No comments about Billy Remembers Billie.

2 comments about Memory Lane: The Best Songs Little Esther Ever....

1. Now, THIS is the way I remember "Little Esther". This a REALLY FUN CD; I listened to it over and over, just like being a little kid again with a new album you want to really burn into your brain. BUY IT NOW.



2. I have the original vinyl album of Memory Lane and was told by several vinyl records collector/dealers in 1996 that it was one of the 75 if not not the 50 rarest records in the world and worth several thousand dollars. Naturally they wanted to buy it but I kept it until I could get it digitally recorded on cd. Finding this cd was a fluke. Even though this cd was not digitally remastered it still it still sounds pretty darn good. It's sounds like you're listening to an old favorite vinyl album. If you like Little Ester Phillips and you're not fortunate enough to own the vinyl album, this cd is a pretty good copy. I'll keep my vinyl album till I can get it digitally remastered or a digitally remastered cd becomes available but I'll be playing this cd. I rated it a 4 insted of a 5 only because it wasn't digitally remastered, and that does effect the quality of the sound
   slightly.So it's a 5 Thumbs Up for the music and a 4 Thumbs up for the quality of the sound=4. So, if you love Little Ester Phillips this cd is well worth buying.

1 comments about Sissy Man Blues: 25 Authentic Straight and Gay Blues and Jazz Vocals { Various Artists }.

1. The music merits 5 stars and are well worth having. (Listen carefully to the lyrics of "Ain't That A Mess.") That being said, there are major mistakes and omissions in song identification of which you need to be aware before purchasing:
   
   -The first song is incorrectly attributed to Connie McLean's Rhythm Blues when it is actually Kokomo Arnold;
   -Speckled Red's "Dirty Dozens" is not on this CD, so all but the last of the titles/artists need to shift up one;
   -Song 24 is "Stew Meat Blues" by Lucille Bogan, and is not credited anywhere on the CD.

5 comments about My Heart's in Memphis: The Songs of Dan Penn.

1. Irma Thomas is a true soul survivor! and she delivers that on this great soul cd, Irma is in great voice, soul cd's like this are becoming a rarity these days, great songs and musicians on this set! This is one of Irma's best records!



2. Irma Thomas and Dan Penn is a marriage made in heaven. This is Irma's best CD to date. Penn's songs show off her voice and his production is very simple but so good. On past CD's I've always felt that Irma needed stronger material and Penn can still write great R&B songs. He just needed the right singer. Most songs are new but Irma gives her interpretation to some of Dan's classics. Not since Aretha has Dan Penn's songs sounded this good. Not since "Wish Someone Would Care" has Irma had such great material. This is an absolute treat, not to be missed.



3. Irma Thomas, the great singer from New Orleans has a fabulous new Rounder cd in the stores on August 8, My Heart in Memphis: The Songs of Dan Penn. Thomas has been such a terrific singer since she recorded such R&B classics as Ruler of My Heart, I Done Got Over It and the original Time Is On My Side. In the seventies she did some sessions in Muscle Shoals, and included a couple songs by Dan Penn, and Penn contributed three songs to Irma's 1997 album, The Story of My Life. Penn is among the great songwriters, having had a part in such classic songs as Aretha's Do Right Woman, the Box Tops Cry Like a Baby and James Carr's great deep soul classic, Dark End of the Street. With collaborators including Spooner Oldham, Carson Whitsett, Marvell Thomas and Irma herself, Penn has provided wonderful new tunes, and with co-producer Scott Billington, has brought together a sterling studio band including Michael Toles on guitar, the keyboards of Oldham, Whitsett, and Thomas, along with saxophonist Jim Spake. Anyone who loves the classic Memphis Sound will groove to the playing here and when Irma sings about traveling all over the world, but her heart being in Memphis on the title track one almost believes she lived in Memphis all her life. There's a wonderful reworking of the James and Bobby Purify hit, I'm Your Puppet, along with Zero Willpower, which Irma recorded in Muscle Shoals in the late sixties. There are blue laments of love gone wrong and mistreating men, Blue in the Heart and Woman left Lonely, as well as songs with a more assertive tone, If You Want It, Come and Get It. Songs as these good display's Irma's greatest strength as a singer, which is her sincerity and believability. My Heart's In Memphis is possibly the best classic soul album since the late Johnny Adams' last album, Man of My Word, another Scott Billington production.



4. I've been a fan for several years now and own all her Rounder CD's as well as some of the older stuff. This CD's great, but a little different from her others. As the title implies, it was recorded in Memphis & features the songs of Dan Penn, who Irma's covered before. If you're looking for the New Orleans, second-line rhythms of her previous efforts, you might be disappointed. As for southern soul/R&B, Memphis style, you'll be very pleasantly surprised. She's in as great a voice as ever, and most of the songs are really strong. Musicians and production are great too.



5. I first heard of Irma Thomas on a local public radio station. She instantly touched my soul. Irma has a wonderful provacative voice, which is matched by few. This is a CD not to be missed.

1 comments about Idle Hours.

