The Best of the Vanguard Years

The Best of the Vanguard Years

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Odetta is one of the last American folk singers with ties to the authentic folk tradition. Mentored in the early '50s by Woody Guthrie cronies Ramblin' Jack Elliott and Pete Seeger (whose "If I Had a Hammer" is covered here in a strangely unmelodic manner), as well as Harry Belafonte, Odetta is easily identified by her husky voice--a strong influence on both Joan Armatrading and Tracy Chapman. While with Vanguard, she made a spiritual claim to tunes already associated with Leadbelly ("Midnight Special," "Cotton Fields"), not to mention slave spirituals, pop gospel ("He's Got The Whole World"), and even "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Classic rock fans will recognize "Down on Me," which was later electrified by Janis Joplin. The best tracks here, however, are the four unreleased gems that close the CD, running from terrific jazzy blues and R&B (including the great standard "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out") to her take on "House of the Risin' Sun." --Bill Holdship

Tracks:

Blend
Manha De Carnival
Carmina Burana Fantasy
Gospel Tune
Little Maggie
Memphis, Tennessee
Triple Ballade
Carnival Jump

Amazon.com

Sandy Bull's 1965 LP Inventions remains one of those legendary albums that almost no one has heard. Its impact, however, can be scene in the title of this new compilation spotlighting a great unsung hero of "psychedelic folk." "Blend," the 22-minute opus from 1963 that opens this disc, surely fits that designation, perfectly blending folk, jazz, and Indian influences into what Bull called "new guitar raga." An eclectic virtuoso who switched from acoustic guitar to banjo to Stratocaster to oud (mostly backed solely by jazz drummer/Ornette Coleman crony Billy Higgins), Bull was all over the musical map. Thus the beautiful, soothing bossa nova of "Manha de Carnival" gives way to German classical music, which is supplanted by a cover of Chuck Berry's "Memphis." The cream of Bull's first three albums can be found here. When those old records were in stores, it's a good bet Leo Kottke, Mark Knopfler, Richard Thompson, George Harrison, and Jerry Garcia were taking notes. --Bill Holdship

Customer Reviews:

Simply incredible - the ultimate groove music.......2006-07-20

In the early 80's I was a baker at a cafe in the San Juan Islands in Washington State. I was at work by 5 am to bake the croissants and this album was the early morning treat each day. The waitress had recorded this album on a cassette and we about wore the thing out. I had just started to play oldtime clawhammer banjo and was always attracted to the Indian Raga idiom...this album merged with rockabilly, classical, etc. thrown into the mix.

Sandy Bull is a master genre-twister, and a delight to behold! This album exemplifies the genesis of his astonishing musical journey and the absolute brilliance of both his and Vanguard's vision.

... revealing "essences" ..........2000-03-14

revealing essences of classic, soul chords and riffs of the 1960s post-Shankur, post-Beatles music

A Fantastic Original.......1999-10-16

My old college roomie in New Haven had this album in the mid-sixties, and Sandy was just about the most incredible guitarist we'd ever heard (and both of us played). If you've never heard or heard of this guy, you are in for a special ride. The fabulous, magical cut of "Memphis" -- quietly ethereal, sliding back and forth like Chuck Berry off in some cloud dream -- has haunted me for over 35 years, and it alone is worth ten times the price of this album.

One of the Best of the Sixties.......1999-10-01

This is one I would choose if I could only have ten albums on a deserted isle. Bull was a true master of his instrument. It enjoyed cult status when I was in college in upstate New York in the sixties. A must have.

Acoustic bliss.......1999-04-14

Every song on this CD is very diferent from the other but there is not a bad or boring one among them. There is something very unusual about the way Sandy Bull plays every instrument he picks up. I've never heard of this guy even though he's been around forever. Some of the recordings date back to the 60's but they don't sound dated at all. Re-Inventions would be right at the top of my list of desert island disks.

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John Herald
One of the very best groups of the 60s folk revival
Alligator men strike again
Long Overdue
Thank you, Vanguard, thank you thank you.

Best of Vanguard Years
Greenbriar Boys
Manufacturer: Vanguard Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Country | Styles | Music

General | Bluegrass | Country | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Country | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Bluegrass | Country | Indie Music | Stores | Music
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Big Apple Bluegrass
The Early Years (1958-1962)
Close To Home: Old Time Music From Mike Seeger's Collection 1952-1967
Old Time Music
Feed Your Babies Onions: Fat City Favorites

ASIN: B00006EXM3
Release Date: 2002-08-13

Tracks:

Katy Clyne
I'm Coming Back But I Don't Know When
Stewball
Rawhide
Banks Of The Ohio
Pal Of Mine
We Shall Not Be Moved
We Need A Lot More Of Jesus
Girl On The Greenbriar Shore
Life Is Like A Mountain Railway
Down The Road
Rosie's Gone Again
Amelia Earhart's Last Flight
Other Side Of Jordan

Tracks:

Sleepy-Eyed John
Ragged But Right
McKinley
Levee Breaking Blues
A Minor Breakdown
Let Me Fall
The Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives Me
At The End Of A Long, Lonely Day
Yellin Holler
I Cried Again
The Train That I Ride
I Heard The Bluebirds Sing
Morning Train
Shackles And Chains
Chicken
Alligator Man
Russian Around
Up To My Neck In High Muddy Waters
Little Birdie
Prisoner's Song
Different Drum

Customer Reviews:

John Herald.......2005-08-02

Recently died. (...)

