4 comments about Big, Bad & Blue : The Big Joe Turner Anthology.

1. This impressive, three-disc anthology, which includes a superb fifty-page booklet with pictures, an essay, and extensive recording information, is by far the best and most comprehensive Joe Turner-compilation going.
   
   Joseph Vernon Turner was the premier blues shouter of the 30s and 40s, and he was equally adept at singing blues, R&B, jazz, swing, and even proto-rock n' roll.
   He enjoyed a lengthy coorporation with highly esteemed piano player Kermit "Pete" Johnson, who appears on Turner's late-30s recordings, and the reappears on some of his late-40s waxings, and again in the mid-50s.
   
   In fact, Big Joe Turner's music very often features the piano as the main instrument, and his upbeat jump blues is quite different from the gritty electric Chicago variety of men like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Elmore James (although James actually plays slide guitar on one of Turner's singles, the excellent "TV Mama").
   This is urban, often jazz-flavoured blues, and "Big, Bad & Blue" gathers (almost) every Joe Turner-song of note, including the lusty "Tell Me Pretty Baby (Howdy 'Ya Want Your Rollin' Done)", "My Gal's A Jockey", "Hide And Seek", and "Chicken And The Hawk", as well as slower, moodier pieces like "Chains Of Love", "Still In The Dark", "In The Evening (When The Sun Goes Down)", "Sweet Sixteen", and a superb, soulful take on "Honeydripper".
   
   Big Joe Turner was the first to record "Shake, Rattle & Roll", which was written by Atlantic records staff producer Jesse Stone (under the name Charles Calhoun) for a Turner session. It's a shame that this song is mostly remembered for Bill Haley's corny, whitewashed version...listen to the powerful, swinging original, and you'll forget about Haley's bland pop rendition, as well as Elvis Presley's early rockabilly recording.
   
   These three discs are filled with tough boogie romps like "Honey Hush", swinging, classic blues tunes like "Midnight Cannonball", and slow, jazz-styled shuffles like the dirty "Don't You Make Me High", showing how Joe Turner, without really ever changing his style, moved from strict Kansas City swing to pioneering rock & roll and back to basic jazzy blues.
   Highly recommended.



2. With impeccable phasing and a swinging band behind him, Big Joe belts out chorus upon chorus of down home and down town blues. Occasionally a lyric is reused under a different song title. No matter. This CD collection is a fascinating journey through pre-rock'n'roll swing, morphing in and out of rhythm and blues. West Coast Swing dancers will find this to be a great party set. The man and his music are well documented in the included booklet. However, I would have preferred three separate jewel cases to the Rube Goldberg packaging provided.



3. This is an absolutely fabulous Jump Blues collection, and, as a 3 disc set with extensive liner notes, probably gives a good overview of Big Joe Turner's long career. A few tracks stand out: "She's Drivin' Me Crazy" on disc three really Swings. Shake, Rattle and Roll is a classic and was later covered by Bill Haley and the Comets.



4. This is great stuff. If you like r&b, rock, and jump blues, then why don't you own this already? This is the set to get of the most important blues shouter in the history of music.

No comments about Alterno-Daze.

No comments about 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong.

5 comments about The Platinum Collection, Vol. 1-3.

1. I think it is great when bands like Queen, ELO, Styx, and Yes have clear influences from classical music.
   
   Queen is a very versatile band. My favorite tracks are "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Another One Bites The Dust" (original), "You're My Best Friend" (my all time favorite love song), and "Somebody To Love" (original).



2. One of the most successful British rock groups of the seventies and eighties, Queen started as a quasi-glam rock group but evolved a style all their own, combining elements of pop, rock, heavy metal and a few operatic touches.
   
   Bohemian rhapsody, their biggest hit, was twice a UK number one hit - first on its original release and second on its release to raise money for AIDS charities, following the death of lead singer Freddie Mercury due to AIDS. The song also made the American top ten twice - first on its original release and second following its use in Wayne's world, a few months after Freddie's death, when it made number two. This classic song, seven-minute mini rock opera, overshadows everything else that Queen recorded, but they made plenty of other great music.
   
