Review: Karen Dalton is one of the most mysterious and enigmatic but also influential artists of her time. Her 1971 album In My Own Time is a real masterpiece that Light In The Attic now presented on newly mastered vinyl. It was originally recorded over a six month time frame at Bearsville and was crafted by producer and musician Harvey Brooks, a key figure in rock-jazz having worked on Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited and Miles' Bitches Brew. It's a wild and vivid record with walking basslines and manic melodies topped off with the expressive vocals.
Review: P-Vine Japan does great work once more here by bringing back into print some hugely sought-after sounds from the blues and r&b world. The first release in their new series revives Larry Davis' 1969 Kent Records single, which was originally written by Sherwood Fleming. The A-side, 'For 5 Long Years' delivers a gritty mid-tempo funk-blues groove while the B-side, 'I've Been Hurt So Many Times' (a classic subject for a blues tune) channels Willie Cobbs' signature sound. These will be familiar to anyone who has danced at a Northern Soul event and cannot be slept on.
Review: Nina Simone has rather been written out of popular music history because of quite how confrontational and proudly Black she was. She was just as far ahead of her times musically too and this legendary album Baltimore shows why. It arrived with no promotion and no lead singles and so it was an utter commercial failure, but the sleuths of the internet have rediscovered it over the 45 years since its release and helped to make it a cult favourite now regarded as one of the best in her oeuvre. It has distinctive reggae production and of course plenty of beautiful vocals from Simone as she tackles songs written by Judy Collins, Hall & Oates, and Randy Newman.
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