The band Sacromud guarantees swinging blues, soul, and so much more! It is a project of the ‘Italian blues master’ Maurizio Pugno. Musically they define as ‘Overground Blues’. Just like the project ‘Bluesland’, an "off-scale blues suite" was based on a secular prayer that speaks about exodus, about the sensuality of our weaknesses, about the sound of our footsteps and about the alienations of wandering spirits! Now the five seasoned musicians headed to the famed SUN Studio in Memphis, TN. Sent by ‘The Lord’, an unusual snowstorm, a session that was skipped due to force majeure, a chance meeting with sound engineer Daniel Crockett and five hours at their disposal. A mix that is more unique than rare and one of those opportunities that you rarely get twice in life. Memphis and his Sun Studio! And to think it all started in 2023 with a victory at the Italian Blues. The band opens with the soul and gospel inspired ‘The Mule’, to continue on the chosen path with the bluesy ‘Holy Day’ and the swinging soul caput ‘Symmetry’. The horn section is present in almost every song, and that sets the tone for that danceable. A subdued Hammond organ as an intro for the diffuse ‘Sticky Situation’, and then follows that heavy trombone bass line for songs as ‘The Hider & The Seeker’, ‘Pray For Me’ is a rare blues ballad to round off with the soul track (Extra) ‘Ordinary Day’. The release ‘The Sun Experience’ is Sacromud’s logbook.

Volume 50 in the ‘That’ll Flat…Git It!’ series is the fifth, and also the last CD, that pays attention to the more than formidable recordings made by the Columbia label. No surprise that Bear Family Records is once again diving into the archives of this label. The gems are inexhaustible, as is once again evident from the 30 tracks brought together here. In addition to recordings by Columbia, you will also find a few songs that were released by sister labels Epic and OKeh. Once again, we see quite a few well-known artists in the track list. In addition, this CD also contains a number of lesser-known artists, who made wonderful recordings, but for one reason or another were unable to reach the general public. The rockabilly genre developed rapidly, which is why artists from the country also wanted to get a piece of its success. Naturally, they injected the genre with country influences. And you also get wonderful examples of this. We start with Link Wray, the king of distortion and the well-known instrumental ‘Raw-Hide’. Wray returns later with the bluesy ‘Ain’t That Lovin’ You Baby’, one of the rare songs where he also makes himself heard as a singer.
And Link is not the only well-known one. He is soon joined by Johnny Horton (present with three songs), The Collins Kids (twice) and Carl Perkins. Also present is Johnny Cash, who scored his first hit with Columbia with ‘What Do I Care’, after he left Sam Phillips.
A dynamic raw rocker, with razor-sharp guitar work is ‘Do Do Do’ by Ronnie Dawson, then still recording as Commonwealth Jones. Impressive, but also somewhat more commercial, sounds ‘Let Me Your Comb’ by Bernie Nee.
The influences of country are clearly audible in ‘Little Jimmy Dickens’ ‘Stinky Pass The Hat Around’, partly due to the nice piece of fiddle. Country also resonates in Charlie Adams’ ‘Cattin’ Around’ and ‘Sugar Diet’, as well as in ‘Case Of The Blues’ by Mel Tills, Lefty Frizzell’s ‘From An Angel To A Devil’, ‘There’s A Change In Me’ by Bill Phillips and in ‘The Little Rock Roll’ (with a nice harmonica) and ‘Lay It On The Line’ by Johnny Bond. Even more country is provided by ‘Hook, Line And Sinker’ by Gordon Terry and Carl Butler’s ‘Baby I’m A-Walkin’’.
Hillbilly influences are expressed in ‘Let Me Love You’ by The Maddox Brothers and Rose, while a touch of rhythm & blues can be heard in ‘A Looka – A Looka’ by Larry Hart. Doo-wop is part of ‘Party Pooper’ by Bobby Lord.
It must be said that the Columbia label was certainly not inferior to Sam Phillips’ Sun label in terms of quality rockabilly recordings. This compilation proves this once again with great aplomb.

Vanja Sky ‘Access All Areas Live’, as the title already suggests, Vanja Sky lets her fans completely immerse themselves. Vanja Sky and her excelent band with Guenter Haas, Johannes Hoffmann and her long-time bassist Artjom Feldtser present a live recording that captures the pure concert magic. The show is recorded in 2024 at a sold-out concert in Germany. One hour and a half, a fascinating document that once again makes you want to see Vanja Sky on stage. This live album is much more than just a collection of songs, it is a statement that celebrates the young Croatian. An exciting, versatile live album that captures Vanja's passion on stage. 

Warm and lovely album of a talented jazz singer.  But notice also the piano playing. Just beautiful as a whole!

​Sacromud has been one of the best and most interesting realities of the blues landscape for several years. Italian virtuosity, the project of ‘blues overground’ and ‘new place for the blues’. The double release ‘Gubbio To Memphis: Live At The Opera House, The Overground Suite’ is a live recording of the band at the Luca Ronconi Theater in Gubbio, Italy on December 9, 2023. The hometown of guitar virtuoso Maurizio Pugno. It is a blues-inspired project, with a number of songs that explicitly refer to the blues and related musical styles! Highly recommended… 

The artists who recorded energetic rock-‘n-roll and rockabilly also had a romantic side. This resulted in stirring, often emotionally charged ballads. Bear Family Records bundles 32 of these songs in this first volume, which spotlight the soft side of the fiery rockers. Songs that often served as a B-side or appeared on an album, but once they reached the fans, they unleashed a lot of sentiment in them. Successful country songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Gene Dunlap gets to start with his Jokers in ‘What Do I Want’. In this wonderful ballad with a voice drenched in echo, Gene immediately makes his wishes known. A little more tempo comes with Tracy Pendavis and The Swampers and ‘A Thousand Guitars’, with indeed nice clean work on the six strings. Sleepy LaBeef is present as Tommy La Beff with ‘Lonely’, a song that perfectly highlights his impressive and immediately recognizable voice. Ronnie Self had talent to spare, but due to his rather destructive behavior, he only managed to enter the charts once, namely with ‘Bop-A-Lena’. Here you get the cool ‘I Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere’, the flip side of that single. Ronnie is followed by another Ronnie, namely Hawkins with ‘Someone Like You’, which also uses great backing vocals. As a young man, Sanford Clark was influenced by the work of Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell. He also managed to get a song from the now famous Lee Hazlewood for the minimalistic performed ‘A Cheat’ that can be heard here. This song certainly contributed to the illustrious career that Lee would later build up as a composer and producer. If anyone can create a catchy ballad, it is country artist Patsy Cline. She certainly does so convincingly in ‘Walkin’ After Midnight’. An artist who, like so many others, left us far too early is Ritchie Valens. Fortunately, there were still some of his recordings on the shelf. You could always expect quality from him, just like here in ‘We Belong Together’, a tearjerker of size. Unfortunately, Ric Cartey could not cash in on his composition and original performance of ‘Young Love’. Sonny James did so. That Ric was a talented songwriter is clear from ‘Crying Good Bye’. Ricky Nelson became known to us mainly through his ‘Hello Mary Lou’. However, the man had much more up his sleeve. Just dive into his oeuvre for that. You can already get a foretaste with the formidable ‘Poor Little Fool’. For a dreamy instrumental with nice steel guitar, you should skip to ‘Sleep Walk’ by Santo & Johnny. With the delicious ‘More And More’, Tooter Boatman increases the tempo considerably. Number that contains a cool piano solo. A single with a double A side was ‘Love Me Tender’ by Elvis. On the other side and also on this compilation you get the equally hit-sensitive other side, namely ‘Anyway You Want Me (That’s How I Will Be)’. That same Elvis also had a great influence on Ral Donner’s singing style, as can be heard on ‘Turn Back The Clock’. Link Wray may have been the promoter of the ‘distortion sound’, but he had to leave the vocal qualities to brother Vernon Wray. He can be heard here as Ray Vernon on ‘I’ll Take Tomorrow (Today)’. The album ends in style with top-notch Carl Perkins and ‘Sure To Fall’.
With ‘Rock-A-Ballads’, vol. 1, Bear Family Records suggests that there will definitely be a sequel. For rockers who want to catch their breath or perhaps wallow in heartbreak, this album is the absolute soundtrack. Highly recommended!

