Blues Sale 67 Items

Dark cloud approaching – Black Magic Six set to release their fifth album in September!

The title of Black Magic Six’s upcoming album Black Cloud Descending really sums up the mood and thoughts of its creators during the album making process. It tells stories of constant escaping, accepting defeat, destinies of outcasts, failures, and drunks. Tales of the wiser, exaggerated lies, vague rumours, fuzzy states of mind and suspicious circumstances – even the thought in the back of your head about the possibility of redemption while standing on the edge of the cliff right before falling in; it’s all there.

The album’s first single Blood of Babylon is a garage rocking song about Sam Berkowitz’s relationship with Sam Carr’s speaking dog. Lyrical themes of the upcoming album are moving between reality and the imaginary world; remembering the moments at Belo Horizonte, how to use the powder that protects you from the evil eye, how it felt to wonder in the same alleyways with the werewolf of Istanbul or diving to safety to the bottom of a pond in Northern Savo.

Musically the album is on a narrow path. All the sounds heard on Black Cloud Descending are produced by Taskinen and Motherfuckin’ Japa. Sure, there are two exceptions; the gong heard in the end of Werewolf of Istanbul was recorded by Sakke Koivula at his home and the church bells in the outro of Full House Blues are ringed by unknown. Previous albums of BM6 had lots of featured vocalists and other guests playing guitar, percussions, and harmonica. People that one could call actual musicians. These past albums have had a softer, more versatile, and maybe even a livelier touch to them. This time around there’s only the core; the percussionist and the singing guitar player. The result is more raw, rugged, and rougher than before.

Black Cloud Descending is out on September 1st on vinyl, CD and digital platforms. The album was produced, recorded, and mixed by Mitro Kylliäinen at Kung Fu Audio along with BM6 during 2022-2023. Original art used for the album cover was made by Greger Grönholm. The band will play selected live shows to celebrate the new album in Finland, Germany, Denmark, and Spain. Dates of these gigs will be announced closer to the release date of the album.

Original inner sleeve

Led by musical director Scotty Barnhart, the Count Basie Orchestra keeps Basie’s unmistakable style alive and thriving around the world. In the great traction of the Basie Swings albums comes this explosive album of collaborations with some of the greatest living blues and jazz artists, Basie Swings The Blues. In preparation for these sessions, Barnhart took a pilgrimage to the Mississippi Delta to immerse himself in the land where blues began. The resulting album is joyful mix of downhome blues with the deep swing and sophistication that only The Count Basie Orchestra can provide. As Count Basie famously once said, “our blues will make your blues go away.” Produced by Barnhart along with Grammy-winning producer John Burk (Ray Charles Genius Love Company), and Grammy-winning drummer/producer Steve Jordan (The Rolling Stones), the album brings together Buddy Guy, Bobby Rush, Keb’ Mo’, Shemekia Copeland, Robert Cray, Charlie Musselwhite, Betty LaVette, Ledisi, George Benson, and others to bring the blues and swing back together for a set that jumps and jives with an energy not heard since Louis Jordan and T-Bone Walker lit up stages in the ’40s and ’50s.

Vinyl with a couple of light scuffs and hairlines. Original inner sleeve has seam splits.

With insert. Close to NM

US original. Terre Haute Pressing.
Cover with corner-cut.

This is Eric Clapton's 23rd Studio album for which he teamed up with star-producer Glyn Johns once more.

UK original, first pressing.
Sleeve has light storage wear, LP like new.

Label sleeve is VG.

One of the earliest blues performers of the pre-war era, and an offspring of a family of freed slaves, Henry "Ragtime Texas" Thomas was one of the most influential, but also one of the most enigmatic practitioners of the blues genre. Much of Thomas' life was un-chronicled by historians (The exact date of his death is still a point of contention) except to say that much of his life he lived as a drifter, making his living by performing on street corners and for railway employees. Though his personal life is still shrouded in mystery, his music remains significant, so many decades later. Thomas stood out from his peers primarily by the way he strummed his guitar; as one would strum a banjo. His songs emphasized dance rhythm over complex picking, and often utilized instruments unorthodox to blues music, such as the Deep South folk instrument the quills. This sound proved to be instrumental in the development of the Texas blues sound, and would be his trademark across the 24 sides that he recorded for Vocalion Records, of which only 23 would be released commercially.

Cover has storage wear, yellowing and writings on the back! Record has scuffs and scratches.

Close to VG+.

