Thank You M.C. 1969: Michael Chapman’s Folk-Rock Classic “Rainmaker” Arrives From Light in the Attic
When the distinct green Harvest Records logo is remembered today, it’s often for Pink Floyd or early Electric Light Orchestra. But the label, created to stake a claim in the burgeoning rock market, boasted a deep, diverse roster, all the better to compete with other “alternative” labels like Decca’s Deram or Philips’ Vertigo. One of the artists who found early success on Harvest was Michael Chapman, a former art and photography instructor. Chapman’s greatest achievement was arguably 1970’s Fully Qualified Survivor, on which the troubadour was backed by Mick Ronson on guitars and Elton John’s arranger du jour, Paul Buckmaster, supplying the string orchestrations. But Chapman was so fully qualified because Survivor was actually the third in a rich series of albums that both defined and transcended the British folk-rock ethos of the period.
Light in the Attic delivered Fully Qualified Survivor last year, and has now turned its attention to remastering and expanding Rainmaker, Chapman’s 1969 debut for Harvest. (1971′s Window would fall in between those albums.) Like that more famous sibling, Rainmaker blends psychedelic, folk and rock influences into a potent brew that’s uniquely Chapman and again features a stellar line-up of supporting artists. The album was overseen by another Elton John collaborator, Gus Dudgeon, the producer behind John’s remarkable series of seventies classics as well as David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” single. Dudgeon would go on to produce Survivor for Chapman. The singer, songwriter and guitarist was joined by drummer Aynsley Dunbar, perhaps best known for his association with Frank Zappa, and a host of other musicians including Clem Clempson (Humble Pie), Alex Dmochowski (Retaliation), Norman Haines (Locomotive), Danny Thompson (Pentangle) and Rick Kemp (Steeleye Span).
Hit the jump for more on Rainmaker, including the full track listing and order links! Read the rest of this entry »
Chicago Reissues Return From Friday Music, “Hot Streets” Kicks Off Campaign
On 1971’s Chicago III, one of the band’s passionate anthems went, “I just want to be free…” But it took until 1978 for the band to be truly free, and that year’s Hot Streets was an album of firsts. The freedom largely came as a result of the group having severed its ties with longtime producer/manager James William Guercio; hence, Hot Streets was Chicago’s first album in many years not recorded at Guercio’s famed Caribou Ranch. It was also the first to lack a number in its title and first to feature a band portrait on the cover. Tragically, however, it was the first album without founding guitarist Terry Kath, who died earlier in the year of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Hot Streets (the band’s twelfth album, for those of you keeping count, and also a No. 12 LP on the Hot 100) brought producer Phil Ramone and guitarist Donnie Dacus into the Chicago fold; both only lasted for a couple of albums but made strong impressions. Rhino Records reissued Hot Streets in 2003 as part of its Chicago “expanded and remastered” program; that series ended abruptly in the U.S. after Chicago 17, although Rhino’s Japanese arm continued with 18, 19 and 21. (The American remasters of 16 and 17 erroneously included alternate versions of some original album tracks, and these were corrected on the 2010 Japanese pressings of those two titles.)
Now, Friday Music has announced its own Chicago reissue campaign by arrangement with Rhino, and that series is kicking off with the return of (the now out-of-print) Hot Streets. According to the label’s Facebook page, it’s due in stores on March 27. Hit the jump for more details, including the track listing and discographical annotation! Read the rest of this entry »
Keep Feeling Fascination: Human League’s “Dare” Gets Expanded
“You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar when I met you…” As patently false as the subject matter behind The Human League’s hypnotic “Don’t You Want Me” is, it was a massive, out-of-nowhere smash for a band that came out of a troubling state of flux with a renewed energy unlike few others. The fruits of that period, the 1981 album Dare, is coming back into U.K. stores this spring as a deluxe title with a host of non-LP goodies over two discs.
