An unique compilation of Christmas songs from the wide range of Rhythm & Blues, Doo-Wop, Pop Crooners, and Rockabilly! For the first time in the label's mighty long history, the Bear Family team sends it's own 'Season's Greetings'! A nostalgic Christmas celebration with 30 rarities from the years 1948-1968 ! Included are an outtake by Frankie Valli's Four Lovers, a rare alternate version of Eartha Kitt's 'Santa Baby', two extremely rare radio broadcasts by Ricky Nelson, The Holly Twins featuring Eddie Cochran on guitar, and some previously unissued material by Charlie Starr, Johnny Houston, Frankie Lymon and Bill Haley & His Comets! Famous Christmas hit classics are featured here by such legends as Doris Day, Dean Martin, Chuck Berry, Connie Francis, Pat Boone, Rosemary Clooney and many more! Hear some lesser known jewels from tiny labels performed by Cathy Sharpe, The Moods, and Patty Surbey. Also included is a very rare 1966 Christmas message by Ann-Margret!

Volume One. EU-only two CD set that chronicles the birth of Country Rock. In 1966, rock groups began turning away from the self-indulgence of early psychedelia to the timeless values embodied in country music, but they brought a counter-culture sensibility to it. It was a trend that began slowly in 1966, picked up steam in '67 when Bob Dylan released his groundbreaking John Wesley Harding album and the Band's first LP appeared, and became a phenomenon in 1968 when the Byrds released Sweetheart of the Rodeo, and Dillard & Clark's first album appeared. Heritage acts like the Everly Brothers and Rick Nelson came early to the party. And then, in 1969, the Flying Burrito Brothers' first LP appeared, Dylan released 'Nashville Skyline,' and the Band's epochal second LP appeared. Suddenly, Country Rock was a phrase on everyone's lips.

The 34 tracks, some of which are extremely hard to get, reflect the adventurous, sometimes almost naive approach to the theme of the moon landing, against the background of the competition between the USA and the USSR from the 1950s onwards! It contains interesting audio documents, like the announcement of US President John F. Kennedy in September 1962, as well as the famous words by astronaut Neil Armstrong on July 20, 1969! Extremely rare recordings can be heard, like Rocket To The Moon by Johnny Kay from Belgium, or Glenn Willings' Race To Space! Also included are famous songs that take up the theme rather smilingly, such as Anita O'Day's Fly Me To The Moon, and The Rocket Man with the Russian melody from the Spotnicks! In addition there are some orchestral recordings that express the feeling of a flight to the moon, like the orchestra of Les Baxter with Lunar Rhapsody! The first man on the moon We have created our own compilation for the 50th anniversary of the first manned moon landing. And even if some conspiracy theorists doubt it, the theme is simply too beautiful, too exciting. Special songs from the preparation time for the moon landing during the Cold War, from the '50s to the early '60s, are meticulously compiled here. Moon-O-Rama Let this CD take you on a great journey into space and on to the moon! Rare songs and great hits combined, carefully remastered and of course there are liner notes to every single song, as well as many illustrations in the 28-page booklet!

Teenage parties of the late 1950s and early '60s had a soundtrack all their own, full of sweet and happy songs about teenage love, innocent good times, breaking-up and well... teenage parties. Bear Family's 34-song CD compilation 'The Precious Years' would have been perfect listening for those attending high school dances, sock hops, college parties, record hops, pyjama parties, and senior proms, loaded with wonderful ditties celebrating the joys of being young by some of the leading teen idols of the day-Rick Nelson, The Everly Brothers, Paul Anka, Tommy Sands, Eddie Cochran, Johnny Burnette (his brother Dorsey's here too), and Pat Boone, just for starters. But here's more. Even though we have names like Lefty Frizzell, Marty Robbins, Jimmy Donley, Marvin Rainwater and Glenn Reeves (to name a few) not directly associated with teenage music, these artists have delivered a number of highly acclaimed contributions to this genre. Nothing too wild or raucous here, just lighthearted toe-tapping and up-tempo rock and roll and a few dreamy ballads from the golden teenage era by young singers who knew how to carry a tune. This is the kind of great pop music you could hear at the parties of those years. We will take you on a journey through time to the milkshakes, ice cream sundaes, pizza parlors, malt shops and drive-in cinemas.

