Earl Thomas - Extra Soul

Size: 107.6 MB
Time: 45:54
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1994
Styles: Blues Soul
Art: Full

01. Lose Control (4:00)
02. Do You Remember (2:51)
03. Could We Be The Same (4:56)
04. Water Under Your Bridge (4:10)
05. The First And The Last Thing (4:21)
06. Jeckyll And Hyde (3:14)
07. Ain't No Man (3:41)
08. Can't Live Without You (3:21)
09. I Am The Cool (4:26)
10. Nobody (6:36)
11. Lost Alone (4:14)

Earl Thomas had never picked up a microphone in his life until he was nearly killed after losing his footing at the edge of a 50-foot ravine and slid all the way down, landing unconscious on a pile of broken glass and debris. Luckily, the 22-year-old dental student was only bruised, but not knowing the extent of the damage upon regaining consciousness, he reflected on his disappointment at not having pursued his dream of becoming a singer, and resolved to do just that if he survived. Nine years later, he recorded 1991's Blue...Not Blues, a record strongly influenced by his parents' love of blues and gospel music and his own affinity for '60s and '70s soul. His "I Sing the Blues" became a hit for Etta James, and he played European music festivals with such artists as Elvis Costello and B.B. King. His second album, Extra Soul, was released in 1994 on the Memphis International label, followed by a second for the imprint, Intersection, in 2005. ~Steve Huey

Extra Soul MP3
Extra Soul FLAC

---

VA - Rhythm & Western Vol. 3: Lovesick Blues (KMCD140)

Size: 173.4 MB
Time: 74:00
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2022
Styles: Blues, Rock, R&B
Art: Front & Back

01 Lucky Millender - Chew Tobacco Rag (2:40)
02 Jimmy Ricks - Do You Promise (2:20)
03 Dinah Washington - Cold Cold Heart (3:21)
04 Andre Williams - You Are My Sunshine (2:39)
05 The Chips - As You Can See (2:17)
06 The G-Clefs - The Big Rain (2:26)
07 Clyde McPhatter - Lets Forget About The Past (2:31)
08 Donna Hightower - Dog Gone It (2:59)
09 Lonnie Johnson - Blues Stay Away From Me (2:51)
10 King Curtis - Tumbling Tumbleweeds (2:01)
11 Jimmy Elledge - Funny How Time Slips Away (2:50)
12 The Marvellettes - Love Letters (2:28)
13 Rudy Ray Moore - Ballad Of A Boy And A Girl (2:26)
14 The Platters - Only You (And You Alone) (2:45)
15 The Pilgrim Jubilee Singers - A City (2:26)
16 Big Bill Broonzy - Nancy Jane (3:01)
17 Brook Benton - Its Just A Matter Of Time (2:28)
18 Joe Hinton - Lovesick Blues (2:24)
19 Ted Taylor - Ill Release You (3:22)
20 Albert Ammons - Swanee River Boogie (2:35)
21 Esther Phillips - After Loving You (3:09)
22 Cab Calloway - Gamblers Guitar (2:36)
23 Adam Wade - As If I Didnt Know (3:00)
24 Fats Domino - Dont Come Knockin (1:56)
25 Huey & Jerry - I Think Youre Jiving Me (2:26)
26 Little Junior Parker - My Dolly Bee (2:33)
27 Thin Man Watts - Walking The Floor Over You (2:20)
28 Blind Boy Fuller - Step It Up & Go (2:56)

After two very interesting albums already issued to the public at large, Volume 3 of ‘Rhythm & Western’ arrives with another series of songs from African American artists who turned their attentions to country & western music whether in direct style or represented here with loose associations of themes or song titles. Such associations of country music formulate instantly via first song ‘Chew Tobacco Rag’ with its expressive sound effects bringing humour and style via its rhythm and blues presented by Lucky Millender. Jimmy Ricks follows with ‘Do You Promise’ that is more in line with the “Rhythm and Western” of this album series both musically and from its lyrics. From such a strong start, Volume 3 continues to impress with more great choices from Dinah Washington who provides her own interpretation of classic Hank Williams’ ‘Cold Cold Heart’, to Andre Williams upping the tempo slightly with well-known ‘You Are My Sunshine’. The inclusion of the likes of The G-Clefs’ ‘The Big Rain’ reflects gospel influences of the time, whereas the sophisticated and reflective ‘Funny How Time Slips Away’ really captures the essence of similar plaintive country songs also of the same era. There is much diversity on offer as with the previous two albums and with Fats Domino bringing ‘Don’t Come Knockin’, Little Junior offering ‘My Dolly Bee’, and charismatic turn from Cab Calloway and ‘Gamblers Guitar’ all represent such examples and also highlight the quality on offer. However, most notably, the imagination expressed by this album series is its biggest asset so far.

Rhythm & Western Vol. 3: Lovesick Blues (KMCD140)

---

Sir Rod & The Blues Doctors - Come Together / Keeping It In The Family (Live)

Album: Come Together
Size: 112.1 MB
Time: 48:02
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2020
Styles: Harmonica Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Front

01. Come Together (4:34)
02. Sanctified Blues (3:55)
03. Seventh Avenue (4:52)
04. I Want You (5:19)
05. I Got You (I Feel Good) (2:41)
06. Little Red Rooster (6:22)
07. Heartbreak (It's Hurtin' Me) (3:29)
08. So Mean (4:54)
09. No More Doggin' (3:25)
10. Freedom For My People (4:26)
11. What'd I Say (3:59)

This whole project, in which the Satan & Adam documentary connected me with Sterling Magee's nephew Rod Roderick Patterson, a remarkable creative artist in his own right, has been a joy-filled endeavor from Day 1. Rod, Alan Gross, and I recorded the album in an upstairs bedroom at a house in Water Valley, Miss., over the course of a pair of weekends back in January and February with the help of my favorite engineer and production guru, Bryan Ward. (Bryan also contributed harmony vocals and bass on one track apiece. And Jerry Jemmott, the Groovemaster, made the title track infinitely groovier with his bass-clef magic.)
Little did we know what sort of challenges and changes were about to break across the American landscape this spring and early summer.
Nine of the eleven tracks, including "Heartbreak," were songs that I performed and/or recorded with Mr. Magee. Two of the tracks, "Come Together" and "So Mean," are our originals. (Lyrics by Rod in the first case; lyrics and music in the second.) The album design was by Rod as well.
Satan & Adam fans will want this, in other words. But we hope the rest of you will check it out.

Come Together MP3
Come Together FLAC

---

Album: Keeping It In The Family (Live)
Size: 120.3 MB
Time: 51:17
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2022
Styles: Electric Blues, Harmonica Blues
Art: Front

01. Shake, Rattle And Roll (Live) (3:43)
02. Seventh Avenue (Live) (5:12)
03. Mustang Sally (Live) (5:07)
04. The Perfect Crime (Live) (4:22)
05. Every Day I Have The Blues (Live) (4:00)
06. I Got You (I Feel Good) [Live] (3:35)
07. Brother Sterling Intro (Live) (1:50)
08. Brother Sterling (Live) (5:20)
09. Thunky Fing Rides Again (Live) (3:08)
10. Come Together Intro (Live) (1:35)
11. Come Together (Live) (4:36)
12. Ode To Billie Joe (Live) (4:48)
13. Hot Tamale Baby (Live) (3:54)

Sir Rod & The Blues Doctors are a passion project from the start—a soulful, funky, Deep South trio bound by a family connection to the late Sterling “Mr. Satan” Magee (1936-2020), the greatest one-man blues band who ever lived.

Have you heard of Satan & Adam (2018), the Netflix documentary? It tracks the unlikely, decades-long partnership between Magee, a Mississippi-born busker and street-prophet, and Adam Gussow, a younger white harmonica ace. Joining forces on the streets of Harlem in the 1980s, riding out the racial turmoil of that era, Magee and Gussow ended up becoming a national touring act and Living Blues cover story. The duo dissolved after Magee’s 1998 breakdown, then reunited in a late-life comeback story that had viewers in tears.

Magee’s nephew Rod Patterson, aka “Sir Rod,” was one of those viewers. A singer, dancer, and motivational speaker based in Atlanta, he contacted Gussow with a proposition: Why don’t we team up and keep my uncle’s and your music—the Satan & Adam songbook—alive? Magee, it turned out, had lived with Patterson’s family down in Florida before Gussow hooked up with him in Harlem; the two younger men had both been mentored into the blues by the same elder.

