Red Sovine - Phantom 309

I've always loved truck driving songs and any albums related to the big rigs or the C.B. culture. Red Sovine was one of the best story tellers and one of the greats when it comes to trucker songs. You will always find one of his songs on practically any trucker song compilation. I'm not a huge country music fan but love the narrative style country songs wether it be about driving across country, bad relationships, or getting drunk at the bar and this compilation has them all! I'm posting this as I thought it represents my move back east from the Nashville area and is a nice farewell to Music City. Red was born in West Virginia but died here in Nashville when he suffered a heart attack behind the wheel of his van. This is just classic country story telling at its best especially the track "Does Steppin' Out Mean Daddy Took A Walk" when he says and I quote "Does being a ladies man mean Daddy's a sissy?" That could be one of the greatest lines ever written as far as I'm concerned haha! Enjoy!

Wiki - Red Sovine

Original Vinyl Rip MP3 320kbps

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Earl Grant - At Basin Street East

I received this LP on my birthday from a little stack of records my girlfriend brought home for me that day and when we put it on later that night we both really dug it a lot. At Basin Street East is a live recording from 1962 and is a nice classic groovy set of jazz pop vocals which can get bluesy at times. Earl also does one of the best renditions of "Fever" I have ever heard. I would have to say thats probably my favorite track on the album. I also like the few times Earl Talks to the crowd in between songs. It has a nice "atmospheric" vibe to it. This album will put you in a feel good mood upon listening thats for sure. Here is the wiki on Earl Grant who had a some what short career as he passed at the age of 39 in a car accident.

Wiki - Earl Grant

Enjoy!

Original vinyl rip @ 320kbps MP3 with cover

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Merle Haggard - My Farewell To Elvis

A new post to celebrate my birthday coming up on January 8th the same day as the King Elvis Presley so with that I figured I would go ahead and post this album which was a birthday gift from a good friend last year. This is Merle Haggard's tribute to Elvis and is all covers of songs best known by The King except for "From Graceland To The Promised Land" which Haggard penned himself. This album seems to have been released on CD at some point with different artwork but seems to be out of print these days. Elvis died Aug. 16 1977 and with a little searching I found out this album was produced, recorded and on the shelves before Christmas of '77. It also utilized top Nashville session players instead of Haggard's band The Strangers. Personally certain circumstances and individuals lead my girlfriend and I to believe Elvis is still alive in the town we are currently living in here in TN but we may never know the truth.

Enjoy!

320kbps original vinyl rip with jacket art.

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Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde - Genius Rap

This is the first of many old school 12" singles I will be sharing in the future. An all time classic "Genius Rap features the well know Tom Tom Club sample that I'm sure is familiar to most and I believe this may be the first Hip-Hop track to use it. Here is the Wiki on Dr. Jeck and Mr. H-Y-D-E.

"Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde was a 1980s hip hop group consisting of Andre "Dr. Jeckyll" Harrell and Alonzo "Mr. Hyde" Brown. The group was known for its corporate business image, wearing designer suits and ties while they rapped. The group first performed under the name "Harlem World Crew" and recorded on Tayster in 1980. ^[1]

Alonzo Brown joined Profile Records in 1981 under the name "Lonnie Love," and recorded the song "Young Ladies."

That same year, Brown teamed with Andre Harrell to make "Genius Rap," a well-received record which was one of the first hip hop records to used the famous Tom Tom Club sample, "Genius of Love."

The pair ended their professional relationship in 1987, but Mr. Hyde continued recording with Profile Records, recording the solo 12", "The Witch" b/w "Hyde's Beat".^[2]

After the group's demise, Andre Harrell became the founder and CEO of Uptown Records. He later went on to head Motown Records.

Alonzo Brown went on to become a producer and screenwriter, serving as executive producer for the Judge Mathis show."

Enjoy!

Listen to: Genius Rap