Dark and haunting tales about love and nightlife with little musical fuss.  A mysterious album!

The ‘A-Rama’ series is already on its fifth volume. Volume 5 of ‘Jive-A-Rama’ has already been released and soon you can expect the fifth volumes of ‘Bop-A-Rama’ and ‘Stroll-A-Rama’. First up is ‘Jive-A-Rama’. Traditionally, you will once again get 30 tracks that boost the ‘jive feeling’ and make you long for the next party. It is always nice that the Atomicat label brings together well-known and unknown artists and songs on its compilations. Mind you, there is no compromise on quality. All tracks are without a doubt gems, whether you know them or not. Mark Cleary starts energetically with the authentic rocking ‘Bop-Cat Rock’, including surprising sax and guitar solos. Cleary is followed by Jack Moore and The Clefs with ‘Baby Don’t Cry’. A wonderfully poppy number with sublime backing vocals. The cheerful atmosphere is continued with Kimo Lee and ‘If You Don’t Like It, Don’t Knock It’. ‘Old Black Joe’ by Jerry Adams is a rocking song that also has a bit of country in it. Adams recorded the song with The Starlighters, which included J.J. Cale. Georgia Gibbs was originally a jazz singer. Surprisingly, she recorded a version of ‘Great Balls Of Fire’ at the age of 38. And, to be fair, she made a nice fiery cover of it. Country artist Billy Brown originally recorded the Wayne Walker composition ‘Lost Weekend’. As you can hear here, Cab Calloway made a catchy rhythm & blues version of it. Chubby Checker became world famous with his version of ‘The Twist’ by Hank Ballard. Here he works his way through ‘Dance-A-Long’ while jiving. A very nice song is the country-infused ‘Pin Ball Fever’ by Jack Toombs. A song that shows a great piano. Toombs started out as a DJ, but later emerged as a songwriter and musician. Country was also the genre in which Jimmy Lloyd was active. He also showed that he could record a great rocker in ‘You’re Gone Baby’. Even more country influences can be found in ‘I’ve Got The World By The Tail’ by Australian Kevin Shogog and also note the lovely background choir. A dose of humor is contained in ‘A Fish House Function’ by Emmy Oro and Her Rhythm Escorts. A timeless song is certainly ‘I Know That We’ In Love’ by Franny Boye. It is the flip side of Boye’s poppy cover of ‘Rock Around The Clock’. ‘Keep A Knockin’’ is a classic, but we bet you have never heard the song as energetic as in the version by Little Ronnie Sessions. ‘Shy Boy’ by George McCannon III sounds poppy and completely contemporary. A little later, Ronnie Summers provides a great rocker with ‘Salt And Pepper’, a song that would also have been released in Belgium and the Netherlands via the London label. I personally did not know the song, but which small record dealer would have dared to buy it at the time. Too bad, because it is a very good one. You certainly know ‘I’m Walkin’’ in the New Orleans style of Fats Domino. Paul Evans provides a more rocking version.
We would like to refer doo-wop lovers to ‘Shut Your Mouth’ by ​​The Eboniers, ‘Big Deal’ by The Skee Brothers, ‘Come On Baby’ by The Youngtones and ‘Why, Why, Why’ by Scott Stevens and The Cavaliers.
Traditionally, this volume also ends with a contemporary recording from the archives of Rhythm Bomb Records. This time, the Australian Chrome Daddies and their ‘Blackberry Boogie’ were chosen.
We can't say it enough, but the 'A-Rama' series consistently contains the very best recordings from the heyday of the genres. Add to that the excellent sound quality and the attractive covers by the artistic Henrique San and you know that these releases are more than worth it.

