1 comments about Monterey Jazz Festival: 40 Legendary Years.

1. This collection ranks along side the many great jazz concert events such as Jazz At The Philharmonic, The Newport Jazz Festival and Jazz At Carnagie Hall. Boasting such legends as Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Charles Mingus, Dave Brubeck and more. And, on the vocal side you get Billie Holiday, Carmen McRea, Shirley Horn, Sara Vaughan and Joe Williams.

   One of the brightest moments to be heard here is the spontainous improvisation by Dave Brubeck during his performance of For All We Know. As an unexpected plane flew overhead, Brubeck responds with the opening bars of the US Air Force Theme, "Off We Go Into The Wild Blue Yonder..."

   All in all you'd be hard pressed to find any concert festival collection or anthology as versitle and delightful as this. Hats off to Warner Brothers for culling together fourty years of great jazz in one beautiful collection.

2 comments about Masters of Memphis Blues.

1. Four discs. 72,74,77,77 min. each approximately. Sound is remastered to good quality. This particular set deals with the "Memphis" sound from a time period encompassing about ten years-the late twenties to the late thirties. The artists are all well-known to anyone with even a little bit of knowledge of country,pre-war blues. So,if you're looking for rarities look elsewhere. Having said that,this is a fine collection of some of the greatest songs these bluesmen ever recored. Beale Street was well-known to everyone during this time. All of these bluesmen played (and drank) on Beale Street. Without this street,the "Memphis" sound would certainly be different. People like Furry Lewis,Frank Stokes and Gus Cannon played up and down this area. All of these tracks are basically vocal with self-accompanied guitar. Sometimes a second guitar was used depending on who was around at recording time. Some of the songs will be familiar to listeners of groups like the Rolling Stones (Robert Wilkins' That's No Way To Get Along) and other more modern day groups. In this collection,JSP has put together the more well-known and popular players of country blues. There are other bluesmen (and women) of note that can be found in other collections,so if you enjoy the "Memphis" sound look for recordings on Document Records,Yazoo Records and of course JSP.



2. If you really love the blues, you'll want this collection. This set is like a history book. These are old recordings and some of them are scratchy, but I suspect this had more to do with the original sources than with the recording effort. This collection is a good illustration of how blues evolved.

1 comments about Bessie Smith: The Complete Recordings, Vol. 3.

1. Bessie Smith, "Empress of the Blues," is largely known today because alcoholic blues-screamer Janis Joplin based her style on her. As a result, Bessie went from the province of the specialty collector to being a mainstream "blues" artist with almost as many imitators as the Beatles. (Elvis is a whole different galaxy.) In the year 2003, then, Bessie Smith - not Enrico Caruso - is the most-listened-to early recording artist. In a way this is good, since we went from a recreative artist to a very creative one; but this has also skewed our perspective on the blues-singing era.

   Bessie had a huge, bronze voice of enormous expressivity and power. On some of these records, just listening to her delivery will send goosebumps down your spine. But truthfully, she only had one good octave in the voice, a deficiency she hid quite well by pitching her songs a certain way and then "playing around" with the notes so she didn't have to go too low (or, in some cases, too high). This is why other artists during this era were more highly prized by others. Bix Beiderbecke once threw $50 at his idol, Ethel Waters; Connee Boswell based her style on Mamie Smith (no relation); Alan Ginsburg preferred Bessie's mentor, Ma Rainey; and other singers and musicians like Ida Cox, Clara Smith and Victoria Spivey better. Bessie was a huge star and could hypnotize an audience, but she was NOT as universally admired as we now believe.

   This compilation covers her best years, 1926-28, and has the highest percentage of excellent recordings. The sad thing is that no one- or two-disc compilation covers her best recordings. One can usually spot the "great" Bessie Smith records not just by how well her voice recorded but also by the fire and commitment of her delivery, and sometimes that happened in pop or show songs like "Squeeze Me," "Alexander's Ragtime Band," "Jazzbo Brown from Memphis Town" (written by the Gershwin brothers and DuBose Heyward, NOT by "G. Brooks" as listed on the CD label!) or "At the Christmas Ball." Too many Bessie recordings (like too many female blues recordings in general) fall into the "my-man-done-beat-me-and-treat-me-like-dirt-but-I-love-him-anyway" category.

