The Impressions were one of the R&B vocal groups that heralded the transition from doowop to the more pop-oriented styles of the late '50s, and were notable for bringing to the fore two of the great soul voices of the era, Jerry Butler and Curtis Mayfield. They made their first records in 1958, when Butler and Mayfield were still in their teens, and immediately had hits, with Butler starting to pursue a solo career with a year or two, as both The Impressions, led by Mayfield, and Butler as a solo artist continued parallel hit careers. This 57-track 2-CD set comprises Impressions A & B sides from these years, featuring Curtis Mayfield, and including some featuring Jerry Butler, on the Abner and ABC-Paramount labels, plus Jerry Butler solo A & B sides on Veejay. It also includes the titles not otherwise featured on singles from the Veejay album "He Will Break Your Heart" and the Abner album "Jerry Butler Esq." It features the Impressions' four hits from these years, including the R&B No. 2 "Gypsy Woman" and No. 3 "For Your Precious Love", and Jerry Butler's ten hits from this era, including the R&B No. 1 "He Will Break Your Heart", plus the Top 20 entries "Lost", "Find Another Girl", "I'm A Telling You", "Moon River" and "Make It Easy On Yourself". It's a great showcase both for the Impressions' distinctive style as a vocal group and for Jerry Butler and Curtis Mayfield's notable talents as singers and writers, underlining their importance as key influences in the genre.

Trumpeter Miles Davis was without doubt one of the most important and influential jazz musicians of the post-war era, not only as a pioneer of the bebop movement but through being at the forefront of many stylistic and musical innovations over the years. His landmark debut album for Capitol The Birth Of The Cool, recorded during 1949 and 1950, became regarded as seminal in the history of cool jazz, exploring unusual harmonies and textures. This excellent-value 49-track 2-CD set comprises his studio recordings in small ensembles, in which he is the only trumpeter, from his studio debut in 1945 through to the end of 1948, just weeks before the first of the Birth Of The Cool sessions in January 1949. As a bonus, it concludes with a 'live' recording with Charlie Parker's All Stars in December 1948. It features performances with Charlie Parker's Reeboppers, the Charlie Parker Septet, Charlie Parker All Stars, Coleman Hawkins All Stars, Miles Davis All Stars, Charlie Parker Quintet & Charlie Parker Sextet from eleven different recording sessions during these years. Charlie Parker was his primary collaborator on these sessions, but among the musicians featured in the various line-ups were Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Kai Winding, Coleman Hawkins, Lucky Thompson, Hank Jones, John Lewis, Max Roach, J.J. Johnson, Al Haig, Curly Russell and others. It's a fascinating insight into the development of his music during these key formative years.

Jackie Wilson earned the nickname "Mr Excitement" for his performances as one of the most dynamic and electrifying soul singers of the '50s and '60s, with an extraordinary four-octave vocal range and an ability to deliver up-tempo rockers and dramatic semi-operatic ballads with equal credibility and panache. He made his first solo records in 1953 under the name Sonny Wilson for Dizzy Gillespie's Dee Gee label, before joining Billy Ward & The Dominoes as a replacement for Clyde McPhatter, when the latter went solo. Wilson, in turn, embarked on a solo career in 1956 for the Brunswick label, scoring a landmark hit with his first release "Reet Petite", and going on to chalk up fifty hits before suffering a disabling heart attack in 1975, which ended his career, with thirty of those hits coming during the years covered by this collection. Great-value 55-track 2-CD set comprising the A & B sides of all his singles during the era for the Dee Gee and Brunswick labels, which as well as "Reet Petite" features the Top 10 hits "To Be Loved", "Lonely Teardrops", "Night" & "Alone At Last" along with his other chart entries from the era. Also included are bonus tracks from six of his albums released during from these years. It's a worthy showcase for a unique talent

