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LP
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BAF 18036LP
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"Bear Family Records re-releases the second soul/blues album Bobby 'Blue' Bland recorded in Los Angeles during 1973/74 -- entitled His California Album! Another milestone in soul/blues history on high-quality 180gram vinyl. Bland is quite justly regarded as one of the greatest US blues, soul and R&B singers of all time. Producer Steve Barri -- also responsible for Dreamer the following year -- brought guitarists Larry Carlton, Mel Brown, and Dean Parks into the studio. Contains 'This Time I'm Gone For Good,' '(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want To Be Right,' and 'Help Me Through The Day,' classics of the genre. This first vinyl reissue on 180-gram has been carefully remastered and the original cover art is reproduced. When Bear Family released Dreamer by Bobby 'Blue' Bland (1930 -- 2013) on vinyl for the first time since its original release, it had no idea of the demand for this record. In 1973/74, Steve Barri produced two albums in Los Angeles with perhaps the greatest soul/blues singer of all time, which both met with a mixed reception at the time. After more than 50 years, however, Dreamer and its predecessor His California Album sound so 'hung up', cool and timeless, fantastic classics. The chant of the church combined with deep blues in Bland's interpretation is incredibly moving, the melancholy in his voice sounds so emotional, sometimes heartbreaking, at times cool and soft. Bland could be tough, but he also possessed the crooner qualities of Nat 'King' Cole, for example. His California Album -- the perfect synthesis of black soul and blues from the South and the coolness and laid-back attitude of Los Angeles."
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BCD 17750CD
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"With Etta James, Bear Family Records finally dedicates itself to the most rocking recordings of one of the most important and successful Afro-American singers of her time! She was equally at home in R&B, jump, doo-wop, hard blues, languorous ballads and hot soul. Bill Dahl has written the detailed and exciting liner notes. The extensive booklet contains many photos and illustrations. Feisty from day one, Etta James amassed an incredible musical legacy by refusing to limit her vocal exploits to one genre. Jumping R&B, doo-woppish ballads, tough blues, smoldering torch ballads, sizzling soul -- Miss Peaches did it all during her primordial days in the studio. Etta James Rocks takes an in-depth gander at James' early years of rocking and rolling with 29 well-selected tracks from the Modern/Kent and Chess/Argo archives. Naturally, her 1955 debut R&B chart-topper 'The Wallflower' -- a sassy response to The Midnighters' 'Work With Me Annie' -- is here, along with the encore 'Hey! Henry,' her second Modern hit 'Good Rockin' Daddy,' and the New Orleans-cut scorcher 'Tough Lover,' complete with a two-chorus Lee Allen sax solo (her Crescent City remake of 'The Wallflower' is also aboard, retitled 'Dance With Me Henry'). When Etta shifted her recording home from Los Angeles to Chicago-based Chess at the dawn of the '60s, she engaged in more rocking alongside her smoldering balladry, often with a soul-steeped edge: 'Seven Day Fool,' the charming girl group-oriented 'Pushover,' and 'Next Door To The Blues' are splendid examples. Her snarling violin-enriched reprise of Willie Dixon's 'I Just Want To Make Love To You' reset the song's parameters (ditto her duet rendition of 'Spoonful' with her beau of the moment, Moonglows founder Harvey Fuqua). Add two selections from her seminal album Etta James Rocks The House, done in late '63 at Nashville's New Era Club, and you know beyond all doubt that Etta James Rocks!"
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BCD 17764CD
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"With Johnny 'Guitar' Watson, Bear Family presents an exceptionally inventive and style-defining musician in the Rocks series. As 'Young' John Watson, he enjoyed his first triumphs as a teenager and pianist, before coaxing never-before-heard sounds from his Fender guitar and amplifier with Space Guitar in 1954 and henceforth being celebrated as Johnny 'Guitar' Watson! This release follows his career from 1953 to '64 with a focus on the up-tempo numbers driven by his razor-sharp guitar tone. Including 'Hot Little Mamma,' 'Too Tired,' the great 'Gangster Of Love,' 'Johnny Guitar,' 'Untouchable,' and 'Cuttin' In,' his biggest hit to date (1961). Extensive liner notes by Chicago music historian Bill Dahl, plus discographical details and illustrations in the comprehensive booklet. To earn the right to nickname yourself after your chosen instrument, you certainly have to be exceptional on it -- and Johnny 'Guitar' Watson most definitely was. The Houston native could have just as accurately been called Johnny 'Piano' Watson, since he was every bit as talented on the ivories. Bear Family's Watson entry in its Rocks CD-series showcases Johnny working out on both of his main instruments, gathering his early blazing triumphs on the Combo, Federal and RPM labels as well as lesser known but equally sizzling follow-ups for a variety of Los Angeles concerns. Johnny took blues guitar into aggressive new directions on his jumping 'Half Pint-A-Whiskey,' 'Hot Little Mamma,' and 'Too Tired,' and his eye-popping 1954 instrumental 'Space Guitar' was so far ahead of its time that listeners still haven't fully caught up with it. What's more, his hip, super-cool vocal delivery was highly influential to Etta James. All of those aforementioned classics are here, along with 'Looking Back,' the introductory 'Johnny Guitar,' and his first swaggering released version of 'Gangster Of Love.' Find out for yourself why Johnny earned the right to refer to himself as 'Guitar!'"
