A mash-up before mash-ups were invented, this finds the great/bonkers Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, taking two classic reggae tunes, pulling them apart and putting them back together. (more…)

If Jimmie Rodgers bridged the gap between blues and country, then The Carter Family did the same for folk and bluegrass. (more…)

Jimmie Rodgers might not have been the first country musician to make a record – that was Eck Robertson. But with his Blue Yodels he was country music’s first superstar. (more…)

Eck Robertson was the first country musician to make a record. He might have been called “the Hendrix of the fiddle” if only he’d been born half a century later.

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Here is Marlena Shaw reimagined in a deep house tune by Benny Blanco – probably the most successful guy in the entire music biz. (more…)

Here’s another tune taking its inspiration – and its main sample – from Marlena Shaw’s Woman Of The Ghetto, this time by Ludovic Navarre, a Frenchman whose recording alter-ego is St Germain. (more…)

Of the many tunes sampling Marlena Shaw’s marvellous Woman Of The Ghetto,  this may be my favourite. Remember Me by Blue Boy, aka Scottish DJ Lex Blackmore, has such a chill vibe that’s perfect for summer weather. (more…)

Marlena Shaw’s soul classic Woman Of The Ghetto gets a  summery makeover fusing mellow dance grooves with jazzy sax by Akshin Alizadeh. (more…)

Marlena Shaw’s spellbinding live version of Woman Of The Ghetto from 1974 transforms a tribute to African-American women into a civil rights anthem.

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