Acrobat's British Hit Parade series has been established for well over a decade as a unique range of completist original artist collections comprising every record that appeared in the UK record sales charts in every year since the charts began in 1952. In recent years Acrobat has introduced parallel collections which consist of the B sides of all the records included in the main compilations, and these have proved hugely popular with collectors, since many of the records concerned have never been available on CD and are very rarely heard. This single CD set effectively completes the series, and is the companion product to our existing First British Hit Parade (ACRCG 711) and features the B sides of the tracks on that collection, which comprised all the records which appeared in the newly-established Top 15 British record sales chart, first published in November 1952. In this pre-rock 'n' roll era, B sides tended not be afterthoughts dashed off at the end of a session, and were generally afforded exactly the same time and treatment as the A sides, with full orchestral arrangements and productions, so these are high quality recordings, featuring some of the illustrious names from what was often called the golden age of popular music. As ever, it's an eclectic snapshot of an ignored but fascinating aspect of the pop business, including an in-depth booklet with background notes on every record. We are sure British Hit Parades enthusiasts will want this album to complete their collections of the series.

Vinyl LP pressing. The Coasters were one of the key vocal groups of the '50s and early '60s who successfully 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. Starting life as a spin-off from the doo-wop group The Robins, they were adopted by the up-and-coming songwriting and production team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller as a vehicle for their work. They decided to change 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. This fantastic LP manages to feature all their US R&B chart entries and Hot 100 top tens alongside a selection of their best singles, starting with their biggest hits as The Robins and continuing through as The Coasters to 1961. It naturally features the legendary US and UK hits Searchin', Yakety Yak, Charlie Brown and Poison Ivy, plus other memorable US successes such as Smokey Joe's Caf�, Down In Mexico, Youngblood, Along Came Jones and Little Egypt. It's not only a hugely entertaining slice of R&B-flavoured 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 - heir humorous 'street saga' songs providing the biggest of the group's hits.

James "Kokomo" Arnold was a blues singer, songwriter and left-handed slide guitarist from Georgia, who eventually landed up in Chicago where he ran a bootlegging business during the prohibition years of the 1920s. After making a record in Memphis in 1930 under the name of Gitfiddle Jim, he started playing professionally in Chicago when prohibition came to an end in 1933, and began recording for Decca after being introduced to producer Mayo Williams. He recorded regularly in Chicago from 1934 to 1937, sometimes working with pianist Peetie Wheatstraw, and wrote and recorded many songs which proved highly influential in later years. This great-value 49-track 2-CD collection comprises selected A and B sides of the 40 or so solo releases he had during his career, which we trust provides a substantial and representative cross-section of his career output, before he became disillusioned and simply gave up performing and recording when he realised how little he was making from his work. It features his most influential songs, including "Original Kokomo Blues", the song which gave him his name, and which Robert Johnson adapted as "Sweet Home Chicago", "Millk Cow Blues", which Johnson also adapted as "Milkcow Calf's Blues" and was later recorded by Elvis Presley, "Sagefield Woman Blues", which introduced the phrase "dust my broom" into blues parlance, and "Sissy Man Blues". It's a fascinating showcase for a performer who had a significant influence during his short career as a recording artist

SINGLES COLLECTION 1949-62

Lloyd Price - Mr Personality: The R&B Hits 1952-60 / Without question, Lloyd Price was one of the key protagonists for the rock 'n' roll explosion of the mid-fifties. Taking the gritty style of New Orleans R&B, where he started, he adapted it with innovative instrumental arrangements alongside the emergence of rock 'n' roll during the late '50s. Before the likes of Martin Luther King started smashing the cultural barriers down, Lloyd "Mr Personality" Price was already bringing the black and white youth together through his music. Of his 1952 hit, Lloyd pronounced "I revolutionised the South! Before Lawdy Miss Clawdy white kids were not really interested in this music". He went on to achieve a remarkable run of pop and R&B successes throughout the decade with over 30 chart entries, a combined 11 top ten hits and 4 no. 1's. This stunning 18 track collection concentrates on the biggest R&B hits he enjoyed from the debut smash hit Lawdy Miss Clawdy in 1952 through, Personality, I'm Gonna Get Married, Come Into My Heart to his last top ten hit in 1960 Question. Along the way, the listener can hear not only how 'Mr Personality' influenced rock 'n' roll, but also how he embraced the new genre with great success.

