John Lee Hooker - Anthology: 50 Years CD

Anthology: 50 Years songs A surprise best-seller when it was first released, this mostly improvised pairing of singer/keyboardist/producer Al Kooper with two major guitar heroes of the day sounds fascinating all these years later precisely because of the distance of time--nobody makes records like this any more. The material runs the gamut from folk pop (covers of Donovan and Dylan), to blues ("Albert's Shuffle," "You Don't Love Me"), to heady jams ("His Holy Modal Majesty"), to big-band jazz ("Harvey's Tune"). All the tunes make effective templates for the kind off-the-cuff music-making that in less capable hands might have resulted in simple noodling. In fact, although Bloomfield and Stills don't play together on any of the cuts (Bloomfield played on one side of the original LP, Stills on the other), all three principals get off lots of good licks and producer Kooper has some interesting tricks up his sleeve, as in the over-the-top phasing he lavishes on "You Don't Love Me." The only real disappointment here is that Stills, a far better singer than Kooper, never opens his mouth. Those familiar with the Live Adventures album these two recorded at the Fillmore West know how brilliant they could be on stage, and here's another gem, recorded at the Fillmore East this time and featuring 'One Way Out,' 'It's My Own Fault' (with Bloomfield trading licks with Johnny Winter...Johnny was signed to Columbia after this gig!). Newly remastered & now with 4 bonus tracks, 'Albert's Shuffle' (2002 Remix w/o Horns), 'Season of the Witch.' (2002 Remix w/o Horns), 'Blues For Nothing' (Studio Outtake) & 'Fat Grey Cloud' Previously Unreleased Live Track). Features 12-page booklet with unpublished photos from the recording session, new liner notes by Al Kooper & the Rolling Stone Hall Of Fame review by David Fricke. 60 scintillating minutes! 13 tracks. Colunbia/Legacy. 2003. Includes liner notes by Al Kooper, Michael Thomas. Includes liner notes by Michael Thomas. Full performer name: Mike Bloomfield/Al Kooper/Steve Stills. Personnel: Mike Bloomfield (electric guitar); Al Kooper (vocals, 12-string & electric guitars, piano, organ, ondioline); Steve Stills (electric guitar); Barry Goldberg (electric piano); Harvey Brooks (bass); Eddie Hoh (drums). Personnel: Mike Bloomfield (electric guitar); Al Kooper (piano, organ, ondioline, vocals, 12-string & electric guitars); Steve Stills (electric guitar); Barry Goldberg (electric piano); Harvey Brooks (bass); Eddie Hoh (drums). Reissue producer: Bob Irwin.

Anthology: 50 Years CD music Remastered reissue of 1969 album, suitable for standard & 'Super Audio' CD players. Audio Remasterers: Jon Astley; Teri Landi; Steve Rosenthal; Paschal Byrne. The Rolling Stones: Mick Taylor (guitars); Keith Richards (acoustic guitar); Mick Jagger (harp); Bill Wyman (autoharp); Charlie Watts (drums); Brian Jones (percussion). Additional personnel: Nanette Newman, Merry Clayton (vocals); Ry Cooder (mandolin); Byron Berline (fiddle); Bobby Keys (tenor saxophone); Al Kooper (French horn); Ian Stewart , Leon Russell (piano); Nicky Hopkins (organ); Jimmy Miller , Rocky Dijon (percussion); Doris Troy, London Bach Choir, Madeline Bell (background vocals).

