Mahalia Jackson rewrote the rules for singing gospel in the late '40s by bringing blues phrasing and other secular elements into sacred song, and with her powerful alto, she sang with an immediacy and conviction that are still startling when they break out of the speakers some 30 years after her death. This two-disc set collects tracks from Jackson's long stay at Columbia Records, as well as a few tracks from her previous label, Apollo Records, where she recorded from 1947 until signing w...   [ read more ]

CD $15.19

Stonewall Jackson is a neglected figure in country music. Perhaps it was his name, which gave the impression that he was a singer with a corny stage name, when it was in fact his birth name, given to him by a father who believed he was a descendent of General Stonewall Jackson and died three weeks before his son's birth. Perhaps it's because his breakthrough single, 1959's "Waterloo," a record that superficially seemed to be a historical number like "Battle of New Orleans" but was actually a...   [ read more ]

CD $18.03

Jackson Browne long displayed an aversion to hits collections, releasing his first one 25 years after his debut album. That 1997 disc, entitled Next Voice You Hear: The Best of Jackson Browne, had many hits, yet it was also missing many essential songs, leaving an opening for a collection that had all of Browne's hits and signature songs in one place. Released seven years later, Rhino/Elektra's double-disc The Very Best of Jackson Browne is more or less that collection. Produced by {$Jack...   [ read more ]

CD $24.68