... LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... CD

Brenda Lee was quite a big artist back in the day – and although the rest of her catalog has faded from view over the years, she's very well-remembered for her classic approach to a Holiday tune! Brenda was always a little bit country and a little bit rock and pop – and that blend makes for a great sound on a selection of Christmas tunes that includes the big title hit, plus 17 other numbers that Lee recorded during her years at Decca Records – almost all of them with that twang and punch that makes Brenda's sound so great! Titles include "Rockin Around The Christmas Tree", "This Time Of Year", "Jingle Bell Rock", "The Angel & The Little Blue Bell", "A Marshmallow World", "Strawberry Snow", "White Christmas", "Silver Bells", "Christy Christmas", "Papa Noel", and "I'm Gonna Lasso Santa Claus". LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

A landmark blend of soul jazz and bossa nova – cut by the legendary Quartette Tres Bien back in the 60s! The group are kind of a "piano trio plus" – an outfit with piano, bass, and drums in the lead – but also plenty of conga and added percussion – a style used here to really underscore the bossa inspiration of the set – often in ways that are more driving and more complicated than original 60s bossa recordings themselves! The feel is really unique – almost equally inspired by African rhythms in parts – and even when the group are playing familiar numbers, then manage to transform the tracks completely with their inventive approach to rhythms and super-searing work on piano! Titles include the jazz dance classic "Boss Tres Bien", plus "Rhodesian Chant", "Always on Saturday", "The Sweetest Sounds", "I Love Paris", "Lover Come Back To Me", and "Days Of Wine & Roses". LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

With 28 tracks! CD

Girl pop gems we never would have heard otherwise – a huge assortment of UK female numbers from that special stretch in the 60s when it seemed like the scene was turning out gem after gem with effortless ease – all mixed up with a blend of rock, pop, and soul modes that really set the work apart from American singles of the time! You may know the way that Dusty Springfield mixed together soul and rock styles in her big hits – but the assortment of singers here maybe even take the mode further, and really showcase the heady brew of sounds that was taking place in mid 60s London! As always with Ace, the song selection and notes are fantastic – and titles include "You" by Lorraine Child, "Jenny Let Him Go" by Antoinette, "He Loves Me He Loves Me Not" by Dana Gillespie, "All The Time In The World" by Stevie Kimble, "Spark That Lights The Flame" by Margo, "Me About You" by Billie Davis, "Mind How You Go" by Barry St John, "Primrose Hill" by Kathe Green, "Don't Blow Your Cool" by The Caravelles, "Love For Living" by Clare Torry, and "Mr Scrooge" by The Orchids. CD

Rare hillbilly grooves from Decca Records – the kind of killer pre-country material that was not only a huge influence on rock and roll, but which will also show you that Elvis and Sun Records weren't the only people who'd figured out this kind of groove back in the 50s! The tracks are all upbeat, all very groovy, and filled with lots of wit and sweet instrumental touches – really moving the older modes of hillbilly music into the postwar years, often with a strong electric or steel guitar line instead of a fiddle or other stringed instrument! This is the sort of work that's been compiled on dodgy cheapo collections for years – but the Bear Family treatment here is superb – with great notes and wonderful sound, for titles that include "Pan American Boogie" by Lonnie Glosson, "I'm A Ding Dong Daddy" by Jimmy Atkins & His Pinetoppers, "Hesitation Boogie" by Hardrock Gunter, "I Mean I'm Mean" by Roy Duke, "Happy Go Lucky" by Autry Inman, "Blue Ribbon Boogie" by Chuck Murphy, "I'm Just Here To Get My Baby Out Of Jail" by Rusty Keefer, "Empty Seat In The Bar Room Booth" by Gene Stewart, "Inchin Up" by Tabby West, "Sixty Minute Man" by Roberta Lee & Hardrock Gunter, "Guitar Shuffle" by Hank Garland, and "Pretty Little Dedon" by Tabby West. 30 tracks in all! CD

... CD

Features Helen O'Connell, Bing Croby, Judy Garland, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Mel Torme, Sylvia Sims, and Jeri Southern – 20 tracks in all. CD

A really great collection of these momentous early recordings from the Basie Band! CD

Tremendous work from Billie Davis – a lesser-known UK pop singer from the 60s – but one that we'd rank right up there with Cilla Black, Sandie Shaw, and Dusty Springfield! Billie's career was cut short at the end of the 60s by a tragic auto accident – but before that time, she cut some sublime singles that step out with a bold, powerful, and sometimes downright sexy little groove. Most of the backings are from the later years of Brit 60s girl pop – and feature some snakey basslines, soul-inspired horn parts, and a soaring groove overall that really drives the tunes – and almost matches the intensity of Billie's great vocal delivery. A few nice baroque touches creep into the mix, but the overall sound is still straight-ahead pop. The set features 20 tracks all pulled from rare singles – and titles include a great version of "Living In The Past", plus "I Want You To Be My Baby", "Nobody's Home To Go Home To", "I'll Come Home", "Suffer", "Angel Of The Morning", "Love To Love", "Billy Sunshine", "Wasn't It You", "He's The One", and "VIP". CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

One of the many releases in the surprisingly successful semi-genre of "jazz meets West Side Story" albums that came out in the late 50s and early 60s. Albam actually does a pretty great job of opening up the jazzy changes in Bernstein's score, and it helps that he's got great ensemble players like Al Cohn, Gene Quill, Nick Travis, Bob Brookmeyer, and Frank Socolow. Titles include "Jet Song", "Cool", "Maria", and "Something's Coming". LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... CD

... CD

... 78 RPM, Vinyl record

... LP, Vinyl record album

... 78 RPM, Vinyl record

... 78 RPM, Vinyl record

... CD

... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

A classic Christmas album of makeout music from British bandleader Stanley Black! It's clear that the guy on the cover has his mind on a lot more than what's under the tree – and after pouring some bubbly, and treating his lady to some diamonds, he's ready to put on the moves – either that, or he's somehow got his teeth stuck in her hair! Regardless of the setting, though, Stanley Black serves up some nicely mellow music for the later hours of Christmas Eve – string-laden readings of Holiday tunes, done up in a nice mix of familiar and original tunes – with titles that include "Dreaming", "Christmas Island", "Santo Natale", "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus", "Christmas Alphabet", and "By The Fireside". CD

Features the lovely Boswell sister, solo – with broups led by Sy Oliver, Artie Shaw, Bob Haggart, Paul Neilsen, and Jack Pleis! LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A wild one! The set features a strange collage of sounds, songs, effects, and a slight bit of jazz – composed by John Benson Brooks, who'd done some earlier modernist work for Riverside in the early 60s, but who here is working in a mode that's sort of to jazz what structural film of the late 60s was to cinema. Milt Gabler put together a lot of the tracks – drawing from a rich catalog of blues, pop, folk, and rock songs – and overall, the album is more of a "happening" than anything else. A bit hippy dippy – like some of those early structuralist films – but in a way that like those films, still stays quite fresh over the years! LP, Vinyl record album