The result of that conversation was an explosion of creativity and brotherhood that can’t be denied—plus a dynamic new touring act, perfect for your club, festival, college, or private party.

Featuring Patterson up front, Gussow on amplified harmonica and drums, and Alan Gross on electric guitar, Sir Rod & The Blues Doctors offer a powerful mix of down-home blues, old-school soul, and uptown funk.

Keeping It In The Family (Live) MP3
Keeping It In The Family (Live) FLAC

---

VA - Rhythm & Western Vol. 2: Your Cheatin' Heart (KMCD139)

Size: 171.9 MB
Time: 73:07
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2022
Styles: Blues, Rock, R&B
Art: Front & Back

01 Clyde McPhatter - Im Movin On (1:54)
02 Joe Liggins & His Honeydrippers - Whiskey, Women & Loaded Dice (2:45)
03 Damita Jo - Jambalaya (On The Bayou) (2:09)
04 Ike & Tina Turners Kings Of Rhythm - Going Home (2:38)
05 Bobby Hebb - Night Train To Memphis (1:50)
06 Lou Rawls - If He Holds Your Hand (3:24)
07 Mabel Scott - Catch Em Young, Treat Em Rough, Tell Em Nothin (2:50)
08 Cecil Gant - Goodnight Irene (2:58)
09 Billy Bland - Uncle Bud (2:01)
10 Little Mack - Let Hootenanny Blues (Out Of Jail) (2:02)
11 Brook Benton - Got You On My Mind (3:14)
12 Ray Charles - It Makes No Difference Now (3:31)
13 Ivory Joe Hunter - I Almost Lost My Mind (3:12)
14 The Lovers - I Wanna Be Loved (1:55)
15 Richard Berry & The Pharaohs - You Are My Sunshine (2:37)
16 Lazy Lester - I Hear You Knockin (2:12)
17 Esther Phillips - Am I That Easy To Forget (2:46)
18 Arthur Alexander - I Wonder Where You Are Tonight (2:38)
19 Eartha Kitt - Long Gone (3:45)
20 King Curtis - Your Cheatin Heart (2:22)
21 Jimmy Beasley - Dont Break This Heart Of Mine (1:59)
22 Willy & Ruth - Farewell (2:43)
23 The Soul Stirrers - Wade In The Water (3:06)
24 Hank Ballard & The Midnighters - Excuse Me (Ive Got A Heartache) (2:07)
25 Little Esther Phillips - Why Should We Try Anymore (2:08)
26 Elton Anderson - Humpty Dumpty Heart (2:20)
27 Ruth Brown - I Burned Your Letter (2:47)
28 The Big Three Trio - Cigarettes, Whiskey & Wild Wild Women (3:01)

Not a straightforward Country & Western album series, but one with a different take on the genre that sees the categories of rhythm and blues and C&W colliding whether directly in terms of musical representation or purely by song title and words of a song. Saddling up for the next volume of ‘Rhythm & Western’, this one is aimed straight at the emotions and classic Hank Williams territory of that condition known as a broken heart. Far from being a miserable experience in terms of listening, ‘Volume 2 – Your Cheatin’ Heart’ is certainly on the “emotional downside” in terms of its (appropriate) song titles e.g. ‘It Makes No Difference Now’ (Ray Charles), ‘Long Gone’ (Eartha Kitt) and ‘I Wanna Be Loved’ (The Lovers) for example, but when it comes to many of the songs the rhythms are lively. Take for example Clyde McPhatter and his fleet-footed version of Hank Snow’s ‘I’m Movin’ On’, or bigger band representation of ‘Whiskey, Women & Loaded Dice’ by Joe Liggins And His “Honeydrippers”. It’s such songs here that are more in vein of rhythm and blues than C&W but, as mentioned in our review of Volume 1, the album series ‘Rhythm & Western’ is not just a vehicle of direct representation of country music by African American artists because the album series is much more than that. The melding of rhythm and blues and C&W works admirably during ‘Night Train To Memphis’ where you can even hear the influence of gospel during its up-tempo rhythm that is unfussy and vocals that mirror this by Bobby Hebb. There’s a relaxed feel to Lou Rawls’ ‘If He Holds Your Hand’ that is typical of that early 60s country sound where there was a certain gloss to the overall production. The title track, ‘Your Cheatin’ Heart’, is left to King Curtis who knows how to turn a song on its head and offer a unique take on the Hank Williams classic that has more in common with Ben E. King’s ‘Stand By Me’. With “Little” Esther Phillips adding the tearjerker ‘Why Should We Try Anymore’ and add to that Ruth Brown ‘I Burned Your Letter’, before finally closing the album with The Big Three Trio and their interesting take on ‘Cigareets, Whuskey & Wild Women’, then you can safely say that all the drama often associated with country music is contained within the grooves of ‘Rhythm & Western Volume 2 – Your Cheatin’ Heart’.

Rhythm & Western Vol. 2: Your Cheatin' Heart (KMCD139)

---

Stratcat Willie & The Strays - On A Hot Tin Roof

Size: 93.4 MB
Time: 39:26
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2022
Styles: Electric Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Front

01. Have A Blues Party (3:50)
02. Hot Tin Roof (2:34)
03. Let's Dance (3:23)
04. Way Too Fast (2:32)
05. Redneck Woman (3:22)
06. In The End (3:41)
07. Guilty (3:57)
08. Cryin' (3:32)
09. My One True Love (2:59)
10. Together (3:25)
11. Mezcal (3:29)
12. Runnin' With The Strays (2:37)

StratCat Willie Hayes is based in the Southern Tier of New York. He has been playing the blues for several decades in a variety of projects.

StratCat Willie Hayes has been playing guitar, singing, and fronting various projects since 1965. Some of his earliest influences included Mike Bloomfield, T-Bone Walker, Johnny Winter, and B.B. King.

Resisting pressure to form a “more marketable” classic rock cover band, he continued to embrace the Blues and, in 1995, he formed “Blues Plate Special”, a four piece blues band playing originals, as well as covering groups ranging from Little Charlie & the Nightcats to the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.

Most recently, he pulled several players together that have been with him for up to fifty years to form “StratCat Willie & the Strays”.

On A Hot Tin Roof MP3
On A Hot Tin Roof FLAC

---

Big Jay McNeely - Direct-To-Disc Sessions [Vinyl] (APO 027)

Size: 45.5 MB
Time: 19:42
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2012
Styles: Blues, Soul
Art: Full

01. Country Boy (3:14)
02. There Is Something On Your Mind (4:05)
03. Party Time (4:59)
04. Jay Opening (2:05)
05. I Can't Stop Loving You (2:32)
06. All The Wine Is Gone (2:47)

All tracks were recorded live, direct-to-disc at Blue Heaven Studios, Salina, Kansas.

"Rock 'n' Roll saxophone pretty much begins with Big Jay McNeely. He's the king of the honkin', squealin', bar walkin', flat-on-his-back Blowin' tenor men — the Number One 'real gone guy' of the '50s." — Black & White Blues

Tenor saxophonist Cecil "Big Jay" McNeely has been "the king of the honkers" for more than 60 years, and he's still blowing his horn like a man craving someone he can't have. Born in Watts, California, in 1927, he formed his own band with jazz legends Sonny Criss (alto saxophone) and Hampton Hawes (piano) while still in high school. But in late 1948, when he was asked to record for Savoy Records, he abandoned jazz for something more raucous and struck pay dirt when his second release, a honked-up instrumental called "Deacon's Hop," went to No. 1 on the national R&B charts in February 1949.

For the next several years, Big Jay, according to The New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, "was famed for his playing-on-this-back acrobatics and his raw, hard-swinging playing."

In 1959 Big Jay enjoyed a huge hit with a blues ballad called "There Is Something On Your Mind," featuring Haywood "Little Sonny" Warner on vocals. The record stayed on the R&B charts for six months and reached as high as 44 on the pop charts. The song was later a hit for Bobby Marchan and has been recorded by B.B. King, Etta James, Freddy Fender, The Hollywood Flames, Gene Vincent, Albert King and Professor Longhair among others.

In 2000 the Experience Music Project in Seattle installed a special Big Jay McNeely exhibit that includes his original Conn saxophone; the Smithsonian magazine put the horn on its June 2000 issue cover, along with Jimi Hendrix's hat, Janis Joplin's feather boa and Eric Clapton's Stratocaster.

