Mountain ~ Leslie West

Mountain is the album that put Leslie West on the charts and for my money is the overall best album he ever made.
Good heavy blues/rock tunes, great guitar by Leslie and bass/keyboards by Felix Pappalardi.
Pappalardi was also the producer of a couple of albums by the fabled group Cream, and as producer of this album, you can see that influence.
A must-have CD for heavy rock fans!

The Best of the Cadillacs

The Best of the Cadillacs is an essential recording for any Doo Wop collector/fan.
Lead by the great Earl Carroll and with a terrific backing band, the group romps through all its great songs and some lesser known numbers.
The recordings are all the original versions and, as with every Rhino collection, the sound quality is first rate.
The ample liner notes provide the details about the songs.

Count Basie - Swinging the Blues: 1930-1939

Swinging the Blues: 1930-1939 by Count Basie contains some of the great early recordings by one of the truly great bands of the Big Band era.
These are the original recordings and the sound quality is very good with only a minimum of background static on some cuts.
If you're a fan of big band swing, you owe it to yourself to give this CD a listen!

Stompin' Singers & Western Swingers

Stompin' Singers & Western Swingers takes up where Proper's last Western Swing set, Doughboys, Playboys and Cowboys", left off.
Plenty of great toe-tapping music from the famous and not-so-famous performers of the era.
The songs are the original versions and the sound quality is just fine.
Also included is an informative booklet with facts about the songs and the artists.
As with every other box set I own from Proper, this is a tremendous value.

Dave Clark Five 30 Greatest Hits

Although largely forgotten today, the DC5 was a kickin' band during the British Invasion days, ranking in popularity with the Beatles and the Stones.
For some reason it's impossible to find their albums on CD, so until the day the those old albums make there, you'll have a real British blast from the past with Dave Clark Five 30 Greatest Hits.
There are all the major hits here along with some lesser known tunes (some of which are pretty bad and seem to be tossed in as filler material.) The stereo tracks have that '60's stereo sound but, overall, the sound is fine and the music is just great!

Basia On Broadway

Basia On Broadway is a tremendous album, one of the best "live" albums I've ever heard. The songs are as good, if not better, than the studio versions. Basia's powerful vocal talents and terrific range are a joy to hear. Since Basia rarely tours (which is unfortunate since she is one of the greatest female vocalists in the world today), this may be the only chance you'll get to hear her live.

The Dawn of Doo-Wop

The Dawn of Doo-Wop doesn't really have too many true Doo Wop songs on it but instead focuses on the R&B and pop vocal group harmonies that laid the groundwork for the 50's Doo Wop explosion.
The songs on this set date from 1940 to the early 1950s and feature many seminal groups such as the Inkspots, the Mills Brothers, the Orioles, the Ravens and many others.
There are many obscure songs here and the sound quality is very good.
Also included in a nice booklet of liner notes jam-packed with information.
This is another Proper box set that excels in quality and value.

Doo Wop Delights

Doo Wop Delights, a 4 CD box set by Proper, is a fantastic collection of early (1950-1954) Doo Wop featuring the earlier R&B-tinged work of many classic groups such as the Flamingos, the Moonglows, the Platters, the Ravens, the 5 Royales and many others.
This set clearly illustrates R&B's evolution into Doo Wop.
The accompanying booklet is very well researched although not laid out in the order of the songs.
All the recordings are the original versions and the sound quality is first-rate.
The box sets by Proper continue to amaze me with their quality and low price.
A "must-have" for all Doo Wop fans.