I love this cd set although I would love to have original lps (along with Dian and the Greenbriar Boys). His version of the Marty Robbins song "At the End of a Long Lonely Day" is just beautifully done, and in light of his recent death, a suicide, is really painful now.

This whole album is wonderful, especially those with Rinzler, who also died much too song. For an introduction to the Greenbriar Boys, this is way to go.

One of the very best groups of the 60s folk revival.......2005-05-13

My God, how I've missed my Greenbriar Boys recording and how happy I was when I saw they had FINALLY been reissued. They had a unique combination of musical expertise, respect for the music, a sense of humor, a haunting sound, and the ability to transform the songs so that rather than playing a slavish imitation of an old 78 recording, they created a sound that was respectful, exciting, and damned good music.

Alligator men strike again.......2004-01-29

Not all the best is issued here (you'll have to buy "Big Apple Bluegrass") but a fine collection nevertheless. It's amazing how these recordings stand the test of time. There's a huge esprit, unknown to a lot of modern albums...
Even if the lyrics sometimes make you go "uh", it's a brilliant buy. Honestly, I like the last record of the boys the best. The somehow "Nashville" tunes they did on "Better late than never" are truly brilliant. "Alligator man" blows me away.
I only hope the record with Di'an will be also re-released.
"Stewball" might be the best known, and really a brill tune, but there's so much more to discover....
Love it.

Long Overdue.......2003-12-15

Maynard Solomon, of all people, should turn his prodigious writing skills to the history of the Vanguard Recording Society during the years he and his brother (the late) Seymour owned and managed it (until the mid-1980's). Superb as Vanguard's classical recordings were, the real interest would be its recordings of the many talented artists then at the center of the US folk music storm of the mid-1960's: Joan Baez, the Weavers, Erik Darling, Ian and Sylvia, John Hammond, Sandy Bull, Buffy Ste. Marie, and the Greenbriar Boys, among others. Mr. Solomon could, if he chose to, provide fascinating insights on just how his recordings were so phenomenally consistent in their high artistic quality. Most of these artists eventually went on to other labels, but with what seemed to me like notably less satisfactory artistic results. And of course, the musical Zeitgeist was evolving and artistic livelihoods adjusting accordingly.

I continue to listen to those old Vanguard recordings from time to time, but, yes, perhaps with less and less frequency. Nonetheless, forty years on, it is unmistakably clear to me that the impact of the three full recordings by the Greenbriar Boys on the Vanguard label is a lasting one. The group, whether in its Ralph Rinzler or Frank Wakefield configuration, still awes with its musicianship, vocal delivery, and sheer verve.

The Greenbriar Boys were thought of as "Bluegrass" musicians; and it is true, they did play exceedingly well the music developed by Monroe, the Stanleys, Flatt and Scruggs, Reno and Smiley, et al. They won top prizes at hypercritical Union Grove Fiddlers Convention in North Carolina in the early 1960's as well as becoming the first non-Southern band to fire real interest in this music among young urban audiences residing outside the music's own heartland. However, what the Greenbriar Boys played and how they presented it very clearly reflected their great love and knowledge of the much broader spectrum of popular music of the South: music that predated Bluegrass or was evolving collaterally with it, as well as other more contemporary elements. As I recall the impact of a typical performance of the Greenbriar Boys (and I saw them in college, coffee house and the Newport Folk Festival settings), their own enthusiasm and sense of fun never failed to win over an audience -- attending a Greenbriar Boys' concert or performance was really, first and foremost, intensely fun. But, at the same time, you could sure tell how seriously they took the music, its roots, traditions, and idioms-- and how these might be used, moving forward. Listen particularly to the selections here from their final recording, "Better Late Than Never." For years I used to think it their "messiest" work. But now I see it as probably the best thing they ever did. With new members Frank Wakefield and Jimmy Buchanan, it just exploded with creativity and new directions, but -- Bob Yellin's stunning "Russian Around" notwithstanding (and be prepared for a truly amazing guitar break by John Herald here) -- never moving all that far from the country spirit.

The Greenbriar Boys were superb showmen and convincing musical advocates who, like the older musicians they so obviously venerated, brought their immense talents into the studio, and not the other way around. Even today, listening to any of their records, I think, "This is the way moms and pops everywhere must have listened 'back then,' as they gathered around nightly live radio presentations of The Grand Old Opry or WWVA Jamboree." I know that I still pore over every word and every note, just as I did forty years ago, to my continuing unalloyed delight.

See what you think.

Thank you, Vanguard, thank you thank you........2003-09-23

I had given up all hope that Vanguard would ever release this music on CD. Long ago I wore out my vinyls of everything these guys put out. This album combines most of what was on their 3 Vanguard albums, and the other new CD release--"Big Apple Bluegrass""--has nearly everything else, including "Roll On John" and Little Birdie," the 2 songs whose omission, with good reason, other reviewers lamented. This is great old time music, brilliantly selected, played and sung with spirit and intelligence. Now, if only Elektra would put out the wonderful album they did with Dian in the mid-60s...Then there was the solo album John Herald did.