CAREER ANTHOLOGY 1923-31

Mills Brothers - Tiger Rag: The Singles Collection Vol. 1 1931-47 - It's a representative overview of the first era of their career and is a fine showcase for their highly distinctive style of vocal harmonies. - The Mills Brothers were a pioneering vocal quartet, who performed in a jazz-flavoured barbershop style and were forerunners of the doowop groups of later years- they broke new ground as the first African-American group to have their own network radio show in the USA. In the course of their long career they made more than 2,000 recordings and had around 60 US chart entries. So prolific were that we have chosen to present their releases on 78s and 45s in two 4-CD sets, of which this is the first (Vol. 2 is ACQCD7186). This 104-track 4-CD collection comprises selected A & B sides from their releases on the Brunswick and Decca labels from their debut in 1931 through to 1947, with just about every release represented by at least one side. It features 38 of their hits, including the No. 1s "Tiger Rag", "Dinah", "Paper Doll" and "You Always Hurt The One You Love", and the Top 5 entries "You Rascal You", "I Heard", "Good-Bye Blues", "Rockin' Chair", "St. Louis Blues", "Swing It Sister" and "Sleepy Head". It features duet recording with Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. It's a representative overview of the first era of their career and is a fine showcase for their highly distinctive style of vocal harmonies.

LEGENDARY ALBUMS 1954-56

Vinyl LP pressing. Aficionados of Doo-wop will have long been acquainted with the heavenly harmonies of Johnny Maestro and The Crests, and yet this sublime group has often been overlooked in retrospectives of the genre. Ground-breaking from the very start, this was the first racially-mixed group to hit the big time. Their hits included uptempo pop songs, to dreamily-rendered love ballads, and they enjoyed significant success in the late 1950s and early 1960s. However, theirs is a story of a band ahead of it's time, in a country that was much divided in terms of race and ethnicity, and it was this that ultimately led to it's demise. This stunning collection showcases the talents of Johnny Maestro and The Crests; classic songs, effortless harmonies, possessing a rare timeless quality that still sound fresh today. This sumptuous collection features 18 of their most beloved and beautiful releases when at the height of their fame including the huge singles "Sixteen Candles", "Sweetest One", "The Angel Listened In", "Trouble In Paradise" and the timeless "I'll Remember (In The Still Of The Night".

Vinyl LP pressing. Dinah Shore was one of the USA's most popular and successful entertainers, her peak recording career spanning the war years and the immediate post-war decades, when she also became a high-profile TV host with her own weekly Chevrolet-sponsored show, which more or less defined the USA in the 1950s. She was one of the very first female singers to come to prominence purely as a solo artist, rather than as a big band singer, and was such a prolific chart performer that, having had her first hit in 1939, she had racked up more than 50 hits by the end of the '40s, including memorable No.1s like "I'll Walk Alone", "Anniversary Song", "The Gypsy" and "Buttons And Bows". She continued scoring hits through what was often called the "Golden age of popular music" in the early '50s, scoring her final chart entry in 1960, by which time the rock 'n' roll and teen revolution had largely superseded artists of her generation. This fantastic 15 track LP provides a great introduction to Shore's prolific success by featuring the recordings which brought her greatest popularity. On top of her huge hits already mentioned, it also includes "Candy", "Dear Hearts & Gentle People", "Baby It's Cold Outside" and "Sweet Violets", all showcasing her distinctive style and talent and provides an entertaining and nostalgic celebration of an artist who was such a glamorous icon of her era.

