Édith Giovanna Gassion, known as Édith Piaf, was a French singer and lyricist. She is regarded as France's greatest popular singer and one of the most celebrated performers in the world. She is best known for performing songs in the cabaret and modern chanson genres.

Five long years after Eric Records unveiled the last numbered volume of our flagship series – detours through Music City and Soulsville notwithstanding – we proudly present Hard To Find 45s on CD Volume 9: 1957-1959. This jam-packed platter is a veritable potpourri of pop, reflecting the wide-open world of Top 40 radio before the days of niche marketing and narrow-casting. Within the span of these 23 tracks, you’ll hear rollicking New Orleans rhythm ’n’ blues (Huey “Piano” Smith), irrepressible rockabilly (Carl Mann), and spirited workouts on the Wurlitzer (Dave Cortez’s “Happy Organ”), steel guitar (Santo & Johnny’s “Tear Drop”), and a whole “String of Trumpets” (from, who else, the Trumpeteers).

The fourth volume in Eric Records' series of Hard to Find 45's on CD focuses on the late '50s and includes 20 of the rarer songs to hit the Top 40 during those years. Though several of these songs are already available elsewhere on CD (Kay Starr's "Rock and Roll Waltz" and Marty Robbins' "White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation" foremost among them), there are plenty of long-lost songs to discover, like "Start Movin' (In My Direction)" by Sal Mineo, "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" by Laurie London, "Three Stars" by Tommy Dee, "Guess Who" by Jesse Belvin, "It Was I" by Skip & Flip, and many others.

Barney Kessel was an American jazz guitarist. Known in particular for his knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies, he was a member of many prominent jazz groups as well as a "first call" guitarist for studio, film, and television recording sessions. Kessel was a member of the group of session musicians informally known as the Wrecking Crew. This EU-only four CD set containing seven classic albums by the Jazz great. Includes the albums Let's Cook, Kessel Plays Carmen, Some Like It Hot, the Poll Winners, Barney Kessel's Swingin' Party, Workin' Out and Bossa Nova.

When it comes to vocal jazz, the ladies win. 'Body and Soul' features great jazz standards sung by some of the best-known and most influential female jazz vocalists in history. Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan.

Rock and roll starts here. Assembled in 1958 and opening with the incendiary 1955 title track, Bo Diddley is an essential overview of the rock pioneer’s earliest singles —foundational recordings that laid the groundwork for an entire genre. The 12 tracks collected here, including “I’m A Man,” “Hey! Bo Diddley,” “Pretty Thing,” and other classics built around the instantly recognizable Bo Diddley beat, continue to inspire nearly 70 years later.

Recorded in 1958 over two sessions utilizing different trumpeters and drummers but the same pianist and bass player, John Coltrane had not yet entered his modal post-bop stage, when he recorded Stardust. It has now been given a remastering by the session’s sound engineer, Rudy Van Gelder, as part of Prestige/Concord’s RVG Remasters series. Composed of just four standards, this CD is recommended for fans of Coltrane’s more straight ahead romantic readings, as found on his Ballads CD. It shows that John Coltrane could hold his own with the ballad giants, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, and Ben Webster. John is more known for his “sheets of sound” playing and his exploratory cutting edge sessions recorded in the mid-60s. With the exception of Love Thy Neighbor, which is taken at a faster, more aggressive pace, the balance of these selections here are taken at a ballad pace.

Original 1950s Decca recordings by the Father of Bluegrass (including eight of his most famous songs), plus a 1984 duet with Ricky Skaggs.

New Soil wasn't the first session Jackie McLean recorded for Blue Note, but it was the first one released, and as the title suggests, the first glimmerings of McLean's desire to push beyond the limits of bop are already apparent. They're subtle, of course, and nowhere near as pronounced as they would be in just a few years' time, but – as with the 1959 material later issued on Jackie's Bag – hints of Ornette Coleman's stream-of-consciousness melodic freedom are beginning to find their way into McLean's improvisations. His playing is just a touch more angular than the ear expects, especially given the very bluesy nature of pieces like McLean's 11-minute vamp "Hip Strut," and pianist Walter Davis, Jr.'s infectious boogie-woogie "Greasy."

These sixteen tracks are split equally between Sonny Boy Williamson II and pianist Willie Love, who befriended each other in the early 40s, and recorded a number of sides for Trumpet records. All eight Sonny Boy-numbers are previously unreleased, and the fidelity is very good, better than on Trumpet's other Sonny Boy Williamson-releases. Rice Miller (Sonny Boy) is backed by various electric combos. Three cuts feature Willie Love on piano, and Miller's harp blowing is augumented by the presence of a saxophone player on five tracks. Here are early vesions of "Keep It To Yourself" and "I'm Not Beggin' Nobody", as well as a great "Shuckin' Mama" and the piano-driven boogie of the title track. And it's no surprise that Miller's playing and singing is every bit as impressive as on his later Chess releases. He was in his fifties when these sides were recorded, fully developed as an artist, and had of course been a playing partner of Robert Johnson more than fifteen years before…

This is an enjoyable date of Dixieland, emphasizing familiar warhorses. Trumpeter Bob Scobey is in his usual consistent form and is assisted in the frontline by trombonist Jack Buck and clarinetist Bill Napier. Banjoist Clancy Hayes has six excellent vocals (particularly "Curse of an Aching Heart" and "Travelin' Shoes"), and the spirit and high musicianship overcome the familiar repertoire.

Lonesome Sundown (his real name was Cornelius Green) had a little bit more Delta and Chicago blues in him than most of his Louisiana labelmates who recorded for producer J.D. Miller. Not that Sundown's sound isn't solidly in the so-called swamp blues tradition, but where Slim Harpo, Silas Hogan, and the other Excello artists worked from a laconic, Jimmy Reed-like shuffle, Sundown quickened the pace (at least for an Excello act) to a nastier level, and with Miller's reverb-laden production, ended up sounding a little bit like Jimmy Reed on speed, particularly on tracks like "Don't Go." Not that Lonesome Sundown couldn't do the patented Louisiana blues shuffle when he chose to, as his signature tune, "I'm a Mojo Man," shows, or even improve on the pattern, as with the loose-limbed and brilliant "I'm a Samplin' Man," but he seemed most at home doing more standard blues fare like the modern-sounding "My Home Is a Prison"…

When Bill Evans agreed to do a two piano date with Bob Brookmeyer, eyebrows surely must have raised. Pairing a rising superstar of modern jazz with a gentleman known for playing valve trombone and arranging charts might have been deemed by some as a daunting task. Fortunately for the keyboardists, this was a good idea and a marvelous concept, where the two could use the concept of counterpoint and improvisation to an enjoyable means, much like a great chess match. For the listener, you are easily able to hear the difference between ostensible leader Evans in the right channel of the stereo separation, and the accompanist Brookmeyer in the left.

Unveiling a lost treasure from the legendary Charles Mingus, “Reincarnations” offers a captivating glimpse into the groundbreaking 1960 Candid Records sessions. This isn’t just another compilation; it’s a masterfully curated collection of unearthed and unreleased gems, meticulously assembled to take its rightful place among Mingus’s finest works. Prepare to be immersed in the raw energy and unbridled creativity that defined this pivotal era in Mingus’s career.