NEW RELEASES - B.B. KING, THE MOMENTS, EDDIE HOLMAN

B.B. KING - LIVE IN JAPAN

B.B. King live in Japan – really cooking here on a concert performance that's quite different from his other live records of the time! The set's a double-length one – originally a 2LP set – and most tracks are nice and long, with lots more room for solos from B.B. – stretching out wonderfully in front of a crowd that's clearly going out of their minds – almost as enthusiastic, at least in the way they're recorded, as the Apollo crowd at a James Brown performance! Although not issued in the US at the time, the material is essential BB King – really great tracks that are some of the best he recorded in the 70s. Titles include "Jamming At Sankei Hall", "Hikari", "Chains & Things", "You Are Still My Woman", "Niji Baby", "How Blue Can You Get", and "Eyesight To The Blind". (SHMCD pressing.) ~ Dusty Groove

THE MOMENTS - MOMENT WITH THE MOMENTS

Sweet sweet sweet soul from The Moments, and one of their rare early albums for the Stang label! The tracks are all beautiful New Jersey harmony soul, of the sort that The Moments and others put on the charts in a large way during the early 70s – and the band's smoothing their act up a bit, but still has some of the roughness that makes the best New Jersey soul albums so compelling! Of course, Sylvia Robinson probably had something to do with that – as she was still just hitting her stride in the studio – finding a great way to present the group with all the fragility of their earliest years, but also a bit more punch than usual. Titles include their hit "Love On A Two Way Street", a surprisingly great cover of "Rocky Raccoon", and other nice ones like "So This Is Our Goodbye", "I Do", "Key To My Happiness", and "Lovely Way She Loves". ~ Dusty Groove

EDDIE HOLMAN - A NIGHT TO REMEMBER   A wonderful late 70s comeback for Eddie Holman – best known to folks for his earlier sweet soul work, but sounding equally great here on a set of club-heavy tracks! Although Eddie's falsetto soul might have seemed like a strange choice for the disco-oriented Salsoul label, this album actually works well – and stands as a good representation of the shifts in styles along the East Coast soul scene during the 70s. Eddie's voice is still in great shape, and he's great on the ballads like "You Make My Life Complete", "Immune To Love", and "It's Over" – but he also fits in great with the more up-tempo tracks, which were arranged and produced by Ron Baker and Norman Harris! Titles include "Time Will Tell", "All My Life", and the title cut, "This Will Be A Night To Remember". CD's got some killer bonus tracks – including "This Will Be A Night To Remember (orig Tom Moulton 12" mix)", "Time Will Tell (orig Tom Moulton 12" mix)", "You Make My Life Complete (orig single)", "Somehow You Make Me Feel (orig single)", and "I've Been Singing Love Songs (background vocals)". ~ Dusty Groove