I Got Tired", "Sinner's Prayer", "Slavery Time", "Tom Moore Blues", "Up On Telegraph Avenue" and many more. CD

Features "Death Or Glory?", "Commune", "Me And My Woman", "Male Chauvinist Pig Blues", "Highway Blues" and more! CD

Obscure 60s work from Rex Allen – recorded for a smaller label than some of his bigger hits, and done in a more laidback style that's mighty nice! There's less of the western themes on the record than you might guess from Rex's look on the cover – and a fair bit of the album has an easygoing approach to honky tonk – with almost echoes of Hank Thompson at times. Titles include "I'll Keep On Loving You", "Down The Wrong Highway", "Sure As Your Name's Kate", "Sixteen Hundred Miles", "Cold Cold War", and "You Don't Care What Happens To Me". CD

Two cool UK albums from Otis Spann – back to back on a single set! First up is the album Blues Of Otis Spann – a rare UK session, and one that's sometimes got even more grit than some of his hometown recordings back in Chicago! The vibe is very lean and laidback – an early Mike Vernon production, with work from Muddy Waters on guitar – working here under the nom-du-date of "Brother" – in a quartet that just has Ransom Knowling on bass and Little Willie Smith on guitar, and plenty of killer piano and vocals from Otis! Spann seems to have even more bite here than usual – and titles include "Sarah Street", "T 99", "I Came From Clarksdale", "Rock Me Mama", "Natural Days", and "Jangleboogie". Cracked Spanner Head is a record that builds on the sound of the obscure Blues Of Otis Spann album from 1964 – using the performances from that record, but mixed differently, with different songs at times, and added work on tenor, baritone, and trumpet brought into the lineup! The vibe is great – Otis Spann with a bit more punch than usual, and maybe some slight currents of funk – on titles that include "Crack Your Head", "Iced Nehi", "Lucky So & So", "Dollar Twenty Five", "Sometimes I Wonder", and "Mr Highway Man". CD features four bonus tracks – "Pretty Girls Everywhere", "Country Boy", "My Home In The Delta", and "You're Gonna Need My Help". CD

A fantastic document of the first-ever Ann Arbor Blues Festival – the start of a great event that would blossom into other styles of music in the 70s, but which stood as a strong blues-based event in its initial year of 1969! In some ways, the three day series of concerts is a roots answer to Woodstock – which took place just a few weeks before – as the festival featured a great scope of blues talents, from the rootsier sort of artists who were recording for labels like Folkways or Arhoolie, to some of the sharper modern talents rising to the top on Chess or Delmark! The package alone is almost worth the price of admission – beautiful photographs of the event, detailed notes, and the first-ever release of this music – which has sat in the vaults for decades, finally to see the light of day. Titles on this second volume include "Long Distance Call" by Muddy Waters, "Off The Wall" by James Cotton Band, "Juanita" by Big Joe Williams, "Jelly Jelly Blues" by Shirley Griffin, "I Feel So Good" by Magic Sam, "Call It Stormy Monday" by T-Bone Walker, "Death Letter Blues" by Son House, "Key To The Highway" by Sam Lay, and "Mojo Hand" by Lightnin Hopkins. LP, Vinyl record album

A smoking little set from George Harmonica Smith – an album recorded in late 60s LA, but done with plenty of Chicago blues touches! The players here are all top-shelf – and include Muddy Waters on guitar and Otis Spann on piano – who definitely help keep a Windy City vibe going on the record – that spare, raw, but electrified approach to the music that was still wonderfully fresh at the time of the sessions. And Smith's vocals alone are totally great – very deeply soulful – but also alternate strongly with sharp lines on harmonica too. Titles include "Mellow Down Easy", "Key To The Highway", "You Better Watch Yourself", "Last Night", "West Helena Woman", "Tell Me Mama", "Juke", and "Everything Gonna Be Alright". CD features 3 bonus tracks – "Love With A Feelin", with vocals by Lucille Spann – plus "Just A Feelin" and "Goin Down Slow". CD

