I had no clue this existed. I went to Bear Family’s website to look at new releases and coming soon releases. Kind of depressing...and not because of Bear Family, just the times and fads we are going through. For so long I have obsessed about music FINALLY making it to cd. And now we have to backtrack to put the same stuff I prayed and prayed for on cd back on vinyl.... Great for vinyl people, but I’m 43 now, and have what, 30 or 40 years left to get music on cd in my collection, running out of time here folks.
They have just re-designed their website too, and I too keep an eye on the website for new releases and coming soon discs, but there's not much coming at the moment, unless your an Elvis 'need it all' kind of guy. I feel the same about time is running out. Not only for myself to enjoy the goodies, but I think about the future of this music we love and whether it'll slip away into the cracks of time and be forgotten. At least we have been fortunate to have the great box sets of BF have presented over the years, so those I'm sure will last on for another generation or two. It's the likes of Charlie Feathers & Johnny Paycheck that worry me long term and the lack of willing and passionate people 'behind the wheel' to do justice to the material like Richard and the team. My worst nightmare is that Paycheck may only be remembered for 'Take This Job & Shove It'...... Ok, maybe not my worst nightmare, but you get the idea.
A strange Hank Locklin double vinyl i just bought,contains only Jimmie Rodgers songs sung by Hank Locklin. CHET ATKINS Famous Country Music Makers 1975 UK vinyl LP EXCELLENT CONDITION | eBay Scroll down a little bit to see the songs.Very strange,you wont find these on other Hank Locklin releases.
I see the above Producer and Tape Research or the 'Ric' Cd is named Nico Feuerbach. What do we know about him? I wonder if this is the same chap: Nico Feuerbach
Charlie Gracie, still making music: Tracks available to listen to on Youtube: Gracie Swings Again - YouTube
I'm sure you've all probably seen this, but for those who havn't. the man responsible for why we are all here:
One of the great minor rockabillies, much deserving of his three spaces on each That'll Flat Git It Vol. 1 & Vol. 30. Another featuring Jerry Reed:
I got tired of waiting for the Bear Family box set of Merle Haggard's Epic Recordings, so I am making my own. First creating a digital flac file, then a set.
Like some other artists, a lot of it has been released on CD over the years so it probably wont be high on the 'to do' list.
Only 43! It may be true that your best years are behind you, but you still have plenty of your worst years to come! (Excluding junior high school, which most people want to forget)
Not much is high on the "to do" list for Bear Family. Merle deserves to be completed. Here we are almost three years after Merle's passing, with wide recognition as one of the greatest in history, and the biggest music corporation on earth (SONY) has not seen fit to do anything of significance. A bunch of Merle's Epic records are only on "grey" market import CDs, others are out of print, and others are poor quality CD mastering. Rarities and session outtakes still sit in the vaults.
Now I am making a special box set, the last in the series, "Merle Haggard - The Later Years", comprising everything, studio and official live recordings, from the post Epic years. Bear Family should have done this.
Sitting here snowed in, bored, I decided to look through Bear Family's website. Am I correct in saying that there were only 2 Bear Family boxed sets released in 2018, Battleground Korea and the Lefty Frizzell set? Not complaining. Just looking for something I missed. I'm going to have to get the Ric Cartey disc, but nothing else looks appetizing.
Last year's re-release/reconfiguration of Lefty Frizzell's complete recordings (20-CD box set) looked absolutely stunning. I wish they'd do the same with their Merle Haggard and Dean Martin box sets.
Why would they need to revise the Merle Haggard or Dean Martin box sets? All of those were fairly definitive for the time periods covered. I would so much prefer that Bear Family break new ground rather than beat down an old path. A key reason that Bear did the Lefty box again is that the book really deserved the new treatment. They only added very few new recordings. The book-on-tape hardly counts, as it was issued separately.
Mostly for aesthetic reasons, really (artwork means a lot to me). I only own the second Merle Haggard box set (with it's silly, rather ugly cover), and as far as I know the "book" included in the first box set wasn't hardbound but basically an oversized booklet!? Furthermore, the covers of the Dean Martin box sets left quite a bit to be desired, too (for me, anyway). Also, it always annoyed me that they used a '70s photo for the third box set covering the '60s (Dean's heyday). Bear Family have gotten so much better at artwork/presentation since then (the Buck Owens and George Jones box sets, for instance). I also love that they housed the CDs in digipacks (instead of cheap-looking jewel cases) in the new Lefty Frizzell box set. I realize that it may come off as nitpicking, but, hey, what can I say, I'm a nitpicking kind-a guy - especially at these prices. That said, as a fan of Bear Family, I, too, would of course love to see them break new ground.
