Conclusion
In this set, Bear Family Records has created the ultimate package for this album. The combination of Ernie Wilkins’ arrangements, Jerry Wexler and Nesuhi Ertegun’s production and Turner’s roaring vocals alongside his backing band helped to shape the success of the original album. Colin Escott and the team at Bear Family have continued their legacy. Boasting pristine sound quality, attractive packaging and an abundance of bonus material, this is worth picking up if you’re looking to discover or rediscover a huge contribution to Big Joe Turner’s catalogue.
In this set, Bear Family Records has created the ultimate package for this album. The combination of Ernie Wilkins’ arrangements, Jerry Wexler and Nesuhi Ertegun’s production and Turner’s roaring vocals alongside his backing band helped to shape the success of the original album. Colin Escott and the team at Bear Family have continued their legacy. Boasting pristine sound quality, attractive packaging and an abundance of bonus material, this is worth picking up if you’re looking to discover or rediscover a huge contribution to Big Joe Turner’s catalogue.
Press Archives - The Great Tragedy - Winter Dance Party 1959 - Goldmine
VARIOUS ARTISTS THE GREAT TRAGEDY 2: WINTER DANCE PARTY 1959... AND THE SHOW MUST GO ON Bear Family Records (CD) *** After Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper and pilot Roger Peterson died that fateful morning of February 3, 1959, "The Winter Dance Party" soldiered on for another 10 straight days with Dion & The Belmonts, Frankie Sardo Sc The Crickets, Frankie Avalon, Jimmy Clanton, Fabian, Robert Veline & His Shadows and Bill Par-sons. Holly had fired The Crickets in '58. His new band consisted of bassist Waylon Jennings, guitarist Tommy Allsup and drummer Carl Bunch. Veline found fame later as Bobby Vee. This second volume of music from the aforementioned continues with the aftermath of the event with 34 tracks in just under 80 minutes.
VARIOUS ARTISTS THE GREAT TRAGEDY 2: WINTER DANCE PARTY 1959... AND THE SHOW MUST GO ON Bear Family Records (CD) *** After Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper and pilot Roger Peterson died that fateful morning of February 3, 1959, "The Winter Dance Party" soldiered on for another 10 straight days with Dion & The Belmonts, Frankie Sardo Sc The Crickets, Frankie Avalon, Jimmy Clanton, Fabian, Robert Veline & His Shadows and Bill Par-sons. Holly had fired The Crickets in '58. His new band consisted of bassist Waylon Jennings, guitarist Tommy Allsup and drummer Carl Bunch. Veline found fame later as Bobby Vee. This second volume of music from the aforementioned continues with the aftermath of the event with 34 tracks in just under 80 minutes.
Presse Archiv - Link Wray Rocks - Blues & Rhythm
BEAR FAMILY PRESSE
BCD 17600 LINK WRAY "Rocks" BAF 11021 LITTLE RICHARD "The BEst of."
LINK WRAY: Rocks Bear Family BCD 17600 (77:19) Link Wray is reputed to be the loudest of rock guitarists but from personal experience I rate him below Dick Dale though the smaller size of Dale's venue may have been a volumetric factor. Nevertheless, Link certainly is very loud, the reason for which may be explained in Bill Dahl's notes when he states that Fred Lincoln Ray Jr's "childhood bout with the measles had robbed him of a good portion of his hearing". These recordings, dated between 1958 and 1966, were mainly released on the Cadence. Cameo, Epic, Mala, Rumble and Swan labels, and include some rare tracks. Predominantly instrumentals of course, Link himself does sing gruffly on 'Ain't That Loving You Baby' and 'Mary Ann', while his brother Vernon Wray (knrwn as Ray Vernon) vocalises on 'I'm Counting On You' and 'Danger One Way Love'. The CD opens with the great 'Raw Hide' and closes with the classic, slow-paced 'Rumble', the two British hits which make outstanding 'bookends' with dynamic and sometimes tremolo guitar that lives long in the memory. Other outstanding tracks include the easily recognised 'Batman Theme' with deep, ominous notes and a guitar-spoken 'Batmanr: the full sound of 'I'm Branded' with shimmering guitar break; the energetic 'Deuces Wild' with drums upfront; the relaxed tempo and mellow tone of 'Radar; a slow track entitled 'Dinosaur' which includes sax inserts; and a radio/television show derivative 'The Shadow Knows'. With all 34 tracks timed between 1:43 and 2:50 there is little time to be bored. The sound quality is great and the 36-page booklet contains some welcome vintage photos. I'm sure that this digipack will be popular with rocking instrumental fans. Paul Harris
Magazin: Blues & Rhythm , UK Ausgabe Feb. 2020
BEAR FAMILY PRESSE
BCD 17600 LINK WRAY "Rocks" BAF 11021 LITTLE RICHARD "The BEst of."