Anthology: 50 Years buy CD music Another year, another Gary Moore blues-rock album nearly interchangeable with the last. That's no problem for fans or even newcomers, because despite the surface similarities between releases, Moore never seems to be going through the motions for the sake of further bulking up his already substantial catalog. His tough guitar lines remain biting yet classy, and his underappreciated voice is strong and convincing on originals and covers that nail all of the blues-rock bases without sounding rote. While there are no surprises here, Bad for You Baby is far from a disappointment. Moore continues a string of rugged, post-hard rock, power blues that he has carved his niche in since 1990's Still Got the Blues. He applies his throaty vocals and feral guitar to a pair of Muddy Waters tunes to impressive effect. No one will mistake his versions of Waters' "Walking Through the Park" or "Someday Baby" for the classic Chess era nuggets they are. Yet Moore's rocked up attack hits the mark for being relatively faithful to their melodies even as he wields his power blues sledgehammer. Moore boogies through J.B. Lenoir's "Mojo Boogie" like he invented the style, and even if his husky vocals will never be mistaken for Lenoir's reedy, high pitched singing, he tears into the tune with enough energy to shake up anything in the Johnny Winter songbook. Guitar shredders will thrill to the hot fret acrobatics of the double-time "Down the Line," and those who thought Led Zeppelin's first album was their finest hour should chow down on the hard rocking Jimmy Page-isms of "Umbrella Man." Moore writes one for the ladies on the sweet ballad "Holding On," which won't win any awards for lyrical complexity but boasts a lovely melody and Otis Taylor's daughter, Cassie, on backing vocals. Cassie returns with her dad (plucking nearly inaudible banjo) for the swamped up "Preacher Man Blues" that features some surprisingly effective harp from Moore, the only time he plays it on this disc. Al Kooper's slow, yearning "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" from the New Yorker's Blood, Sweat & Tears stint is given an extended, nearly 11-minute treatment that's as compelling as BS&T's. Those hoping for Moore to expand his horizons will need to wait a little longer, but for existing followers and especially those new to his gutsy approach, Bad for You Baby more than fills the bill. ~ Hal Horowitz Audio Remasterer: Sean Magee. Personnel: Gary Moore (vocals, guitar, harmonica); Vic Martin (keyboards); Pete Rees (bass guitar); Sam Kelly (drums). Audio Mixers: Greg Jackman; Gary Moore.

Anthology: 50 Years album for sale After two albums, Todd Rundgren had one hit and a burgeoning cult following, plus growing respect as a hitmaking record producer. There's no question he was busy, but as it turns out, all this work only scratched the surface of his ambition. He had decided to abandon the Runt pretense and recorded a full double album by himself (save for one side). Others had recorded one-man albums before, most notably Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney, but Rundgren -- without borrowing musically from either artist -- captured the homemade ambience of McCartney with the visionary feel of Music of My Mind, adding an encyclopedic knowledge of pop music from Gilbert & Sullivan through Jimi Hendrix, plus the crazed zeal of a pioneer. Listening to Something/Anything? is a mind-altering trip in itself, no matter how many instantly memorable, shamelessly accessible pop songs are scattered throughout the album. Each side of the double album is a concept onto itself. The first side is "a bouquet of ear-catching melodies"; side two is "the cerebral side"; on side three "the kid gets heavy"; side four is his mock pop operetta, recorded with a full band including the Sales brothers. It gallops through everything -- Carole King tributes ("I Saw the Light"), classic ballads ("Hello It's Me," "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference"), Motown ("Wolfman Jack"), blinding power pop ("Couldn't I Just Tell You"), psychedelic hard rock ("Black Maria"), pure weirdness ("I Went to the Mirror"), blue-eyed soul ("Dust in the Wind"), and scores of brilliant songs that don't fall into any particular style ("Cold Morning Light," "It Takes Two to Tango"). It's an amazing journey that's remarkably unpretentious. He may have contributed self-penned liner notes, but Rundgren peppers his writing with self-aware, self-deprecating asides, and he also indulges his bizarre sense of humor with gross-outs ("Piss Aaron") and sheer quirkiness, such as an aural tour of the studio at the beginning of side two. Something/Anything? has a ton of loose ends throughout: plenty of studio tricks, slight songs (but no filler), snippets of dialogue, and purposely botched beginnings, but all these throwaways simply add context -- they're what makes the album into a kaleidoscopic odyssey through the mind of an insanely gifted pop music obsessive. Rundgren occasionally touched on the sheer brilliance of Something/Anything? in his later work, but this extraordinary double album is the one time where his classicist songcraft and messy genius converged to create an utterly unique, glorious record. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine Personnel: Todd Rundgren (vocals, various instruments); Amos Garrett, Rick Derringer (guitar); Ben Keith (pedal steel guitar); Jim Horn, Michael Brecker (tenor saxophone); Randy Brecker (trumpet); Barry Rogers (trombone); Mark "Moogy" Klingman (piano, organ); Stu Woods (bass instrument); Billy Mundi (drums).