The Human League started out as an avant-garde all-male group anchored around Martyn Ware, Craig Marsh, Philip Adrian Wright and Phil Oakey. Their first single, 1978′s “Being Boiled” was a surprise Top 10 U.K. hit, but subsequent works did not find the same audience. Amid weakening support from the band’s label Virgin Records and clashes over the band’s sonic direction, the band broke apart, with Ware and Marsh forming Heaven 17 and Oakey and Wright left to do something – anything – for the League’s winter 1980 tour of Europe.
Against all odds, the duo recruited synth player Ian Burden to flesh out the group’s live sound and found Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall, a pair of untrained best friends spending a night out at the Crazy Daisy Nightclub in Sheffield, to provide vocals for the group. (Sulley and Catherall, both teenagers, needed parental permission to embark on the tour.) Despite the skepticism of initial reviews, things worked out well enough for the quintet to continue as a band in the studio; first single “Boys and Girls” was a moderate success; upon moving to a new studio (away from recording sessions by Heaven 17) and adding guitarist Jo Callis of The Rezillos to the lineup, the first single from those sessions, “Love Action (I Believe in Love)” was a Top 10 hit.
But The Human League really went into the stratosphere with a track that Oakey initially hated. The fictional tale of a musical Svengali whose protegée decides to move on from him professionally and romantically was so disliked by Oakey, he dumped it onto the end of the Dare LP. But “Don’t You Want Me” was the band’s first and only chart-topper for Christmas of 1981 and became a major hit across the globe.
The deluxe edition of Dare features the 2002 remaster of the original album and various, newly-remastered 12″ remixes and instrumentals on the first disc. The bonus disc, meanwhile, collects nearly all of the material on stopgap album Fascination!, which featured a handful of just as successful non-LP singles in “Mirror Man” and “(Keep Feeling) Fascination.”
Don’t you want this, baby? If so, March 26 is the day to get it. Hit the jump to check a pre-order link and track annotations.
New Blues Traveler Compilation Includes Unreleased Material, Hopefully Avoids Giving Fans the Runaround
Get out your big hats and harmonicas – Blues Traveler is releasing a new career-spanning compilation with a host of unreleased material to accompany their favorite singles.
Ah, the ’90s jam band revival. One of the more intriguing concepts to come out of the post-grunge explosion era, where it seemed every major label was trying something new to see if it would stick with audiences. The demand for quirky live acts gave popular culture stalwarts like the Dave Matthews Band and Phish as well as bands like The Spin Doctors, who enjoyed massive (if brief) success with Pocket Full of Kryptonite in 1991.
This craze gave somewhat less brief but equally and improbably meteoric rise to Blues Traveler – ironically, a band who’d made friends with The Spin Doctors and the Dave Matthews Band before coming up in the music business – in the mid-’90s. The Princeton-based group, initially comprised of John Popper (vocals/harmonica), Chan Kinchla (guitar), Bobby Sheehan (bass) and Brendan Hill (drums), were staples of the New York club scene when A&M signed them in 1990. Their hardcore touring ethic, perhaps best exemplified by the H.O.R.D.E. Festival they founded through the decade, was what initially drew in fans (including David Letterman, who’s featured the band more times on his Late Show than any other) – but it was the release of 1994′s Four and singles “Run-Around” and “Hook” that earned them mainstream attention. Their songs were catchy thanks to Popper’s distinctive, rapid-fire delivery, free-associative lyrics and howling harmonica playing, and “Run-Around” even won a Grammy.
The band faced some setbacks in the late ’90s and early 2000s with the accidental overdose and death of bassist Sheehan, Popper’s struggles with obesity and being dropped by A&M Records. But the band, now a five-piece with bassist Tad Kinchla (Chan’s brother) and keyboardist Ben Wilson, continues to tour and record, releasing their latest album, North Hollywood Shootout, in 2008. As they get ready to tour another summer and finish up a forthcoming studio album, the band has partnered with their old label to release 25, a double-disc set pairing up the hits with a bonus disc of B-sides and rarities spanning their entire career, almost all of which are making their debut on CD.
The package comes out March 6 and can be ordered after the jump, which is of course where you’ll also find a track list.
The Story of US: Shout! Factory Starts Series for ’80s Music Fest
Following a pair of DVD releases, Shout! Factory has announced the release of two performances on CD from the famous US Festival in California.
