Recorded Live 1992, no location specified.
Universally hailed as the king of the blues, the legendary B.B. King was without a doubt the single most important electric guitarist of the last half of the 20th century. His bent notes and staccato picking style influenced legions of contemporary bluesmen, while his gritty and confident voice - capable of wringing every nuance from any lyric - provided a worthy match for his passionate playing. Between 1951 and 1985, King notched an impressive 74 entries on Billboard's R&B charts, and he was one of the few full-fledged blues artists to score a major pop hit when his 1970 smash "The Thrill Is Gone" crossed over to mainstream success (engendering memorable appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and American Bandstand). After his hit-making days, he partnered with such musicians as Eric Clapton and U2 and managed his own acclaimed solo career, all the while maintaining his immediately recognizable style on the electric guitar.

The Byrds' second album, Turn! Turn! Turn!, was only a disappointment in comparison with Mr. Tambourine Man. They couldn't maintain such a level of consistent magnificence, and the follow-up was not quite as powerful or impressive. It was still quite good, however, particularly the ringing number one title cut, a classic on par with the "Mr. Tambourine Man" single. Elsewhere, they concentrated more on original material, Gene Clark in particular offering some strong compositions with "Set You Free This Time," "The World Turns All Around Her," and "If You're Gone." A couple more Bob Dylan covers were included, as well, and "Satisfied Mind" was their first foray into country-rock, a direction they would explore in much greater depth throughout the rest of the '60s.

In the glorious decade and a half of sound that was Stax in the '60s and early '70s, Carla Thomas was the Queen of Memphis Soul. She was born in Memphis in 1942, and 18 years later she recorded a duet with her father Rufus Thomas, giving the fledgling Satellite label its first taste of success with the regional hit "Cause I Love You." As her 18th birthday drew nigh, she cut her first solo single, the teen ballad "Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes)." Written a few years earlier and rejected by Vee-Jay in Chicago, it gave Satellite its first national hit, breaking the Top Ten mark on both the R&B and pop charts. Shortly thereafter Satellite became Stax, and Carla proceeded to claw her way onto the national charts another 22 times with such immortal slices of soul as her answer song to Sam Cooke, "I'll Bring It on Home to You," as well as "Let Me Be Good to You," "B-A-B-Y," "Tramp" (with Otis Redding), and "I Like What You're Doing to Me." Carla released six solo albums and, with Redding, one duet album on Stax between 1961 and 1971. In 2007 a live album she recorded for Stax at Washington's famed Bohemian Caverns back in 1967 was released in its entirety, including an impromtu cameo set from her father, Rufus Thomas.

NOW are proud to announce the latest release in the numbered NOW series – NOW That’s What I Call Music 120 – Out April 4th. With 43 fantastic tracks across 2 CDs, NOW 120 brings you a hit-packed line-up including more than 20 Top 20 singles from the recent Sales and Airplay Charts. CD1 kicks off with Gracie Abrams’ first UK #1 That’s So True, followed by the huge collaboration between ROSÉ and Bruno Mars on APT before the first chart appearance and 4-week #1 smash Messy from Lola Young. Pop sensation Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club is followed by yet another massive track from the undeniable Sabrina Carpenter with Bed Chem. More pop royalty follows - Charli xcx has enjoyed award-winning success with her massive 2024 album Brat and features next with her fourth single from this album, Apple, leading to a run of smashes from CHRYSTAL, KSI feat. Trippie Redd, The Weeknd and Playboi Carti and Addison Rae.

Recorded in Germany by Beirut native Rabih Abou-Khalil, this moody, atmospheric album is more like a soundscape than a collection of songs. Abou-Khalil's primary instrument is the oud, a lute-like instrument traditionally used in Arab music. This low, sweet-toned, obviously Far Eastern instrument is teamed up with nothing more than Arab drums in most of the songs. Sparse vocals, performed by Selim Kusur, do little to create any discernible melody. Instead, they add texture and effect - or an intro in the case of "Incantation." Upbeat songs such as "Awakening" are carried along by the drums, while the melancholy sound of the oud dominates introspective tracks such as "Nafas." This album is a far cry from the complex, percussion-heavy, often slightly jangly albums that usually make it to the world music section in Western record stores…

De Amerikaanse formatie The Doors wordt in 1965 opgericht. Mede dankzij de charismatische zanger Jim Morrison groeit de band uit tot een van de meest gezichtsbepalende popgroepen van de jaren zestig. Na Morrisons dood in 1971 gaan The Doors nog twee jaar door maar trekken de resterende bandleden er in 1973 defintief de stekker uit. Toch blijft de band tot op heden van grote invloed op nieuwe generaties popartiesten. Tot de bekendste songs van The Doors horen nummers als "Light My Fire", "Hello, I Love You" en "Touch Me".