The Coasters were one of the vocal groups of the '50s and early '60s who bridged the gap between the doowop and R&B eras of the early '50s through to the rock 'n' roll explosion and beyond, with a run of hits that extended into the 1960s. They began life as a spin-off from the doowop group The Robins, adopted by the up-and-coming songwriting and production team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller as a vehicle for their work, changing their name after their first hit from The Robins to The Coasters as they switched from Leiber & Stoller's Spark label to the Atlantic subsidiary Atco when the duo signed a production deal with the label. This great-value 56-track 2-CD set comprises all their A &B sides as The Robins and The Coasters from their Spark debut in 1954 through to 1962, plus, as a bonus, the two titles which appeared on their albums during the period and were not otherwise released on singles. It naturally features their eighteen chart entries from the period, including the legendary US and UK hits Searchin', Yakety Yak, Charlie Brown and Poison Ivy, plus other memorable US successes like Smokey Joe's Caf�, Down In Mexico, Youngblood, Hog For You Baby, Along Came Jones and Little Egypt. It's not only a hugely entertaining slice of R&B-flavored rock 'n' roll, with hits that were landmarks along the rite of passage for many baby-boomers, but a testimony to the songwriting and production genius of Leiber and Stoller, their humorous 'street saga' songs providing the biggest of the group's hits.

Acrobat has a significant catalogue of gospel recordings, and this addition to those offerings enables to make available recordings by some artists for whom we do not individual collections at this stage. It comprises material released on the celebrated Peacock label of Houston, Texas, which was a significant regional focus for the recording activity of some of the important and hugely popular gospel quartets who were highly active across the southern states during the post-war era. This great-value 110-track 4-CD features recordings by many of the artists who recorded for Peacock during this time - The Dixie Hummingbirds, The Sensational Nightingales, Sister Jessie Mae Renfro, Rev. Cleophus Robinson, Sister Josephine James, Otis Jackson, The Bells Of Joy, The Original Five Blind Boys Of Mississippi, The Spirit of Memphis Quartet, The Gospelaires of Dayton Ohio, The Brooklyn All Stars, The Alpha And Omega Singers, The Gospel Consolators, The Ever-Ready Gospel Singers, The Pilgrim Jubilee Singers and The Baltimore Echos. It's an inspiring, uplifting and entertaining anthology which is a must for fans of this genre

HITS COLLECTION 1919-34

Clyde McPhatter - The Very Best Of Clyde McPhatter 1953-62 - This collection provides a worthy showcase for his distinctive talents. Clyde McPhatter was one of the most imitated vocalists to emerge onto the R&B scene during the 1950s, graduating from his background in gospel to become a member of Billy Ward & The Dominoes, and then featured lead singer of The Drifters before embarking on a solo career. His many successful recordings transcended the boundaries of doowop, R&B, rock 'n' roll, soul and pop to make him a highly influential figure as other singers followed his lead. This great-value 59-track 2-CD collection comprises selected A&B sides from his releases with The Drifters, plus selected solo A&B sides from his releases during these years on the Atlantic, MGM and Mercury labels, and including duets with Ruth Brown. It features all his 19 hits with the Drifters and as a solo artist during this era, including the R&B No. 1s "Money Honey", "Honey Love", "Treasure Of Love", "Long Lonely Nights" and "A Lover's Question", and the Top 5 hits "Such A Night", "White Christmas", "Seven Days", "Without Love", "Come What May" and "Lover Please", plus his Top 10 hit with Ruth Brown "Love Has Joined Us Together". In an all-too-brief career - he died in 1972 at the age of 39 - he made many great records and had a huge impact on the worlds of pop and R&B, and we hope this collection provides a worthy showcase for his distinctive talents.

