Masterworks
The Derek Trucks Band is on hiatus for 2010, but they’re releasing this double-disc 2009 concert recording to tide fans over. Heavy on material from the last album, “Already Free,” it improves on 2004’s “Live at Georgia Theatre” not only in terms of sonic quality but also with the addition of a horn section, lending it a more soulful feel à la The Band’s classic live “Rock of Ages.”
Thirty Tigers
Following up on their 2001 Nashville songwriting marathon that yielded more than 30 songs (13 of which ended up on 2004’s spectacular “Headed for the Hills”), Lauderdale and Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter this time penned their material during three visits by Lauderdale to Hunter’s home in San Rafael, Calif.
Blue Bella
For those who like Willie Mitchell, the Mar-Keys, Booker T. & the MG’s, the Bar-Kays and that 1990 self-titled album by the Memphis Boys, Stubbs comes highly recommended.
Rhino Handmade
Memphis native Bell was a part-time engineer and session guitarist at that city’s now-famed Ardent Studios, spawning ground of Big Star, the quintessential power-pop group he started with former Box Tops singer Alex Chilton and some other high school buddies.
RCA/Legacy
The King finally has a box set fit for a king. After years of such multidisc compilations as “I Believe — The Gospel Masters,” “The Complete ’68 Comeback Special,” “The Music of Elvis Presley — The 1950s,” “Elvis at the Movies” and “The Country Side of Elvis,” Legacy Recordings commemmorates what would have been the Mississippi Tupelo Flash’s 75th birthday with a career-spanning chronological sampler of 100 songs (incorporating the entire “30 #1 Hits” release) that keeps the singer’s forays in proportion to his artistic success.
