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NEW RELEASES November 2023

ARTIST: Fats Waller TITLE: All The Hits And More 1922-43 GENRE: Jazz CAT NO: ACTRCD9140 FORMAT: 3CD BUY HERE: £12.00

Pianist, singer and songwriter, Thomas “Fats” Waller was one of the legendary and unique personalities of early jazz and the swing era, an artist with an unmistakably distinctive style and a way with a song whose work transcended the different strands of jazz that emerged during the 20 years or so when he established his reputation and enjoyed all his success as a recording artist.  This 75-track collection is a substantial and enjoyable showcase for one of the great personalities of jazz.

ARTIST: The Ink Spots TITLE: The Hits Collection 1939-51 GENRE: Doo Wop CAT NO: ADDCD3491 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

The Ink Spots, along with the Mills Brothers, were one of the leading early doowop vocal groups during the decades spanning WWII, bringing together the influences of barber-shop quartets, gospel and jazz to create a sound and style that appealed to the mainstream pop market. This 48-track collection is a concentrated presentation of their very best recordings, featuring their highly individual treatments of some of the finest songs of the era, and it’s a marvellous showcase for their unique style of music.

ARTIST: Blind Lemon Jefferson TITLE: Complete Releases 1926-29 GENRE: Blues CAT NO: ACQCD7178 FORMAT: 4CD BUY HERE: £15.00

Blind Lemon Jefferson was one of the most important, influential and successful of the early bluesmen, a singer, songwriter and guitarist who has been called “The Father Of Texas Blues”, and he was one of the earliest and most prominent figures in the blues movement that developed in the Deep Ellum area of Dallas. This substantial and 87-track collection comprises, as far as we are aware, every recording he made which was commercially released, primarily comprising his releases on Paramount, but also featuring titles he made in a brief foray to the Okeh label, and including a couple of titles he made as a member of the Paramount All Stars. 

ARTIST: Roscoe Gordon TITLE: Just A Little Bit - The Singles Collection 1951-61 GENRE: R&B CAT NO: ADDCD3494 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Roscoe Gordon (his name sometimes also appeared as Rosco) was a blues pianist, singer and songwriter from Memphis, who was a pioneer of the Memphis blues style, creating what was known as the “Rosco rhythm”, which later influenced ska and reggae. This 52-track set includes most of his recordings from this era on the RPM, Chess, Duke, Sun and Vee Jay labels. He was an influential figure in Memphis, often appearing on other artists’ records, and this collection of his own recordings is an entertaining showcase for his distinctive talent and style.

ARTIST: Barney Kessel TITLE: The Contemporary Years - Selected Recordings 1953-57 GENRE: Jazz CAT NO: ADDCD3492 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Barney Kessel was a jazz guitarist who is widely regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile guitarists of the post-war era, who had a parallel career as one of the most in-demand session men in Hollywood, appearing on dozens of hit records and movie soundtracks. This 43-track collection comprises selected titles he recorded leading his own bands on albums for the Contemporary label during the middle years of the 1950s. It's a fascinating and enlightening showcase for a great guitarist best–known for his work with other bands, but is here featured as a leader.

ARTIST: The Dinning Sisters TITLE: Buttons And Bows - The Best Of The Dinning Sisters 1942-55 GENRE: Easy Listening CAT NO: ADDCD3493 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

The Dinning Sisters, comprising Lou, Jean and Ginger Dinning (Jean and Ginger were twins), were all born in the early 1920s in Kansas, and started singing together professionally in the late 1930s, basing their style on The Andrews Sisters. This 53-track collection features selected A & B sides of their releases on the Capitol, Decca and Essex labels from these years and offers an entertaining showcase for their talents.

NEW RELEASES October 2023

ARTIST: The Griffin Brothers & Margie Day TITLE: Weepin And Cryin': The Singles Collection 1950-55 GENRE: Blues CAT NO: ADDCD3489 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

The Griffin Brothers, comprising Jimmy and Edward “Buddy” Griffin, were an R&B duo from Virginia, who formed a band in the post-war years to perform around Washington D.C., bringing in singer Margie Day and winning a recording contract with Randy Wood’s newly-established Dot label. This great-value 52-track 2CD collection captures the essence of the R&B scene around this time, and is a fairly comprehensive overview of the Griffin Brothers’ primary career.

ARTIST: Johnny Hartman TITLE: Smooth & Swinging: The Singles & Albums Collection1947-58  GENRE: Jazz CAT NO: ADDCD3488 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Johnny Hartman was a jazz and easy listening singer with a rich baritone voice and a stylish way with ballads who recorded with some of the top bands and accompanists of the day during his career, including Earl Hines, Dizzy Gillespie and Erroll Garner, and became famous during the 1970s, beyond the scope of this collection, for an album he made with John Coltrane. This excellent-value 52-track 2CD collection offers an insight into the talents of a performer who has not has the attention he merits, and is an entertaining showcase for his work.

ARTIST: Hank Jones TITLE: Hank Jones: Solo & With His Own Bands 1947-59 GENRE: Jazz CAT NO: ADDCD3487 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Hank Jones was a jazz pianist of the post-war decades, whose active recording career spanned 60 years, but who did much of his most renowned work during the post-bop years of the 1950s. Learning his trade as bebop developed in the ‘40s, he was a noted sideman with many different leaders’ bands, but, with a style that critics called “eloquent, lyrical and impeccable”, he made many noted recordings as a solo artist and leading his own small groups, recording for a variety of labels during these years. This 42-track 2CD collection offers a varied and fascinating insight into his approach to music in different environments playing standards and originals, and an entertaining showcase for an often overlooked jazz luminary.

ARTIST: Clara Ward & The Ward Singers TITLE: The Famous Ward Singers 1949-62 GENRE: Gospel CAT NO: ACTRCD9139 FORMAT: 3CD BUY HERE: £12.00

The Famous Ward Singers, based in Philadelphia, were one of the foremost gospel groups of the post-war era, originally founded as a family group in 1931 by Gertrude Ward, and achieving fame after WWII with Gertrude’s daughter Clara Ward as leader, with other notable singers joining to create their trademark lead-switching style. Soloists with highly individual styles within the group included Henrietta Waddy, Marion Williams and Willa Ward Moultrie, and they developed a powerful and extrovert approach to gospel in their ‘live’ performances which readily translated to their recordings. This great-value 77-track 3CD collection comprises a fairly significant proportion of the 130 or so A and B sides released on the Gotham and Savoy labels and is an inspiring an uplifting showcase for their distinctive approach to go

ARTIST: Mildred Bailey TITLE: The Queen Of Swing: All The Hits And More 1929-47 GENRE: Jazz CAT NO: ACTRCD9138 FORMAT: 3CD BUY HERE: £12.00

Mildred Bailey was a jazz singer of Native American descent who was known variously as “The Queen Of Swing”, “The Rockin’ Chair Lady” and “Mrs Swing”, and who enjoyed a successful career during the 1930s and ‘40s, having more than 40 hits in her own name and as a band singer with Glen Gray’s Casa Loma Orchestra, and the orchestras of Paul Whiteman, The Dorsey Brothers, Benny Goodman and Red Norvo (who was also her husband). This excellent-value 73-track 3CD is a substantial and thoroughly entertaining showcase for her talent.

ARTIST: Cliffie Stone TITLE: Hollywood Hillbilly: The Singles Collection 1945-55 GENRE: Country CAT NO: ADDCD3490 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Cliffie Stone was a pivotal figure in the development of the country scene in California in the post-war years as a singer, musician, A&R man, record producer, music publisher, radio and TV personality and TV producer – a man with his finger on the pulse of everything that was going on in country music on the west coast. This great-value 2CD collection is an entertaining showcase for his talents as a performer.

