North Mississippi Allstars - Up And Rolling

Size: 105,5 MB
Time: 44:58
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2019
Styles: Electric Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Front & Back

01. Call That Gone (4:44)
02. Up And Rolling (5:03)
03. What You Gonna Do? (Feat. Mavis Staples) (3:21)
04. Drunk Outdoors (3:37)
05. Peaches (5:17)
06. Mean Old World (Feat. Jason Isbell & Duane Betts) (6:32)
07. Out On The Road (Feat. Cedric Burnside) (2:18)
08. Lonesome In My Home (3:06)
09. Bump That Music (3:11)
10. Living Free (3:56)
11. Take My Hand, Precious Lord (Feat. Cedric Burnside) (3:07)
12. Otha's Bye Bye Baby (Feat. Otha Turner) (0:38)

'A forgotten roll of film was found. Shot before the turn of the century, the photographs resonate with music. The images inspired an accompanying soundtrack. The music is full of stories. The songs and stories originate in two neighboring rural counties. The cast of characters includes four families of Mississippi musicians, three generations deep, and a photographer from Texas.' - Luther Dickinson In 2017, Wyatt McSpadden found an old roll of film and tracked down members of North Mississippi Allstars to share his forgotten photographs. The images were so profound and so beautiful that they would come to inspire the latest recording, Up And Rolling. The images inspired the band to ask, 'What did the music sound like that night in 96? What does Mississippi music sound like now? What would ideally be on the push button AM/FM radio as we drove thru the hills?' The North Mississippi Allstars would return to the famous Zebra Ranch to record Up And Rolling, inspired by Wyatt's images. They gathered together, trimmed back the wisteria, and swept out the converted barn recording studio. The fired up the tube amps and old computers and began conjuring up modern Mississippi music, ancient and futuristic all at once. Telling it how it was and how they think it should be. Up And Rolling is modern Mississippi. Transcending time and space, the music reaches out into the dark of night like the wisteria vine, looking for free hearted souls to latch onto and wedge into the foundation of hate, slowly tearing down walls a generation at a time.

Up And Rolling

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Mavis Staples - Live In London

Size: 130,9 MB
Time: 56:39
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2019
Styles: Electric Blues, Blues Soul
Art: Front

01. Love And Trust (Live) (4:38)
02. Who Told You That (Live) (3:13)
03. Slippery People (Live) (3:51)
04. What You Gonna Do Intro (Live) (0:36)
05. What You Gonna Do (Live) (4:05)
06. Take Us Back (Live) (4:39)
07. You Are Not Alone (Live) (4:19)
08. No Time For Cryin' (Live) (5:22)
09. Can You Get To That (Live) (3:18)
10. Let's Do It Again (Live) (5:47)
11. Dedicated (Live) (4:46)
12. We're Gonna Make It (Live) (4:23)
13. Encore Happy Birthday (Live) (1:00)
14. Touch A Hand (Live) (6:33)

Mavis Staples has been a soul and gospel music legend for more than 50 years. Her work fronting the legendary Staples Singers defined the sound of politically-committed soul and influenced generations of musicians. As a solo artist in her own right, she has helped to define much of what is righteous and soulful in American music. There are few people who can claim to have been performing as long as Mavis Staples, let alone to her standards. This album captures her live at the Union Chapel in London with her band performing some of the greatest songs from her musical catalog, while celebrating her 79th birthday.

Live In London

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Various - Mavis Staples-I'll Take You There: An All Star Concert Celebration (2-Disc Set)

Mavis Staples: I’ll Take You There, An All-Star Concert Celebration captured performances from the historic, one-night concert event that honored the music of Mavis Staples, one of the most beloved cultural icons of our time.

The two-and-a-half-hour concert film and available audio recordings feature over 20 once-in-a-lifetime performances from this momentous event by Gregg Allman, Ryan Bingham, Win Butler & Régine Chassagne, Eric Church, Otis Clay, Patty Griffin, Glen Hansard, Emmylou Harris, Taj Mahal, Michael McDonald, Buddy Miller, Keb’ Mo’, Aaron Neville, Joan Osborne, Widespread Panic, Grace Potter, Bonnie Raitt, Jeff & Spencer Tweedy, and Mavis Staples. The album shines a light on performers who do not often share the same stage in order to honor Mavis Staples by singing her classic, iconic songs.