   Queen had two other UK number one hits - Under pressure (with David Bowie) and Innuendo. They also had five UK number two hits (Killer queen, Somebody to love, We are the champions, Crazy little thing called love and Radio gaga) and three UK number three hits (I want to break free, A kind of magic, I want it all) as well as some other UK top ten hits including You're my best friend, Another one bites the dust, It's a hard life and One vision.
   
   Freddie Mercury has a great voice, many of the songs are great, the arrangements are exciting, and there is no other band like them. Apart from his music as lead singer of Queen, Freddie recorded a few other hits, also featured in this collection. These include Barcelona (a duet with Montserrat Caballe) and a great cover of the old Platters classic, The great pretender.
   
   Queen were truly unique - it's not often you can say that about any singer or group - and this collection contains all their classic tracks.
   
   This set is a repackaging of the three Queen greatest hits. I bought this at my local (British) shop, but I note that it has since been released in this form in America. Rather than pay import prices, you'll find it cheaper to buy the domestic edition.



3. I have owned this triple 'Platinum' Album for some months now, already being a big fan of Queen, I couldn't believe my luck when I found this album. Disc one most obviously contains all of queens most popular hits, from the marvelous Bohemian Rhapsody to the Banging We will Rock You.

   Disc Two contains yet more hits, including 'Its a kinda magic' and Under Pressure.

   Disc Three contains tracks that are queen, but either covered, or sung with other artists, such as Show Must go on, Somebody to love and Another one bites the dust. There are also a couple of the bands solo outings, such as: Living on my own and driven by you.

   I recommend you to add this sraight to your basket immedietly, whether you are a long standing fan or a new comer to the unique sound that is Queen !!




4. If you are considering buying the box set over this one... Don't, look at the tracklisting... you can't compare it! Spellbounding from begining to end!



5. Queen - The Platinum collection is absolutly a beautiful set. The nicest set in my CD collection. It comes in a sharp looking double jewel case in a slip cover. Contains the UK versions of Greatest Hits I and Greatest Hits II (released with a slightly different track lineup in the states as Classic Queen). All three discs are picture discs with the art that appears on the UK covers and the sound is incredible! The 48 page booklet is also nice. For any Queen fan or fan of rock, this ultra rare import is a must!

5 comments about Back to Mono 1958-1969.

1. Just like O.J. ...... The fact that Phil is now involved in a huge murder trial does not diminish what was accomplished years ago........a great box set from one of the most creative producers ever. You will recognize almost every track....Yeah , so maybe the guy is guilty (that's for a jury to decide)... it does not take away his accomplishments of the past . Just like O.J. and his football records



2. I was amazed to see this great box going for less than 20 bucks; no doubt because of Phil's present difficulties with the law. What a load of garbage! This is, was, and will forever remain great great music crafted by a bona fide genius producer. If some dumb record company (and we all know where their taste comes from) wants to prejudge Spector and lose money by "giving away" this box, that's OK by me!



3. Please....RE-MASTER THIS THING!! A great, great collection that would sound wonderful coming from an AM radio. As it is, reproduced through a decent sound system, it can be tough to listen to. The Phil Spector "Definitive Collection" has much better sound, but is much more incomplete. This'll have to do until Phil works out his legal problems....one way or another, I guess.
   
   It pretty much goes without saying, this is docked a star for not being re-mastered.



4. Spector made a few great records, but his "genius" is probably a little overstated.
   
   All his best work is here including the girl group classics by the Ronettes and the Crystals (which you probably won't find on other compilations as Spector is averse to licensing his work to third parties).
   
   One track every person must hear before they die is Ike and Tina Turner's "River Deep Mountain High".
   This song is so mind-blowingly overwhelming, it's astonishing the effect it has.
   People would never have heard anything like this at the time, hence the lack of sales/airplay, but now it's an obvious classic.
   Turn the volume to maximum!
   
   Overall, though it's not worth the list price of $74.
   Get it on special or secondhand. There aren't enough essential tracks to be worth the full price and the sound quality is less than superb.