NEW RELEASES September 2023

ARTIST: Benny Goodman TITLE: The Benny Goodman Hits Collection Vol.1 1931-38 GENRE: Easy Listening Jazz CAT NO: ACQCD7177 FORMAT: 4CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Benny Goodman was a clarinettist and band leader, equally at home with small bands or fronting a large orchestra, whose music covered the spectrum of jazz and popular music in the four decades spanning WWII, and who earned the nickname of “The King Of Swing” as a pioneer of that style of jazz. He was so popular and successful that he racked up well over 150 hits in the quarter century or so from 1930 to the early ‘50s, so many indeed that we were present them in two volumes. This 94-track 4-CD covers the years from 1931-38, and comprises all hits with his orchestra and small bands during these years on the Melotone, Columbia and Victor labels. It features his No. 1 hits from these years Moon Glow, It’s Been So Long, Goody-Goody, The Glory of Love, These Foolish Things, You Turned The Tables On Me, Goodnight My Love, This Year’s Kisses, Don’t Be That Way and I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart.

ARTIST: Benny Goodman TITLE: The Benny Goodman Hits Collection Vol. 2 1939-53 GENRE: Easy Listening Jazz CAT NO: ACTRCD9137 FORMAT: 3CD BUY HERE: £12.00

This 68-track collection covers 1939-53, and includes The King Of Swing's hits with his orchestra and small bands on the Victor, Columbia, Okeh & Capitol labels. It features his No.1 hits from these years Darn That Dream, There’ll Be Some Changes Made, Somebody Else Is Taking My Place, Jersey Bounce and Taking A Chance On Love, with performances by featured vocalists Louise Tobin, Mildred Bailey, Martha Tilton, Helen Forrest, Peggy Lee, Art Lund, Lou McGarrity, Dick Haymes, Jane Harvey, Dottie Reid, Peggy Mann, Liza Morrow, Eve Young, Matt Dennis, Lillian Lane, Al Hendrickson, Jimmy Ricks, Nancy Reed. Helen Ward and Benny Goodman. It’s a fascinating and enlightening showcase for one of the most influential musicians of his times..

ARTIST:  Bud Powell TITLE: The Best Of Bud Powell 1944-62 Vol. 2 GENRE: Jazz CAT NO: ADDCD3483 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Bud Powell was one of the most important and influential jazz pianists of the post-war era. Brief, patchy and sadly interrupted by illness and misfortune as his career was, he helped change the conventions of jazz piano at the birth of bebop, and introduced techniques taken up by dozens of noted players in his wake, abandoning the established striding left-hand technique in favour of spacey irregular patterns of dissonant chords, while the right hand developed rapid free-flowing melodic lines effectively mimicking the saxophone style of Charlie Parker on the piano. An absorbing showcase for a fine jazz musician.

ARTIST: Billy Wright TITLE: Blues For My Baby - Collected Recordings 1949-59 GENRE: R&B CAT NO: ADDCD3485 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

With his flamboyant style and appearance, the R&B and jump blues singer, Billy Wright, is notable for having been a significant and formative influence on Little Richard. Known as “The Prince of The Blues” during his career, he was a key figure in blues in the Atlanta area in the post-war years and started recording in 1949. This 43-track 2-CD collection includes his Top 10 R&B hits Blues For My Baby, You Satisfy, Hey, Little Girl and Stacked Deck. It’s an entertaining showcase for a great R&B entertainer, whose influence on rock ‘n’ roll went beyond simply his music..

ARTIST: Roy Rogers TITLE: Happy Trails - The Roy Rogers Collection 1938-52 GENRE: Country CAT NO: ADDCD3486 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Roy Rogers was one of the most prominent of the singing cowboys, forging a career as a singer and actor in western movies during the 1930s as he followed in the footsteps of Gene Autry as “King Of The Singing Cowboys”. He appeared in over 100 films and became a TV star on the Roy Rogers Show, but throughout his career he recorded prolifically, initially as a member of The Sons Of The Pioneers, but then as a solo artist when, adopting the name Roy Rogers, he took over from Gene Autry as the main star at Republic Pictures in 1938. This  55-track collection features his pop and country chart entries from these years, Hi-Yo Silver, A Little White Cross On The Hill, My Chickasay Gal and Stampede.

ARTIST: Blind Boy Fuller TITLE: Step It Up And Go - The Collection 1935-40 GENRE: Blues CAT NO: ADDCD3484 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Blind Boy Fuller, born in 1904 in North Carolina, was one of the noted bluesmen of the Piedmont school of blues, alongside the likes of Blind Blake, Josh White and Buddy Moss. As a songwriter, singer and guitarist with a formidable fingerpicking style he occupies a significant niche in the history of blues during the late 1930s and into the 40s, prior to his untimely demise in 1941. His songs had honesty and integrity, reflecting his poor background, but also with a hokum humour redolent with double entendres. This 51-track collection  is an enlightening showcase for a noted bluesman.

NEW RELEASES August 2023

ARTIST: Flip Phillips TITLE: The Clef Years - Classic Albums 1952-56 GENRE: Jazz CAT NO: ACTRCD9136 FORMAT: 3CD BUY HERE: £12.00

Flip Phillips was a tenor saxophonist who came to the fore in the post-war era playing with the bands of Woody Herman, Red Norvo, Benny Goodman and Frankie Newton, and was perhaps most famously associated with Norman Granz’ Jazz At The Philharmonic concerts in the late ‘40s and into the 1950s. In the early 1950s he recorded a string of sessions for Norman Granz, leading groups that comprised many different line-ups, with most of the titles coming out a succession of albums on Granz’ Clef label during this era, and being mixed and matched on different LP releases during that time. This 58-track collection is a great showcase for Flip Phillips at probably the zenith of his career.

ARTIST: Big Jay McNeely TITLE: Blow, Big Jay, Blow - The Singles Collection 1949-62 GENRE: R&B CAT NO: ADDCD3480 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Big Jay McNeely was an R&B saxophonist, whose music ran the gamut of R&B styles, from jazz-tinged pieces and pure blues to out-and-out rock ‘n’ roll, and was famous as one of the leaders in the “honkin’” saxophone style alongside the likes of Sam ‘The Man’ Taylor, King Curtis and Lee Allen, developing a wild stage act as he as he explored every sound the sax could make played in every bizarre position. This 53-track collection features his R&B No.1 with Deacon’s Hop in 1949 that immediately brought him to public attention, along with his other R&B hits Wild Wig and, from later years There Is Something On Your Mind. 

ARTIST: The Famous Davis Sisters TITLE: The Singles Collection 1949-62 GENRE: Gospel CAT NO: ADDCD3479 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

The Famous Davis Sisters of Philadelphia were a gospel group formed in 1945 by Ruth Davis after she had briefly served with the Women’s Air Corps at the end of WWII. She organised her four sisters and developed an act which became legendary at the “Met” – the Metropolitan Opera House – in Philadelphia, where they would, as some said, “tear the house down”. Accompanied for many years simply by their pianist and organist Curtis Dublin, they recorded initially for the Apex and Gotham labels before signing to Savoy, with whom they stayed through into the ‘60s. This 51-track collection is a great showcase for one of the most exciting gospel groups of the era.

ARTIST:  Mac Wiseman TITLE: The Voice With A Heart - The Singles Collection 1951-61 GENRE: Country CAT NO: ADDCD3482 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Mac Wiseman was an American bluegrass and country singer, as well as a bass player and guitarist, who hailed from Virginia, and came to the fore with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs’ Foggy Mountian Boys in 1948 and later played with Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys. In 1951 he signed a solo deal with Dot Records and immediately shot to prominence with his big seller “Tis Sweet To Be Remembered”. He sang with a clear, mellow tenor voice that helped him stand out from the usual run of bluegrass performers in his early career, with his appealing style earning him the nickname of “The Voice With A Heart”. 

ARTIST:  Roberta Sherwood TITLE: Lazy River - Singles & Albums Collection 1956-61 GENRE: Easy Listening CAT NO: ADDCD3481 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Roberta Sherwood was an unusual artist in that, having performed in hotel lounges and restaurants for many years, she finally got a recording contract at the age of 43, and had an immediate chart success with her version of Hoagy Carmichael’s Lazy River. Generally described as a torch singer, she was a distinctive interpreter of repertoire from the Great American Songbook in a style that was flashy, extrovert, unpretentious and unsubtle, but highly effective and individual. This 52-track collection is a substantial and enlightening showcase for the talents of an artist who has not received the attention she merits.