Garda 1990 è un incontro tra le sfumature del midwest emo statunitense e l’urgenza espressiva del sound anni ’90. Il trio – Davide Traina, Lorenzo Atti e Francesco Dalla – è ormai una realtà di spicco nella scena underground italiana.

Xhol's sound was a mix of jazz-rock and psychedelia. The band from Wiesbaden and former Xhol Caravan stood out for their pretty lengthy improvisations holding barely any vocals. The band became quite well-known with their two LPs released on Ohr. On Saturday, October 24, 1970, they performed at the third Essen Pop & Blues Festival at the Gruga hall. At that time, Hansi Fischer, one of the founders, had already gone on to Embryo. The whole festival had been recorded semi-professionally on soundboard by Roland Verheyen, an assistant to the promoter Konrad Mallison. The event's master tapes are partly preserved. Lavishly remastered the CD provides a quite acceptable sound, although the drums seem to be too loud. Xhol's gig had been divided into four pieces blending perfectly into each other.

Point de Suture is the seventh studio album by French singer-songwriter Mylène Farmer, and her 14th album overall. The album primilarily consists of electronic dance music. The album received mixed reviews upon release, with some praising its return to a powerful sound with catchy melodies while others criticized its lack of innovation compared to her past work. The album achieved commercial success on the French, Swiss, Belgian and Russian album charts. The five singles released from the album were all number ones in France.

Muddy's next-to-last Chess album, Can't Get No Grindin' marked a return to working with a band of his own after several experimental line-ups and recordings – Pinetop Perkins took over the piano spot from the late Otis Spann, with Chess veteran harpist James Cotton aboard, and PeeWee Madison, and Sammy Lawhorn handling the guitars (apart from Muddy's axe, natch). The music is raw, hard-edged, and sharp (the guitars slash and cut), more like a successor to Muddy's classic 1950's sides (he rethinks a bunch '50s numbers here) than to the London Sessions, Super Blues, brass blow-outs, and psychedelic albums that he'd been doing. It's also easy to hear Muddy's heart in this release – he fairly oozes soul out of every note he sings.

Free Trade Hall, Manchester, UK May 17, 1966

Recorded in various locations between 1968-72.

Few people and the world are more dedicated to the art of electric guitar than Cincinnati based singer-songwriter and certified guitar gunslinger Dudley Taft. The blues rocker returns for his 10th album, ‘The Speed Of Life,’ set for release on April 4, 2025, with a dozen new tracks recorded in the Czech Republic with his European touring rhythm section of drummer Nick Owsianka, and co-producer Dave Marks on bass, percussion, and keyboards. Additional recording and mixing was done at his own Muchmore Studios in the Cincinnati home he acquired from guitar legend Peter Frampton. The collection of all new original material takes the listener on a journey across a musical dreamscape that flows from thundering mountain tops down to serene valleys, while he mixes a cosmic array of guitar tones that only a master craftsman could yield.

Software formed in 1983 by German duo Peter Mergener and Michael Weisser, Software owes much to electronic pioneer Klaus Schulze. Software's music usually builds on sequencer patterns and simple melodies, creating a lighter version of The Schulze style. Digital-Dance is globally very relaxing and alternates floating pieces (Magnificient-Shore), atmospherical tunes (Island Sunrise, Sea-Gulls-Audience) and for sure synthetic tracks (Oceans-Breath, Digital-Dance) and odd passages (Waving-Voices). Soundscapes are very reminiscent of Tangerine Dream is the mid 80s.

2025 marks the 60th anniversary of the passing of Désiré-Émile Inghelbrecht, a tutelar figure of the French musical life. His early career was profoundly marked by the short but close friendship he shared with Claude Debussy, who gave him precious advice on the performance of his works. Inghelbrecht would then become an absolute reference in Debussy’s music, first on stage, then on record, notably in his iconic recordings from the 1950s with the French National Radio Orchestra.