Ray Charles - Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Vols. 1- 2 CD

Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Vols. 1- 2 buy CD music Today the most recognition the Animals get is "House of the Rising Sun" being played on oldies radio, but in the mid-1960s they were a powerful part of the British Invasion, often reckoned on a par with the Beatles, the Stones, and the Who. Like those bands, the Animals had strong roots in blues and R&B, but, in their original incarnation, they stayed closer to those roots than their peers did. This definitive compilation, masterfully assembled by the ABKCO think tank of Teri Landi and Jody Klein, shows the tough, uncompromising use to which the Animals put their American influences. John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom" is recast as a raw garage rocker glazed with Alan Price's sinister organ riffs, and the aforementioned "House of the Rising Sun" is transformed from a traditional folk lament to an urgent, ominous piece of churning tumult. Of course, the group skillfully expanded those roots (with the help of some great writers), and turned out some classic working-class-rebel anthems ("We Gotta Get Out of This Place," "It's My Life"). By '67, the original lineup disbanded, and Eric Burdon led a new batch of Animals into a psychedelic West Coast sound ("San Franciscan Nights," "Monterey"). The Animals may not be given pride of place in the rock history books, but RETROSPECTIVE shows that they fully deserve it. Audio Remixers: Eddie Kramer; Gary Kellgren; Vic Briggs. Liner Note Author: Jim Bessman. Recording information: Kingsway Recording Studio, London, England (01/22/1964-??/??/1970); Mayfair Recording Studio, New York, NY (01/22/1964-??/??/1970); RCA Studios, Hollywood, CA (01/22/1964-??/??/1970); Sunset-Highland Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA (01/22/1964-??/??/1970); Wally Heider Recording Studio, San Francisco, CA (01/22/1964-??/??/1970). Arrangers: Vic Briggs; Horace Ott; Dave Rowberry. The Animals: Alan Price (keyboards); Chas Chandler (bass instrument); Eric Burdon, John Steel , Hilton Valentine. Personnel: Eric Burdon (vocals); John Weider (guitar, violin); Vic Briggs (guitar, piano, vibraphone); Howard H. Scott, Hilton Valentine (guitar); Charles Miller (flute); Royal Scots Guard Pipe And Drum Marching Band (bagpipe, percussion); Lee Oskar (harmonica); Alan Price (piano, organ); Lonnie Jordan, Dave Rowberry (organ); Barry Jenkins (drums, percussion); Harold Brown, John Steel (drums); Thomas R. Allen, Jr. (percussion). Additional personnel: War.

Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Vols. 1- 2 CD music Track Listing of songs: Touch the Hem of His Garment; Lovable; You Send Me; Only Sixteen; ; Just for You; Win Your Love; Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha; I'll Come Running Back to You; You Were Made for Me; Sad Mood; Cupid; Wonderful World; Chain Gang; Summertime; Little Red Rooster; Bring It on Home to Me; Nothing Can Change This Love; Sugar Dumpling; ; Meet Me at Mary's Place; Twistin' the Night Away; Shake; Tennessee Waltz; Another Saturday Night; Good Times; Having a Party; That's Where It's At; Change Is Gonna Come, A; Jesus Gave Me Water; [Untitled Hidden Track];

Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Vols. 1- 2 songs The '60s Blues Revival begins here. Calling this album influential is an understatement akin to calling the Grand Canyon a rut; suffice to say that an entire generation of musicians (mostly young and white) heard this and had their lives changed forever. In fact, for at least a year after the album's release in 1965, it was impossible to walk down the hall of any college dorm in America without hearing one of the songs here echoing from somebody's room. Heard today, the thing still packs a wallop. Butterfield's harmonica and vocals are utterly idiomatic, without a hint of minstrelsy. Michael Bloomfield's lead guitar is stinging and eloquent, and the rhythm section, on loan from Howling Wolf, swings like mad. The only fly in the ointment is the fairly primitive production, which often makes Mark Naftalin's keyboards sound like a horde of angry bees, but that's a small criticism in the face of blues playing as passionate and accomplished as this. A genuine classic. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band: Michael Bloomfield. Live Recording Includes liner notes by Pete Welding. Personnel: Paul Butterfield (vocals, harmonica); Sam Lay (vocals, drums); Elvin Bishop (guitar); Mike Bloomfield (slide guitar); Jerome Arnold (bass); Mark Naftalin (organ).

Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Vols. 1- 2 album for sale AFTER THE GOLDRUSH mixes up the hard rock of EVERYONE KNOWS THIS IS NOWHERE and the folk and country leanings Young pursued with Crosby, Stills And Nash in one of his most eclectic and satisfying releases. The acoustic picking on the opener, "Tell Me Why," frames Young's vulnerable warble beautifully, signaling the softer aspect of the album. But the electric crunch of "Southern Man," a raging tour de force protest song that captures the special chemistry between Young and backing group Crazy Horse, balances Young's sensitivity with aggression and amplification. The album continues its collage of styles, from the wistfulness of "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" to song fragments like "Til the Morning Comes" to the transformation of Don Gibson's "Oh Lonesome Me" from canter to ballad. But the crowning achievements are the album's magnificent title track, a vividly drawn portrait of post-'60s melancholy, and the gorgeous, aching "Birds," a swan song heralding emotional departure. Both songs are graced by Nils Lofgren's delicate piano, and stand as two of Young's finest compositions. In a catalogue filled with rock classics, AFTER THE GOLDRUSH still ranks among the best. Unknown Contributor Role: John Nowland. Personnel: Neil Young (vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano, vibraphone); Danny Whitten (vocals, guitar); Ralph Molina (vocals, drums); Bill Peterson (flugelhorn); Jack Nitzsche (piano). Photographer: Joel Bernstein.

Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Vols. 1- 2 CD music Track Listing of songs: Baby Loves Him; Mean Mean Man; Fujiyama Mama; Cool Love; Honey Bop; I Gotta Know; Let's Have a Party; Money Honey; Long Tall Sally; Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad; Searchin'; Savin' My Love; Kansas City; Hard Headed Woman; Tunnel of Love; My Baby Left Me; Sticks and Stones; Who Shot Sam?; There's a Party Goin' On; Brown Eyed Handsome Man; You Don't Know Baby; Tongue Tied; Riot in Cell Block #9; Slippin' and Slidin'; Fallin'; Rip It Up; Rock Your Baby; Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On; Honey Don't; Man We Had a Party;

Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Vols. 1- 2 buy CD music Roy Orbison has been in such need of a comprehensive, career-spanning compilation like Legacy's 2006 double-disc The Essential Roy Orbison that it's especially frustrating that it falls short of the mark. Not counting Bear Family's exhaustive 2001 set, which gathered everything Roy recorded between 1955 and 1965, including alternate takes, it is the first multi-disc Orbison compilation since 1988's four-disc box The Legendary Roy Orbison, which was released in the midst of his remarkable comeback that peaked the following year with the posthumous comeback Mystery Girl, which arrived too late to be part of Legendary. So, Orbison's catalog truly was missing a set that spanned from "Ooby Dooby," his first hit for Sun in 1956, all the way to his last charting single, 1992's "I Drove All Night." Essential attempts to do that, touching on every phase of his career -- the early rockabilly for Sun in the '50s, his cinematic hits for Monument in the early '60s, the cult classics for MGM in the late '60s, his '80s comeback -- over the course of 40 tracks. It gets a lot right, particularly on the first disc, which has most of the big hits from "Ooby Dooby" to 1964's "Oh, Pretty Woman," all presented in chronological order. Where things start to go wrong is on the second disc, where the comp suddenly abandons all pretense at chronological order, opening up with four cuts from Mystery Girl (including the hits "You Got It" and "She's a Mystery to Me"), before doubling back to the '60s for five MGM singles -- "Ride Away," "Crawling Back," "Best Friend," "Communication Breakdown," and "Walk On" -- then proceeding to the '80s, first with the Emmylou Harris duet "That Lovin' You Feeling Again" from the Roadie soundtrack, and then with re-recordings of "Running Scared" and "In Dreams," two '60s masterworks that are only available here in these solid but inferior remakes. The jumbled chronology results in a bit of a disconcerting listen, since the production styles don't comfortably sit together, but that would be easier to forgive if "Running Scared" and "In Dreams" were present in their original versions; without them, Essential isn't quite the concise, comprehensive collection it aspires to be. It's a major flaw, but not necessarily a fatal one, since the remainder of the set does offer his biggest hits -- "Only the Lonely (Know How I Feel)," "Candy Man," "Crying," "Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)," "Leah," "Blue Bayou," "It's Over," and "Pretty Paper" among them -- plus a good sampling of his lesser-known work, all in good fidelity. But it comes so close to being truly definitive that the few flaws in selection and sequence stand out all the more. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine