Rhythm And Blues

Early rock & roll derived the lion's share of its en-ergy and inspiration from black music. In the Fif-ties "rock & roll" was often taken to be simply a new name for "rhythm & blues," or "R&B," the music industry's generic term for any popular music primarily produced and consumed by African-Americans.

The R&B scene of the early Fifties was diverse enough to accommodate the suave stylings of a Charles Brown, the earthy, fiery Chicago blues of a Muddy Waters and everything in between. But when one thinks today of R&B in the early Fifties, it's usually the vocal groups that first come to mind—the Drifters, the Dominoes, the Midnighters, so many more. During those years, the years just before rock & roll became a worldwide phenomenon, a new en-ergy came into black vocal group music. In the For-ties it had been dominated by the Ravens, the Orioles and other groups that sang love songs sweet and low, after the fashion of the Ink Spots, who became world famous just before World War II.

Around 1950, though, certain R&B vocal groups began moving away from the sweet tones of the Ink Spots' Bill Kenny and toward something much closer to the sanctified shouts of such contemporary gospel groups as the Soul Stirrers, the Pilgrim Trav-elers and the Swan Silvertones. For some in the black community, this was tan-tamount to blasphemy. The new mix of gospel-style singing, sensual R&B rhythms and risque lyrics on such trend-setting records as "Honey Love" by the Drifters and "Work with Me Annie" by the Mid-nighters was as outrageous to conservatives as the rap excesses of 2 Live Crew would be some thirty-five years later.

(When Sam Cooke launched his pop career in 1957 after six years of singing pure gospel with the Soul Stirrers, the schism among his fans was deeper and more permanent even than what happened among Bob Dylan's folk fans after he went electric in 1965.) For young R&B fans, though—blacks and whites—this was electrifying stuff...

Early rock & roll derived the lion's share of its en-ergy and inspiration from black music. In the Fif-ties "rock & roll" was often taken to be simply a new name for "rhythm & blues,"... read more »
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Rhythm And Blues

Early rock & roll derived the lion's share of its en-ergy and inspiration from black music. In the Fif-ties "rock & roll" was often taken to be simply a new name for "rhythm & blues," or "R&B," the music industry's generic term for any popular music primarily produced and consumed by African-Americans.

The R&B scene of the early Fifties was diverse enough to accommodate the suave stylings of a Charles Brown, the earthy, fiery Chicago blues of a Muddy Waters and everything in between. But when one thinks today of R&B in the early Fifties, it's usually the vocal groups that first come to mind—the Drifters, the Dominoes, the Midnighters, so many more. During those years, the years just before rock & roll became a worldwide phenomenon, a new en-ergy came into black vocal group music. In the For-ties it had been dominated by the Ravens, the Orioles and other groups that sang love songs sweet and low, after the fashion of the Ink Spots, who became world famous just before World War II.

Around 1950, though, certain R&B vocal groups began moving away from the sweet tones of the Ink Spots' Bill Kenny and toward something much closer to the sanctified shouts of such contemporary gospel groups as the Soul Stirrers, the Pilgrim Trav-elers and the Swan Silvertones. For some in the black community, this was tan-tamount to blasphemy. The new mix of gospel-style singing, sensual R&B rhythms and risque lyrics on such trend-setting records as "Honey Love" by the Drifters and "Work with Me Annie" by the Mid-nighters was as outrageous to conservatives as the rap excesses of 2 Live Crew would be some thirty-five years later.

(When Sam Cooke launched his pop career in 1957 after six years of singing pure gospel with the Soul Stirrers, the schism among his fans was deeper and more permanent even than what happened among Bob Dylan's folk fans after he went electric in 1965.) For young R&B fans, though—blacks and whites—this was electrifying stuff...

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Shotgun Boogie - Rhythm & Blues Goes Country Vol.1  (CD)
Various: Shotgun Boogie - Rhythm & Blues Goes Country... Art-Nr.: BCD17701

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1-CD (Digipak) with 36 page booklet, 29 tracks. Total playing time approx. 79 min. There has always been a lively exchange between musicians in the USA - regardless of skin color. With 'Shotgun Boogie', Bear Family Records® documents in...
$18.05 $20.31
The Memphis Blues Box - Original Recordings 1914–1969 (20-CD Deluxe Box Set)
Various: The Memphis Blues Box - Original Recordings... Art-Nr.: BCD17515

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20-CD box set (32 x 32 x 4,5 cms) with 360-page hardcover book, 534 tracks. Total playing time approx. 25 hrs. 20min. The Blues – the iconic music that changed everything! Memphis – the iconic city where it happened! And now – the...
$282.87
Destination Jail Vol. 2 - 24 More Songs From Behind The Bars (CD)
Various Artists: Destination Jail Vol. 2 - 24 More Songs From... Art-Nr.: BCD17709

