Your favourite Ace Records (UK) releases

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by GodBlessTinyTim, Nov 16, 2015.

  1. GodBlessTinyTim

    GodBlessTinyTim Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    I promise I'm not going to make one of these threads for every reisssue label under the sun. That said, Ace is another one that deserves special attention. They're always working on something interesting, not to mention well-researched. Some standouts for me include:

    The Zombies - Zombie Heaven: Probably one of the most well-constructed box sets ever, it serves a testament to the group's remarkable consistency.
    Masaaki Hirao and His All Stars Wagon - Nippon Rock 'n' Roll: The Birth of Japanese Rokabirii 1958-60: I went in expecting this one to be kind of goofy and campy, but it turns out Masaaki was tougher than that, and definitely lives up to his title of "The Japanese Elvis".
    Dean Carter - Call of the Wild: Tracks the man's career from a basic 50's rockabilly bopper to a wigged-out psychedelic garage rocker. His gloriously cacophonous take on "Jailhouse Rock" has to be heard to be believed.
    Etta James - The Complete Modern & Kent Recordings: Etta's oft-overlooked 50's work, which had her in more of a rough-and-tumble R&B mold. Great to have all her pre-Chess recordings in one place.
    The Jesters - Cadillac Men: The Sun Masters: Despite being recorded on Sun Records a decade after the label's heyday and featuring Sam Phillips' son on guitar, the group owes more of its blues-infused garage sound to Chess Records. What little they recorded is really solid.
    Various - The Big Beat: The Dave Bartholomew Songbook: Some of Ace's songwriter compilations are pretty uneven, but this one taskes the wise approach of starting in New Orleans with Fats Domino, Smiley Lewis, Shirley & Lee, etc. before gradually rippling out across the States and beyond, ending with Dave Edmunds' version of "I Hear You Knocking".
     
  2. John B Good

    John B Good Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    NS, Canada
    I like the artist-writer-producer series.

    I have about 20 of them, and it's really great because of the variety of performers and styles on a single disk.

    Wish I could afford more space for, money to buy, and time to listen, to an enormous number of the Ace productions.
     
    Dennis Metz likes this.
  3. Platterpus

    Platterpus Senior Member

    Love their Big Beat imprint. Here's what I have:

    The Chocolate Watch Band:

    No Way Out
    The Inner Mystique/One Step Beyond
    44
    Melts In Your Brain...Not On Your Wrist

    Count Five:

    Psychotic Revelation: The Ultimate Count Five

    Mighty Baby:

    Mighty Baby

    The Music Machine:

    The Ultimate Turn On
    Bonniwell Music Machine

    The Seeds:

    The Seeds
    A Web Of Sound
    Future
    Raw & Alive
    Singles As & Bs 1965-1970

    Other OOP Big Beat titles that I have:

    The Alan Lorber Orchestra:

    The Lotus Palace


    Ultimate Spinach:

    Ultimate Spinach
    Behold And See

    The Zoo:


    Presents Chocolate Moose

    I have other CDs by artists that Big Beat has put out but are on other labels which don't contain the bonus tracks that Big Beat adds to their reissues. If I had the money I would buy all the Big Beat issues of what I have. I would still keep my original issues though. Big Beat is a great label!:righton:












     
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  4. Mal

    Mal Phorum Physicist

    It was great to finally get a complete set of Fats Domino's Imperial Singles (3 volumes released - then a big gap and finally two more) - the mastering is not ideal, however.
     
    Buisfan likes this.
  5. Ellsworth

    Ellsworth Forum Resident

    Their releases of James Carr and Arthur Alexander CDs are great.
     
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  6. GodBlessTinyTim

    GodBlessTinyTim Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    Is there any place one can view a complete list of their releases, including OoP ones? I can't find a complete catalog like Bear Family has.

    Lots of Big Beat's 60's garage/pych releases look interesting, but there are so many that I'm not sure where to start. I have yet to look into The Charlatans, Frumious Bandersnatch, Fugs, Knickerbockers, Mojo Men, Music Machine, Nightcrawlers, Peanut Butter Conspiracy, Standells, Zakary Thaks, and tons of others both in and out of print.

    Melts In Your Brain
    is a really good one.
     
    melstapler likes this.
  7. Platterpus

    Platterpus Senior Member

    Not a list that I know of. The discogs link below has their reissues listed but you will have to sort through vinyl as well going back to the early 80s if you are only looking for CDs. Same goes for the OOP titles:

    http://www.discogs.com/label/33212-Big-Beat-Records

    You can go to Big Beat's site for their in print reissues:

    http://acerecords.co.uk/big-beat-label
     
    GodBlessTinyTim likes this.
  8. marmil

    marmil It's such a long story...

    The (Count) Bishops - Live - CH 7 LP, 1978. A great "break your lease" record.
     
