These are the earliest-known recordings of Canned Heat with the primordial lineup of Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson (guitar/harmonica/vocals), Stuart Brotman (bass), Henry "Sunflower" Vestine (guitar), Bob "The Bear" Hite (vocals), and either Keith Sawyer (drums), or perhaps his replacement, Frank Cook (drums), who joined circa 1966. Another notable name among the personnel listed on the original LP jacket is rhythm & blues legend, Johnny Otis as producer. This is certainly fitting, as the Heat wind their way through compact, high-energy versions of a variety of selections, directly contrasting the longer psychedelic showcases that would evolve over the next few years.

GRAMMY® Award-winning vocalist, songwriter, guitar legend, producer, and Gov’t Mule frontman Warren Haynes will release his breathtaking new album, Dreams & Songs: A Symphonic Journey on September 18. The 16-track collection explores all aspects of his incredible catalogue and career, including music from Gov’t Mule, Allman Brothers Band, The Dead, his solo albums, and more.

Similar to his first Shelter outing (Getting Ready), but with more of a rock feel. That's due as much to the material as the production. Besides covering tunes by Jimmy Rogers, Howlin' Wolf, and Elmore James, King tackles compositions by Leon Russell and, more unexpectedly, Bill Withers, Isaac Hayes-David Porter, and John Fogerty (whose "Lodi" is reworked into "Lowdown in Lodi"). King's own pen remained virtually in retirement, as he wrote only one of the album's tracks.

Like everything on Memphis Slim's album Goin' Back to Tennessee or Alvin Youngblood Hart's "Tallacatcha" (a Western swing performance worthy of Bob Wills), Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown's 1975 Barclay album Down South in the Bayou Country completely transcends any and all attempts to confine this diverse artist within the artificial parameters of blues or any other preordained category. Consisting mostly of songs written by Hoyt Garrick, Jr., Charles Gressett, and David Craig with additional tunes by J. Loyd and Joe Stampley, this pretty parfait of country & western, Southern rock, cowboy hoedown, and electric Cajun soul music was recorded during February and March 1974 in Bogalusa, LA. Gatemouth, fresh from his tenure as Deputy Sheriff of San Juan County, NM, sounds particularly pleased to be active at the center of a project so completely infused with authentic Southern sensibilities. Perhaps the most satisfying track off of the original album is "Loup Garou." This hoodoo funk ritual with background vocals by Geraldine "Sister Gerry" Richard sounds as if it might have been influenced by Dr. John's "Loop Garoo," which had appeared on that artist's Atco album Remedies in 1970.

Mississippi born and raised, Elmore James learned his trade in the Delta in the 1930s, emerging in the early 1950s as the godfather of modern electric guitar, and no guitarist who ever plugged an instrument into an amp is free of his influence. Not only did he create the template for electric slide players everywhere, he also reworked his amps until they delivered a raw, overdriven sound that became endemic in pop and rock music a decade later, and no punk band ever sounded more ragged or passionate than Elmore James in full stride. James recorded for some dozen labels during his short recording career (he died in 1963 of a heart attack at the age of 45), and he is one of those rare artists whose recorded output was seamless from the first to the last…

Bobby Solo, one of the most prolific and versatile songwriters that the Italian rock scene has ever witnessed, is still talked about today, after over 50 years of non-stop career.

The first of the masterful guitarist Snooks Eaglin's amazing series of albums for Black Top is an earthly delight; his utterly unpredictable guitar weaves and darts through supple rhythms provided by New Orleans vets Smokey Johnson on drums and Erving Charles, Jr. on bass (David Lastie is on sax). Few artists boast Eaglin's "human jukebox" capabilities; his amazingly vast knowledge of eclectic numbers takes in the Four Blazes' "Mary Jo," Tommy Ridgley's "Lavinia," and the Ventures' version of "Perfidia."

"We were jubilant, we were full of dance. No boundaries for our creativity." That's how we felt making the record. Groove and Dance. With POWER, we were trying to survive. With DANCE - we were celebrating life and the new chance. Dance - that's one of the styles of music I haven't touched previously, and that was always present in my life. I guess I always wanted to make that connection - between the guitar and the dance song. There's only a few dance tracks on the record ("Dance To The Rhythm" "Sho Nuff") but I wanted to go into those and tastefully fit guitar, as usually there's none in similar songs.I don't think it was done before, and certainly not much. There's a fantastic blues track 'Dwell On The Feeling' as well as a pop track 'Hurt So Good'. Timeless lyrics and haunting tribal groove on 'Sisters and Brothers' and smooth and vibe-y on 'California Chase' with a powerful message that the skid row in LA is sometimes one miss-step away, and that no one should be homeless.

18 Essential Songs is a one-disc distillation of the triple-disc Janis box set. Running 70 minutes, it is a more extensive best-of than the ten-track 1973 Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits album.

The Dutch recording artist, which not only in Germany but also far successfully inspires his audience about the European boundaries, surprises and power now with his first best-of. For the title of Homecooking, Hans Theessink has himself selected the songs and thematically distributed on 3 CDs: Blues cooking and song cooking his best blues find interpretations as well as a selection of his most beautiful songs. Live cooking includes many tracks of the 2004 DVD "A Blues & roots Revue" for the first time on CD released!

Another in the remarkably consistent Alligator catalog of Kenny Neal that strikingly captures his contemporary Baton Rouge blues sound. He gets a little hot help from the Horny Horns - alto saxist Maceo Parker and trombonist Fred Wesley - who once filled a smiliar role behind the Godfather of Soul himself, James Brown. Two songs find Neal going the unplugged route, just as he had performed them in the Broadway musical Mule Bone.