Spearheaded by Apple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak, the US Festival intended to be a celebration of technology and culture, with a temporary stage and open-air venue paid for by Wozniak himself just for the purposes of the festival. (Initially called the Glen Helen Pavilion, the San Manuel Amphitheater, where the festival was held, remains the largest of its kind in the country.) For two blisteringly hot weekends – Labor Day of 1982 and Memorial Day of 1983, performers including The Ramones, The Police, The Cars, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Grateful Dead, Fleetwood Mac, INXS, The Clash, Van Halen, U2 and David Bowie would take the stage.
Despite the historical value of the performances, which captured many up-and-coming New Wave bands and traditional rock acts toward their peak, the festival was a failure, with at two reported deaths at the 1983 festival and Wozniak and promoters losing some $24 million. Setbacks aside, the performances remain a worthy footnote in rock history, and Shout! Factory aims to memorialize these moments, first through DVD and now on CD.
Performances by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings at the 1983 festival’s “Country Day” – held a week after the festival proper – were both released on DVD last November, and now they’re being released on CD on February 28. Both sets capture two country veterans at their peaks, with solid set lists from each performer (and guest appearances from Jennings on Willie’s set).
Hit the jump to check them out!
From The Beginning: Small Faces Return in a Big Way with Deluxe Editions Due
On December 7, 2011, The Small Faces were announced as inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, marking a long overdue honor for the quartet of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Ian McLagan. The only head-scratching aspect of the recognition is that Small Faces is sharing it with Faces, the group formed by the remaining members plus Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood once Marriott departed for Humble Pie. Faces had a very different musical sound than its predecessor, but now Small Faces can bask in the spotlight alone with the release of four Deluxe Editions from the British arm of Universal Music Group.
Small Faces (Decca, 1966), From the Beginning (Decca, 1967) and Small Faces (Immediate, 1968) will all be reissued as 2-CD sets, while the band’s acknowledged masterwork, Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake (Immediate, 1968), will be the recipient of a 3-CD set. These follow the general format of the well-regarded Kinks reissues from Universal, containing the original albums in both mono and stereo (where applicable) plus a plethora of bonus material. All four sets will arrive in the United Kingdom on May 7.
Hit the jump to plunge into the world of the Small Faces! Read the rest of this entry »
For Your Pleasure: Roxy Music Unveil Massive Box Set, New Reissue Campaign
Roxy Music, arguably the original New Romantics, are coming back in a big way on the catalogue side of things in 2012, with a massive 12-disc box set and additional surprises to follow.
Primarily comprised of singer Brian Ferry, guitarist Phil Manzanera, keyboardist Brian Eno, saxophonist Andy McKay and drummer Paul Thompson (with an almost-consistently shuffling lineup during their active years, including England’s greatest fill-in Paul Carrack of Ace, Squeeze and Mike + The Mechanics), Roxy combined the twin elegances of Beatlesesque rock and Bowie-ish glam to rapturous critical and commercial acclaim. None of their studio albums missed the U.K. Top 10, and they amassed 13 Top 20 singles. (Although Eno would leave the band in 1973 for a wildly influential career as a producer, his influence was long felt.) The group split up in 1983, with Ferry and the others embarking on solo careers, but reconvened in 2001 (minus Eno) for a tour and have performed on and off ever since. (The 66-year-old Ferry, ironically enough, made headlines in the entertainment press recently for marrying his 29-year-old girlfriend, who had previously dated one of Ferry’s sons.)
As announced yesterday, The Complete Recordings 1972-1982 will present all eight of the band’s studio albums, from Roxy Music to Avalon, each digitally remastered and expanded with a host of non-LP B-sides and remixes, 12 of which are making their debut on CD. In addition, four DVDs will present the music in “high-resolution audio, transferred digitally from the original analogue masters.” (According to the link at the top, the DVDs will feature the albums in 96/24 LPCM stereo.)
The set is out on April 2, and will, according to a press release, be the first in a series of catalogue activities to commemorate the band’s 40th anniversary. Have a look at the track list after the jump!