Direct-To-Disc Sessions (APO 027) MP3
Direct-To-Disc Sessions (APO 027) FLAC

---

Henry Kaiser & Rome Yamilov - The Lenoir Investigation

Size: 185.6 MB
Time: 79:47
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2022
Styles: Electric Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Front

01. The Whale Has Swallowed Me ( 6:03)
02. People Are Meddlin' ( 9:30)
03. Round And Round ( 7:32)
04. I Feel So Good ( 7:05)
05. How Long ( 4:49)
06. Na Er Jeg / Form! (Play A Little While) ( 6:12)
07. Rollercoaster Mojo Boogie (11:22)
08. God's Word ( 9:22)
09. What About Your Daughter ( 4:36)
10. I'll Die Trying ( 4:03)
11. Alabama March Down In Mississippi ( 9:09)

Rome Yamilov and Henry Kaiser‘s new album, The Lenoir Investigation, may have started as a tribute to Chicago blues great J.B. Lenoir, but the two guitarist’s worldly influences carry the 11 tracks around the globe.

Henry Kaiser’s work in psychedelic guitar playing has few parallels, as the former Psychedelic Guitar Circus ringleader has played on over 300 albums and even used the South Pole—the pole mounted on Earth’s south geographic pole—as a slide to play Antarctic blues. Enter Rome Yamilov, the Russian-born guitarist who came to Little Village by way of harp player Aki Kumar through the San Jose blues scene.
Kaiser found in Yamilov a kindred soul, “amazing in his precociousness and the authenticity of his playing.” They also found in each other a mutual admiration of J.B. Lenoir. Born in Mississippi in 1929, Lenoir knocked around New Orleans before moving to Chicago in 1949 and carved out a niche in the burgeoning blues scene. A lack of touring coupled with a fatal car accident in 1967 as well as lyrics pertaining to the Korean War and civil rights movement kept Lenoir in relative obscurity, but Kaiser and Yamilov found in the late bluesman the perfect starting place for their sonic explorations.
The Lenoir Investigation is not merely a dutiful recreation of Lenoir’s catalog. Instead, Kaiser and Yamilov—along with June Core (drums), Kid Anderson (bass), and Jim Pugh (keys)—take the Chicago blues on an international, and at times interdimensional, voyage. The two guitarists, with Rome as the primary vocalist, tap into their global influences to not only update Lenoir’s music but also culture it in a diverse array of styles.

Take the opening “The Whale Has Swallowed Me”. The song begins as a fairly standard Biblical blues alliteration to Jonah and the Whale. When the song opens up for improvisation, however, it picks up a ska bounce that devolves into echoes and feedback indicative of early Jamaican dub music.

“Let’s hear the dub land on top of the ska live, with our guitar pedals, instead of the typical studio trickery,” Kaiser observed.

More stylistic cross-pollination abounds, as Kaiser and Yamilov imbue “Feel So Good” with what Henry referred to as a “late period Meters” vibe.

“We had to have a funk piece, and there is very little funkier than New Orleans and The Meters,” Rome observed.

The musical translations turn literal on “Play A Little While”, as the group not only transforms the song into a Peruvian psychedelic cumbia but also sings the lyrics in Norwegian. Bassist Kid Anderson takes lead vocals on this one, as it is his native tongue. The Lenoir Investigation also hosts a cover of Bo Diddley‘s “Rollercoaster”, which ultimately sails into a rendition of J.B.’s “Mojo Boogie” by way of a Tuareg influence from the North African Saharan tribe.

Plenty more stylistic voyages abound on The Lenoir Investigation, with Henry Kaiser and Rome Yamilov dropping pins in countries all over the world. By stamping the 11 tracks with the marks of myriad genres and civilizations, Kaiser and Yamilov create a document legible in the universal language of music.

The Lenoir Investigation MP3
The Lenoir Investigation FLAC

---

Martha Veléz - Fiends & Angels

Album: Fiends & Angels
Size: 89,7 MB
Time: 38:40
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1969/2008
Styles: Blues/Rock/Soul mix
Art: Full

1. I'm Gonna Leave You (4:07)
2. Swamp Man (2:55)
3. A Fool For You (4:47)
4. In My Girlish Days (2:43)
5. Very Good Fandango (0:38)
6. Tell Mama (2:15)
7. Feel So Bad (5:13)
8. Drive Me Baby (4:54)
9. It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry (2:59)
10. Come Here Sweet Man (5:08)
11. Let The Good Times Roll (2:55)

Martha Carmen Josephine Hernandéz Rosario de Veléz (born August 25, 1945 in New York City) is an American singer and actress of Puerto Rican descent. Veléz is the former wife of trumpet player Keith Johnson. Her son is performance artist, writer-poet, and singer Taj Johnson. Taj appeared as series regular for two years on Parker Lewis Can't Lose. Her brother is the percussionist Gerardo Velez, who has worked with Spyro Gyra, Patti LaBelle, Jimi Hendrix and Van Morrison. Veléz started singing at the age of five old and won an opera scholarship at 12 years old, as a mezzo soprano. She studied for three years, then went to the High School of Performing Arts in New York City.

She holds a master's degree from Antioch University in Clinical Psychology and a Ph.D. from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Cultural Mythology and Depth Psychology. She is a founding Fellow of the Imaginal Institute of Ojai, California. As a playwright, she wrote the award-winning play Power of the Powerless. Velez continues to use her voice as a singer for good will and social change. She began her recording career with the folk singing group The Gaslight Singers on Mercury Records. She was the female singer with Earl Mann, Al Alcabes and Jeff Hyman.

Veléz released her debut blues-rock album Fiends And Angels on the Sire/Blue Horizon Records label in 1969; backing musicians included Eric Clapton, Stan Webb (Chicken Shack), and Paul Kossoff (Free) on guitar, Christine McVie (Fleetwood Mac) on keyboards, Jack Bruce on bass and Brian Auger on organ. The album was produced by Mike Vernon. /Wikipedia

(For personnel details, see artwork included.)

Fiends & Angels mc
Fiends & Angels zippy

---

Tiny Bradshaw - Stomping Room Only 1949-1955

Album: Stomping Room Only 1949-1955
Size: 94,5 MB
Time: 40:50
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1983
Styles: R&B
Art: LP front & back

1. Walk That Mess (2:38)
2. Bradshaw Boogie (2:24)
3. T-99 (2:53)
4. Breaking Up The House (2:37)
5. Well Oh Well (2:36)
6. The Train Kept A-Rollin' (2:41)
7. Cat Fruit (2:26)
8. Stomping Room Only (2:12)
9. Gravy Train (2:44)
10. Newspaper Boy Blues (2:42)
11. I'm Going To Have Myself A Ball (2:42)
12. Long Time Baby (2:43)
13. Mailman's Sack (2:12)
14. The Blues Came Pouring Down (2:31)
15. Heavy Juice (2:12)
16. Cat Nap (2:32)

Tiny Bradshaw really had a two-part career, in the 1930s in swing and from the mid-'40s on as a best-selling R&B artist. He majored in psychology at Wilberforce University but chose music as his career. Bradshaw sang early on with Horace Henderson's Orchestra (in addition to playing drums), Marion Hardy's Alabamians, the Savoy Bearcats, the Mills Blue Rhythm Band, and Luis Russell. In 1934, he put together his own orchestra and they recorded eight spirited numbers for Decca later that year. A decade of struggle lie ahead and, when Bradshaw's big band recorded again, in 1944, the music was more R&B and jump-oriented.

The majority of Bradshaw's recordings were cut during 1950-1954, although there would be one session apiece made in 1955 and 1958. All of his post-1947 output was made for King including the seminal "Train Kept A-Rollin'" in 1951. For several decades, that song became a staple of numerous garage bands along with notable recorded versions by the Yardbirds in the '60s and Aerosmith in the '70s. In 1954, Bradshaw suffered the first of two strokes, the second would be two years later. He spent the next few years recovering in a Florida hospital. In the meantime, King tried to keep his name from disapearring altogether by releasing a single made up of previous sessions.

By early 1958, Bradshaw slowly returned to touring and leading his band. A final single was released by King, "Bushes" backed with "Short Shorts," which failed to gain any interest. Essentially Tiny Bradshaw's career was over. The record-buying public, led by teenagers, had already discovered Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and Elvis. While trying to make the transistion to the rock & roll market, Bradshaw passed away of a third stroke on November 26, 1958, at his home in Cincinatti. He was 53 years old.