A fantastic package of work – material that not only helped kick off the career of the legendary Howlin Wolf, but also the Memphis powerhouse Sun Records too! The material here was all cut in the Sun Studios right at the start of its famous run – material recorded by Sam Phillips long before Elvis, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis – at a time when he was deeply interested in the shifts taking place in southern blues at the time, and was willing to take a chance on the mighty talents of Howlin Wolf! Wolf was no newcomer to the scene, but hadn't gotten recorded much before – especially not at this level, which brings out qualities that really ignited a long stretch of important 50s sessions after Sun licensed a few key tracks to other labels before they got their own imprint up and running. This very cool 10" package features titles not issued at the time – ten great tracks that were in the Sun Records vaults for years – presented here in a very cool vintage-styled LP. Titles on this second volume include "Color & Kind", "My Baby Walked Off", "Baby Ride With Me", "Smile At Me", "California Blues", "Well That's All Right", "Mr Highway Man/Cadillac Daddy", "Decoration Day Blues", "Dorothy Mae #2", and "CV Wine Blues/Drinkin CV Wine". LP, Vinyl record album

A bit different than some of Dinah Washington's other 60s work for Roulette – a set that's not entirely back to the blues promised in the title, but one that's definitely got a strong bluesy undercurrent! The backing's, by Fred Norman, aren't nearly as lush as on other Roulette sessions – more in a punctuated mode that's a bit in Ray Charles territory of the time – a more polished take on older bluesy modes, with some nice jazz moments from time to time. Titles include "It's A Mean Old Man's World", "Key To The Highway", "Duck Before You Drown", "No Hard Feelings", "Romance In The Dark", "Let Me Be The First To Know", and "You've Been A Gold Old Wagon". LP, Vinyl record album

A pretty amazing batch of soul, R&B, and funk from the Nashville scene – from an astonishing range of years, too! Of course the memorabilia industry that is "Music City USA" is dominated by country music and pop, and this long, long, LONG overdue collection of singles from 1945-1970 demonstrates how much more was going on in East Tennessee beyond Chet Atkins and the Opry! The tunes range from jump blues & soul of the late 40s and 50s, and on through the harmony soul of the 60s and the pre-funk late 60s. 38 tracks on two CDs: "Nashville Jumps" by Cecil Gant, "Just Walkin' In The Rain" by The Prisonaires, "Baby Let's Play House" by Arthur Gunter, "Christene" by Little Hank Crawford, "You Can Make It If You Try" by Gene Allison, "Somebody, Somewhere" by Larry Birdsong, "Monkey Doin' Woman" by Shy Guy Douglas, "What'd I Say" by Etta James, "Snap Your Fingers" by Joe Henderson, "I Want To" by Joe Tex, "The Chokin'" Kind" by Joe Simon, "Rediscover Me" by Johnny Adams and tons more! CD

An incredible record from Mississippi Fred McDowell – a set that was issued on a big label, but which has a wonderfully rootsy feel throughout – in a way that almost out-does any work from the indie blues labels of the time! The package was put together by Tommy Couch as an early Malaco production – but it's even more stripped-down than later blues work from those studios – as it features mostly just Fred on vocals and guitar, introducing himself and his music – then working through these incredible inflections on electric guitar, which are as far from the rockish sound of all the crossover blues that McDowell promises he won't provide in the title! Really timeless stuff, brilliantly recorded – with cuts that include "Red Cross Store", "61 Highway", "Jesus Is On The Mainline", "Kokomo Me Baby", and "Good Morning Little School Girl". CD

Jimmy Witherspoon pays tributes to his roots in rhythm and blues – but he does so in a wonderful way, by bringing a more jazz-focused approach to the material here – thanks to some nice tenor work from Ben Webster! Back in the 60s, Witherspoon always sat easily on the fence between jazz and blues – but a few key recordings really bring out that aspect of his work – and this obscure session for Reprise is one of them! Spoon's singing in a laidback, small combo setting here – very similar to the style he'd use on live dates in California – and Webster gets in some wonderful moments on the record too, blown with the boozy, late nite style used on his own Reprise album at the time. Titles include "Key To The Highway", "Confessing The Blues", "Did You Ever", "Rain Is Such A Lonesome Sound", "Cherry Red", "Just A Dream", and "Please Mr Webster". LP, Vinyl record album

