Editor's Choice
 In the '40s, Hadda
Brooks broke ground as a contemporary of torch
singers such as Billie Holiday and Lena Horne and
boogie pianists on the order of Pete Johnson. I've
Got News for You collects a half-century
of great Brooks sides, including duets with
Johnson and Charles Brown.  The Golden Age of Top 40 radio
paralleled many changes in the musical landscape,
including the rise of the Beatles, soul music,
and Elton John. Former Rolling Stone
staffer Ben Fong-Torres' The
Hits Just Keep on Coming tells the story
complete with profiles of many key DJs.
Entertaining, informative, and often hilarious,
this is a great read for anyone who regularly
fell asleep with a transistor radio under a
pillow.
******************************
Browse Pop by
Subject
******************************
Amazon.com
Recommends
Feeling Amazonian
Vinicius Cantuária's second U.S. album, Tucumã,
is more exotic than ever. Amazon.com writer
Richard Gehr speaks
with Cantuária about the Amazonian jungle
that inspires him and why New York is home
instead.
Read Amazon.com's article
London Diva, Memphis Belle
Dusty Springfield's career took her from
folksinger to London pop diva to soul siren. She
recorded at least one certified classic, 1969's Dusty
in Memphis. Amazon.com's Steven Stolder
examines the achievements of a woman who knew how
to wrest every last bit of emotion from a
song.
Read Amazon.com's article
The King's Chronicles
When esteemed music scribe Peter Guralnick
decided to explore the life of Elvis Presley, he
was concerned that the literary establishment
wouldn't accept his often-derided subject as one
worthy of a serious, ambitious study. To the
contrary, Guralnick's two-volume profile--Last
Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley
and Careless
Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley--has
been hailed as the finest rock & roll
biographical chronicle yet penned. Amazon.com's
Rock editor, Steven Stolder, talks with Guralnick
about the rise and fall of the King.
Read Amazon.com's interview
If you have comments or
suggestions for our Pop editor, please write to [email protected]
MaxMart
in Association with
|
|
In
New Releases
 All the
Richer
Sixpence None the Richer bring pure pop
craft--and a touch of sexiness--to the
contemporary Christian music scene. Crammed with
intelligent songs, the band's self-titled
sophomore release continues to ascend the pop
charts owing to its super-catchy, 10,000
Maniacs-ish single, "Kiss Me" (also
featured in the movie She's All That).
More new
releases
 He's
Got It
Guitarist-producer Jim O'Rourke's Eureka
is a blissful exercise; expansive melodies
repeat, refract, and float away in abstract
beauty. Working with a wide array of musicians
and instruments (pedal-steel guitar, horns,
sampler, vocals), O'Rourke offers a seamless meld
of Van Dyke Parks-inspired pop and avant-garde
sensibility.
In
Artist Essentials
 The Chieftains
In the often fast and furious world of Celtic
folk music, the Chieftains have always maintained
more serenity than many of their peers,
especially with Derek Bell's harp a constant
presence. Their earliest recordings reveal a
seriousness about traditional Celtic music that
gives them the feel of chamber music. Want to
hear how the Chieftains balance the sublime and
the energetically passionate? Read about their essential
recordings, including their fine best-of
collection.
In Artist
Essentials
Not-Yet-Released
CDs
 Digital
and Free
After high-profile successes, including a key
track on the Trainspotting soundtrack,
British techno act Underworld return with Beaucoup
Fish, which floats dreamy vocals over
propulsive tracks. It's another step toward
liberating the music from its computer-age
constraints. Order it now, and we'll ship it upon
its April 13 release.
In
Memoriam
 Joe
Williams
Jazz singer Joe Williams remained a working
vocalist until just weeks before his death last
month at the age of 80. Williams's amazing,
fabled years with the Basie band are documented
on the 1956 album Count
Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings,
featuring the most notable version of Williams's
signature song, "Every Day I Have the
Blues." Check out our
tribute for a list of Williams's other major
recordings.
I Am [EXPLICIT LYRICS] ~ Nas
The Slim Shady LP [EXPLICIT LYRICS] ~
Eminem
Wu-Chronicles [EXPLICIT LYRICS] ~
Genius, et al
Things Fall Apart [EXPLICIT LYRICS] ~
The Roots
Editor's Choice
 The talent they
picked may not have lasted--aside from Gang
Starr, that is--but the Brand New Heavies' 1992
experiment as a funky house band for their
favorite MCs remains a classic. The Black Sheep,
Grand Puba, the Pharcyde, and Kool G. Rap were
all in their prime, and on Heavy
Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1, it seemed like
it would last forever.
*******************************
Browse Rap
& Hip-Hop by Subject
***********************************
|
|
 Homesick For The Road ~ Tab Benoit, et
al
Blackjack ~ Clarence
"Gatemouth" Brown
 The Real Deal : Greatest Hits 2 ~ Stevie
Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble
 Texas Flood [ORIGINAL RECORDING
REMASTERED] [EXTRA TRACKS] ~ Stevie Ray Vaughan
& Double Trouble
Nice Warm Blues
 Considered guitarist
Tab Benoit's best effort, Nice
and Warm lives up to its title. Chock
full of clean, smooth guitar, the album is an
appealing mix of blues, R&B, and Cajun, the
latter attesting to Benoit's woodshedding in
Baton Rouge bars. Read more
Book Notes
Inside Soul
 Explaining the importance of Stevie
Ray Vaughan might indeed take an entire book.
Vaughan was that rarest of creatures, a blues
musician who attained crossover su ccess. Soul
to Soul, written with warmth and
affection, chronicles the guitarist's
all-too-brief career from the early years to his
death in 1990.
Remembering Stevie Ray
Few musicians, within the blues genre or outside
of it, accomplished so much in so brief a time as
Stevie
Ray Vaughan. From his 1983 debut with Texas
Flood until his tragic early death in 1990,
Vaughan rode a roller coaster of crossover
success, quickly becoming known for his
expressive playing and incendiary skill on the
guitar. Not only did he influence a host of
followers--including young guns Jonny
Lang, Kenny
Wayne Shepherd, and Mato Nanji of Indigenous--but
he also brought the underappreciated artists
who'd influenced him to new prominence.
Amazon.com contributor Ted Drozdowski recounts
just what was so special about Stevie Ray
Vaughan, and why he's still missed.
Read Amazon.com's article
When Clark Met Stevie
Though Stevie
Ray Vaughan is indubitably the most well
known bluesman to come out of Texas, Vaughan's
musical prowess and intense performance style
didn't exist in a vacuum. Texas is home to a
vibrant blues scene that has taken on a sound and
a history all its own. Among its reigning
statesmen is guitarist W.C.
Clark, who worked with Vaughan in his early
days. Amazon.com contributor Frank-John Hadley
talks with Clark about his musical background,
his current career, and his work with one of
Texas's briefest, brightest stars.
Read Amazon.com's article
Stevie Ray Vaughan Essential Recordings
Need a fix of blistering, rockin', blues guitar?
Check out Stevie Ray Vaughan essentials!
*******************************
Browse Blues by
Subject
*******************************
If you have comments or suggestions for our
Blues editor, please write to [email protected]
|
|