5. This box set has been around for while and is a great bargain at $18.98, marked down from $75. Four discs of Spector-produced tracks, when he was at his peak, including the famous Christmas album. The Ronettes, The Crystals, Righteous Bros.and others in the Wall Of Sound which changed pop music forever. It comes in an LP-sized box with a large, nicely-done book of the lyrics. A must-have for any student of rock history or the nostalgia-seeker. The Christmas album alone is worth the price. This box set takes us back to a more innocent time when he was a teen millionaire and many would say, a musical genius.

5 comments about Lazy Line Painter Jane.

1. Apparently the old ep's from this group were, atypically for almost all bands releasing as many as B&S did, reliable for quality. No complaints here, although anyone who is a fan would know this particular ep would be a biased starting point to judge, since the title track became one of their most beloved tracks. Although it is not needed for those who have plenty of lp's to go, rest assured the brief time is marked with quality.



2. Now look, I don't care what else is on there, but I just spent 2 hours listening to the title track and being a Velvet Underground-o-phile I can say this is what the VU anno 69 might have sounded like if Uncle Lou had allowed a great female voice once in a while. True she sounds a little overly theatrical at first, but then again what do you expect from a song recorded in a church. Anyway, this one has less Smiths (you know, the group with the great lyrics but boring vocals), les Simon & Garfunkel and less Hazey Jane II (Nick Drake) in it than their other early songs, and more VU... so you won't hear me complaining.
   As it happens, the other three are also good, though not as astral as the title track. Combined with the text on the cover, it is a feeling we've all been to. Long ago maybe. But then again, it should never be long ago. Sweeping chorus. I was just thinking how absolutely right this would sound sung by Iggy Pop & Kate Pierson... mmmm



3. This is a superb box set and showcases songwriting as elegantly economic and sincere as lazy Jane's art. The keynote of great art is sincerity and that's what resonates here. Oh yes, "She will have a boy tonight"! The subject of the cover art is the breathtaking Thea Martin. I wrote this for her:
   
   Not A Poem
   
   (For Thea Rosamund Caromy Martin)
   
   
   This is not a poem, this a kiss:
   
   Pure joy, pure hope, pure passion between lips:
   
   True God, from true God, pure light from pure light.
   
   Warms you through the night, ends all dreams.
   
   You've always known this kiss exists.
   
   
   
   Loves you completely, from the first,
   
   Shares every chimera, every wish when you wake,
   
   Honours your best, forgives your worst;
   
   Loves you at a moment's reconnaissance
   
   of your olive eyes and sizzling lips, cerise;
   
   
   
   your finespun frame and golden breast,
   
   wrapped in red-ribbon and jet jacket,
   
   vested in genius wit, in words that tease and strip
   
   to Thea Rosamund Caromy Martin: soul, mate -
   
   sagacious, conscious, correctly proud not to be pathetic
   
   
   
   At your worst, you are God's church:
   
   the sinfully rapturous sinews of strength that fit, no, furbish
   
   your summer dress as I walk with you, along the criossette
   
   and cannot hide under your Annie Hall hat
   
   the masterpiece you read in me or the heart in you saying yes
   
   
   
   that yeilds to kindness because it is kind and
   
   cannot camouflage with the ice of a gifted mind
   
   your wisdom once unheralded: girlish intuitiveness
   
   that always understood the universe,
   
   in your smile, scent and kittenish purrs;
   
   
   
   nor the wisdom won in bloody battles, of the woman exalted:
   
   by the pervading pulse and secret sighs of your soul's home,
   
   you speak the truth alone: melted musical, sprinkled manna;
   
   merry mouth, lovely, salted sores of centuries,
   
   little sugar droplets ceaselessly stirring
   
   
   
   while I shiver beneath the cinerous sky,
   
   under the hovering torrent that worked its way inside.
   
