One of the most unique country collections we've ever heard – in part because the artists aren't from Nashville, nor Bakersfield, and instead hail from the British scene of the 60s! The tunes here are all country-styled numbers – and some are country music classics – but they get very unique delivery here by UK groups who've soaked up all the best Brit Invasion modes of the period – all to make for a presentation that's very different than you might expect! We normally associate beat groups of the time with a strong influence from R&B, but these cuts uncover a surprising country influence too – as you'll hear on a whopping 30 tracks from artists who include Sonny Webb & The Cascades, Nashville Teens, Jerry Williams & The Violents, Lee Curtis & The All-stars, The In-Crowd, Bobby Patrick Big Six, The Hollies, Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs, King Size Taylor & The Dominoes, Tommy Quickly & The Remo Four, Tony Sheridan, and many others. CD

28 songs from Freddie Gorman, Edwin Starr, San Remo Golden Strings, Rose Batiste, JJ Barnes, Laura Lee, Fantastic Four, Al Kent, Willie G, Andre Williams & the Flaming Embers. CD

Music from the Detroit Emeralds, Freddie Gorman, Bob Wilson & the San Remo Quartet, JJ Barnes, Edwin Starr, Fantastic Four, the San Remo Golden Strings, Rose Batiste, Flaming Embers, Willie G, and more – 28 tracks in all. CD

A collection of recordings from three different sessions and three different years featuring the likes of Teddy Edwards and Dextor Gordon. The first session is from 1947 and features Edwards and Gordon on tenor sax, Jimmy Rowles on piano, Red Callender on bass and Roy Porter on drums. Some of their tracks are "Blues In Teddy's Flat" and "The Duel". The next session was recorded in 1950 and features Lee Parker on baritone sax, Henry Durant on tenor sax, James Robertson on trumpet, Kenny Drew on piano, Curley Russell on bass and Eddie Bourne on drums for three takes of "On the House" and "Rollin' With Leo" among others. The final session was recorded in 1955 and features "Wardell Gray on tenor sax, Tate Houston on baritone sax, Gene Phipps on trumpet, Norman Simmons on piano, Victor Sproles on bass and Vernell Fournier on drums for "Hey There" and "Dat's It' among others. LP, Vinyl record album

Four track EP produced for the Marc Bolan Fan Club. Includes "Life's A Gas", "Find A Little Wood", "Once Upon The Seas Of Abyssinia", and "Blessed Wild Apple Girl". LP, Vinyl record album

The triumphant debut of Metallica – whose reputation began to build even earlier, via a legendary demo tape that made the underground rounds in the metal community, along with their roof-blasting early live sets – and this astonishing first album showed that the hype was no joke! It's hard to imagine the move towards unrelenting heaviness in metal music ever could have happened without this and a handful of other early 80s masterpieces, and it still kills after all these years. Includes "Hit The Lights", "Motorbreath", "Jump In The Fire", "Anesthesia – Pulling Teeth" and "Whiplash", "The Four Horseman", "Phantom Lord", "No Remorse" and "Metal Militia". CD

A brilliant tribute to one of the greatest jazz trumpeters of the 50s – featuring 3 full albums of material, plus some bonus tracks as well! Conte Candoli is a name that's appeared on countless sessions as a sideman or studio player, but here, Conte really sparkles as a leader – setting fire amidst some great small group lineups that include the players Bill Holman, Lou Levy, Lawrence Marable, Leroy Vinnegar, Max Bennett, Stan Levey, and Ira Sullivan. The set features material from 2 Bethlehem albums by Conte – Sincerely Conte and Powerhouse Trumpet – plus an Atlantic album, West Coast Wailers – and a rare 78rpm session for the Chicago-based Chance label, and a few additional tunes from a New York session in 1956 with Hank Jones! Conte's never sounded better – and with all this material in one place, the 2CD set is a great bargain overall. 30 tracks in all – with titles that include "Mambo Junior", "Flamingo", "TNT", "Thank You Judge", "Comes Love", "Tune For Tex", "Fine & Dandy", "Night Flight", "Toot Sweet", "Jazz City Blues", "Four", "Groovin Higher", "Lover Man", "Pete's Alibi", "Cheremoya", and "Jordu". CD

The triumphant debut of Metallica – whose reputation began to build even earlier, via a legendary demo tape that made the underground rounds in the metal community, along with their roof-blasting early live sets – and this astonishing first album showed that the hype was no joke! It's hard to imagine the move towards unrelenting heaviness in metal music ever could have happened without this and a handful of other early 80s masterpieces, and it still kills after all these years. Includes "Hit The Lights", "Motorbreath", "Jump In The Fire", "Anesthesia – Pulling Teeth" and "Whiplash", "The Four Horseman", "Phantom Lord", "No Remorse" and "Metal Militia". CD

One of the last great 70s soundtracks on Curtom Records – a smoking little set that pairs the music of Curtis Mayfield with the vocals of Mavis Staples! Curtis is very much in charge of the record from the start, and works in a hard-stepping and righteous mode that recalls his earlier work on the Staples' soundtrack for Let's Do It Again – no surprise, given that Piece Of The Action was the next installment in the successful series of films that starred Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier! The sound here is nicely full, hitting that rich mid 70s Curtom mode that sounded so great on Leroy Hutson and Natural Four albums of the time – a slightly more sophisticated approach that mixed in a bit of strings with the heavier funk at the bottom. Titles include "Chocolate City", written by Curtis with Keni Burke and Henry Gibson, plus "Getting Deeper", "A Piece Of The Action", "Orientation", and "Of Whom Shall I Be Afraid". LP, Vinyl record album