James Reed

about

It was way back in 1969/1970, when the Bihari Brothers, the owners of Modern Records commenced a reissue series that opened the door to a whole new world of blues recordings. The series of blues albums on the Bihari’s Kent Records label included compilations of blues recordings from Memphis, Arkansas, Detroit, Mississippi, Texas, West Coast and California blues. These sets were compiled by US collectors Frank Scott and Bruce Bromberg who were allowed to mine the Bihari’s vaults and issued as part of the "Anthology Of The Blues" 12 volume album series. What made these albums stand out was that they included unissued tracks and obscure blues artists - hitherto unknown to many, with the exception of a small band of dedicated record collectors on both sides of the Atlantic. Albums from this series eventually found their way across the pond to the UK, some on Kent, but many appearing on the Bihari’s ultra-budget United series. In the UK we knew they were budget releases as they had no sleeve notes, no inner sleeves, even some of the covers were recycled! My copies were collected one by one from Robinson’s Records in central Manchester, whose owner regularly visited the USA and bought up and shipped back stock to the UK. The previous four Ace releases in this series have featured tracks from those original Kent releases along with more unissued and alternate takes. This fifth set features artists originally included on the West Coast and California sets – Lowell Fulson, James Re

top songs

albums

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Rare 78 RPM Rhythm & Blues Cuts

Strange Games

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Juke Joint Blues

The Future Ain't What It Used to Be

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The Downhome Blues Sessions: Back In The Alley 1949-1954

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Underground Blues Essentials

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Fall Together

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The Birth of Rock 'n' Roll

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Potion Queen

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Changing Streams

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The Most Underrated Blues Players Ever!

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Let Me Tell You About The Blues: West Coast [Part 3]

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