   So how could you not notice I am still student?
   
   still convict on last ship to Australia, lying low in soup kitchens with
   
   cats just coolin' to escape college or gallows;
   
   
   
   yet, in your visionary grasp, suddenly I've outgrown my in-jokes
   
   to be on quest, mote jueste, for a signature grail
   
   for a word to rub and heal your poor, tired feet,
   
   hammer a nail, sling an axe, bow to bride,
   
   if words such as these are truly more than poetry
   
   
   
   to unlock a kingdom's chest or spin the gold of your breast:
   
   not words at all but your kiss in my kiss and, again, your kiss.
   
   all that is me is yours: my reach in rivers overflown
   
   my fingers in your hair, my face in your hands,
   
   my heart thumping hard at your soft, soft centre of self.
   
   
   
   This kiss is not a clanging bell, it is music.
   
   This kiss is not an infidel, it is tantric.
   
   This kiss is not science, it is mystic.
   
   This kiss always listens before it speaks.
   
   This kiss is not a patriarch, it is holy spirit.
   
   
   
   This kiss is karma: Life giving to life,
   
   goodness giving to goodness, giving back safely all magic and bliss
   
   that began in the moonlight of the Petit Majestic
   
   Is life's rich marrow, yesterday, today and tomorrow:
   
   Slow and serene, it melts but never goes away
   
   
   
   This kiss does not possess, does not scream, "Me!",
   
   never asks if its happy. It just is.
   
   This kiss waits peacefully and authentically:
   
   in celebration, the act of love,
   
   without condition, without risk.
   
   
   
   © J Harkness 2005



4. Belle and Sebastian have been making great pop music for nearly a decade now, and some of their best work isn't on any studio album. You'll find great gems like "Lazy Line Painter Jane" and "The State I Am In" on this set, but why stop there? You could pay $18 for this box set. But there's a better option now.
   
   A new 2 disc set has surfaced, thanks to Matador. It's called PUSH BARMAN TO OPEN OLD WOUNDS, and it contains all these songs and more for a cheaper price. If you're looking for non-album tracks from Scotland's best band, I'd say the decision is a no-brainer. Buy PUSH BARMAN instead - it's the price of a single disc album, and you get 25 tracks from all EP's 1997-2001. What a deal.



5. Unabashed pop music, but richly so in a melancholy vein. Like a slow gin fizz. When the band's emotions get pumping, as on the track "Lazy Line Painter Jane", you can expect a shattering climax. Belle & Sebastian's early EP's are gathered together here impeccably, with great sound and artwork(but with teeny-tiny liner notes). It's the band performing at almost their peak(which eventually came with the "Arab Strap" album). Be sure to listen for the hidden track on the third disc. The lack of a female lead vocal(except on the title track)may be disappointing, but the melodies surely make up for this. Quite beautifully felt, surprisingly not redundant or repetitive(as the band became on "Waitress").

1 comments about New Moon Shine/Never Die Young/That's Why I'm Here.

1. With the new age of music upon, it is easy to forget somebody like James Taylor. Having spent most of his career strumming his guitar and playing pop-folk songs, we seem to have forgotten about him and just how great he was. This new box set of his music picks apart his greatest creations. While not all of music was always critically or commerically successful, this box set shows that when he was on, he was the best. Almost everybody loves James Taylor and with this new release, it is easy to see why.

5 comments about Magic Time: The Millennium/Ballroom Sessions.

1. 3 stars is because there is a lot of filler in the collection, like instrumental versions of songs (songs with vocals removed) and a couple of clunkers. I agree with other reviewers that "The Begin" album should be available as a seperate CD, but I feel more strongly that the "The Ballroom" with a few bonus tracks from Curt Boetchner and Summer's Children should also be a separate CD (that would be 5 stars). I think the Ballroom versions of The Island and 5 a.m. are a little better, they are not soaked in unecessary reverb. Bigger fan of Sagitarius than The Millenium, but I think that is just taste. Millenium really put out a quality product and after repeated listenings I'm sure it will grow on me.



2. Sundazed should issue "Begin" separately...it is a superb LP for those into late 60s AM pop music. The first two CDs have some excellent cuts, but the set approaches overkill for casual fans of Boettcher's work what with all the instrumental tracks and such. It's a shame that the early 1990s reissue of "Begin" is out of print.



3. First off, this set is fantastic. If you're into Boettcher, this is for you. The sound on the Ballroom stuff is great. Apparently the Revola reissue was mastered from a cassette, so if you have that you'll find the sound here startlingly crisp and present.