LINK WRAY: Rocks Bear Family BCD 17600 (77:19) Link Wray is reputed to be the loudest of rock guitarists but from personal experience I rate him below Dick Dale though the smaller size of Dale's venue may have been a volumetric factor. Nevertheless, Link certainly is very loud, the reason for which may be explained in Bill Dahl's notes when he states that Fred Lincoln Ray Jr's "childhood bout with the measles had robbed him of a good portion of his hearing". These recordings, dated between 1958 and 1966, were mainly released on the Cadence. Cameo, Epic, Mala, Rumble and Swan labels, and include some rare tracks. Predominantly instrumentals of course, Link himself does sing gruffly on 'Ain't That Loving You Baby' and 'Mary Ann', while his brother Vernon Wray (knrwn as Ray Vernon) vocalises on 'I'm Counting On You' and 'Danger One Way Love'. The CD opens with the great 'Raw Hide' and closes with the classic, slow-paced 'Rumble', the two British hits which make outstanding 'bookends' with dynamic and sometimes tremolo guitar that lives long in the memory. Other outstanding tracks include the easily recognised 'Batman Theme' with deep, ominous notes and a guitar-spoken 'Batmanr: the full sound of 'I'm Branded' with shimmering guitar break; the energetic 'Deuces Wild' with drums upfront; the relaxed tempo and mellow tone of 'Radar; a slow track entitled 'Dinosaur' which includes sax inserts; and a radio/television show derivative 'The Shadow Knows'. With all 34 tracks timed between 1:43 and 2:50 there is little time to be bored. The sound quality is great and the 36-page booklet contains some welcome vintage photos. I'm sure that this digipack will be popular with rocking instrumental fans. Paul Harris
Magazin: Blues & Rhythm , UK Ausgabe Feb. 2020
Presse Archiv - Various Artists Blues Kings Of Baton Rouge (2-CD) - Rhythm & Blues
Blues and r&b sides by artists from Baton Rouge, Louisiana are usually associated with the Excello label: Slim Harpo, Lightnin' Slim, Lazy Lester. Tabby Thomas, Lonesome Sundown plus other fine blues artists (but not as well known) such as Arthur 'Guitar' Kelley, Silas Hogan, Whispering Smith and Jimmy Anderson. Well, they are all here but Martin Hawkins (who produced the set. wrote the notes and track by track analysis) has cast his net wider to include the likes of of Robert Pete Williams, Smoky Babe, Butch Cage, Willie B. Thomas and Clarence Edwards. Covering the years 1954 to 1971, the tracks are taken from sides released on 78s, 45s and albums. As Hawkins states: "We really don't know what the blues sound of Baton Rouge was before 1954", so we kick of with Otis Hicks, (aka Lightnin' Slim) who cut 'Bad Luck' and 'Bugger Bugger Boy', in 1954 for Feature which is swiftly followed by Cleveland White's (Schoolboy Cleve) 'Strange Letter Blues' also cut for Feature but a year later.