Vinyl LP pressing. There are perhaps few characters in the history of popular music who were as mysterious, as they were brazen than Aleck Ford, AKA Sonny Boy Williamson II. The true story of Sonny Boy Williamson II remains shrouded in mystery and uncertainty, and it seems this was Ford's intention, but to what ends, nobody can say. One thing is certain though - he was one of the all-time greats of the harmonica, a bone fide bluesman, talented and charismatic in equal measure. His influence cannot be overstated. The first incarnation of the band that would become the Rolling Stones was named after him: Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys; B.B King described him as "the King of the harmonica"; and maybe there would have been no Howlin' Wolf, or Elmore James without Williamson's mentorship and support. The British Blues explosion of the late 1960s certainly owed much to Williamson and his compatriots. This carefully curated collection of this colourful and charismatic performer's work showcases just why he was one of the true legends of blues music. Interestingly, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980, the same year as Sonny Boy Williamson I. It seems fitting that even in death and in honours they were inextricably linked. This collection hones in on his work that took the world by storm during his tenure with Trumpet and Checker in the 1950's and early 60's from his iconic "Eyesight For The Blind" through to "One Way Out". It is a true celebration of one of the most mysterious characters in music.

Vinyl LP pressing. The life and career of Billie Holiday was underscored by triumphs and tragedies. One of the greatest artists of her generation, no-one conveys deep emotion better than 'Lady Day'. Hers was a new jazz voice, influenced by jazz instrumentalists, with it's ability to manipulate tempo and phrasing in bold and enthralling ways. The great Frank Sinatra was both a friend and a fan of her music. He said of her in 1958, "With few exceptions, every major pop singer in the U.S. during her generation has been touched in some way by her genius. It is Billie who was, and still remains, the greatest single musical influence on me." In fact, her legacy carries across the generations, with artists such as Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell, and Amy Winehouse citing her as an influence. This collection traces an important six years of her early recording career which built the platform for the huge commercial success she enjoyed during the mid to late 40s, before she began to succumb to the lifestyle which eventually destroyed her. It features iconic and beautifully harrowing recordings such as "Summertime", "Strange Fruit" Night & Day", "God Bless The Child" and "Solitude", demonstrating her unique and unmistakable way of interpreting the songs. It is a fascinating and beguiling musical journey.

Memphis Minnie - The Queen Of Country Blues: Selected Recordings 1929-53 Lizzie Douglas, otherwise known as Memphis Minnie, was a blues guitarist, singer and songwriter from Mississippi, born in 1897, who ran away from home when she was 13 to start playing on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee. She started performing with her second husband Kansas Joe McCoy and they made their first records in 1929 - she remained active as a performer and recording artist until the 1950s. She was without doubt one of the true pioneers among female country blues artists. This 99-track 4-CD collection comprises selected A and B sides from her releases on the Columbia, Vocalion, Decca, Bluebird, Okeh, Regal, Checker and J.O.B. labels covering the spectrum of her career - she recorded over 200 titles, so this set offers a representative selection. It Includes classics like "Bumble Bee", "When the Levee Breaks, "Me And My Chauffeur Blues", Nothing in Rambling" and many more. Apart from the recordings with Kansas Joe McCoy, it also features performances with Casey Bill Weldon, Little Son Joe and others. Among the blues artists of her era, she was particularly influential, not least as her career spanned a crucial quarter century in the genre. This collection offers a substantial and nicely representative showcase for her distinctive style of blues.

Teddy Wilson - All The Hits And More 1935-39 Teddy Wilson is often referred to as the definitive swing pianist, stylish, elegant and technically and artistically brilliant, and adept in any setting, be it solo, small bands or orchestras, as a leader or sideman. He was renowned as one of the most sensitive and sought-after accompanists, especially by female vocalists of the day, and is particularly celebrated for his work with Billie Holiday. In the era before the introduction of the Billboard charts in 1940, Joel Whitburn's respected book "Pop Memories 1890-1954", which lists artists hits based on various sources, and also the Your Hit Parade chart published by the popular radio show, are treated as the most reliable guides as to what were "hits". This 47-track 2-CD collection comprises all Teddy Wilson's 38 career hits based on those sources under his own name, along with selected A & B sides from this era. It Includes the No. 1 hits "Carelessly" and "You Can't Stop Me From Dreaming", and other Top 3 hits with "The Way You Look Tonight", "Pennies From Heaven" "There's A Lull In My Life" and "Remember Me". It includes performances by featured vocalists Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Helen Ward, Red Harper and others, and recordings with major jazz names likes Roy Eldridge, Lionel Hampton, Ben Webster, Cootie Williams, Harry Carney, Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, Cozy Cole, Harry James, Buck Clayton and more, featured in his ensembles. Looking at his career from a particular angle, his hits, it's a great showcase for an important and influential artist.