Bradshaw is remembered not only as a fine jump blues shouter, but a bandleader who employed some of the greatest jazz players as sidemen along the way including Shad Collins, Russell Procope, and Happy Caldwell (all in 1934); Sonny Stitt (who recorded with Bradshaw in 1944); Big Nick Nicholas; Red Prysock; Bill Hardman; and Sil Austin. /Biography by Scott Yanow, AllMusic

(For personnel and recording details, see artwork included.)

Stomping Room Only 1949-1955 mc
Stomping Room Only 1949-1955 zippy

---

Big Walter Smith & The Groove Merchants - Brother To The Blues

Album: Brother To The Blues
Size: 137,6 MB
Time: 59:18
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1994
Styles: Blues
Art: Full

1. Brother To The Blues (4:50)
2. Left Foot (3:18)
3. Your Love Was Worth The Blues (6:13)
4. Woke Up This Morning (4:06)
5. I Had A Dream Last Night (6:16)
6. Mustang Sally (4:14)
7. Lights Are On, Nobody's Home (7:01)
8. Travelling Man (3:03)
9. Fed Up With Music (4:44)
10. You Gonna Need Me (2:49)
11. I Want Your Love (4:34)
12. Wall To Wall (4:21)
13. Doogie's Groove (3:43)

The only band to have appeared at every Bayfront Blues Festival, Big Walter Smith has been polishing his big-city urban blues sound for over 40 years. Born in Oklahoma, raised in Kansas City, Walter's blues career was profoundly influenced in the early 1950's by the singing of Bobby Bland and B.B. King. After moving to the Twin Cities in 1970 Walter quickly established himself as a musical force to be reckoned with. Forming the Groove Merchants in 1985 he has been a mainstay of the Twin Cities music scene. Walter delivers his soul flavored vocals with a deep felt passion and love for the blues and has one of the most appealing voices found on any stage in Minnesota.

The Groove Merchants feature brassy, big band R&B with some swing and a little funk. The band is led by the exceptional lead guitar playing of Scotty Graves, with Paul Wigen on keyboards, Josh Taulbee on bass, Tom McShane on drums and the horn section of Ruston Reynolds (saxophone), Ted Thomas (trombone), and Tom Tange (trumpet). The band is fronted by the smooth, sweetly soaring vocals of Big Walter Smith.

Brother To The Blues mc
Brother To The Blues zippy

---

Randy McAllister - Grease, Grit, Dirt And Spit

Album: Grease, Grit, Dirt And Spit
Size: 123,0 MB
Time: 53:01
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1998
Styles: Blues, harmonica blues
Art: Front, back

1. Eat, Drink & Sleep (3:14)
2. When I Start Ta Trippin' (4:07)
3. Makeshift Molly (5:04)
4. You Ain't Barbie And I Ain't Ken (4:22)
5. One Paycheck Away (4:07)
6. Your Hands On My Neck (4:45)
7. Suzie Goldigger (3:51)
8. Porkchop (2:08)
9. Bullets For Breakfast (3:00)
10. When Does The Good Stuff Happen (4:40)
11. Duct Tape And Bailin' Wire (3:12)
12. Hook 'Em And Gig 'Em (3:48)
13. You Calm Me Down (2:49)
14. Do The Math Fool (3:47)

Here's a disc of rock-tinged urban blues, Texas style. In his second album for JSP, songwriter/harmonica player McAllister plays exciting harp in the electrified Little Walter style. His songs are filled with the smell of cigarette smoke and beer, and many of them, even the slow ones, have the hard-driving edge of a band determined to blow off the cares of the working day. They play mainly in the postwar style, with a couple of tunes reflecting the soul influences of the '60s and jump blues of the '40s. McAllister has a voice which can only be described as unique; it has a certain bottom to it that makes it sound like it belongs to a 300-pound man.

The leadoff tune, "Eat, Drink and Sleep," has the band doing a humorous line-by-line commentary on his vocals. Lines like "You must have been eating bullets for breakfast, 'cause you've been shooting off you mouth" underscore his humor, while "Duct Tape and Bailing Wire" is a salute to two of his favorite items from the hardware store, which help him hold things together. In "When Does the Good Stuff Happen," he bemoans doing right and having nothing much to show for it. All of this is fleshed out by Mike Morgan and Robin Slyer's guitar work and a tight band playing with rock sensibilities. /Sigmund Finman, AllMusic

(For personnel details, see artwork included.)

Grease, Grit, Dirt And Spit mc
Grease, Grit, Dirt And Spit zippy

---

Rosay - Confessions Of A Detroit Blues Singer

Size: 99,4 MB
Time: 43:24
File: MP3 @ 320K/s vinyl
Released: 1983
Styles: Blues
Art: Front, back

1. Early Sunday Morning (5:19)
2. Lover Man (5:58)
3. Moses (5:31)
4. Maybe (2:30)
5. I Want To Be Your Fool (2:59)
6. I Need Some Money (6:54)
7. I Want Your Man (2:01)
8. Run, Run ,But You Can't Hide (4:23)
9. Fine Woman, Fine Man (7:46)

Bass – Claude Goussai (tracks: A1 - A5) Drums – "Diamond" Guitar, Harmonica, Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar – Louisiana Red Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar – Guitar Crusher Piano – Champion Jack Dupree (tracks: A1 - A5) Vocals, Backing Vocals, Piano – Rosay*

Confessions Of A Detroit Blues Singer

---

Nyles Jones - My South My Blues

Size: 49,5 MB
Time: 35:59
File: MP3 @ 192K/s vinyl
Released: 1970
Styles: Blues
Art: Front, back

1. Ain't Gonna Let No Woman (2:46)
2. Sweet Little Angel (4:04)
3. Expressin' The Blues (5:31)
4. De Prit And Betty (3:01)
5. The Welfare Blues (3:10)
6. Log Cabin Woman (3:50)
7. Your Poddle Dog (2:22)
8. Down On The Farm (5:36)
9. Southland (5:34)

b. Robert L. Jones, 12 October 1924, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, d. 2 April 1996. At the age of five Jones, aka Guitar Gabriel, moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with his bluesman father and began playing guitar when eight years old, meeting many of the area’s leading blues artists, including Rev. Gary Davis and Blind Boy Fuller, both of whom had a great influence on his own music. He left home at the age of 16 and travelled throughout the country, meeting Lightnin’ Hopkins, who also left his mark on Jones’ music. In 1970 he recorded in Pittsburgh for Gemini, and the resulting album and single were acclaimed for their raw blues passion. However, Jones became disillusioned at the lack of financial reward and returned to Winston-Salem in the mid-70s, assuming the name Guitar Gabriel. He was rediscovered and recorded again in 1991, under the supervision of Tim Duffy.

My South My Blues

---

Andrew Brown - On The Case

Size: 106,2 MB
Time: 44:16
File: MP3 @ 320K/s vinyl
Released: 1985
Styles: Blues
Art: Front, back

1. Losing Hand (4:55)
2. This Time You Gonna Pay (3:15)
3. Can't Let You Go (3:30)
4. Lead Me On (3:50)
5. I'm So Tired (2:45)
6. It Took A Long Time (5:48)
7. Blues Do Something To Me (3:09)
8. Right Now (4:48)
9. Spring (3:12)
10. I Can Hear My Baby Talking (5:05)
11. On The Case (3:55)

Tragically under-recorded until late in his career, Chicago blues guitarist Andrew Brown still had time enough to wax a handful of great singles during the mid-'60s and two '80s albums (unfortunately, both of them were only available as imports) that beautifully showcased his fluid, concise lead guitar and hearty vocals. Living Chicago Blues, Vol. 2 The Mississippi native moved to Chicago in 1946. With Earl Hooker teaching him a few key licks, Brown matured quickly; he was playing in south suburban clubs -- his main circuit -- by the early '50s. His 45s for USA (1962's "You Better Stop") and 4 Brothers (the mid-'60s sides "You Ought to Be Ashamed" and "Can't Let You Go") were well-done urban blues. But it wasn't until 1980, when Alligator issued three of his songs on its second batch of Living Chicago Blues anthologies, that Brown's name began to resonate outside the Windy City. Producer Dick Shurman was responsible for Brown's only two albums: the Handy Award-winning Big Brown's Chicago Blues for Black Magic in 1982 and On the Case for Double Trouble three years later. But Brown was already suffering from lung cancer when the second LP emerged. He died a short time later.