Promo copy with white labels

Long Live started in 1997 in Thessaloniki based on an idea by Giorgos Symeonidis of the legendary Thessaloniki metal group Sarissa and continues to this day, having given more than 3000 lives with Greek and foreign artists such as B. Papakonstantinou, F. Pliatsikas, T. Panoussis , Nazareth, Glenn Hughes, Joe Lynn Turner, Dr Feelgood, Eric Sardinas and others. The original line-up of Long Live included Giorgos Symeonidis voice, Laki Ragaza guitars, Stelios Tzioumerkas bass, Vangelis Notopoulos bass and Alexandros Dimarelli drums, who can be heard on the recordings of side 1 while later the line-up consisted of Giorgos Symeonidis voice, Laki Ragaza guitars , Stelio Tzioumerka bass and Giorgos Motesnitsa drums, who can be heard on the 2nd side of the vinyl. Since 1997, Long Live has been playing hard / heavy rock, which they recorded on 2 cd-ep's in 2000 and 2005. B-otherSide records together with Vinylmania Records presents the whole of Long Live's recordings in a edition of 200 numbered vinyls, which contain a four-page insert with photos of the group from the Giorgos Symeonidis archive and song lyrics. The master was taken over by the very experienced Yiannis Kyris, while the cover was created based on an idea by Giorgos Symeonidis.

US original.
Sleeve has water damage and storage wear.

Muddy Waters needs no introduction. The Chicago-based blues singer has been in the business since the 1940's, influencing the 60's blues rock movement spearheaded by the Rolling Stones. Recorded eight years after his last album 'After The Rain', 'Hard Again' is Muddy Water's massive comeback album of 1977, opening up with the one song that cemented Muddy's place in Rock & Roll heaven: 'Mannish Boy'. Produced by Johnny Winter (whose ecstatic 'Yeah!'s can be heard on 'Mannish Boy'), 'Hard Again' features Muddy's trademark blues sound: rugged, raw and full of energy. The rest of the album has similar qualities: blues harps, slide guitars and wailing vocals, it's all there. Music On Vinyl's 180 grams reissue LP is a must for any record collection

Cover with shelf wear, seam split and damage on spines.

On October 12, 1929, Kathryn Culp and Sammie Lee Brown had the idea to name their first-born baby Napoleon. With such a vital beginning, little Nappy was already predestined to hit the mark, so from a very young age he stood out for his vocal qualities, well cultivated in gospel, which he practiced assiduously in The First Mount Zion Baptist Church run by his father.

To Mr. Brown's chagrin, after his first forays into religious music participating in vocal gospel groups such as The Golden Crowns, Golden Bell Quintet and The Heavenly Lights, with whom he recorded his first single for Savoy in 1954, the young Napoleon decided to try his hand at secular music, convinced by Herman Lubinsky, the big boss man of the New Jersey label.

In this way, between 1954 and 1962, Napoleon recorded a total of 28 singles at Savoy, clearly marking the transition from Rhythm & Blues to Rock’n’Roll, and also his subsequent jump to Soul, being the natural link between the late 40s southerners like Wynonie Harris or Big Joe Turner and artists like Jackie Wilson or James Brown, who cemented the black sounds of the 60s.

This LP includes a compilation of some of his best songs at Savoy, high class rock'n'roll, with a lot of dancefloor favourites like Don't BE Angry, compiled in its two versions, or Just A Little Lovin ', but also his more Bluesy sides, with songs like the fabulous Down IN THE Alley, which would be recorded years later by that certain singer born in Tupelo, Mississippi, that many times declared how much he dug Nappy Brown’s Rhythm & Blues.

In the same bluesy way Nappy wrote the iconic THE Right Time, one of the first stones of the Soul cathedral, originally recorded by Nappy on 1957, and revised one year before by Ray Charles. Ray’s version, renamed Night Time Is The Right Time, would be included as the main theme of the award-winning film IN THE Heat OF THE Night. We´ve also included Nappy’s own answer to this song, recorded in 1961 and titled as ANY Time IS THE Right Time.

Finally can´t avoid to name some of the backing musicians you´ll hear in these tracks, Sam ‘The Man’ Taylor, Mickey Baker, Panama Francis… have a look on notes bellow, oh boy! the A-Team of the mid-century New York Rhythm & Blues!

Nappy disappeared from the music scene in 1962, remaining anonymous until 1969, when he would return to Rhythm & Blues on Elephant Records with an LP whose title could not be more eloquent: Thank YOU FOR Nothing.

