A unique strictly limited (500 only!) three CD set! This collection of pre-war Blues, Country, and Folk, expertly compiled illustrates the beginnings of what we now call AMERICANA. Disc one highlights Blues, disc 2 Country, and disc 3 Folk.

Following the commercial and critically acclaimed success of the recent albums “Blues” (2019) and the three-week running No.1 album on the Billboard Blues Chart “Check Shirt Wizard – Live in ’77” (2020), UMC is pleased to present a new Rory Gallagher best of collection entitled “The Best Of Rory Gallagher” on Friday 9th October 2020.

Duke Ellington Songbook Vol. 1 (1980). Sarah Vaughan interprets ten Duke Ellington-associated songs on the first of two sets. Vaughan is accompanied by a variety of jazz all-stars, including trumpeter Waymon Reed, trombonist J.J. Johnson, and the tenors of Frank Foster, Frank Wess, and Zoot Sims. Bill Byers contributed the arrangements for the larger band performances. The emphasis is on ballads, with the highlights including "I'm Just a Lucky So and So," "I Didn't Know About You," "All Too Soon," and "Lush Life." Vaughan's voice is in typically wondrous form throughout.
Duke Ellington Songbook Vol. 2 (1980). The second of two Pablo CDs featuring Sarah Vaughan interpreting Duke Ellington-associated material shows that the veteran singer never did decline. With assistance from trumpeter Waymon Reed, flutist Frank Wess, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson on alto and a surprise vocal…

The Hollies are an English pop group formed in Manchester in the early 1960s. Most of the band members are from throughout East Lancashire. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style, they became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and early-1970s. They enjoyed considerable popularity in many countries, although they did not achieve major US chart success until 1966. Along with the Rolling Stones, they are one of the few British pop groups of the early 1960s that have never officially broken up and that continue to record and perform. The Hollies were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.

Battlement (1979). "Battlement" is a legendary record featuring unfamous German musicians, working and playing with a sense of perfection in the wake of Genesis. The vocals, sung by Frenchman Frédéric Joos turn out to be (Very) close to Peter Gabriel's. Neuschwanstein creates music with the same complexity, intensity and power as their famous elders used to do. The songs are totally original and innovative though, with some King Crimson-esque skid. A pure jewel!
Alice In Wonderland [Recorded 1976]. "Alice In Wonderland" is a 40 minutes-long piece of work, obviously based on the famous book by Lewis Carroll. It confirms Neuschwanstein's significant importance in German rock history: the band succeeded, from the beginning, in creating a fluid and refined music, intense and suggestive, typical of the creative enthusiasm of the early Seventies…

The Hollies are an English pop group formed in Manchester in the early 1960s. Most of the band members are from throughout East Lancashire. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style, they became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and early-1970s. They enjoyed considerable popularity in many countries, although they did not achieve major US chart success until 1966. Along with the Rolling Stones, they are one of the few British pop groups of the early 1960s that have never officially broken up and that continue to record and perform. The Hollies were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.

Fabio Orsi is an electronic musician from Taranto (Southern Italy) specialising in atmospheric drone. He is a talented composer recently revealed in a series of publications received by an enthusiastic chorus of critical approval. In his compositions the languages of popular tradition meet the avantgarde approach, creating an original and charm mix.
"Find Electronica" (2007) is a wonderful album full of fine lyrics, structured as a long drone/ambient suite divided in two portions which are the frames of the articulated central track. A strictly personal exercise on the "Weird Folk" theme, hypnotic and seductive. The "found" electronica meets the sonorities made by the six chords, projecting enchanted landscapes on a vibrant horizon, with an intimate sensibility. Abstract and emotional, deep and dreamy…

A spin-off of Procol Harum, Freedom was formed by guitarist Ray Royer and drummer Bobby Harrison. Both of them were in Procol Harum's lineup at the outset for their debut "A Whiter Shade of Pale" single, but were ousted almost immediately when Procol singer, Gary Brooker, enlisted his former bandmates from the Paramounts, Robin Trower and Barry Wilson, as replacements.
Freedom's final outing in 1972, Is More Than a Word, is a study in contrasts. It still rocks hard as all get out, á la Humble Pie, but it also points in an interesting direction in places: toward more textured and acoustic-flavored material that echoes country music, thanks to an electric violin - uncredited - on the opening track "Together"…

Bernard Allison's inaugural effort bristled with the urgency and blues-rock guitar chops that distinguished his late father, Luther Allison. The pair played together for much of the '80s before Bernard recorded this album with his father's musicians – including keyboardist Michel Carras, who pulls down some good barrelhouse piano parts. The mood is feisty and assertive, especially on "B.A.'s Knockin' at Your Door" and "Low Down and Dirty," which poses the gleeful question, "And you think I'd change my style?" Of course not; fans knew exactly what they were getting, such as the Hendrix-flecked string-bending that drives "Help." (Bernard even dabbles on drums and keyboards.) Other highlights include the title track's party blues, complete with sassy horns; "Baby Child," a hilarious recounting of how Bernard began his career; and "Travlin'," a slower, yet frank look at the road's ups and downs…

On the evening of September 8, 1974, Rory Gallagher brought his explosive blend of blues, rock and Irish fire to the intimate stage of My Father's Place, the legendary Roslyn, New York club that became a proving ground for the era's greatest performers. This live radio broadcast recording captures Gallagher and his powerhouse band at the height of their powers, delivering a sweat-drenched set that brims with raw energy and virtuosity.

Having spent years as a jobbing musician and songwriter, Bruce Hornsby finally made his commercial breakthrough in late 1986, when The Way It Is topped the US singles charts. This superb live set was broadcast on WNEW-FM a week after its release, and captures the band at their jazzy, melodic best, with Hornsby s remarkable keyboard work to the fore.

The Rockpile was Toronto's hippest club, and 4000 of the city's hippest heads flocked there on February 23rd 1969 to see the great Frank Zappa and his Mothers Of Invention. They did not disappoint, playing a remarkable set that combined their uniquely skewed take on rock'n'roll with virtuoso solos and improvisations, as well as their trademark humorous interludes.

Few guitarists can transform a single note into a melody that sings, burns and heals the way Carlos Santana can. This special collection of live performances–captured from rare and legendary radio broadcasts spanning key moments of his career–offers a front-row seat to the artistry of one of music's true visionaries.