Blue Groove Soundz

2011-11-23T16:36:00.001-05:00

Ike Turner "Jack Rabbit Blues: The Singles 1958-1960" 10" + CD

2011-11-23T16:35:00.001-05:00

Depeche Mode "Live at Crocs Night Club June 27, 1981" (Clear Vinyl, first recordings of the band with Vince Clark, fan club issue. Limited to 200 copies)

2011-11-23T16:32:00.001-05:00

Rage Against The Machine "Evil Empire"

2011-11-23T16:29:00.001-05:00

Red Hot Chili Peppers "I'm With You"

2011-11-23T16:26:00.001-05:00

Ashford & Simpson "The Warner Bros. Years: The 12" Collection" 5 LP box

2011-11-23T16:23:00.001-05:00

Van Morrison "The Bang Sessions"

2011-11-23T16:22:00.001-05:00

Massive Attack's debut album "Blue Lines"

2011-11-23T16:20:00.001-05:00

Karen Elson "The Ghost Who Walks" 180 gram vinyl

2011-11-23T16:15:00.001-05:00

The Black Keys "Rubber Factory" Picture Disc

More Good Stuff

2011-11-23T13:11:00.001-05:00

Fleetwood Mac "Rumours" one of the best selling rock albums ever, is now in our store, mastered from the original analog tapes and cut at 45 RPM, on 180 gram vinyl. This double LP set is sure to please any audiophile.

2011-05-10T13:55:00.002-04:00

A small taste of what's hot on our shelves:

MF Doom Special Herbs Box!

2011-02-01T12:26:00.006-05:00

Limited Edition 10-Piece Vinyl Box Set From MF DOOM! (A.K.A Metal Fingers)
Featuring the complete Special Herbs series Volumes 0-9
All Special Herbs tracks are in their original form, unmixed.
Comes with an exclusive MF Doom Poster, FREE Download of the ENTIRE series + a bonus 45!
If you're an MF Doom Fan, like we are, then you definitely need to get this set!

Jimi Hendrix "West Coast Seattle Boy"

2010-12-02T15:34:00.006-05:00

Now in stock, an epic, new boxed-set overview of Jimi Hendrix's recording career. Of course, we have the massive 8-LP set on hand, but can also get the 4-CD + DVD set if you so desire. Give us a call and ask for details: 703-270-9075 - or just come on in and check it out!

This set features 58 tracks (45 of which are previously unreleased) running the gamut from his days as an unknown R&B sideman in 1964 up to his days as an international star. The individually-numbered boxes also include a 36-page booklet filled with never before seen photos and detailed liner notes.

From the AllMusic entry by Sean Westergaard:

West Coast Seattle Boy is an amazing chronological, career-spanning collection of Hendrix material, an examination of Jimi's musical and artistic growth as a professional musician following his discharge from the Army.

Disc one is a fantastic compilation of Jimi's appearances on record as a sideman with the likes of the Isley Brothers, Don Covay, and Little Richard. While the tunes are great, the actual Jimi quotient is pretty low. The Isley Brothers give him a couple hot breaks during his two stints with them and Jimi plays tremolo guitar on their lengthy ballad "Have You Ever Been Disappointed" -and Little Richard's "I Don't Know What You Got But It's Got Me." Jimi does manage to peek through on a couple cuts, though. Rosa Lee Brooks' great "Utee" has a hot little solo and you can hear ideas that would later be reworked into "Little Wing" on the Icemen's "(My Girl) She's a Fox." The vast majority of these tracks are difficult to impossible to find, so it's great to have them all in one place.

Disc two starts with some fascinating alternate mixes or takes of several tunes from Are You Experienced? in perfect sound. But these aren't actually "lost mixes" that Chas Chandler had stashed away all these years; they're recent remixes by Eddie Kramer (the original engineer for most Hendrix recordings) using the original multi-track recordings for the first time. Remember, Are You Experienced? was recorded on a four-track and there were multiple bounces down to two tracks to make room for overdubs. Using the original multi-tracks results in a clarity to the instruments we've never heard before. The take of "Are You Experienced?" is just the original instrumental basic track (and structure for the song), but we get to hear the backwards guitar solo from the LP version played as it was originally before being flipped around on the tape. "May This Be Love" has a double-tracked lead vocal on this version, and the guitars are mixed differently. "Can You See Me" is actually a Chandler mix: an unused mono mix. "Little One," "Mr. Bad Luck," and "Cat Talking to Me" have been available in collector's circles for many years, although the sound here is definitely an improvement. "Castles Made of Sand" is just Jimi and Mitch Mitchell doing a slightly uptempo and more aggressive instrumental take.