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BCD 17679CD
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"Ike Turner proved to be a challenging and polarizing character, considered moody, irascible and aggressive, even towards his partner. Despite all his contradictions, Ike Turner the musician is considered an influential figure in RnR, a talent scout, producer, pianist and pioneering guitar stylist. Bear Family Records gathers the very best early rockers and instrumentals by this brilliant musician on a CD. Chicago music historian Bill Dahl has studied Turner's life and work in great depth and describes the significance of the RnR eccentric in the illustrated and detailed liner notes. Sometimes you have to separate the man from the music-seldom a wiser course of action than in the case of Ike Turner. No matter your feelings regarding the man himself, the recordings he made during the 1950s rocked with an unbridled vengeance, whether Ike was laying down supple boogie piano underpinnings or whammy bar-laden guitar magic. This collection largely concentrates on Turner's pre-Tina years, when his band, The Kings of Rhythm, operated like a well-oiled machine and Ike was the picture of polished professionalism. He and The Kings bounced from one label to the next (Chess, Modern, Federal, Cobra and Sue are all amply represented), spotlighting an array of extraordinary vocalists. Many of them are showcased on this set, beginning with Jackie Brenston's immortal Rocket '88,' a 1951 R&B chart-topper and a genuine rock and roll landmark. Dennis Binder, Billy Gayles, Clayton Love, Tommy Hodge, and Jimmy Thomas all had big, booming voices when they fronted Ike's combo -- a must, since Turner was going insane behind them on his lethal axe. That was especially true on the band' 1956-57 Federal sides; 'I'm Tore Up,' 'Sad As A Man Can Be,' and 'Gonna Wait For My Chance' are downright intimidating in their rollicking intensity. This is truly some hellraising stuff."
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BCD 17705CD
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"Fourth and final part in the little CD series on 'true rock & roll in Germany' on Bear Family Records. Nico Feuerbach has put his heart and soul into compiling this edition full of quirky, rare and once well-known recordings from the 1950s and '60s. Including, among others, the Rattles, Conny Quick, the Liverpool Beats, Dieter Kersten, Peter Reese & The Pages, and and and... Extensively narrated by Roland Heinrich Rumtreiber in the included comprehensive booklet, accompanied by many photos and illustrations. Carefully remastered from the best possible sources and nobly packaged in Digipak. Bear Family Records proudly presents another breathtaking compilation of German Rock & Roll from the '50s and early '60s. The balancing act between the Northern Band sound of Conny Quick's 'Rock Baby Rock,' which sounds like Conny singing in the shower to the swing program on his tube radio, and the raw beer cellar sound of the famed Rattles with 'Shimmy Shimmy,' succeeds effortlessly. The compilation delivers unusual gems like the Liverpool Beats' cover of Jimmy Reed's 'Let's Get Together,' a bold copy of the Marcels' 'Blue Moon,' and 'Kiss Me' by Dieter Kersten and his Rockin' Stars. Their garage teen rockabilly is reminiscent of early Johnny Powers. Peter Reese and the Pages deliver a cosmic Silver Surfer sound yet call their instrumental modestly Pages Rhythm. The country-esque "Die Farbe der Liebe" by jazz virtuoso Paul Kuhn is a late-hour bar shuffle for the Wirtschaftswundermann."
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BCD 17688CD
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"Charlie Feathers Rocks -- and here's the ultimate 31 track Bear Family Records CD to prove it! --The first label and decade spanning compilation covering the 1950s to 1990s. No overlaps with the Bear Family Records CD Rock-a-Billy. Rockin' music from 1956-77 including classics like 'Get With It', 'One Hand Loose' and 'Tear It Up' plus supreme tracks from later years, including 'That Certain Female' a later Rollin' Rock recording which became comet-like popular worldwide by Quentin Tarantino's blockbuster Kill Bill! Recordings made for Sun, Flip, Meteor, King plus sides he made after his rediscovery in late '60s and early '70s rockabilly revival, a.o. some recordings for the label Barrelhouse Records. As a bonus, there is the very rare track Adamsville by Bill Privett, with Charlie Feathers on guitar about a spectacular bank robbery in Adamsville (the hometown of Sheriff Buford Posser), Tennessee. Detailed liner notes by Martin Hawkins, roots music expert and author of the book Sun Records - The Brief History of the Legendary Record Label. Carefully re-mastered for the best possible sound quality. The long overdue tribute to a legendary uncompromising artist in our Rocks series! The rocking music here is mostly from the 1950s and '60s (classics such as 'Get With It', 'One Hand Loose', 'Tear It Up') but some later tracks remind us that Charlie Feathers was playing and recording his own version of rockabilly in Memphis for over 40 years. Feathers was one of the very few artists who really did have a style all his own. His rock was not the same as anyone else's. It was more country, yet also more bluesy, and with a pulse all its own; more about rhythm than anything. Charlie only had a short '50s career -- but on iconic labels like Sun, Flip, Meteor, King -- then was rediscovered in the '70s rockabilly revival and beyond."
