Various Artists Bundle - Juke Box Pearls (8-CD)

1-CD Digipac (4-plated) with 36-page booklet, 30 tracks. Total playing time approx. 73 mns.

• An unjustly overlooked country singer, who recorded for Starday, Mercury and UA in the 1950s and '60s!
• Hung around the Louisiana Hayride, and recorded with George Jones, Faron Young, and sung back-up on sessions for Jones, Brook Benton, Clyde McPhatter, Leroy Van Dyke, and many more!
• Sang the American cover version of Helen Shapiro's Walkin' Back To Happiness as well as a vocal version of the Tornadoes' Telstar!

Probably no one was in the recording studio more than Margie Singleton from 1955-1965. Her husband, Shelby, was head of A&R for Mercury Records and brought her onto sessions for his complete roster: pop, R&B, and country. She also made records herself, first for Starday, then Mercury, and then United Artists, before she and her second husband, Leon Ashley, began Ashley Records with a #1 hit, Laura (What's He Got That I Ain't Got). The untold story of Margie Singleton is here. 

She might just have been one of the most versatile women in music at that time. A natural singer, Margie sang on plenty of hits but didn't have the hits that should have been hers. Hers is one of the untold stories that Bear Family tells so well.

​1-CD Digipak with 36-page booklet, 29 tracks. Total playing time about 77 minutes. 

• Dinah Washington was not only called 'The Queen', she simply was 'The Queen'. 

• Her incredibly powerful voice, which is unparalleled, obliges us to include her in the 'Juke Box Pearls' series!

• With a total of 29 sound clips dating from 1947-1962 we show the complete stylistic range of this great artist!

• On this very personal selection - mostly up-tempo numbers and brilliantly arranged pop - you will find rarities and greatest hits.

• Among them her smash hits What A Diff'rence A Day Made (she sang makes instead of made), September In The Rain, Mad About The Boy as well as the two duets with Brook Benton: A Rockin' Good Way and Baby (You Got What It Takes)!

• Rarities such as the hard-to-find Mercury single Honky Tonky, which was released in 1958 under the pseudonym 'The Queen', are also included.                                                                       

• With this 'Juke Box Pearls' edition of the great Dinah Washington we are erecting a small but fine memorial.                                                                                         

• The 36-page color booklet contains her biography, written by the famous Chicago music journalist Bill Dahl, as well as many photos and memorabilia, some of them rare!

A review of Dinah Washington's career

This compilation of 29 songs does not follow a chronological order, but it outlines the great career of the artist, who died far too early. It is impressive how her voice has developed over the course of two decades, from the jazz-soaked Rhythm & Blues of the late 1940s and early 1950s, when Dinah Washington was just one singer among many, to the great monumental pop arrangements and jazz standards of the later years with an enormous flexibility of her voice!

A Rockin' Good Way

Dinah Washington's greatest hits are all there, including the title song she sang with Brook Benton. Many will also remember A Rockin' Good Way in the cover version of Shakin' Stevens with Bonnie Tyler from the 1980s, as well as Mad About The Boy from Levi's Jeans TV commercial around the same time. Not only nostalgics and collectors will get their money's worth here, because if you're into powerful female voices, Dinah Washington is always the right choice - and young girls who dream of a singing career should also listen to this CD! 

Included is a 36-page booklet in color with a Dinah Washington biography, written by the great Chicago music journalist Bill Dahl, and many photographs and illustrations, some of them rare!

Included are Dinah Washington's greatest hits such as the title song she recorded with Brook Benton. Many of you will also remember A Rockin' Good Way in the cover version of Shakin' Stevens and Bonnie Tyler in the 1980s as well as Mad About The Boy, which was used in a Levi's Jeans TV commercial at about the same time. Not only nostalgics and collectors get their money's worth here, because if you like powerful female voices, Dinah Washington is always right for you and young girls who dream of a singing career should also listen to this CD! Included is a 36-page booklet in color, with the Dinah Washington biography, written by the great music journalist Bill Dahl, as well as many rare photos and illustrations!

1-CD-Album Digipak (4-plated) with 25-page booklet, 25 tracks, playing time approx. 62 mns. 

She was a Jewish girl from New York who attended the same school as Barbara Streisand and Neil Diamond, but wanted to be a country singer. Her first record was a rare Hank Williams song that he wrote for Ray Price. Mimi Rothman performed on big country radio jamborees, changing her name to Mimi Roman, and telling people that she was from California. Some of her songs have appeared in compilations from Bear Family and on other labels. This is the first full-length CD devoted to her music. 