Album: Mavis Staples-I'll Take You There An All Star Concert Celebration Disc 1
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:36
Size: 125.0 MB
Styles: Assorted
Year: 2017
Art: Front

[4:07] 1. Joan Osborne - You're Driving Me (To The Arms Of A Stranger)
[4:31] 2. Keb' Mo' - Heavy Makes You Happy
[4:40] 3. Otis Clay - I Ain't Raisin' No Sand
[3:22] 4. Buddy Miller - Woke Up This Morning (With My Mind On Jesus)
[4:28] 5. Patty Griffin - Waiting For My Child To Come Home
[3:06] 6. Emmylou Harris - Far Celestial Shore
[3:38] 7. Michael Mcdonald - Freedom Highway
[4:28] 8. Glen Hansard - People Get Ready
[3:42] 9. Mavis Staples, Aaron Neville - Respect Yourself
[4:18] 10. Ryan Bingham - If You're Ready (Come Go With Me)
[5:24] 11. Widespread Panic - Hope In A Hopeless World
[4:05] 12. Grace Potter - Grandma's Hands
[4:41] 13. Eric Church - Eyes On The Prize

Mavis Staples-I'll Take You There An All Star Concert Celebration Disc 1

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Album: Mavis Staples-I'll Take You There An All Star Concert Celebration Disc 2
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:32
Size: 99.7 MB
Styles: Assorted
Year: 2017
Art: Front

[ 3:23] 1. Taj Mahal - Wade In The Water
[ 4:30] 2. Gregg Allman - Have A Little Faith
[ 4:20] 3. Mavis Staples, Bonnie Raitt - Turn Me Around
[ 5:28] 4. Mavis Staples, Gregg Allman, Taj Mahal, Aaron Neville, Bonnie Raitt - Will The Circle Be Unbroken
[ 4:56] 5. Mavis Staples, Win Butler & Régine Chassagne - Slippery People
[ 4:16] 6. Mavis Staples, Jeff Tweedy - You Are Not Alone
[10:41] 7. Mavis Staples - I'll Take You There
[ 5:54] 8. Mavis Staples & Everybody - The Weight

Mavis Staples-I'll Take You There An All Star Concert Celebration Disc 2

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Mavis Staples - You Are Not Alone

Year: 2010
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:14
Size: 104,8 MB
Styles: Soul-blues-gospel, americana
Scans: Full

1. Don't Knock (2:30)
2. You Are Not Alone (3:57)
3. Downward Road (3:08)
4. In Christ There Is No East Or West (3:36)
5. Creep Along Moses (2:57)
6. Losing You (2:51)
7. I Belong To The Band (3:31)
8. Last Train (4:29)
9. Only The Lord Knows (3:43)
10. Wrote A Song For Everyone (3:47)
11. We're Gonna Make It (3:27)
12. Wonderful Savior (2:04)
13. Too Close/On My Way To Heaven (5:09)

Mavis Staples may not have a voice with the kind of range and pure power of an Aretha Franklin, but she understands the ins and outs of phrasing and nuance, and brings an inimitable, gritty passion to everything she sings, even into her seventies. She's also not afraid to walk right down the middle of the road between secular and sacred, fully aware that both the blues and gospel are really talking about the same thing - the need to get to a better place. She performs this delicate synthesis well on You Are Not Alone, an album that finds her teamed with Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, whose production on this project is surprisingly sympathetic to Staples' strengths, and more importantly, doesn't make her sound like an adjunct participant in a Wilco album.

No, this is Mavis' show, and she grabs ahold of well-chosen covers like Randy Newman's “Losing You,” Allen Toussaint's “Last Train,” Reverend Gary Davis' “I Belong to the Band,” and John Fogerty's “Wrote a Song for Everyone” with conviction, wringing every bit of wisdom, anger, compassion, and joy out of them, while bringing a fresh perspective to traditional gospel pieces like “In Christ There Is No East or West,” “Creep Along Moses,” and “Wonderful Savior,” reminding that redemption is pretty hard work even in the best of times. She tackles a couple of Pops Staples pieces here, too, “Don’t Knock” and “Downward Road,” making this whole set a well-rounded portrait of Mavis Staples as she stands then, now, and tomorrow.

