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The History of Rhythm and Blues series of CDs brings you the accidental synthesis of jazz, gospel, blues, ragtime, country, pop and Latin into a definable form of black music, which would influence pretty well all popular music from the 1950s to the present. It is the first attempt to put together a cross-label compilation showcasing the most important and influential records in the rise of Rhythm & Blues. This exhilarating compilation …is a distillation of a four-CD set; as such, it’s an exceptionally strong collection, each of the 25 tracks a discovery, a joy. The liner notes are worth the price in themselves: Well-written and entertaining, they detail not only the history of each artist, but the context of each song…The most recent song on the album was recorded more than 65 years ago, but this is no dusty exercise in musicology. This is creative, vibrant music. Even today, it quickens the pulse. M.D.Spenser Blog May 2009 Anyone looking for a great sampler to hear some of the classic early rhythm and blues could do worse than to check out this 25-track release…As an introduction to early blues and more this compilation takes some beating – and to anyone doing research or a historian – I would imagine pretty essential, well done to compiler, Nick Duckett and to all concerned. GRAHAME RHODES RANDB002 - Sale!
The mambo was born in Cuba in 1938, of African and European parentage. It arrived in New York ten years later via Havana and Mexico City. 1954 was the year of the mambo in America as dancers flocked to the ballrooms to see exciting new bands led by Machito, Tito Puente, Perez Prado and Tito Rodriguez. To cash in on the craze, record companies encouraged their R&B artists to come up with songs in a Latin vein and to include the word mambo in the title. Latin rhythms have infiltrated every branch of popular music, but none has had such a wide ranging influence as the rumba. Its 3-3-2 rhythm, combined with the New Orleans second line beat, formed the basis of the Stax and Motown sound and the more complex rhythms of funk in the 1960s. RANDB041 -
This is a delicious 2CD production with a 28-page booklet choked with information, pictures (the Earl Palmer one is terrific) and a discography that indicates the rhythm pattern associated with the song. The appendix gives instruction on how to speak aloud the rhythm of the beats and tap out the accented beats with your hands (difficult or what?)...Let me assure you on the majority of tracks my foot jumps and I want to dance...The tracks do not appear to be common to the vast amount of PD releases...CD 2 is very interesting with a different feel to your normal run of the mill PD...due to their late 50s/early 60s recording dates...It’s the more obscure tracks...that grab you...The number one and most essential is the quality of the recordings. They are first class and on a personal note, I now have the best copy in my collection of ‘The Freeze’ by Albert Collins. There is a lot to discover and long established collectors will have the opportunity to refresh their musical diet by checking this compilation out. Highly recommended to all. Keith Scoffham Blues & Rhythm R012 -
This is slippery and seductive music with that tricky undercurrrent that rumba beats bring, and to hear how these diverse musicians adapted and bent it to their own styles is just a whole heap of fun. More than that though, if you take the time to read the liner note essay, this collection is instructive history. But history that will put a smile on your face and dip in your step. Elsewhere.co.nz I thoroughly recommend this one…all tracks are pretty great…a really excellent compilation…contains tracks you wouldn’t necessarily associate with latin music…it messes together very, very well. Mark Lamarr BBC Radio 2 RANDB010 -
The Beatles established a repertoire of over 600 tunes, allowing them to tailor their set to the occasion for jazz clubs, strip clubs, folk clubs, working men’s clubs, church dances and rock’n’roll joints. Almost all of the songs they learned were released in the UK and from 1957 onwards, they avidly followed the weekly music charts and kept up to date with the records that did not make the hit parade. Before naming the Beatles in the summer of 1960, they were the Quarrymen. Quarrymen Two looks at the band’s rock’n’roll influences. RANDB006 -