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1-CD with 12-page booklet, 24 tracks. Total playing time approx. 70 min. With 'Destination Jail, Vol. 2', Bear Family Records® offers another intriguing collection of blues and rhythm & blues obscurities and classics from the '40s to the...
$11.26
Bear Family Records Rocks Vol. 1 (CD)
Various: Bear Family Records Rocks Vol. 1 (CD) Art-Nr.: BCD17734

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1-CD (Digipak) with 36 -page booklet, 30 tracks. Total playing time approx. 79 min. With more than 70 CD releases since 2002, the 'Rocks' series on Bear Family Records® is one of the most successful and extensive in our catalog....
$20.31 $22.58
The Bigger The Pompadour ... - His Complete Recordings 1959-66 (2-CD)
Wayne Cochran: The Bigger The Pompadour ... - His Complete... Art-Nr.: BCD17744

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2-CD (Digisleeve) with 36 page booklet, 42 tracks. Total playing time approx. 130 min. Wayne Cochran (1939 - 2017) from Georgia, also called 'The White Knight of Soul', is remembered for his white pompadour hairstyle and the brilliant...
$19.18
On The Dancefloor With A Fingersnap - 31 Pops To Make The Party Shake! (CD)
Various: On The Dancefloor With A Fingersnap - 31 Pops... Art-Nr.: BCD17718

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1-CD (Digipak) with 36 page booklet, 31 tracks. Total playing time approx. 79 min. In the CD series 'On The Dancefloor With ...' featuring the best danceable music, Bear Family Records® here deals with those songs that are accompanied by...
$18.05
The Rhythm Of The Rain - 30 Melodic Drops for Cloudy Days (CD)
Various: The Rhythm Of The Rain - 30 Melodic Drops for... Art-Nr.: BCD17723

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1 CD with 36 page booklet, 30 tracks. Total playing time approx. 79 min. Depending on the personal state of mind: rain can be perceived as unpleasantly wet or wonderfully refreshing. At all times and across all genres, composers and...
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Roy Milton - Rocks (CD)
Roy Milton: Roy Milton - Rocks (CD) Art-Nr.: BCD17712

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1-CD (Digipak) with 36-page booklet, 31 tracks. Total playing time aprox. 78 min. A brimful CD compilation dedicated to the important R&B pioneer Roy Milton in the continuously updated ‘Rocks’ series on Bear Family Records®. Milton is...
$19.18
Destination Freeway – 33 Cruisin' Deuces for your Summer Spectacular (CD)
Various Artists: Destination Freeway – 33 Cruisin' Deuces for... Art-Nr.: BCD17716

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1-CD with 20-page booklet, 33 tracks. Total playing time approx. 78 min. Driving a car, a significant attitude to life for generations - Bear Family Records® provides the appropriate soundtrack, historical recordings from the number one...
$11.26
Groovin' The Blues (CD)
Various - Groove Records: Groovin' The Blues (CD) Art-Nr.: BCD17411

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1-CD Digipak (4-plated) with 64-page booklet, 33 tracks. Total playing time approx. 84 minutes. Two single CDs devoted to a great, unknown story in 1950s R&B history! All titles remastered from original vault tapes! Artists include Zilla...
$15.23 $19.18
On The Dancefloor With A Twist Again! - 23 More Tunes to Twist It Up (CD)
Various: On The Dancefloor With A Twist Again! - 23 More... Art-Nr.: BCD17667

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1-CD (Digipak) with 36-page booklet, 23 tracks. Total playing time approx. 79 min. The CD album 'On The Dancefloor With a Twist' (BCD17666) released in the summer of 2022 on Bear Family Records® was enthusiastically received by fans and...
$18.05
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Clyde McPhatter Live At The Apollo (LP)
Clyde McPhatter: Clyde McPhatter Live At The Apollo (LP) Art-Nr.: BFX152718

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(Bear Family Records) 20 tracks - High Quality re-issue of the 1964 Mercury LP from the (now deleted) 1987 8-LP Box Set BFX15271 'Rhythm And Soul 1959–1965'
$22.58
Little Green Frog (LP)
Clarence "Frogman" Henry: Little Green Frog (LP) Art-Nr.: BFX15278

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(Bear Family Records) 14 tracks Parrot 1964-1965 (4 unissued)
$28.24
I Don't Be Jivin' (LP)
T-Bone Walker: I Don't Be Jivin' (LP) Art-Nr.: BFX15277

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(Bear Family Records) 15 tracks 1966-1970 (4 unissued) - archive stock copy
$33.89
Memphis Slim - Rocks (CD)
Memphis Slim: Memphis Slim - Rocks (CD) Art-Nr.: BCD17687