On The Case

---

John Mayall - London Blues 1964-1969 (2 CD)

Album: London Blues 1964-1969
Size: 137,3 + 173,8 MB
Time: 58:41 + 74:39
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1992
Styles: Blues
Art: Full

CD 1:
1. Crawling Up A Hill (2:16)
2. My Baby Is Sweeter (3:01)
3. Crocodile Walk (2:15)
4. Blues City Shakedown (2:21)
5. I'm Your Witchdoctor (2:11)
6. Telephone Blues (3:59)
7. Bernard Jenkins (3:49)
8. All Your Love (3:34)
9. Double Crossing Time (3:02)
10. Key To Love (2:08)
11. Parchman Farm (2:21)
12. Looking Back (2:36)
13. So Many Roads (4:45)
14. Sitting In The Rain (2:58)
15. A Hard Road (3:09)
16. Dust My Blues (2:47)
17. The Supernatural (2:55)
18. Another Kind Of Love (3:04)
19. Leaping Christine (2:24)
20. Burn Out Your Blind Eyes (2:56)

CD 2:
1. All My Life (4:25)
2. Ridin' On The L & N (2:28)
3. Eagle Eye (2:53)
4. It Hurts Me Too (2:55)
5. Double Trouble (3:21)
6. Sonny Boy Blow (3:48)
7. Broken Wings (4:13)
8. Oh, Pretty Woman (3:32)
9. The Death Of J.B. Lenoir (4:16)
10. Man Of Stone (2:25)
11. Checkin' On My Baby (3:56)
12. Suspicions (Part One) (2:48)
13. Jenny (4:36)
14. Picture On The Wall (3:04)
15. No Reply (3:05)
16. She's Too Young (2:22)
17. Sandy (3:46)
18. Walking On Sunset (2:56)
19. The Bear (4:43)
20. Fly Tomorrow (8:59)

This two-hour-plus compilation of the first five years of the history of John Mayall and his band the Bluesbreakers in their many permutations covers all the expected bases and then some. Eric Clapton, Peter Green, and Mick Taylor are all represented, but so are Bernie Watson and Roger Dean, both of whom preceded Clapton in the guitarist's spot in the band. What's more, they're not bad; they may not have been the assertive soloist that Clapton came to embody, but Dean plays a pretty hot solo on "Crocodile Walk," which was good enough to make the A-side of a single in 1965. Moreover, there was more to any of the Mayall bands than their guitarists, and Mayall's blues harmonica is showcased throughout, on tracks such as "Crawling Up a Hill" and "Blues City Shakedown."

The familiar Immediate and Decca/London sides featuring Clapton are here, though the lion's share of space on this set is devoted to the Peter Green version of the lineup, spread over two discs. Other highlights include a handful of tracks from 1967 featuring Paul Butterfield, and a handful of cuts featuring Green working in a lineup that includes saxmen John Almond and Nick Newell as well as trumpeter Henry Lowther. The Mick Taylor lineup, which also includes Dick Heckstall-Smith as one of the reedmen, takes up the bulk of the second disc and shows no diminution of the group's authoritative approach to the blues.

Indeed, the Clapton sides represented on this collection, being the most familiar and widely circulated, may well prove to be the least interesting; distilling down the best work of everyone else, including Mayall, on the other hand, is a welcome service and makes this package particularly useful, and short of a Mayall box - an unlikely prospect - this is as good an overview as you're likely to see of his early work. /Bruce Eder, AllMusic

(For personnel and recording details, see artwork included.)

London Blues 1964-1969 (2 CD) mc
London Blues 1964-1969 (2 CD) zippy

---

Eric Clapton - Nothing But The Blues

Album: Nothing But The Blues
Size: 176,1 MB
Time: 76:12
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2022
Styles: Blues
Art: Front

1. Blues All Day Long (4:19)
2. Standin' Round Crying (4:51)
3. Forty-Four (4:17)
4. It Hurts Me Too (3:18)
5. Early In The Morning (5:05)
6. Five Long Years (5:22)
7. Crossroads (6:18)
8. Malted Milk Blues (2:46)
9. Motherless Child (2:57)
10. How Long Blues (3:24)
11. Reconsider Baby (3:39)
12. Sinner's Prayer (3:49)
13. Everyday I Have The Blues (4:50)
14. Someday After A While (3:43)
15. Have You Ever Loved A Woma (6:51)
16. I'm Tore Down (3:25)
17. Groaning The Blues (7:10)

Eric Clapton’s lifelong passion for the blues burns brightly in Nothing But The Blues. The CD of the soundtrack features 17 previously unreleased live performances recorded at the Fillmore in San Francisco in November 1994 during the legendary guitarist’s tour supporting From The Cradle, his Grammy-winning, multi-platinum blues album. Clapton’s longtime co-producer, Simon Climie, has remixed the audio from those performances from the original multi-tracking recordings.

The previously unreleased live performances on Nothing But the Blues serve as a vital counterpart to From The Cradle, which was recorded in the studio. While several songs appear on both (“Motherless Child,” “Standing ’Round Crying,” and “I’m Tore Down”), the performances are entirely different. The release also includes songs that did not appear on From the Cradle, including Jimmy Rogers’ “Blues All Day Long” and Robert Johnson’s “Malted Milk,” as well as the standards “Every Day I Have The Blues” and “Forty-Four.”

Nothing But The Blues mc
Nothing But The Blues zippy

---

Supersonic Blues Machine - Voodoo Nation

Album: Voodoo Nation
Size: 142,1 MB
Time: 61:19
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2022
Styles: Blues-rock, rock
Art: Front

1. Money (3:42)
2. Too Late (3:27)
3. Coming Thru (5:33)
4. You And Me (5:50)
5. Get It Done (3:54)
6. 8 Ball Lucy (5:32)
7. Devil At The Doorstep (7:58)
8. Is It All (5:14)
9. Do It Again (3:15)
10. I Will Let Go (5:22)
11. Voodoo Nation (6:58)
12. All Our Love (4:29)

Supersonic Blues Machine release their new studio album Voodoo Nation. The album once again brings together icons and some of the most exciting names in blues: Charlie Starr (Blackberry Smoke), Eric Gales, Joe Louis Walker, Ana Popovic, Kirk Fletcher, King Solomon Hicks, Josh Smith & Sonny Landreth. The core of the band is producer/bassist Fabrizio Grossi (Steve Vai, Alice Cooper, George Clinton, Slash) and drummer Kenny Aronoff (John Mellencamp, Meat Loaf, Brandon Flowers, John Fogerty, Red Hot Chili Peppers) with British rocker Kris Barras as vocalist and guitarist. Barras scored a Top 30 album chart hit in the U.K. himself in March and is leading the U.K. hard rock revival with several A-list singles, BBC radio appearances and sold-out shows.

Voodoo Nation is the band's third studio album. On their evolution, Fabrizio says, "Kris comes from that British school of hard rock and blues. It's a different sound than Kenny and I had with the Allman Brothers, Sly Stone & The Family & Mountain. On Californisoul (2017) we went more towards West Coast Funkadelic 60s and general jam vibe. Blues, but with more hippie flower power." "With Kris, we wanted to leave his mark, so you hear Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Gary Moore. Kind of a Union Jack imprint over a Star-Spangled Banner."

Voodoo Nation mc
Voodoo Nation zippy

---

Roscoe Chenier - Direct-To-Disc Sessions [Vinyl] (APO 007)

Source: Vinyl (clean)
Size: 61.0 MB
Time: 26:24
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2009
Styles: Louisiana Blues
Art: Full

01. Come On Home (2:35)
02. Please Be On That 519 (3:45)
03. Walking With Frankie (3:55)
04. Find Me A New Love (3:56)
05. Back In Louisiana (3:21)
06. Baby, Please Come Back (3:40)
07. If You Ain't Been To Houston (5:12)

Personnel:
Vocals, Guitar – Roscoe Chenier
Guitar – Paul "Lil' Buck" Sinegal
Piano – Gordon Wiltz
Bass – Alonzo Johnson
Drums – Nate Jolivette

All tracks were recorded live in 2007, direct-to-disc at Blue Heaven Studios, Salina, Kansas.

This direct-to-disc release, recorded in the church sanctuary of Blue Heaven Studios, is so fresh and pure... Talk about up to audiophile standards! The immediacy, the dynamics - slam and delicacy alike - are just so startlingly real. There's nothing lost. It's positively lifelike.

Cutting engineer Kevin Gray, using Blue Heaven's Neumann VMS 70 lathe with an Ortofon cutter head and amplifiers, and recording engineer Katsu Naito have made available for your playback the closest thing possible to a live, in-person performance. With direct-to-disc recording, the signal from the microphone is transmitted directly to the cutter head, which then cuts the grooves into a raw lacquer. There's no middleman. No tape. No tape hiss. No distortion or other artifacts inherent in any other type of recording.