   The shame of it is, Bessie's best recordings can be boiled down to three CDs, but no one has done this so far. Columbia's repackaging is both wasteful and expensive, allowing only 18 or 19 tracks per CD when they could have allowed 24 and done the whole project in 7 CDs instead of 10. The booklets are lavish, however, and include rare photos of some of Bessie's best accompanists, including the great cornetist Joe Smith and the elusive pianist Fred Longshaw.

5 comments about Crossroads.

1. TYPICAL 1980'S CD BOXSET.
   
   This was your typical 1980's boxset, when CD technology was first emerging. It contains about 60% previously released material, and 40% unreleased material (many of which should have never been released). Personally, I was not a fan of these releases, but I bought them anyway because the CD selections at the time were very limited.
   
   Since this is an 1980's boxset, the sound quality is poor. Well, it isn't horrible, but it isn't very good. The sound is a little flat and muffled. It certainly, is not very good by today's CD standards.
   
   The sound quality on most CD's 1980's CD's was not very good. Sure they sounded better than cassette tapes (which were the most popular media of the time), but they did not come close to the sound of a good quality LP. It is why there were so many vinyl snobs at the time. But then, the CD's didn't have the pops and noise that even brand new LP's could have.
   
   It should be noted that many of the CD's from the 1980's, into the early 1990's are now being remastered for better sound. This boxset could really use it, but I doubt it will happen. Again, the sound quality is not horrible. If you were going to just load this into iTunes and play it on your iPod, it is probably acceptable. However, it you want a true retrospect of an artist's career, it deserves better sound quality.
   
   Since this CD was released in the 1980's the time of each disc is close to 74 minutes, without going over 74 minutes. (At this time, the maximum length of a CD was 74 minutes...I'll explain below).
   
   As you can see from reading the song titles, this set contains a sampling of Claptons work from the 1960's to the mid 1980's when the boxset was released. Most things are covered here, except Clapton's adventures as a guest musician on many other people's albums.
   
   Of note is about 3/4 of an album that would have been the second Derek and the Dominoes studio album. And that probably almost makes buying this boxset worthwhile.
   
   In the 1980's this boxset was an interesting buy. But, now, you can get the whole Clapton catalog on remastered CD's with much better sound. You can buy the things you like and forgo the other stuff. If you want a Clapton boxset, I would suggest getting Crossroads 2 instead.
   
   Why were CD's only 74 minutes and they are now 80 minutes long? The real time of a CD is 74 minutes. But, there is a manufacturing tolerance to the bit size and sampling speed. So, to get 80 minutes out of a CD, manufacturers just use the upper end of the spec limit.



2. It's a sad actuality that neither Eric Clapton, nor one of the many bands he was in, ever generated a "Sgt. Pepper" album. Why is this? Probably due to the fact that Clapton moved from one band, on to the next, and on to the next, etc. I think his best shot for a big album would have been with CREAM but, egos being what they were, this super-band unfortunately didn't last all that long.
   
   So here's what we're left with, "Crossroads" is a superb Eric Clapton compendium album, a body of work completed in this great guitarist's lifetime... with a little help from his friends. This album is the one you want if you plan to own only a single Clapton CD -- it pretty much contains every ACTUAL hit he ever had. Yes, some will say that this one or that one was a big hit (mostly guitarists will say this), but I'm talking about what was popular and played a lot on the radio during The Great Days, and some since that time.
   
   Here's MY list, all of which are on this CD set: For Your Love, (Yardbirds); I Feel Free, Sunshine of Your Love, White Room, (Cream); Layla (Derek and the Dominoes); After Midnight, Let it Rain, I Shot the Sheriff, Knockin' on Heaven's Door, Lay Down Sally, Wonderful Tonight, Cocaine (Eric Clapton). These were SUPER-hits. Yes, I'm aware that the very name of this album is "Crossroads" -- but that song simply never caught on. When it came out, it fell into quick obscurity with the D.J.s across the country.
   
   Sadly, Blind Faith held incredible potential but pretty much only produced really impressive studio jams -- they were a bit aimless. And Clapton's period with John Mayall produced nothing notable. There were some other brief bands but I've covered the important ones.
   
   As far as I can tell, the NEW "Complete Clapton" CD release (being heavily marketed now) apparently bypasses Clapton's time with The Yardbirds -- if that's the case, they should have called it "INcomplete Clapton" because if it's missing "For Your Love," then it's a beautifully packaged ripoff!!!
   