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Roof Top Singers

Best of the Vanguard Years
Rooftop Singers
Manufacturer: Vanguard Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Folk | Styles | Music

Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

Revival | Folk | Styles | Music
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The Very Best of the Journeymen
The Journeymen
Marianne/Wanderin Folk Songs
Coming Attraction: Live!
Golden Classics

ASIN: B00012FXPY
Release Date: 2004-01-27

Tracks:

Walk Right In
Dip Your Fingers
You Don't Know
I'm Just Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail [#]
Shoes
Houston Special
Tom Cat
Cool Water
Hail John
It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
Risselty, Rosselty [#]
Working on the Railroad
Somebody Came Home
Eighteen, Nineteen
Wild Mountain Thyme [#]
San Francisco Bay Blues
Hey Boys
Old Joe Clark
R. C. Frog
Swing Down, Chariot [#]
Those Brown Eyes [#]
Mama Don't Allow
I'm on My Way
Ha Ha Thisaway
Brandy Leave Me Alone
Twelve String
Good Time!

Customer Reviews:

Roof Top Singers.......2007-03-09

I was very pleased with the Roof Top Singers Vanguard package as I have been looking for years for the Tomcat song.I have found Vanguard records to have put out a Quality product.

Average customer rating:

Hear it ALL! Buy this with CH's "Folkway Years," and get the whole story
A highly essential folk album.....
D*** close to 5, but....
Great

Best of the Vanguard Years
Cisco Houston
Manufacturer: Vanguard Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Folk | Styles | Music

Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Cisco Houston: The Folkways Years, 1944-1961
Cisco Houston Sings the Songs of Woody Guthrie
Volumes 1 & 2
The Ultimate Collection
Best of the Vanguard Years

ASIN: B00004Z3VD
Release Date: 2000-10-31

Tracks:

This Train
Roll On Columbia
Colorado Trail
Dark As A Dungeon
Hard Traveling
Old Blue
Nine Hundred Miles
Badman Ballad
Diamond Joe
John Hardy
Big Rock Candy Mountain
So Long It's Been Good
Buffalo Skinners
Pastures Of Plenty
Grand Coulee Dam
Hard, Ain't It Hard
Pretty Boy Floyd
Do Re Mi
Deportees
Tramp On The Street
Talking Dust Bowl
This Land Is Your Land
Way Out There
Chilly Winds

Amazon.com

If the track listing for this compilation suggests that Cisco Houston was a one-man Woody Guthrie cover band, that's because, quite simply, he was. Houston met Guthrie in California in 1938, and the two former hoboes crossed paths time and time again, frequently recording and performing together, up until Guthrie's diagnosis with Huntington's Chorea. As an interpreter, Houston's pure and easy baritone sometimes lent affecting charm to Guthrie's songs (as on the playful version of "Hard Traveling"), sometimes an eerie solemnity (as on his operatic, Gene Autry-esque interpretation of "Nine Hundred Miles"). Still, there's no escaping that Houston's refined singing shared more with Broadway musicals than with the cowboys, drifters, and workers of which he sang. His gentile, noble approach hasn't aged well, even if his voice did much to popularize these folk songs in the '50s and '60s. His music, however, while only intermittently successful, remains indispensable to understanding the folk revival as a whole. --Roy Kasten

Customer Reviews:

Hear it ALL! Buy this with CH's "Folkway Years," and get the whole story.......2006-06-28

(Due to time constraints, this review is a mirror image of the one I did for Cisco Houston's "Best of the Vanguard Years." They are both great. Together they are stupendous.) I bought these 2 albums together a couple of months ago, and have been playing them constantly since then. Ranging from deep and serious, funny and ridiculous, to serene and haunting, the songs all reveal an incredibly modest soul. The baritone voice is a balsam for your battered psyche. With these two albums you not only get the best of CH, but also a "Best of the Folk Repertoire" from 1944 to 1963" excepting that of Bob Dylan and perhaps a few others. Aside from his haunting ballads, I especially love the kid's songs. Some of the best of the genre from that era. The albums complement each other perfectly, with no duplication.

A highly essential folk album............2002-05-22

I've been spending a lot of time listening to and reading about Cisco lately. I'm not sure where it started but I don't want to see this great American folk singer and folk hero forgotten. This along with the vastly different Folkways collection represent an excellent sampling of Cisco's solo recorded output (he recorded 100's of songs singing harmony for Woody Guthrie many of which have never been released). However, this collection is far from perfect. I still don't like the use of orchestral music and background singers on such songs as This Train which opens the album and Dark as a Dungeon (although it works and is necessary on Way Out There). And his version of Diamond Joe and Dark as a Dungeon on the Folkways collection are more stirring and far superior. Also it's incomprehensible that none of the 17 songs recorded on March 6, 1961, just weeks before his death, which appeared on his Vanguard "I Ain't Got No Home" lp are found here. True his voice wasn't nearly as strong at that point but it had a sweet, sad tone and his guitar playing was masterful. That album contained gems such as Trouble in Mind, Ramblin' Round, East Texas Red, Danville Girl, Tom Joad and Hobo Blues that I wish were included here. But there's plenty to like about this disc. His hilarious readings of Badman Ballad (which he wrote) and the bum's view of Big Rock Candy Mountain. A nice version of This Land; the previously unreleased So Long It's Been Good to Know You. And of course, his seminal versions of some of Woody Guthrie's best songs including Deportee, Buffalo Skinners, Hard Ain't It Hard, Grand Coulee Dam, Pretty Boy Floyd, Do Re Mi and his absolutely great reading of Pastures of Plenty with a young Eric Weissburg on banjo. Two more excellent previously unreleased songs are John Hardy and Tramp on the Street (which you'd swear was sung by a country gospel singer). Cisco had a great voice, a very good guitarist that was able to use the instrument to perfectly complement his vocals and was also extremely versatle. I agree with William Adams in his assessment that a true fan of this great music needs to hear both Woody's versions and Cisco's versions, usually very different but both great.

D*** close to 5, but...........2002-01-25

I love Cisco's voice above all other folksingers. He could carry a tune, at a time when the proper polical attitude or the proper color was more highly valued. His guitar playing was wonderful, a light and charming style that accompanied his wonderful voice. Then why not 5 stars? Well, the arrangements on some of these are awful. Why they used these lush strings, as if they were trying to copy Frank Sinatra and Nelson Riddle, is beyond me.

There is a great voice in here. There is great music in here. There is an awful lot to like. And yet I cringe on a few...

Buy it soon; I bet it won't stay in the catalog for long. I don't know why he isn't THE singer of the fifties and sixtes, but he's not. Died before he had a chance to impact the trendsetters I guess. But no one could sing as he did. And every good song is better than anyone else's.

Great.......2000-11-15

Cisco was one of the greatest folk singers ever and when most people were trying to be Elvis he stuck to folk which should have earned him some respect. Instead in many way he is the forgotten voice of american folk music. Buy this one now.

Average customer rating:

Variable Hammond
the epitome of a bluesman working his trade

Best of the Vanguard Years
Jr. John Hammond
Manufacturer: Vanguard Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Blues | Styles | Music

Electric Blues Guitar | Blues | Styles | Music

Acoustic Blues | Blues | Styles | Music

General | Blues | Indie Music | Stores | Music
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So Many Roads
Got Love If You Want It
Push Comes to Shove
In Your Arms Again
Wicked Grin

ASIN: B00004BYZK
Release Date: 2000-02-22

Tracks:

32-20 Blues
Statesborough Blues
Seventh Son
Drop Down Mama
Going Back To Florida
Ask Me Nice
Hellbound Blues
I'm Ready
I'm A Man
Keys To The Highway
No Money Down
I Live The Life I Love
Big Boss Man
So Many Roads, So Many Trains
Who Do You Love
I Want You To Love Me
You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover
O Yea!
Who's Been Talkin'
Pretty Thing
Last Night
I Wish You Would
Guitar King

Amazon.com

John Hammond's particular genius is simply this: he can take a classic blues tune and play it how it's meant to be played, whether it's Delta or Chicago, uptempo or slow. Best of the Vanguard Years provides an excellent introduction to Hammond's work, showcasing as it does much of what made him a national artist in the first place. His early work for Vanguard is some of his best, making this collection a near-perfect set of classic blues. A key moment for recognizing Hammond's talent for stylistic variety comes in the juxtaposition of tracks seven and eight, "Hellhound Blues" and "I'm Ready." Putting these Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters classics next to each other highlights the issue nicely: Hammond really is that good. He goes gut-deep on every track, too; this is probably one of the best takes of "Big Boss Man" on record, and his version of "I Want You to Love Me" is sexy enough to make your stereo sweat. Required listening all around. --Genevieve Williams

Customer Reviews:

Variable Hammond.......2006-09-10

John Hammond Sr., the Columbia Records executive, gave his estranged 19-year-old son a test-pressing of the forthcoming Robert Johnson LP in 1961, and it was to have a marked influence on his life. Three years later he recorded his first album for Vanguard, featuring some Robert Johnson and other Mississippi blues numbers, as well as Lightnin' Hopkins' 'Going Back To Florida', included here. His second album the following year continued the solo trend, with more reworkings of songs by Johnson, Blind Willie McTell, and John Estes making up the content, as well as the more citified Chicago sound of Willie Mabon, all to be heard on the first four tracks of this CD.

As one of the few pioneering white bluesmen of the early 1960s, Hammond demonstrates a commendable command of the style, with his guitar work particularly impressive. The voice is a different matter - the liner-notes describe it as 'callow' - and when Hammond dropped his solo guitar role in favour of a bigger, electric band, the overall quality of his performances seems diminished. Listening again to these larger group sides, after many years, I'm struck by how similar Hammond's vocal phrasing was to that of Mick Jagger's. But perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised; The Stones were a major success at the time, and a role-model for many white boys on how to sing and play the blues. Whatever, it's probably no coincidence that Hammond chose to be backed by Bill Wyman's bass on a 1967 album for Atlantic.

Of particular interest is the inclusion here of six tracks from Hammond's 'So Many Roads' LP, cut in 1965 with a group comprising Robbie Robertson, guitar, Garth Hudson, organ, Levon Helm, drums, Charlie Musselwhite, harmonica, and Michael Bloomfield, piano. The first three musicians had been members of Ronnie Hawkins' backing group, The Hawks, responsible for laying down, in 1963, some memorable tracks, including a definitive version of Bo Diddley's 'Who Do You Love'. This track is tackled here by Hammond and the boys, but the comparison is odious. In fact, there's really no comparison at all, although it's always good to hear Robertson's guitar wailing out. Another visitor to the studio during that particular session was Bob Dylan. Although he didn't contribute, he was evidently sufficiently impressed by the ex-Hawks to begin performing with them later that year, renaming them The Band.

