Screamin' Jay Hawkins - The Planet Sessions - Ace Records » On the radar: Screamin' Jay Hawkins album from 1965 with bonus tracks, previously unavailable on CD. The songs are different versions than those included on Bear Family's Spellbound! 1955-1974.
There were a few great 10" reissues when they started including a superb Etta James disc that blew me away at the time.
Just picked up the 1990 Ace compilation of Big Mama Thornton's Peacock Recordings, delighted to see it was mastered by Boppin' Bob Jones at CTS. Sound is great, bit of crackle on a couple of tracks but such are the limitations of some early 50s recordings and what's available. Anyway - recommended.
Just picked up 'This is Louisiana' collection as I wanted a version of Johnnie Allan's Promised Land, bought it from Ace direct as they were selling it for a fiver including shipping but what pleased me just as much as the disc was this fantastic Fats Domino postcard that was also in the envelope. How cool is this?!
I have a few of these from Ace, including this one. I put them in frames on top of my record shelves.
Various Artists (Songwriter Series) - Rock And Roll Music! The Songs Of Chuck Berry - Ace Records » Gonna need to get this one. Could do without The Beach Boys' version of "Rock 'n' Roll Music" but all the other picks seem solid.
All of the above. I especially love the Golden Age of American Rock 'n' Roll. Late forum member Drawer L hipped me to that series about 10 years ago. The songwriter/producer series is great. I think I have 41 volumes far, the latest acquisition being Ricordare: The Songs of Ennio Morricone.
This 2LP set is outstanding and on regular rotation at the moment;- Bob Stanley & Pete Wiggs Present: English Weather [VINYL]: Amazon.co.uk: Music The vinyl has an extra track over the CD equivilent by the way!
One of the Ace releases I reach for most often is... their CD opener. It's especially handy for slicing through annoying stickers across the tops of jewel cases. Various Artists (Rock & Roll Compilations) - Ace Records CD Opener - Ace Records
The enjoyable Jackie Lee Cochran twofer features the impressive sessions he did with UK producer Mike Vernon. The Del Shannon 2CD focusing on his UK singles makes a great gift for friends and family and serves as a nice companion piece to the mandatory Bear Family box set.
I don't know how many times I was looking at an artist, saw one title, noticed it was on Ace and stopped looking right there. Or how many I haven't heard of came up under 'Customers also bought...' and I got because it was Ace/Kent.
How neat! You should frame that postcard or do a 50s-themed collage. Johnnie Allan is also great, I have all of his available material on CD and LP and have seen him live on two different occasions. When I saw Johnnie (more recently), he looked incredibly young and his voice still sounds powerful and commanding, which leads me to believe that one's vocals don't have to be affected by age. There must be some sort of fountain of youth in the water in Louisiana, because the same could be said about Warren Storm and a few other artists from that scene.
Ace has released so many terrific compilations focusing on the output of Link Wray. The only material of his I'm not fond of are his later-period recordings from the 90s and 2000s and I have justifiable reasons for feeling this way, which can only be discussed privately.
3-Track Shack is excellent, I haven't got the Ace version, might have to check it out. And the others.
Just discovered Ace's Rockin' from Coast to Coast series. I had long overlooked it assuming it was a sprawling anthology of rarely-heard hits like their Golden Age of American Rock 'n' Roll discs. Turns out it's just three volumes focusing on the really wild and hard-driving stuff, like a continuation of Rhino's Loud, Fast & Out of Control box except intentionally sidestepping the big hits. The only downside is that many rock 'n' roll collectors are already going to own a good chunk of this material, but there's enough fresh stuff to make them worth investigating. Various Artists (Rockin From Coast to Coast) - Ace Records
By the way, what's the difference between Ace and Kent? One is a subsidiary of the other? Is there some functional difference in their output?
Before someone tells me google is my friend, let me beat them to the punch. From no further than Wikipedia: Ace Records: initially the only label (reissues, also including Ace Records (US)): Rock 'n' Roll, Rockabilly, Rhythm & Blues, Cajun, 1950s and 1960s Pop, etc. It is well known for several series of releases: "The Golden Age of American Rock 'N' Roll"; "Early Girls"; "Teen Beat" (showcasing instrumentals); and "Radio Gold". Beat Goes Public: Rare and Classic Funk Big Beat: 1960s Rock 'n' Roll and Pop Globe Style: World Music Kent Records: Motown, Northern Soul, Deep Soul Kicking Mule: Guitar Music (Stefan Grossman, Bob Brozman, Bert Jansch) Southbound Records: 1970s Soul and Funk (Millie Jackson, Fatback, Sylvester, Joe Simon) Westbound Records: Funk, Soul (Funkadelic, Ohio Players, Detroit Emeralds)
The McKuen cd is great, not rock but many lovely ballads. They could have left Terry Jacks off though. The Chuck Berry one is on it's way to me now Another treat I was just listening to is Allen Toussaint - What is Success - on Kent BTW weirdness here, thread says jbgoode is watching at this moment!
The Link Wray album with the yellow cover (1978; repressed 1987) was, I imagine, most people's introduction to Mr. Wray. It seems like this was the only LP of his music available for a long time. It was the Swan era ... "Run Chicken Run," "Jack the Ripper," "Ace of Spades," one great track after another.
"A Pot of Flowers - Mainstream Records" Various Artists (Mainstream Records) - A Pot Of Flowers - Ace Records Suggested by a Fellow Forumer; mono single mixes too!! Bigly into "BIG BEAT" for all the "Garage"! Great company!!