The Herald Records Doowop Collection 1953-63 - It's a feast of classic doowop from a label which was at the heart of the genre.n. Che Herald label was founded in 1950 by Fred Mendelsohn, formerly with Savoy, and he was soon joined by Al Silver, who owned the pressing plant that made the label's records. Silver had an ear for R&B and doowop, and built Herald into a creative hub for R&B recording and most particularly becoming renowned for it's output of doowop recordings by a string of different groups during the late '50s and into the 1960s. Most notable among those groups were The Nutmegs, The Turbans, The Mello Kings and Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs, who all had hits on the label. This great-value 89-track 3-CD set brings together most of the label's releases by artists whose work falls broadly into the category of doowop, although this is obviously not a definition which can be slavishly or precisely applied. It features the A & B sides of most of the Herald releases by the groups named above, plus The Embers, The Five Willows, The Sonnets, The Cashmeres, The Rocketeers, The Thrillers, The Sunbeams, The Mint Juleps, Little Butchie Saunders, The Four Js, The Desires, The Loungers, The Vocalaires, The Concords and The Premiers. It features the Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs' R&B No. 1 'Stay', and their other hits 'I Remember' and 'Come Along', The Nutmegs' hits 'Story Untold' and 'Ship Of Love', The Turbans' No. 3 'When You Dance' and the Mello-Kings' 'Tonite, Tonite'. It's a feast of classic doowop from a label which was at the heart of the genre.

SINGLES COLLECTION 1949-62

Bo Diddley, also known as Ellas McDaniel, was one of the most distinctive and influential artists in the transition of popular music from blues and R&B through to rock 'n' roll during the 1950s. His music was best-known for his use of the guitar riff based on the 3/2 clave, sometimes known as "shave and a haircut, two bits", and it was a motif taken up by many artists after he popularised it with his early hits. Although he did not have a huge number of hits, his songs, such as "I'm A Man", "Pretty Thing", "Who Do You Love" and "Mona" have inspired and been recorded by a huge number of artists. This great value 86-track 3-CD collection comprises the A & B sides of all his singles for the Checker label from his 1955 debut through to 1962, plus the tracks which were not included on his singles from his first seven albums - "Bo Diddley", "Go Bo Diddley", "Have Guitar Will Travel", "In The Spotlight", "Bo Diddley Is A Gunslinger", "Bo Diddley Is A Lover" and "Bo Diddley Is A Twister". It's thorough overview of his crucial first few years of recording, which established his unique position as one of the pioneers of the genre.

The wide open City Of Kansas with it's unregulated bars and clubs helped nurture the development of Jazz in America. This Compilation offers 25 examples of Kansas based performers including, Bennie Moten, Jay McShann, Count Basie, Mary Lou Williams and Big Joe Turner.

Francis "Scrapper" Blackwell was a blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter from South Carolina, who was primarily active during the late 1920s and early 1930s, when he did all his early recordings, but re-emerged during the folk-blues boom of the late '50s and early' 60s to make further recordings. He was very much associated with blues pianist and composer Leroy Carr, by whom he was sometimes overshadowed, but this collection mostly focuses on his work released under his own name or variations of it. This 43-track 2-CD collection comprising releases from 1928 through to 1935 on the Vocalion, Gennett, Champion, Bluebird and Decca labels as Scrapper Blackwell, Francis Blackwell and Frankie Black, including a duet tribute to Leroy Carr with pianist Dot Rice, who appears on some of his other recordings, plus all the titles from his 1960 album "Blues Before Sunrise" and selected titles from his 1961 album "Mr. Scrapper's Blues". The collection therefore looks at his career from a different standpoint from many others, highlighting his talents as a distinctive songwriter and performer on noted songs like "Kokomo Blues", "Trouble Blues" and "Hard Time Blues", but also demonstrating how his style and relevance to the blues endured across the decades.

With the enormous success Hampton enjoyed with the Benny Goodman Quartet he was able to secure recording sessions of his own. Utilizing the cream of Jazz musicians he laid down an extraordinary body of small group recordings between 1937 and 1940,25 of which are featured on this collection. Tracks include 'Jiving' the Vibes', 'Jack the Bellboy', '12th Street Rag', 'Wizzin' the Wiz' and 'Ring Dem Bells'. Acrobat. 2003.

The hugely successful US soul star Al Wilson has been largely ill served by the CD era despite enjoying a dozen or more R&B and Pop chart hits between 1968 and 1976. His recordings for the independent Rocky Road label are featured on this 20 track CD including the No 1 pop hit "Show And Tell". with a style similar to the late O. C. Smith (who also enjoyed a hit with "La La Peace Song") Wilson enjoyed much crossover popularity and continues to perform regularly at nightclubs and theatres across the USA. Fully illustrated booklet traces his career from it's Doo wop origins to the present day.