Vinyl Experience: Jimi Hendrix Comes To Sundazed
Get ready to be experienced, again, on vinyl.
Sundazed Music and Experience Hendrix have announced a new series of 7-inch vinyl singles, housed in picture sleeves, featuring music not before released in the single format. The first such single will arrive in April, and both sides will be taken from Hendrix’s incendiary BBC performances of 1967 (released on CD and vinyl LP by Experience Hendrix as BBC Sessions).
Hendrix’s October 17, 1967 performance of Bob Dylan’s “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window” was recorded for the BBC’s Rhythm and Blues show. At the time of Hendrix’s performance, the song had only been available as a single (with “Highway 61 Revisited” as its flipside) and so it wasn’t one of Dylan’s most familiar songs. Hendrix, as always, was ready to reinvent the song with a blazing interpretation. “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?” is backed with the Hendrix original “Burning of the Midnight Lamp,” as performed on August 24, 1967 on BBC Television’s Top of the Pops.
The Top of the Pops performance was captured just one week after the song had been released in the U.K. on the Track Records label. Sundazed relates an amusing anecdote pertaining to the broadcast: “In keeping with strict Musician Union regulations, Jimi was to sing live atop the song’s instrumental backing track. The Top of the Pops presenter announced the Experience, but then ‘The House That Jack Built’ by the Alan Price Set began to play. A few seconds in, Jimi, ever polite, offered an apology: ‘I’m sorry, man, but I don’t know the words…” As panic no doubt ensued within the studio’s control room, the program’s flustered presenter apologized and implored Jimi to try it once again.” Hit the jump for more! Read the rest of this entry »
Reissue Theory: Whitney Houston, “Whitney”
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we focus on notable album and the reissues they could someday see. Today’s entry: a 25th anniversary spotlight on one of the best dance-pop albums of any era, and a tribute to a powerhouse R&B voice. In a word: Whitney.
Around this time in 2010, right when The Second Disc was starting out, one of the most surprising reissues from a major label was Arista/Legacy’s 25th anniversary edition of the self-titled 1985 debut by Whitney Houston. Though she had a rich musical legacy in her blood – her mom, Cissy, was a prominent gospel singer, Dionne Warwick was her cousin and Aretha Franklin was her godmother – the 21-year-old’s sudden rise to fame was something of a surprise to much of the public. (It was less so to Arista Records head Clive Davis, a consistent champion for her throughout her storied career.) Whitney Houston topped the charts for weeks, earned four Grammy nominations (with one win) and took three singles – ballads “Saving All My Love for You” and “Greatest Love of All” as well as uptempo smash “How Will I Know” – to No. 1.
It seemed like a tough album to top – which makes it all the more impressive that it did, hands down.
Short Takes: “Meet Glen Campbell” and “Matter of Time” Reissued, A Rare Earth Curio and More From Impulse!
- The legendary Glen Campbell has seen a number of his classic albums reissued this year by labels including BGO, Real Gone Music and New Haven. Our friends at Rockbeat Records have lined up the next Campbell release, revisiting his 1985 LP for the Atlantic label, It’s Just a Matter of Time. Produced by Harold Shedd, the album found Campbell revisiting some of his past triumphs. Longtime collaborator and friend Jimmy Webb contributed three songs: the oft-covered “Do What You Gotta Do,” “Shattered,” and “Cowboy Hall of Fame.” Al DeLory, the producer of Campbell’s “Wichita Lineman” and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” was enlisted to conduct the latter. Bergen White, another familiar face, arranged four songs, and Webb provided the arrangements not only for his own songs but for two others on the LP. It’s Just a Matter of Time was the third of Campbell’s Atlantic records, following Old Home Town (1982) and Letter to Home (1984). Rockbeat’s reissue, with the original 10-track lineup, arrives on January 31. But that’s not all for the legendary guitar-picker. Hit the jump for news of Glen’s next reissue, plus you’ll also rediscover a Motown lost treasure and peruse the latest jazz reissues from the legendary Impulse! label! Read the rest of this entry »