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BCD 17643CD
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"Third installment in the Rockin' With The Krauts mini-series on Bear Family Records. A whopping 33 tracks from 1956-67. R'n'R in its purest form, including twist rockers, jivers, beat rockers and rock n' roll instrumentals. Including Freddy Quinn with At The Hop, indo rockers Jimmy Ward & His Real Rockers with Susi Twist, the Rivets with a sizzling version of 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' and the Odd Persons with their smash instrumental 'Odd's Boogie!' Super cover versions and interpretations of US tunes like 'Hats Off To Larry', 'King Creole', 'Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On', 'Trouble In Paradise', and 'King Of The Whole Wide World'. Besides little known artists like Christa Casper, Fred Jasper, the Pipelines and the Rickets, you'll hear recordings by popular singers like Ted Herold, Rita Pavone, the Rattles or Tony Sheridan. Many original singles are sought after, hard to find and often very expensive! Nine tracks officially available on CD for the first time! The German language, informative and very entertaining accompanying essay was written by Roland Heinrich! 'Deliver Me from the Days of Old' had Chuck Berry screaming imploringly to the heavens, and in stuffy post-war Germany he spoke from the soul of countless youngsters. While the church, law enforcers and the politically retarded countered the wild hordes of semi-starlets and hedonistic teenagers with perfidious tricks and brute force, a very unique German variant of rock n' roll emerged. The writers and musicians were particularly taken with the twist. In the USA, one dance style chased the next, while in Germany, people continued to compose twist. So, we were spared grotesque quick-fire creations like the 'Wattenscheid Watusi' and the 'Fürst Metternich Madison'. Bear Family Records presents with the third part of Rockin' With The Krauts rare, forgotten and even totally wacky tunes."
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10"
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BAF 14029LP
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"On the occasion of her 85th birthday on October 20, 2022, Bear Family Records honors Wanda Jackson, the Queen of Rockabilly with a fine 10" vinyl LP. A round a dozen of unique Rockabilly classics fill the grooves of this high-quality record in a limited edition. In addition to '(Let's Have A) Party', tracks include 'Baby Loves Him', 'Mean Mean Man', 'Cool Love' and 'Savin' My Love' and her re-makes of 'Fujiyama Mama' and 'Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad'. Liner notes by Bill Dahl. What a party! All hail the rockabilly queen! Wanda Jackson staked her royal reputation as an unbridled rocker on the killer sides she waxed for Capitol Records during the second half of the 1950s. A dozen of those classics constitute this Bear Family Records 10" LP, every one permeated with the sexy swagger and sensual sway that became her trademark after Elvis helped convince her to switch her stylistic focus from country to rock and roll. Wanda set her own 'Baby Loves Him', 'Mean Mean Man', 'Cool Love', and 'Savin' My Love' afire, made the swinging oldies 'Fujiyama Mama' and 'Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad' her own, and transformed the rip-roaring '(Let's Have A) Party' into a national hit (even Elvis and The Collins Kids couldn't do that). Wanda's studio bands included guitar demigods Joe Maphis and Roy Clark as well as her own touring combo, The Poe Kats featuring piano pounder 'Big' Al Downing. Jackson's rip-roaring rockabilly side is on full glorious display on these 12 classic tracks. Talk about a party!"
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CD
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BCD 17551CD
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"28 original Bo Diddley Checker recordings from Chicago. One of the most important discs in Bear Family Records Rocks series. Including three Top 5 R&B hits: 'Bo Diddley' from 1955, 'Pretty Thing' from 1956, and 'Say Man' from 1959. Also including highly influential tracks such as 'I'm A Man' and 'Diddley Daddy' from 1955, 'Road Runner' from 1960, and 'You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover' from 1962. Recordings feature several important and original musicians, including: Jerome Green on maracas, Clifton James on drums, Jody Williams on guitar, and Peggy Jones (Lady Bo) on guitar, along with renowned blues players Otis Spann, Lafayette Leake, Frank Kirkland, and Willie Dixon. Formidable and informative biographical notes by Bill Dahl. Full discography information for each track. Incredible photo gallery including previously unseen shots. Reissue coordinated and compiled by Martin Hawkins. You can't judge a book by the cover, according to the song by Bo Diddley -- but you sure can tell a record made by Bo Diddley. For that reason, this is one of the most important discs in our Rocks series. Here is a full CD of truly original, groundbreaking rock and roll, presented as only Bo Diddley could, and as only Bear Family Records can. Bo Diddley's music had a unique beat, an individuality, an 'attitude,' and it formed part of the basic fabric of rock and roll during its heyday in the mid-1950s to the early '60s. There was normally a Bo Diddley disc on the American R&B charts in those years (11 in all) and five of them made the pop charts, too. The immediately recognizable 'Bo Diddley Beat' was copied by some, but never as well, while many others weaved elements of his style into the rock music mainstream. From Buddy Holly's 'Not Fade Away', Dee Clark's 'Hey Little Girl', and Johnny Otis' 'Willie And The Hand Jive' through Freddy Cannon's 'Buzz Buzz A-Diddle-It', Mac 'Dr. John' Rebennack's 'Storm Warning', to 'Magic Bus' by The Who, Diddley's sound has become universal."
