Warren Storm The Bad Times Make The Good Times (Ace - 2 CDs / 44 tracks) - Mining the sounds of Route 90 along the Gulf Coast from East Texas to southwest Louisiana, Warren Storm has been at the forefront of South Louisiana music for almost sixty years. In that time he's sung rock & roll, r&b, soul, country and swamp pop, all with authority and soul. He's also played drums for most of the artists in his peer group, most recently as the rhythm section anchor for Louisiana super group Lil’ Band O’ Gold. He spent two lengthy tenures recording for Huey Meaux in the 60s and 70s. For the first time ever, the majority of these recordings are brought together in this new package.  The first CD covers Warren's 60s sides for Huey Meaux. The second disc brings together everything he cut for Huey in the 70s and early 80s. More than half of these tracks have never appeared on CD until now and several of them are heard here for the first time ever.

Ain’t Gonna Hush: The Queens Of Rhythm & Blues (Fantastic Voyage - 3 CDs / 76 tracks) - The tracks on this set include contributions by crowned queens of soul Etta James and Aretha Franklin as well as other luminaries like Big Maybelle, Ruth Brown, Little Esther, LaVern Baker and Betty Everett. But lesser-known names are also well represented, whose recordings, like most of the songs collected here, sold poorly, but fetch huge prices today. Their lack of success was not due to ability, performance or quality of the songwriting. Every artist here, including Kentucky born rockabilly musician Joyce Harris, shouts, screams and hollers as if their lives depend on it and every song is perfectly crafted.

Wynonie Harris Don’t You Want To Rock? (Ace - 2 CDs / 47 tracks) - The latest offering in Ace's ongoing King Acetates series presents Wynonie Harris as no collector has ever heard him before. Scheduled as a single CD some years back, further research into the acetates has enabled Ace to expand this into an unbeatable 2 CD set. The first CD contains the master takes of every surviving, previously issued acetate master of Wynonie's music. The second features two dozen alternate takes of his earliest King successes, featuring not a single previously released version among them. The second CD also includes several previously unreleased songs from the King of Blues Shouters. Although he has been extensively anthologized on CD in the past, this is a Wynonie-fest guaranteed to satisfy even the most ardent collector with a sound quality that no previously released anthology of these recordings could hope to match.

B.B. King Can’t Kick the Blues (Notnow - 3CDs  / 60 tracks) - As many of us reflect on the vast recorded legacy of the one and only, undisputed King of the Blues, it is important to revisit the material that helped the Beale Street Blues Boy ascend to his throne. Notnow Records has just made that easy. They have gathered sixty of King’s finest mid fifties gems in crystal clear re-mastered sound. Big hits and lesser known nuggets speak directly to the greatness that was B.B. King.

Nobel “Thin Man” Watts  Hard Times (Clamike) - This collection spans the years 1954-1968 and includes many titles making their appearance on CD for the first time. Tenor sax man Watts who music journalist Bill Dahl called, “one of the most incendiary...fire breathing sax honkers of the 1950’s.” is joined here by the hard grind guitar player, Wild Jimmy Spruill who makes it all the more fun. Watts’ recording credits include working with everybody from Nat Adderley to Chuck Berry and from Lionel Hampton to Jerry Lee Lewis and many others. On Hard Times he keeps the grease flowing. Great stuff!

WOW WOW Baby! 1950's R&B, Blues & Gospel from Dolphins of Hollywood (Ace) - Wow Wow Baby! is Ace's third multi-artist compilation of Dolphin's R&B sides. Only three of the tracks have been out on CD before while the rest are receiving their first ever legitimate release.  These sides are beautifully mastered from fresh transfers of the original tapes and acetates. This high quality compilation shows that Ace’s commitment to 1940s and 50s R&B remains as strong as ever.

Barbara Carr Think About It Baby (Jamjar  - LTD Edition) -This limited edition CD reissues for the first time the sides Barbara Carr recorded for Chess Records. Included is material from her first two Chicago sessions and the entire 1971 session that produced the classic Think About It Baby. This session also yielded two previously unissued songs along with three titles minus their later overdubs. Also included are six rare bonus tracks from 1964. Barbara Carr first recorded for the St. Louis based Teek Records as a member of The Petites, a three girl vocal group which included sisters Pat and Doretha Ewing. Barbara is lead vocalist on I Believe The Man Loves Me. The Petites also accompanied St. Louis vocalist Charles Drain (Billy James) on the four titles that round out this collection.

Eddie Bo  Baby Im Wise: The Complete Ric Singles 1959-1962 (Ace) - With a career spanning six decades, Eddie Bo was one of the working artists whose recordings covered the entire spectrum of New Orleans r&b, from rock & roll to funk. His nine Ric 45s (augmented here with four cuts that were never released) include many highlights all presented from new transfers of the original Ric master tapes and feature the classic sound of 60s New Orleans R&B . The tracks were recorded at Cosimo Matassa’s studio and feature the best musicians New Orleans had to offer. This is the first CD which compiles all Eddie Bo’s Ric recordings and the sound quality is really amazing.

You Got To Give Me Some Of It: 55 Risque’ Blues and R&B Classics 1928-1954 (Jasmine) - This comprehensive overview of double entendre and downright vulgar recordings is the best collection we have seen. Highlights include Lucille Bogan’s Shave ‘Em Dry and Dorothy Ellis’ Drill Daddy Drill with great guitar from Pete Guitar Lewis. It’s all here in one filthy, disgusting and shameful package that will send you straight to hell in a hand basket. Everything from the Mississippi Sheiks’ Driving That Thing and Bed Spring Poker to the Dominos’ Sixty Minute Man... Great music for Bingo Night down at the church hall or the Little League Pancake Breakfast... Fun for the whole family...

Guitar Slim Green with Johnny and Shuggie Otis Stone Down Blues (BGP) - This funky little masterpiece was recorded with Johnny and Shuggie Otis in the 70's. It presents Slim covering some of the sides he originally cut for Otis' DIG label in the 50s as well as some new song titles. Slim’s recording career goes back into the early days of West Coast blues with JD Nicholson,  Jimmy McCracklin and includes the earliest recording of the West Coast classic, Tin Pan Alley (under the name of Alla Blues) as well as a handful of sublime down home sides for DIG. With Shuggie Otis on guitar, this trio lays down some of the nastiest, funky blues recorded in the 70s.

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