The final two tracks represent a return to solo work by Hammond, from a 1976 album, and find him in a more mature and acceptable form, with 'Guitar King' especially pleasing. A couple of previously unreleased tracks are also included, one of them, 'Hellhound Blues', being a fine cover of the Robert Johnson classic. So, a varied compilation of Hammond's output, with more enjoyment to be obtained from his solo work.

the epitome of a bluesman working his trade.......2005-12-24

Brilliant! There is so much acoustic blues here, one hardly knows where it starts or ends. This is Hammond as only Hammond can be. Soulfully done blues you can ease thru a rainy day with. I highy suggest this album to any Hammond fans or to any blues fans. What are you waiting for?

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True Collection of "their Greatest Hits"
Mitch and Mickey! (A Mighty Wind)
If you have ears you need some Ian and Sylvia
A great folk duo
music built to last

Best of the Vanguard Years
Ian & Sylvia
Manufacturer: Vanguard Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Folk | Styles | Music

Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

Revival | Folk | Styles | Music

Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Ian & Sylvia - Greatest Hits
Four Strong Winds
Early Morning Rain
Ian & Sylvia Play One More
Northern Journey

ASIN: B000009NLP
Release Date: 1998-08-11

Tracks:

Early Morning Rain
The Circle Game
For Lovin' Me
You Were On My Mind
Four Strong Winds
Some Day Soon
Ninety Degrees By Ninety Degrees
The Mighty Quinn
Cutty Wren
Short Grass
Un Canadien Errant
When I Was A Cowboy
Changes
Gifts Are For Giving
Satisfied Mind
Keep On The Sunny Side
Play One More
Rocks And Gravel
Come In Stranger
Nancy Whiskey
This Wheel's On Fire
The Renegade
Mary Anne
Oh Katy Dear
The Greenwood Sidie (The Cruel Mother)

Amazon.com

Along with Gordon Lightfoot, the team of Ian Tyson and Sylvia Fricker represented the best that Canada had to offer during the folk boom of the early and mid- '60s. The duo's earthy voices and wraparound harmonies helped them become one of the most commercially successful '60s folk acts. And while they gained much attention for their interpretations of songs by the likes of Bob Dylan ("This Wheel's on Fire"), Joni Mitchell ("The Circle Game"), and the aforementioned Lightfoot ("Early Morning Rain"), it's their originals that remain evergreens 20-odd years after their mid-'70s split- up. To wit: Tyson's "Four Strong Winds" (covered memorably by Neil Young) and "Someday Soon" (a longtime staple of Judy Collins's repertoire), and Fricker's "You Were on My Mind" (a mid-'60s hit for the We Five). All of these, and plenty more, are found on this highly satisfying 25-song collection. --Billy Altman

Customer Reviews:

True Collection of "their Greatest Hits".......2007-05-12

This CD contains all the great sounds from Ian and Sylvia, from their earlier, acoustic work (my favorites) to later works with electrical guitars and orchestration. Ian ans Sylvia's perfectly matched harmonies, and their willingness to use songs from then "unknown" artists such as Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, Leanord Cohen, Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs, just to mention a few, make Ian and Sylvia important leaders of the folk "revival" of the late 50's and early 60's. There is not a single "clunker" on this whole disk, and it is well worth the investment!

Mitch and Mickey! (A Mighty Wind).......2006-12-27

Not definative but pretty good throughout (except maybe the last few tracks). They were good until they tried to rock out. I'd grab a few other songs from their earlier works in place of anything they electrified. I prefer their original version of You Were on My Mind, the one hit for the We Five. I don't think Ian & Sylvia knew they had a hit on their hands. For you Mighty Wind Fans, this is Mitch and Mickey in a nutshell.

If you have ears you need some Ian and Sylvia.......2006-04-24

What distinguished Ian and Sylvia was a driving respect for music, and Ian strong roots in real Western music, and a musical integrity and ingenuity that surpassed that of most "folksingers" of their period. They never drifted off into the direction of smooth pop oriented singing. There might have been the usual attempt to take them in a "folk rock" direction in the last years they were together, something they did take seriously and made fun of from the stage of their performances in the late 1960s.

However, these recordings have a strength of their commiment to music that has the bite, the twang, the strength, and the snap of real folk music and of folk originated blues and country music. The standards of production particularly their work with the great guitarists Johnny Herald and Monte Dunn, not to mention Ian Tyson's own developing skill with the guitar, and the tastefulness of the ensembles has not been matched since in acoustic music.

Ian and Sylvia's music works now even when the pop folk sensibility that surrounded them has deservedly withered away. I spend a lot of time talking with, playing with, hanging out with people who treasure completely traditional folk music which is not at all what Ian and Sylvia ever pretended to play, although especially at the beginning it was one of their most important sources. I have found even three or four decades after the duo ended, that a tremendous respect and a lot of listening goes on to Ian and Sylvia which is not true for other folkies like Joan Baez or Bob Dylan.