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16CD BOX
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BCD 17052CD
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"Limited and numbered edition of 1,500 copies! 16-CD box set (LP-size) with 352-page hardcover book, 472 tracks. Bear Family Records presents the rise of rhythm 'n' blues in Washington, D.C. music from the swing era, classic doo-wop of the 1940s and 1950s, rocking rhythm & blues, rock & roll and soul of the early 1960s. Classics such as 'Love Potion No. 9' (The Clovers), 'Wedding Bells' (The Senators) and 'Georgianna' (Lloyd Price), supplemented by local hits, long-forgotten obscure tunes and sought-after rarities. A comprehensive 352-page hardcover LP-sized book by researcher Jay Bruder documents the exciting history of the Washington music scene from the 1940s to the 1960s -- with background information on the African-American press, club scene, and nightlife with its movers and shakers, based on years of research and interviews with surviving eyewitnesses. Hundreds of long out of print and hard to find recordings drawn from the best available sources, carefully sequenced in order of release, form a comprehensive review of the entire recording scene. This is not just a greatest hits collection. In depth biographies draw attention to long overlooked artists such as The Griffin Brothers with Margie Day, Delores 'Baby Dee' Spriggs, Billy Fair, TNT Tribble, Frank Motley Jr., The Three of Us Trio, The Crawford Brothers, Sam Hawkins, and Phil Flowers. The story of Quality Records shows how this Washington-based label started by Ahment Ertegun, Herb Abramson, and Max Silverman in 1946 led to the launch of Atlantic Records two years later. The story of Lillian Claiborne and her DC Records operation illustrates her role sustaining Washington's recording scene from 1947 through the early 1970s. Pioneering vocal group recordings by The Progressive Four, The Cap-Tans, The Clovers, The Four Dots, and The Heartbreakers illustrate Washington's early contribution to the rise of R&B vocal groups."
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BCD 17629CD
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"Albert Austin Burgess -- in short 'Sonny' -- was an icon and a crowd favorite for generations of Rockabilly fans worldwide. Active in the music scene for decades, Sonny exuded the energy and playfulness of the early rockers like no other ... just like when it all began ... we wanna boogie! Bear Family delivers the first cross-label CD compilation of Sonny Burgess' recordings from the fifties to the new millennium! Including his outstanding Nashville recordings from the Moondog Studios. Legendary New England sessions with Dave Alvin of The Blasters and others. Most importantly, Sonny's terrific version of 'My Heart Is Achin' For You', a chart hit for Rosie Flores, written by James Intveld. Top-notch rockabilly numbers from his Chicago-produced album with top Windy City musicians. And of course 'Spellbound', the rare US studio version recorded in Arkansas, now on CD for the first time. Plus the essential original masters for Sun Records including rare alternate versions. Finally as a bonus track a rare US Live On Stage recording with Larry 'Honey Bun' Donn (late 1950s/early '60s) -- with the pure energy of the pioneer rocker! Long overdue -- and now finally compiled and released by Bear Family: the comprehensive tribute to a great pioneer of rock 'n' roll, Sonny Burgess. He came into the world May 28, 1929 as Albert Austin Burgess in Little Rock, Arkansas, and remained active well into the new millennium. His studio career as an independent artist began in the 1950s with Sun Records in Memphis and took him across the U.S. to Nashville, Chicago, Arkansas and New England over the next fifty years. Our CD compilation is not content with reissuing his early Sun rockers. We've culled the best numbers from that era, some in excellent alternate versions, from the Sun archives. But we continue Sonny's story with, among other things, the outstanding recordings featuring Dave Alvin of the Blasters, and and and ..."
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13CD Box
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BCD 16080CD
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"The most comprehensive anthology of music inspired by the Vietnam War ever released. Over 330 titles covering all facets of the war and its aftermath featuring The Doors, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Country Joe McDonald and dozens of other artists. Rarely heard documentary material including patriotic Public Service Announcements, field news reports and intercepted North Vietnamese radio transmissions of Jane Fonda and Hanoi Hannah. A heavily illustrated, full-color 304-page book containing extensive artist/song notes, Vietnam War history and recollections by vets on their favorite songs. Two discs of music exclusively by Vietnam veterans. Never-before-released tracks recorded during the war by in-country soldiers. Mister, Where Is Vietnam ... Next Stop Is Vietnam: The War On Record, 1961-2008 is a stunning, years-in-the-making anthology of the Vietnam War's musical legacy. Presented on 13 CDs with a 304-page book illustrated with numerous archival photographs, this collection examines the war in a powerful and unprecedented way. Over 330 music and spoken word tracks take the listener through a guided tour of this epochal period of modern history. From America's first, na called Vietnam through the spirited musical debate over the morality of the war to the healing meditations on the conflict's lengthy aftermath, this set captures it all and more. Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Merle Haggard, Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen, Phil Ochs, Johnny Cash, Yoko Ono, John Lennon, The Doors, Country Joe McDonald and dozens of other artists including many Vietnam veterans are the tour guides through this enlightening and entertaining journey. The full-color book that accompanies the music is packed with information on the songs and the artists who recorded them by music scholar Hugo A. Keesing."