ARTIST: Ben Selvin & His Orchestra TITLE: The Hits Collection 1919-34 GENRE: Easy Listening CAT NO: ACQCD7176 FORMAT: 4CD BUY HERE: £15.00

Ben Selvin was a violinist, bandleader, record producer and record company executive who, in the early years of the industry made more records and had more hits than just about any other artist, as well as having one of the biggest sellers of the era with “Dardanella”. He recorded the style of middle-of-the-road dance band music which appealed to mainstream audiences during the 1920s and early ‘30s until he gave up leading his band to move into radio and record company management. This 92-track collection captures the style of the era and includes early recordings of many compositions which became classic standards.

NEW RELEASES July 2023

ARTIST: Gene Krupa TITLE: Drummin' Man - Hits & Classic Recordings 1938-50 GENRE: Jazz CAT NO: ADDCD3475 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Gene Krupa was one of the most admired and influential drummers in the history of jazz, with his impact extending into the pop era, not least through his effective defining of the make-up of the modern drum kit. This 48-track collection features all his 27 career hits on the Brunswick, Columbia, Okeh and RCA-Victor labels, plus selected renowned recordings from across this era. It offers a fascinating cross-section of his recordings, from the more mainstream pop material that comprised many of his hits to the hard-hitting big band jazz for which he was especially renowned, and it’s an entertaining showcase for his music.

ARTIST: Eddie Fisher TITLE: The Hits Collection 1948-62 GENRE: Easy Listening CAT NO: ACTRCD9135 FORMAT: 3CD BUY HERE: £12.00

Eddie Fisher was one of biggest stars of the first half of the 1950s, both as a singer and movie actor, and had more than 60 hits across the Billboard, Cash Box and UK charts. He was a singer very much of his era, with an old-school formal singing style that was ideally suited to the big-voiced ballads of the early ‘50s but did not translate well into the rock ‘n’ roll era, and he had his last Top 10 hit a few months after Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel” topped the charts in 1956. This 80-track set includes his US and UK No.1s with Wish You Were Here, I’m Walking Behind You, Outside Of Heaven, Oh My Pa Pa and I Need You Now. 

ARTIST:  Gene Autry TITLE: The Singing Cowboy - All The Hits And More 1933-52 GENRE: Country CAT NO: ADDCD3477 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Gene Autry was the first of the Singing Cowboys, renowned as a pioneering figure in country music for his performances of country-flavoured songs in the western movies of the 1930s and 40s in which he starred. He wrote, co-wrote and performed many of the best-known songs associated with the particular style of easy-going cowboy country that evolved in parallel to the likes of Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter Family. This 53-track  collection includes all his 40 and more hits in the US pop and country charts on the Melotone, Vocalion, Okeh and Columbia labels, plus selected titles from his early pre-chart era with classic songs of the day. It is a thorough overview of his chart career, and in the process offers a fine cross-section of some of the great songs from the genre.

ARTIST: Lil Green TITLE: Why Don't You Do Right - The Career Collection 1940-51 GENRE: Blues, R&B CAT NO: ADDCD3476 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Lil Green was one of leading female American blues and R&B singers and songwriters of the 1940s, with a a sensuous and sinuous soprano voice, and a fine sense of phrasing and timing that made her one of the most distinctive blues song stylists of her day. Born in Mississippi, she was brought up with the music of the Delta, and performed in the juke joints there in her teens before heading to Chicago where she did all her recording. This 51-track  collection features just about all the A & B sides of her career releases on Bluebird, Victor, Aladdin and Atlantic labels. While not being an absolutely complete or definitive anthology, this collection offers a substantial proportion of here career recordings, and is a fine showcase for her highly individual style.

ARTIST: Various Artists TITLE: An Anthology Of 20th Century Blues GENRE: Blues CAT NO: ACQCD7175FORMAT: 4CD BUY HERE: £15.00

The Acrobat catalogue contains a wealth of blues collections by artists from across the spectrum of the genre, and this fantastic-value 100-track 4CD set comprises recordings selected from just about every artist represented in the catalogue, and offering a rich cross-section of the finest blues of the 20th century. Inevitably it draws on every strand of the blues and just about every regional variation, from country blues from the Delta, to electric blues from Chicago, post-war California blues, New Orleans blues, Piedmont blues, New York Blues and more. The genre’s most influential luminaries and its biggest stars are all here – B.B. King, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Bill Bill Broonzy, Charley Patton, Howlin’ Wolf, Bessie Smith, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Ma Rainey, and dozens more.

ARTIST: Sam 'The Man' Taylor TITLE: Sax Supreme - The Singles & Albums Collection 1949-58 GENRE: Jazz CAT NO: ADDCD3478 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Sam ‘The Man’ Taylor was a renowned tenor saxophonist whose work spanned the R&B, jazz, blues and pop arenas, and was famed both for his work as a ubiquitous session man on hit recordings by major artists, but also for his own work leading his own bands. He was best-known for his sax solo on Big Joe Turner’s classic “Shake Rattle And Roll”, as well as on records like The Drifters “Money Honey” and “Sh-Boom” by The Chords. As a recording artist in his own right, his work comprised singles and albums that featured both original material and interpretations of standards designed to showcase his distinctive style as a saxophonist. This 53-track collection offers an entertaining cross-section of his recorded output during this era, which marks him out as a master of one of the most notable saxophonists of his era.

NEW RELEASES June 2023

ARTIST: Julia Lee TITLE: King Size Papa - The Julia Lee Collection 1927-52 GENRE: R&B/Jazz CAT NO: ACTRCD9134 FORMAT: 3CD BUY HERE: £12.00

Celebrated for her husky voice, straightforward piano style, and the easy, but heartfelt way she sang, Julia Lee developed a unique style. In 1944 signed to the fledgling, but already successful, Capitol label and this 72-track collection comprises early recordings with the orchestra of her brother George Lee and then with Jay McShann, followed by most of her A & B sides on Premier/Mercury and Capitol from this era. She was a highly distinctive performer, and hugely entertaining, and this collection, as well as being a substantial and reasonably comprehensive overview of the primary era of her recording career, is a thoroughly enjoyable showcase for her very personal brand of R&B.

ARTIST:  Marv Johnson TITLE: You Got What It Takes - The Complete Singles & Albums 1958-62 GENRE: R&B/Soul CAT NO: ADDCD3472 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00 

The R&B singer and songwriter Marv Johnson was one of the first artists to be signed to the Tamla by Berry Gordy, although his records came out on United Artists, as the fledgling Motown set-up was not ready to handle him. He continued recording for UA as he racked up a string of hits and recorded several albums before rejoining Motown in the ‘60s. This 52-track 2-CD collection comprises the A & B sides of his singles on the Kudo and United Artists labels from this era. He was a versatile song stylist, with his records encompassing the spectrum of pop, gospel, and R&B styles. This collection offers a comprehensive overview of his early years, as well as an entertaining showcase for his distinctive talent.

ARTIST: Ramblin' Jack Elliot TITLE: 100 Classic Recordings 1954-62 GENRE: Folk CAT NO: ACQCD7174 FORMAT: 4CD BUY HERE: £15.00 

Born in Brooklyn in 1931, Jack Elliot was inspired by the rodeos at Madison Square Garden, and began busking for a living, befriending Woody Guthrie. He travelled to the UK to perform and record in the late ‘50s, establishing his reputation in international folk circles, and back in the USA became an early influence on Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs. He continued performing and recording for the next half century and more, and is still active in 2023 at the age of 91. This collection brings together many of his recordings from the early years of his career, mainly from albums but including a few singles and EPs. A great showcase for his talent as an interpretive folk troubadour, bringing old songs to new audiences in his distinctively idiosyncratic way, and underlining why he became such a significant figure in the genre.

ARTIST: The Pilgrim Travelers TITLE: The Best Of The Specialty Years 1948-56 GENRE: Gospel CAT NO: ADDCD3474 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00 

The Pilgrim Travelers were a gospel group founded in Texas in the 1930s, who modelled themselves on groups like The Soul Stirrers and Golden Gate Quartet. This 56-track collection comprises selected A and B sides of their releases on the Specialty label during this era, and features many of their most renowned recordings, including Now Lord (Yes, My Lord), Jesus, Thank You Jesus, Jesus Met The Woman At The Well, Mother Bowed and Wonderful Time Up There. It’s a collection which spans the era when they were at the height of their powers and popularity, and captures the spirit and style of their very particular and distinctive approach to gospel performance.