Tweedy wrote several songs for the project, but only two, including the title track “You Are Not Alone,” appear here, and he wisely resisted any urge to overdo his sonic stamp on the album. Most tracks feature sturdy, simple, and subdued backing that allows Staples' voice to carry the show, highlighted by reverbed guitar reminiscent of Pops Staples' trademark sound, although only enough to suggest it - nothing here gets in the way of Mavis' voice. You Are Not Alone is a solid outing that somehow amazingly manages to be both secular and sacred at once, and there is a stripped-down timelessness to it. It's gospel. It's blues. It's about love and redemption, and how each needs the other. You Are Not Alone won Best Americana Album at the 2010 Grammys. /Steve Leggett, AllMusic

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VA - The Musical Mojo Of Dr. John: Celebrating Mac And His Music (Live)

Size: 123,2+137,4 MB
Time: 52:23+58:49
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2016
Styles: New Orleans Blues, Electric Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Front

CD 1:
01 Dr. John & Bruce Springsteen - Right Place Wrong Time (Live) (4:33)
02 Jason Isbell - Blow Wind Blow (Live) (3:45)
03 Cyril Neville - My Indian Red (Live) (3:35)
04 Anders Osborne & Bill Kreutzmann - Somebody Changed The Lock (Live) (3:09)
05 Dr. John, Aaron Neville & Charles Neville - Please Send Me Someone To Love (Live) (6:04)
06 George Porter Jr. & Zigaboo Modeliste - Junko Partner (Live) (5:14)
07 Irma Thomas - Since I Fell For You (Live) (3:48)
08 Tab Benoit - Stack-A-Lee (Live) (4:12)
09 Allen Toussaint - Life (Live) (3:09)
10 Shannon McNally - Street People (Live) (3:32)
11 Dave Malone - Goodnight Irene (Live) (5:53)
12 Big Chief Monk Boudreaux - Big Chief (Live) (5:24)

CD 2:
01 Widespread Panic & Dirty Dozen Brass Band - Familiar Reality (Live) (9:46)
02 Warren Haynes - You Lie (Live) (6:34)
03 Chuck Leavell - Traveling Mood (Live) (3:53)
04 Ryan Bingham - Back By The River (Live) (4:29)
05 John Boutte - Let's Make A Better World (Live) (2:46)
06 Mavis Staples - Lay My Burden Down (Live) (5:59)
07 John Fogerty - New Orleans (Live) (3:41)
08 Dr. John & Terence Blanch - Rain (Live) (6:07)
09 Dr. John & Sarah Morrow - I Walk On Guilded Splinters (Live) (7:02)
10 Dr. John & Sarah Morrow - Such A Night (Live) (8:27)

On Saturday, May 3, 2014, a group of esteemed musicians and friends joined together for “The Musical Mojo of Dr. John: A Celebration of Mac & His Music” a special concert event taping that honored this musical icon. The star-studded concert took place at New Orleans’ Saenger Theatre, with Dr. John joined by a stunningly diverse assortment of notable guest artists, who perform 22 songs written, recorded and/or popularized by Dr. John during his prolific six-decade career, honoring his large and still-growing musical legacy.

“It was very moving to have all these people paying tribute to me, but I just treated it like it was another show,” Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and six-time GRAMMY®-winner Dr. John says of The Musical Mojo of Dr. John: A Celebration of Mac & His Music.

The performers include Bruce Springsteen, who duets with Dr. John on the 1973 smash “Right Place Wrong Time”; Jason Isbell, who delivers a heartfelt “Blow Wind Blow”; John Fogerty, who performs the raucous Crescent City anthem “New Orleans”; Mavis Staples, who brings gospel fervor to “Lay My Burden Down”; Widespread Panic, who lend musical muscle to “Familiar Reality”; and Ryan Bingham, who delivers a haunting “Back by the River.”

Fittingly, The Musical Mojo of Dr. John also features memorable performances by several New Orleans legends, including Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas, Terence Blanchard, John Boutté, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, George Porter Jr. and Zigaboo Modeliste of the Meters, and Aaron, Charles and Cyril Neville. Bassist Don Was served as the project’s musical director, leading an all-star house band that also included Allman Brothers Band/Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell, renowned NOLA pianist John Gros, Funky Meters guitarist Brian Stoltz and journeyman drummer Kenny Aronoff, as well as Dr. John’s longstanding musical compatriot, trombonist Sarah Morrow.