Sure, the young Bob Dylan might look a bit hokey on the cover – but he's already out there way ahead of the pack – and starting to blow away any of the less interesting pop folkies who'd been crowding into the Greenwich Village scene of the early 60s! There's a difference here right from the start – not just some of his own material, but the way that Dylan transforms older tunes too – not with this crew-cutted, clean-voiced style – but bringing in elements of blues, and using these very personal guitar inflections and harmonica lines to really make the music his own. Titles include "Highway 51", "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean", "Song To Woody", "Man Of Constant Sorrow", "Fixin To Die", "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down", and "Talkin New York". LP, Vinyl record album

Hard to believe that given Duke Ellington's presence at the start of the 60s, there would be an unknown session from the time – but the discovery of this material in the 70s made for another great chapter in the Duke's career during the classic Columbia years! The material here is played by a sweet small group that includes Ray Nance on coronet, Lawrence Brown on Trombone, Johnny Hodges on alto sax, Harry Carney on baritone, Aaron Bell on bass, and Sam Woodward on drums – all working in a format that almost feels a bit more relaxed and intimate than other Columbia sessions – although not with the rough edges you might expect from a lost date. Tracks include "Everything But You", "Black Beauty", "Something To Live For" "A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing", "Mighty Like The Blues", and "Dual Highway". LP, Vinyl record album

A massive amount of music that definitely lives up to its title – not the debut album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, but instead 4CDs' worth of rare music, both live and studio – more than enough to deeply enrich your experience of the music of Jimi Hendrix! The package is a real delight to those who've been trying to track down bits like these on bootlegs over the years – a fully-licensed package put together with the Experience Hendrix folks, filled with unreleased alternates, live recordings, unusual mixes, and more! The set features a whopping 56 rare tracks, four whole new songs mixed with live tracks and alternates – and an 80 page booklet of rare photos and notes on the tracks. Titles include live versions of "Little Wing", "Red House", "Purple Haze", "All Along The Watchtower", "In From The Storm", "Fire", and "The Wind Cries Mary" – plus unreleased recordings of "Little Wing", "Slow Blues", "If 6 Was 9", "Title #3", "Hey Joe", "Highway Chile", and "Room Full Of Mirrors" – and alternate versions of "Sweet Angel", "Gloria", "Message To Love", and lots more! CD

Recorded in Chicago at PS Studios – with a small combo that includes Snooky Pryor, Eddie Taylor, Willie Smith, and Dave Myers! Titles include "13 Highway", "I Ain't Doin No Good", "Sugar Mama", "Little & Low", "In Love", and "Fayette County Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the lost treasures from the late 60s RCA catalog – a very strange, and very hippy-dippy mix of hard rock, blues, and slight folksy touches – recorded with lots of nice production twists and turns, and plenty of tripped out guitar work! There's kind of a messed-up New York scene feel to the set – not exactly ESP rock, but somewhere in the neighborhood of The Fugs, or maybe Beefheart at times. Titles include "Parahighway", "Ancestral Wants", "A Hundred Days", "Auto Salvage", "Burglar Song", and "Rampant Generalities". LP, Vinyl record album

Sure, the young Bob Dylan might look a bit hokey on the cover – but he's already out there way ahead of the pack – and starting to blow away any of the less interesting pop folkies who'd been crowding into the Greenwich Village scene of the early 60s! There's a difference here right from the start – not just some of his own material, but the way that Dylan transforms older tunes too – not with this crew-cutted, clean-voiced style – but bringing in elements of blues, and using these very personal guitar inflections and harmonica lines to really make the music his own. Titles include "Highway 51", "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean", "Song To Woody", "Man Of Constant Sorrow", "Fixin To Die", "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down", and "Talkin New York". CD