ARTIST: Dick Haymes TITLE: I Like The Likes Of You - Broadcast Recordings 1947-62 GENRE: Easy Listening CAT NO: ADDCD3471 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00 

Dick Haymes was one of the most stylish and popular vocalists of the 1940s and ‘50s, starting his career by following in the footsteps of Frank Sinatra, with the Harry James and Tommy Dorsey orchestras, before going solo and having well over thirty hits, selling over nine million records for Decca, and becoming one of the archetypal crooners of the era, known as ‘A Singer’s Singer’, as well as a movie star, appearing in screen musicals with the likes of Betty Grable. This 54-track 2-CD collection focuses on his performances on the popular radio shows of the day, and comprises recordings of broadcasts from 1947 to 1962. These are rarely heard and highly collectable recordings, brought together in this format for commercial release for the first time.

ARTIST: Bob Crosby & His Orchestra TITLE: All the Hits And More 1935-51 GENRE: Easy Listening CAT NO: ADDCD3473 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00 

Bob Crosby was the younger brother of renowned singer Bing Crosby, and made his own way in the music business as a vocalist and bandleader, having a string of more than forty hits which spanned the era covered by this collection, especially as leader of his well-known band The Bob Cats and in later years as a solo singer. This excellent-value 50-track 2-CD collection comprises all Crosby’s 40 plus career hits, with his orchestra, with The Bob Cats and as solo singer and duettist, plus selected other noted A&B sides on Decca from this era. It’s an entertaining selection of his most popular recordings.

NEW RELEASES May 2023

ARTIST: Various Artists TITLE: The Herald Records Doowop Collection 1953-63 GENRE: Doo Wop/R&B CAT NO: ACTRCD9133 FORMAT: 3CD BUY HERE: £12.00

The Herald label was founded in 1952 by Fred Mendelsohn, formerly with Savoy, and he was soon joined by Al Silver, who owned the pressing plant that made the label’s records. Silver had an ear for R&B and doo wop, and built Herald into a creative hub for R&B recording and most particularly becoming renowned for its output of doowop recordings by a string of different groups during the late 50s and into the 1960s. Most notable among those groups were The Nutmegs, The Turbans, The Mello Kings and Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs, who all had hits on the label. This 91-track set brings together most of the label’s releases by artists whose work falls broadly into the category of doowop and is a feast of classic doo wop from a label which was at the heart of the genre.

ARTIST: Bill Black's Combo TITLE: White Silver Sands - The Singles & Albums Collection 1959-62 GENRE: R&B/Rock&Roll CAT NO: ADDCD3470 FORMAT: 2 CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Bill Black was a Memphis-based bass player and entertainer, who worked with guitarist Scotty Moore and other local musicians in a hillbilly band with a humorous edge, playing in Memphis clubs and on radio In 1954 Sam Phillips of Sun Records asked them to play back-up on a session by a new artist of his called Elvis Presley.  In 1959, he formed a five-piece group called Bill Black’s Combo and signed to the Memphis label Hi Records, whose co-founders included former Sun producers. He gave the label its first big hit with the two-sided instrumental Smokie and became Hi’s major artist, specialising in grooving R&B-flavoured instrumentals, which embraced various styles along the way. He represented a fascinating and very particular strand of pop during these years, which makes for fun listening.

ARTIST: Bonnie Guitar TITLE: Early Years - The Singles & Albums Collection 1951-62 GENRE: Country CAT NO: ADDCD3469 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Bonnie Guitar was an unusual personality in the world of pop music, in that she was not only that rare animal, a female country session guitarist, but was also a successful hit-making crossover country and pop singer, as well as being a producer and label-owner, launching Dolton Records, the label which released The Fleetwoods’ No.1 Come Softly To Me. Hailing from Seattle in Washington state, far from the fashionable centres of the industry, she helped put the north-west on the map as a source of country music. This 61-track set  is a great showcase for her talents as both singer and guitarist.

ARTIST: Ethel Waters TITLE: Stormy Weather - All The Hits And More 1921-47 GENRE: Jazz CAT NO: ACTRCD9132 FORMAT: 3CD BUY HERE: £12.00

Ethel Waters was a singer and actress from Pennsylvania, whose music ranged across jazz, stage musicals, movies and pure pop in a career that spanned more than three decades. During the 1920s and 30s she recorded what were among the original versions of some of the most memorable standards of the era. This 3CD includes recordings from across her active career as a hit-focused recording artist before she turned her attention to TV. She was one of the great song stylists of her era, and a unique personality, and this collection is a fabulous showcase for her distinctive talents. 

ARTIST: Carl Dobkins Jr.  TITLE: The Complete Releases 1958-62 GENRE: 50s Pop CAT NO: ACMCD4407 FORMAT: CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Carl Dobkins, from Cincinnati, was a typical aspiring teenage pop artist who formed a band at school in the 1950s and got noticed when they started being promoted by a local radio station. Once signed by the Fraternity label, his first record, featuring his own songs, got some attention, leading to his next records coming out on Decca, and they included his million-selling No.3 hit My Heart Is An Open Book. This 28-track collection offers about is a thorough and comprehensive look of his primary career.

ARTIST: Fletcher Henderson TITLE: The Golden Years - Hits And Classics 1923-37 GENRE: Jazz CAT NO: ADDCD3468 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Fletcher Henderson was a jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader who is regarded as one of the most influential figures of the early jazz and swing eras, bridging the gap between Dixieland, swing and the big band as one of the most prolific and innovative arrangers of his time, ranked by some critics on a par with Duke Ellington in terms of influence. During his heyday as a bandleader in the 1920s and 30s he had a string of big sellers and recorded definitive versions of some of the classics of those times. This 48-track  set offers a fine showcase for one of the genre’s legendary practitioners.

NEW RELEASES April 2023

ARTIST: Count Basie TITLE: The Legendary New Testament Band 1952-55 GENRE: Jazz CAT NO: ACTRCD9131 FORMAT: 3CD BUY HERE: £12.00 

Count Basie was one of the most celebrated and influential personalities in jazz. His career encompassed several musical and stylistic eras, and one of the most notable of those was the period in the early 50s, when, after a creative re-think, he formed a new orchestra, which became known as “The New Testament Band”, which adopted a musical approach which was fresh and distinctive. That approach was captured on recordings which were done at sessions covering a period of around four years, with the titles being issued on several albums which came out on Norman Granz’s Clef and Verve labels during the mid-1950s. This 63-track 3-CD collection offers an enlightening, entertaining and substantial snapshot of Basie’s music at a key moment in his career.

ARTIST: Rose Maddox TITLE: Sing A Little Song Of Heartache - The Solo Singles 1953-62 GENRE: Country CAT NO: ADDCD3467 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Rose Maddox was a country singer, songwriter and fiddle player from Alabama, whose family migrated to California in the 1930s, where she started singing on radio and formed a band with her brothers, who performed and recorded for a decade after WWII as the Maddox Brothers & Rose. When the group broke up in 1957, she started a solo career and enjoyed a string of chart entries over the next few years as she built a reputation as an extrovert, dynamic performer, blending hillbilly, rockabilly and gospel in a highly distinctive musical mix. This 58-track 2-CD collection comprises most of the A&B sides of her singles and offers a substantial overview of a key era of her solo career and is an entertaining showcase for her particular style of country.

ARTIST: Frankie Ford TITLE: Complete Releases 1958-62 GENRE: Rock CAT NO: ACMCD4406 FORMAT: 1CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Frankie Ford was one of the artists often referred to as being typical of “swamp rock” – the style of R&B and rock ’n’ roll that was associated with Louisiana and New Orleans during the late 1950s. This 30-track CD comprises the A&B sides of all his singles on Ace, Vin and Imperial from these years, plus the tracks from his Ace album “Let’s Take A Sea Cruise” not otherwise released on singles. He was an artist who very much typified the musical atmosphere of New Orleans in that era, and this is a comprehensive overview of his output during these years.

