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The article discusses the difficulty of capturing the genius of recording artists through written words and the changing perspectives of critics, fans, and family members over time. It highlights the sustained greatness of artists like Louis Armstrong, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, and Aretha Franklin. The focus is on a 4-CD compilation titled "Aretha," which features 81 songs spanning Aretha Franklin's career. The compilation offers a comprehensive overview of her vocal abilities, piano skills, song selection, and personal observations. It includes well-known hits as well as previously unheard cuts and rarities, showcasing Aretha's experimental nature. The article also includes two introductory commentaries, one emphasizing Aretha's role as a black female freedom fighter and the other providing a chronological review of her career. It mentions other Aretha Franklin recordings available and highlights her commercial success on the Billboard charts. The article concludes by noting Aretha's roots in Detroit and the missed opportunity for her to join Motown Records. [Extracted from the article]

Where's the Money, Honey? With this sonic heritage of lyrical commentaries about money matters, it is predictable that blues-oriented Jasmine discographer Neil Slaven elected to compile a decade of African-American audio complaints concerning monetary malfeasance. Dire cash circumstances echo throughout recordings like "I Need Money (Keep Your Alibis)" by Slim Harpo, "Last Dime Blues" by Blind Willie McTell, "I Need Some Money" by John Lee Hooker, and "Ain't Got No Money Now" by Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell. [Extracted from the article]

This terrible decision reduces a listener's opportunity to hear the growth and development of the "5" Royales as an evolving post-gospel, R&B, and proto-soul exemplar. The Apollo executives then suggested a new name - The "5" Royales - and a new stylistic direction - self-penned R&B tunes - for the former choir boys from Winston-Salem. The roots of 1960s soul music can be traced to the 1950s R&B and pop recordings of individual vocalists like Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Clyde McPhatter, and Jackie Wilson. [Extracted from the article]

Born in London in 1939 to a music-loving, middle-class Irish family, Mary O'Brien was destined to become a professional vocalist. As playful and stylistically creative as Dusty Springfield is with numerous show tunes, traditional romantic ballads, and contemporary songs penned by Anthony Newly ("Beautiful Land") and Rod McKuen ("If You Go Away"), she is magnificently manic, emotionally involved, and wondrously soulful on many, many US black music anthems from the late '50s and early '60s. While Dusty's major pop hits are freely sampled throughout I Transmissions, 1962-1968 i , there is a clear effort to introduce versions of tunes by vocalists admired by Dusty. [Extracted from the article]

Compiler Bob Fisher has assembled 28 tracks that demonstrate the saxophone talent, the humorous texts, and the bawdy singing style that propelled Jackson to a decade of R&B recording prominence. Between that date and 1949 Julia Lee placed ten recordings on the R&B hit charts, with "Snatch and Grab It" (1947) and "King Size Papa" (1948) achieving No. 1 status for more than two months apiece. Moralistic whistle-blowers of the early 1950s would have been horrified by these two multi-tune compilations of Bull Moose Jackson and Julia Lee recordings. [Extracted from the article]

As for I Win the War Blues i and I Back to Korea Blues i , they are twin servings of black blues recordings that demonstrate draft compliance, uncomfortable but willing acceptance of military service, and joyful escape from Uncle Sam's low-wage, high-risk soldiering assignments. Since the turn of the century, American soldiers have fought and died in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and elsewhere. Win the War Blues: The Blues and World War II: Various Artists, Jasmine JASMCD 3147, 2020, CD, £8.99. [Extracted from the article]

Similarly, there is absolutely no agreement among the various compilers about how many lesser-ranked (but still charted) recordings constitute an escape from the one-hit wonder category. For instance, it's difficult to accept the label one-hit wonder for Texas-born R&B songstress Barbara Lynn ("You'll Lose a Good Thing", 1962) because she not only scored a No. 8 hit during the early '60s, but she also charted 11 other songs during her successful decade-long recording career. Utilizing a literary metaphor, one notes that the record-related descriptor "One-Hit Wonder" is less a I Red Badge of Courage i and more of a I Scarlet Letter i . [Extracted from the article]

Composers dream of crafting memorable, top-selling tunes. His carefully detailed liner notes trace the career of songwriter Stanley David Jones, who penned the tune in 1947, but didn't release his own recording of it until May 1949. But it was May's brother-in-law Johnny Marks, a gifted holiday tunesmith, who developed the lyrics and melody for the classic tune. The final song salute compilation is a concise 10-tune tribute to the Missouri town that spawned the blues/jazz careers of Count Basie, Jay McShann, Charlie Parker, and Big Joe Turner. [Extracted from the article]

