The Crusaders - The Vocal Album

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:57
Size: 135.0 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals, Crossover jazz
Year: 1987/2012
Art: Front

[7:31] 1. Street Life
[5:24] 2. This Old World's Too Funky For Me
[5:42] 3. Better Not Look Down
[3:55] 4. Inherit The Wind
[4:10] 5. Hold On (I Feel Our Love Is Changing)
[4:31] 6. Help (I Need Somebody)
[6:24] 7. Soul Shadows
[4:47] 8. The Way It Goes
[5:01] 9. I'm So Glad I'm Standing Here Today
[4:12] 10. (No Matter How High I Get) I'll Still Be Looking Up To You
[7:16] 11. Burnin' Up The Carnival

Track 1 taken from 'Street Life' album by The Crusaders; Tracks 2 & 9 taken from 'Standing Tall' album by The Crusaders; Track 3 taken from 'Royal Jam' album by The Crusaders; Track 4 taken from 'Inherit The Wind' album by Wilton Felder; Track 5 taken from 'Midnight Believer' album by B.B. King; Track 6 taken from 'Private Dancer' by Tina Turner; Track 7 taken from 'Rhapsody & Blues' by The Crusaders; Track 8 taken from 'The Good And The Bad Times' by The Crusaders; Track 10 taken from 'Secrets' by Wilton Felder; Track 11 taken from 'Voices In The Rain' by Joe Sample.

Funny, we can't remember this many singers turning up on the Crusaders' albums, but look a little closer at the liner. For this 1987 compilation -- designed, perhaps, to fill the gap between albums by a group that no longer was a full-time act -- MCA reached for records by B.B. King, Tina Turner, Joe Sample and Wilton Felder that various Crusaders played on, as well as the band's output from Street Life through The Good and Bad Times. B.B. takes the prize for his fabulous, humorously funky, live-in-London turn on "Better Not Look Down" -- he plays guitar so sparingly, and every note is right in the pocket -- but Joe Cocker comes close, riding on a classic bumpy Crusaders groove on "This Old World's Too Funky for Me." Of course, Randy Crawford's career-making "Street Life" leads off the set, and Tina Turner (in a lugubrious dissection of the Beatles' "Help"), Bobby Womack, Alltrinna Grayson, Bill Withers, Flora Purim and Josie James also contribute with various degrees of effectiveness. Despite a few weak moments, the album works amazingly well, partly as an alternative highlights collection and partly as a sober reminder to the remaining Crusaders and their fans as to how essential drummer Stix Hooper was to their sound. ~Ruchard S.Ginell

The Vocal Album

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VA - Sleepless In Seattle

Styles: Soundtrack
Year: 1993
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:26
Size: 84,8 MB
Art: Front

 1. Jimmy Durante - As Time Goes By (2:27)
 2. Louis Armstrong - A Kiss To Build A Dream On (3:01)
 3. Nat King Cole - Stardust (3:14)
 4. Dr. John & Ricky Lee Jones - Makin' Whoopee (4:08)
 5. Carly Simon - In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning (3:15)
 6. Gene Autry - Back In The Saddle Again (2:35)
 7. Joe Cocker - Bye Bye Blackbird (3:29)
 8. Harry Connick, Jr. - A Wink And A Smile (2:47)
 9. Tammy Wynette - Stand By Your Man (2:41)
10. Soundtrack - An Affair To Remember (2:31)
11. Jimmy Durante - Make Someone Happy (1:52)
12. Celine Dion & Clive Griffin - When I Fall In Love (4:21)

Sleepless in Seattle is a 1993 American romantic comedy-drama film directed and co-written by Nora Ephron, based on a story by Jeff Arch. It stars Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, alongside a supporting cast featuring Bill Pullman, Ross Malinger, Rob Reiner, Rosie O'Donnell, Gaby Hoffmann, Victor Garber, and Rita Wilson. The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing over $220 million worldwide.  After Chicago architect Sam Baldwin loses his wife Maggie to cancer, he and his eight-year-old son Jonah start a new life in Seattle, Washington, but Sam continues to grieve. A year and a half later, on Christmas Eve 1992, Jonah who wants his father to find a new wife calls in to a radio talk show. Jonah persuades a reluctant Sam to go on the air to talk about how much he misses Maggie. Hundreds of women from around the country who hear the program and are touched by the story write to Sam. One of the listeners is Annie Reed, a Baltimore Sun reporter who is engaged to amiable Walter but feels there is something missing from their cordial relationship. After watching the film An Affair to Remember, Annie impulsively writes a letter suggesting that Sam meet her on top of the Empire State Building on Valentine's Day. She does not intend to mail it, but her friend and editor Becky does it for her and agrees to send Annie to Seattle.

Sam begins dating a co-worker Victoria, whom Jonah dislikes. Jonah, a baseball fan, reads Annie's letter and likes that it mentions the Baltimore Orioles, but he fails to convince his father to go to New York to meet Annie. On the advice of his playmate Jessica, Jonah replies to Annie, agreeing to the New York meeting. While dropping Victoria off at the airport for a flight, Sam sees Annie exiting from her plane and is mesmerized by her, although he has no idea who she is. Annie later secretly watches Sam and Jonah playing on the beach together but mistakes Sam's sister for his girlfriend. He recognizes her from the airport and says "Hello," but Annie only responds with another "Hello" before fleeing. She decides she is being foolish and goes to New York to meet Walter for Valentine's Day. With Jessica's help, Jonah flies to New York without his father's permission and goes to the Empire State Building searching for Annie. Distraught, Sam follows Jonah and finds him on the observation deck. Meanwhile, Annie sees the skyscraper from the Rainbow Room where she is dining with Walter and confesses her doubts to him, amicably ending their engagement. She rushes to the Empire State Building just moments after the doors to the down elevator close with Sam and Jonah inside. In spite of the observation deck being deserted, Annie discovers a backpack that Jonah left behind. As she pulls out Jonah's teddy bear from the backpack, Sam and Jonah emerge from the elevator, and the three meet for the first time. On the advice of the elevator operator, Sam indicates they should go and offers his hand to Annie. The three then enter the elevator together before the door closes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleepless_in_Seattle

Sleepless In Seattle

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Joe Cocker - Mad Dogs & Englishmen (Deluxe Edition) 2-Disc Set

Listening to this CD brings back a lot of memories. Mad Dogs & Englishmen was just about the most elaborate album that A&M Records had ever released, back in 1971, a double LP in a three-panel, fold-out, gatefold sleeve, with almost 80 minutes of music inside and a ton of photos, graphics, and annotation wrapping around it. A live recording done in tandem with a killer documentary film of the same U.S. tour, it was recorded at the Fillmore East, where the movie was a cross-country affair, and the two were, thus, completely separate entities -- also, as people couldn't "buy" the film in those days, the double LP has lingered longer in the memory, by virtue of its being on shelves, and also being taken off those shelves to be played. Unlike a lot of other "coffee table"-type rock releases of the era, such as Woodstock and The Concert for Bangladesh, people actually listened to Mad Dogs & Englishmen -- most of its content was exciting, and its sound, a veritable definition of big-band rock with three dozen players working behind the singer, was unique. The CD offers a seriously good sound, whether it's just Joe Cocker and a pianist and organist in the opening of "Bird on a Wire," or the entire band going full-tilt on "Cry Me a River"; the remastering was set at a high volume level and there was a decent amount of care taken to get the detail right, so you can appreciate the presence of the multiple drummers, and the legion of guitarists and singers, plus the multiple keyboard players. The lead guitar and solo piano on "Feelin' Alright," for example, come through, but so do the 34 other players and singers behind the lead. This record was also just as much a showcase for Leon Russell as it was for Joe Cocker, which A&M probably didn't mind a bit, as Russell was selling millions of records at the time. As is now known, and it's recounted in the new notes, the tour from which this album was drawn all but wiped out Joe Cocker -- on a psychic level -- because the music was presented on such a vast scale (and there is a moment in the movie where he mentions breaking up his former backing group, the Grease Band, with a hint of regret in his voice) and his own contribution was so muted by Russell's work as arranger and bandleader. He may well have been the "victim" of a "hijacking" of sorts, but the musical results, apart from the dubious "Give Peace a Chance," are difficult to argue about upon hearing this record anew, decades after the fact -- it's almost all bracing and beautiful. [In 2005 Mad Dogs & Englishmen was reissued in a two-CD deluxe edition with eight previously unreleased live performances inserted throughout the discs and four rare studio recordings tacked onto the end. The new live performances are longer and looser and Russell plays an even bigger role. They're excellent, as are the stereo studio mixes of "The Letter" and "Space Captain," available for the first time here.] ~Bruce Eder

Album: Mad Dogs & Englishmen (Deluxe Edition) Disc 1
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:25
Size: 131.5 MB
Styles: Rock
Year: 1970/2005
Art: Front

[4:56] 1. Honky Tonk Women
[3:18] 2. She Came In Through The Bathroom Window
[5:57] 3. The Weight
[2:46] 4. Sticks And Stones
[6:31] 5. Bird On A Wire
[4:05] 6. Cry Me A River
[4:59] 7. Superstar
[5:48] 8. Feelin' Alright
[5:33] 9. Something
[5:47] 10. Darling Be Home Soon
[3:40] 11. Let It Be
[4:00] 12. Further On Up The Road

Mad Dogs & Englishmen (Deluxe Edition) Disc 1

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Album: Mad Dogs & Englishmen (Deluxe Edition) Disc 2
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 79:22
Size: 181.7 MB
Styles: Rock
Year: 1970/2005
Art: Front

[ 8:05] 1. Let's Go Get Stoned
[ 5:20] 2. Space Captain
[ 4:09] 3. Hummingbird
[ 2:59] 4. Dixie Lullaby
[ 4:33] 5. The Letter
[ 7:03] 6. Delta Lady
[ 4:46] 7. Please Give Peace A Chance
[12:37] 8. Blue Medley
[ 8:40] 9. With A Little Help From My Friends
[ 2:40] 10. Girl From The North Country
[ 5:45] 11. Warm-Up Jam Under My Thumb
[ 4:10] 12. The Letter
[ 4:20] 13. Space Captain
[ 4:09] 14. The Ballad Of Mad Dogs And Englishmen

Mad Dogs & Englishmen (Deluxe Edition) Disc 2

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