A characteristically humongous (8-CD) box set from the wonderful obsessive-compulsives at Bear Family, documenting the Killer's '60s tenure at Smash Records. Lewis made consistently good music during this period, but the combination of his personal scandals and the British Invasion made him a pariah to radio programmers until mid-decade, when he returned to his country roots. Highlights of the set include the entirety of a Texas live show, with Lewis and his crack band rendering various early rock standards at dangerously high (i.e., proto punk) speed, some excellent duets with his (then) wife Linda Gail, and gorgeous renditions of standards like Willie Nelson's "Funny How Time Slips Away" and Merle Haggard's "Lonesome Fugitive." Lewis fans with deep pockets should grab this one immediately…

Five more CDs of Connie Francis, picking up right where Bear Family's earlier White Sox, Pink Lipstick set left off, in 1960 – although its 300-plus minutes of music only cover the period of 1960 to 1962. By this time, Connie Francis was established as one of the top female vocal talents of her generation, and she was ready to experiment – you hear her successful move into country music, wonderful outtakes, and never-issued songs from her early-'60s sessions…

It's a statement of Johnny Cash's longevity that the eight albums collected here – each one a concept collection devoted to American historical themes – were considered worthy and viable commercial releases back when, and that most were very successful. This four-CD set assembles Ride This Train, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Bitter Tears, Ballads of the True West, Mean as Hell! (Johnny Cash Sings Ballads from the True West), America: A 200 Year Salute in Story and Song, From Sea to Shining Sea, and The Rambler, all in one place. They fit together as a body of work, and he put a lot of heart into all of these songs individually…

The Man in Black: 1954-1958 is a five-disc box set that includes everything Johnny Cash recorded for Sun Records, plus the fruits of his first year with Columbia Records…

Let's call a spade a spade. Orion is an Elvis impersonator. No more, no less. That he's a good Elvis impersonator is important, since if he wasn't, Sun probably wouldn't have tried to promote his recordings as if they were genuine Elvis material, even going to the extremes of overdubbing Orion's voices on recordings by such Sun stalwarts as Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. This doesn't make him any better, but it sure makes him fascinating, particularly because he is gifted at mimicry and these are pretty good evocations of Elvis at his peak…

Del Shannon - Home and Away: The Complete Recordings 1960-1970 (2004) {8-CD Box, Bear Family Records BCD 15925 HL}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 2.82 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 1.27 Gb
Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 10 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1960-70, 2004 Bear Family Records | BCD 15925 HL}
Pop / AM Pop / Rock & Roll / Oldies / Early Pop / Teen Idols

One of the greatest and most original rock 'n' roll stars of the early 1960s, Del Shannon was also one of the few to not only triumph in the face of the British Invasion, but grow artistically and professionally. He is lauded now as the godfather of Power Pop. His astonishing vocal range combined with Max Crook’s Musitron made one of the most unique and easily identifiable sounds in all popular music. In addition, Del Shannon wrote several of the era’s classics, exploring themes that would recur in his work: loss, alienation, and abandonment.

Freddie Hart - Juke Joint Boogie (2004) {Bear Family Records BCD16727AH rec 1953-1961}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 399 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 185 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 112 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1953-61, 2004 Bear Family Records | BCD 16727 AH
Honky Tonk / Country Pop / Rockabilly / Rock & Roll

Many fans of Freddie Hart's sexy '70s love songs may not realize that his recording career began way back in 1953 when he was an aspiring honky-tonker and songwriter. Juke Joint Boogie is a 33-track anthology that looks at the early years of Hart's career when he recorded with producers Ken Nelson and Don Law at Capitol and Columbia Records, cutting straight country as well as hybridized songs intended to catch some of the pop market. Juke Joint Boogie offers an extended but incomplete survey of Hart's recordings from 1953-61, omitting dozens of tracks in spite of its generous program.