Of course, Ian Tyson continued a great career of his own, longer and actually larger than what happened with Ian and Sylvia as a writer of songs rooted in his Canadian Western origins. The skills unveiled in songs like "You were on my mind" and "Four strong winds" have won Ian a bunch of Grammies and Junos (the Canadian equivalent). He is still out there performing, making great albums and being who he has always been, a straight shooter, a no bs artist.

Sometime in the 1980s, an urban legend appeared that is still strong that Sylvia Fricker had died, killed herself, or otherwise left this life. She is very much alive, still singing, and over the years has done great folk oriented shows for the CBC.

Oh, one thing I forgot.

Aside from all this analysis, Ian and Sylvia are just so darned good that anyone with ears desperately needs to have as much of their music as they can either afford or steal!

There is now a complete recordings set out on CD from Vanguard and if you can afford that, you might want to get it.

A great folk duo.......2001-12-31

I may be a minority of one but Ian and Sylvia are my favorite of the 60s folk groups. Sylvia has an earth-mother voice, Ian is a good picker and writes great songs, and they had a Canadian accent to their music which made them different from the legions of American groups. Cowboys are Ian's favorite subject and his "Four Strong Winds" is one of the greatest folk songs ever. It's about a drifter, and his girl, and goin' out to Alberta in the Fall. He also wrote the definitive rodeo song: "Some Day Soon." Judy Collins possibly did it better than Ian and Sylvia, but just barely.
One of the best songs is "The Renegade" by Ian, a defiant declaration by an American -- or rather Canadian -- Indian. Sylvia does a Dylan song, "This Wheel's on Fire," and makes it sound like a song that Dylan didn't write. "Nancy Whiskey" is a anti-drinking song, that made me want a drink. "Rocks and Gravel" is a bluesey, bass-heavy chain gang song. Ian and Sylvia's version of "Early Morning Rain" is one of the best. "Ninety Degrees by Ninety Degrees" is incomprehensible and un-folk, but the vocal harmonies are intriguing.
Ian bought a ranch in Alberta with the money he made from "Four Strong Winds." Just like in the song, Sylvia chose not to live out there where the "winds blow lonely" and there "ain't too much to do." That was the end of Ian and Sylvia. Life imitates art.

music built to last.......1999-01-09

Amazing how Ian and Sylvia's music, which some purists once foolishly dissed as too slick and commercial-sounding to pass the authenticity test, holds up more than three decades after the passing of the folk revival that brought them out of Canada and onto the international stage. Ian Tyson, once again a significant figure on the folk scene, is today the undisputed king of the new cowboy music. Probably he has fans who've never heard, or even heard of, the songs he and partner, subsequent wife, and finally ex-wife Sylvia Fricker Tyson recorded in the 1960s. This generally well-chosen set, taken from their classic Vanguard recordings, is a chance to hear the duo, depending on where you're coming from, for the first or yet one more time. There's a good mix of the couple's originals, including hits such as "You Were on My Mind," "Four Strong Winds," and "Some Day Soon," covers of Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, Johnny Cash, Phil Ochs (whose "Changes" is a highlight here), and Bob Dylan, and traditional songs and ballads. Among these last are the gorgeous French-Canadian "Un Canadien Errant" and an affecting rendition of the Caribbean sailor's lament "Mary Ann," plus solid readings of Anglo-Celtic-American standards "Nancy Whiskey," "Katy Dear," and "The Greenwood Sidie." On the other hand, "Rocks and Gravel," from the African-American prison-song tradition, needs more vocal heft than the Tysons are able to bring to it. Among the newer material David Rea's pretentious "Ninety Degrees by Ninety Degrees" makes an unwelcome reappearance. Ian's "Play One More," surely his most uninspired composition (hobbled, moreover, with a clumsy arrangement), comes inexplicably out of moth balls, leaving the listener to wonder why a neglected masterpiece like "Four Rode by" was left hanging in the closet. On the other hand, another overlooked jewel, "The Renegade," among the finest of the many splendid songs Ian has composed, is here in all its tragic glory. All in all, with the exceptions noted, this is music built to last.

Average customer rating:

I prefer Odetta the folksinger

The Best of the Vanguard Years
Odetta
Manufacturer: Vanguard Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Contemporary Blues | Blues | Styles | Music

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The Essential Odetta
Tradition Masters
Absolutely the Best
Blues Everywhere I Go
Looking for a Home

ASIN: B00000HF5S
Release Date: 1999-01-26

Tracks:

Midnight Special
Special Delivery Blues
Special Delivery Blues
Rambling Round Your City
Cool Water
Down On Me
I've Been Driving On Bald
Saro Jane
Battle Hymn of the Republic
If I Had a Hammer
Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho
Meetin' At the Building
No More Auction Block for Me
Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
Spoken Intro: He Had a Long...
Another Man Done Gone
He's Got the Whole World In His Hands
Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor
Livin' With the Blues
Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
House of the Rising Sun

Amazon.com

Odetta is one of the last American folk singers with ties to the authentic folk tradition. Mentored in the early '50s by Woody Guthrie cronies Ramblin' Jack Elliott and Pete Seeger (whose "If I Had a Hammer" is covered here in a strangely unmelodic manner), as well as Harry Belafonte, Odetta is easily identified by her husky voice--a strong influence on both Joan Armatrading and Tracy Chapman. While with Vanguard, she made a spiritual claim to tunes already associated with Leadbelly ("Midnight Special," "Cotton Fields"), not to mention slave spirituals, pop gospel ("He's Got The Whole World"), and even "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Classic rock fans will recognize "Down on Me," which was later electrified by Janis Joplin. The best tracks here, however, are the four unreleased gems that close the CD, running from terrific jazzy blues and R&B (including the great standard "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out") to her take on "House of the Risin' Sun." --Bill Holdship

Customer Reviews:

I prefer Odetta the folksinger.......2004-04-21

If you own the Essential Odetta you do not need this one. The Essential is the full version of her glorious live performance; on this we have 8 cuts from that CD, and not necessarily the best ones.