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CD
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BCD 17642CD
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"Second and final installment in the Rockin' With The Krauts mini-series on Bear Family. 32 tracks from 1956-1967. German Rock 'n' Roll in its pure form, including twist rockers, Madison rockers, jivers, beat rockers and Rock & Roll instrumentals. -The second part is about such exotics as Wolfgang Sauer with his great version of 'For You My Love', Ted Hiller's version of 'Memphis, Tennessee', which really slams, and ... German dancing queen Marika Rökk, who delivers a rocker you would never have expected her to do! Great cover versions and interpretations of U.S. originals such as 'Caldonia', 'Nag', 'Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On', 'Devil In Disguise' and 'Runaway'. Besides rather unknown musicians like John Dattelbaum, Lutz Dietmar, Little Gerhard, Emanuel & Leon Ardy's Hit-Cockers, Jack Finey & The Pralins, there are fine rockers from popular stars like Bill Ramsey, Rex Gildo, Billy Mo, Ralf Bendix, Werner Müller and even Marika Rökk, which you would never have expected from these performers! Part 2 also highlights the swinging side of the '50s -- three titles with definite right to be included! Many original singles are sought after, hard to find and often very expensive! Six tracks officially on CD for the first time! Notes by Roland Heinrich. Please, note: German language liner notes! The Krauts Are Rockin' -- how come they had let them continue, even? 'Hail, Hail Rock' n' Roll - Deliver Me from the Days of Old,' Chuck Berry had cried out to the skies, and he really struck a chord with numberless kids in reactionary postwar Germany. While the church, law enforcement, and the politically backward tried to end this hedonistic and hellish hullabaloo with nasty tricks and by brute force, a distinct krautsy variant of rock & roll developed, nevertheless. Musicians and composers alike were especially fond of the twist, mostly ignoring other US dance fads. Thank goodness, German ditty mongers might have come up with a 'Wattenscheid Watusi'."
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BCD 17617CD
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"Whether Forbidden Planet or Visitors from Space -- here the fan of 1950s sci-fi movies gets his money's worth! This release in Bear Family's Destination series deals with the unexplainable, the other dimension, and last but not least with interplanetary horror -- but it also really rocks out. 37 tracks from 1951-1965 answer the most urgent questions: does the forbidden planet exist, and are there beings from outer space? Of course, we hear various interpretations by famous artists, including Louis Prima, Billy Lee Riley or Judy Garland! In addition, plenty of unknown rarities that would have deserved chart success, many of them for the first time on CD! Furthermore: two exceptional guitarists in a class of their own: Billy Mure and George Barnes! Both with outstanding outer space instrumentals! Artists from different nations, among others Freddy Sunder from Belgium and Winifred Atwell and Don Lang from Great Britain. This extraterrestrial music cocktail is rounded off with original movie trailers and some monumental orchestral interludes à la David Rose and Jimmie Haskell. The 16-page color booklet contains info on each track by producer Marc Mittelacher and many photos and illustrations, some of them rare. The forbidden planet -- what is the story behind it? And what are the 'Purple People Eater', the Blood Beasts and the Robot Men? Beings from another world? Visitors from outer space? All these questions can only be answered by this CD. What's more, it rocks and swings, not only on Earth, but also on Mars, Jupiter, the Moon and, of course, the forbidden planet."
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BCD 17641CD
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"Since the 1990s, Bear Family has released quite a few German-language rock 'n' roll compilations: what you get to hear here has nothing to do with them! -The hard stuff, the real stuff -- no rockers trivialized to innocent hits, but pure rock 'n' roll, twist rockers, beat rockers and hard instrumentals. 33 real rock 'n' roll masters of the years 1957-65 from Germany -- no 'Sugar Baby' attitudes, they also rocked English! This music was hardly played on the radio or at the dance school -- if at all, it was played at Dampmann's caterpillar track or bumper cars at the funfair. In addition to popular artists like Ted Herold, Paul Würges and Billy Sanders, we provide lesser-known individual performers and bands that have never appeared on rock 'n' roll compilations, including the Starfighters, the Six Tornados, the Rocking Stars, the Fred Hollerbach All-Stars and Frankie & The Rockets -- hard to find and expensive in the original! Did you know that performers you'd never expect, like Michael Holm and Bernd Spier, have recorded badass rockers? We prove it. Four titles for the first time on CD The Krauts Are Rockin' -- how could it ever come to this? German rock 'n' roll from the '50s and early '60s evokes ambivalent emotions, separated mothers from daughters, brothers from sisters and fathers from sons -- the spirit of rock 'n' roll was as important as our daily bread for the youth in post-war Germany. hail, hail rock 'n' roll -- deliver me from the days of old the prophet had once proclaimed. The music industry quickly locked the wild teens in the pop cage, the really rough escapees came to the mood cannons of the funfair front. Until today, the '50s are presented to us as a pastel-colored fairy tale land, in which there is no place for rockers, teenagers and the rebellion of a generation against mendacity, oblivion and smugness. Bear Family Records presents a compilation away from the big hits, wanderlust and grotesque trivialization of youth."
