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Hans Theessink - Lifeline (1998)

Posted By: Designol
Hans Theessink - Lifeline (1998)

Hans Theessink - Lifeline (1998)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 400 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 137 Mb | Scans ~ 180 Mb | 01:00:08
Blues, Roots, Folk Blues, Country Blues | Label: Blue Groove | # BG-9020

From the opening bars of Soul on Fire you could be forgiven for thinking you were listening to a new Ry Cooder album at last but you would be wrong by a windmill or two. Influenced by the likes of Leadbelly and Big Bill Broonzy, Dutch guitarist Hans Theessink (pronounced "tay-sink") successfully moves across musical borders with ease on his 15th album. Lifeline is just the right mixture of deftly played acoustic blues, gospel and soul channelled into a union that highlights the diversity and durability of roots music at it's best with guests like Charles Brown and The Holmes Brothers. There are 11 excellent original tracks to soak up, as well as covers of Rev Gary Davis, Blind Willie Johnson, and the Neville Brothers. A rare treat!

Alvin Youngblood Hart - Down in the Alley (2002)

Posted By: Designol
Alvin Youngblood Hart - Down in the Alley (2002)

Alvin Youngblood Hart - Down in the Alley (2002)
XLD | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 202 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 99 Mb | Scans ~ 94 Mb
Label: Memphis International | # DOT 0203 | Time: 00:43:05
Acoustic Blues, Delta Blues, Country Blues

Time traveler Alvin Youngblood Hart's albums have darted from crusty Delta fingerpicking and hollering to Hendrixian hellfire to crunchy, primal rockin' blues, all with the ring of authority that comes from complete commitment to the music. This time, he's set the wayback machine to the early '30s, using guitars, mandolin, banjo, and a lot of heart to interpret tunes by Son House, Charley Patton, Skip James, Leadbelly, and others. Somehow, the dust of old Mississippi, the state where the Oakland-born musician now resides, seems to have gotten into his blood. Hart sounds like Parchman Farm's newest inmate as he wails and moans through "How Long Before I Can Change My Clothes," plucking notes from a National resonator guitar. Chiming out chords and quick runs on banjo, he makes Odetta's "Chilly Winds" seem like they're carrying the voices of lost ghosts, recounting their lives of misery under Jim Crow's wing. Hart tends to take many of these classics, like Patton's "Tom Rushen Blues" and Leadbelly's "Alberta," at slightly slower tempos, which gives him more time to squeeze gut emotions from his lightly graveled phrases and lets his pluck-and-drone playing work its hypnotic effect. Stark and impressive for the power Hart generates alone, this may be the acoustic blues album of the year.

John Jackson - Front Porch Blues (1999)

Posted By: Designol
John Jackson - Front Porch Blues (1999)

John Jackson - Front Porch Blues (1999)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 249 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 103 Mb
Label: Alligator | # ALCD 4867 | Time: 00:45:03 | Scans ~ 78 Mb
Acoustic Blues, Piedmont Blues, Country-Blues

Just as the title says: a wonderful brace of simple country blues done in Jackson's warm Piedmont style. At age 75, his fingers are still nimble as he displays on a jazzy "Just Because" and his vocals still resonate nicely. Audiophile note: This album is nicely recorded and sounds like Jackson is performing about two inches from your face. A warm and engaging batch of performances not to be missed.

VA - The Rough Guide To Mississippi Blues (2024)

Posted By: delpotro
VA - The Rough Guide To Mississippi Blues (2024)

VA - The Rough Guide To Mississippi Blues (2024)
WEB FLAC (tracks) - 248 Mb | MP3 CBR 320 kbps - 176 Mb | 01:16:01
Delta Blues, Country-Blues | Label: World Music Network

The state of Mississippi is the undisputed home of the blues - the single most important source of modern popular music. From the towering influence of Delta legends Charley Patton and Son House to the guitar intricacy of Skip James and Mississippi John Hurt, this collection highlights the remarkable blues legacy of the Magnolia State through these seminal early recordings.