Jazz; rock’n’roll; blues; music hall; guitar instrumentals; tin pan alley; rockabilly; dance band; soul; bolero; skiffle; trad; R&B; country; old-time; Broadway; doo-wop; folk; high school pop; Motown - the Beatles’ early influences are so wide-ranging that the Beatles Beginnings series of discs could quite easily pass for an introduction to the history of twentieth century popular music. Covering the period 1957-60, the first disc in the series Quarrymen One investigates skiffle and the other music that the individual members of the group grew up listening to before rock’n’roll burst on to the scene. Alerting all Beatles fans! In fact, alerting anyone with even just a passing interest in music of Twentieth century popular music, for here’s a terrific series of albums they may well want to check out... superbly researched booklets, each volume will delve into the music that inspired, influenced and shaped the Beatles individually and collectively...here’s the very stuff that changed the world and forged the greatest band of all time. As the music rings out ... you can almost hear the Beatles metamorphosing inside your ears as they listened, learned and immersed themselves, letting these songs open doors and fire their imagination: there was to be no looking back - an absolute gas. Colin Hall R2 Every baby-boomer whose life has been soundtracked by pop will be more than merely familiar with most of the items here, whether ‘Long Tall Sally', 'Roll Over Beethoven', 'Matchbox', 'Honey Don't' and 'Words Of Love', all revived on disc by The Beatles after they'd left the runway. Almost as potent a selling point is Nick Duckett's entertaining and informative thirty-page essay within a package that is as likely to engross the general cultural historian as much as fans of this particular act. Alan Clayson - The Beat RANDB004 Available as slimline CD with annotated 48 page book and has 4 page CD insert. Produced as CD-R (professionally manufactured recordable CD printed for short run) All CDs are guaranteed error free and will always be replaced if any problems are encountered. Please advise if you require printed inlays that can be inserted into CD jewel cases. -
Pete Townshend might have been the most articulate songwriter of his generation but like every other band of their era , The Who cut their teeth on cover versions which influenced how their sound developed. From their first gigs The Who were open to a wide range of influences including rhythm and blues, soul, country, jazz, surf, rock ’n’ roll and classical. And it’s all here, in great sound and with a full explanation of what every track meant to The Who. At least three of the cover versions in this collection subsequently mutated into “originals” - see if you can spot them! This CD analyses the songs and styles that inspired The Who and includes a fully illustrated 24-page booklet. R009 - Sale!
1955-1962
The music that led to southern soul is just too good to cram into one volume, so Part 2 of Where Southern Soul Began, showcases many more artists who contributed to the birth of the genre. The songs come from all parts of the south of the US: from New Orleans via Miami and from Mobile, Alabama to Memphis and Nashville. Many of these then unsung heroes such as Ted Taylor, Joe Tex, Otis Redding and William Bell, went on to have highly successful careers, and this set gives a valuable insight into the music they were making before the big hits started coming. Other artists featured are more obscure as they made only a few recordings before fading from view. Yet singers such as Steve Dixon, George Hughley and Prince Conley made just as valid a contribution to the beginnings of southern soul.
The music here inspired the giants of black American music in the sixties. It combines elements of country, R & B, doo-wop, gospel and blues, and retains the ability to move listeners some 50 years on with its emotional intensity and musical power.
Soul 002 & 017 Where Southern Soul Began 1 & 2 'These two 2-cd volumes are a fine way to trace the roots of what we now call 'southern soul', beginning back in 1954 through to 1962,.I immediately want to deliver a 'star pick' rating to the first volume., ultimately, its clear that the two sets are highly complimentary, excellently presented and really should be sitting together on the record shelves.' STAR PICK***** x2. Bob Cole Basement Group Review
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'A perfect compilation, features familiar names & obscure artists who deserve their place in musical history,as educational as it is entertaining and is worth adding to your collection...I learned a lot from reading the liner notes. When I make some new discoveries, that's a real bonus.' Errol Nazareth, presenter on CBC, Canadian Broadcasting Company
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1. Storm Warning Harry South Big Band 2. Raga (edit) Harry South Big Band 3. Sound Of Seventeen Harry South Big Band 4. Limited Freedom Harry South Big Band 5. Southern Horizons Joe Harriot Quintet 6. Minor Incident Dick Morrissey Quartet 7. Black Eyed Peas Harry South Big Band 8. The Sweeney Harry South Big Band 9. 4 Dimensions Of Greta Harry South Big Band R&B12 - Sale!
BBC Jazz Club London May 23rd 1964 Memphis Slim p, voc, Pete Blannin b, Eddie Taylor d. I'm Lost Without You I'll Just Keep Singing The Blues El Capitan This Is A Good Time To Write A Song Big Bertha Train Has Gone Going Down Slow All By Myself BR2 Jazz Prisma Brussels February 2nd 1964 Memphis Slim p, voc, Matt "Guitar" Murphy g, Billy Stepney d. The Blues Is Everywhere All By Myself My Gal Keeps Me Crying Matt’s Guitar Boogie I'm Lost Without You Wish Me Well French TV Paris 1964 Memphis Slim p, voc, Unknown d. It's Too Late American Folk Blues Festival Baden Baden Memphis Slim p, voc, Matt "Guitar" Murphy g, Willie Dixon b, Billy Stepney d. I'll Just Keep Singing The Blues American Folk Blues Festival Manchester October 21st 1962 Memphis Slim p, voc, Willie Dixon b, Jump Jackson d. Just A Dream -
Johnny Burch is probably best-known for songs he wrote in 1963 for Georgie Fame such as “In The Meantime” and “Preach and Teach”. This was at a time when the boundaries between modern jazz, rhythm and blues and beat music were being broken down at such places as the Flamingo and the Marquee. For a few months, Burch was leader of a group that included several musicians who found fame in the blues and rock scene of the late 60s such as Graham Bond, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. This CD features the earliest-known recordings of Bruce and Baker together in a live broadcast for the BBC from March 1963. It also contains five tracks from a session that Burch’s 1965 line-up recorded for BBC’s Band Beat. Burch was never a major figure in the London jazz scene but this collection highlights his group’s unique role which acted as a bridge between modern jazz and the nascent British R&B movement. RANDB055 Overall, an amazing collection of pieces, many obscure, some best described as period pieces but much to enjoy. Peter Vacher Jazzrag When one thinks of bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker, the name of Eric Clapton immediately comes to mind since the three masterful musicians formed Cream. However the first time that Bruce and Baker played together was not in a rock group but back in 1963 as members of the Johnny Burch Octet. Pianist Johnny Burch (1932-2006) was part of the British jazz scene starting in 1959. After a period as a member of Allan Ganley’s Jazzmakers and with Don Rendell’s group, he evolved to become a leader in modern jazz without achieving much fame. He did get to accompany such visiting American greats as Freddie Hubbard, Red Rodney and Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and wrote a few songs for the popular singer Georgie Fame. Jazzbeat has Burch at the head of two different octets, playing live in 1963 and 1965. These seven selections have so-so recording quality but are full of plenty of excitement with the numbers including “Moanin’,” “Del Sasser,” and Burch’s “Nightwalk.” On both broadcasts, the playing is top-notch and at the level of their American counterparts. The music is very much in the modern mainstream of the mid-1960s, forward-looking while never hinting at the music of Cream. Scott Yanow Los Angeles Jazz Scene Produced as CD-R (professionally manufactured recordable CD printed for short run) as opposed to CD-P (professionally manufactured pressed CDs made in quantities of 500+). Comes with original printed CD inner plus booklet annotated by Simon Spillett. All CDs whether CD-R or CD-P are 100% guaranteed error free. Discs will always be replaced if any problems are encountered. -
Manchester Free Trade Hall was host to two concerts on Sunday October 21st 1962 that acted as a catalyst to the nascent British Blues & R&B boom, on the verge of breaking out of its suburban home in Ealing, West London. The shows were promoted by Stockport-based Paddy MacKiernan under the Jazz Unlimited banner and attracted a crowd of around two thousand enthusiasts, who saw the first major concert in Britain to feature American bluesmen. Manchester was the only UK date on the 1962 American Folk-Blues Festival tour and it was attended by blues fans from all over the country through what Paul Jones called ‘the bush telegraph’. With Jones were Alexis Korner and Macclesfield-born John Mayall, plus extraordinarily a contingent of younger fans who had made the trip in a clapped out van from London. Why extraordinary? Because the van contained some of the future superstars of the British scene: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones and Jimmy Page. The Stones by this time had just a dozen gigs under their belts and Page had recently embarked on the first stage of his career as a session guitarist. David Williams dedicates a whole chapter to the road trip in his book The First Time We Met The Blues. “It must have been around early September 1962 when news filtered down the grapevine…We could hardly believe that real blues artists were going to appear here in our country…were regarded somewhat like mystic gods within our circle…(Jimmy Page) realised that he would not be able to make the journey with us as he was already booked to play a gig with Neil Christian on the Saturday night…it was agreed Jim would travel up by train on the Sunday and we would find space for him in the van for the journey back overnight…Graham (Ackers) was a pretty good driver and soon