1. I was introduced to Lonnie Johnson's clean, spare guitar style on a compilation of blues legends and immediately went looking for more. This album, recorded in 1961 after he was rediscovered by the '60s blues boom, reveals an older artist with plenty of fire left in his belly. His vocal delivery is virtuosic and seemingly effortless. The songs are pretty standard blues fare lyrically but are delivered with the restrained elegance that separates authentic Bluesmen from guys who happen to play the blues. Victoria Spivey's voice is in fine form on the few cuts where she appears and blends well with the relaxed cool this album exudes. The piano on this record has a haunting quality that transports you back in time to the days before drums and synthesizers became the measure of musical excellence. If Albert King was right (and he usually was) when he said that the purpose of the blues is to soothe, this is one of the finer blues albums I've ever heard. I can't wait to hear more from the often-overlooked but nonetheless magnificent Lonnie Johnson.

No comments about Love Songs, Vol. 2.

No comments about The Billie Holiday Collection, Vol. 4.

3 comments about How Strong Is a Woman: The Island Sessions.

1. This is one of the best CD's Etta has recorded. Out Of The Rain is perhaps the best song on here......though it's hard to pick a favorite. She sings this song with such feeling that you know for a fact she's "been there".



2. I first heard this cd when I was over in the Persian Gulf War and still to this day it's one of the only cd's that I can just let play without skipping any songs. It definitely gave me inspiration and it made me think. It's Etta's best cd and also one of the best I have ever heard and I have heard alot.



3. This is Etta's best album in my opinion. I have recommended it to several people who also enjoy it. It has some classics like Shakey Ground and some really woman-strong selections. My favorite piece is Damn Your Eyes. A must-buy for any Etta fan.

2 comments about The Ultimate Collection.

1. This 3CD Set Is A Blessing To Kay Starr Fans And To The Disc Jockeys That
   Still Play This Music//What A Joy To Hear To Each His Own//No Regrets//
   With Wonderful Arrangements But The One Song That Just Blew Me Away was
   Kays Rendition Of The Tony Bennett Hit THE GOOD LIFE/
   I Have Heard Many Great Renditions Of This Song Dinah Washington/Billy Eckstine/Della Reese/Steve Lawrence
   Ray Charles/Frank Sinatra/Bobby Darin//All Wonderful But Kays Record Of
   THE GOOD LIFE With A Delicious And Tasteful Arrangemen/
   The Price Of The 3CD set Was Worth It For The Good Life Cut Alone//
   It Was Recorded May 9th.1963//WHY WHY WHY Has It Been Hidden And Lost For So long
   
   Stanley Cooper Jupiter Florida



2. Only seven years into the millennium and already EMI have delivered the bargain of the century! This collection is worth so much more than the derisory price that Starr fans and all lovers of quality vocalising should snap it up instantly.
   
   All the old favourites are here, but what makes this collection infinitely desirable is the presence of all the unissued Capitol material that could be unearthed. When the label began to realise that they had signed an artist who genuinely could sing absolutely anything, they had her record an astonishing range of material and it's all covered in this set. With her rich, burnished, bluesy tones, Kay could always bring style and distinction to even unremarkable songs and this set, spanning almost twenty years, demonstrates beautifully how Kay developed her increasingly individual vocal style, getting more and more juice out of the material she recorded while keeping up with musical trends.
   
   DISC ONE covers 1947 to 1952 and includes six unreleased tracks. It underlines how Kay's darker voice and dynamic style stood out from so many of her more buttoned-up ladylike competitors. She's the supreme communicator, always selling a song and conveying such sheer pleasure in singing. One mystery: a version of "You've been flying too high" was apparently recorded by Kay for Capitol on 30 June 1950, but the version included here is a 1945 recording for Standard featuring violinist Joe Venuti with noticeably poorer sound than the Capitol tracks.
   
   DISC TWO (1952-1961) Lots of Kay's later hits here, sung in those mature, torchily blue tones that became her hallmark. Many of them appear on CD for the first time, but the items of the greatest interest to Kay's fans will be the six unreleased recordings form 1961. These are knockouts, and it's a crime that they haven't been available till now because the lady is in prime form.
   
   DISC THREE continues from 1961 to 1964 and the end of Kay's years with Capitol. Hardly any of the 25 tracks on this disc have appeared on CD before, and there are eight previously unissued tracks. A few numbers suffer from the somewhat over-resonant recording fashionable at the time and quite unnecessary for a singer of this quality, but again it's wonderful that they're available on CD. It has been a l-o-n-g time since Starr fans were treated to new material!
   
   Kay remains one of the most influential singers of her era and was integral in the establishing Capitol as a major label in the late forties and early fifties, so it's a little disappointing that neither they nor any of the reissue specialists have seen fit to put together a luxury boxed set to commemorate her contribution, but meantime this fascinating collection, graced by Drew Blackburn's information-packed and appreciative liner notes will do very nicely. Unalloyed pleasure from start to finish - champagne at beer prices!

No comments about Back 2 Back.