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2CD
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BCD 17575CD
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"A double CD with recordings by Rev. Robert Ballinger kicks off the new gospel CD series on Bear Family! Mostly with a trio, accompanied by bass and drums, the pianist and singer recorded some of the most powerful blues-drenched gospel numbers in the 1950s and early '60s. Musically, the Reverend's vocals are more reminiscent of blues and R&B shouters than of traditional gospel singing in African-American houses of worship; as a pianist, he impresses with his extreme, pounding playing in the best barrelhouse tradition. Recordings for United, Chess, Artistic and Peacock. Extensive liner notes by Chicago author Bill Dahl, carefully remastered recordings. From the 1930s on, Chicago served as the nurturing cradle of modern gospel music, thanks to the incredibly prolific Thomas A. Dorsey and his small army of protégés, choirs, and choruses. Every so often, an outsider with his own concept crashed the Windy City's burgeoning gospel scene -- and sanctified evangelist Rev. Robert Ballinger's thundering musical vision was about as close to rock and roll as you could come while still working in service of the man above. Rev. Ballinger entered a Chicago recording studio for the first time in late 1952 under the auspices of United Records. The seven sides wouldn't see light of day until Delmark Records, now owner of the United's archives, featured five of the reverend's sides on a 1997 gospel CD. The piano-pounding Ballinger debuted in 1955 on Chess Records with an inspiring rendition of Sister Rosetta Tharpe's rollicking This Train as blues legend Willie Dixon applied thundering bass (Dixon dug it so much that he wrote My Babe around its chord changes and melody), then migrated over to Eli Toscano's Artistic logo in 1958 for another one-off single before cutting two wild early '60s albums for Don Robey's Peacock label -- and they're all on this compilation."
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2CD
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BCD 17624CD
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"The fourth and final part is dedicated to the West Berlin scene of the day and presents popular bands such as Ash Ra Tempel, Lokomotive Kreuzberg, Agitation Free, Dissidenten, Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream alongside e.g. Karthago, Mythos, Emtidi, Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Cluster, Harmonia, or Os Mundi. Mostly remastered from digital tape copies by Marcus Heumann without wasting the original sound. Compiled and commented on 100(!) pages by Burghard Rausch (DJ, vinyl collector, drummer, radio presenter/author and book editor). With Kraut! Die Innovativen Jahre des Krautrock 1968-1979 we will release a double CD every three months in 2020 with a booklet of about 100 pages and biographies of each band, an exquisite selection of the exciting and influential bands of those days, some of which caused a sensation far beyond Germany."
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8CD BOX
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BCD 17570CD
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"Among Silverstein's wry sagas about winners, losers, and lonely all-night cafés, you'll discover charming children's songs and touching, affectionate love ballads. A complicated man, that Silverstein. If most people associate the late Shel Silverstein with his children's literature, others remember his cartoons and graphic travelogues for Playboy. By contrast, relatively few recognize this Chicago native as a prolific songwriter, penning such hits as Johnny Cash's 'A Boy Named Sue', 'Dr. Hook' and the Medicine Show's 'The Cover Of Rolling Stone', Tompall Glaser's 'Another Log On The Fire', and Loretta Lynn's 'One's On The Waycorn'. No artist recorded more Silverstein songs than veteran country singer Bobby Bare. His 1972 cover of Silverstein's bittersweet Sylvia's Mother launched a professional relationship that led to an enduring friendship. Lullabys, Legends And Lies from 1974 remains an exercise in pure imagination, establishing Bare as a major album artist and yielded Marie Laveau, Bare's first chart-topping single. During the late '70s, Shel Silverstein shifted his creative focus to playwriting and children's books, but he continued crafting clever songs specifically for Bare. By the mid-'80s, Bobby Bare had recorded more than 100 Silverstein originals. Bobby Bare Sings Shel Silverstein Plus the first comprehensive collection of this material, is accompanied by a 128-page hardcover book, its eight CDs include 137 tracks, 25 of them previously unissued. Six albums appear complete, including integral songs by other writers. The long-unheard 'Great American Saturday Night' includes three songs missing from a recent independent label release. The box set contains an LP-sized, lavishly illustrated 128-page hardcover book that contains song lyrics and a discography. In a conversation with Hank Davis, Bare recalls his years working with Silverstein, and Dave Samuelson documents the songwriter's multiple creative pursuits."
