VA - Blues Roots

Size: 227,6 MB
Time: 96:58
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2020
Styles: Blues Rock
Art: Front

01 Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats - You Worry Me (3:34)
02 Southern Avenue - What Did I Do (3:52)
03 Michael Kiwanuka - One More Night (3:53)
04 Taj Mahal & Keb' Mo' - Diving Duck Blues (4:28)
05 Danielle Nicole - Cry No More (4:22)
06 Jonny Lang - Bring Me Back Home (5:46)
07 Tedeschi Trucks Band - In Every Heart (6:20)
08 Vintage Trouble - Run Like The River (3:39)
09 The Struts - Kiss This (2:56)
10 The Record Company - Hard Day Coming Down (3:57)
11 The New Respects - Trouble (3:24)
12 Willy Moon - Railroad Track (2:25)
13 Barns Courtney - Hellfire (2:48)
14 Jamestown Revival - California (Cast Iron Soul) (4:13)
15 Deap Vally - Baby I Call Hell (3:00)
16 X Ambassadors - The Devil You Know (4:02)
17 Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown - Devil's Keep (4:25)
18 Bishop Briggs - The Way I Do (4:03)
19 Thunderpussy - Speed Queen (4:08)
20 Devon Gilfillian - Troublemaker (3:32)
21 Jamestown Revival - Poor Man's Gold (3:35)
22 Marcus King - The Well (2:57)
23 Goodbye June - Oh No (3:41)
24 Ben Harper - Call It What It Is (3:47)
25 Zac Brown Band & Chris Cornell - Heavy Is The Head (3:59)

Blues Roots

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Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite - No Mercy In This Land

Size: 106,8 MB
Time: 45:42
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2018
Styles: Electric Blues, Harmonica Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Front

01. When I Go (3:45)
02. Bad Habits (3:45)
03. Love And Trust (3:06)
04. The Bottle Wins Again (Blues) (3:38)
05. Found The One (2:47)
06. When Love Is Not Enough (4:08)
07. Trust You To Dig My Grave (3:32)
08. No Mercy In This Land (3:45)
09. Movin' On (3:02)
10. Nothing At All (3:37)
11. The Bottle Wins Again (Live At Machine Shop) (3:20)
12. Trust You To Dig My Grave (Live At Machine Shop) (3:36)
13. No Mercy In This Land (Live At Machine Shop) (3:36)

After Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite won the Best Blues Album Grammy for 2013's wonderful Get Up!, fans knew it was only a question of time before they worked together again. In the interim, the only outing from Harper was another duo offering, the gorgeous folk-inflected Childhood Home with his mother Ellen Harper. Musselwhite, a serious road dog, issued the raw, scorching Juke Joint Chapel on Henrietta the year before and was also nominated for a Grammy. Get Up! was followed by the wild and wooly live set I Ain't Lyin' in 2015. He assembled a new band and gigged all over the world, also finding time to participate in a documentary about Clarksdale, Mississippi.

No Mercy in This Land follows on the heels of its predecessor by using mostly the same formula: Harper wrote or co-wrote the entire album and sings lead with Musselwhite lending his growling Delta-cum-Chicago harmonica in support. Opener "When I Go" commences with wordless gospel-blues moaning before the wrangling electric guitar and harp meet in the foreground. It's raw, swampy, and lonesome. Further, when Harper gets to the final line of the refrain: "....I'll take you with me when I go...." it's borderline sinister. "Bad Habit" borrows heavily from Preston Foster's "I Got My Mojo Workin' à la Muddy Waters' version (as do a lot of blues songs) with a smoking Little Walter-esque harp solo by Musselwhite. The great bluesman duets with Harper on the title track, as the guitarist plays an acoustic slide under his deep blue harmonica, with tom-tom and kick drums keeping time. Another standout is the raucous single "The Bottle Wins Again," with the lead guitar vamp and harmonica playing in unison as Harper wails the lyric. The brief, shuffling, cut-time groover "Found the One" walks the loopy line where vintage R&B and Chicago blues meet roots rock. Musselwhite's distorted solo is resonant and unruly. While "When Love Is Not Enough," with its lilting piano, upright bassline, and brushed snares under acoustic and electric guitars is a nod at Southern soul, it's mostly a vehicle for Harper's sweet, ragged singing. It's answered by the Piedmont-style acoustic blues "Trust You to Dig My Grave," with Harper on acoustic 12-string guitar. The pair push the pedal to the metal with "Movin' On," a snarling, rowdy, swaggering, barroom blues before closing with the anti-climactic, all-too-languid ballad "Nothing at All" which, frankly, feels out of place here. Musselwhite's deep blues solo is the only thing that links it to the rest of the album's contents. Ultimately, No Mercy in This Land is solid if not (quite) as strong as Get Up! That said, it is more diverse, immediate, and instinctive, making it a worthy listen, and provides further evidence that this pair should work together more often. ~by Thom Jurek

No Mercy In This Land

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Ben Harper With Charlie Musselwhite - Get Up!