A chipped cutting stylus - the last one on-hand - forced the release of one side of this D2D as a tape recording, albeit a very, very good one!

And the music? It's killer! The session was recorded the weekend of the 8th annual Blues Masters in October 2005.

Born in Prairie Basse, Louisiana, in November 1941, Roscoe Chenier began his musical career at age 15, singing with Rockin' CD and the Blues Runners. Two years later, he started his own band after adding guitar playing to his vocals. Since, he's been a fixture on the southern Louisiana scene. He's also revered in Europe, as are many American bluesmen, though his national touring has been limited.

Chenier, himself a member of the Louisiana Hall of Fame, is the second cousin of the late King of Zydeco, Clifton Chenier. Though Roscoe favors blues, he does include some zydeco flavor in his music. As one reviewer put it, "it sounded like B.B. King and Clifton Chenier performing together."

Direct-To-Disc Sessions [Vinyl] (APO 007) MP3
Direct-To-Disc Sessions [Vinyl] (APO 007) FLAC

---

Elizabeth King - I Got A Love

Size: 84.3 MB
Time: 35:43
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2022
Styles: Blues Gospel
Art: Front

01. What You Gonna Do (3:13)
02. Stand By Me (3:00)
03. Everybody Needs Somebody (4:24)
04. I Got A Love (5:19)
05. I Need The Lord (3:04)
06. Move Up A Little Higher (3:03)
07. My Robe (4:14)
08. I Know I've Been Changed (3:21)
09. Give Me Wings (2:40)
10. My Time Ain't Long (3:21)

Drawing on the songs and sound of '70s sacred soul and gospel label D-Vine Spirituals Records, for which she recorded, Elizabeth King is releasing a new album, I Got a Love, out June 24 on Bible & Tire Recording Co. (an imprint of Fat Possum). The album was produced by Bible & Tire founder Bruce Watson and backed by his Sacred Soul Sound Section, led by guitarist Will Sexton.

Back in the early 1970s, the Memphis gospel singer was a driving force at the independent Southern record label, releasing the moving "I Heard The Voice." The song intended to be the launch of a long recording career, but it wasn't until 2021 that King — at the age of 77 — would finally release her debut album, Living In The Last Days.

King's second album, I Got A Love, is on the way and is marvelously steeped in Gospel and soul. It's an album informed by her love of God and the rich blessings of her family life — 15 children, 58 grandchildren and 36 great-grandchildren — that has motivated King to continue to spread the Good News.

"I Got A Love," the title song, showcases an even more powerful and rawer side of King. Written and produced by Jimbo Matthus, known for his work with Squirrel Nut Zippers, Buddy Guy and Andrew Bird, the song pulses with deep bluesy and powerful Southern soul, peppered with a striking horn arrangement, and King's bold belting out her love for "somebody that comes from heaven above."

About the song, King told World Cafe: "I really enjoyed working with Jimbo! I loved his spirit and his enthusiasm for the music. We sat down and he just scribbled out the structure and the words on a paper towel. The next thing I knew, I was up and singing! The video is great because it really expresses the words and feeling of the song. That's what the song is about — to show love in all conditions and give people the opportunity to show love and not hate."

I Got A Love MP3
I Got A Love FLAC

---

Kat Riggins - Progeny

Size: 119.4 MB
Time: 50:49
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2022
Styles: Blues, Soul, Rock
Art: Full

01. Walk On (3:38)
02. Sinkin' Low (3:03)
03. Expresso (3:34)
04. Got To Be God (4:04)
05. Warriors (2:57)
06. In My Blood (3:23)
07. Walk With Me Lord (1:30)
08. Promised Land (6:02)
09. My City (4:33)
10. Cross The Line (3:55)
11. Woahman (4:08)
12. Mama (5:35)
13. 40 25:40 (4:20)

“When it came to this record, the key words were ‘ACKNOWLEDGE’ and ‘HONOR,’” contemporary blues/soul singer Kat Riggins proclaims about her new CD, Progeny, releasing June 24th on Gulf Coast Records. “I have always tried to share music in a very transparent and vulnerable way and I’ve learned that I do this most successfully when I connect that little girl that I used to be to the woman that I’m becoming. I mean, when I remember things like how my Mama spoke her heart or how my Daddy’s voice made me feel when he sang Sam Cooke, it empowers me to be wide open and still feel safe. That sentiment is what I needed to acknowledge and honor with this project!”

To bring Kat Riggins’ musical vision to life on the new album, Gulf Coast Records founder/guitarist Mike Zito assembled a sparkling list of talented musicians to back Kat’s powerful, sassy vocals, including Zito, himself, on guitars, Matthew Johnson on drums, Doug Byrkit on bass guitar, and Lewis Stephens on keyboards, augmented with special guests Melody Angel on guitar (“Woahman”), Albert Castiglia on guitar (“My City”) and Busta Free on rap break (“My City”).

Dr. Maya Angelou said, “You can’t really know where you are going until you know where you have been.” With this album, Kat Riggins chose to honor that belief by paying tribute to her upbringing. In 12 original songs and a single a cappella gospel interlude, Kat kept with that theme and allowed her Spirit and spirit guides to have complete control when writing these songs. Progeny is compiled of songs about love, pain, passion and anger. It’s Kat’s personal testimony of strength, peace, joy, God and so much more!

These songs run the gamut between sweet soul-blues ballads to high-energy blues- rockers, with Kat’s M.O. the same throughout. Whether it’s a blues-funk party scene that moves your booty or a heart- breaking soul stirrer that moves your spirit, Kat wrote these songs to move the listener from a place of truth!

Kat says the fact that by definition, “Progeny” means, “a descendent or descendants of” made it the perfect one word synopsis of the album. Songs like, “In My Blood” and “Warriors” are prime examples of this homage. In “Warriors,” the statement is that no matter what we might face in this life, we won’t face it alone. There are songs about hindsight, about greed and about faith. There’s something for the sweet, sultry, ballad lover who craves a soft, slow groove. Then, there are the high energy movin’ and groovin’ numbers like, “My City” and “Espresso,” a hip-shakin’ song about how the singer’s Love keeps her heart skipping beats.

Mrs. Riggins explains, “Overall, Progeny is an acknowledgment of my human existence so far, and with it I hope to honor ancestors like my mother and elders like my father. Now that I’m in my 40s it seems that those two words come up a lot in my conversations with myself. Each time they do, I see a little more growth.”

Progeny MP3
Progeny FLAC

---

Ina Forsman - All There Is

Size: 96.4 MB
Time: 41:34
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2022
Styles: Blues, Soul, Rock
Art: Front

01. Love Me (3:45)
02. Don't Lose Today (2:59)
03. All There Is (4:43)
04. We Could Be Gold Diggers (3:56)
05. Poor Heart (5:09)
06. One Night In Berlin (3:39)
07. Promises (4:32)
08. Dive (4:27)
09. April Song (3:41)
10. Raw Honey (4:38)

A voice is always a voice. No other instrument in the world of music can be assigned to its owner as unequivocally as human singing, because the voice is the acoustic union of soul and face. If an extraordinary voice is then also combined with the gift of being able to slip into different guises and, on top of that, has extraordinary stories up its sleeve, then the end result might be an album as multifaceted, profound and vulnerable as Ina Forsman's "All There Is". "All There Is" is the third album by the Berlin-based Finn. On her previous albums "Ina Forsman" (2016) and "Been Meaning To Tell You" (2019), she initially established herself as the powerful voice of her role models. On "All There Is" she ignites a new level of her expressively introspective self-realization by completely arriving at herself. The isolation associated with the lock-down may have encouraged this development, but the young singer had powers that wanted to be unleashed anyway. "Who am I, what am I doing here," she seems to ask us in every song. The emphasis is on I. She no longer relies on formulas that have worked for the last 50 years, but trusts in her very own vocabulary for the nocturnal atmospheres of her big city songs - sometimes in the shrill neon light, sometimes in the twilight of the nightshade.

All There Is MP3
All There Is FLAC

---

Janiva Magness - Hard To Kill

Size: 116.2 MB
Time: 49:14
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2022
Styles: Blues, Soul, Rock
Art: Full

01. Strong As Steel (4:09)
02. The Last Time (4:34)
03. Don't You Forget About Me (3:27)
04. Fireman (3:27)
05. Lover Girl (4:20)
06. Comes Around (4:48)
07. You And Me (3:22)
08. I'm Still Here (4:26)
09. Right Here (3:29)
10. Closer (4:01)
11. Standing On The Moon (Where's My Spaceship?) (3:48)
12. Oh Pearl (5:18)

Janiva Magness' sixteenth studio album, Hard to Kill is a boldly honest and affecting collection of songs that sit on the bedrock of blues, soul and funk.