Blues and r&b sides by artists from Baton Rouge, Louisiana are usually associated with the Excello label: Slim Harpo, Lightnin' Slim, Lazy Lester. Tabby Thomas, Lonesome Sundown plus other fine blues artists (but not as well known) such as Arthur 'Guitar' Kelley, Silas Hogan, Whispering Smith and Jimmy Anderson. Well, they are all here but Martin Hawkins (who produced the set. wrote the notes and track by track analysis) has cast his net wider to include the likes of of Robert Pete Williams, Smoky Babe, Butch Cage, Willie B. Thomas and Clarence Edwards. Covering the years 1954 to 1971, the tracks are taken from sides released on 78s, 45s and albums. As Hawkins states: "We really don't know what the blues sound of Baton Rouge was before 1954", so we kick of with Otis Hicks, (aka Lightnin' Slim) who cut 'Bad Luck' and 'Bugger Bugger Boy', in 1954 for Feature which is swiftly followed by Cleveland White's (Schoolboy Cleve) 'Strange Letter Blues' also cut for Feature but a year later.
Presse Archiv - The Great Tragedy - Winter Dance Party 1959 - No. 2 - Now Dig This, UK
Bear Family and El Toro have done a lot of good work in the past twelve months com-memorating the infamous Winter Dance Party tour, with releases looking at the music of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper, together with various tribute songs. Bear Family went a step further with The The Great Tragedy - The Winter Dance Party 1959' (reviewed in NDT 432) which looked beyond the Three Stars to the others on the original bill, such as Dion and Frankie Sardo. As a follow-up, they now concentrate on the bill after the fateful crash on February 3rd, hence the CD's tagline, 'And The Show Must Go On'. The tour organisers cer-tainly took that adage to heart by amazingly bringing in replacements for the very next night in Moorhead, Minnesota.
These incomers ranged from a couple of up and coming pop stars to two local acts. The CD starts with a short history of the Winter Dance Party before we plunge into Lee Davis' 'Three Young Men'. Written by Pomus & Shuman, it's a poor song with a flat vocal that's as joyful as the occasion. Probably better, and definitely more successful, was Tommy Dee's tribute, 'Three Stars'. Written within hours of the crash, the song was pitched to Eddie Cochran who found it too raw, resulting in Dee recording his own version before the week was out. From the original bill we get a couple each from Sardo and Dion & The Belmonts. Sardo's 'finest' moment for me was 'I Wanna Rock', but here we get both sides of ABC-Paramount 45-10003, the Elvis-like 'No Love Like Me' and the slightly annoying 'Oh Linda'. Dion & The Belmonts are simply sublime on the top side of Laurie 3021, with The Belmonts giving one of their finest performances.
The flip, 'Just You', was a bit too poppy and according to Dion was one of the reasons he left the group and label. The sleeve-notes quote him thus: "I think this is what really split Dion & The Belmonts up, this idea of this smooth sound. I just couldn't embrace it. It was like singing my dad's music, and I just wasn't into it." Flown in to save the day and fill the genuine
Bear Family and El Toro have done a lot of good work in the past twelve months com-memorating the infamous Winter Dance Party tour, with releases looking at the music of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper, together with various tribute songs. Bear Family went a step further with The The Great Tragedy - The Winter Dance Party 1959' (reviewed in NDT 432) which looked beyond the Three Stars to the others on the original bill, such as Dion and Frankie Sardo. As a follow-up, they now concentrate on the bill after the fateful crash on February 3rd, hence the CD's tagline, 'And The Show Must Go On'. The tour organisers cer-tainly took that adage to heart by amazingly bringing in replacements for the very next night in Moorhead, Minnesota.