Tom Jones: Live on Air 65-68 But neither of these noteworthy Brits has ever displayed the ecstatic zeal for so many different American R&B, rock, and soul performers as Tom Jones does on this memorable 2020 BBC compilation. Although many of his charted tunes were emotion-laden pop ballads or revisited country weepers, Tom Jones possessed the rhythmic power and vocal pyrotechnics of an R&B soulster like Solomon Burke. [Extracted from the article]

Year after year, Christmas music returns to the airwaves. Of course, there are also Yuletide song collections that strive to tickle the funny bone ("All I Want for Christmas [Is My Two Front Teeth]"), to suggest absurd events ("Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer"), and to offer seductive dialogue ("Baby, It's Cold Outside"). By contrast, I The Twelve Rockin' Days of Christmas i unearths weird examples of undated holiday recordings and introduces a dozen non-Yuletide ditties that are universally dull and uninteresting. [Extracted from the article]

During the first half of the twentieth century it would have been unthinkable for a white man to be a blues musician. Finally, by growing up near the Chicago blues club scene, Moss was able to glean firsthand knowledge of blues vocalizing and blues licks in such legendary settings as the Checkerboard Lounge, Kingston Mines, Lee's Unleaded Blues, Pepper's Lounge, Wise Fools, Smoke Daddy, and Rosa's. Like his black blues contemporaries Robert Cray and Keb' Mo', Nick Moss is a perpetual blues writing machine. [Extracted from the article]

Johnny Otis fought to end popular music segregation and became the human bridge to mid-century R&B/rock integration. Was it Sun Records impresario Sam Phillips or the Memphis cat Elvis Presley who transformed R&B music into rock and roll during the 1950s? Otis internalized the R&B recordings of Louis Jordan, Roy Brown, Floyd Dixon, Julia Lee, and John Lee Hooker. [Extracted from the article]

Nevertheless, the country/blues roots of Elvis Presley and Bill Haley, their remarkable run of memorable rock-and-roll tunes, and their continuing international recognition justify a more extensive, lively investigation of their personal musical foundations and their extended audio influences. Fifth, while they each produced recordings that were purchased by country music listeners, neither Elvis nor Bill was embraced by other traditional country artists, country disc jockeys, or Nashville executives within the country music establishment. These tunes either influenced Bill Haley and His Comets or were copies of the hit recordings by Haley's group. [Extracted from the article]

Clearly, Williams learned the rock-and-roll ropes, from composing to arranging, from singing to producing, through studying hit recordings like "Tutti Frutti", "Long Tall Sally", and "Keep a-Knockin'." Between 1962 and 1980 Williams vacillated between studio production work for Little Richard at Okeh Records and recording and stage appearances with his new-found compatriot Johnny "Guitar" Watson. Crescent City-born Larry Williams was one of rock and roll's quintessential bad boys. [Extracted from the article]

Nevertheless, his career lurched from recording session to recording session, from one-night gig to one-night gig. Bobby Day's noteworthy musical abilities should have generated a lengthy, successful pop music career. This relatively obscure vocal harmony foursome achieved a #5 R&B hit in 1957 with their rousing foot stomper "Buzz-Buzz-Buzz" on the Ebb label. [Extracted from the article]

Although less widely known than other Crescent City greats like Louis Armstrong, Pete Fountain, or Fats Domino, Dr. John and his unquestionable audio credentials served as ambassadors for the Big Easy. I Triumvirate i (Columbia/CBS, 1973) is a little-known collaborative effort among Michael Bloomfield, John Hammond, and Dr. John exploring classic New Orleans tunes. Dr. John's singles chart history was surprisingly humble. [Extracted from the article]

Beyond individual artists and their signature Yuletide songs, though, recording companies have successfully inflated Christmas disc sales by producing compilation albums featuring songs performed by various artists. Such audio gems include "The Christmas Song" by Mel Torme (1955), "Merry Christmas, Baby" and "Please Come Home for Christmas" by Charles Brown (1956, 1961), and "Run, Rudolph, Run" by Chuck Berry (1958). Thus, compiler Mittelacher's 2019 assemblage of vintage vinyl melodies fills an empty space among previously circulated holiday re-issue compilations. [Extracted from the article]