Guy Davis - Sweetheart Like You (2009)

Posted By: Designol
Guy Davis - Sweetheart Like You (2009)

Guy Davis - Sweetheart Like You (2009)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 380 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 176 Mb | Included | 01:02:31
Modern Acoustic Blues, Folk Blues, Country Blues | Label: Red House | # RHR CD 211

Guy Davis continues to explore the almost forgotten territory of acoustic African-American folk music, field hollers, shouts, rags, and gospel songs in a style that predates the blues and has much in common with the white Appalachian music that existed until the record companies separated it into race and hillbilly music. "Slow Motion Daddy" is a salacious ragtime original with a syncopated rhythm that recalls Rev. Gary Davis and Willie McTell. Davis plays banjo and harmonica and hams it up giving the performance a sly humor. "Follow Me Down" is a 12-string guitar showcase that pays homage to Leadbelly's "Mr. Tom Hughes' Town" a tale of racism and high life in the big city. Nerak Patterson adds electric guitar to a cover of "Hoochie Coochie Man" in an arrangement that crosses the Delta with South Side Chi town. Davis delivers the tune with a growling sexuality and leaves Patterson room for a tasty solo. "Can't Be Satisfied" is another Muddy Waters' tune, this time played claw hammer style on the banjo, with Davis adding harmonica and delivering another playful vocal.

VA - The Original American Folk Blues Festival '1962 (1963) CD Reissue 1991

Posted By: Designol
VA - The Original American Folk Blues Festival '1962 (1963) CD Reissue 1991

VA - The Original American Folk Blues Festival '1962 (1963) CD Reissue 1991
EAC | FLAC | Tracks (Cue&Log) ~ 255 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 112 Mb
Label: Polydor | # 825 502-2 | Time: 00:49:12 | Scans ~ 66 Mb
Blues, Folk-Blues, Country-Blues, Delta Blues

Recorded live in a studio in Hamburg, Germany, in October 1962. Includes artists involved with that year's American Folk Blues Festival tour. With generally relaxed and reflective performances. The artists include Memphis Slim, T-Bone Walker, Shakey Jake, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee and John Lee Hooker.

Ry Cooder - Three First Albums 1970-1972 (3CD) Reprise Reissue 1996

Posted By: Designol
Ry Cooder - Three First Albums 1970-1972 (3CD) Reprise Reissue 1996

Ry Cooder - Three First Albums 1970-1972 (3CD) Reprise Reissue 1996
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 556 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 238 Mb | Scans ~ 194 Mb
Genre: Country-Blues, Country-Rock, Blues-Rock, Roots Rock | Time: 01:47:23

Collection includes: 'Ry Cooder' (1970) # 7599-27510-2, 'Into the Purple Valley' (1971) # 7599-27200-2, 'Boomer's Story' (1972) # 7599-26398-2.

Various Artists - Pure... Blues (2010) 4 CD Box Set

Posted By: Designol
Various Artists - Pure... Blues (2010) 4 CD Box Set

Various Artists - Pure… Blues (2010) 4 CD Box Set
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 1 Gb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 511 Mb | Scans ~ 28 Mb
Label: Sony Music | # 88697776272 | Time: 03:45:15
Blues, Country-Blues, Electric Blues, Rhythm & Blues, Jazz-Blues

This four-disc, 68-track collection paints a broad definition of the blues, with cuts ranging from vintage country blues (Robert Johnson's “Cross Road Blues,” Son House's “Death Letter Blues”) to uptown jazz blues (Nina Simone's “Blues for My Mama,” Billie Holiday's “Billie’s Blues”), Chicago blues (a live version of “Howling Wolf” by Muddy Waters), British blues (Jeff Beck's “JB’s Blues”), and contemporary acoustic blues (“Am I Wrong” by Keb' Mo'), with plenty of stops in between, making for a random but varied playlist that circles the different approaches and musical definitions of the genre.