   If you're unfamiliar with this stuff and like psychedelia and lush light pop like Pet Sounds, The Millennium's Begin might be the next place to go for you. Sundazed really should have released this set in two parts with the Begin album packaged separately. I've turned many casual music listeners onto this record but few would really want to shell out [$$$] for rarities and outtakes just to get it. It belittles the album's significance that it's only available as the last disc of this box set.




4. I bought this CD because one of the lead singer of The Ballroom, Michelle O'mally passed away last year after a long illness. She was one of my dear friends. I have always heard her private work, but never this collection. I was so amazed!It was incredible! Not just because I love Michelle, but I love the sound! Michelle has a voice like Karen Carpenter. They sound like the Carpenters to me. If you enjoy this type of mellow sound you will love these CDs. They really are fantastic and well worth the money!



5. One of the lead singers of this band was my dear friend Michelle O'malley, who we lost last year to a long illness. I had only heard her private work and never heard this CD. It is so great! I love it! So much fun from that generation! Wonderful guitar! Harmonized beautifully. Michelle sounds like Karen Carpenter to me, she has such a beautiful voice. Not only do I love Michelle, but I couldn't believe how much I love this CD! REALLY! It is great!

5 comments about Blues Collection.

1. This set is a pretty good overview of 40s-50s blues (With the exception of the Holliday tracks) and it is worth noting that the following tracks are mislabeled:
   Disc 1, track 2 should be: Muddy Waters - Stuff You Gotta Watch
   Disc 1, track 7 soulld be: Muddy Waters - Iodine In My Coffee
   Disc 3, track 11 should be: Muddy Waters - Train Fare Home



2. If you are into modern blues such as Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eric Clapton or recent B.B. King this album is not for you. The recordings are poorly done and the blues are so old that they sound more like 30's jazz. I realize that this is where blues started but if you enjoy listening to that fast blues guitar or harmonica you will not find it here.



3. This collection carries a little bit of everything. From the Jazz of the 40's, like Billie Holiday to the Blues of the 70's. Chicago, Delta, Memphis, New York blues. It's all here. It's missing some of the greats, like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Lightin' Hopkins, but hey! There's only 3 disc's!
   Blues purists may sell it short but it's a good listenin' set. Killer background tunes to fill in between sets. And damn good party music. I don't think there's a bad cut in the whole collection. A lot of it lesser known. And not all of it electric. Muddy Waters may have invented 'lectricity but an old accoustic was good enough for Robert Johnson.
   I recommend this set for anyone that likes the blues but isn't a geek about it. And it's priced right. I just wish they would put out more disc's. I'd buy 'em in a heart beat!



4. I like Blues, and I like Billie Holiday, but I don't think that Billie sang the blues. They put 7 of her songs on the 3 cd set, and they seemed incongruous to me. Especially considering all the other great women blues artists they could have chosen instead.

   But, I do like compilations, and I think that this is was a good buy for someone who doesn't purchase many cd's (like me!)




5. This is good music no doubt. But... Some of these songs are mislabled. Outskirts of town- is not outskirts of town for instance. Looking back on it, I wouldn't buy it twice. I'd get 1 album for the same price by B.B. or Elmore James, or John Lee Hooker. These discs are about a half hour long A piece. Also as an avid blues fan, I have to ask- why is Billie Holiday on here? She's great and all, but I don't think she belongs here, though she takes up about 20 or more minutes.

   Also, I know this is a different day and age and all but Alimony blues kind of turned my stomach. I had never heard it before and it was kind of a slap in the face. It was pretty open about the guy saying he hit his wife once or twice and is now mad about the divorice and alimony. I don't know why that hit me wrong seeing as how 30-20 blues, Boot Hill and Hey Joe never bothered me at all, but it might bother you too. So That's why I mentioned it.

   It does have great Classics like B.B.'s Catfish blues version and Boom Boom, Goin' down slow, and The Sky is Crying. This is a decent blues starter album. But like I said, if you know you like the blues or a certain person in the blues, you might as well just pick a person and go with them rather than get this scattered around group of songs.

