Historical Retrospective MANCE LIPSCOMB “NAVASOTA” on Sunset Blvd Records / CD-SBR-7006

Sunset Blvd. Records has released live recordings of Texas song stylist Mance Lipscomb. Called “Navasota,” Mance was born just outside there on April 9, 1895. He played blues classics throughout his life, and was the first singing, in June 1960 by the Legendary Roots music label Arhoolie Records. This was also the first recorded music from Mance, who was celebrating his 65th year when they signed him.

Mance Lipscomb represented one of the last remnants of the 19th century songster tradition, which predated the development of the blues. Though songsters might incorporate blues into their repertoires, as did Lipscomb, they performed a wide variety of material in diverse styles, much of it common to both black and white traditions in the South, including ballads, rags, dance pieces (breakdowns, waltzes, one and two steps, slow drags, reels, ballin’ the jack, the buzzard lope, hop scop, buck and wing, heel and toe polka), and popular, sacred, and secular songs.

Mance Lipscomb himself insisted that he was a songster, not a guitarist or “blues singer,” since he played “all kinds of music.” His eclectic repertoire has been reported to have contained 350 pieces spanning two centuries.

This album represents 3 previously unreleased performances from 1963, ’64 and ’72. 

Album notes by Bill Dahl for Sunset Blvd, noted that Mance’s performances included “finger-picked guitar technique provided vivid and irresistible accompaniment for his supremely atmospheric vocals” of repertoire than encompassed Tin Pan Alley ditties….., along with slide-soaked gospel pieces, reels, breakdowns, patriotic themes—each and every one rendered in his own inimitable style” which was rooted in blues.

$1.00 From Each Album Sold Will Be Donated To Knowledge-First.org, Houston, Texas

 

Disc 1 1972 Harvard University

Texas Blues

Alabama Jubilee

See See Rider

I Want To Do

Baby Please Don’t Go

Going Down Slow

Rock Me Baby

Keep on Truckin’

Key To The Highway

You’ve Got To See Your Mama Every Night

Shine on Harvest Moon

All Night Long

True Religion

When The Saints Go Marching In

 

 

Disc 2 Texas ’63/’64

Night Time is the Right Time

Trouble in Mind

Mama Don’t Allow

Going Down Slow

Careless Love

Rag in F

Diddy Wah Diddy

Boogie Chillen

Willy Poor Boy

Rock Me Mama

So Different Blues

Blues in G

The Titanic

Alabama Bound

Ain’t It Hard

Johnny Take A One on Me

One Thin Dime

Motherless Children

 

Marshall Crenshaw Historical Release Out August 27

The Wild, Exciting Sounds of Marshall Crenshaw:

  Live In The 20^th and 21^st Century 

Sunset Blvd. Records is proud to release The Wild, Exciting Sounds of Marshall Crenshaw: Live In The 20th and 21st Century, a two-disc live retrospective of the acclaimed songwriter/performer’s work from the early 1980s to date.  The album is due out August 27, 2021.

Whether you’ve been a Crenshaw fan for 40 years or know little beyond “Someday, Someway,” this 2 CD set is a revelation. Disc one, recorded in 1982 and 1983, is filled with performances from radio shows in New York, Boston and New Jersey, and focuses largely on songs from his self-titled debut album and the follow-up, Field Day.

“It was such a cool band, with Chris Donato, me and Robert, and our brother John hitting the orchestra bells and the tambourine and whatever else he had up there; it sounds like kids having fun.”

Disc two, which Marshall curated himself, is a sampler of his work from the last 25 years, featuring live versions of songs that appeared on many different albums and EPs.  On six tracks Marshall Crenshaw is ably backed by The Bottle Rockets, featuring the off-the-chain guitar stylings of John Horton, and Brian Hennemen (and M.C. himself).

The package comes complete with detailed liner notes, written by Marshall, and many never- before-seen photos from over the years and decades.

 

Track Listing
1.       Monday Morning Rock
2.   Try
3.   Brand New Lover
4.   There She Goes
5.   Something’s Gonna Happen
6.   Here I Am
7.   Whenever You’re On My Mind
8.   Mary Anne
9.   A Big Hunk O’Love
10. Rockin’ Around in NYC
11. I’ll Do Anything
12. Our Town
13. Cynical Girl
14. Got A Lot O’ Livin’ To Do
15. Someday, Someway
16. What Time Is It?
17. Passing Through
18. Something’s Gonna Happen
19. Walkin’ Around
20. Kit Kat Clock
21. Live And Learn
22. What Do You Dream Of?
23. I Don’t See You Laughing Now
24. Calling Out For Love (At Crying Time)
25. Television Light
26. Valerie