The other studio work ranges from pretty good to wonderful, but it is only 9 cuts. Odetta is a breathtaking performer who too often allows herself to perform second-rate material. With the best stuff, she's unbeatable. Saro Jane is a favorite song of mine; she is just fantastic on that one. And her performance of Woody's Rambling Round Your City is a winner. But I find her Battle Hymn rather dated, and the backup chorus by Milt Okun suffers from the same flaws the backup chorus on the coeval Cisco Houston LP does. Cool Water also fails.

And personally, the final four performances fail to make my cut. All performed much better by others, all sounding contrived and obligatory, all very much uninteresting to me.

Best of the Vanguard Years
Average customer rating:

Wonderful followup to the Delmark recordings

GREAT COLLECTION

Wells' Brings Passion to Standards and Originals

Best cuts of the blues out there

Best cuts of the blues out there

Best of the Vanguard Years
Junior Wells
Manufacturer: Vanguard Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Hoodoo Man Blues

Come on in This House

Live at Theresa's 1975

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Calling All Blues

ASIN: B000005ZB0
Release Date: 1998-03-10

Tracks:

Help Me (A Tribute To Sonny Boy Williamson)
It Hurts Me Too (When Things Go Wrong)
Messin' With The Kid
Vietcong Blues
All Night Long
It's My Life, Baby
It's So Sad To Be Lonely
Country Girl
Stormy Monday Blues
Shake It Baby
Checking On My Baby
Early In The Morning
(I Got A) Stomach Ache
Look How Baby
I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man
Slow, Slow
Shotgun Blues
You Know That I Know

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful followup to the Delmark recordings.......2006-08-09

If you liked Hoodoo Man Blues or Southside Jam on Delmark, buy this CD. The two Delmark recordings are among the best blues ever recorded by anyone anytime. I understand that Junior moved to Vanguard immediately after the Delmark recordings. Buddy Guy came with him on most of the cuts and this is all great music.

GREAT COLLECTION .......2006-07-23

this guy is one of my favorite blues singers, maybe just a notch below Howlin' Wolf and Rice Miller. his voice is saturated with goosebump-raising otherworldly emotion, with a weeping/laughing sound constantly bobbing around in his throat. he is endlessly playful and unpredictable, with impeccable timing. a generation younger than the Chess giants, he has some R&B flavor in his singing--maybe a bridge between the 2 styles? I don't know if there was any influence between the two singers, but his voice has a raspy percussive snap similar to James Brown's style at times... great harp player too, although there's not a lot of it on this CD-- his solos are usually pretty short and simple, but with a wonderful juicy tone. anyway, great CD, plenty of stuff, git it!

Wells' Brings Passion to Standards and Originals.......2004-03-17

"Best of the Vanguard Years" by Junior Wells is filled with personal, political and romantic tunes. Essentially a sampler album, you are treated to the best of Wells. Every original song is now a standard, and every standard he plays became his.

Upbeat in many places, but firmly rooted in soul and classic blues, Wells steers the vocals and his harp firmly through Buddy Guy's guitar. Born Amos Blackmore, you'll see that Wells wrote most of the tracks, with Guy pitching in on "Slow, Slow" and "Shake It Baby."

His tribute to John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson, considered the first great blues harmonica player, is four minutes of a passionate, prayer-like call to a lover while he honors his mentor.

Wells' rendition of Willie Dixon's "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man," could've been sung back in the 40s. He rips the lyrics so well that you forget Dixon isn't there. When George Thoroughgood sang "Bad to the Bone," I'm certain he used this as a template for both the riffs and words.

"(I Got A) Stomach Ache," is one of the standouts on the CD. Sung playfully, Wells has the vocal meter perfectly in line with Guy's picking.

"Rock Me Baby" will be familiar. BB King made his signature, but you can hear Wells' harp-intense original. BB does it well, but don't miss this one.

"Slow, Slow" is just that. He takes us down long, stretched notes, with a gentle drum providing the background. Turn it up to get the nuances, especially some of the guitar picked behind the song.

In his 1966 release "Vietcong Blues," Wells makes a statement against the way America was treating soldiers and their families in the early 60s.

"My landlady said you got a letter here
And I began to sing the blues
It was from my brother
Don't you know the boy's laying down in Vietnam
Lord they say, you don't have no reason to fight baby but
Lord knows you think you're right"

I fully recommend "Best of the Vanguard Years" Junior Wells.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

Best cuts of the blues out there.......1999-02-26

Junior Wells was one of the greatest harp players ever and is often underrated because he had some problems with alcohol and kind of lost it near the end of his life. However, this disc displays his distinctive harp work as well as emotional vocals complemented by Buddy Guy's guitar. There are two previously unreleased cuts which I think are the best cuts on the CD. Slow, Slow is also one of the greatest chromatic harmonica minor blues I've heard.

