Frank Chacksfield - Limelight: The Singles Collection 1953-62 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Frankie Laine was one of the most popular singing stars of the post-war era, with a career in the singles chart that lasted over two decades. He was one of the many stars to emerge from the USA's Italian-American community, but he was very different from his peers, with a clarion voice and emotionally charged style which set him apart from the crooners who were his contemporaries. He was hugely versatile, starting as an R&B-influenced jazz singer, but becoming popular performing in a variety of styles, from ballads, western-themed material (especially movie songs), country, middle-of-the-road pop and other genres. He had a long career, from his first concerts with a marathon dance troupe in 1930, through to his final performance in 2005, but his first hit came in 1947, after which he racked up a string of chart entries through to 1969. This great-value 79-track 3-CD collection brings together every Billboard Top 100, Cash Box Top 20 and UK Top 50 chart hit which he achieved through until 1961, by which time he had had his last Top 20 US hit - it includes the hits he had performing duets with artists like Jo Stafford, Doris Day, and Johnnie Ray. He enjoyed huge popularity on both sides of the Atlantic, with No.1s in both the USA and UK, and the collection features many landmark classics, including the No. 1 hits InchThat Lucky Old SunInch, InchMule TrainInch, InchThe Cry of the Wild GooseInch, InchI BelieveInch, InchHey JoeInch, InchAnswer MeInch and InchA Woman in LoveInch. It's a great showcase for a unique and distinctive vocal stylist.

The Association were simply one of the finest, most beloved, and most commercially successful American vocal groups of the 1960s. Yet a complete singles collection of their golden Warner Bros. & Valiant years (1966-1971) has never been collected UNTIL NOW! Although the popular six-man band initially developed a straight-laced, M.O.R. image, they were actually much more dynamic than that. They helped pioneer the new musical genre dubbed Folk-Rock by Troubadour owner Doug Weston and fused this sound with a sophisticated vocal blend that was on par with the Beach Boys. And contrary to their hop-sack-suited image, they were all spiritual seekers, with one member, Jules Alexander, leaving the band for a pilgrimage to India nearly a year before the Beatles. The deluxe, double Digipak includes a full-color booklet with previously unpublished photos, and extensive liner notes featuring track-by-track commentary from original band.

Blues guitarist, singer and songwriter Earl King, a native of New Orleans, was one of the coterie of influential artists who helped create the distinctive style of R&B which characterised the music of the Crescent City, and which, along with the work of other New Orleans artists like Fats Domino and Allen Toussaint provided one of the musical bedrocks for the soul and R&B boom of the '60s. This 41-track 2-CD comprises the A and B sides of just about all of his releases as a solo artist during this first decade of his career, from his debut for the Savoy tag in 1953, and including his subsequent releases during this era on the Specialty, Ace, Vin, Rex and Imperial imprints through to 1962, after which there was a hiatus in his recording activities until later in the 60s. It includes his R&B hits InchThose Lonely, Lonely NightsInch and InchAlways a First TimeInch, and his classic and much-covered songs InchCome OnInch and InchTrick BagInch - InchCome OnInch was later recorded by Jimi Hendrix on his InchElectric LadylandInch album, and other songs of his were covered by the likes of Lee Dorsey, Robert Palmer, The Neville Brothers and Dr. John. This anthology represents a thorough overview of his output during this time, and is a highly entertaining showcase for his distinctive brand of up-front New Orleans R&B