Great ideas, some of them wont ever come to reality (DC5). A Merseybeat set without the drivel of the 4th tier bands would be great.
Country legend Johnny Bush is long overdue for a Bear Family box set containing his classic recordings on RCA, Stop, Million and Starday. Johnny Bush played with Ray Price alongside Willie Nelson and Darrell McCall. Often recognized for writing the hit song 'Whiskey River,' Bush appears on a duet with Steve Earle on his album "So You Wanna Be An Outlaw" and once almost shot Steve Earle in the head. According to Earle, "I turn around and there’s Johnny Bush in a bathrobe with a .357 magnum pointed right at the back of my head 12 inches away. My copy of Johnny’s autobiography is inscribed: ‘To Steve, I sure am glad I didn’t pull the trigger."
I've now listened to the Stanley Brothers' work for every label except King. Their Rich-R-Tone recordings are mainly of historical interest to me and their Columbia stuff is very good but didn't necessarily bowl me over. The recordings they made for Mercury, though... wow. Truly among the greatest bluegrass ever laid to tape. No regrets spending $35 on Bear's out-of-print 1953-1959 set instead of settling for the domestic $12 Mercury/Universal collection of the same material. One of those instances when you know the entire set is going to be great as soon as you hear the first song. They did in fact release a complete Merseybeats collection. Don't have it myself, but it has good reviews. The Merseybeats CD: I Think Of You - The Complete Recordings (CD) - Bear Family Records A number of those other groups listed do have box sets from EMI, though they tend to have skimpy annotation. It would be a godsend if BF could sort out The Yardbirds' catalog. They once released a six-disc box by German beat/psych/hard rock group The Petards, so it isn't totally out of the question.
A Johnny Bush set would be great, fitting right in with the likes of Darrell McCall and early Vernon Oxford. Here's his first single from 1958. He hadn't yet taught his voice to really soar like it would a decade later, but still very good with a killer guitar break.
Until Bear Family issue a box set of Merle Haggard's Epic recordings, I'd recommend daily welfare checks for @Rick Bartlett
Pure greatness. If record labels could go to jail, Bear Family would be incarcerated for not releasing a Johnny Bush collection. Even a 1CD comp would be welcomed by fans of classic country music.
Once producer Ernst Jorgensen got Vic Anesni involved in the remastering of Elvis Presley's mainstream CD releases, the Elvis fandom has been in pretty much sonic heaven. Sony Legacy has done a tremendous job with his mainstream releases, while FTD has concentrated on the very committed Elvis fan, whereby Vic as well as Sebastian Jeansson have done some amazing mixing and remastering work on the Elvis library. Vic basically remastered the entire Elvis mainstream album catalogue in 2007 and it is doubtful that anybody could have done a better job at the time.
Bear Family did a nice job on The Merseybeat’s comp in 2002. So, here’s hoping they cover some more Liverpool groups (and London, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Belfast, etc). The Merseybeats - I think of you
There are many worthy overdubs such as what Jeff Lynn did with Del Shannon's Rock On or George Harrisons Brainwased. I think Free As A Bird is one of the best songs The Beatles ever did and I guess would qualify as an overdub.
And to these I must add the Fats Domino I've Been Around set that includes both Imperial and ABC Paramount recordings. It's superb!
Yep, they sure did and I have them both. Wish Bear would do more British Beat. Question for you......how does the Bear Family Remo Four – Smile!, Peter Gunn...And More Disc compare to the Repertoire Records Remo Four ‘Smile! Both have the identical track listing.
Better sound (Bear Family got the original tapes from the producers), liner notes & documentation, pictures...
I am a very envious man, but mine is on its way according to those fine folks at Bear Family. Let us know what you think about the music or the book and design as soon as possible.
The new Christmas comp coming out in November is now below $10 on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VWZXH63
Got an e-mail from Bear Familys customer service today-Sandra Wohlers. She asked about my mailing adress and all that. Now she will send me a replacement DVD for my faulty Roy Acuff DVD. That is very good service:
