Bman's Blues Report

I just received the newest release, Directly From My Heart: The Best of the Specialty & Vee-Jay Years from Little Richard and it's a blast! This 3CD set features 64 tracks spanning the mid fifties through the mid 60's and a super 36 page book with a ton of great photos and notes by Billy Vera. Most people only think of Tutti Frutti or Long Tall Sally when they think of Little Richard but this deluxe release shows so much more. These three CD's are packed with soul, blues, R&B and rock and roll tracks that will open your eyes. With great backing vocals and some hot sax work as well this is a super release. Of course he does Tutti Frutti, Kansas City, Slippin and Slidin, Long Tall Sally, I Got It, Ready Teddy, Rip It Up, Lucille, Jenny Jenny, Good Golly Miss Molly, The Girl Can't Help It, Keep A Knockin, Whole Lotta Shakin and Lawdy Miss Clawdy but a number of lesser known tracks like Goin Home Tomorrow , a hot remake of Blueberry Hill, a seductive Cherry R...

DEFINITIVE LITTLE RICHARD 3-CD BOX SET, SPANNING SPECIALTY AND VEE-JAY YEARS, COMING FROM SPECIALTY RECORDS ON JUNE 2   Directly From My Heart: The Best of the Specialty & Vee-Jay Years   features 64 classics and rarities spanning the mid-’50s through the mid-’60s. Set features 36-page booklet with notes by Billy Vera. Photos courtesy of the Specialty Archives LOS ANGELES, Calif. — In the early ’50s, Little Richard Penniman combined the spirit of church music, the barroom-hewn raunch of blues and the swing of New Orleans jazz and turned it into something altogether new — rock ’n’ roll.  When the Macon, Ga. native signed to Art Rupe’ s Specialty Records in Los Angeles, he was in turn dispatched to New Orleans to record at Cosimo’s legendary studio. Over the course of several sessions, the Little Richard sound began to develop around hits like...