   Complete Clapton
   
   So, what I'm telling you is that there are a ZILLION Eric Clapton compendium CDs on the market, under his name and sometimes under various band names. For some reason (probably copyright limitations), most of these omnibus albums each contain a few hits and are otherwise glutted with Clapton boogie-jam leftovers. These (often bootlegged CDs) typically proclaim 'The Best of Clapton'... not so. Honestly, they could have scaled the "Crossroads" CD down to the Big 12 and it would have been fine with me.
   
   I've given you the BIG hits and they're all on this CD. I've been a guitar player since Clapton first got rolling so I've been heavily influenced by his brilliant artistry -- I'm just a little sad that The Big One never happened for him, given the large number of hits he's generated, with one band or another.



3. Great album. My boyfriend loved it as a birthday gift. Haha, he plays it all the time now. :)



4. This is an excellent boxed set to get, especially if you can find at a reasonable price.
   
   However Clapton has done such a lot of good stuff since 1988, that it now represents only about half his career. So theres nothing from Unplugged, From The Cradle, 24 Nights, Me and Mr Johnson, Riding With The King etc etc. Its also worth baring in mind that Claptons 80's stuff was frequently over-produced and his choice of material was veto'd (the album August being a good example) by the record company. If in doubt have a listen to the samples on disc 4.
   
   That said its still a great collection:
   The Yardbirds, John Mayalls Blues Breakers, Cream, unreleased Cream at the BBC, unreleased Derek and the Dominos, previously unreleased live solo recordings. This gives you 73 tracks on 4 cd's. The unreleased Derek and the Dominos stuff is superb. Apparently not only is it unreleased its also unfinished. Well I'll tell you if thats how unfinished sounds, there are a lot of record companies out there who have no idea how to produce records, because these tracks sound fantastic.
   
   The box is LP size (thats 30cm square for the younger generation) and the booklet that comes with the box is informative and well written. The artwork for the cover is by Ronnie Wood.



5. Although this set doesn't go past 1988 (the year it was released),"Crossroads" includes some of Clapton's best material with the various bands he was a member of (The Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, Derek and the Dominos) and solo. While some of these previously unreleased and rare tracks have since shown up on some other reissues, this is the only place (to date) to find early versions of "Tell the Truth", "Roll It Over" (both produced by Phil Spector and one track featuring George Harrison & Dave Mason on guitar. These were produced during the "All Things Must Pass" sessions)and the tracks from the unfinished second Dominos album.
   
   The sound quality on this set is quite good. The masters aren't as compressed (if at all) compared to the reissues of Clapton's back catalog. As a result the CD doesn't sound quite as "loud" (much of that volume on the remasters is due to the dynamic range being squashed and the masters EQ'd taking much of the musical "punch" out of the music) as the Clapton remasters. Detail is very good on most of these tracks and although with some restoration on the Yardbirds tracks at the beginning because of the fragile nature of the masters they were pulled from. Overall, Bill Levenson and his team did a terrific job here.
   
   This is a terrific set with a nice mix of live material, songs that Clapton performed on ("Comin' Home") and recorded as a solo artist. While his guitar didn't blaze quite as hard on the studio recordings for many ofhis solo recordings, this was a phase in Clapton's development where he was developing and focusing on his singing as much (if not more)than focusing on his guitar playing. That's not to say that he doesn't play well, it just sounds different than his hot, crazed playing for Cream and the tortured blues solos as a member of Derek and the Dominos.
   
   The booklet has notes by Rolling Stone writer Anthony DeCurtis (interesting note--Clapton was so devasted by a critical Rolling Stone article about Cream that it helped convince him to break up the band. The article was completely out of line but managed to push Clapton into something that would have happened eventually given the volatile nature of the egos in Cream). Although this remaster is nearly 20 years old, it still sounds extremely good. Unlike many remasters, this was remastered pretty flat without all the compression and goosing that many remasters feature that make things louder but worsen the sound quality.

No comments about Vol. 3: The War and Post War Years 1940-51.

5 comments about The Sun Records Collection.

1. The Sun Records Collection
   
   All in all, an enjoyable 3 disc set for those who like classic rockabilly, blues, country and early rock and roll. I will say that the remastering is not flawless, and a lot of the hissing, clicks and pops from the old tapes are still there. It adds character to the recording, yes, but it also sounds like ass on a good stereo. However, that is not true of every track and overall the remastered versions are cleaner. The breakdown disc by disc is as follows.
   