Ray Bonneville - Gust Of Wind (1999)

Posted By: Designol
Ray Bonneville - Gust Of Wind (1999)

Ray Bonneville - Gust Of Wind (1999)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 253 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 99 Mb | Scans ~ 106 Mb
Label: Stony Plain Records | # SPCD 1256 | Time: 00:43:31
Singer/Songwriter, Blues, Country-Blues, Americana, Folk-Rock

Ray Bonneville combines electric blues motifs, a light sense of humor, and a pop approach to song-making. On pieces like the opening "Don't Look Back," with electric piano from Richard Bell, this combination comes across as a sort of Memphis Randy Newman. Colin Linden here produces this unique, memorable Canadian songwriter on his third album. Linden provides slide, baritone, and other guitar work on the album. Like Linden, Bonneville is adept at incorporating blues styles into accessible pop gems. Recorded in Canada and Nashville, this album features mandolin maestro Tim O'Brien on "Canary Yellow Car" and the Band's Rick Bell playing keyboards on five selections. Like the album, Bonneville is a constantly moving dual citizen of Canada and the United States. This broad base of experience reflects in an album featuring North American themes of pop, rock, and blues.

Guy Davis - Chocolate To The Bone (2003)

Posted By: Designol
Guy Davis - Chocolate To The Bone (2003)

Guy Davis - Chocolate To The Bone (2003)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 272 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 115 Mb | Scans ~ 113 Mb
Label: Red House Records | # RHR CD 164 | Time: 00:49:44
Blues, Modern Acoustic Blues, Country Blues, Folk-Blues

With each new release, the clothes of an old bluesman fit Guy Davis more and more comfortably. By now the blues are completely a part of who he is, so when he reworks an old Sleepy John Estes song into the opener, "Limetown," it feels completely natural; even with the familiar "Rollin' And Tumblin'" riff. He mixes it up well between covers and originals, taking in quite a range – there's John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon, and Blind Lemon Jefferson all sitting amicably together in his style; as well as some pieces like "Step It Up And Go" that are just plain old. His own material is less familiar, of course, but just as good, with the careful (if not wholly accurate) patina of age about it. Perhaps the best thing about Davis is that he never tries to be something he's not; there's no fake Southern accent. What you hear is what you get. And while he's hardly the guitar genius that Charley Patton and Robert Johnson were, he's more than adequate, and his excellent band backs him up solidly and subtly, never stepping out too far. There's plenty of talent in Davis, but there's also an obvious and deep love for the blues, especially the rural country blues, and he brings to his music a real timelessness. The man just keeps getting better and better.

Guy Davis - Give In Kind (2002)

Posted By: Designol
Guy Davis - Give In Kind (2002)

Guy Davis - Give In Kind (2002)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 348 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 135 Mb | Scans ~ 86 Mb
Label: Red House Records | # RHR CD 161 | Time: 00:58:39
Modern Acoustic Blues, Country-Blues, Folk-Blues

Guy Davis has developed into a consummate bluesman. He's listened hard to classic Delta blues and based his style on it, without ever becoming a carbon copy of the greats. Instead they're his jumping-off point into something as individual as "Layla, Layla," where didgeridoo makes an appearance, or the poignant "Joppatowne." Equally adept on guitar, banjo, and harmonica, he's become a force of nature, with the ability to write a song like "I Don't Know" that sounds as if it had come directly from the '30s, alongside covers of Fred McDowell, Big Bill Broonzy, and Sleepy John Estes. The originals and older work mesh perfectly, the sign of a real bluesman. And, of course, he's capable of working the other side of the coin to blues, in gospel, as the closer, "God's Unchanging Hand," clearly shows. This is the tradition reborn and revitalized. Davis' support is wonderfully sympathetic, but he's completely at the center of things, the motivator and mover of this music, and a purveyor of the real blues. His lineage is obvious, and he's the new generation, doing it right and keeping it real.

Bonnie Raitt - The Lost Broadcast Philadelphia 1972 (2010) [Unofficial Release]

Posted By: Designol
Bonnie Raitt - The Lost Broadcast Philadelphia 1972 (2010) [Unofficial Release]

Bonnie Raitt - The Lost Broadcast Philadelphia 1972 (2010)
EAC | FLAC | Tracks (Cue&Log) ~ 323 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 134 Mb | Scans included | 00:57:19
Blues, Slide Guitar Blues, Country-Blues, Country Rock | Label: Leftfield Media | # LFMCD502

This has been around as a bootleg for some time, a great radio broadcast from February 1972 featuring mainly Bonnie with Freebo on bass but also T. J. Tindle on lead guitar and John Davis playing harp on a couple of tracks. The sound quality isn't perfect but it's pretty good and it captures Bonnie doing material from her first two albums as well as some songs that have never been officially released - Steve Winwood's 'Can't Find My Way Home', John Hurt's 'Richland Woman Blues' and her own song 'Blender Blues'. Although Bonnie sounds young (she was only 22) she also sounds very confident and relaxed, her voice is perfectly controlled and her guitar playing is particularly good on blues like Robert Johnson's 'Walking blues' and 'Richland Woman Blues'.