managed to find his way through Central London to a square ...where we picked up Mick, Keith and Brian.” Keith Richards remembers it differently, “Mick sometimes had the use of his parents’ Triumph Herald at the weekend and I remember we went to see a big blues show in Manchester.” Jimmy Page: “When David Williams told me of the impending visit of the initial American Folk-Blues Festival to England, I was keen to join the pilgrimage to Manchester. It was not only the first time that I would actually see artists like John Lee Hooker and T-Bone Walker perform, but it was also the first time I met Mick Jagger, Brian Jones and Keith Richards, who came with us on the trip. We were all like-minded enthusiasts and in those days we regarded the artists we were going to see as idols.” ABC TV filmed the second show and broadcast it in two parts for its Tempo programme. The recordings (from the Newby collection) are of excellent sound quality and were taken off air by direct line into a Tandberg reel to reel recorder. RANDB059 Produced as CD-R (professionally manufactured recordable CD printed for short run) as opposed to CD-P (professionally manufactured pressed CDs made in quantities of 500+). All CDs whether CD-R or CD-P are 100% guaranteed error free. Discs will always be replaced if any problems are encountered. -
- Sunday Lunch
- Off The Wagon
- Inner Urge
- You Don’t Know What Love Is
- Le Roi
- The Whims of Chambers
- Le Roi
- My Ship
- Inner Urge
- No Room For Squares
- You Don’t Know What Love Is
- Don’t Fall Off The Bridge
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Link Wray’s Rumble and Bill Doggett’s Hold It are the only two big hits included on this collection, which puts a deserved spotlight on both long-forgotten records by established artists and on fabulous obscurities by long-forgotten artists. But rest assured, this is a cracking compilation from start to finish, with Southern swamp rock, spicy New Orleans rhythms and Northern city blues. Guitar and sax-led rockers, slinky organ stompers, Latin groovers – all in all, 60 mighty instrumental stompers from 1958, R&B-style. RANDB045 …cracking albums of often rare bluesy instrumentals…sexy, saxy and groovy keyboards aplenty! These fantastic sets are definitely full fat! Brilliant and what value! Dave Peckett Gandy Dancer -
1962 was the peak year for hit records instrumental-style, with no less than 123 discs scoring on the American pop charts. There wasn’t much in the hit parade to interest R&B fans though, apart from King Curtis’s Soul Twist, Booker T. & The MG's Green Onions and James Brown’s Night Train, but that’s where Mighty Instrumentals R&B-Style 1962 comes in. So what was new in 1962? A bit of surf, a bit of funk, a brand new rhythm on Boogie Twist. More slinky organ groovers, uptown dancers and late night smoochers for teenagers to dance to. And there you have it – 58 R&B scorchers with rhythm aplenty. RANDB044 These albums are full of big, fat chugging and swinging bluesy numbers…With their excellent sound and at such good value for money these CDs will delight fans of the genre. Alan Taylor Pipeline -
Africa and Latin America together have moulded American popular music since the beginning of the twentieth century. African influences have led to the development of jazz, gospel and blues while successive waves of dance music from Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Jamaica have largely determined its rhythm. Dance forms and musical stylings such as habanera, bolero, tango, rumba, conga, samba, baion, calypso, mambo, charleston, cha-cha-cha, bossa nova and twistall have their origins outside the USA. This compilation aims to demonstrate just how far back the roots of Latin jazz stretch, well beyond the partnership that Dizzy Gillespie forged with Chano Pozo in founding cubop, the post-war marriage of bebop with Cuban music. 8 PAGE BOOKLET INCLUDED RANDB009 Produced as CD-R (professionally manufactured recordable CD printed for short run) as opposed to CD-P (professionally manufactured pressed CDs made in quantities of 500+). All CDs whether CD-R or CD-P are 100% guaranteed error free. Discs will always be replaced if any problems are encountered. -
Produced as CD-R (professionally manufactured recordable CD printed for short run) as opposed to CD-P (professionally manufactured pressed CDs made in quantities of 500+). All CDs whether CD-R or CD-P are 100% guaranteed error free. Discs will always be replaced if any problems are encountered. 24-page booklet included -
More than any other city in the world, New Orleans has been responsible for shaping the sound of twentieth century popular music. Sweeping statement that may be, but as the birthplace of jazz, funk and arguably rock’n’roll, it really has no other contenders. At the heart of these three widely different varieties of music lies the rhythmic complexity of second line parade drumming. Its two-beat patterns combining military band and Caribbean rhythms underpin the early recordings of Louis Armstrong as much as they do those of Little Richard and James Brown. This compilation highlights some of the distinguishing characteristics found in early New Orleans recordings, not with the intention of picking out the city’s finest jazz and blues recordings but in order to pinpoint styles that would foreshadow later developments in the rhythm and blues field. 28 page booklet RANDB013 Produced as CD-R (professionally manufactured recordable CD printed for short run) as opposed to CD-P (professionally manufactured pressed CDs made in quantities of 500+). All CDs whether CD-R or CD-P are 100% guaranteed error free. Discs will always be replaced if any problems are encountered. 12 page booklet -