These incomers ranged from a couple of up and coming pop stars to two local acts. The CD starts with a short history of the Winter Dance Party before we plunge into Lee Davis' 'Three Young Men'. Written by Pomus & Shuman, it's a poor song with a flat vocal that's as joyful as the occasion. Probably better, and definitely more successful, was Tommy Dee's tribute, 'Three Stars'. Written within hours of the crash, the song was pitched to Eddie Cochran who found it too raw, resulting in Dee recording his own version before the week was out. From the original bill we get a couple each from Sardo and Dion & The Belmonts. Sardo's 'finest' moment for me was 'I Wanna Rock', but here we get both sides of ABC-Paramount 45-10003, the Elvis-like 'No Love Like Me' and the slightly annoying 'Oh Linda'. Dion & The Belmonts are simply sublime on the top side of Laurie 3021, with The Belmonts giving one of their finest performances.
The flip, 'Just You', was a bit too poppy and according to Dion was one of the reasons he left the group and label. The sleeve-notes quote him thus: "I think this is what really split Dion & The Belmonts up, this idea of this smooth sound. I just couldn't embrace it. It was like singing my dad's music, and I just wasn't into it." Flown in to save the day and fill the genuine
Presse Archiv - The Great Tragedy - Winter Dance Party 1959 - No. 2 - countryjukebox
VA: THE GREAT TRAGEDY - WINTER DANCE PARTY 1959 #2
am 3. Februar jährte sich zum 61. Mal der Todestag des amerikanischen Sängers, Songschreibers und Gitarristen BUDDY HOLLY, der sich mit Songs wie „Peggy Sue“, „Oh Boy“, „Rave On“ und „That’ll Be The Day“ für alle Zeiten in den Rock ’n’ Roll-Annalen verewigt hat
an diesem Tag bestieg Holly zusammen mit den Rock ’n‘ Rollern Ritchie Valens (17) und Big Bopper (28) nach einem Konzert in Clear Lake, Iowa eine von ihm gecharterte Beechcraft Bonanza, die ihn nach Fargo, North Dakota bringen sollte - vermutlich aufgrund eines Instrumentenablesefehlers des 21-jährigen Piloten Roger Petersen kommt es zum Absturz der kleinen einmotorigen Propellermaschine, den keiner der Insassen überlebt die als Winter Dance Party auf drei Wochen angelegte Tournee durch den Mittleren Westen ging mit den jungen Teenager-Idolen Frankie Avalon, Jimmy Clanton, Fabian, Bobby Vee und Bill Parsons weiter - mit über 30 Aufnahmen erinnert The Great Tragedy - Winter Dance Party 1959 #2 nicht nur an Buddy Holly sondern auch an die Überlebenden und die Ersatzstars - ein starkes wie empfehlenswertes Stück Musikgeschichte, das jetzt erstmals auf CD erhältlich ist
VA: THE GREAT TRAGEDY - WINTER DANCE PARTY 1959 #2
am 3. Februar jährte sich zum 61. Mal der Todestag des amerikanischen Sängers, Songschreibers und Gitarristen BUDDY HOLLY, der sich mit Songs wie „Peggy Sue“, „Oh Boy“, „Rave On“ und „That’ll Be The Day“ für alle Zeiten in den Rock ’n’ Roll-Annalen verewigt hat
an diesem Tag bestieg Holly zusammen mit den Rock ’n‘ Rollern Ritchie Valens (17) und Big Bopper (28) nach einem Konzert in Clear Lake, Iowa eine von ihm gecharterte Beechcraft Bonanza, die ihn nach Fargo, North Dakota bringen sollte - vermutlich aufgrund eines Instrumentenablesefehlers des 21-jährigen Piloten Roger Petersen kommt es zum Absturz der kleinen einmotorigen Propellermaschine, den keiner der Insassen überlebt die als Winter Dance Party auf drei Wochen angelegte Tournee durch den Mittleren Westen ging mit den jungen Teenager-Idolen Frankie Avalon, Jimmy Clanton, Fabian, Bobby Vee und Bill Parsons weiter - mit über 30 Aufnahmen erinnert The Great Tragedy - Winter Dance Party 1959 #2 nicht nur an Buddy Holly sondern auch an die Überlebenden und die Ersatzstars - ein starkes wie empfehlenswertes Stück Musikgeschichte, das jetzt erstmals auf CD erhältlich ist