Then starts a really interesting run of self-recorded demos that Jimi made in hotel rooms and apartments. His old friend Paul Caruso helps with harmonica and vocals on a cover of the Band's "Tears of Rage" as well as his emerging new composition "Hear My Train a Comin'." The rest are just Jimi and are pretty interesting not just to see where an elaborate studio creation like "1983" began but also to hear Jimi really singing without the self-consciousness that could sometimes affect him. In fact, this particular version of "Angel" is one of Jimi's sweetest vocal performances. "1983" and "Angel" had been previously available as part of Voodoo Child: The Illustrated Legend of Jimi Hendrix (a graphic novel with CD), but these others are surfacing for the first time. "Calling Devil's Children" is another that's been floating around for a while, but "New Rising Sun" might be the jewel of the set. Briefly released in heavily edited form on the ill-conceived and atrocious Voodoo Soup compilation, it's a really cool studio collaboration between Jimi and Eddie Kramer that's like a cross between "And the Gods Made Love" from Electric Ladyland and "Little Wing."

Disc three starts with a handful of studio outtakes where Jimi starts incorporating some other players and instruments. "Hear My Freedom" probably isn't much more than a studio jam with Buddy Miles and (probably) Lee Michaels on organ joining the Experience, but it's a hot one. Percussionist Rocky Dzidzornu joins on a couple tracks, "Messenger" has some cool uncredited piano (possibly Eddie), while Traffic's Chris Wood plays sax on their take of "Hound Dog" ("Hound Dog Blues"). The L.A. Forum tracks have been released before but this is the first official release of the unedited jam with Larry Young. It appeared in edited form (about half as long) on the Nine to the Universe album, but serious collectors have heard this unedited take. This is another set highlight as it shows Jimi really stretching out and improvising with a jazz master, even though it's just a loose jam. "Mastermind" is actually a Larry Lee tune that sounds much better in this studio version than it did when they tried it at Woodstock. "Message to Love" is basically the Crash Landing version, but this is a mix that Jimi did with Eddie Kramer without the edits and overdubs that plagued Crash Landing. Collectors have also heard the entirety of the legendary Fillmore East shows with Band of Gypsys, but here we get the first official release of three of Jimi's early hits from the second New Year's Eve 1969 show (including a lengthy and blistering "Stone Free"). "Burning Desire" was part of the Loose Ends compilation and an edited version of the goof-off track "Peter Gunn/Catastrophe" was on War Heroes, but "Lonely Avenue" makes its first appearance on this set. Much like "Message to Love," the version of "In from the Storm" here is a mix that Jimi did with Eddie that has much more prominent backing vocals than the Cry of Love/First Rays version. "Freedom" is another Cry of Love/First Rays tune, but this is a different, longer instrumental take. "All God's Children" is another high-quality studio instrumental with Billy Cox and Buddy Miles, while this "Red House" came from the well-known 1970 Berkeley shows.

Disc four closes with a couple other set highlights. "Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)" was a live-in-the-studio track that was included on both Rainbow Bridge and First Rays, but that tune actually flowed right out of an unreleased instrumental called "Bolero" in the original studio take. This is a restoration of that original medley. The CD ends with another apartment demo: an unreleased track called "Suddenly November Morning." It's interesting because while it sounds like a finished composition, at the end it turns into "Drifting." "Drifting" was ultimately revisited and released on The Cry of Love and First Rays, but "Suddenly November Morning" was not realized further. As the liner notes point out, it's a sad reminder of the lost potential resulting from Jimi's untimely death.

Syl Johnson "Complete Mythology"

2010-11-17T18:51:00.008-05:00

Syl Johnson Complete Mythology boxed sets are now in! Limited Quantities! 35,000 words, 81 tracks, 52 pages, 15 years, 6 LPs, 4 CDs, 1 incredible soul folk tale. COME AND GET IT!

From the Numero Group's listing online:

“I wanna be somebody so bad, but you keep on putting your foot on me.”
To hear him tell it, Syl Johnson could have been as big as James Brown or Al Green. #1 on the charts, top billing on the marquee, Hall of Fame inductions, tearful tributes... all within his reach, and yet never in his hands. Something, someone, and sometimes—if you believe his lyrics—the sole of a shoe was holding him back. Was it because he’s black? Not likely, though his inability to crossover to the pop charts never did him any favors. “I made my opportunities, but I never got the breaks I should have gotten. I was a jack-of-all-trades. More soul than Marvin, more funk than James. If I’d gone pop, you’d be talkin’ about me, not them. I rate right at the top, though I’ve been underrated all my life.”
Laced with that unique brand of bravado, the Syl Johnson interview tends to veer toward harrowing voyages through interruption, correction, and deliberate obfuscation. “Back up, hold on, slow down… Wu Tang, Kid Rock, Michael Jackson… Jimmy Reed, Jimmy Johnson, Jimmy Jones….” Johnson has a habit of insisting that everything printed before—every verbatim transcript read directly back to him—is a blatant misquote or misunderstanding…and sometimes both. His date of birth and place of birth, his surname change from Thompson to Johnson, the murky beginnings of the Twinight record label—Syl Johnson weaves them all into one convoluted narrative, a daunting challenge for historians and fans alike to follow. Resolving his life story for this collection became an exercise in patience and diligence, as we chased the rabbit through even more big-hole 45s than bear his name.