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BCD 17626CD
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"The fifth volume in our documentary series on Rock 'n' Roll from Great Britain. CD album with Lee Curtis' best recordings for Decca and Star-Club. There are similarities to King Size Taylor, to whom we have already dedicated an album: both were able to establish themselves better in Germany than in their British homeland. Detailed liner notes by Ashley Wood in the extensive and illustrated booklet. When Lee Curtis and the All-Stars finished 1962 as runners-up in the Mersey Beat Poll and then shortly thereafter secured a Decca recording contract, they must have felt as though they could be on the verge of a national breakthrough. Concerts and contracts notwithstanding, Lee's film star good looks and the presence of former Beatle Pete Best on drums were potentially a record company publicist's dream but mismanagement by Decca and ill-timed Star-Club jaunts saw Lee's homeland profile diminish rather than increase. As with our earlier series subject King Size Taylor, Lee found his audience in Germany where he performed with great success until a car crash effectively halted his career in 1967. Selected from more than two albums worth of material including tracks cut for both Decca and Star-Club, The Brits Are Rocking Vol. 5 focuses on Lee Curtis. Let's stomp..."
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2CD
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BCD 17621CD
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"Progressive Rock from Germany! Towards the end of the 1960s, German bands began their first attempts to emancipate themselves stylistically from their US and British role models. Prog rock and psychedelia from our country were initially smiled at internationally and disparagingly called 'Krautrock' by cult DJ John Peel, among others. Unorthodox formations could not be pigeonholed, and so a scene with a wide musical range was created. With the release of the first of a total of four issues, Bear Family marks another milestone on the way to a comprehensive documentation of the history of popular music in Germany from the early 1960s to the mid-1980s. Smash! Boom! Bang! covers the complete history of Beat music in Germany on a total of 30 individual CDs; the CD documentation Für wen wir singen -- Liedermacher in Deutschland, consisting of four triple-CDs, describes the singer/songwriter scene with 274 individual songs, supplemented by the 10 CD box set Die Burg Waldeck Festivals 1964-1969. And finally, Aus grauer Städte Mauern - Die Neue Deutsche Welle 1997-1985, Bear Family's four-part double-CD series with popular and weird sound examples and a total of about 600(!) pages of accompanying text. With Teil 1 Kraut! Die Innovativen Jahre des Krautrock 1968-1979 we will release a double-CD every three months in 2020 with a booklet of about 100 pages and biographies of each band, an exquisite selection of the exciting and influential bands of those days, some of which caused a sensation far beyond Germany." Booklet is German language only.
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2CD
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BCD 17622CD
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"Unorthodox formations could not be pigeonholed, and so a scene with a wide musical range was created. Mostly remastered from digital tape copies by Marcus Heumann without wasting the original sound. Compiled and commented on 100(!) pages by Burghard Rausch. With the release of the first of a total of four issues, Bear Family marks another milestone on the way to a comprehensive documentation of the history of popular music in Germany from the early 1960s to the mid-1980s. Smash! Boom! Bang! covers the complete history of Beat music in Germany on a total of 30 individual CDs; the CD documentation Für wen wir singen -- Liedermacher in Deutschland, consisting of four triple-CDs, describes the singer/songwriter scene with 274 individual songs, supplemented by the 10 CD box set Die Burg Waldeck Festivals 1964-1969. And finally, Aus grauer Städte Mauern - Die Neue Deutsche Welle 1997-1985, Bear Family's four-part double-CD series with popular and weird sound examples and a total of about 600(!) pages of accompanying text." Booklet is German language only.
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2CD
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BCD 17623CD
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"Progressive Rock from Germany! Towards the end of the 1960s, German bands began their first attempts to emancipate themselves stylistically from their US and British role models. Prog rock and psychedelia from our country were initially smiled at internationally and disparagingly called 'Krautrock' by cult DJ John Peel, among others. Unorthodox formations could not be pigeonholed, and so a scene with a wide musical range was created. This third part is dedicated to the South of Germany and presents popular bands such as Embryo, Kraan, Volker Kriegel, Guru Guru next to Action, Dzyan, Sahara, or Octopus and Orange Peel. Mostly remastered from digital tape copies by Marcus Heumann without wasting the original sound. Compiled and commented on 112(!) pages by Burghard Rausch (DJ, vinyl collector, drummer, radio presenter/author and book editor). With the release of the first of a total of four issues, Bear Family marks another milestone on the way to a comprehensive documentation of the history of popular music in Germany from the early 1960s to the mid-1980s. Smash! Boom! Bang! covers the complete history of Beat music in Germany on a total of 30 individual CDs; the CD documentation Für wen wir singen -- Liedermacher in Deutschland, consisting of four triple-CDs, describes the singer/songwriter scene with 274 individual songs, supplemented by the 10 CD box set Die Burg Waldeck Festivals 1964-1969. And finally, Aus grauer Städte Mauern - Die Neue Deutsche Welle 1997-1985, Bear Family's four-part double-CD series with popular and weird sound examples and a total of about 600(!) pages of accompanying text." Booklet is German language only.