   People that show up are Gatemouth Moore- Johnny Otis- Ray Charles- Joe Turner- Richard Berry- Elmore James [ Robert Johnson's disciple ] and Amos Milbourne. Hope that helped.

1 comments about Gettin' Funky: The Birth of New Orleans R&B.

1. Vol 1. 5 stars. Champion Jack Dupree, Professor Longhair, Archibald. Nice sampler of New Orleans (NO) piano styles that make it easy to understand where Fats Domino came from. Mainly piano, male vocal with drums distinctly in the back. Many include a sax or guitar as well. Styles draw heavily on boogie-woogie at the core and add distinctive syncopation and lilt that instantly signal NO. Mambos offer an extreme version of squinky NO rhythms. Several reach into cha-cha and ska territory. At the other end, blues and R&B provide the foundation. Professor Longhair's style is crisp, clean, creative, quintessential to NO. Archibald is simpler, more traditionally down-home R&B. Archibald has a fuller ensemble than Longhair or Dupree. [78:56]
   
   Vol 2. Dave Bartholomew, Paul Gayten, Smiley Lewis. Fascinating mix of blues, traditional pop, Latin, swing, and boogie, with R&B all around the edges and interstices. The hidden link from swing to rock and roll clearly ran through this territory, but no jump blues here. Bartholomew evokes NO only through his use of small jazz combos that bring traditional jazz to mind as they play proto-R&B. He is the closest to traditional swing of the three. Gayten is the find here, the most ambitious, with the widest range of styles. He touches Ellington, second-line, traditional pop, and blues. He finds the combination of raw roots and traditional pop that opened the way to '50s R&B, doo wop, and ultimately soul. Lewis feels the closest to NO, perhaps because he uses the piano the most, because his vocalist is most like Fats Domino, or he captures the sui generis lilt more often than the others. That said, he is the bluesiest and rootsiest of the three. Stand-out: tr 13-Gayten: My rough and ready man (sexy torcher struts then scats through a swing blues) [70:44]
   
   Vol. 3. Roy Brown, Fats Domino, Larry Darnell. Roy Brown is an integral part of the hidden link between swing and rock. He has an exceptionally mellow, velvety voice, but can shout 12-bar boogies and blues with the best of them. Fats Domino, as presented here, is mainly still finding his way to his signature style. His piano is getting there faster than he is, but hints pop up everywhere. Lilt I associate with NO is still in-progress here. Larry Darnell somehow embodies all the elements of the transition from swing to rock and roll with a strong voice and a tight, sophisticated, but low-key band. Standouts: tr 10-Brown: Please don't go (slow-tempered 12-bar blues with pleading piano, swaying charted horns, rough swing throughout). tr 21-Domino: Hey La Bas boogie (fast-rolling boogie; hot sax solo swings hard as Fats struts vocally in French). tr 24-Domino: Careless love (moderate pace, NO lilt, light and heavenly piano, standard song structure, and finally Fats's characteristic vocal style-he has arrived!) tr 27-Darnell: I'll get along somehow (effortlessly leaps from '30s swing singer to roots of R&B and doo-wop). [77:19]
   
   Vol. 4. Chubby Newsome, Alma Monday, George Miller, Little Joe Gaines, Hose Owne Craven, James Locks, Erline Harris, Johnson Brothers Combo, Tommy Ridgely, Jewel King, Joe August. Music where swing, jazz, blues, boogie, and rock and roll slosh together without making firm distinctions. They mix and match in different ways on different tracks. A 12-bar blues structure dominates. Chord changes slip easily from boogie to rock and roll. Bands are still generally as tight as those in swing and jazz and lyrics are typically more adult than rock and roll. Generally tasty; generally without great distinction. Jewel King is the big find. She is fully in command of a tight band that can groove on its own and back up when she sings out. Joe August is at the other end-what is this novelty slinger doing here? Stand-outs: tr 18-Johnson Brothers Combo: Mellow woman blues (very cool rolling blues swing with precision indigo-jazzy horn charts, stride po). tr 22-Jewel King: I'll get by (light, quick, tight, sassy boogie-woogie).