ARTIST: Brother Joe May TITLE: Singles, Album Tracks and Live Recordings 1951-62 GENRE: Gospel CAT NO: ACQCD7173 FORMAT: 4CD BUY HERE: £15.00

Brother Joe May was one of the most revered and respected of all the male gospel singers of the post-war era, acquiring the nickname of “The Thunderbolt Of The Middle West”, and with one critic describing him as “arguably the greatest male soloist in the history of gospel music, with a voice of unimaginable range and power”. This 84-track 4-CD collection is a substantial and reasonably comprehensive overview of the key first decade and more of his career, when he built his reputation, and is an impressive and entertaining showcase for his highly distinctive style and talents as an inspiring communicator and entertainer.

ARTIST: Sunny Gale TITLE: Wheel of Fortune - The Singles Collection 1952-61 GENRE: Easy Listening CAT NO: ADDCD3465 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Sunny Gale was one of the vivacious and talented girl singers to come to the fore on the US music scene during the early ‘50s, taking advantage of the burgeoning medium of TV to have a string of hits before her style was superseded by the advent of rock ‘n’ roll in mid-decade, although she recorded successfully through into the ‘60s as she adapted her approach for the evolving market. This 55-track 2-CD collection selected A & B sides offers a substantial and entertaining showcase for a singer who very much typified her particular era of pop.

ARTIST: Frank De Vol TITLE: Classic Albums 1960-61 GENRE: Easy Listening CAT NO: ADDCD3466 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Frank De Vol was one of the top arranger/conductors of the post-war pop era, providing the accompaniment for singers on dozens of hits from the 1940s through to the ‘60s. However, he was also a notable composer and artist in his own right and released a number of successful albums under his own name. This 48-track 2-CD collection features music rarely heard these days but still resonates with lovers of top quality orchestral music, and this is an especially enjoyable collection in that idiom.

NEW RELEASES March 2023

ARTIST: Duke Ellington TITLE: All The Hits And More 1927-54 GENRE: Jazz CAT NO: ACQCD7172 FORMAT: 4CD BUY HERE: £15.00 

Duke Ellington was one of the most important and influential figures in the entire history of jazz, as pianist, bandleader, composer and innovator, his career spanning half century as the genre evolved from the early days of electric recording. This 4CD set includes his No.1s with Three Little Words, Cocktails For Two, I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart” and the Billboard R&B No. 1s Don’t Get Around Much Anymore, Sentimental Lady, Do Nothin’ Till You Hear From Me and Main Stem, along with classics like Mood Indigo, Sophisticated Lady, Moon Glow, Solitude, Caravan, Take The ‘A’ Train and I Got It Bad And That Ain’t Good. It’s a comprehensive overview of the his most successful output during a primary era of his career, and a great showcase for the artistry which made the Duke such a revered and iconic personality.

ARTIST: Clyde McPhatter TITLE: The Very Best Of Clyde McPhatter 1953-62 GENRE: R&B CAT NO: ADDCD3461 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Clyde McPhatter was one of the most imitated vocalists to emerge onto the R&B scene during the 1950s, graduating from his background in gospel to become a member of Billy Ward & The Dominoes, and then featured lead singer of The Drifters before embarking on a solo career, with his successful recordings transcending the boundaries of doowop, R&B, rock ‘n’ roll, soul and pop to make him a highly influential figure as other singers followed his lead. This  59-track collection features all his 19 hits with the Drifters and as a solo artist during this era, including the R&B No.1s Money Honey, Honey Love, Treasure Of Love, Long Lonely Nights and A Lover’s Question. In an all-too-brief career – he died in 1972 at the age of 39 – he made many great records and had a huge impact on the worlds of pop and R&B, and we hope this collection provides a worthy showcase for his distinctive talents.

ARTIST: Hal Singer TITLE: Corn Bread - The Hal Singer Collection 1948-59 GENRE: Jazz/R&B CAT NO: ADDCD3462 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Saxophonist, composer and bandleader Hal Singer was one of the jazz saxophonists of the 1940s who took advantage of the opportunity to make a commercial impact in the world of R&B during years when the “honking” style of jumping R&B was becoming especially popular, although he managed to keep in both camps, recording successfully both in R&B and jazz idioms. This 44-track collection is an entertaining showcase for his distinctive honking style, but also underlines his prowess as a jazz musician.

ARTIST: Hazel Scott TITLE: Great Scott! Collected Recordings 1939-57 GENRE: Jazz CAT NO: ACTRCD9130 FORMAT: 3CD BUY HERE: £12.00

Hazel Scott was a jazz pianist and singer, about whom we hear very little these, but who was a stylish and respected performer, especially known for her jazz interpretations of classical pieces and styles, but also a noted composer as well as a fine vocalist with a sophisticated approach to the Great American Songbook. This 69-track  collection is a substantial and enjoyable showcase for a talented artist whose work deserves a much higher profile than she has generally enjoyed.

ARTIST: Tommy Collins TITLE: The Singles & Albums Collection 1951-60 GENRE: Country CAT NO: ADDCD3464 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Tommy Collins was a country singer, songwriter and guitarist who was instrumental in creating the Bakersfield sound during the 1950s and ‘60s. As an artist he had a string of hits during that era, as well as writing songs which were hits for other artists, notably If You Ain’t Lovin’ You Ain’t Livin’ and a Top 10 hit for Faron Young in 1954 a No.1 for George Strait in 1988. This 58-track set offers a fairly comprehensive overview of his work up to the time when he took a sabbatical from music to enter the ministry, from which he returned to resume recording after a break of a few years.

ARTIST: The Four Coins TITLE: Shangri-La - Singles & Albums Collection 1954-62 GENRE: Easy Listening/Doowop CAT NO: ADDCD3463 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

The Four Coins were one of the many vocal groups to emerge onto the pop scene in the wake of the classic early doowop groups like the Ink Spots and Mills Brothers, following in the wake of the successful black doowop groups who came from the gospel scene. The white vocal groups often came from the barbershop tradition, with some coming from the Italian-American community – the Four Coins were slightly different, in that they were of Greek extraction, but shared the Mediterranean musical heritage. This selection of their work, including a significant proportion of their singles during these years, admirably showcases their easy-on-the-ear approach and immaculate harmonies.

NEW RELEASES February 2023

ARTIST: Various TITLE: The Ember Records Doowop Collection 1956-64 GENRE: R&B CAT NO: ADDCD3457 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10

The Ember label was founded in 1952 but was acquired in 1953 by Al Silver who turned it into a creative hub for R&B recording and most particularly becoming renowned for its output of doowop recordings by a string of different groups during the late ‘50s and into the 1960s. Most notable among those groups were The Five Satins and The Sihouettes, who both had multiple hits on the label during this era. This great-value 60-track 2-CD set brings together most of the label’s releases by artists whose work falls broadly into the category of doowop, although this is obviously not a definition which can be slavishly or precisely applied.

ARTIST: Rosemary Clooney TITLE: All The Hits And More - Selected Singles 1948-61 GENRE: Easy Listening CAT NO: ACTRCD9128 FORMAT: 3CD  BUY HERE £12.00

Rosemary Clooney, well-known in recent years as the aunt of movie star George Clooney, was one of the most popular and successful pop singers of the immediate post-war decades, racking up a remarkable string of hits in the early ‘50s. She called herself “a sweet singer with a big band sensibility”, which was a fair enough description, as her musical preferences were often compromised by the novelty material she was sometimes obliged to record. This 78-track 3-CD set is a thoroughly entertaining overview of her brilliant chart career, which captures the mood of the era, and a fine showcase for her skill and versatility as an interpreter of popular song. 

ARTIST: Arthur Prysock TITLE: Early Years - Selected Singles 1946-62 GENRE: Jazz/R&B CAT NO: ADDCD3458 FORMAT: 2CD  BUY HERE: £10.00

Arthur Prysock was an American jazz, R&B and pop singer, renowned for his mellifluous baritone voice, which many people likened to that of Billy Eckstine. This 50-track 2CD collection features his hits with Buddy Johnson ‘They All Say I’m The Biggest Fool’ and ‘Because’, and his solo hits from these years ‘I Didn’t Sleep A Wink Last Night’, ‘The Very Thought Of You’ and ‘One More Time’. It’s a worthy showcase that gives an insight into the talents of a much-ignored entertainer during the key formative era of his career.