The U.S. Hot 100-3 February 1959: The Day the Music Died: 2019, Various Artists, Paul Watts, compiler, 4 CDs, Acrobat ACQCD 7133 This 4-CD, 100-song compilation was assembled by Paul Watts to memorialize an unforgettable day in the American pop music scene: 3 February 1959. Paul Watts and Acrobat Records deserve credit for sharing this complex audio collage as the musical context for Buddy Holly's final day on earth. [Extracted from the article]

Little Junior Parker, whose performing career spanned the 1950s and the 1960s, is a particularly important figure in this two-decade transitional phase when blues recordings migrated from marginalized music to Top 40 pop hits. In 1954, Elvis Presley borrowed Parker's lyrics from "Mystery Train" and overlaid them with the bouncy rhythms from Parker's "Love My Baby." With this rocking Sun release, the future King of Rock and Roll made Parker the composing godfather to rockabilly's most impactful train tune. [Extracted from the article]

The Crests continued to revisit their earlier hits at regional concert venues even after Johnny Maestro departed from the group in 1962. During 1959 the New York City-based Crests charted their only nationwide R&B hits. The only doo-wop classic that is anthologized in this collection is the Crests' fine rendition of the Five Satins' majestic "I Remember (In the Still of the Night).". [Extracted from the article]

Jasmine compiler Opal Louis Nations surveys the R&B, pop, and rock scene hoping to update 21st century listeners who are more familiar with short MTV videos, film length bio-pics, and other rock documentaries. Classic early rock movies, ranging from I Don't Knock the Rock i (Columbia Pictures, 1956) and I Jamboree i (Warner Brothers, 1957) to I The Girl Can't Help It!. [Extracted from the article]

Understandably, this retrospective festival of mid-20th century holiday tunes places Kris Kringle at the center of many different December celebrations. The triumph of Big Band holiday hits and the success of numerous Yuletide novelty tunes proved unstoppable. [Extracted from the article]

Between 1979 and 2011 George Thorogood and the Destroyers placed 13 different albums on I Billboard i 's Top 200 charts. Yet Thorogood's professional career has been hampered by his inability to shift from second-line, cover recording rock recognition into full pop recording stardom and national celebrity status. Over the past five decades George Thorogood and the Destroyers have created a legacy of hard-driving blues and rock recordings. [Extracted from the article]

The new Bear Family release I Destination Lonely Street i provides valuable illustrations of insightful song selections along with ridiculous insertions of obscure tunes performed by mysterious singers. Reissue producer and disc researcher Nico Feuerbach joined forces with liner notes author and music journalist Bill Dahl to assemble the 32 recordings presented in I Destination Lonely Street i . Unfortunately, Nico Feuerbach and Bill Dahl got distracted by audio rarities and overlooked the most obvious and the best recorded illustrations of loneliness. [Extracted from the article]

These CDs salute classic soul riffs, the session musicians who specialized in crafting such sounds, and the hit recordings that made Hi Records a touchstone of the 1960s and 1970s southern soul scene. Revered Seattle blues guitarist Robert Cray assembles a strange mix of tunes for his 2017 Royal Studio playlist. Robert Cray also falls short in trying to transform his aggressive blues stylings into a classic soul idiom. [Extracted from the article]

The movie's producer-director Frank Tashlin based the film's screenplay on a 1955 novel by Garson Kanin. The sonic background for this less-than-compelling story was organized by composer Bobby Troup, who drafted the title tune and helped director Tashlin recruit various contemporary recording stars to perform over the film's ditzy dialogue. Fortunately, Jasmine's 23-song CD captures every tune from the motion picture, plus a handful of 45 r.p.m. duplications of the soundtrack numbers. [Extracted from the article]

This 4-disc, 72-song compilation highlights classic frontier songs, tunes by silver screen cowboys, and themes from movie westerns and television series. The Olympics addressed the Old West popularity issue in their 1958 hit recording "Western Movies." It is unthinkable that the Jasmine compiler ignored prominent country-and-western recording artists like Rex Allen, Gene Autry, Walter Brennan, Johnny Cash, Johnny Horton, Frankie Laine, and Marty Robbins. [Extracted from the article]

