Rise

Format

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  ABOXCD11CD  £18.00

Label

Ace / Ace Records / Ace UK

Various Artists

Music City Story

60s 70s one of the holy grails of 1950s american popular music has been rescued dusted down and polished for fans of blues both raunchy and smooth street corner harmony and bittersweet soul the legendary music city records of berkeley california was one of the longestlived most fiercely independent blackowned record companies of the era over the course of two decades owner ray dobard's release schedule reflected the evolution of black popular music from smooth blues in the early 1950s through rb instrumentals rock'n'roll through to the end of the decade protosoul in the early 60s and into funk and modern soul in the 1970s but it is the rich seam of bay area vocal groups that music city mined that collectors associate with the label 'the music city story' is an unprecedented survey of the label's riches the tapes to which have miraculously survived to provide an intimate portrait of this unique operation the 3disc set acts as an excellent primer for ace's forthcoming genreand artistbased compilations of music city material telling the story with both many rare gems from the catalogue and a surfeit of previously unissued goodies