Best cuts of the blues out there.......1999-02-26

Average customer rating:

A Fine Irish Album
A cd loaded to the brim with good music however...
The Clancy's Live Folks... Different Faces, Same Heart :)
Good C/D
Watch out for Vangard C/D's

Best of the Vanguard Years
Clancy Brothers
Manufacturer: Vanguard Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Irish Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

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The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem
In Person at Carnegie Hall
Best of
The Best Of The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem
Makem & Clancy Collection

ASIN: B00003W8BV
Release Date: 2000-01-25

Tracks:

Maid Of Fife
Jug Of Punch
Gallant Forty-Twa
Whistling Gypsy
The Leaving Of Liverpool
Mountain Dew
The Nightingale
Roddy McCorley
Castle Of Dramore
Father's Grave
Johnny McAldoo
The Irish Rover
Old Woman From Wexford
Bonnie Charlie
The Jolly Tinker
Haul Away Joe
The Shoals Of Herring
The Mermaid
Kelly-The Boy From Killarn
Rosin The Bow
Whiskey Is The Life Of Man
MacPherson's Lament
Whiskey, You're The Devil
Holy Ground
The Wild Colonial Boy
Johnson's Motor Car
Reilly's Daughter
Finnegan's Wake

Amazon.com

Recorded a dozen years after the Clancy Brothers made their American splash via an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, this best-of set isn't a hits retrospective in the conventional sense. Rather, it offers a generous selection of group favorites and Irish staples recorded in 1973 for a single album. That initial Greatest Hits reappears here in its 24-song entirety and is fleshed out with four previously unreleased selections. Nearly 75 minutes long, the album presents a generous sampling of robustly delivered odes to drinking, sparking, roving, and rebelling. The nature of Irish music has broadened in the wake of the Clancys, but these lads have never been bested when it comes to traditional tunes delivered with beer-spilling gusto. --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews:

A Fine Irish Album.......2004-08-21

This is a fine release of The Clancy Brothers with Lou Killen. Lou stepped in to replace Tommy Makem when he departed in 1969. Don't be mislead into thinking this is a rehash of old cuts from a hundred albums; these are all fresh versions recorded in 1973 exclusevely for this album. The versions aren't all the best available, and some lack the gusto of the live recordings. However, there are some songs that are the best versions I have heard, such as "Maid of Fife", "Whiskey is the life of Man", and "MacPherson's Lament". The bonus tracks are a nice touch, and end the CD on a good note. A good album for Irish music fans.

A cd loaded to the brim with good music however..........2002-01-01

This cd has a whole bunch of what you may already own. If you do own most of the music here then you are only going to be purchasing about 4 songs. That is a crime in my opinion, but for those of you who don't own anything by the Clancy Brothers, you will be happy to know that you are getting a cd FULL of good ol' Irish music.

The cd, like all Clancy Brothers music, is great for all occasions, but especially for a good party with drinking! I really like the fact that my little girls (3 and 5) enjoy the Clancy Brothers.

I highly recommend it to those of you who don't have the songs listed here and as for you others...well, if you are a collector then you may want it for the previously un-issued versions of the songs. If you can live without them and are not a collector, but have the songs elsewhere...pass this one up.

that's it...enjoy

The Clancy's Live Folks... Different Faces, Same Heart :).......2000-03-20

Just a note to all fans that despite the unfortunate passing of original brothers Tom and Paddy, the Clancy Brothers are still performing. The line-up is definitely different but the heart and soul is the same. Currently on tour, the new Clancy Brothers are composed of Bobby Clancy (who stepped in to replace Tommy Makem when he parted ways back around '70), Bobby's son Finbarr Clancy who is an amazing musician and singer and reminds me soooooo much of the Clancy's of old, and another extremely talented (American) musician by the name of Eddie Dillon. I saw them perform in Providence on March 18, 2000 and was very impressed. They covered most of the old standby's we all love as well as alot of different material from their assorted solo projects. They are currently recording material on the Ark Albums label (both solo and as the Clancy Brothers), Also on the label is Bobby's daughter Aoife who has a remarkable voice. Check them out and LONG LIVE THE CLANCY'S!

Now a quick note on this title... yes indeed, another rehashed collection of the same old releases. They are everywhere, and that is why I recommend you check out what Bobby and Finbarr are doing.

Good C/D.......2000-02-17

I think this is 1 of the best cds they have come out with, it has the greatest hits, u cant ask for anything more, plus the unreleased songs are done live.

Watch out for Vangard C/D's.......2000-02-13

Well they have done it again, reissued another Clancy C/D under another title. They did this same thing on a Liam Clancy C/D and now this one.Let the buyer beware when it comes to Vangard there are also some other Clancy Brothers C/D's in the stores and on line that are the same one you may alread have under a different title. Three of the brothers are gone now, so I doubt there will be any new ones anymore.

The Best of Country Joe McDonald: The Vanguard Years (1969-1975)

Average customer rating:

The Best of Country Joe McDonald: The Vanguard Years (1969-1975)
Country Joe McDonald
Manufacturer: Vanguard Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

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