Presse Archive - Destination Lust - Songs of Love, Sex And Violence (CD) - musenblätter
Die Älteren unter Ihnen werden sich erinnern: Es gab mal eine Zeit, als die Frau noch Vollweib sein durfte und das Schönheitsideal nicht der 'Hungerhaken' war. Der Sex wurde nach und nach aus der Schmuddelecke befreit und auf der Kinoleinwand und musikalisch per Vinyl-Platte ans noch zart errötende Publikum gebracht. Das war Ende der 50er, Anfang der 60er Jahre, als im Zuge der moralischen Abrüstung die ersten Busen-Titelseiten an Zeitungskiosken auftauchten und Sexbomben wie Jayne Mansfield und Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren und Gina Lollobrigida, Anita Ekberg und Ann-Margret, Elke Sommer und Brigitte Bardot den Männern den Atem nahmen. Vielleicht sprach man noch nicht offen über die schönste Freizeitbeschäftigung der Welt, doch besungen wurde sie implizit.
Die Älteren unter Ihnen werden sich erinnern: Es gab mal eine Zeit, als die Frau noch Vollweib sein durfte und das Schönheitsideal nicht der 'Hungerhaken' war. Der Sex wurde nach und nach aus der Schmuddelecke befreit und auf der Kinoleinwand und musikalisch per Vinyl-Platte ans noch zart errötende Publikum gebracht. Das war Ende der 50er, Anfang der 60er Jahre, als im Zuge der moralischen Abrüstung die ersten Busen-Titelseiten an Zeitungskiosken auftauchten und Sexbomben wie Jayne Mansfield und Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren und Gina Lollobrigida, Anita Ekberg und Ann-Margret, Elke Sommer und Brigitte Bardot den Männern den Atem nahmen. Vielleicht sprach man noch nicht offen über die schönste Freizeitbeschäftigung der Welt, doch besungen wurde sie implizit.
Press Archive - The Best Of Little Richard !! (LP, 10inch, Ltd.) - Blues & Rhythm
LITTLE RICHARD: The Best Of... Bear Family BAF11021 Lucille! Good Golly Miss Molly/ Send Me Some Lovin'! Miss Ann/ She Knows How To Rock/ Kansas City/ Jenny, Jenny/ True, Fine Mama/ Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey/ Doh! My Soul/ I'll Never Let You Go/ Baby Face Do I need to even mention the music? Probably not if you're even considering buying this. This remastered ten-inch vinyl album is released in Bear Family's aptly-named 'Vinyl Club Exclusive' series, available only from the company directly and limited to 500 copies. The original contained Specialty recordings and was issued in Japan in 1962 on London/King MPL 1031, becoming a much sought-after item. It would be interesting to know if any contemporary Japanese reviews exist. You want it? Get your skates on then... Norman Darwen
LITTLE RICHARD: The Best Of... Bear Family BAF11021 Lucille! Good Golly Miss Molly/ Send Me Some Lovin'! Miss Ann/ She Knows How To Rock/ Kansas City/ Jenny, Jenny/ True, Fine Mama/ Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey/ Doh! My Soul/ I'll Never Let You Go/ Baby Face Do I need to even mention the music? Probably not if you're even considering buying this. This remastered ten-inch vinyl album is released in Bear Family's aptly-named 'Vinyl Club Exclusive' series, available only from the company directly and limited to 500 copies. The original contained Specialty recordings and was issued in Japan in 1962 on London/King MPL 1031, becoming a much sought-after item. It would be interesting to know if any contemporary Japanese reviews exist. You want it? Get your skates on then... Norman Darwen