Thelonious Monk was one of the most innovative and influential of the pioneering bebop pianists and composers with a uniquely distinctive and idiosyncratic style characterised by an angular, percussive and occasionally dissonant approach. He came to the fore in the 1940s, so when the era of the vinyl long-playing album dawned in the 1950s, he was ideally placed to take advantage of it. This 38-track 2-CD collection comprises the titles from his first 10" LPs on Blue Note and Prestige. The first two on Blue Note, ", "Genius Of Modern Music Vols. 1 & 2", combine titles from sessions in the late '40s which were released as singles with some from 1951 sessions, while the Prestige titles from the albums "Thelonious", "Thelonious Monk Quintet Blows for LP", "Thelonious Monk Quintet" and "Thelonious Monk Plays", were conceived as album projects, featuring extended performances, for which dedicate sessions were done from 1952 through to 1954. We also include bonus titles from a solo session in Paris in 1954. It features performances in the various Trio, Quartet, Quintet and Sextet line-ups with noted musicians of the day, including Gene Ramey, Milt Jackson, Sonny Rollins, Gary Mapp, Art Blakey, Max Roach, Percy Heath, Al McKibbon, Ray Copeland, Frank Foster, Curley Russell and more. It's a set which captures one of the true greats of the genre at a key period of his career.

PHILADELPHIA LABELS HITS COLLECTION 1957-62 / VAR

HITS COLLECTION 1924-32

KING OF JAZZ ACCORDION: FIVE EARLY ALBUMS 1947-54

This continues the strand of R&B and country collections associated with Acrobat's highly popular "America's Greatest Hits" series, this one focusing on the top R&B records in the US Billboard charts during 1960. This great value 115-track 4-CD anthology includes, with the exception of certain records which are unavailable for inclusion due to copyright restrictions, just about every record which peaked in the Billboard R&B Top 15 during that year. By this time, the R&B scene had evolved considerably as the rock 'n roll scene had matured and Tin Pan Alley had marketed it's teen-oriented offshoots, and there was an exciting feel to the charts, with substantial crossover of pop artists into the R&B chart and vice versa, with artists like Jackie Wilson, The Drifters, Ray Charles and Sam Cooke. The big chart winner of the year was Brook Benton, with three No. 1s and 23 weeks at the top, fourteen of those with Dinah Washington. With the blurring of the boundaries between the genres, the more traditional blues and R&B artists whose music had helped lay the groundwork for rock found it harder to reach the top positions. However, there was still a solid representation of old school blues artists like B.B. King and Jimmy Reed, and top class R&B singers like Etta James, Bobby Bland and James Brown formed the core of the chart, as well as the first chart incursions from the Motown stable by Barrett Strong and Marv Johnson. As with all these collections, it provides a window onto a dynamic and exciting musical environment, and includes a number of unfamiliar names and recordings of which even enthusiasts of the genre may not be too aware, and which will be welcome additions to their collections. It contains a 12,000+ word booklet featuring background notes on every record.

Little Brother Montgomery - Vicksburg Blues: The Singles & Albums Collection 1930-61 - It's a fascinating and substantial overview of two different phases of his career, and offers an entertaining showcase for his highly personal style. - Little Brother Montgomery was a blues, boogie-woogie and jazz pianist and singer, who was hugely versatile, working solo and with bands, and equally impressive across all the genres, with a highly distinctive style. Born in Louisiana near New Orleans, he was influenced by family friend Jelly Roll Morton, and over the years was associated with the Mississippi town of Vicksburg, which gave it's name to several of his song titles, and Chicago, where he later worked and made most of his records. This 72-track 3-CD collection comprises the A & B sides of just about all his releases on the Paramount, Melotone, Bluebird and Century labels from 1930-47, along with titles from the 1954 album "Windin' Ball Recordings" on Saydisk, the 1960 album "Tasty Blues on Bluesville and the 1961 album "Blues" on Folkways. It comprises many solo recordings, plus some with his jazz quintet, featuring trumpeter Lee Collins, and recordings with singers Irene Scruggs, Annie Turner and Creole George Guenson. It's a fascinating and substantial overview of two different phases of his career, and offers an entertaining showcase for his highly personal style.