Summertime's here, and it's been so long since we've been to the beach to soak up the sun's healing rays and engage in a day of red-hot fun! Bear Family has a perfect new soundtrack to accompany your trip to the oceanfront: 30 tracks that are all about frolicking in the sand and working on your tan while relaxing on your favorite blanket. Familiar names are scattered throughout the compilation; after all, no one knew how to throw a beach party better than Frankie Avalon, and his handsome pals Bobby Darin, Bobby Vee, and Freddie Cannon are here too. But there are also killer obscurities by Buddy Skipper and The Jetty Jumpers, Wayne Hollers, Al Barkle, and Ray Doggett, while R&B sax wailers Big Al Sears and Freddie Mitchell blow up a honking sandstorm. After the sun goes down and a cool breeze begins to waft in off the water, The Danleers' dreamy 1958 doo-wop smash One Summer Night is a perfect choice for slow dancing under the stars. Even guitar mauler Link Wray gets into the act with a surprisingly melodic Summer Dream. Pack the cooler, bring plenty of sunscreen, and pop 'Destination Beach' into your portable CD player at the first opportunity. Even on the hottest summer afternoon, it's the coolest!

- These include the two rare songs from Louis Armstrong's 1953 comedic Decca single and the original version of Kay Starr's Waiting For The Man With The Bag, which became famous through the Brian Setzer Orchestra! - Glenn Miller's big-band version of Jingle Bells as well as Mario Lanza's goose-bumps causing interpretation of Silent Night and the breathtaking Christmas classics of the Mills Brothers and Johnny Mercer, rousing danceable rhythms until the Christmas tree wiggles!- Also included is a rare R&B title by Thelma Cooper, who is often confused with Dolly Cooper!- A compilation that will not only delight the fans of Swing - it is so much more enjoyable to prepare a Christmas cake with this music playing, and dance lovers will always get their money's worth!After the two previous very successful releases with Christmas songs - 'Christmas On The Countryside' (BCD17508) and 'Big City Christmas' (BCD17509) - now follows the third part with extremely danceable grooves from the genres of Jazz, Swing and Rhythm & Blues, compiled by the Bear Family team. Our releases for the Christmas season obviously hit the nerve of our friends. The sets deliver intelligently compiled albums that offer themselves as an alternative to Xmas kitsch. The entertaining mix of some well-known songs and several new discoveries provides even die-hard Christmas haters and music collectors with enough material to celebrate an alternative Christmas full of pleasure. The 24-page accompanying booklet contains the essential information on the individual recordings. All titles have been carefully remastered. No more baking cookies - get up on the dance floor

Released in August 2019 in conjunction with the 90th Anniversary celebration of the Johnson City sessions, 'Tell It To Me: Revisiting the Johnson City Sessions, 1928-1929' is intended to demonstrate what music historian Ed Ward meant when he tweeted 'Johnson City Sessions: Lots more fun than the Bristol Sessions. Fewer stars, more insight into a vanished world.' Intended to distill onto a single CD the groundbreaking research found on Bear Family Records' award-winning 4-CD boxed set, The Johnson City Sessions: Can You Sing or Play Old-Time Music?' (BCD 16083), released in 2013, 'Tell It To Me' offers 25 essential highlights from Columbia Records' historically significant location recording sessions in Johnson City, Tennessee, in 1928 and 1929 recording sessions in Johnson City, Tennessee, in 1928 and 1929.. Featuring 25 recordings by 25 different musical acts that were active in the late 1920s, 'Tell It To Me' presents a diverse and dynamic overview of Appalachia's vernacular music at the cusp of the Great Depression. While representing a range of genres and styles and showcasing both secular and sacred material, this album is thematically unified by the fact that all of the tracks hail from commercial location recording sessions held by Columbia Records in Johnson City, Tennessee, during successive Octobers in 1928 and 1929. With precisely 25% of the released sides from those two Johnson City recording forays, 'Tell It To Me' documents timeless performances from the 1928-1929 sessions and bolsters recent assertions by discerning aficionados of 78 RPM records that those sessions generated a particularly memorable canon of historical recordings.