More than any other city in the world, New Orleans has been responsible for shaping the sound of twentieth century popular music. Sweeping statement that may be, but as the birthplace of jazz, funk and arguably rock’n’roll, it really has no other contenders. At the heart of these three widely different varieties of music lies the rhythmic complexity of second line parade drumming. Its two-beat patterns combining military band and Caribbean rhythms underpin the early recordings of Louis Armstrong as much as they do those of Little Richard and James Brown. This compilation highlights some of the distinguishing characteristics found in early New Orleans recordings, not with the intention of picking out the city’s finest jazz and blues recordings but in order to pinpoint styles that would foreshadow later developments in the rhythm and blues field. 12 page booklet RANDB014 Produced as CD-R (professionally manufactured recordable CD printed for short run) as opposed to CD-P (professionally manufactured pressed CDs made in quantities of 500+). All CDs whether CD-R or CD-P are 100% guaranteed error free. Discs will always be replaced if any problems are encountered. -
da DAH DAH da DAH da DAH DAH da DAH Possibly the most exciting riff in rock history; raw, dirty and totally infectious. You Really Got Me was a landmark recording: a breakthrough in sound that has echoed throughdozens of rock classics and become the blueprint for hard rock, heavy metal even, while its sloppy guitar solo pointed the way for punk rock. No rock band is an island. The Kinks started writing at one of the most exciting times in popular music, when youngsters were hungry for new and obscure discs, mixing it up, learning all the time, trying it out in their front rooms. Here is the story of You Really Got Me. CD One tells the story of this seminal record and charts its influences, some of them surprising. CD Two presents original versions of Kinks stage favourites. RANDB033 -
The Kinks emerged from the musical activities of brothers Ray and Dave Davies, born three years apart and raised in Muswell Hill, London. Their first musical incarnation was the Ray Davies Quartet, formed around 1960 with schoolmate Pete Quaife, and this line up, with various drummers, performed blues, folk and jazz at pubs and coffee houses mainly in the north London area. Guitar instrumentals, R&B and rock’n’roll songs were added to the set list as the band went through frequent name changes. This CD is a collection of the songs that were most influential on the sound of the early Kinks and is representative of the live repertoire of the band from the time immediately prior to their signing a recording contract with Pye Records in January 1964. The illustrated 24-page booklet includes essays by Doug Hinman and Nick Duckett and explains the relevance of each track to The Kinks. R008 - Sale!
What you have on this 2CD set is a glimpse into Georgie Fame’s world circa 1964/65. It comprises 45 songs recorded for the BBC and others between 1964 and 1965 (mostly in excellent quality sound), including two exciting live audience performances broadcast direct from the legendary Ricky Tick Club in Windsor. Fame was different; he played soul, blues, dance music, ballads, ska/blue beat, vocalese, big band jazz, hillbilly, New Orleans and even World Music, decades before that term was invented. For anyone who wishes to explore this world, the 2CD set you have here offers the very best of guided tours. To quote Georgie from “Night Train”: All aboard children! 16 page booklet with notes by Dave Stephens. - Sale!
We bring you 60 mighty instrumental stompers from 1955, R&B-style: Mid-West electric blues, Southern swamp rock, spicy New Orleans rhythms, funky grunting mambos, sophisticated West-Coast productions and East Coast city blues, dominated by guitarists and saxophonists but interspersed with organists, accordionists, pianists and harmonicists. Glorious stuff! Including label shots and annotated notes RANDB089 'If instrumentals – tenor sax players, harp players, guitarists, piano players – are your thing then this is right up your street. I have to say that I enjoyed (most) of it immensely.' Phil Wight B&R ‘If you’re in the mood to dance to music without interference of vocals, Rhythm and Blues Records has just the cure for you…a thorough sampling that reflects just how popular the instrumental format became in the mid-50s…a comprehensive set of liner notes written by Nick Duckett...a catchy title and snarky groove was all you needed to get in the mood to make your way to the dance floor.’ Wayne Goins Living Blues Produced as CD-R (professionally manufactured recordable CD printed for short run) as opposed to CD-P (professionally manufactured pressed CDs made in quantities of 500+). All CDs whether CD-R or CD-P are 100% guaranteed error free. Discs will always be replaced if any problems are encountered.