   Disc 1 is mostly a blues disc with some spirituals and boogie woogie piano numbers. Notable artists are Howlin Wolf, BB King and Rufus Thomas. Fairly enjoyable if you dig on that sound. The gospel songs really stand out, especially "There's a Man in Jerusalem" by the Southern Jubilee Singers. This a capella song has outstanding harmony and the remastering brings out the bass vocals nicely. Blues highlights are "I'm Gonna Murder My Baby" by Pat Hare mainly because it's a pretty disturbing tune. Also, "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston is a hot song, bridging the gap between blues and early rock and roll.
   
   The second disc kicks off the rock era, with Elvis' first song "That's All Right" starting things right. This disc is from the golden era of Sun, with songs from Elvis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and Carl Perkins. Some highlight tunes are "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee" by Malcolm Yelvington, which I like because it is an odd rockabilly tune that reminds me of Screaming Jay Hawkins. Also, "Red Hot" by Billy "The Kid" Emerson is worth a mention because it's a decent little song that is covered by another Sun artist on the 3rd disc, and this version is about 8000% better than the cover by Billy Lee Riley. Other notable songs are Johnny Cash's first hit, "Cry Cry Cry," as well as his additional hits with the Tennessee Two "I Walk The Line" and Folsom Prison Blues." However, the show stopper on this album is the original "Blue Suede Shoes" by Carl Perkins.
   
   Three starts out with another Sun superstar, Jerry Lee Lewis. Honestly, Jerry owns this disc with 8 tracks out of 26. Notables are his hits "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," "Breathless" and "Great Balls of Fire," the last being close to a theme song for Jerry. One of the more interesting tracks is the gospel song "Down By The Riverside" as it is performed by the "Million Dollar Quartet" of Carl Perkins, Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash. There are some interesting articles out there on the irony of that myth. Also interesting is Jerry Lee Lewis' cover of Hank Williams' "You Win Again." Its follows the lines of the original, but has some added vocals and such that make it a rock ballad. It also has the creepiest song in the world, "Right Behind You Baby" by Ray Smith, which is also apparently the first recorded song about stalking a woman.



2. This is Music that wasn't motivated by fame and fortune. This cd collection features your early Elvis Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins,Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Howlin Wolf BB King and many others. It features your first rock song Rocket 88. The songs on the collection would go on to influence bands like The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton as well as many others. I would recommend this collection to a true music fan.



3. This superb Rhino box set collects the best of the enormous treasure trove of music recorded during the heyday of Sam Phillips' Sun Record Studio in Memphis. There is a wealth of material to pick from, but this release by Rhino is by far the finest, most informative, and affordable representation of the Sun legacy released to date. There is little marginal material included here. The story begins with "Rocket 88," believed by many to be the first rock and roll recording, and segues into haunting sides recorded by BB King, Joe Hill Louis, and Howlin' Wolf. The best of Elvis Presley's early Sun sides are here (including "That's Allright, Mama," and "Mystery Train," perhaps the most exciting 2 minutes of music ever waxed), as are the best output of Jerry Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, and Charlie Rich. The legacy continues into the early 60's with the country-flavored sides of Warren Smith and Billy Lee Riley. An extremely informative, well-researched booklet and discography penned by reknowned expert Colin Escott accompanies this flawless 3-CD survey of the most important record company in the history of recorded music.



4. Elvis hadn't succumbed to Col. Tom Parker and stuck to this material ("That's All Right,'' "Mystery Train''). He wouldn't have made as much money, but he probably would have lived longer and produced more rewarding work.

   Beyond that, this is a wonderful set. Look at the material recorded in a relatively short period in 1954 and 1955 that still lives. From Johnny Cash ("Folsom Prison'' and "I Walk the Line"); Carl Perkins ("Blue Suede Shoes'') Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and on and on through Howlin Wolf, B.B. King, et. al. An interesting note in the booklet _ "Blue Suede Shoes'' was No. 2 on the pop and R%B charts, No. 1 in country. That's something that's rarely happened since in a comparmentalized market.

   Interesting. Phillilps and Sun were clearly color blind before their time. So much so that they also produced "Ubangi Blues,'' a blatantly racist track that includes the "n'' word. It didn't offend me as much as it reflected how much society has changed in the last half-century.

   This is worth of for Elvis.
   But it's worth it for the others, too.