Roy Milton - Rocks / A brimful CD compilation dedicated to the important R&B pioneer Roy Milton in the continuously updated 'Rocks' series on Bear Family Records�. -Milton is considered one of the originators of the jump blues genre on the U.S. West Coast. -The album features his rockin'est, fast numbers recorded with his great band between 1946 and '63 for such record labels as Specialty, DooTone, King, Warwick, Cenco and Thunderbird. -Musical highlights include Red Light, Milton's Boogie, Hop, Skip And Jump, Junior Jives, You Got Me Reeling And Rocking and Rocking Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu. -His 1955 Specialty single What Can I Do is reissued here for the first time on CD. -Johnny 'Junior' Rogers, Roy Gaines and Roy Montrell are three of the outstanding guitarists. -Expertly narrated by Bill Dahl, plus lots of photos and illustrations in the substantial booklet and recordings carefully remastered for this edition. Any comprehensive list of postwar rhythm and blues pioneers has to position Roy Milton and his band, The Solid Senders, right near it's top. The Los Angeles-based Milton was a rock-solid drummer whose rich, full-bodied vocals were perfect for the swinging stormers that comprise Bear Family's 'Roy Milton Rocks.' His combo, anchored by Camille Howard's rippling boogie piano and accentuated by a punchy small horn section (and as time went by, Johnny 'Junior' Rogers' dazzling guitar work), helped define the jump blues genre, which in turn provided an indelible blueprint for the first wave of rock and roll. This compilation spans the band's incredible career from their early days of recording in L.A. with the madly jumping Red Light to their hitmaking heyday on Specialty Records (Milton's Boogie, Hop, Skip, And Jump, Oh Babe!, and the jaw-dropping Rogers-led instrumentals Junior Jives and Junior Jumps are among the highlights) through his mid-'50s hookups with DooTone, a.m.o.

Vinyl LP pressing. Whenever it's time to wait for Santa, decorate the tree or get together at Christmas parties: You can be sure that Bear Family puts together the perfect soundtrack for the holiday season every year. Our 2024 Christmas compilation focuses exclusively on classic blues and R&B material and is available in two formats to ensure everyone gets their money's worth. The vinyl album delivers fourteen festive songs ranging from favorites like Clyde McPhatter's Drifters, B.B. King and Charles Brown to obscure highlights from the Jackson Trio, blues guitarist Ralph Willis and Bay Area keyboardist Lonnie Hewitt, whose You've Been A Bad Little Girl is a Christmas revelation. The ultimate gift. When the record is placed under the Christmas tree, every R&B fan will be delighted.

Highly enjoyable Christmas CD with a total of 28 great tunes, favorites of the Bear Family Records� team. -Black music from the golden age of rhythm 'n' blues and blues, a balanced mix of well-known and obscure recordings. -Notes and biographical details from Chicago's Bill Dahl on each song in the illustrated, full-color booklet. -Carefully remastered original recordings in Bear Family's trademark brilliant sound quality. -Also available as a vinyl LP: BAF18075 Whenever it's time for Santa Claus, tree trimming, and holiday celebrations, you can safely anticipate Bear Family assembling the perfect Yuletide soundtrack. Our 2024 holiday compilation focuses solely on vintage blues and R&B material, and it comes in two formats to please everyone. The vinyl version offers 14 festive tracks ranging from beloved classics from Clyde McPhatter's Drifters, B.B. King and Charles Brown to obscure gems by The Jackson Trio, blues guitarist Ralph Willis and Bay Area keyboardist Lonnie Hewitt, whose You've Been A Bad Little Girl is a Yuletide revelation. The CD collection adds 14 more holiday gems, including both sides of The Voices' jumping 1955 single (Santa Claus Boogie b/w Santa Claus Baby), John Greer's jolly We Wanna See Santa Do The Mambo, and Big Maybelle's spine-chilling rendition of the timeless Silent Night. This is the ultimate stocking stuffer that any dedicated R&B fan will be overjoyed to find under her or his Christmas tree.

In his lifetime, Memphis Slim was probably the best-known blues singer in the world, moving from Memphis to Chicago and finally to Paris in the early 1960s. But it's no exaggeration to say that Memphis Slim could rock with the best of them - and this CD is here to prove it!-Memphis Slim was born Peter Chatman in Memphis in 1915.