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BCD 17602CD
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"Great country boogie from Decca Records! A successful up-tempo mixture of honky-tonk and country music from top stars like Hank Penny, Hank Garland, Grady Martin, Jimmie Davis and other fantastic, but largely unknown fellow musicians. The CD features some very successful cover versions of 'Sixty Minute Man', 'Hot Rod Rag', 'Juke Joint Johnny' and 'Bloodshot Eyes' and of course several originals. The liner notes in the extensive and illustrated booklet are written by hillbilly expert Roland Heinrich. 'Series' are playing an important role in the extensive catalog of Bear Family Records, which has grown over decades. Our Rockabilly series That'll Flat Git It!, or Rocks! with the most important stars of rock n' roll and rhythm & blues are among our successful classics. Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight! is dedicated to the often neglected or even unloved country boogie artists. The assertion that country musicians didn't have a blast before Elvis is simply wrong! Already in the '40s musicians made the walls of country dance halls shake! That's country boogie! Bear Family Records' latest release in this series focuses on recordings from the US Decca and Coral labels. The latest installment in Bear Family's groundbreaking Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight! series features the hillbilly and boogie roots of rockabilly and rock n' roll, this time with jewels from Decca and Coral labels. Included are big names like Jimmie Davis ('Cherokee Boogie'), but also artists who remained almost unknown like Jim Atkins('I'm A Ding Dong Daddy From Dumas') and Rusty Keefer with his original version of 'I'm Here To Get My Baby Out Of Jail'. With their own version, The Everly Brothers made it to position #76 in the Billboard charts in 1962! Other hillbilly rockers on this compilation include Tabby West, Hard Rock Gunter, Wayne Raney, Tommy Sosebee, Chuck Murphy, Terry Fell, Kenny Roberts and Arlie Duff."
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BCD 17592CD
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"We Shall All Be Reunited showcases on a mid-price single-CD 26 memorable and varied recordings from the late 1920s Bristol sessions by a range of Appalachian musicians. The recordings were painstakingly remastered in 2020 by sound engineer Marcus Heumann. The album features an evocative 44-page insert booklet designed by Bear Family art director Mychael Gerstenberger. New liner notes written by Ted Olson in which the 1927 sessions are reassessed based on recent scholarly research and discussion. The liner notes explore 'the rest of the story' -- the related cultural occurrences all-too-often ignored or marginalized. This CD continues the series of Bear Family's mid-priced releases exploring East Tennessee's influential 1920s-era location recording sessions. Follow-up album to the Independent Music Award-winning 2019 single-CD Tell It To Me: Revisiting The Johnson City Sessions, 1928-1929 (BCD17591). We Shall All Be Reunited: Revisiting The Bristol Sessions, 1927-1928 casts new light on an old story -- that of the 1927 Bristol sessions. Conducted by Victor Records A&R producer Ralph Peer, this seminal event from the early years of commercial recording in the 1920s was nicknamed 'the Big Bang of Country Music,' while the city in which the event occurred -- Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia -- was officially dubbed 'the Birthplace of Country Music.' Featuring 15 key recordings made in Bristol during late July and early August 1927 -- including first-ever recordings by the now-legendary Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers as well as recordings by several important early country musicians, including Ernest Stoneman, Henry Whitter, Blind Alfred Reed, and others -- We Shall All Be Reunited revisits and reinterprets that 1927 event. To provide a holistic portrayal of Peer's recording work in Bristol, this album includes 11 stand-out selections -- including several classic recordings of old-time and gospel music by such musicians as Uncle Eck Dunford."
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BCD 17542CD
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"She is not only the legendary Queen of Rhythm & Blues, she also had a baby they called Rock 'n' Roll! Her fantastic voice is genre-spanning -- here is the proof! Selected songs from Ruth Brown's career first released between 1953 and 1962 are uniquely compiled here. Included are the rare re-recordings of her classics '5-10-15 Hours' and 'Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean', which she recorded in 1958. In addition to rock songs and teenage ballads, you can also hear mambo, gospel and soul roots. Three recordings for the US Philips label in the early 1960s can be considered rarities: 'Walk With Me, Lord', 'Jim Dandy' and 'Sea Of Love'. As a bonus, there are her live recordings from the 'Rhythm And Blues Revue', never before released on CD! Of course her juke box classics are also included: 'This Little Girl's Gone Rockin'!' The 36-page color booklet includes the biography written by Chicago music journalist Bill Dahl, rare photos, illustrations and discographic information. The Queen of Rhythm and Blues: This compilation of 31 songs impressively shows the extremely interesting career of Ruth Brown. Starting in the early 1950s, when she sang her way to the top of the R&B charts with her unique voice, which already had a high recognition value at that time, and thus created a solid financial basis for her label Atlantic Records, through the time in the mid-1950s, when she easily made the transition from her rather jazzy style of rhythm and blues to rock 'n' roll and teenage ballads and to early soul sounds, gospel and twist in the early '60s. Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean: The title song 'Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean' is one of Ruth Brown's greatest achievements, which she recorded several times throughout her career and which has been part of her regular live repertoire for decades."
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