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:11
Size: 92.0 MB
Styles: Blues
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[3:10] 1. Don't Look Twice
[4:34] 2. I'm In, I'm Out, I'm Gone
[3:32] 3. We Can't End This Way
[3:14] 4. I Don't Believe A Word You Say
[4:10] 5. You Found Another Lover (I Lost Another Friend)
[4:38] 6. I Ride At Dawn
[2:50] 7. Blood Side Out
[6:13] 8. Get Up!
[2:53] 9. She Got Kick
[4:51] 10. All That Matters Now

This musical hookup between these two experienced roots artists who have more in common than it seems at first glance, is a natural evolution for both. Ben Harper seemed like an old soul, even when he began his career, dipping into classic R&B, gospel, and blues but spinning them through his dark, folk-funk persona. His work with the Blind Boys of Alabama showed him to be welcomed by veteran artists who clearly felt he was a kindred spirit. Harpist/guitarist Charlie Musselwhite's extensive résumé typically moved him past the often limiting structure of the Chicago blues where he first made his presence felt, to Tex-Mex, Cuban, Americana, swamp rock, country, and even jazz. The two connected on a 1997 John Lee Hooker session and have worked together intermittently since, both live and in the studio. This outing, tellingly released on the Concord/Stax imprint, strips the sound down, occasionally to just acoustic guitar and harp as on the opening of "Don't Think Twice," and the closing deep Delta blues "All That Matters Now," reworked into "It Hurts Me Too." But the duo also plug in for tough, rugged blues and blues-rock as on the heart thumping "I'm in I'm Out and I'm Gone," a twist on David Bowie's "The Jene Genie" riff that itself was nabbed from the Chicago blues catalog. Even with Musselwhite's substantial involvement, this is Harper's show as he produces, sings every song, and seems to be leading the music's direction with the harmonica player urging him on and adding to the already deep groove. They dip into harder rocking territory for the charging "I Don't Believe a Word You Say" with Musselwhite pulling out his Little Walter influences with electrified blowing. The skeletal, ghostly, repeated riff of the deadly gunslinger "I Ride at Dawn" is a stark reminder of how less is more as Harper's slide enhances the dangerous elements reflected in the song's ominous lyrics. The six-minute title track -- the disc's longest cut -- is classic Harper, marrying a funky bassline with the declaration expressed in the song's title as Musselwhite takes a few licks from Paul Butterfield to edge the track into a laid-back red zone where the singer typically thrives. But the twosome have some fun, too, in particular on the spirited, easygoing, sexed-up blues "She Got Kick," one of the few instances where harmonica is not an integral component of the mix. Ultimately, Get Up! earns its titular exclamation point as a successful combination of two talented veterans feeding off each other's dusky, creative spirit. ~Hal Horowitz

Get Up! mc
Get Up! zippy

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Ben Harper And The Innocent Criminals - Call It What It Is

Released: 2016
Size: 94.2 MB
Time: 40:59
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Styles: Rock, Soul, R&B
Art: Front

1. When Sex Was Dirty [3:50]
2. Deeper And Deeper [4:02]
3. Call It What It Is [3:47]
4. How Dark Is Gone [3:39]
5. Shine [3:55]
6. All That Has Grown [3:26]
7. Pink Balloon [2:22]
8. Finding Our Way [4:15]
9. Bones [3:22]
10. Dance Like Fire [3:10]
11. Goodbye To You [5:06]

Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals will follow up their triumphant 2015 reunion tour with Call It What It Is, their first new studio album in over eight years, set for release on April 8th, 2016, . The band also announced the initial leg of their forthcoming Call It What It Is World Tour, which kicks off April 2nd, 2016 in Port Chester, New York, and will take the beloved rock, soul and R&B band around the world throughout much of next year.

