... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible 60s performance from Jerry Lee Lewis – proof that the man was always on fire when he worked overseas, even if his star had dimmed a bit back home! Jerry gets sharp, tight backings from The Nashville Teens – but the Lewis is center stage throughout – really wailing on piano, and singing in this unbridled style that maybe even blows away his early singles – especially when combined with the sense of personality he brings out in a live setting. Titles include "Money", "What'd I Say", "I Got A Woman", "Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On", "Long Tall Sally", "Lewis Boogie", and "Matchbox". CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

Killer Smash Records material from Jerry Lee Lewis – right at that point when he was really beginning to rise into the country side of his sound! The set features his classic "What's Made Milwaukee Famous" – and the record features so many other great tracks that include "Wbreak My Mind", "Another Place Another Time", and "Play Me A Song I Can Cry To". LP, Vinyl record album

A late 70s record that has Jerry Lee Lewis opening up nicely – getting back to basics in a session headed by Bones Howe, who gives Lewis just the right sort of songs and special touch that he wasn't getting during his later years at Mercury! There's still currents of the country in the music, but The Killer's also finding some rocking roots as well – maybe not as entirely on fire on the piano as in the early days, but able to open up with just the right sort of energy when needed. Titles include a great cover of Bob Dylan's "Rita May" – plus "Don't Let Go", "Every Day I Have To Cry", "Number One Lovin Man", "Personality", "Rocking Little Angel", and "Who Will The Next Fool Be". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

Recorded at the Palomino Club in Hollywood on June 18, 1979. LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... CD

Duets with BB King, Robbie Robertson, Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood, George Jones, Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Neily Young, Bruce Springsteen, and others. CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Peter Guralnick has written some mighty big, career-defining books on key figures in music – but from the start, we've always loved his shorter pieces the best – the kind of work we first fell in love with in books like Sweet Soul Music and Lost Highway! And if you dig his shorter pieces, there's plenty of those here – really wonderful essays on artists in a variety of genres – penned by one of the few figures who can balance an understanding of their music with a mixture of historical detail and unabashed fandom! Guralnick's writing has gotten better and better over the years – and it's great to have it focused back on his roots – in chapters that focus on artists who include Solomon Burke, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Charles, Merle Haggard, Allen Toussaint, Howlin Wolf, Tammy Wynette, and even the great country trucker Dick Curless! Hardcover book is 554 pages, with black and white illustrations throughout. Book

Carl Perkins may not be the most revolutionary talent in rock and roll – but damn, he's good – and every bit the worthy Sun Records contemporary of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis! Like those three giants, Perkins is a Tennessee cat who can really find his own personality in the studio – a hell of a singer, and a really rhythmic guitarist – stepping out with effortless ease on the kind of cuts that made Sun Records a legend right from the start! We'll be honest in saying that we love Perkins at just about every later point in his career – but he's completely on fire here, on early tracks that include "Blue Suede Shoes", "Sure To Fall", "Tennessee", "Only You", "Wrong Yo Yo", "Matchbox", "Boppin The Blues", "Gone Gone Gone", "Honey Don't", "Your True Love", and "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby". LP, Vinyl record album

Ike Turner rocks – which is maybe no surprise to anyone who knows that right during the early days of Sun Records, Ike had a big hand in a single that some folks consider the first real rock and roll record – done before even Elvis Presley or Jerry Lee Lewis had entered the scene! This killer collection is overflowing with all sorts of great early Ike Turner projects – lots of music done in the years before he hooked up with Tina, and was this tireless force in the studio and on the road – easily spotting the best talent around, hooking up with a variety of small labels, and helping record all sorts of wonderful music that might never have seen the light of day otherwise. The package is maybe one of the best in the "Rocks" series from Bear Family – as it really digs deep, and gets past some of the too-reissued Ike Turner material – to include tracks issued under the names of Willie King, Billy Gayles, Jackie Brenston, Bonnie, Icky Renrut, Dennis Binder, The Sly Fox, and others – plus lots more that came out under Turner's own name as well. 33 tracks in all – and very detailed notes! CD