A tribute to the legendary Harlem night-club of the 30's. The greats of black music played to an all-white audience in the famous club owned by New York gangsters. Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway led the housebands at various times. All the tracks feature acts who performed at the club during it's heyday. Tracks include; "Cotton Club Stomp" - Duke Ellington, "Stormy Weather" - Ethel Waters, "Fifteen Minute Intermission" - Cab Calloway, "West End Blues" - Louis Armstrong, "Your Heart And Mine" - the Nicholas Brothers. Acrobat. 2003.

2007 collection by the New Orleans legend and member of the Neville Brothers. Features all his A-sides spanning the years 1969-79 plus even more great cuts from the man. 22 tracks including 'Tell It Like It Is', 'You Don't Love Me Anymore', 'Cry Me a River' and more. Acrobat.

43 tracks on 2 CDs recorded between 1945 and 1950 by the Legendary Blind Boys of Mississippi. This is the most comprehensive overview of the group ever released. The lead vocals are performed by the incomparable Archie Brownlee, whose vocal prowess was an inspiration to scores of R&B and Soul singers who grew up listening to him. These titles were recorded for America's premier Gospel labels Peacock Records, and some of the earlier tracks were recorded for the Coleman label owned by the Coleman Brothers, who also have a release on Acrobat this month. This series has been greeted with great acclaim by both Radio and Press around the world, and we are confident that this package will be no exception. It comes with comprehensive liner notes from expert, Opal Louis Nations and many rare and unseen illustrations.

England.

Although not a specific genre there was a style to the way Blues were recorded in Los Angeles in the immediate post-war years. Here are 50 examples spread over two CDs featuring many of the greatest names and as many obscure ones to have recorded in the City. Migrants came from all over America to work in the War plants and other industries that were springing up in the City and a musical style quite different from those of Chicago or New Orleans developed. It emphasized ballads crooned in the style of Nat King Cole and fluid electric guitar solos, much of which had it's roots in Texas, and storming horn sections. It's all included here and the track listing speaks for itself.

Acrobat has a significant catalogue of gospel collections by many of the leading quartets of the classic era in the immediate post-war decades, and this release adds a further dimension to that repertoire with the highly-regarded Miami-based husband and wife duo of Sullivan and Iola Pugh, who performed as The Consolers, Sullivan Pugh was born in Moorhaven, Florida in 1925. When his mother was killed in the 1926 Lake Okeechobee hurricane, Pugh and his five siblings were adopted by a family in the community of Punta Gorda. Pugh began singing as a child soloist at the First Born Church of the Living God in Miami. He met his wife Lola when she was singing with the Miami Gospel Singers. The couple married in 1950. In 1952 the pair decided to form a gospel trio with Pearl Nance-Rayford, and they called themselves the Miami Soul Stirrers. Their original repertoire was based on the traditional spirituals and songs of the Holiness Church. Early influences included other African American gospel groups such as the Soul Stirrers of Chicago (from which they took their name) and the National Gospel Twins of Delray Beach, Florida. In 1953, Nance-Rayford quit the trio and Sullivan and Lola took the name the Spiritual Consolers for their duet.

Victoria Spivey was a blues and jazz singer who enjoyed significant popularity during the 1920s and '30s, performing with many well-known accompanists and ensembles, with a vivacious personality that made her a successful stage performer, later making a comeback into prominence in the 1960s after spending many years involved in religious music. Most notably, she recorded a considerable number of sides with the great guitarist Lonnie Johnson, and their collaborations represent some of her most highly-regarded work. She also worked with other major figures of the day like Clarence Williams, King Oliver, Henry 'Red' Allen and Louis Armstrong, as well as leading her own ensembles in the '30s. This 48-track 2-CD collection comprises a substantial proportion of her releases from her studio debut in 1926 through to 1937, after which she made no significant recordings until the '60s. It draws from many of her sessions, including performances with all the artists mentioned above, and provides an enjoyable cross-section of her core career, giving a platform for her distinctive voice which was equally effective working with single guitar or piano accompaniment or larger jazz-oriented bands.