The Musical Mojo Of Dr. John

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Mavis Staples - Livin' On A High Note

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:27
Size: 88.1 MB
Styles: Memphis soul-blues
Year: 2016
Art: Front

[3:15] 1. Take Us Back
[3:18] 2. Love And Trust
[3:05] 3. If It's A Light
[3:06] 4. Action
[3:28] 5. High Note
[2:48] 6. Don't Cry
[3:19] 7. Tomorrow
[3:53] 8. Dedicated
[2:06] 9. History, Now
[3:09] 10. One Love
[4:02] 11. Jesus Lay Down Beside Me
[2:53] 12. MLK Song

From her first performances as a teenager in the 1950s through her era-defining hits in the 1970s and even up to her Grammy-winning comeback albums with Jeff Tweedy, Mavis Staples has created some of the most joyous music ever. For her latest solo effort, however, she wanted something even more exuberant, even more celebratory—something in the vein of Pharrell Williams’ "Happy." "When I heard it, wow, it just lifted me up," she told the Guardian recently. "I told my songwriters I wanted songs just like that, that would make people smile, also because I’ve been making people cry for so long."

Certainly Livin’ on a High Note sounds like a happy album. Featuring production by M. Ward and boasting songwriting credits from Nick Cave, Neko Case, Justin Vernon and others, its burst of beneficent energy is refreshing after the cloistered prayer of last year’s Your Good Fortune and two thoughtful Tweedy records. The tempos on here percolate amiably, with flashes of horns and bold basslines supplied by members of her longtime backing band. Ward doesn’t have much facility for groove, so the celebration often sounds muted and controlled—more studio than church. But he knows to keep things airy and light and to give Mavis’ voice some space to move around.

"I’ve been making people cry for so long" isn't entirely true. But the statement does hint at her own place in the complicated history of civil rights in an era defined by dignity and social progress as well as by systemic prejudice and even outright hatred. She has shared stages with MLK and Southern jail cells with her father and siblings. Livin’ on a High Note nods to that history, especially on the opening track, "Take Us Back," penned for her by Benjamin Booker. As her back-up singers encourage her along ("Mavis, take us back! Mavis, take us back!"), she reminisces sweetly about her early days as a teenager on the gospel circuit: "Chicago wasn’t always easy, but love made the Windy City breezy."

From other artists such a sentiment might sound too pat or prescribed, but Staples’ voice infuses it with affection and joy. "They don’t call me Bubbles for nothing," she declares. Seventy years into her singing career, her voice has lost none of its ecstatic expressiveness and only a bit of its technical agility. She can still swing low into a baritone range, and she can still soar into a churchly higher register. But really it’s the way she shapes her words that makes these songs so distinctive: The way she fawns over a word like "darling" makes you want to wrap the syllables around you like a warm blanket.

It might seem like an odd time for an upbeat message, but Livin’ on a High Note is as well timed as her 2008 live album, Hope at the Hideout, released just a week before Obama was elected the country’s first African American president. Eight years later, we’re deep into a confounding election cycle that has already defined itself by blatant concession to voters’ basest prejudices. At the same time, some of our best artists—D’Angelo, Kendrick, and Beyoncé—are making race and class dominant subjects in pop music, with songs like "Alright" and "Formation" prompting heated discussions about black identity and police brutality.

High Note complements rather than contradicts those bleaker depictions of 21st century America and casually argues for Staples’ legacy as an agitgospel singer. Would we have Beyoncé singing, "I like my Negro nose and my Jackson 5 nostrils" in 2016 without the Staples singing, "I like the things about me that I once despised," at Wattstax in '72? In that regard, the most crucial song on here is also the shortest: "What do we do with all of this history now?" Staples asks on "History Now," penned by Neko Case. Bearing all this weight can’t be easy for anyone, but with that divine voice of hers, in fact, Staples seems uniquely suited for it. And Livin’ on a High Note suggests she may even be happy to have that responsibility, if only because it reminds her that happy doesn’t have to mean complacent.