ARTIST: Eddie Dean TITLE: I Dreamed Of A Hillbilly Heaven Collection 1934-57 GENRE: Country CAT NO: ADDCD3460 FORMAT: 2CD  BUY HERE: £10.00

Eddie Dean was a singer and movie actor, who specialised in cowboy songs, and was regarded by luminaries of the genre like Roy Rogers and Gene Autry as absolutely the finest of all the cowboy singers, famed for the purity of his baritone voice and his individual way with a song. This 50-track 2CD collection features his country hits ‘One Has My Name The Other Has My Heart’ and ‘I Dreamed Of A Hillbilly Heaven’. It’s a varied and entertaining showcase for his talent both as a singer and songwriter, and underlines why he is regarded as perhaps the greatest singing cowboy of them all.

ARTIST: Harry Owens & His Royal Hawaiians TITLE: Songs Of The Islands – Hawaiian Magic 1937-5 GENRE: Easy Listening CAT NO: ADDCD3459 FORMAT: 2CD  BUY HERE: £10.00

Harry Owens was a cornetist, bandleader and composer who became indelibly associated with the music of Hawaii when he was musical director of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki in 1934, with his orchestra becoming among the foremost exponents of melodies and styles inspired by the Hawaiian islands and culture over the next 20 years and more. This 49-track 2CD collection is an absolute must for lovers of this style of music, and it’s an evocative showcase for his unique approach to composing and arranging, capturing the imagery and atmosphere of Hawaii in the islands’ music.

ARTIST: Blind Blake TITLE: The Paramount Years 1926-32 GENRE: Blues CAT NO: ACTRCD9129 FORMAT: 3CD  BUY HERE: £12.00

Arthur ‘Blind’ Blake was a blues and ragtime guitarist, singer and songwriter who was a leading pioneer and member of what became known as the Piedmont school of bluesmen, performing in a style that was associated with the south-eastern states of the USA, mainly around Georgia. He was one of the most accomplished and distinctive of the guitarists associated with this movement. This 74-track 3CD set provides a substantial and comprehensive overview of the career and recordings of an artist who influenced other Piedmont artists like Blind Willie McTell, Buddy Moss, Josh White and Rev., Gary Davis, as well as later top guitarists like Ry Cooder, Leon Redbone and John Fahey.

NEW RELEASES January 2023

ARTIST: Various TITLE: The 1959 R&B Hits Collection GENRE: R&B CAT NO: ACQCD7171 FORMAT: 4CD BUY HERE: £15.00

This 115-track 4CD anthology includes just about every record which peaked in the Top 14 positions of Billboard’s “Hot R&B Sides” chart during the year. The pop and R&B market was continuing to evolve as rock ‘n’ roll matured, and new strands arrived, with pop-flavoured R&B vocal groups making a significant impact, along with fine R&B vocalists who readily crossed into the pop charts, while the boundaries between pop and R&B continued to become less clear, as some pure pop records got traction on R&B radio stations... As a result a lot of familiar rock names appear in this collection. However, what that does is create a fascinating and varied collection as blues guitarists, doo-wop groups, R&B divas, great R&B vocalists and jazz orchestras jostle for position with big-name rock ‘n’ rollers.

ARTIST: Various TITLE: The R&B No.1s Of The ’40s  GENRE: R&B CAT NO: ACQCD7168 FORMAT: 4CD BUY HERE: £15.00

In October 1942, Billboard launched the “Harlem Hit Parade”, which was replaced in February 1945 by the “Most Played Juke Box Race Records”, to which in 1948 was added the “Best Selling Retail Race Records”. This 97-track 4CD collection features every record which reached No.1 in any of those charts, apart from a few which are unavailable for copyright reasons. We have also included those from 1950, as it is arguably the final year of the decade, and we had space in the 4CD format to accommodate them for the benefit of collectors who do not have our “R&B No. 1s of the ‘50s” set. It’s a hugely entertaining musical journey through what was a momentous decade socially and politically, in which R&B laid the groundwork for the arrival of the musical upheavals of the 1950s.

ARTIST: Various TITLE: The American Bandstand US Top 100 5th August 1957 GENRE: 1950s Pop CAT NO: ACQCD7169 FORMAT: 4CD BUY HERE: £15.00

This collection celebrates the birth of the popular US TV show “American Bandstand” which was broadcast for the first time. Presented by Dick Clark, it became a hugely popular and influential weekly event for the nation’s teenagers, with the hot new singers and groups lip-syncing to their latest releases and chart entries with an audience of youngsters dancing in the studio. This 99-track collection comprises just about all the records which featured in the Billboard Hot 100 on the day the show was first broadcast, August 7, 1957. As always with these chart collections, it includes a number of unfamiliar names and recordings towards the bottom of the chart, of which even seasoned pop enthusiasts may not be too aware, and which will be welcome additions to their collections.

ARTIST: Various TITLE: The Greatest Country Hits of 1955 (Expanded Edition) GENRE: Country CAT NO: ACQCD7170 FORMAT: 4CD BUY HERE: £15.00

This 108-track collection covers the year of 1955, during which time Billboard published three charts devoted to Country & Western Records – Best Sellers In Stores, Most Played in Juke Boxes and Most Played by Disc Jockeys. The pop landscape was about to undergo significant changes, with the advent of rock ’n’ roll and rockabilly presaged during the year just by a couple of Elvis records and one by Johnny Cash featuring in the Top 15. Apart from them, the familiar names still dominated the scene, some of them having long-running No.1s during the year, notably Webb Pierce, Eddy Arnold, Carl Smith, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Hank Snow and Faron Young and others like Kitty Wells and Hank Thompson having several big hits, while artists like Jim Reeves were introducing new strands to the music with the development of a smoother “new Nashville” sound.

NEW RELEASES December 2022

ARTIST: Quincy Jones TITLE: Early Years - Six Complete Albums 1957-61 GENRE: Jazz CAT NO: ACTRCD9127 FORMAT: 3CD BUY HERE: £12.00

Quincy Jones has become one of the most prominent personalities in popular music as a trumpeter and pianist who became an arranger, composer, bandleader, record producer and film & TV producer, and winner of a Grammy Legend Award in 1992. This 56-track 3-CD set comprises jazz and big band recordings from his early career leading his own band, and includes all the titles from his original LPs This Is How I Feel About Jazz and Go West, Man! for ABC-Paramount, and The Birth Of A Band, The Great Wide World Of Quincy Jones, I Dig Dancers and Around The World for Mercury. It’s an exciting and revealing insight into his skills as a composer and arranger and a feast of highly contemporary and sophisticated top-class big band music, underlining the talents that made him such an influential figure in later years.

ARTIST: Buddy Moss TITLE: Oh Lordy Mama - The Buddy Moss Collection 1930-41 GENRE: Blues CAT NO: ADDCD3455 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Eugene “Buddy” Moss, one of 12 children of a family of sharecroppers, was a blues singer guitarist and harmonica player from Georgia, and was one of what became known as the Piedmont school of bluesmen alongside Blind Blake, Josh White, Blind Boy Fuller and Barbecue Bob. This 49-track 2-CD set comprises selected A & B sides from his releases during this era on the Columbia, Banner, Melotone, Vocalion, Perfect, ARC and Okeh labels, including recordings as a member of The Georgia Cotton Pickers and Georgia Browns, and with Pinewood Tom (aka Josh White). It features performances with Curley Weaver, Barbecue Bob, Fred McMullen, Josh White, Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry. Although his style was shaped by his early exposure to local blues players, he was a highly individual performer who wrote most of his own songs, and this is collection offers an entertaining showcase for those talents.