-Second album with more great recordings from the earliest sessions (1951 and 1952) featuring Chester Burnett aka The Howlin' Wolf. -The recordings were made by Sam Phillips at his Memphis Recording Service. -At the time, these recordings remained unreleased! -These masters and alternate versions were discovered decades later. -Howlin' Wolf is one of the giants of the blues with his hard electric blues style and his unique voice that is just bursting with power. -Guitarist Willie Johnson - one of the first to get such brutal sounds out of an amp in the blues... luckily the amp barely survived those sessions. -Digitally copied from the original sources and currently remastered for the vinyl edition using state-of-the-art studio technology: both 10" albums sound fantastic! -The liner notes and discographical details in the illustrated booklet are by British blues expert and music historian Martin Hawkins. -Also available: 'Boy, You Got The Blues There!' (BAF14031) with another 10 originally unreleased early Memphis recordings. This and the recently released 10" vinyl LP 'Boy You Got The Blues There!' (BAF14031) provide radically remastered early recordings that already reflect the later Chicago blues style of one of the most important exponents of the blues ever! Captured between May 1951 and early 1953 at the Memphis Recording Service by producer and engineer Sam Phillips, these very first recordings of Chester Burnett aka The Howlin' Wolf were made when the singer, guitarist and harmonica player was already over forty years old. A true Methuselah among fellow bluesmen, his modest reputation at the time was an insignificant local radio show across the Mississippi River at KWEM in West Memphis. It was Sam Phillips who first saw the man's potential. He had never heard a voice like that, that power, that manliness. That very spring of 1951, Phillips sold his Wolf recordings to Chess Records in Chicago.

Studio recordings, most of which had been posthumously released on now long deleted CDs on the small Watch Dog label. Including a previously unreleased recording with Luke 'Long Gone' Miles. Compiled by producer and harmonica player Bob Corritore, who also wrote the liner notes. Carefully remastered by Tom Meyer and pressed by Optimal media, 180-gram edition in a gatefold sleeve, limited to 1.000 copies After some tough early years in which he managed to stay afloat with mostly poorly paid gigs in small clubs and only occasionally came out of Los Angeles or Southern California, William Clarke (March 21, 1951 - November 2, 1996) signed with the famous Alligator Records label. With his debut album 'Blowin' Like Hell' for the Chicago blues factory, the West Coast's blues secret became an endlessly touring international star of the scene! With 'Heavy Hittin' West Coast Harp' we pay tribute and respect to one of the greatest harmonica stylists. As an instrumentalist William Clarke was strongly influenced by George 'Harmonica' Smith, a Chicago contemporary of Little Walter and Walter Horton. Smith came to Los Angeles for a recording session in 1956 and settled on the West Coast. Similar to his iconic idol Smith, from whom he learned a lot of tricks in countless joint appearances, Clarke was equally at home on the cross harmonica as on the chromatic. The combination of Chicago-style harmonica and the cool groove and swing of West Coast blues and jazz met the open ears of blues fans all over the world. On his first album 'Hittin' Heavy' he is accompanied by Hollywood Fats on guitar, later recording sessions include Ronnie Earl, Junior Watson, Rick Holmstrom and Alex Schultz a.m.o. Bob Corritore, for many years a prolific blues musician and first-class harp player, producer and influencer, has compiled this album and written the liner notes for Bear Family.

2020 collection. On this very personal selection - mostly up-tempo numbers and brilliantly arranged pop - you will find rarities and greatest hits. Among them her smash hits 'What A Diff'rence A Day Made' (she sang makes instead of made), 'September In The Rain', 'Mad About The Boy' as well as the two duets with Brook Benton: 'A Rockin' Good Way' and 'Baby (You Got What It Takes)'! Rarities such as the hard-to-find Mercury single 'Honky Tonky', which was released in 1958 under the pseudonym The Queen, are also included With this Juke Box Pearls edition from the great Dinah Washington we are erecting a small but fine memorial. This compilation of 29 songs does not follow a chronological order, but it outlines the great career of the artist, who died far too early.