5. Great collection of music from many artists who went on to be legends. I am always partial to the early works of people who went on to be great stars - the days before their heads and their producer's bank accounts swelled.

No comments about New York Blues and R&B 1947-1955.

No comments about Essential and Rare Blues.

2 comments about All the Classic Sides 1928-1937.

1. With this box you get the pre-war sides of the Chicago Gentleman of the blues. Broonzy was interesting in that, at least to me, he seems rather emotionally detatched, vocally, much of the time. Particularly in comparison to many of his contemporaries. Whereas Skip James can make you feel like you just heard a ghost crying on the wind, Broonzy kinda sounds like a stately, distinguished gentleman. Certainly a feat, considering how sexually explicit some of his lyrics are.
   
   I think the idea of a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is ridiculous to begin with, but if Broonzy isn't in it (maybe he is, I don't know), then it's even more ridiculous than I thought. Broonzy had a much larger stylistic impact upon rock & roll than did, say, Robert Johnson, who I would imagine is probably already in there for no other reason than Clapton and Keith Richards can't seem to ever shut up about him. Detach yourself from the hype and actually just listen to the musics of Broonzy and Johnson. There is nothing of Johnson's sound or style that widely found its way into rock & roll. Now listen to quite alot of Broonzy's music. Much of Broonzy's music isn't even so much blues as it is rhythm & blues... the very foundation of the later Chicago blues sound, and early R&R sounds. Water down the lyrics, add some horns or an electric guitar, speed it up a bit, make it 25 years later and some of Big Bill's music is 1950s rock & roll.
   
   Not that I give or take two doo-doos of merit to something because it did or did not influence rock, but seeing as how so many classic-rock fans are always regurgitating the same stuff they've read in 50 Clapton interviews, it annoys me how many blues-rock fans will go on and on about how Robert Johnson was the greatest blues musician ever, as well as some sort of genius proto-architect of rock, when this guy (Broonzy) that most of those same people have never heard, clearly, at times, sounds like a main influence for everyone from Little Richard to Johnny Cash & the Tennessee Two. I'm not slighting Robert's music here, just saying that if you believe the hype, he seemed to do everything but create the earth and sky.
   
   As for Broonzy's music itself, this is a blessing and a curse. Sometimes he does indeed fall into many of the repetitious and bland pitfalls that became the hallmark of the famed post-war "Chicago Blues sound" that oftentimes bores me to tears. That is certainly not all the music in this great box, though. And of course some of his music does dig deep. It's not all just sex and fun.
   
   I feel special mention must be made of Black Bob, Broonzy's longtime pianist. He is as much the star of this box as is Broonzy himself.
   
   As for JSP's work on this box, it is lovely as usual. This is the best sounding Big Bill I have heard. My 3.5 stars don't slight JSPs fine transfers, it's just that as much as I like Big Bill, I personally have never elevated him to the same level as the Memphis Minnies, Lonnie Johnsons, Skip James', Blind Willie McTells, etc... of the world. If you're a huge Big Bill fan, or a first-timer just looking to check him out, this is as fine a box (and price) as you will ever find. I've had this box for 4 or 5 months now and it has yet to escape my player for more than a couple days.



2. Finally! All of Big Bill Broonzy's classic and hugely influential prewar sides gathered together. 128 sides recorded for labels like Paramount, ARC and Perfect Records, and featuring Big Bill as a solo performer, as well as leading various small combos.
   
   Big Bill Broonzy was one of the major links between country blues and the urban Chicago variety, and artists like Memphis Slim and Muddy Waters recorded entire LPs of his material.
   The sound on these five discs is not great, but you probably won't find any better-sounding Big Bill-sides from the 20s and 30s, and this is certainly no second-rate compilation, in spite of the relatively low price and the cartoonish design of the box. On the contrary, it is a well-annotated, carefully remastered overview of the music of Big Bill Broonzy in his prime.

1 comments about Honk for Texas.

1. IF YOU DONT OWN ANY CLEANHAED THIS WILL BE A GREAT PLACE TO START..IT HAS A BUNCH OF HIS EARLY STUFF AND THEN SOME OF HIS BEST WHICH WAS FOR THE KING LABEL ,BIG MOUTH GAL ETC...ALL REAL GOOD STUFF WELL WORTH THE PRICE AND INFACT A BARGAIN IF YOU DONT HAVE IT...CHECK IT OUT