Anthology: 50 Years CD music Though he's created some of the most essential, elemental blues in musical history, B.B. King has never shied away from exploring different directions, and some might say he's occasionally ventured too far afield. ONE KIND FAVOR should silence those doubters; with the help of superproducer T-Bone Burnett's roots noir approach, it finds King delivering gritty, impassioned interpretations of the tunes that influenced him in the 1950s. From his soulful, syncopated take on Blind Lemon Jefferson's country blues classic "See That My Grave is Kept Clean" to the Chicago-style stomping takeover of the Mississippi Sheiks' "The World Is Gone Wrong," King proves that at the age of 82 he can still turn out fiery, energetic music as undeniably vital as anything being produced by artists a third of his age. Arrangers: Darrell Leonard; Geoff Muldaur. Personnel: B.B. King (vocals, electric guitar); Johnny Lee Schell (guitar); Jeffrey Clayton, Keith Fiddmont (alto saxophone); Rickey Woodard, Thomas R. Peterson, Charles Owens (tenor saxophone); Ernie Fields Jr. (baritone saxophone); Darrell Leonard, Snooky Young (trumpet); Ira Nepus (trombone); Randall Aldcroft, Alexander Iles (euphonium); Dr. John (piano); Neil Larsen (Hammond b-3 organ); Nathan East (acoustic bass); Mike Elizondo (electric bass); Jim Keltner, Jay Bellerose (drums, percussion). Audio Mixer: Mike Piersante.

Anthology: 50 Years buy CD music Muddy Waters was sharp enough to realize he was onto a good thing after Johnny Winter helped him get back to his roots on 1977's HARD AGAIN. He continued working with Winter in the same no-nonsense vein through the rest of the decade. The fruit of their collaboration can be heard in a live setting on this 1979 release, which takes HARD AGAIN's brand of revitalized Muddy to the stage. Backed by his regular band plus Winter, Muddy invests these songs with so much emotion you'd swear it was the first time he'd sung "Mannish Boy" instead of the ten-thousandth. Willie "Big Eyes" Smith's simple, insistent drums, and the guitars of Winter, Bob Margolin and Luther Johnson move together with the single-minded precision of a power drill, with Muddy playing the part of the husky-voiced drill bit. Amazingly, Muddy's power is undiminished from his '50s salad days. When he closes with a newer number about "going down to Florida," there's no need to worry about early retirement. He sounds ready to keep going as long as there's life in him. And that's exactly what he did. Digitally remixed and remastered 2 disc Legacy Edition of the Grammy Award winning album Muddy ''Mississippi'' Waters Live. The original recording was produced by legendary guitarist Johnny Winter, who also plays and performs on the album. All tracks on disc 2 - Muddy ''Mississippi'' Waters Live at Harry Hopes - are live recordings of Muddy and his band never before available, 'Medley-After Hours/Stormy Monday Blues', 'Trouble No More', 'Champagne & Reefer', 'Corrina, Corrina', 'Hoochie Coochie Man', 'She Moves Me', 'Kansas City', 'Pinetop's Boogie Woogie', 'Mad Love (I Want You To Love Me)', 'Everything's Gonna Be Alright' & 'Got My Mojo Working'. 2-CD deluxe digipak with customized slipcase features original artwork plus additional track information and rare photos. 18 tracks. Legacy. 2003. Includes liner notes by Robert Gordon and Bob Margolin. Personnel: Muddy Waters (vocals, guitar); Johnny Winter, Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson, Bob Margolin (guitar); Jerry Portnoy (harmonica); Pinetop Perkins (piano); Willie "Big Eyes" Smith (drums). Audio Mixers: Dave Still; Thom Cadley. Liner Note Authors: Robert Gordon; Bob Margolin. Recording information: Harry Hope's, Cary, IL (03/18/1977-08/26/1978); Masonic Auditorium, Detroit, MI (03/18/1977-08/26/1978). Photographers: Jim Marshall ; David Gahr; Paul Natkin. Unknown Contributor Role: Eric Clapton. Personnel: Muddy Waters (vocals, guitar, slide guitar); Johnny Winter, Bob Margolin, Luther "Guitar Jr." Johnson (guitar); Jerry Portnoy, James Cotton (harmonica); Pine Top Perkins (piano); Calvin Jones, Charles Calmese (bass); Willie "Big Eyes" Smith (drums).