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Various Artists - Lightning In A Bottle (Soundtrack) (2 CD)

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." The crackling house band led by drummer Steve Jordan provides foundation for gritty, roof-raising pieces like the unusual collaboration between former New York Doll David Johansen and guitarist Sumlin on Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor." Not all of the film's music is included but there are enough magnificent performances for established blues fans and to entice those first experiencing the genre's abundant riches. /Amazon

Album: Lightning In A Bottle - CD 1
Year: 2004
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:31
Size: 111,5 MB
Styles: Blues, roots, R&B
Scans: Full

1. Angelique Kidjo - Senie Zelie (3:47)
2. Mavis Staples - See That My Grave Is Kept Clean (4:04)
3. David 'Honeyboy' Edwards - Gamblin' Man (4:08)
4. Keb' Mo' - Love In Vain (3:20)
5. James 'Blood' Ulmer & Alison Krauss - Sitting On Top Of The World (5:14)
6. Odetta - Jim Crow Blues (5:04)
7. Natalie Cole - St. Louis Blues (3:52)
8. Natalie Cole, Mavis Staples & Ruth Brown - Men Are Just Like Street Cars (4:25)
9. Buddy Guy - I Can't Be Satisfied (2:58)
10. India Arie - Strange Fruit (2:41)
11. Macy Gray - Hound Dog (3:28)
12. John Fogerty - The Midnight Special (4:31)
13. Larry Johnson - Where'd You Get That Sound (0:54)

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Album: Lightning In A Bottle - CD 2
Year: 2004
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:24
Size: 145,6 MB
Styles: Blues, roots, R&B
Scans: Full

1. Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown - Okie Dokie Stomp (2:48)
2. Bonnie Raitt - Coming Home (3:26)
3. Gregg Allman & Warren Haynes - The Sky Is Crying (7:32)
4. Steven Tyler & Joe Perry - I'm A King Bee (4:20)
5. Buddy Guy - First Time I Met The Blues (4:12)
6. The Neville Brothers - Big Chief (3:27)
7. Shemekia Copeland & Robert Cray - I Pity The Fool (4:59)
8. David Johansen & Hubert Sumlin - Killing Floor (4:05)
9. Solomon Burke - Turn On Your Love Light (3:27)
10. Solomon Burke - Down In The Valley (3:21)
11. Angelique Kidjo, Buddy Guy & Vernon Reid - Voodoo Child (5:17)
12. Mos Def - Minnesota Blues (Aka 'Black Jack Blues') (5:44)
13. Chuck D. & The Fine Arts Militia - (No) Boom Boom (4:11)
14. B.B. King - Sweet Sixteen (6:31)

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Various - Johnny's Blues: A Tribute To Johnny Cash

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:20
Size: 110.7 MB
Styles: Assorted styles
Year: 2003
Art: Front

[4:21] 1. Paul Reddick - Train Of Love
[3:02] 2. Clarence 'gatemouth' Brown - Get Rhythm
[4:39] 3. Maria Muldaur - Walking The Blues
[2:38] 4. Chris Thomas King - Rock Island Line
[3:07] 5. Garland Jeffreys - I Walk The Line
[4:33] 6. Blackie & The Rodeo Kings - Folsom Prison Blues
[4:39] 7. Harry Manx - Long Black Veil
[4:31] 8. Alvin Youngblood Hart - Sunday Morning Coming Down
[2:24] 9. Sleepy Labeef - Frankie's Man Johnny
[3:51] 10. Corey Harris - Redemption
[4:15] 11. Kevin Breit - Send A Picture Of Mother
[3:20] 12. Colin Linden - Big River
[2:55] 13. Mavis Staples - Will The Circle Be Unbroken