Is the Rev really dead? Well, in any case the latest double album of 19 songs is presented as a posthumous retrospective collection.  Including never heard before tracks, alternative takes, remixes, hidden gems and some amazing blues masterpieces done in the Rev’s distinct style - A Bluesman of Sorts indeed! It seems by all accounts the Rev is alive and well on this latest release. 

Johnny Rawls is a soul blues legend, with a career spanning more than fifty years. Produced by Jim Gaines, who unfortunately passed away last year, in his Bessie Blue studio in Stantonville, Tennessee, this was Gaines last album that he produced. Whether he's playing in a small club or a big festival, Johnny always brings the same energy to his performances. and that's exactly the same on this new release...So, make them dance!

With ‘Cooter Bug’, a song by Dave Hamilton, we are now at the fourth volume of the ‘Boss Black Instrumentals’ series. Naturally, you will find the song, namely as the 13th track, on this compilation. Most of the rocking rhythm & blues songs that managed to generate widespread fame, with a few exceptions, were sung songs. In the previous 3 releases in this series, we could already establish that the instrumental songs in the genre were by no means inferior to their vocal counterparts. This is once again evident from the 26 tracks collected on the fourth volume. As legendary well-known artists in rhythm & blues, the Kings are extremely well represented. Freddie King is present with ‘Sen-Sa-Shun’, ‘San-Ho-Zay’ and ‘The Stumble’ and Albert King is present with ‘Dyna Flow’. By the way, the three tracks by Freddie King all come from his album ‘Goes Surfin’’, album where his mega hit ‘Hide Away’ can also be found. The surf sound is therefore rightly reflected in these tracks. Each and every one of them is a high-quality song, but don’t be blinded by these famous names, because there is still a lot of work to enjoy by well-known and lesser-known artists. Opener is Earl Palmer. Palmer was a groundbreaking drummer, who can be heard on many well-known songs, such as on recordings by Fats Domino and Little Richard, to name but a few greats. He recorded a few songs under his own name, including the instrumental ‘Raunchy’, permeated with catchy sax, guitar and piano, a song from his 1961 album ‘Drumsville’. He later returns with ‘Teen Beat’, where you can convince yourself of Earl’s talent as a drummer. Super song! Longer instrumental songs used to be released as singles as part 1 on the A side and part 2 as the B side. This also applied to the rocking ‘Bloodhound’ by Willie Wright & The Sparklers. Here you get the 2 parts nicely presented one after the other in tracks 2 and 3 and also pay attention to those masterful sax. The slower bluesy ‘Slow Freight’ by the Bill Elliott Combo also consists of 2 parts and you also get to hear that nicely one after the other here. A song that conjures up a nice piece of guitar, especially in the second part. ‘Oasis’ by The Majestics also consists of two pieces. Both parts are nicely worked together in one track. Long John Hunter is no stranger to the blues world as a guitarist and composer. Here you hear him at work with his hit ‘El Paso Rock’. Ike Turner initially made many unforgettable songs together with his Kings Of Rhythm and later with Tina Turner. Here you get him in the lightning-fast ‘Doublemint’. When you think of Bo Diddley, the term ‘Diddley Beat’, also known as jungle beat, immediately comes to mind. On ‘Congo’ he takes a more versatile approach, resulting in a cool rocking rhythm & blues. Slim Harpo is known for his performances on the blues harp. This gave him many hits, which are still happily covered by blues artists today. You can hear the master himself here on the lazy ‘Snoopin’ Around’. James Brown would later become famous for his infectious funky sound. That the seeds of this were already sown in 1961, you can clearly hear in ‘Cross Firing’. Gus Jenkins reaped success as a pianist, composer and bandleader, both in blues and rhythm & blues. As a pianist you can hear him here together with his orchestra in ‘Cutting Out’. You already heard The Mighty Trojans in ‘Just About Daybreak’. They may also close with the rocking ‘Just Got Up’, an original number partly due to the use of a flute.
Sax is a frequently recurring instrument on this compilation. An instrument that lends itself particularly well to an exciting, scorching, party sound. Characteristics that also apply to ‘Cooter Bug’, the fourth part in the ‘Boss Black Instrumentals’ series. Fantastic album!