VA - Lightning In a Bottle: Original Soundtrack Recording (2004) 2CDs

Posted By: Designol
VA - Lightning In a Bottle: Original Soundtrack Recording (2004) 2CDs

VA - Lightning In a Bottle: A One Night History Of The Blues (2004) 2CD
EAC | FLAC | Tracks (Cue&Log) ~ 707 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 256 Mb | Scans ~ 75 Mb
Label: Columbia/Legacy | # C2K 92860 | Time: 01:51:54
Blues, Country-Blues, Electric Blues, Blues-Rock, Soul-Blues, R&B

This soundtrack to the movie features an astonishing array of blues artists from three generations. Recorded during one long night at NYC's Radio City Music Hall on Feb. 7, 2003, the electricity is in the air and on stage. While it may not have been the finest blues show in history, the collection of founding fathers such as David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Buddy Guy, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Larry Johnson, Hubert Sumlin, Solomon Burke, and the ubiquitous B.B. King along with their spiritual offspring (Gregg Allman, John Fogerty, and Steven Tyler) and some usual suspects like Bonnie Raitt, Robert Cray, and Keb' Mo', makes it arguably the most significant blues session ever captured on film. Beginning acoustic, the double disc builds momentum and volume as we hear the blues mutate to electric and finally hip-hop with Chuck D. exploding on a rap version of John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom".

Blind Willie McTell - Last Session (Recorded in 1956) (1961) Remastered 1992

Posted By: Designol
Blind Willie McTell - Last Session (Recorded in 1956) (1961) Remastered 1992

Blind Willie McTell - Last Session (Recorded in 1956) (1961) Remastered 1992
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 142 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 83 Mb | Scans ~ 58 Mb
Label: Original Blues Classics, Prestige Bluesville | # OBCCD-517-2 | Time: 00:36:24
Acoustic Blues, Pre-War Blues, Country-Blues, Piedmont Blues

This recording has a less-than-stellar reputation, principally because it was done so late in McTell's career, and it is true that he lacks some of the edge, especially in his singing, that he showed on his other postwar recordings. On the other hand, his 12-string playing is about as nimble as ever and a real treat. McTell cut these sides for record store owner Ed Rhodes, who had begun taping local bluesmen at his shop in Atlanta in the hope of releasing some of it – McTell took to the idea of recording only slowly, then turned up one night and played for the microphone and anyone who happened to be listening, finishing a pint of bourbon in the process – the result was a pricelessly intimate document, some of the words slurred here and there, but brilliantly expressive and stunningly played.

Ry Cooder - The Slide Area (1982)

Posted By: Designol
Ry Cooder - The Slide Area (1982)

Ry Cooder - The Slide Area (1982)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 232 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 90 Mb | Scans ~ 108 Mb
Label: Warner Bros. | # 7599-23651-2 | Time: 00:39:19
Country-Blues, Blues-Rock, Country-Rock, Roots Rock

This CD opens with an outrageous and exceedingly funky "UFO Has Landed in the Ghetto," and which seems so out of place with the other material. Yes, it is a rhythm & blues, bordering at times on funk album, and rap is one direction R&B took, but…. Listen to the groove on "Which Came First," and try to keep your body from bobbing to the strong rhythm laid down by Jim Keltner, Tim Drummond, and the background vocalists. While we are on the subject of vocals, this is one of Ry Cooder's best efforts, and his backup vocalists are key here and deserve special recognition: Bobby King, John Hiatt, Willie Greene, and Herman Johnson for most of the CD. The two gems on this are the phenomenal treatments of both "Blue Suede Shoes" and Bob Dylan's "I Need a Woman." Two songs as different in the original forms as pigs and gerbils are converted to R&B hit status. Both contain some memorable slide guitar work, but isn't that what we expect from this master of the guitar family. The album is very good but those two songs make it a gem.