King Alex 1934 - 2008
King Alex was a bluesman for nearly 60 years. Primarily as a bass player, he was a sideman to Albert Collins, Claude "Fiddler" Williams and Little Hatch. He was also a member of The Kansas City Turnpikes, one of the few Kansas City blues acts of the '50s, '60s and '70s to actually record. He started leading his own band, The Untouchables, in the early 1970s. In the decade or so prior to his 2008 death, King Alex featured his B.B. King-like voice more than his bass. He released four CDs, his last, Sweet Banana Pie, recorded at Blue Heaven Studios.
Weepin' Willie Robinson 1926 - 2007
The both triumphant and turbulent blues life of Boston singer Weepin' Willie Robinson ended tragically Sunday, December 30 after a cigarette Robinson had been smoking in bed caused a fire that engulfed him in flames. Robinson was 81.
Read complete post
Time Travel
Imagine record shopping with the use of a time machine. Just think what it’d be like to walk into a record warehouse that had been frozen in time – where there were tens of thousands of LPs, all pressed before 1982 and almost all sealed. What wouldn’t you give to go back and buy all those albums you were foolish to pass on when you originally had the chance,
Read complete post
Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Hubert Sumlin, Pinetop Perkins and Chris Layton Visit Acoustic Sounds
Between them all, they've literally sold tens of millions of records. But even musicians the status of Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Hubert Sumlin, Pinetop Perkins and Chris Layton were completely floored when they saw the world's largest selection of audiophile recordings. They freaked out even further when we sat them down for a listening session in the Acoustic Sounds showroom.
Read complete post
An Audiophile's Dream
20 Years ago when Chad Kassem started Acoustic Sounds, the collectible LP market consisted mostly of pre-owned product. As modern-day audiophilia progressed, reissue labels went a long way towards diminishing the preowned market – at least as far as mail order was concerned. Acoustic Sounds grew to become the world’s largest dealer of LPs, and the bulk of our stock consisted of sealed reissues. Still, there are records that have never been reissued and there are many records where the original sounds better than the reissue. In fact, original LPs, when in Mint or Near Mint condition, remain the most collectible musical format.
Read complete post