Blues Sale 18 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.

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.

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of America's first festival dedicated to the blues. Featuring previously unheard performances by B.B. King, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Son House, Big Mama Thornton and more!

Tracklist
Dirty Mother For You
So Glad You're Mine
Too Much Alcohol
I Wonder Why
Help Me (A Tribute to Sonny Boy Williamson)
I've Got A Mind To Give Up Living
John Henry
Pinetop's Boogie Woogie

180 gram vinyl!

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.

Otis Rush, a giant of modern blues! Capturing the explosive blues of Otis Rush in the 1950’s, this LP compiles the 16 songs he released as singles from Cobra Records!

Rush’s stirring baritone. His slow-burning left-handed guitar playing. The backing band, in lockstep with Rush. It’s almost too much to handle! One listen is all you need to know why Rush is considered a master of low and slow blues! Songs such as “Double Trouble” and “All Your Love (I Miss Loving)”, composed by Rush and recorded for Cobra, are now considered blues standards, and listening to these recordings, it’s clear why. “Laid off and I’m having double trouble”, Rush belts after a slow burning guitar solo intro; and in that moment, you’ll be washed over by every ounce of feeling that he pours into his singing. It’s almost too much!

If you’re not gonna listen to this, what are you gonna listen to? The definitive compilation of Otis Rush’s Cobra singles, now with an obi-strip, Groaning The Blues will have you moaning and groaning!

The blues is perhaps one of the most private things from which a human being can suffer. However, to play the blues, and thus to express a man’s innermost feelings and state of mind, is probably the most important task of black music. With Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, we have two disciples from the world of the blues who express their highly personal blues with profound instrumental proficiency. The enormously talented, self-taught guitarist Buddy Guy was ranked 23rd in Rolling Stones magazine’s list “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”, and several times he was awarded one of the coveted Grammy awards. Junior Wells entered Muddy Waters’ 'academy' at the tender age of 18 and played the blues harp with enormous passion and virtuosity. In this recording, the musicians condense their rock playing over a bone-dry bass line to create a mantra-like funky style ("A Man Of Many Words"), passing on with fleet-footed steps to a slender chirping sound on the mandolin with a 12-bar blues construction and creating an earthy groove ("T-Bone Shuffle"). Then the duo works perseveringly on an unrelenting chord ("A Poor Man’s Plea"), only to return to two numbers that pulsate forcefully with a snappy and jagged offbeat ("This Old Fool"). The handpicked band, among them being co-producer Eric Clapton who is eternalized on the rhythm and bottleneck guitar, and the voodoo rocker Dr. John who occasionally contributes his magic on the keyboard, make this album a truly collectible sound experience.

This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head. More information under www.pure-analogue.com. All royalties and mechanical rights have been paid.

Recording: October 1970 at Criteria Studios, Miami (fl), by Ron Albert and April 1972 at Intermedia Studios, Boston (ma), by Richard Oulleppe Production: Ahmet Ertegun, Eric Clapton, Michael Cuscuna, Tom Dowd