We are presently in a Golden Age of discovering, or rediscovering vintage sounds of R&B just as rock and roll was rocking and rolling. Here are a handful of recent gems to enjoy .
Two presentations from “Mojo” Man are the latest two volumes of “Blues Meets Doo-Wop”, and the mixture of earthy riffs and rich vocals is irresistable. Volume 2 includes Champion Jack Dupree calypsoing with a tenor sax on “Somebody Changed The Lock”, while Baby Washington gives a Crescent City beat to 
“Congratulations Honey”. Bo Diddley strolls through “I’m Sorry” and John Bullard boogies through “Mary Lou.” You even get Jimmy Witherspoon wailing on “My Girl Ivy” and vocal groups like The Falcons and The Robins croon out “ Sent Up” and “ If It’s So Baby” with a street corner savvy. WHEW!
Volume 3 features Johnny Otis crying out on “In The Dark”, Albert King having a hoot of a time on “This Funny Feeling” with Elmore James sliding his guitar with grease on “ Good-Bye”. Chuck Berry boogies on “Almost Grown” and Little Milton Doo Wops “I’m IN Love”. Again, some great vocal groups such as “The Robins (on “Framed”) , The Orioles (on a festive “Baby Please Don’t Go”) and The Five Echoes (“Fool’s Prayer”) create palpable harmonies. Get your motor runnin’!
One of the more obscure songwriters was Sylvester Bradford. No, he’s not a household name, but the artists who played his material are. Most famous is Fats Domino’s “I’m Ready”, but there are other joys as well. Gene Vincent rockabillied “Walk’ Home From School”, and The Chantels coo’d out “IFIC”, with Bill Haley and His Comets boogie-ing out “Right Now”. Bradford himself is pretty impressive on “I Like Girls” and Little Boy Blue”, with Little Anthony and the Imperials getting glorious on “Wishful Thinking”. An unearthed gem.
Bear Family Records puts together a rollicking collection of material from the early years of Atlantic Records, when they were a deep blue R&B label. For pianists, Fats Domino takes you to New Orleans on “Be My Guest” , Little Richard screams out “Good Golly Miss Molly” and Amos Milburn jumps the blues on “One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer”. If it’s guitar you want, Jimmy Reed riffs out “She Don’t Want Me o More” and Bo Diddley gets earthy on “You Can’t Judge A Book By The Cover” with Chuck Berry creating a whole new sound on “Reelin’ and “Rockin’”. Vocalist Lloyd Price invents rock and roll on “Where You At” , and vocal groups like The Coasters (“Three Cool Cats”) and The Platters (“Out Of My Mind”) mix harmonies with humor and romance. Where did we make a wrong turn?