Effectively honoring an amazing song from an amazing performer requires that you kick against the grass marking the steps of the master. Cash's country music re-oriented toward its blues element gives kickers a general direction for a collection hitting more shin than soupçon. Paul Reddick's "Train of Love" whirs into life on its master tape capstan and jumps track 13 seconds in a show of off-roading; "I have wondered," he ponders in the liner notes, "how things might have been if Johnny had hired Mississippi Fred McDowell (Luther Perkins is chopped liver?) as the guitar player for the Tennessee Three." Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown joins forces with Benjy Davis to swing out "Get Rhythm," taking turns sounding agreeably road-wearied. Chris Thomas King tunes his 12-string guitar "down to B flat standard, which is the way Leadbelly played it," and recasts "Rock Island Line" as a talking blues, which it almost was anyway, then skates away on the train engineer's cheer at cheating the toll (though no one ever asks whether the burned toll man's waiting for him on the return trip). Faced with doing over a perfect song with a perfect arrangement, Garland Jeffreys brilliantly deduces that a little more makes a lot more, and filigrees "I Walk the Line" in accordion and a more pronounced "boom-chicka-boom." Harry Manx's "Long Black Veil" shimmers under his predictable but effective slide guitar and surprising touches of Indian instrumentation, plus desperate gospel-fueled backing vocals, stripping finality from tone, turning the song over into an unsolved mystery. OK, Alvin Youngblood Hart doesn't sound like he knows what he's doing on "Sunday Morning Coming Down"; he asks "Well, who hasn't been there?" in the notes, and the problem is he sounds like almost everybody else who's been there. But then along comes Sleepy LaBeef, sounding like his voice went down one half-step for each of his 68 years, singing "Frankie's Man Johnny" like no one ever told him it wasn't his. Don't settle for walking if you can swoosh. ~Andrew Hamlin

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VA - Porretta Historic Performances

Size: 156,0 MB
Time: 66:30
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2007
Styles: Blues Soul, Soul
Art: Front

01 Eddie Hilton - Fa, Fa, Fa, Fa, Fa (Sad Song) (3:59)
02 Billy Preston - You Are So Beautiful (4:17)
03 Rufus Thomas - Walking The Dog (3:49)
04 Solomon Burke - Medley If You Need Me/Tonight The Night/I Almost Lost My Mind (6:42)
05 Clarence Carter - Too Weak To Fight (4:10)
06 Lavern Baker - I Cried A Tear (2:35)
07 Mavis Staples - (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay (7:00)
08 James Govan - Chained And Bound (4:33)
09 Carla Thomas - When Something Is Wrong With My Baby (6:25)
10 Howard Tate - Sorry Wrong Number (2:32)
11 Wilson Pickett - In The Midnight Hour (4:08)
12 William Bell - You Don't Miss Water (4:32)
13 Dan Penn - I've Got Dreams To Remember (4:34)
14 James Carr - Pouring Water On A Drowing Man (3:38)
15 The Memphis All Stars - Rufus Back In Town (3:30)

The Porretta Soul Festival is a soul music festival that usually takes place in the third week of July in Rufus Thomas Park in Porretta Terme, in the province of Bologna, Italy.

The festival was started on December 10, 1987 by Graziano Uliani, a passionate soul music fan, who, after attending the events in Macon, Georgia commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the death of Otis Redding, decided to dedicate a festival in his honour.

Thanks to some fortunate encounters, Uliani has been able to bring to Porretta most of the major soul band in the world. Porretta now has a street dedicated to Otis Redding and the park where the Porretta Soul Festival is held is named Rufus Thomas. After more than 20 years, the Porretta Soul Festival is now part of the geography of soul music and is considered the European showcase of the Memphis Sound. The festival is associated with the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis and the Center For Southern Folklore in Memphis.

Porretta Historic Performances

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Mavis Staples - We'll Never Turn Back

File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Source: LL (from CD)
Released: 2007
Styles: Gospel;Blues
Time: 57:55
Size: 133,1 MB
Covers: Full

(4:57) 1. Down in Mississippi
(4:06) 2. Eyes on the Prize
(4:31) 3. We Shall Not Be Moved
(4:26) 4. In the Mississippi River
(4:10) 5. On My Way
(3:22) 6. This Little Light of Mine
(4:46) 7. 99 and 1/2
(7:18) 8. My Own Eyes
(3:52) 9. Turn Me Around
(4:06) 10. We'll Never Turn Back
(5:44) 11. I'll Be Rested
(6:31) 12. Jesus Is on the Main Line