Best-known for her classic 1955 Top 10 hit "Cry Me A River", Julie London was a fine sultry-voiced jazz and pop singer, who enjoyed her greatest popularity during the "cool" era of the late '50s and early '60s - Billboard magazine named her as the most popular female vocalist of 1955, '56 and '57. Although she sang as a child with her parents' vaudeville act on radio, the first decade of her career from 1945 was as a Hollywood movie actress, becoming a popular pin-up girl of GIs, and appearing with the likes of Gary Cooper. Beginning her recording career in 1955, she scored a hit with her first release for Liberty, "Cry Me A River", and over subsequent years released around twenty singles for the label, as well as having a regular output of concept albums, showcasing her smoky and sensuous vocal style with a mixture of sophisticated pop and mainstream jazz material. This great-value 58-track 2-CD collection comprises her debut recordings on an EP recorded for the Bethlehem label (the tracks were later released as singles by Liberty), and all her A and B sides for Liberty through to 1962, some of which came from her LP releases, plus selected tracks from the seventeen albums she released during those first important years of her recording career. As well as "Cry Me A River", it includes what was one of her best-known recordings, her vocal version of the jazz cha-cha "Desafinado (Slightly Out of Tune)" from 1962. "Cry Me A River" has been revived by many high-profile artists over the years. Julie London is an artist who has not received the accolades she deserved as a sophisticated jazz/pop singer to compare with the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Peggy Lee, and this collection will help underline her distinctive talent.

Among the top popular light music composers, arrangers and conductors of the Forties, Fifties and Sixties, Percy Faith must rate up there with the very best. Intuitive and innovative, he used his baton as an artist would use a brush, and his orchestra as a palette to paint vivid musical pictures which would help change the face of popular recorded music. This comprehensive 107-track collection trace s his career with the Decca, Majestic and, most famously, Columbia labels from 1944 to 1959, showcasing his unique arranging and conducting artistry as he recorded not only with his own orchestra and chorus, but also a host of big name vocalists, the success of whose records often owed more than a little to Faith's orchestrations. It's not only a worthy tribute to skilled practitioner whose work has generally not received the attention it certainly merits, but also a thoroughly entertaining trawl through some great popular music of the post-war era.

The Penguins were one of the several doowop groups of the 50s who took their name from a bird (others included The Orioles, The Ravens, The Flamingos and The Robins), and they are best known for their much-covered pop Top 10 and R&B No. 1 hit "Earth Angel", which later came to worldwide attention when it was used in the "Back To The Future" movie. Formed at high school in Los Angeles, the group developed a style that was as R&B and rock 'n' roll as it was pure doowop. "Earth Angel" was their second release for the small Dootone label, and it topped the R&B charts, crossing over to reach No. 8 in the pop charts, where it was overtaken by the Crew Cuts' cover version. They moved to the Mercury label, and then to Atlantic, but could not repeat their chart success, despite releasing a string of top class R&B material under the aegis of their manager/producer Buck Ram, whom their shared with The Platters. After some line-up changes, the group eventually broke up in the early '60s. This 42-track collection comprises every track released under the Penguins name on singles, their LP and EPs during their career, so is a definitive overview of their career, and a fine example of their genre

Roosevelt Sykes was a hugely popular and influential exponent of the rollicking barrel-house style of blues piano playing and composition whose core career spanned the decades spanning WWII. Recording initially under a variety of names, and finding his greatest popularity when he adopted the soubriquet 'The Honeydrippers', he recorded a substantial body of work variously for the Okeh, Decca and RCA Victor labels, which included classics of the genre like "The Honeydrippers", "Night Time Is the Right Time", "44 Blues", "Boot That Thing" and "Driving Wheel Blues". This great value 75-track 3-CD set selects material from across those key decades of his career from his earliest recordings through to the time when he began to be overtaken by the new electric blues in the late '40s. It includes solo recordings along with those as a duo with a drummer, and, in the later years, with a variety of small groups.