An electrifying tribute to legendary women in Blues music, recorded live for the Groove Now concert series in Basel Switzerland. Blues Music Award winning bassist/vocalist Lisa Mann leads an All-Star band from the Pacific NW, with acclaimed drummer Jimi Bott, fiery guitarists Ben Rice & Jason JT Thomas, and B3 master Louis “King Louie” Pain, joined by Oakland’s own Blues goddess Terrie Odabi.

Alan Arena’s new album ‘Deceived’ is his most classiest work. Arena had a chance to work with his friend and Grammy winning producer Paul Nelson fort his release. Highly recommended! 

With a limited 10” edition of 500 copies, the German Bear Family Records is ready for its next showpiece with ‘Ooh-Eee! What You Do To Me? Rockers And Country Boppers From Atlanta, Ga’. This vinyl edition contains 12 super tracks by young, enormously talented rockabilly artists. Recordings they made for the Stars, Inc. label from Atlanta, Georgia. The man to whom we owe these beautiful recordings is Bill Lowery. As a 16-year-old he started as a DJ and then managed a radio station, after which he settled in Atlanta in 1946. Lowery was a man of many talents. In addition to being a well-known DJ, he was also present in a morning country program and had his own music publishing company, where he scored his first two successes with ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula’ and ‘Young Love’. His label Stars, Inc., which had already ceased to exist at the end of 1957, he launched in 1955, in the heyday of the rockabilly. Although Jerry Reed did not record his own single for this label, he can be heard as a composer and guitarist on many of the recordings brought together here. Such as immediately on the opener and also the title track of this release. Jerry is listed as a songwriter, but can also be heard as a guitarist on both the version by Chuck Atha and this one by Ric Cartey, with which the second side opens. And it is clear that Jerry takes the songs to a higher level with his playing. The second track comes with Judy Tolbert and ‘I’m Wise To You Now’, on which you can once again hear magnificent guitar work, which is probably also by Reed. Reed is a common thread throughout this album. For example, he also composed the two instrumental parts of the bluesy ‘Rock Bottom’ by The Rockateers, on which Jerry shows an extremely beautiful piece of blues guitar. Pay also special attention to the second part, which is started with a nice honky tonk piano. For a portion of impressive ‘straightforward’ rockabilly you can go to The Night Hawks with ‘You’re My Baby’ and later on the second side with Cleve Warnock and his ‘My Baby Is Gone’. Warnock returns later with the poignant country-like ‘A Boy And A Guitar’. The first side closes with the country-inspired ‘Song Of The Singing Wind’ by Kenny Lee. A cheerful and well-voiced Billy Barton turns ‘Ten Wheels’ into an attractive trucker’s song. Each song radiates its own grooves. This certainly applies to the enormously emotional ‘Riding Shotgun (In A Hot Rod Car)’ by Danny Welch. Side two closes in genuine raw, rousing rockabilly style with Billy Brown’s ‘Did We Have A Party’.
As an extra, you also get a beautifully illustrated 10-page folder with all the information about the artists and the tracks.
That Bill Lowery had a nose for talent is evident from the 12 tracks that adorn this vinyl release. He would later tap into that talent at NRC Records.

British blues-rock sensation Joanne Shaw Taylor has announced the upcoming release of her highly anticipated 10th studio album, Black & Gold, arriving June 6th via Joe Bonamassa’s Journeyman Records. Reuniting with iconic producer Kevin Shirley (Iron Maiden, Journey, Joe Bonamassa), the album showcases Taylor’s bold creativity, blending blues-rock with influences from Americana, indie rock, and retro ‘80s pop. Black & Gold offers a captivating mix of heart-wrenching ballads and hard-hitting rock tracks that redefine the boundaries of blues music.