Owen Bradley, head of Decca-Records in Nashville for years, would joke that he was charged with 'a country singer who wanted to go pop, and a pop singer who wanted to sing country.' The country singer was Patsy Cline. The pop singer was Mimi Roman. Changing her name from Rothman, she recorded for Decca in New York and Nashville, but never got the all-important break. Mimi Roman even worked the grueling Philip Morris caravan, touring with legends like Carl Smith and Ronnie Self, and recorded right on the stage of the Ryman Auditorium, home of the Grand Ole Opry. Somehow, it didn't work out for her, although her records have become highly collectible. For the first time, here is her story and here are her finest records in one place. A little untold gem of Fifties musical history. Mixed bag of high quality Honky Tonkers, Patsy Cline style strollers, teenage smoothies ala' Connie Francis plus obscure and completely unknown pop-pearls like 'Dance With Me (Cha Cha Cha)' Great Discovery!

1-CD Digipak (4-plated) with 44-page booklet, 37 tracks. Total playing time approx. 88 minutes, Rock n Roll

• The first comprehensive overview of Jo Ann Campbells rock n roll recordings for Point, Eldorado, Gone, Rori and ABC-Paramount!
• 37 tracks in crystal clear, re-mastered sound!
• Previously unissued recordings
• Contains detailed liner notes by Randy Fox detailing Jo Ann Campbells life and career!
• 44-page booklet with many rare photos and a detailed discography!
  

Jo Ann Campbell had it all looks, talent, and great records. In just two years she went from a wide-eyed fan at an Alan Freed rock n roll revue to becoming one of Freeds most popular stars. She performed for thousands of fans, proving that she could rock just as hard as any of her male contemporaries, and she wrote her own songs and recorded numbers by some of the top songwriters of the day. Although she only scored a few national hits, her recordings for Eldorado, Gone, Rori and ABC-Paramount mixed a cute, girl-next-door charm with lusty, growling rock n roll vocals in such classics as Come On Baby, You re Drivin Me Mad, Wassa Matter With You Baby, Mama (Can I Go Out Tonite), Boogie Woogie Country Girl and many more.

Jo Ann Campbells CD, the newest installment in Bear Familys Jukebox Pearls series focuses on the original Blonde Bombshell with 37 tracks that comprise a comprehensive overview of the best of her rock n roll recordings from 1956 to 1962. The set includes her rare, debut single for Point Records, I am Coming Home Late Tonight b/w Where Ever You Go, along with several previously unreleased numbers. It is the essential collection of an unheralded and all-too-often overlooked Queen of Rock nRoll!

1-CD Digipac (4-plated) with 36-page booklet, 30 tracks. Total playing time approx. 73 mns.

• An unjustly overlooked country singer, who recorded for Starday, Mercury and UA in the 1950s and '60s!
• Hung around the Louisiana Hayride, and recorded with George Jones, Faron Young, and sung back-up on sessions for Jones, Brook Benton, Clyde McPhatter, Leroy Van Dyke, and many more!
• Sang the American cover version of Helen Shapiro's Walkin' Back To Happiness as well as a vocal version of the Tornadoes' Telstar!

Probably no one was in the recording studio more than Margie Singleton from 1955-1965. Her husband, Shelby, was head of A&R for Mercury Records and brought her onto sessions for his complete roster: pop, R&B, and country. She also made records herself, first for Starday, then Mercury, and then United Artists, before she and her second husband, Leon Ashley, began Ashley Records with a #1 hit, Laura (What's He Got That I Ain't Got). The untold story of Margie Singleton is here. 

She might just have been one of the most versatile women in music at that time. A natural singer, Margie sang on plenty of hits but didn't have the hits that should have been hers. Hers is one of the untold stories that Bear Family tells so well.




1-CD-Album Digipak (4-plated) with comprehensive booklet, 14 tracks, playing time approx. 30 mns. 

The complete 50s and '60s recordings of a female rockabilly legend! Contains every recording made by Laura Lee Perkins for Imperial (six tracks) and Sundowner (three tracks)! Plus five acetate demos, not originally issued! 

Features the incredible studio band of Imperial Records including hot guitar solos from Joe Maphis! Includes two of the greatest original rockers and principal songs of the rockabilly revival years! Promotion men thought piano-pounding Laura Lee Perkins was the 'female Jerry Lee Lewis'. She said she was 'just having fun.' Either way, it's a recipe for success. 

Imperial Records won out over Sun for Laura Lee Perkins 'the best female commercial singer' he comprehensive booklet by Martin Hawkins tells the fascinating story of young Alice Faye Perkins from West Virginia, who was transformed into the rock 'n successful night club career. Complete with original interviews and rare photographs.