Roscoe Shelton – Roscoe Shelton Sings (1995)

The album "Roscoe Shelton Sings," which you encountered in the context of 1995, has an interesting history. The original record was released in 1961 on the iconic Excello Records label and was the artist's debut full-length work.

However, in 1995, the American record company AVI Music / Excello released a large-scale digital reissue of the album on CD (it was also released in Japan by the archival label P-Vine). Instead of the original 12 tracks, the 1995 version expanded to an impressive 25-song compilation, gathering all of the musician's early and most valuable material under one cover.

In the late 1960s, Roscoe Shelton, tired of the upheavals of the music business (including the tragic deaths of his close friends Sam Cooke and Otis Redding), left the industry entirely and spent nearly 25 years working at a medical school.

The release of this CD reissue in 1995 coincided with the artist's triumphant return to the stage. Together with old colleagues Earl Gaines and Clifford Currie, he formed The Excello Legends, resumed recording, and successfully toured major blues festivals in the US and Europe until his death in 2002.

For collectors and lovers of vintage black music, this 1995 disc is one of the best and most comprehensive guides to the golden era of Nashville R&B.