In 2022, Didier Céré made our hair stand on end with his album ‘Rock Rebel’. With Johnny Hallyday, France had its own rock icon and the old authentic rocker Céré from the South of France can proudly take over that torch. Rocking in your native language, admit it, it is not given to everyone. First and foremost, it requires an enormous dose of courage and in addition, you also have to come across as convincing as an artist. Well, Céré consistently banishes those obstacles from the first song ‘Blouson Noir’. The album contains eleven tracks and mixes covers with original songs. Songs that can boast a solid sound, so that the album gets a not to be sneezed at, more contemporary rock touch. Céré can count on a large number of guest musicians, including Fred Chapelier, Redd Volkaert, Neil Black, Red Young and Larry T. Telford. The addition of Mickael Mazaleyrat on harmonica is nice in any case. That makes the Brian Setzer borrowed ‘Radiation Ranch’, here as ‘Le Rade Des Zombies’ a very personal but above all extremely successful cover version. Later, Céré returns to Setzer again with ‘Maria’, where Céré himself provided the translation. In the footsteps of his great example Johnny Hallyday, Céré follows with ‘La Generation Perdue’, which is bathed in a Springsteen atmosphere by Michel Mondou’s sax. Mondou repeats that again on ‘Mauvaise Fille’, where the other Mondou, namely Jeremy, provides a beautiful guitar solo. That same Jeremy also wrote the instrumental ‘Kings Shuffle’, on which he pulls out all the stops on the six strings. A song that also contains nice sax and harmonica parts. What a song! For ‘Je Suis Toque’, Céré reaches for the Bruce Springsteen-known ‘Fire’. And Céré also makes this French-language cover his own. The ballad, ‘Je Serais La’ is also known from Hallyday. JD McPherson’s ‘Let The Good Times Roll’ provides the title track of the album as ‘Made In Rock ‘n’ Roll’.
The American railway worker Casey Jones, who died in a train accident in 1900, inspired Didier Céré and Jeremy Mondou for the swinging closing track ‘Casey Jones Boogie’.
With ‘Made In Rock ‘n’ Roll’, Didier Céré proves 100% that, in addition to authentic rock-‘n-roll, he also has a feel for its contemporary interpretation. Anyone who doesn’t know the man yet will find ‘Made In Rock ‘n’ Roll’ to be a more than pleasant introduction.

TuskHead's musical style is deeply rooted in that Americana and country vibe. It reads like a big American songbook. Highly recommended! 

In 1965, English singer and keyboardist Georgie Fame scored a worldwide hit with ‘Yeh Yeh’, only to be forgotten less than ten years later. Well, not entirely, since Pye gave him the opportunity to put out the album ‘Right Now!’ in1978, followed by two more: ‘That’s What Friends Are For’ in 1979 and ‘Closing the Gap’ a year later. All three remastered LPs are now available as a double cd on BGO Records, together with an informative booklet.
Then in his mid- to late thirties, Fame still sounds as good as ever. His voice and playing intact, he recruited the fine fleur of jazz and adjacent genres, think Jim Mullen, Dick Morrissey, Karl Jenkins and even the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra. That first hit was an arrangement of a Latin soul instrumental and here too Fame keeps mixing jazz, his first love, with other styles, like R&B, soul, country, lounge and reggae, both on his own compositions [e.g. ‘Cats Eyes’ and ‘Little Samba’] or covers such as of C&W-giant Willie Nelson’s ‘Funny How Time Slips Away’ [given a reggae twist] or Bill Withers’ ‘Sitting in the Park’ [a feeling of lounge and light funk]. The array of instruments is quite impressive and includes flugel horn, congas, piccolo all kinds of flutes.
It all works, except maybe for some very lush arrangements, and the totally superfluous disco beat on ‘A Different Dream’. If you liked his late sixties stuff, you’re in for another treat.
Radio 68  broadcasts choice tracks on Wednesdays 21 May and 4 June 2025, from 12 noon till 12 midnight CET, that is 11 a.m. till 11 p.m. GMT London.