and general entertainment reviewers. The current edition of The Mannish Boys features a veritable one-band blues festival of talent; most of the members either lead or are integral members of other successful touring and recording bands. They've honed their blues to a brilliant edge through appearances before sold-out crowds and on festival stages in the U.S., Canada, and in Europe. Their new live recording, "Live & In Demand", captures The Mannish Boys at the top of their game at the 2005 Winthrop Blues Festival, rolling out their dynamic, non-stop, old-style 'blues revue' featuring acclaimed veteran bluesmen Finis Tasby, Johnny Dyer, Kid Ramos, Franck Goldwasser, Leon Blue, Randy Chortkoff, Richard Innes and Tom Leavey.  (less)

Forces Radio Service from which much of this material hails (now, that’s our kind of patriots!). We’d put their harmonies right up there with the Ink Spots, Mills Brothers and Charioteers, and this CD is one of the only places you’ll hear them, as they’ve been sadly underrepresented on CD. A hot Collectors’ Choice Music exclusive, annotated and with great sound! Includes five tracks cut with Mildred Bailey on the Rockin’ Chair Rhythm show, There’ll Be Some Changes Made; It All Comes Back to Me Now; Give Me Some Skin; Georgia on My Mind, and Bugle Woogie, plus Dry Bones; Jersey Bounce; Trav’lin Light; Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby; Knock Me a Kiss; One O’Clock Jump; Take the A Train (the Delta Rhythm Boys specialized in writing lyrics for the great jazz!...  (less)

else--Jimi Hendrix was one fine blues guitarist. Combining the fluid lines of B.B. King with the spikiness of Hubert Sumlin and the crying tone of Elmore James with his usual synapse-frying intensity, Hendrix manages to both honor the music tradition while remaining uniquely himself. These studio outtakes and warm-ups (plus one previously released track, the magnificent "Hear My Train a Comin'") include a playful "Mannish Boy," the slow burn of "Once I Had A Woman," and a metallic "Bleeding Heart." --Steven Mirkin  (less)

1994-2004, and collects the very best of her Atlantic years on one essential disc. Highlights include a pair of #1 Billboard® pop hits Have You Ever and the GRAMMY®- winning The Boy Is Mine the #1 R&B hits I Wanna Be Down and Baby, the MTV Movie Award-winning song Sittin Up In My Room, the 2004 Kanye West-produced Top 40 hit Talk About Our Love, and much more.  (less)

identity crisis when lead singer Dawn Robinson left the band in 1997. In 2003 the band was able to regain their equilibrium after Rhonda Bennett, a former regular on the Jamie Foxx Show, joined founding members Terry Ellis and Cindy Herron in the line-up after talks with Robinson and other original member Maxine Jones fell through. Though Robinson’s dash and sass is sorely missed, this new configuration blends pristine vocal arrangements and close jazzy harmonies that approaches some of the original band’s best moments. While there’s some real gems on the disc--like the coy-but-clever "Ooh Boy," the arch ache of "Dissed Him," and the spiteful "All You See," which is as sneering as anything Missy Elliot is putting out--much of the disc just doesn't li...  (less)

almost all nonclassical guitarists." On top of his expert albeit unconventional playing, Spence growled, murmured, and scatted his way through a distinctive repertoire that included sea chanties, hymns, and pop tunes. This spontaneous 21-song album was recorded in a Boston apartment with Spence playing a borrowed Martin D-18. Surrounded by a circle of devotees, he comfortably sails through the likes of "Sloop John B." (it was a folk song before the Beach Boys got hold of it), "Will the Serpent Be Unbroken" (notice the revised title), and Spence's personal anthem, "Out on the Rolling Sea." In a single word: singular. --Steven Stolder  (less)

the swan song for the boys, as 'Alphabet Blues' moved effortlessly from slow, burnin blues to blistering boogies and insouciant shuffles. We ve added three bonus tracks, 'Chicken Shack Boogie'; 'Nook-N-Kranny', and 'T-Bone Jumps Again', to the album s original tune stack of tracks.  (less)

vibrato, and the trademark "li-li-li-li-li" that he used to make his steel-edged baritone recognizable to the teen audience. These were techniques he adapted from singing in church as a boy in North Carolina and, later, touring in gospel groups. They served him well. "Don't Be Angry" reached the top of the R&B chart and became a No. 25 pop hit. But this is the eight-year story of how he became one of the great blues shouters of the 1950s, along with Wynonie Harris and Roy Brown. After tunes like disc one's "Goody Goody Gum Drop" threatened to turn his rubber-lipped fillips to self-parody, Brown matched his roots in spiritual singing to the corporal themes of the blues--much as Ray Charles did to ignite soul music. The result was hard-hitt...  (less)

Boyd, Chester Burnett, Jimmy Reed, etc., along with many other all but forgotten great American blues songs from the 1930s-1950s. This CD collection includes 25 of Hammond's finest moments, featuring many of the musicians who have accompanied him over the years including Roger Hawkins, Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Jimmy Lewis, Garth Hudson (The Band), Jimmy Thackery, Mark Wenner, Jan Zukowsky, Pete Ragusa (The Nighthawks), Michael Bloomfield, Charlie Musselwhite, Roosevelt Skyes, Eddie Hinton, & Duane Allman. Hammond uses gravelly soul-drenched vocals, hypnotic guitar & incessant wild harmonica to sign his name in the book of blues.  (less)

commercial flowering in the '70s. Hi Times opens with a 1959 track from old Elvis sideman Bill Black and ends with a 1977 recording from Green's The Belle Album , which pretty much signaled the end of his (or anyone else's) top-dog-of-soul reign. In between, there's a neat sampling of Memphis sounds highlighted by the '70s classics of Ann Peebles, Syl Johnson, O.V. Wright, and Otis Clay. --Steven Stolder  (less)

else--Jimi Hendrix was one fine blues guitarist. Combining the fluid lines of B.B. King with the spikiness of Hubert Sumlin and the crying tone of Elmore James with his usual synapse-frying intensity, Hendrix manages to both honor the music tradition while remaining uniquely himself. These studio outtakes and warm-ups (plus one previously released track, the magnificent "Hear My Train a Comin'") include a playful "Mannish Boy," the slow burn of "Once I Had A Woman," and a metallic "Bleeding Heart." --Steven Mirkin  (less)

Shop Boys, Wham!, Tina Turner, Joe Cocker, Pat Benatar, Scorpions, Marrilion, Kate Bush, Roxette, Milli Vanilli, Blondie, Europe,Icehouse, Midge Ure, Paul Hardcastle & others. Double jewel case. 1990 release.  (less)