Singer-songwriter-author Janiva Magness the Los Angeles-based musician’s first new collection in three years.

The seven-time Blues Music Awards recipient (and the 2009 B.B. King Entertainer of the Year, the Blues Foundation’s highest honor) and 2016 Grammy Award nominee will simultaneously release the Fathead audio book edition of Weeds Like Us, her frank, profoundly moving 2019 memoir. Los Angeles composer and musician Matt Cartsonis produced.

Hard To Kill MP3
Hard To Kill FLAC

---

Kevin Brown - Rust

Size: 91.9 MB
Time: 39:04
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1987/1990
Styles: Electric Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Front

01. Don't Quit (4:04)
02. If I Had My Way (2:52)
03. Hey Joe Louis (3:55)
04. You Don't Have To Tell Me (3:51)
05. Write A Bible Of Your Own (5:30)
06. Country Boy (2:00)
07. Southern Streets (3:41)
08. Telephone Tears (3:10)
09. Meltdown (2:56)
10. We'll Be Up With You (4:05)
11. Sunny Side Up (2:56)

Kevin Brown was first transported to the blues universe after watching Muddy Waters on the television in 1964. Regardless of his Lancashire roots, Kevin was going to be a bluesman.

Five years of studious guitar practice later, during a chance meeting whilst busking in Portobello Road London, Kevin met Son House, the man who inspired Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson.

Son House liked Kevin’s passion and took him under his wing. He taught him the emotional power of simple words, and how to make a slide guitar howl at the moon. He gave a kid from Lancashire his blues credentials and sent him out to spread the message.

This led him from the crossroads down a long road of searching, pain and enlightenment. He absorbed the musical emotion and technique of Leadbelly, Skip James and Robert Johnson. He moved to Austin, honed his writing skills at the feet of Butch Hancock, Townes Van Zandt and Blaze Foley and then served his apprenticeship in the roadhouses and bars of Texas.

Fourteen albums and 1000s of gigs later, Kevin Brown is one the most respected blues guitarists, singers and songwriters on both sides of the Atlantic.

He has attracted plaudits from the great Albert King, Martin Simpson, Joe Boyd and received thanks for his tribute to JJ Cale from his widow Christine Lakeland. He’s played on Mark Knopfler’s recordings and Andy Fairweather Low has played on Kevin’s. Both are Kevin Brown fans.

If you doubt a kid from Preston could really play the Delta Blues, just ask the punters in the juke joints of Clarksdale, Mississippi, who have taken him to their hearts and flock to see him when he visits for a few months every year.

Rust MP3
Rust FLAC

---

Nick Evans Mowery - Owners And Pickers

Size: 58.1 MB
Time: 24:46
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2022
Styles: Blues Rock
Art: Front

01. Tired Ole Man Blues (3:15)
02. My Whole World (3:50)
03. Owners And Pickers (3:11)
04. Sing Your Song (2:13)
05. Fried Bologna Sammich (2:33)
06. C'mon Now (3:55)
07. Walk A Thin Line (3:10)
08. Reindeer Fly (2:36)

Nick Evans Mowery is a singer/songwriter and producer that has released 11 CDs since 2004. NEM music has received placements in TV and Film.

Owners And Pickers MP3
Owners And Pickers FLAC

---

VA - Rhythm & Western Vol. 1: When Two Worlds Collide (KMCD138)

Size: 160.3 MB
Time: 68:11
File: MP3 @ VBR ~314K/s
Released: 2022
Styles: Blues, Rock, R&B
Art: Front & Back

01 The Hurricanes - Pistol Packin Mama (2:27)
02 Long John Hunter - Ole Rattler (2:26)
03 Titus Turner - A Knockin At My Babys Door (2:29)
04 Bumble Bee Slim - Ida Red (2:14)
05 The Stewart Brothers - Sleep On The Porch (2:18)
06 Brook Benton - The Boll Weevil Song (2:37)
07 Andre Williams - Rosa Lee (Stay Off That Bell) (2:29)
08 The Bobettes - Billy (2:00)
09 Koko Taylor - Honky Tonky (2:05)
10 Bob Gaddy - Could I (2:33)
11 Chuck Willis - Thunder And Lightning (2:37)
12 Ivory Joe Hunter - I Just Want To Love You (2:22)
13 The Ray-O-Vacs - Take Me Back To My Boots And Saddle (2:57)
14 King Curtis - Home On The Range (2:15)
15 Damita Jo - When Two Worlds Collide (2:30)
16 Guitar Jr - Pick Me Up On Your Way Down (2:28)
17 Chuck Berry - Maybelline (2:20)
18 Smokey Hogg & His Guitar - Crawdad (2:21)
19 Wade Flemons - Woops Now (2:21)
20 Fats Domino - Your Cheatin Heart (2:09)
21 The Coasters - Sorry But Im Gonna Have To Pass (2:10)
22 Mercy Dee - Oh Oh Please (2:04)
23 Nappy Brown - Oh You Dont Know (2:08)
24 Scatman Crothers - Ghost Riders In The Sky (2:41)
25 Esther Phillips - Release Me (3:18)
26 Solomon Burke - Keep The Magic Working (2:06)
27 The Crowns - Kiss & Make Up (2:15)
28 Charlie McCoy & Bo Chatman - Corrine Corrina (3:17)

Drumming up a new idea on the Koko Mojo label is The Mojo Man with a planned-five-series set of CDs featuring African American musicians performing country and western music. The songs selected are either classic C&W songs or songs that were issued as rhythm and blues at this time in history since they were not performed by a white artist. The album series ‘Rhythm & Western Volume 1 – When Two Worlds Collide’ will hopefully restore some form of balance by offering a platform for those African American artists who produced C&W music during the 50s and early 60s by showcasing their songs that were otherwise given less exposure and deemed unsuitable for said genre of music. With twenty-eight tracks to get the musical message across and offer an insight to the sounds of African Americans performing C&W, then the collision of rhythm and blues with country music is an apt title to begin this series. First up is The Hurricanes with ‘Pistol Packin’ Mama’ and is not only a fine introduction but also representative of typical Koko Mojo fare by being a straight up rhythm and blues track, which may leave some wondering about the song’s inclusion, but there’s more to this compilation with songs touching upon C&W influences and themes and sometimes that’s in the style of rhythm and blues. Providing the first “Yee-haw!” moment is next in the queue Long John Hunter with ‘Ole Rattler’. It’s the first stab at C&W here and is wonderfully endearing in its “rattling” instrumentation assembled and just about holding together via some sticky tape and charismatic vocals from Long John Hunter. Interestingly as well, you can hear the rhythm and blues faintly in the background, yet this is certainly more C&W. Brook Benton saunters across the prairie in fine fashion with the spoken word novelty ‘The Boll Weevil Song’, and such a performance extends to another notable performance by Scatman Crothers ‘Ghost Riders In The Sky’ offering his version of this much covered C&W track. Once the album reaches its conclusion, the overall impression is that the lines between rhythm and blues and C&W are certainly blurred yet rhythm and blues often edges things where it’s more about the “mood” of a song that is fitting of a country style rather than the actual genre it’s performed in; hence the inclusion of classic country material fodder ‘Maybelline’ (Chuck Berry); ‘Your Cheatin’ Heart’ (Fats Domino), and ‘Sleep On The Porch’ (The Stewart Brothers).

Rhythm & Western Vol. 1: When Two Worlds Collide (KMCD138) MP3

---

Eric Lindell & The Reds - Bring It Back

Size: 105.8 MB
Time: 45:01
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1996
Styles: Electric Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Full

01. Neverland (3:43)
02. Who's To Judge (3:52)
03. Do Whatcha Do (3:08)
04. Let Me In (3:52)
05. Jump & Shout (3:23)
06. Bluff Me Baby (3:54)
07. Devil Woman (3:39)
08. The Blues (5:02)
09. Bring It Back (4:01)
10. Lady (3:43)
11. Downer (3:20)
12. G*Surf (3:18)

Personnel:
Eric Lindell - Vocals, Harmonica, Guitar
Peter Smith - Guitar
Jake Brown - Drums
Steve Froberg - Bass

New Orleans-based singer/songwriter and guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Eric Lindell melds West Coast rock, swampy Gulf Coast R&B, hard country, and Memphis soul in a hybrid American roots music that, while thoroughly respectful of traditions, blazes a trail of its own.