Killer work from the great Conway Twitty – caught right here in the key years of his rising rebirth as a country singer! As is well known, Conway started out as a young rockabilly singer, but wisely made the shift to country in the second half of the 60s – a move that seemed to suit Twitty even more strongly than it did Jerry Lee Lewis – although both artists really found a way to move forward and mature with the music! The four albums here are all gems from a time when Twitty was working with the great producer Owen Bradley – in a style that's still very much in the best evolving modes of the late 60s, and less commercial than some of the territory Conway would hit in later years – although there's more than a few hits in the mix here too. Together, the four albums are a perfect match for each other – with a total of 42 tracks in all, and titles that include "I Wonder What She'll Think About Me Leaving", "Wine Me Up", "Who'll Turn Out The Lights", "Hello Darlin", "Rose", "Hey Baby", "Fifteen Years Ago", "Up Comes The Bottle", "I'll Come Running", "Darling Days", "How Much More Can She Stand", and "Everyday Family Man". CD

A fantastic set of music from the legendary Charlie Feathers – a rockabilly giant who walked the same Tennessee scene as Elvis, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis – but one who was never able to hit the heights! Here, Feathers is at the height of his powers – coming off of seminal singles for Sun and Meteor in Memphis – and working in this great raw style for King – lean, mean, and with plenty of twang alongside his rowdy vocals. The trio features Jerry Huffman on guitar, Jimmy Swords on drums, and Jody Chastain on bass – and titles include "One Hand Loose", "Can't Hardly Stand It", "Bottle To The Baby", "Nobody's Woman", "Too Much Alike", "When You Come Around", "Everybody's Lovin My Baby", and "When You Decide". LP, Vinyl record album

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

Carl Perkins may not be the most revolutionary talent in rock and roll – but damn, he's good – and every bit the worthy Sun Records contemporary of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis! Like those three giants, Perkins is a Tennessee cat who can really find his own personality in the studio – a hell of a singer, and a really rhythmic guitarist – stepping out with effortless ease on the kind of cuts that made Sun Records a legend right from the start! We'll be honest in saying that we love Perkins at just about every later point in his career – but he's completely on fire here, on early tracks that include "Blue Suede Shoes", "Sure To Fall", "Tennessee", "Only You", "Wrong Yo Yo", "Matchbox", "Boppin The Blues", "Gone Gone Gone", "Honey Don't", "Your True Love", and "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby". LP, Vinyl record album

The great Nick Tosches has given us plenty of great books about music – his groundbreaking Country volume from the 70s, and his no-holds-barred portraits of Jerry Lee Lewis and Dean Martin – plus plenty of fantastic essays and articles over the years too! And Tosches always seems to write about the music business the way that most folks write about gangsters and crime – which is definitely the case here, in a book that's an expanded version of an earlier project titled Hipsters & Hoodlums – which really digs deep into the shadier side of the music business, filled with the kind of details that Nick's uncovered in his years of writing on music, woven into the kind of prose that would befit a classic pulp novel. 120 pages – and a page-turner throughout! Book

Music from Jerry Lee Lewis, Sonny James, Johnny Cash Ray Price, Jim Reeves, Patsy Cline, Johnny Horton, Marty Robbins,Jimmy Dean, Louvin Brothers, and more - 26 tracks in all. CD

Deep soul from the glory days of the Memphis scene – not the better-known work recorded at Stax, but material from the smaller American Sound Studio – a new game in town during the late 60s, and a place that forged it's very own legacy in Memphis music! American recorded a variety of styles – a bit like Muscle Shoals – but this collection not only focuses most strongly on the soul music cut at the studios, but also work by "The Memphis Boys" – the superb in-house session group that included top-shelf talents like Reggie Young and Tommy Cogbill on guitar, Bobby Emmons on keyboards, and Chips Moman at the head of the group. The great Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham also did plenty of work for American – on material that was issued on a variety of labels – Atlantic, Cameo, Bell, Sound Stage 7, Smash, and others – all collected here with a deep set of notes that really gets at the special vibe going down at American. Titles include "Burning Fire" by Arthur Conley, "Someone To Take Your Place" by Bobby Marchan, "I Don't Want To Have To Wait" by James & Bobby Purify, "Ain't That True Love" by Oscar Toney Jr, "There's A Heartbreak Somewhere" by Roscoe Shelton, "Comin To Bring You Some Soul" by Sam Baker, "It Ain't Fair" by Ben E King, "Don't Take Your Love" by The Blossoms, "So Much Love" by Dusty Springfield, "Broadway Walk" by Bobby Womack, "Holdin On" by Jerry Lee Lewis, and "On The Other Side" by Lee Jones & The Sounds Of Soul. CD