ARTIST: The Impressions & Jerry Butler TITLE: The Collection 1958-62 GENRE: R&B CAT NO: ADDCD3453 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

The Impressions were one of the R&B vocal groups that heralded the transition from doowop to the more pop-oriented styles of the late ‘50s, and were notable for bringing to the fore two of the great soul voices of the era, Jerry Butler and Curtis Mayfield. This 57-track 2-CD set comprises Impressions A & B sides from these years, featuring Curtis Mayfield, and including some featuring Jerry Butler, on the Abner and ABC-Paramount labels, plus Jerry Butler solo A & B sides on Veejay. It’s a great showcase both for the Impressions’ distinctive style as a vocal group and for Jerry Butler and Curtis Mayfield’s notable talents as singers and writers, underlining their importance as key influences in the genre.

ARTIST: Johnny Bond TITLE: Love Song In 32 Bars - The Collection 1941-60 GENRE: Country CAT NO: ADDCD3456 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Johnny Bond was a country singer, guitarist and songwriter, born in Oklahoma, who also appeared in more than 40 western movies during the later heyday of the genre in the 1940s and into the '50s, and hosted a country music TV show with Tex Ritter. Based in Hollywood rather than Nashville, and with a style that encompassed elements of western swing and talking blues, as well as old-school “cowboy country”, as he recorded in earlier years with his Red River Valley Boys, who initially included Jimmy Wakely and Spade Cooley, he adapted his approach towards rockabilly in the late '50s, and had a notable pop hit with “Hot Rod Lincoln” in 1960. He was a versatile and extrovert artist and this collection is an entertaining showcase for his particular brand of country.

ARTIST: Larry Green & His Orchestra TITLE: Near You - The Singles Collection 1946-50 GENRE: Nostalgia CAT NO: ADDCD3454 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Pianist Larry Green led one of the many orchestras of the 1940s who played the popular style of “sweet music” aimed at the middle ground of popular music, rather than the swinging big band style of many bands of those times. Coming later to the scene than many of the noted names of the 1930s, he enjoyed a few years in the chart spotlight during the post-war era recording both standards and versions of the hot songs of the moment, before his music was overtaken by the emerging solo stars and the changing market. This 50-track 2-CD collection comprises selected A & B sides from his releases on RCA-Victor during this era, and features all his career hits, including the Top 10 hits Near You and Beg Your Pardon.

ARTIST: Cisco Houston TITLE: The Collection 1944-61 GENRE: Folk CAT NO: ACFCD7518 FORMAT: 5CD BUY HERE: £15.00

Cisco Houston was a folk singer and songwriter, brought up in California, who was a close associate of Woody Guthrie, whom he met while working as an actor in Hollywood in the late '30s. They started travelling together, playing at migrant workers’ camps and promoting unionism and workers’ rights. After serving in the Merchant Marine in WWII, he was in the Almanac Singers in New York with Guthrie and Pete Seeger, and began recording with Guthrie. Over subsequent years, he performed in clubs and worked on radio and was part of the folk scene that was at the heart of the burgeoning protest movement, writing, collecting and recording songs that carried messages that championed the cause of the downtrodden classes. This 132-track 5-CD set is a comprehensive overview of his work and a substantial showcase for his distinctive talents as an artist who was a genuine folk troubadour.

NEW RELEASES November 2022

ARTIST: The Carter Family TITLE: The Collection Vol.2 1935-41 GENRE: Country/Folk CAT NO: ACSCD6011 FORMAT: 6CD BUY HERE: £18

The importance of The Carter Family is recognised by Acrobat in two 6CD sets. Featuring the original incarnation of the group, A.P. Carter, his wife Sara Carter, and his sister in-law Maybelle Carter, this is the second of those sets, and addresses the years from 1935 to 1941, in a 130-track collection comprising just about all their releases from this era on the Conqueror, Decca and Bluebird labels. It features their landmark1935 hit Can The Circle Be Unbroken, along with many other classics which have become standards in folk and country repertoire, and provides a substantial and enlightening showcase for their unique talents.

ARTIST: Fred Astaire TITLE: All The Hits And More GENRE: Nostalgia CAT NO: ACTRCD9126 FORMAT: 3CD BUY HERE: £12

Singer, dancer and actor Fred Astaire became one of the most high-profile personalities in popular entertainment with his legendary screen appearances with Ginger Rodgers and other leading ladies in a succession of movie musicals during the 1930s, 40s and 50s. However, he was also a highly successful recording artist, translating the classic songs from films and Broadway shows into a string of hits, notably featuring the songs of George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer, and other top composers of the classic era of the Great American Songbook. This great-value 75-track collection captures the spirit of the entertainment that carried the USA through the Depression years.

ARTIST: Lena Horne TITLE: The Singles Collection 1941-50 GENRE: Easy-Listening CAT NO: ADDCD3449 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10

Lena Horne was a multi-talented singer, dancer, actor and civil rights activist, who by the age of 16 was performing in the Cotton Club Revue in New York and soon became big band singer, and appeared in her first movies during the 1930s. Eventually enjoying a career which spanned seven decades, she became a highly-respected entertainer, famed for her sultry and sophisticated way with a song. This 48-track collection brings together her early versions of songs by the great writers of the day, providing a fine showcase for her highly distinctive talents.

ARTIST: Snooks Eaglin TITLE: The First Decade 1953-62 GENRE: Blues CAT NO: ADDCD3452 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10

Snooks Eaglin was a blind blues singer and guitarist from New Orleans who played a highly accessible brand of blues, sometimes ranging into folk or rock ‘n’ roll styles, often re-working other artists’ songs, earning himself the nickname of “The Human Jukebox” with his wide and varied repertoire in ‘live’ performances. He was active for around half a century, but this great-value 52-track 2CD set focuses on the first decade or so of his extensive recording career.

ARTIST: Astor Piazzolla TITLE: Nuevo Tango Classic Albums 1955-59 GENRE: Jazz CAT NO: ADDCD3450 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10

Astor Piazzolla was an Argentinian composer, bandoneon player and bandleader who was famous for revolutionising the traditional dance form, the tango, by introducing his concept of the Nuevo Tango, the new tango, in the mid-1950s. Born in Argentina but brought up in New York, he was a classically trained musician, while being exposed to the jazz that was so much part of the city life, as well as being steeped in the tango music of his homeland. Playing the bandoneon, an Argentinian form of accordion, he developed an eclectic outlook, playing music that transcended the genres, with its roots in Latin forms but incorporating classical motifs and tinged with various jazz influences. This 41-track collection offers a fascinating insight into the work of a highly innovative and skilled musician.

ARTIST: Orrin Tucker & His Orchestra TITLE: The Golden Years 1938-49 GENRE: Nostalgia CAT NO: ADDCD3451 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10

Orrin Tucker was a saxophonist, singer and bandleader who had his heyday during the late 1930s and into the ‘40s, and whose orchestra played in the popular “sweet” style of the era, broadly favouring a relaxed style of swing, using featured vocalists to present popular standards and new compositions of the day. He was popular on radio and from 1939 to ’42 racked up a string of hits, notably a No. 2 with a revival of the oldie “Oh! Johnny, Oh! Johnny, Oh!”. This 50-track set offers an entertaining showcase for an artist about whom not much is known or heard about these days, but who very much captured the musical zeitgeist of the era.

NEW RELEASES October 2022

ARTIST: The Carter Family TITLE: The Collection Vol.1 1927-34 GENRE: Country/Folk CAT NO: ACSCD6010 FORMAT: 6CD BUY HERE: £18

The Carter Family are among the most important artists in the entire history of popular music. They were pioneers in writing and recording folk and country music for the commercial market, and their huge output of songs and recordings has become a major influence on music that has come after them in bluegrass, country, gospel, folk, skiffle, pop and rock. Acrobat has recognised their importance by creating two 6-CD sets. This first of the sets addresses the years from 1927 to 1934, in a 125-track collection comprising just about all their releases from this era. It features their famous hits from these years, including Bury Me Under The Weeping Willow, Keep On the Sunny Side, Wildwood Flower, I’m Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes, Little Darling Pal of Mine, Worried Man Blues, and Lonesome Valley along with other classics like My Clinch Mountain Home, Foggy Mountain Top, John Hardy and Jimmie Brown The Newsboy. 