Born in San Mateo, California, Lindell spent much of his youth in nearby Santa Rosa and Forestville. Although he worked as a baker by day, Lindell turned his focus to music in the evenings, honing his chops as a competent vocalist and guitarist by playing in bars around Sonoma County. He produced his debut album, Bring It Back, in 1996, and in 1999 he won the John Lennon Songwriting Competition with his original piece "Kelly Ann." That same year, Lindell relocated to New Orleans to pursue music as a career. The move was beneficial; Lindell soon hooked up with Galactic's Stanton Moore and began playing shows around town, frequently enlisting drummers Johnny Vidocovich and Harold Brown (from War) to sit in. He issued a self-released, self-titled record in 2002, but the following year saw him move to Sparco Records, where he released both Piety Street Session and EP Volume 1. Tragic Magic followed in 2005 and sparked serious interest from Alligator Records, which signed him. They released his Change in the Weather in 2006 and Low on Cash, Rich in Love in 2008. Lindell continued his prolific output with 2009's Gulf Coast Highway, another album of blue-eyed soul and confident guitar work before leaving the label for a few years. Lindell privately issued a couple of albums to sell at gigs -- 2010's Cazadero and 2011's Between Motion and Rest -- the two were combined in a two-disc release entitled West County Drifter on M.C. Records in 2011. That year also saw the release of Live in New Orleans, the first record from his New Orleans-based supergroup Dragon Smoke, which also featured Ivan Neville. The next year brought I Still Love You, another studio set from the guitarist. Dragon Smoke put out another live set, Live at Wanee 2015, but Lindell's next big project was Matters of the Heart. Released in the spring of 2016, Matters of the Heart was co-produced in part by Luther Dickinson and featured guitar from Anson Funderburgh. Lindell returned to Alligator for 2018's Revolution in Your Heart, with percussionist Willie McMains as his only accompaniment. ~Marisa Brown

Bring It Back MP3
Bring It Back FLAC

---

Grayson Capps & The Lost Cause Minstrels - Direct-To-Disc Sessions Vol. 1, Vol. 2 & Vol. 3 [Vinyl]

Album: Direct-To-Disc Vol. 1(APO 017)
Source: Vinyl (clean)
Size: 56.3 MB
Time: 24:20
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2011
Styles: Electric Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Full

01. Jane's Alley Blues (4:05)
02. John The Dagger (3:36)
03. The Battle Is Over (4:38)
04. Give It To Me (3:01)
05. Chief Seattle (4:12)
06. Coconut Moonshine (4:48)

Direct-To-Disc Vol. 1 [Vinyl] (APO 017) MP3
Direct-To-Disc Vol. 1 [Vinyl] (APO 017) FLAC

---

Album: Direct-To-Disc Vol. 2 (APO 018)
Source: Vinyl (clean)
Size: 52.4 MB
Time: 22:41
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2010
Styles: Acoustic Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Full

01. Get Back Up (5:10)
02. A Love Song For Bobby Long (5:11)
03. Lorraine's Song (3:45)
04. I See You (4:38)
05. Graveyard (3:57)

Direct-To-Disc Vol. 2 [Vinyl] (APO 018) MP3
Direct-To-Disc Vol. 2 [Vinyl] (APO 018) FLAC

---

Album: Direct-To-Disc Vol. 3 (APO 019)
Source: Vinyl (clean)
Size: 53.7 MB
Time: 23:14
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2010
Styles: Electric Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Full

01. Big Ol' Woman (2:41)
02. Uncle Ed Lee (4:18)
03. Poison (4:21)
04. Wail & Ride (3:43)
05. Washboard Lisa (4:22)
06. Back To The Country (3:49)

All tracks were recorded live, direct-to-disc at Blue Heaven Studios, Salina, Kansas.

“…Grayson Capps is alive and well and slowly building one of the most phenomenal songbooks in America today. If ever there were a cat primed to pick up where Lowell George and John Prine have left off, it’s Capps.” — Jambase

Having drawn comparisons to the likes of Tom Waits, Townes Van Zandt and Drive By Truckers, to name but a few, Grayson Capps proves an artist equally singular in vision as those to whom he’s compared. He doesn’t always paint the prettiest pictures or offer a gleamy white smile, but he does reach down deep to remind us of our own humanity. Capps descends from the celebrated American Southern literary tradition and his songs deal with the South and the idiosyncrasies of its people, landscapes and tempos.

His backing band, The Lost Cause Minstrels, comprises some of the finest players on today’s Gulf Coast music scene, including Corky Hughes on guitar, Chris Spies on keys, Christian Grizzard on bass and John Milham on drums.

Direct-To-Disc Vol. 3 [Vinyl] (APO 019) MP3
Direct-To-Disc Vol. 3 [Vinyl] (APO 019) FLAC

---

Wax & Boogie - 7 Years

Size: 120.3 MB
Time: 52:15
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2018
Styles: Boogie Woogie, Jump Blues, R&B
Art: Front

01. Let Me Decide For Me (3:40)
02. Baby Don't Take My Whiskey Away From Me (5:01)
03. Real Lovin Mama (3:03)
04. I''m Still In Love With You (6:02)
05. Honey Rum (4:31)
06. Seven Years (4:50)
07. Pray For Me Baby (5:10)
08. Escargot Boogie (5:36)
09. Baby You Don't Have Feelings (3:42)
10. Come On Home To Me (4:11)
11. Rocky Mountain (2:39)
12. Missed Train Boogie (3:45)

Over the years, Wax & Boogie have been gaining recognition and have become one of the best bands of the blues, rhythm and blues and boogie-woogie scene.

Ster Wax and David Giorcelli have been able to capture the true spirit of African-American traditional music in an exceptional way and turned it into their own means of expression. They master the language of black music in a rich and varied way. Ster and David surf easily and confidently on the different waves of the genre.

Besides what has been mentioned, Kansas City, Texas blues and 50s R&B are present in all the work of the couple, with the constant influence of Pete Johnson, Albert Ammons, Otis Spann, Esther Phillips, Big Maybelle, Big Joe Turner, Johnny Otis, Amos Milburn and Wynona Carr, among many other great names of the forties and fifties.

7 Years (Feat. Drew Davies) MP3
7 Years (Feat. Drew Davies) FLAC

---

Bex Marshall - Kitchen Table

Size: 86.6 MB
Time: 36:28
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2008
Styles: Electric Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Full

01. Kitchen Table (3:53)
02. Red Light (2:32)
03. Hot Headed Man (3:24)
04. Black Guitar (3:53)
05. Stand Up (4:40)
06. Here Is My Heart (4:29)
07. Little Bird (3:36)
08. Bad Bad Girl (3:29)
09. Too Much Rock & Roll (3:14)
10. Head In The Clouds (3:13)

UK British Blues Award winner and 4 time European Blues Awards nominee Bex Marshall’s unique style of guitar playing is a combined technique of slide, blues rock, ragtime and roots pickin’.

Her voice is a powerful melting pot of old black woman’s heartache and rock diva soul. Bex is a writer of distinction and notability, she pushes the boundaries of blues, her songs have been called timeless, touches of genius, and now she tours internationally solo or with a three piece band which augments her unique style of of virtuoso playing, Bex is literally a musical tornado.

Born In Plymouth Devon she was the product of two very different family’s, one blue blooded landed gentry (her great grandfather was the Squire of Cornwall) and her mothers side Irish Romany (her great Grandmother was the original fairground fortune teller Madam Olga)

As a child at family gatherings her uncles would always play and stand her on the table to sing, at 11 years old she was given a 1963 Gibson Hummingbird by her Uncle David and started playing, she got hooked on instrumentals and classical guitar standards which stretched her fingers and gave her a great basis for her own music to develop, flamenco, ragtime, country chicken pickin’, rock and on to blues and roots where she is now in her element.

She always had a passion for travelling, its in her blood and trained as a croupier at 18 began her travels around the world working gaming tables on cruise liners to Park Lane even dealing illegal poker games in Amsterdam. She hitch hiked the coast of Australia on cattle trains and always with a guitar on her back living and storing tales.

Bex was asked to be the guest JANIS by ‘Big Brother and the Holding Company’s original guitarist Sam Andrews on their their 2014 European Tour.

Kitchen Table MP3
Kitchen Table FLAC

---