    Bowland likes this.
  9. Daniel Plainview

    Daniel Plainview God's Lonely Man

    Yo! The Dion DiMucci catalog in a series of handsome 2-fers, what else?
     
  10. This is my only experience with Ace Records reissues, and I think it's a great one:

     
    SinnerSaint likes this.
  11. Mal

    Mal Phorum Physicist

    Little Richard - The Speciality Sessions
     
  12. HarborRat

    HarborRat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cincinnati, Ohio
    This one seems to be a favorite of many forum members, including me!
    Hits With Strings and Things, in Ace's " The Golden Age of American Popular Music" series:
    [​IMG]
     
  13. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    They do put out great comps don't they!
     
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  14. agundy

    agundy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lock Haven, PA
    Actually, all the various artists' "golden age..." of RnR, pop, etc. CDs are wonderful!!
     
  15. HominyRhodes

    HominyRhodes Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago
  16. Thom

    Thom Forum Resident

    I love the Ace compilations. I have a few cool titles:

    Criminal Records: Law, Disorder And The Pursuit Of Vinyl Justice (2012)
    The Rebel Kind: Girls With Guitars Volume 3 (2014)
    C'est Chic: French Girl Singers Of The 60s (2010)
    A Rocket In My Pocket: The Soundtrack to The Hipster's Guide to Rockabilly Music (2010)
    Nippon Girls: Japanese Pop, Beat & Bossa Nova 1966-1970 (2009)
    A Soldier's Sad Story: Vietnam Through The Eyes Of Black America 1966-1973 (2003)
    How Many Roads: Black America Sings Bob Dylan (2010)
    Further Mellow Cats 'n Kittens: Hot R&B and Cool Blues 1946-1951 (2011)

    Plus comps of Goffin and King, Sedaka and Greenfield, Greenwich and Barry, and Johnnie Allan. I don't think that's all I have, but they are all either really brilliant or a lot of fun.
     
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  17. John B Good

    John B Good Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    NS, Canada
    Have (or had) all those. But found the Nippon Girls not too much to my liking and sold it.

    There is a great new one focussed on Train songs, which I'm on board with.
     
    Thom likes this.
  18. Dhreview16

    Dhreview16 Forum Resident

    Location:
    London UK
    It's Not Just Sentimental, the "lost" Otis Redding album.

    If you doubt it's quality, just listen to the new Sonos (Hifi/wifi) TV advert, which features Send Me Some Lovin' . 2 minutes of "ace" southern soul.

    [i hadn't realised that Maggot Brain - listed earlier - was also licensed to Ace. i was playing the same coloured vinyl earlier this week, very nice !].
     
    danasgoodstuff likes this.
  19. john hp

    john hp Forum Resident

    Location:
    Warwickshire, UK
    Something great released almost every month. Just from this year -
    Zakary Thaks - It's the End / Definitive Collection
    Jimmy Holiday - Spread Your Love / Complete Minit Singles
    Keep a Hold on Him / More Garpax Girls
    Eddie Bo - Baby I'm Wise / Complete Ric Singles
    Reaching Out / Chess Records at Fame Studios
    The London American Label Year by Year - 1966
    and the latest Goffin/King and Greenwich/Barry song compilations

    and I'm looking forward to this (to be released on Friday)
    http://acerecords.co.uk/back-to-the-river-more-southern-soul-stories-1961-1978

    40 years now since I bought their first release (the "Speedball" EP by the Count Bishops on the Chiswick label) from the "Rock On" stall in London's Soho Open Market.
     
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  20. Luckless Pedestrian

    Luckless Pedestrian Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Hampshire, USA
  21. Eli

    Eli Party Coordinator

    Location:
    Isle of Lucy
    I've had lots of Ace CDs over the years. Some of my faves are the King/Starday country reissues and the Chordettes' Mainly Rock 'n' Roll.
     
  22. g.z.

    g.z. Senior Member

    The Golden Age Of American Popular Music:
    The Jazz Hits From The Hot 100 1958-1966
     
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2015
  23. GodBlessTinyTim

    GodBlessTinyTim Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    I have the folk-music edition in their Golden Age series, which is quite good as well. Actually got it for my mom, as she likes music that brings her back to her hootenanny years. My favourite on it is Joe & Eddie's "There's a Meeting Here Tonite"

    I actually meant to list that in my opening post, but forgot once I got around to writing it. They need to put that back in print ASAP.
     
    Mal likes this.
  24. Mal

    Mal Phorum Physicist

    Impressions ABC-Paramount catalogue (KENT Soul imprint)
     
  25. jwoverho

    jwoverho Licensed Drug Dealer

    Location:
    Mobile, AL USA
    The three volumes of Jack Nitzsche are essential.
     
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