This second volume of a two-volume entry in MCA's Chess 50th Anniversary reissue series chronicles the second decade of blues classics produced by the landmark company. Although Chess' big four (Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, and Sonny Boy Williamson) are all finely represented, influential sides by Elmore James ("Madison Blues"), Otis ...
In conjunction with documentary filmmaker Ken Burns' ten-part 2000 PBS special, Columbia/Legacy and Verve teamed up to issue a special series of reissues covering much of the history of 20th century jazz. The central release of this program is the five-CD box set Ken Burns Jazz: The Story of America's Music, its 94 selections covering the history ...
Featuring the languid, tropical sounds of the slack key guitar, Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Masters Collection, Vol. 2 picks up where the best-selling first volume left off. This collection includes songs by artists like Keola Beamer, Sonny Chillingworth, Led Kaapana, Ray Kane, and Dennis Kamakahi. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide
Greatest Hits is a good, basic sampler of the Manhattans' hits for Columbia Records, featuring such singles as "Kiss and Say Goodbye," "I Kinda Miss You," "It Feels So Good to Be Loved So Bad," "Am I Losing You," "Crazy" and "Shining Star." ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
The Best of the Manhattans: Kiss and Say Goodbye is a terrific, 19-song overview of the Manhattans' recordings for Columbia in the '70s. All but two of the group's Top Ten R&B hits for the label are featured -- there's no "We Never Danced to a Love Song" or "Crazy," but "There's No Me Without You," "Don't Take Your Love," "Hurt," "Kiss and Say ...
While this single-disc distillation of the Platters' biggest hits is superb, it's almost identical to Rhino's 1998 comp Enchanted: The Best of the Platters, except that the Rhino disc actually has everything here plus three additional tracks. None of those three extra songs are among the group's more familiar numbers, though, so in all honesty All ...
Sonny Rollins recorded many memorable sessions during 1954-1958, but Saxophone Colossus is arguably his finest all-around set. Joined by pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Doug Watkins, and drummer Max Roach, Rollins debuts and performs the definitive version of "St. Thomas," tears into the chord changes of "Mack the Knife" (here called "Moritat"), ...
A two-disc grab-bag compilation spanning several decades and genres, Hip-O's Love Songs: Gold fares well for a release that's so broad and seemingly random. It's certain that no one could possibly have a strong stomach for all 40 of the selections (let alone any given 30), and there are some very polarizing hits here, where fans and haters feel ...
A double-disc, 50-track extravaganza from one of the paragons of smooth soul, The Magic Touch: An Anthology is the most complete look at the Platters, barring only Bear Family's 1994 box set Four Platters and One Lovely Dish. Between 1955 and 1962, the quintet recorded 36 entries that reached the pop charts and they're all here, led by the ones ...
Part of L.A. DJ Hunter Hancock's theme included the declaration "you'll hear music that runs the gamut from bebop to ballads, swing to sweet, and blues to boogie." And while on this fifth installment of Increase Records' history of classic rock & roll radio, the claim isn't strictly true, Hancock is heard guffawing in between an array of R&B hits ...
Mosaic released a four-disc box set titled The Complete Blue Note With Sonny Clark in 1991, rounding up everything that the guitarist and pianist recorded together between 1961 and 1962. Blue Note's 1997 version of the set, The Complete Quartets With Sonny Clark, trims Mosaic's collection by two discs, offering only the quartet sessions (the Ike ...
Big Hits of the '50s is a worthwhile introduction to the lush pop sound of the era; the song selection is fairly pedestrian, but then it's hard to go wrong with enduring favorites like Nat King Cole's "Mona Lisa," and Sonny James' "Young Love," Tennessee Ernie Ford's "Sixteen Tons" and Les Paul & Mary Ford's "Vaya Con Dios," and with 20 tracks and ...
Like all greatest-hits or best-of compilations, this one is missing some key ingredients, namely "S.O.S. (Dit Dit Dit Dat Dat Dat Dit Dit Dit)" and "Just the Way You Like It." Since the band didn't record tons of material and was only active a short time, the omissions are hard to fathom. It's not like they didn't have room on the CD; only ten ...
A two-record set released on one CD, this collection of great Woody Guthrie songs performed by some of Guthrie's apostles, as well as by Guthrie himself, serves as a nice overview of his music. From the opening notes of "This Land Is Your Land" and a composite arrangement that starts with Guthrie and his guitar, then folds into the Weavers ...
While some hardliners will point to his early 1950s Trumpet recordings as his most undiluted work, Sonny Boy's tenure at Chess Records was his longest and most successful and therefore deserves first look for the novice coming to this remarkable bluesman at ground level. This 20-track collection takes 17 tracks from the excellent two-disc ...
When people hear the term "smooth jazz," they usually think of the music heard on NAC stations. But the idea of jazz functioning as smooth, soft, romantic mood music isn't something new -- back in the swing era, Glenn Miller's "Moonlight Serenade" (1939) and Artie Shaw's 1940 recording of "Stardust" (just to give two examples) showed the world how ...
This sampler CD has 11 ballads taken from the Muse catalog that the 32 Jazz label acquired in the mid-1990s. Unfortunately, the liner notes are sparse and the recording dates are not given, although the personnel are listed; the music dates primarily from the 1970s and '80s. Featured on a selection apiece are Charles Brown on an instrumental solo ...
Whether it be the group's Christian ethos, ethnically diverse makeup, or reggae-sunsplash-meets-Ozfest vibe, P.O.D. has always retained a bit more respectability than their rap-rock peers. Even during the group's most "nu-metal" moments, they sound like they have at least heard Bad Brains' first three albums and probably dug them. Smartly, on ...
P.O.D.'s 2001 release Satellite made the born-again Christian rap-metalists stars as they racked up hits with "Alive," "Boom," and the post-Columbine anthem "Youth of the Nation." It was clear that any follow-up would be hotly anticipated, but no one could have predicted the departure of guitarist Marcos at the height of the band's success. A ...
For their first album-length excursion in the wake of "I Got You Babe," Sonny & Cher don't tread too far outside the influence of Phil Spector, including covers of "Unchained Melody," "Then He Kissed Me," and "Why Don't They Let Us Fall in Love," of which the latter shows off the most appealing elements of each singers' voice. "It's Gonna Rain," ...
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