Since then, Nappy was very active until his death in 2008, alternating his love for gospel and Rhythm & Blues, touring the United States and Europe and releasing no less than a dozen LPs.

Cover is close to NM!

Cover with punch hole and promo sticker on the front.

1962 US mono repress.

Cover with golden promo stamp on the front

Cover has a cut-out.

Another one from P-vine's new series called "Spin The Blues" is here! This is the first album by Smokey Wilson, a tough and gutsy blues singer and guitarist based on the West Coast. Wild, droning vocals that sound like a mix between Howlin' Wolf and Elmore James, and a groove with a messy funky blues beat. From funk blues to shuffles and slow blues, you'll be blown away by the energy and crispness! A masterpiece with a rush of energy that is even exhilarating. P-vine is reissuing on vinyl this intensely funky modern blues masterpiece, originally released by the prestigious Modern/Kent Records in 1977 on their sub label Big Town, with an iconic Japanese obi!

Mississippi's Son House was already legendary for a small collection of live field recordings made by folklorist Alan Lomax in 1941 and 1942, and for having taught some important licks to both Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters before he was rediscovered by a new generation of college-age fans in 1964.
The 'Father of the Delta Blues' recorded this namesake LP for Columbia Records a year later in 1965. It's become, in the words of Living Blues magazine — »Essential recordings by one of the greatest bluesmen ever.« And now, Analogue Productions presents a reissue unmatched in sonic quality and luxury presentation. For our version we turned to Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound to remaster the recording from the original master tapes. The freshly cut lacquers were then plated and pressed on 200-gram vinyl by our own Quality Record Pressings.
Son was born Eddie James House, Jr., on March 21, 1902, in Riverton, Miss. By the age of 15, he was preaching the gospel in various Baptist churches as the family seemingly wandered from one plantation to the next. He didn't even bother picking up a guitar until he turned 25; to quote House, »I didn't like no guitar when I first heard it; oh gee, I couldn't stand a guy playin' a guitar. I didn't like none of it.« But if his ambivalence to the instrument was obvious, even more obvious was the simple fact that Son hated plantation labor even more and had developed a taste for corn whiskey. After drunkenly launching into a blues at a house frolic in Lyon, Miss., one night and picking up some coin for doing it, the die seemed to be cast; Son House may have been a preacher, but he was part of the blues world now.

Texas Alexander was from a small town in Texas called Jewett, in between Dallas and Houston. It was here that he first started to sing on the streets and in church. He started to build a reputation through doing gigs. He is known for his personal and unique tenor voice and hollering style which is very reminiscent of field singing.

US original.
Vinyl close to VG+

Songwriter. Guitarist. Singer. Bandleader. At only 20 years of age, Marcus King’s dazzling musical ability is evident throughout The Marcus King Band, the young phenom’s 2nd full-length LP. Raised in Greenville, South Carolina, King was brought up on the blues, playing shows as a pre-teen sideman with his father—bluesman Marvin King, who himself was the son of a regionally-known guitarist—before striking out on his own. Operating within the fiery brand of American roots music that King calls "soul-influenced psychedelic southern rock," the album highlights King’s gorgeous, rough-hewn vocals, soaring guitar work and heartfelt songwriting all amidst a group of masterful musicians who, together, are quickly becoming one of the country’s most sought after live acts.

Tinsley Ellis unplugs and channels his masterful guitar skills and soul-baring vocals into a bracing collection of solo acoustic tracks steeped in the traditions of Muddy Waters, Skip James, Son House, Robert Johnson and even Leo Kottke. Nine newly-written originals sit alongside reverent, yet spirited, versions of House's "Death Letter Blues," Willie Dixon's "Don't Go No Further" and Kottke's "Sailor's Grave On The Prairie."

Cover with shelf and ring wear.

US original. Seam splits in both bottom spines. Punch hole in cover.

Cover with punch hole, seam splits and sticker. Promo copy

Having noticed that Christmas tends to be an annual event and that vinyl is suffering a resurgence, we here at Ace have put the two together and extracted 14 blues, R&B and doo wop sides from our Christmas R&B compact disc and turned them into a seasonal platter.

A mostly upbeat selection that will certainly help you and yours get through these fraught times.

Blues stars like B.B. King and Lowell Fulsom, with their ripping up-beat guitars join forces with the mellower mistletoe sounds of Hadda Brooks and Jesse Belvin.

This positive view of seasonal goodwill was probably down to the fact that all these sides were cut in Los Angeles in the warm California sun.

Vinyl with scuffs and hairlines. Cover with long open seam split on top spine

US reissue.