Mavis' 2007 "We'll Never Turn Back", focuses on the hope that the men and women who engaged in the civil rights struggles of the early '60s brought to a hostile America and changed its laws -- and some of its attitudes, but not nearly enough -- forever. Staples has enlisted the help of the original vocalists of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Community, who were called the SNCC Freedom Singers, Ladysmith Black Mambazo (no strangers to the struggle for basic human rights) in a couple of places, and Ry Cooder and his roots band to accompany them. Cooder produced the set, but his gift is the ability to retain in their entirety the voices of the performers when he works with them. Mavis may not have the shouting power she once had, but the conviction and expression in her voice have not wavered an inch. She's still got plenty in her pipes, and We'll Never Turn Back is the proof. Cooder's compadres are son Joachim on percussion, drummer Jim Keltner, and bassist Mike Elizando.
The song choices are quite remarkable, as the album kicks off with J.B. Lenoir's "Down in Mississippi," which echoes the spooky, eerie Pops guitar sound as the voices hover all around it. The arrangement Cooder chose for the traditional "Eyes on the Prize" accents his funky, nasty slide guitar as much as it does Mavis' voice. The song is offered not as an anachronism, but as a spiritual with contemporary -- even necessary -- instructions. Ladysmith Black Mambazo's backing vocals fill the refrains with a necessary sound of lineage as if this were the sound of antiquity coming forward to broadcast once more that it is necessary. Keltner and Joachim, with their contrapuntal rhythms, offer an organic take on breakbeats as well. The Freedom Singers begin their contribution on the album's fourth track, "In the Mississippi River," with Charles Neblett offering the call from ages past before the band gets inside it and makes it downright snaky. Mavis soon digs into her low register and the drums and slide guitar pump that backbeat with purpose, mean and slow. The shuffling swamp rock version of "This Little Light of Mine" makes it a new song. Mavis lays out pure Southern soul in her vocal and the band shuffles and soft-shoes it, making the tension rise in the singer's voice. On the popping gospel-funk of "99 1/2 Won't Do," they let her lead it and she goes down into the drum groove for inspiration and finds it there. Cooder's guitar playing asserts itself everywhere, but gradually and gently, preferring to let Mavis lead him. The gorgeous backing vocals by The Freedom Singers kick it.
The longest cut here is "My Own Eyes," where Mavis performs a tune she wrote -- it's an emotional reverie, recounting her own family's journey through the civil rights movement as inspired by the late Dr. King. Her message is not necessarily poetic, but it's deeply moving and urgent. When she raises her voice to proclaim "I saw it with my own eyes/So I know it's true," there's no doubting. When she indicts politicians on their failure in New Orleans, one can feel the bile rise in her throat. The final track is "Jesus Is on the Main Line," a tune Cooder himself recorded on Paradise and Lunch so long ago. This arrangement is completely different, but it's even more effective. His guitar is a slim, slow-sliding companion to Mavis' voice, full of distant reverb and in-your-face presence even as it pushes her vocal to the front. When the band enters a minute or so later, the tune cracks wide open and begins a kind of mariachi song as it meets gospel. The Freedom Singers egg on the percussion and it responds in the backbeat, and Mavis lets the graininess in her voice shine through. It's a rough-and-ready tune that is not only inspirational but fun. In sum, We'll Never Turn Back is the kind of album we need at the moment, one that doesn't flinch from the tradition but doesn't present it as a museum piece either. Mavis Staples has done it again. -- Allmusic.

We'll Never Turn Back
We'll Never Turn Back artwork

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Pops Staples - Don't Lose This

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:38
Size: 88.5 MB
Styles: Memphis soul-blues
Year: 2015
Art: Front

[4:03] 1. Somebody Was Watching
[4:14] 2. Sweet Home
[4:33] 3. No News Is Good News
[4:00] 4. Love Is On My Side
[4:04] 5. Friendship
[3:04] 6. Nobody's Fault But Mine
[2:16] 7. The Lady's Letter
[4:49] 8. Better Home
[4:03] 9. Will The Circle Be Unbroken
[3:29] 10. Gotta Serve Somebody

Pops Staples, patriarch of the iconic Staple Singers, died in 2000. In 1999, he recorded his final tracks. Fifteen years later, daughter Mavis Staples teamed up with her collaborative partner Jeff Tweedy (who produced her albums You Are Not Alone and One True Vine) to finish the recordings.