Tracing their roots back to 1993, the Innocent Criminals (percussionist Leon Mobley, bassist Juan Nelson, drummer Oliver Charles, keyboardist Jason Yates and guitarist Michael Ward) were involved in most of Harper’s projects before going on hiatus in 2008. The band toured the globe nonstop, earning legions of fans thanks to explosive live performances and a succession of acclaimed studio albums including Fight For Your Mind, The Will to Live, Burn to Shine, Diamonds on the Inside and the GRAMMY® nominated Lifeline, their last studio album together in 2007. The Innocent Criminals also backed Ben and The Blind Boys of Alabama on the two-time GRAMMY® winning collaborative album There Will Be A Light in 2004.

Call It What It Is

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Gov't Mule - Shout!

Album: Shout! CD 1
Size: 172,3 MB
Time: 74:52
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2013
Styles: Blues Rock, Southern Rock
Art: Front & Back

01. World Boss ( 5:24)
02. No Reward ( 4:54)
03. Whisper In Your Soul ( 5:11)
04. Captured ( 9:04)
05. Scared To Live ( 6:16)
06. Stoop So Low ( 8:23)
07. Forsaken Savior ( 6:18)
08. Done Got Wise ( 6:11)
09. When The World Gets Small ( 7:45)
10. Funny Little Tragedy ( 4:15)
11. Bring On The Music (11:05)

Album: Shout! CD 2 - Bonus CD Guests
Size: 151,0 MB
Time: 65:35
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2013
Styles: Blues Rock, Southern Rock
Art: Front & Back

01. World Boss (With Ben Harper) ( 4:31)
02. Funny Little Tragedy (With Elvis Costello) ( 4:11)
03. Stoop So Low (With Dr. John) (10:00)
04. Captured (With Jim James) ( 5:45)
05. Whisper In Your Soul (With Grace Potter) ( 5:10)
06. Scared To Live (With Toots Hibbert) ( 5:53)
07. No Reward (With Glenn Hughes) ( 5:14)
08. Bring On The Music (With Ty Taylor) ( 6:42)
09. Forsaken Savior (With Dave Matthews) ( 5:18)
10. Done Got Wise (With Myles Kennedy) ( 6:11)
11. When The World Gets Small (With Steve Winwood) ( 6:35)

GRAMMY winner Warren Haynes of Southern rock quartet Gov't Mule recently visited The Recording Academy's headquarters in Santa Monica, Calif., to participate in an exclusive GRAMMY.com interview. Haynes discussed his views on the music industry today, the positive role his family played in his musical upbringing, and Gov't Mule's forthcoming double album, Shout!, and the cast of special guest vocalists featured on the project's second disc, including Elvis Costello, Ben Harper, Dave Matthews, and Grace Potter, among other topics.

"As impressive as the list [of special guests] is … it was more important that we choose the right singer for each song," said Haynes. "Most of them, it was just one choice. [I said,] 'I know who I would like to hear sing this song.'"

Gov't Mule emerged on the music scene with their 1995 eponymous debut album, a collection showcasing the group's fresh psychedelic blues-rock sound. The group has released 15 albums, including studio and live releases. Their most recent studio release, 2009's By A Thread, peaked at No. 34 on the Billboard 200. Gov't Mule earned a GRAMMY nomination in 2002 for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "Sco-Mule" featured on The Deep End, Volume 2.

Haynes has released two studio albums as a solo artist, including 2011's GRAMMY-nominated Man In Motion, a collection paying tribute to his blues roots. Haynes has been a mainstay in the Allman Brothers Band for more than two decades. He won his first GRAMMY with the group for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for a live recording of the classic "Jessica." Haynes was honored as a member of the Allman Brothers Band with a Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012.

Set for release Sept. 24, Shout! features one disc of 11 new songs performed by Gov't Mule and a companion disc featuring an all-star lineup of guest vocalists reinterpreting the same tracks. Special guest vocalists include GRAMMY winners Costello, Dr. John, Harper, Matthews, Toots And The Maytals' Toots Hibbert, and Steve Winwood, and Glenn Hughes, My Morning Jacket's Jim James, Alter Bridge's Myles Kennedy, and Potter, among others.

Gov't Mule's current lineup features Matt Abts (drums), Jorgen Carlsson (bass), Haynes (guitars/vocals), and Danny Louis (keyboards/vocals).

Thanks to legendssnooze.
Shout! CD 1
Shout! CD 2

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