Finally, Dopson pays homage to the visionary production skills of singer-songwriter, soul music icon Sam Cooke. Before assessing the regional origins of soul recordings, we might benefit from reflecting upon the artistic lineage of this important American musical genre. Third, Dopson explores several examples of gospel vocal techniques being directly converted into secular soul presentations. [Extracted from the article]

Illustrations of these emotionally informed audio concerns occur in recordings like "Addicted to Love" (1986), "Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)" (1979), "Doctor Feelgood" (1967), "Doctor's Orders" (1982), "Dr. Rock and Roll" (1980), "Good Lovin'" (1966), and "You're My Remedy" (1964). Public spirits might be lifted via tunes that praise old-time TV physicians like Dr. Ben Casey or "Marcus Welby, M.D." (1970). [Extracted from the article]

American popular music performers and listening audiences display deep affection for wedding songs. Considering the lengthy list of upbeat, pro-marriage recordings produced over the decades by other African-American artists, one must conclude that the Koko Mojo compiler's assembly of fractious wedding tunes is an anomaly. [Extracted from the article]

None of the aforementioned common Halloween novelty tunes were selected for the 2019 Koko Mojo anthology. Halloween is a freaky, enjoyable, once-each-year American tradition. [Extracted from the article]

This discographic study examines imaginative and strategic uses of hyperbole in lyrics of romantic recordings during the past century. The three specific areas of inflated lyrical commentary examined here are: (1) phrasing designed to impress and influence a loved one; (2) terminology demonstrating strong reactions to either infidelity or rejection by a loved one; and (3) statements illustrating very positive feelings toward a potential object of affection. Examples of performers who utilize hyperbolic romantic narratives and recordings that feature lyrical hyperbole are identified in full discographic detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews music releases by Johnny Rivers which include "This Could Be the One: The Early Sides 1958-1962","Secret Agent Man: The Ultimate Johnny Rivers Anthology 1964-2006", "Last Train to Memphis," and "The Memphis Sun Recordings."

Rock and roll is my music. I initially encountered its power and influence as a teenager. Rather than being perceived as a revolutionary change in music, though, rock and roll was very much the norm to me. I always thought that the diversity of rock's early years would shape the musical future. What a disappointment to discover that post-1963 rock has become so segmented and so unaware of its multiple roots. This topical commentary by an unapologetic rock-and-roll era fanatic assesses the ill-conceived attempts of print media sources and contemporary music critics to acknowledge and honor rock's earliest stars and their recorded legacies appropriately. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article reviews the music releases "I and Love and You," by the Avett Brothers, "Secret, Profane and Sugarcane," by Elvis Costello and "Funky Midnight Mover: The Atlantic Studio Recordings, 1962-1978," by Wilson Pickett.

The article reviews the musical releases "The Golden Age of American Popular Music: The Jazz Hits From the Hot 100, 1958-1966," by various artists, "Embryonic," by the Flaming Lips and "Inroads," by Roy Montgomery.

This bibliographic and discographic compilation depicts twentieth-century participation by white recording artists in musical realms generally associated with black performers. The '60s term 'blue-eyed soul' is expanded to include white male and female vocalists, instrumentalists, composers, lyricists, arrangers, and promoters who not only warmly embraced various genres of black music, admired and sometimes performed with black artists, emulated black vocal styling and phrasing, and often covered black songs-but also clearly established themselves as distinctive recording artists with audience crossover skills and strong preferences for R&B and soulful sounds. From the Boswell Sisters and Johnny Otis through Bonnie Raitt and Curtis Salgado, blue-eyed soul performers have thrived and produced a diverse, dazzling array of commercial recordings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study features a variety of print resources that document the careers of female blues singers who have produced recordings and performed in juke joints, blues clubs, and various concert venues over the past fifty years. The blueswomen profiled illustrate the diversity of the blues genre today. These ladies vary in race, nationality, vocal range, composing and instrumental experience, song selection, personal history, and current fan base. They share the devotion to blues music. In addition to the biographical material cited, this study provides a selected discography and a lengthy bibliography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay investigates the song-charting success of male recording duos between 1944 and 2004. Achieving song listing on Billboard's country, pop, or R&B/rap singles charts during the sixty years surveyed constitutes an initial measure of success. Beyond that, multiple song listings and chart crossovers demonstrate professional persistence and an enlarged scope of audience popularity. This study examines 418 male recording duos. Of that total, ninety achieved five or more Billboard-ranked hits. A lengthy bibliography of books and articles that explore the careers of several male recording pairs is also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]