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​1-CD Digipak with 36-page booklet, 29 tracks. Total playing time approx. 79 min. In his lifetime, Memphis Slim was probably the best-known blues singer in the world, moving from Memphis to Chicago and finally to Paris in the early...
$17.27 $19.18
Hey Boss Man! (LP, 180g Vinyl)
Frank Frost & The Night Hawks: Hey Boss Man! (LP, 180g Vinyl) Art-Nr.: BAF18010

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Vinyl LP, 180gram, 13 tracks, playing time approx. 33 mns. This exciting LP reissue features one of the last 'real' Mississippi Delta bluesmen, Frank Frost - recording some of the last 'real' down home blues. On this LP you'll discover:...
$24.84 $28.24
Completely Well (180gram Vinyl)
B.B. King: Completely Well (180gram Vinyl) Art-Nr.: BAF18015

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180gram vinyl LP, re-issue, original gatefold sleeve, 9 tracks. Total playing time approx. 49 minutes. • Produced by Bill Szymczyk ( J. Geils Band, Joe Walsh, James Gang, Eagles ) • Contains his biggest hit, ever, The Thrill Is Gone •...
$24.84 $28.24
Blues Kings Of Baton Rouge (2-CD)
Various Artists: Blues Kings Of Baton Rouge (2-CD) Art-Nr.: BCD17512

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2-CD (Digisleeve) with 52-page booklet, 53 Tracks. Total playing time approx. c. 148 minutes. • A taster of the blues from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on two compact discs. • Like New Orleans, Memphis or St. Louis alongside the Mississippi...
$15.79 $18.05
Groove Jumping! & Still Groove Jumping! (2-CD)
Various - Groove Records: Groove Jumping! & Still Groove Jumping! (2-CD) Art-Nr.: BCD17388BU

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2-CD Digipak with 44-page booklet, 30 tracks. Total playing time approx. 76 minutes 2-CD digipak reissue of classic 1983 vinyl LP. Containing 14 sizzling R&B rockers from the vaults of Groove Records , RCA Victor's legendary mid-1950s...
$11.85 $36.10
Bo Diddley - Rocks (CD)
Bo Diddley: Bo Diddley - Rocks (CD) Art-Nr.: BCD17551

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1-CD (Digipak) with 36-page booklet, 28 tracks. Total playing time approx. 79 min. 28 original Bo Diddley Checker recordings from Chicago. One of the most important discs in Bear Family Records’® Rocks series. Including 3 Top 5 R&B hits:...
$17.27 $19.18
Hank Ballard - Rocks (CD)
Hank Ballard & The Midnighters: Hank Ballard - Rocks (CD) Art-Nr.: BCD17580

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1-CD (Digipak) with 36-page booklet, 30 tracks. Total playing time approx. 79 min. It was Hank Ballard who, with his band, created The Twist in the late '50s, the greatest dance theme yet invented. Bear Family Records® now dedicates a CD...
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Damp Rag - The Killa Dilla From Columbus, Ohio (LP & CD, 10inch, 45rpm)
Stomp Gordon: Damp Rag - The Killa Dilla From Columbus, Ohio... Art-Nr.: BAF14023

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1-LP vinyl (10inch) with 8-page booklet, bonus CD, postcard. 10 tracks (LP), 22 tracks (CD). Total playing time approx. 28 min. (LP), approx. 70 min. (CD). It is one of the fundamental principles of Bear Family Records® to give room to...
$26.44 $33.89
Jimmy McCracklin - Rocks (CD)
Jimmy McCracklin: Jimmy McCracklin - Rocks (CD) Art-Nr.: BCD17552

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1-CD (Digipak) with 36-page booklet, 30 tracks. Total playing time approx. 79 minutes. Bear Family Records® adds powerhouse pianist and vocalist Jimmy McCracklin to its 'Rocks' series. For more than 50 years, the Bay Area pianist often...
$17.27 $19.18
Left Behind - Black & White 'Felsted' Rockers (LP & CD, 10inch, 45rpm)
Various: Left Behind - Black & White 'Felsted' Rockers... Art-Nr.: BAF14022

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1 vinyl LP (10") with bonus CD and 16-page booklet. 13 tracks (LP), 34 tracks (CD). Total playing time: approx. 28 min. (LP), approx. 79 min. (CD). Limited deluxe-edition, pressed on orange vinyl with photo postcard. The obscure Felsted...
$26.44 $33.89
Vol.3 Electric Blues 1960 - 1969 (3-CD)
Various - Electric Blues - Plug It In! Turn It Up!: Vol.3 Electric Blues 1960 - 1969 (3-CD) Art-Nr.: BCD16923

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3-CD Digipak (8-plated) with 172-page booklet, 70 tracks. Total playing time approx. 221 mns . Part three of the most comprehensive history EVER of electrified blues on 12 electrifying CDs! Every significant artist ... every significant...
$41.82 $45.21
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