Johnny Hodges - The Clef & Norgran Albums 1951-54 - It's a snapshot of a particular and intriguing phase of Johnny Hodges' career. - Johnny Hodges was a jazz alto saxophonist, who enjoyed a performing and recording career that lasted from the 1920s through to his death in 1970. Best-known for his work with Duke Ellington, he had a pure tone and economy of melody on both the blues and ballads that won him admiration from musicians of all eras and styles, and made him ubiquitous on recording sessions across the spectrum of jazz. He occasionally led his own bands, and this 41-track 2-CD collection focuses on albums he made in a concentrated period in the mid-1950s with his small orchestra for the Clef and Norgran labels, owned by renowned impresario and producer Norman Granz, which were forerunners of Verve. It features the titles from the albums. "Johnny Hodges Collates", "Johnny Hodges Collates No. 2", "Swing With Johnny Hodges", "Memories of Ellington", "Castle Rock", "The Blues" and "In A Tender Mood", with some of the titles appearing on more than one album. A number of the titles were also released as singles, and two of them "Castle Rock " and "A Pound Of Blues", were US R&B hits. It naturally features some notable musicians of the era, including Al Sears, Leroy Lovett, Billy Strayhorn, Al McGibbon, Sonny Greer, Emmett Berry, Lloyd Trotman, Flip Phillips, Red Callender, Ray Brown, J.C. Heard and others. It's a snapshot of a particular and intriguing phase of Johnny Hodges' career, and a great showcase for his understated virtuosity as a jazz musician and leader.

Blind Willie Johnson was a singer, songwriter and guitarist who is widely recognised as having been the leading exponent of what was occasionally called "holy blues" - blues music with religious subject matter that as result could also be termed gospel music, which as a result was highly distinctive and unusual. Born in Texas in 1897, he was blinded by his stepmother during a domestic confrontation when he was seven, and turned to music, performing around his native state from the 1920s through to near his death in 1945, but was active as a recording artist only between 1927 and 1930, recording four sessions in Dallas and one in Atlanta. This 30-track 2-CD collection comprises his complete recordings for Columbia across his career, on occasions accompanied on vocals by his first wife Willie B. Harris. Among the titles it features the highly-acclaimed and influential recordings "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground", "Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed", "It's Nobody's Fault But Mine", "Mother's Children Have A Hard Time", and "John the Revelator". It's a comprehensive and worthy showcase for a distinctive and unique artist.

Vinyl LP pressing. Cab Calloway was a trailblazing entertainer, an early king of cool, and an American icon. In a career spanning six decades, he was a talented bandleader, known for hiring the very best talent, before going on to become a revered solo artist, actor, and author. Effortlessly breaking down racial barriers, Calloway brought African-American music to mainstream audiences. This collection of timeless tracks takes us back to his glory days as one of the most exciting young bandleaders in the history of popular music. So much more than a band leader, over nearly seven decades, this exuberant and energetic performer also shone as a solo artist, a dancer, and star of radio, stage, and screen. In addition, he was an acclaimed author, penning the classic cultural artefact, Cab Calloway's Hepster Dictionary. If you use the term Big Apple to refer to New York City, you have Cab Calloway to thank! This mighty 14 track LP concentrates on his classic releases and naturally includes the monster hit Minnie The Moocha alongside his numerous tunes following Minnie's saga. Using some of the greatest songsmith's alongside his own penmanship, Calloway and his orchestra's versions of songs such as Saint James Infirmary, Trickeration, The Ghost Of Smoky Joe, (Hep Hep) The Jumpin' Jive and The Honeydripper are sure to get you out of your casuals and into your hippest of dancing gear. This is Cab Calloway, the original hep cat, at the peak of his creative powers.

CONCERTO FOR COOTIE: SELECTED RECORDINGS 1928-62

JUKEBOX JUMP: GREATEST HITS 1942-49