ARTIST: Digby Fairweather TITLE: Notes From A Jazz Life Vol.3 GENRE: Jazz CAT NO: ADDCD3445 FORMAT: 2CD  BUY HERE: £10.00

Cornetist Digby Fairweather has become one of the leading figures on the British jazz scene, both as a bandleader and sideman in other leader’s bands, and as a writer and broadcaster, as well as being the founder and director of the charity Jazz Centre UK in Southend, aimed at promoting, preserving and celebrating the culture of jazz. This 26-track-set is the third volume of a retrospective of his career to date, compiled by the man himself, and with substantial booklet notes also written by Digby.

ARTIST: Dee Clark TITLE: Raindrops - The Collection 1956-62 GENRE: R&B/Soul CAT NO: ADDCD3446 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10

Dee Clark, real name Delecta Clark, was born in Arkansas in 1938 and started out in gospel before recording at the age of 14 with a group called The Hambone Kids. By the mid-50s he was a member of R&B vocal group The Kool Gents, who signed to Vee Jay. He moved on to a solo career in the pop/soul/R&B style, for a while taking over Little Richard’s band when he went into the church, and had a string of hits in the late ‘50s and early’ 60s in the pop and R&B charts, the biggest a pop No. 2 with Raindrops. This 55-track 2-CD set features all his 12 chart entries from this era, including the US No. 2 Raindrops, and the Top 40 hits Nobody But You, Just Keep It Up, Hey Little Girl, How About That and Your Friends, most of which also made the R&B Top 10. This set is a substantial and entertaining showcase for those talents.

ARTIST: Julian Bream TITLE: Early Years: Guitar & Lute Albums 1956-60 GENRE: Classical CAT NO: ACTRCD9125 FORMAT: 3CD BUY HERE: £12.00

Classical and Spanish guitar virtuoso Julian Bream was probably the only instrumentalist of his generation to match the extraordinary talent of his contemporary John Williams among the artists who popularised the music, as well as exploring the potential of the lute in interpreting historical works for that much-ignored instrument. This 58-track 3-CD collection comprises the complete contents of five of his early albums, Spanish Guitar Music Vol 1, Spanish Guitar Music Vol. 2, A Bach Recital For The Guitar, and Julian Bream Plays Dowland, on which he plays the lute, for the Westminster label and The Art Of Julian Bream for RCA.

ARTIST: Josh White TITLE: The Early Years Collection 1929-36 GENRE: Blues CAT NO: ADDCD3447 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Josh White was an entertainer, singer, songwriter, guitarist, actor and civil rights activist, who became a very public face of protest in the 1940s and was well-known and popular in showbiz circles. This 48-track 2-CD set comprises one title for Paramount with Blind Joe Taggart, and then selected sides on the labels mentioned in his various guises through to 1936, when his career was interrupted for a couple of years by a hand injury until he returned to record for major labels. It includes many of his notable compositions, and underlines his authenticity and skill as a guitarist and blues performer as he carved out a living through the Depression years.

ARTIST: Ray Bloch & His Orch. TITLE: The Bloch Party - The Singles Collection 1945-56 GENRE: Nostalgia CAT NO: ADDCD3448 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10.00

Ray Bloch was a pianist, composer, conductor, arranger and bandleader who is best known for being the arranger and conductor on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in the USA for its entire run from 1948 to 1971. For aficionados of the orchestras of the '40s and '50s, who played the popular easy-on-the-ear music of the times comprising both new material and Great American Songbook classics, his music is up there with the best of them. This 47-track  set represents an archetypal slice of what many nostalgia buffs call “the golden age of popular music”, this is a rarely-heard showcase for one of pop’s most accomplished backroom boys.

NEW RELEASES September 2022

ARTIST: John Williams TITLE: Classical Guitar Virtuoso - Early Years 1958-61 GENRE: Classical CAT NO: ADDCD3442 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10

John Williams is one of the greatest classical guitarists of the modern era, introducing a previously highly specialist area of repertoire to a wider audience through his virtuoso expertise on the Spanish guitar. Guitar historian Graham Wade has stated that “John is the most technically accomplished guitarist the world has seen.” Born in Australia in 1941, his family moved to the UK when he was 11, and having been taught by his guitarist father, he studied with Andres Segovia in Italy, before attending the Royal College of Music from 1956-59, and making his first performance at the Wigmore Hall in 1958. The first of these recordings was made very soon after that. This  collection includes the complete contents of his first three solo LP releases, which were Guitar Recital Vol.1 and Guitar Recital Vol.2 for the Delyse label in 1958 and 1959, followed a couple of years later by A Spanish Guitar for the Westminster label. It is an absorbing and fascinating scene-setter for his illustrious career, showcasing his prodigious talent and mastery of his instrument even at this early stage.

ARTIST: Charles Mingus TITLE: Landmark Albums 1956-60 GENRE: Jazz CAT NO: ACTRCD9124 FORMAT: 3CD BUY HERE: £12

Charles Mingus was a double bassist, pianist composer and bandleader, and a significant proponent of the idea of collective improvisation, who brought a personal and uniquely distinctive musical approach to jazz as well as an uncompromising commitment to his musical ambitions and integrity. He recorded prolifically over three decades and more, but many critics highlight a series of albums which he recorded during the late 1950s and into 1960, which represented something of a creative high point in that era of his career, and indeed in his whole musical canon. This 3CD set offers an absorbing and exciting showcase for his important contribution to jazz.

ARTIST: Gene McDaniels TITLE: The Singles & Albums Collection 1959-62 GENRE: R&B CAT NO: ADDCD3441 FORMAT: 2CD  BUY HERE: £10

Gene McDaniels was an African-American singer, who started out performing gospel, before turning to jazz, and came to the fore as vocalist with the Les McCann Trio in Los Angeles. This  58-track collection explores a variety of musical territory, exploiting his jazz and gospel-trained voice as he performs Great American Songbook standards and his own interpretations of current hits of the day, plus classic movie songs along with new contemporary material. He was a fine singer, whose pop hits marked him out as a distinctive song stylist, and this collection is an enjoyable showcase for that talent.

ARTIST: Kate Smith TITLE: Hello Everybody! - The Kate Smith Collection 1926-50 GENRE: Easy Listening CAT NO: ACQCD7167 FORMAT: 4CD  BUY HERE: £15

Kate Smith was a singer very much in the traditional mode, who had big hits soon after she began her career in the 1920s, and remained hugely popular long into the post-war decades. Known variously as “The First Lady Of Radio” and “The Songbird Of The South”, she commanded a large broadcast audience that continued into the TV era in the ‘50s – her signature greeting on her radio shows was “Hello Everybody!” She was highly versatile, able to give any kind of repertoire her personal touch, and this 94-track collection offers an enjoyable and enlightening showcase for her distinctive talent.

ARTIST: Tex Beneke TITLE: Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop! The Singles Collection 1946-54 GENRE: Jazz CAT NO: ADDCD3443 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10

Tex Beneke was a big band saxophonist and singer who joined the Glenn Miller Orchestra in 1941, and remained with him until Miller broke up his band the following year to join the Army Air Forces, with Beneke also enlisting in the Navy. Having performed on all Miller’s big hits of that era, and with Miller having died over the English Channel in 1944, Beneke got permission from Miller’s estate to form a “ghost band” in 1946, initially called “Tex Beneke With The Glenn Miller Orchestra , which eventually became Tex Beneke & His Orchestra a year or two later. This 48-track collection sees Beneke recapturing the spirit of the Miller band, but also establishing a style of his own as the market changed in the post-war era.

ARTIST: Elton Britt TITLE: Someday - The Elton Britt Collection 1933-55 GENRE: Country CAT NO: ADDCD3444 FORMAT: 2CD BUY HERE: £10

Elton Britt was a country singer, songwriter and guitarist who was born in 1913, and had a recording career which began in the early 1930s and spanned more than three decades, as he adapted his distinctive and effortless vocal style to the needs of the changing market, and after the Billboard charts were launched in the early ’40 he had a string of hits in both the pop and country charts, mostly as a solo artist but also in duets with Rosalie Allen, as well as with The Three Suns and The Skytoppers. From early ‘mountain music’ through to the more commercial music of the ‘50s, this 51-track collection offers a fascinating trawl across the country and pop spectrum while offering an entertaining showcase for Britt’s smoothly relaxed style.