Mavis detailed the album's origins in a press release, saying the initial idea was that they were going to record the final Staple Singers album. "It was meant to be our last work, but my sisters and I decided to let Pops sing, to let him have this one. ... One day, Pops told me, ‘Mavis, bring that record up here, I want to hear it.’ I brought it up to the bedroom and he listened. When it was over, Pops told me, ‘Mavis, don’t lose this here.’ I said, ‘OK, Pops, I won’t lose it.’ And he just smiled. It was a moment I’ll never forget. He had this glow after listening to it; he loved it. So I kept it." I always said I was going to get it out there because Pops told me not to lose it. When he said, ‘Don’t lose this,’ that meant: ‘Let it be heard.’

Tweedy played bass on the album, and his 18-year-old son (and Tweedy bandmate) Spencer drummed on the record. Mavis recorded new vocals as well. The original recordings were produced by Pops and Mavis, with Tweedy handling the newer production.

Don't Lose This mc
Don't Lose This zippy

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Various - The Alligator Records Playlists: Gospel Blues

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 100:45
Size: 230.7 MB
Styles: Gospel blues
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[5:33] 1. The Holmes Brothers - I Shall Not Walk Alone
[2:55] 2. Corey Harris - Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning
[4:29] 3. Gaye Adegbalola - Let Go, Let God
[5:01] 4. The Holmes Brothers - Farther Along
[5:38] 5. Katie Webster - Lord, I Wonder
[2:18] 6. The Holmes Brothers - God Will
[5:53] 7. Corey Harris - Just A Closer Walk With Thee
[4:18] 8. The Holmes Brothers - Can't No Grave Hold My Body Down
[5:47] 9. Joe Louis Walker - Soldier For Jesus
[4:45] 10. Mavis Staples - Step Into The Light
[2:30] 11. Corey Harris - Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel
[4:28] 12. The Holmes Brothers - New Jerusalem
[4:47] 13. Mavis Staples - I Wanna Thank You
[4:46] 14. The Holmes Brothers - Jesus Is The Way
[3:47] 15. Corey Harris - You've Got To Move
[2:42] 16. The Siegel-Schwall Band - Hey Leviticus
[2:18] 17. The Holmes Brothers - Jesus Got His Hooks In Me
[4:34] 18. Mavis Staples - Have A Little Faith
[3:59] 19. Shemekia Copeland - Whole Lotta Water
[3:23] 20. The Holmes Brothers - I've Just Seen The Rock Of Ages
[5:48] 21. Mavis Staples - God Is Not Sleeping
[4:08] 22. The Holmes Brothers - Speaking In Tongues
[3:29] 23. Mavis Staples - I Still Believe In You
[3:21] 24. The Holmes Brothers - Thank You Jesus

If American music is unique, it is largely due to its bedrock foundation of blues and gospel music, two forms of music that emerged in the late 19th and early 20th century. Anchoring the sounds of African America, these styles underlay the musical innovations of the century: jazz, rhythm and blues, rock, soul and hip hop. They are known and cherished around the world and in every corner of the U.S. It would be impossible to imagine American music without them. ~Charles McGovern

The Alligator Records Playlists: Gospel Blues mc
Album split into 2 files: file 1 / file 2 zippy

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Various - Chicago Blues Divas

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 66:52
Size: 153.1 MB
Styles: Chicago blues, Female blues vocals
Year: 2013

[3:46] 1. Koko Taylor - Voodoo Woman
[3:12] 2. Valerie Wellington - A Fool For You
[4:11] 3. Janiva Magness - Humpty Dumpty
[4:26] 4. Shemekia Copeland - It's 2 A.M
[5:49] 5. Sista Monica Parker - Never Say Never
[3:10] 6. Marcia Ball - The Scene Of The Crime
[4:11] 7. Mavis Staples - Ain't No Better Than You
[4:19] 8. Katie Webster - No Bread, No Meat
[6:39] 9. Debbie Davies - All I Found
[3:21] 10. Mollie O'Brien - Little Baby
[4:43] 11. Saffire-The Uppity Blues Women - Love Me To Death
[3:59] 12. Ann Rabson - Givin' It Away
[6:22] 13. Trampled Under Foot - Fog
[4:52] 14. Big Mama Thornton - Sassy Mama
[3:44] 15. Joan Osborne - Dead Roses

This is a great collection of some of the greatest women blues artists of all time. From Big Mama Thornton to Mavis Staples and everyone in between, this is a fabulous way to discover some of the most talented blues divas. There is over an hour of music to enjoy! ~Amazon

Chicago Blues Divas

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