Alligator Records 30th Anniversary Collection

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About Alligator Records 30th Anniversary Collection

Product Description Great collection of songs on 2-CDs for a great price! Disc one features studio material from from Alligator Record's best selling artists. Disc two features live recordings and a special CD-ROM track with only known video of Alligator's legendary first artist, Hound dog Tylor, performing at the 1973 Ann Arbor Blues Fest. Amazon.com Three decades ago Bruce Iglauer founded Alligator Records, selling his hero 's records out of his car trunk. Since then, Alligator has become America's best-known and most prolific blues label, and many of the reasons for its success appear on this budget-priced, two-disc 30th anniversary collection. Much of the material, including 's "Louella" and 's "Turn the Heat Up," comes from relatively recent recordings, since the label also released anthologies honoring its 20th and 25th anniversaries. Those two collections are unreservedly recommended, with the 20th providing the best historical overview of the label's evolution. But the 30th holds its own, presenting guitar greats like ("Stop"), ("My Time After Awhile"), and ("Two-Headed Man"), as well as harmonica heroes ("When It Rains It Pours"), ("Keep Your Hands Out of My Pockets"), and ("Broke and Hungry"). Several outstanding duets, including a fine and funky tune by and and a classic from a and collaboration, provide variety. The second disc contains 13 live cuts, featuring some of the most exciting live blues acts ever, such as Albert Collins, backed by the Icebreakers; , who rips through his signature "Soul Fixin' Man"; and , who gets help from . Dynastic zydeco great serves up "Jambalaya," and dishes out blue-eyed soul with "Maybe Someday Baby" to further flavor the live action. And to top it off, there's a bonus video track featuring Hound Dog Taylor to make the celebration complete. --Michael Point About the Artist Back in 1971, Bruce Iglauer, a 23-year-old blues fan, used a tiny inheritance to record and produce his favorite band, Hound Dog Taylor & The HouseRockers. Following his heart, he quit his day job with Delmark Records and began promoting Hound Dog Taylor and his new record company full-time. Thirty years later, that company, Alligator Records, is home to some of the world’s premiere blues and roots rock talent and is regarded by fans and the media alike as the top contemporary blues record label in the world. With the company’s 30th anniversary at hand, Bruce Iglauer and his staff are still growing, still pushing the blues envelope. As the 1990s drew to a close, the emergence of young singing sensation Shemekia Copeland, the groundbreaking, visionary work of Corey Harris, the addition of blues rocker Coco Montoya and first-generation blues songster John Jackson kept Alligator Records at the top of the blues world. Soul/gospel greats The Holmes Brothers (with multi-million selling artist Joan Osborne producing), kicked off Alligator’s 30th anniversary year with their label debut, Speaking In Tongues. Almost immediately upon release, Chicago Tribune rock critic Greg Kot labeled the album, “the first great release of 2001.” The addition of singer/pianist Marcia Ball to the Alligator roster brought even more attention the label’s way, as sales soared and Marcia performed live on the National Public Radio programs Whad’Ya Know? and Mountain Stage to a radio audience numbering in the millions. From the early days of recording only Chicago blues artists to the addition of national and international artists to the label’s commitment to younger acts, Alligator has continually taken chances and looked toward the future. “Alligator should be the label that’s exposing the next generation of blues artists and bringing their music to the next generation of blues fans,” says Iglauer. “I want the future of the blues and the future of Alligator Records to be one and the same.” If the last three decades are any indication, the future for Alligator and for the blues looks very bright indeed.