Lightnin´ Hopkins - Same (Smithsonian / Folkways 1959)

Originally released as "The Roots of Lightnin' Hopkins", Smithsonian/Folkways' "Lightnin' Hopkins" was recorded in 1959. Upon its initial release, it was a pivotal part of the blues revival and helped re-spark interest in Hopkins. Before it was recorded, the bluesman had disappeared from sight; after a great deal of searching, Sam Charters found Hopkins in a rented one-room apartment in Houston. 

Persuading Lightnin' with a bottle of gin, Charters convinced Hopkins to record ten songs in that room, using only one microphone. The resulting record was one of the greatest albums in Hopkins' catalog, a skeletal record that is absolutely naked in its loneliness and haunting in its despair. These unvarnished performances arguably capture the essence of Lightnin' Hopkins better than any of his other recordings, and it is certainly one of the landmarks of the late-'50s/early-'60s blues revival.                 

Tracklist:

01. Penitentiary Blues       

02. Bad Luck and Trouble       

03. Come Go Home With Me       

04. Trouble Stay 'Way from My Door    

05. See That My Grave Is Kept Clean      

06. Going Back to Florida      

07. Reminiscenses of Blind Lemon      

08. Fan It      

09. Tell Me, Baby      

10. She's Mine 

Lightnin´ Hopkins - Same (Smithsonian / Folkways 1959)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Rhythm And Blues - No. 1 Chart Hits 1949-1955

During the first half of the 1950’s, before the children of the white middle class began to question the musical tastes and listening habits of their parents, before the Haleys and the Presleys got a chance to upset established rules, Black artists were busy opening doors.

Nothing reflects this transitional moment better than the charts of the African-American community, where the seeds of this insurgency were planted. The best-sellers of that time, and more particularly the Number One rhythm & blues hits, clearly depict a movement that took the swing-infused rhythms of the immediate postwar era right up to the threshold of rock and soul.

Tracklist:

	Part I - Swing & Ballads
01	–Percy Mayfield	Please Send Me Someone To Love	2:53
02	–Joe Liggins	Pink Champagne	3:01
03	–Ruth Brown	Teardrops From My Eyes	2:53
04	–Ivory Joe Hunter	I Almost Lost My Mind	3:11
05	–The Four Blazes	Mary Jo	2:34
06	–The Platters	Only You (And You Alone)	2:38
07	–Little Esther & Mel Walker	Cupid's Boogie	2:34
08	–Peppermint Harris	I Got Loaded	2:27
09	–Roy Brown	Hard Luck Blues	3:00
10	–Joe Morris	Any Time, Any Place, Anywhere	3:04
11	–Louis Jordan	Blue Light Boogie - Parts 1 & 2	5:09
12	–Johnny Ace	Pledging My Love	2:45
		Part II - Blues & Rock
13	–The Dominoes	Have Mercy Baby	2:22
14	–B.B. King	You Upset Me Baby	3:00
15	–Lowell Fulson	Blue Shadows	2:48
16	–Little Walter	My Babe	2:39
17	–Hank Ballard	Work With Me Annie	2:48
18	–The Drifters	Honey Love	2:24
19	–Eddie Boyd	Five Long Years	2:40
20	–The "5" Royales	Baby Don't Do It	2:44
21	–Joe Turner	Honey Hush	2:41
22	–Jimmy Nelson	"T" 99 Blues	3:06
23	–Willie Mabon	I Don't Know	3:08
24	–Etta James	The Wallflower	2:48

VA - Rhythm And Blues - No. 1 Chart Hits 1949-1955

(192 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Madchester - The Manchester Story '88 - '91

Madchester is a music and cultural scene that developed in the Manchester area of the United Kingdom in the late 1980s, in which artists merged alternative rock with acid house culture and other sources, including psychedelia and 1960s pop. The label was popularised by the British music press in the early 1990s, and included groups such as Happy Mondays, the Stone Roses, the Inspiral Carpets, Northside, 808 State, James and The Charlatans, amongst others.
The rave-influenced scene is widely seen as heavily influenced by drugs, especially ecstasy (MDMA). At that time, the Haçienda nightclub, co-owned by members of New Order, was a major catalyst for the distinctive musical ethos in the city that was called the Second Summer of Love.

The Beechwood label's 16-track "Manchester Story '88-'91: Madchester" presents a pretty faithful re-telling of the Factory-led Brit-pop explosion that consumed college radio in the late '80s early '90s.

Usually relegated to late-night appearances on MTV's 120 Minutes, bands like New Fast Automatic Daffodils, Happy Mondays, Stone Roses, Charlatans UK, 808 State, and New Order nevertheless found a way to break out internationally, influencing the myriad of shapes that alternative rock would assume in the coming years.

Though there are many holes in the story (where are Blur, Ride, Primal Scream or the Manic Street Preachers?) presented here, the inclusion of various remixes, original 12" versions, and extended mixes keeps things interesting, and the songs themselves are all top-notch, resulting in a formidable gateway drug for anybody looking to immerse themselves in genre.        
 

   

Fear won't prevail. We will continue to enjoy our love for life, freedom & joy.

Tracklist:

1	–Happy Mondays	W.F.L. (The Vince Clark Mix)	6:10
2	–The Stone Roses	Elephant Stone	4:47
3	–The Charlatans	Indian Rope	4:30
4	–Northside	Shall We Take A Trip	4:20
5	–Inspiral Carpets	Joe	3:21
6	–New Fast Automatic Daffodils	Big	6:04
7	–New Order	True Faith (Original 12" Mix)	5:13
8	–Paris Angels	Perfume (Loved Up)	4:10
9	–MC Tunes Versus 808 State	Tunes Splits The Atom (Original Rap)	3:09
10	–Happy Mondays	Step On (Stuff It In Mix)	5:45
11	–James	Come Home (Extended Flood Mix)	6:07
12	–The Mock Turtles	Can You Dig It?	4:08
13	–The Charlatans	Then	4:10
14	–New Order	Bizarre Love Triangle (Original 12" Mix)	6:42
15	–808 State	Pacific State (Origin)	4:27
16	–The Stone Roses	Fools Gold	4:15

VA - Madchester - The Manchester Story '88 - '91  
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Melanie - Born To Be (1968)

"Born to Be", Melanie Safka's 1968 debut, is an intriguing curate's egg. Neither Melanie, nor her producer-husband Peter Schekeryk, seem sure exactly where her strengths lie, so she is cast in a number of roles: Piaf-imitating chanteuse ("In the Hour"), soul-searching, angst-heavy troubadour ("Momma Momma"), giggling novelty figure ("Animal Crackers") and children's entertainer ("Christopher Robin Is Saying His Prayers").

Stranger still, half the time the experiment works; the small ensemble, led by her own enthusiastic (if thoroughly inexpert) guitar playing creates an arty, coffeehouse ambience in which Melanie's idiot-savant act flourishes. But the less said about her attack at "Merry Christmas" the better.    

"Born to Be" was  Melanie's debut album, released on Buddah Records in 1968.
Following Melanie's success at the Woodstock Festival in 1969 Buddha repackaged and reissued the album as "My First Album."

Tracklist:

A1	In The Hour	3:04
A2	I'm Back In Town	2:17
A3	Bo Bo's Party	3:58
A4	Mr. Tambourine Man	4:20
A5	Momma Momma	4:00
B1	I Really Loved Harold	4:05
B2	Animal Crackers	2:12
B3	Cristopher Robin (Is Saying His Prayer)	2:35
B4	Close To It All	3:22
B5	Merry Christmas	2:50

Melanie - Born To Be (1968)
(320 kbps, cover art included)