The Second Disc

When Mercury Records sent Illinois vocal group The Dells to the City of Brotherly Love in 1977, the meeting of Chicago and Philadelphia was long overdue.  The group had formed in 1952 and was already legendary by the late seventies thanks to its longevity, consistency of personnel and a phenomenal streak at Chess Records’ Cadet label mainly with arranger/producer Charles Stepney.  (In fact, the group’s core membership of five – Mickey McGill, Verne Allison, Marvin Junior, Chuck Barksdale and Johnny Carter – didn’t alter between 1960 and 2009, the year of Carter’s passing!)  A strong creative leader would be needed to replace Stepney and his successor Don Davis, and after one Bobby Miller/Andrew Terry-produced album, The Dells found that leader in Norman Harris. The Dells recorded two albums with “The Harris Machine” in 1977, and now those two lost Philadelphia soul classics have arrived on CD from Cherry Red’s SoulMusic Records label.  They Said It Couldn’t Be Done, But We Did It and Love Connection have both been remastered and expanded by SoulMusic, and are available in stores now.

The Dells felt as if they were making up for lost time; Rico “Superbizzee” Washington’s notes reveal that Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, two of the primary architects of “The Sound of Philadelphia,” were originally slated to produce The Dells early in the decade.  Leonard Chess, however, balked at the team’s asking price, and as Chuck Barksdale recalls, material intended for The Dells such as “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” scored in a big way for Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes.  (The vocal similarity between The Dells’ Marvin Junior and The Blue Notes’ Teddy Pendergrass is unmistakable.)  When The Dells finally got the chance to record in Philadelphia, though, it wasn’t with Gamble and Huff.

Guitarist Norman Harris was part of the rock-solid rhythm section that played on virtually every hit to come out of Philadelphia in the early 1970s, joined by bassist Ronnie Baker and drummer Earl Young.  That trio formed the core of Philadelphia International Records (PIR) “house band” MFSB and when Baker, Harris and Young moved into the realm of production, Gamble and Huff even set up Golden Fleece Records for the team’s work with such acts as The Trampps.  The team, however, felt underappreciated by Gamble and Huff, and in 1976, they defected to the Cayre Brothers’ Salsoul label in addition to continuing non-PIR freelance work.  The two records from The Dells arrived in the post-PIR period for Baker, Harris and Young, but carried on the sound the trio participated in creating with Gamble and Huff.  In addition, much of the albums’ personnel will be familiar to any Philadelphia soul fan: guitarists Roland Chambers and Bobby Eli, bandleader Don Renaldo and His Horns and Strings, and songwriters Ron Tyson and Allan Felder.

Hit the jump for a look at They Said It Couldn’t Be Done, But We Did It and Love Connection including full track listings and order links! Read the rest of this entry »

Today, May 17, 2012, Taj Mahal turns 70.  Though the bluesman has reached a venerable age, he’s still some 289 years younger than his namesake structure in Agra, India.  But the man born Henry Saint Clair Fredericks Jr. has packed in at least a couple lifetimes of breaking new musical ground.  A singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Taj Mahal has fused traditional blues with rock, pop, jazz, folk and world music influences drawing on his own West Indian heritage and beyond.  In celebration of Mahal’s birthday, Legacy Recordings is launching a new catalogue initiative for the artist which begins on August 21 with the release of The Hidden Treasures of Taj Mahal 1969-1973.  This set features two CDs comprised entirely of unreleased finished material, both live and in the studio.  The first disc debuts studio recordings from the period of 1967-1973, and the second disc premieres a full-length live concert, recorded April 18, 1970 at the legendary Royal Albert Hall in London.  Plans are afoot for the entire Columbia Records catalogue of Taj Mahal to eventually see reissue in definitive editions.

Columbia was the label where two-time Grammy winner Taj Mahal got his start.  Born in New York but raised in Massachusetts, he relocated to California in 1964 and soon formed The Rising Sons with another up-and-coming talent, Ry Cooder.  A club sensation, the Rising Sons managed to release one single on Columbia, though an album of unreleased material produced by Terry Melcher (The Byrds, Paul Revere and the Raiders) escaped from the vaults years later.  The eclectic music of The Rising Sons anticipated the catholic approach Taj Mahal would take as a solo artist; the band’s repertoire included Bob Dylan (“Walkin’ Down the Line”), Blind Willie McTell (“Statesboro Blues”) and even Carole King and Gerry Goffin (“Take a Giant Step”).  Though the group soon disbanded, Columbia kept tabs on Taj Mahal, and released his self-titled solo debut in 1968.  The blues-oriented set featured compositions from McTell, Robert Johnson and Sleepy John Estes, and featured Cooder on rhythm guitar.  Taj played lead guitar, slide guitar and handled vocals.  More albums followed, with 1969’s half-acoustic, half-electric Giant Step/De Old Folks at Home a particular milestone.  The album took half of its title from the Goffin and King song that was becoming a Taj Mahal signature, and also included material from The Band’s Garth Hudson and Robbie Robertson as well as Sonny Boy Williamson and Huddie Ledbetter on the electric side.  The acoustic volume primarily consisted of traditionals.

Taj Mahal played the Royal Albert Hall on a bill with Santana between Giant Step/De Old Folks at Home and 1971’s Happy to Be Just Like I Am.  Taj Mahal remained with Columbia Records until 1976, writing more of his own material but frequently spicing his albums with songs from other musicians ranging from Mississippi John Hurt to Bob Marley and Chuck Berry!  In 1976 he left Columbia for Warner Bros. Records, a sister label of Reprise Records, where Mahal’s old friend Ry Cooder had started his own solo career in 1970.  Taj Mahal continues to perform and record today; his 2008 album Maestro celebrated his long career with guest spots from Los Lobos, Jack Johnson, Ziggy Marley and Ben Harper.  Legacy’s 2005 The Essential Taj Mahal offered a retrospective of his career.

Hit the jump for more on Hidden Treasures, plus the full track listing! Read the rest of this entry »

Their first compilation may have humbly seen them described as “just another band from east L.A.,” but Los Lobos have remained one of the most richly diverse bands in a nearly 40-year lifespan. And this August, one of their most acclaimed LPs is getting expanded by Shout! Factory.

1992′s Kiko was released some years after the band burst onto the scene with How Will the Wolf Survive? (1984) and their breakthrough contributions to the soundtrack to La Bamba in 1987. But many critics and fans – not to mention the band themselves – look highly on their work on Kiko, arguably the ultimate synthesis of the band’s diverse influences, from blues to country to Tex-Mex. It was hailed as the year’s best album by The Los Angeles Times and The Chicago Tribune, and the experimental video for “Kiko and The Lavender Moon” won an MTV Video Music Award for Breakthrough Video.

Shout! Factory’s celebration of the album comes twofold: not only are they remastering and expanding the album with five unreleased bonus tracks, but they’re also releasing a live show from 2006, in which the band played the album in its entirety. That set, Kiko Live, will be released as a CD/DVD set or a CD/Blu-Ray package and will also feature bonus interviews about the making of the album.

All sets will be available on August 21. Preview the track lists after the jump!

Kiko: 20th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory, 2012)

1. Dream in Blue
2. Wake Up Dolores
3. Angels with Dirty Faces
4. That Train Don’t Stop Here
5. Kiko and the Lavender Moon
6. Saint Behind the Glass
7. Reva’s House
8. When the Circus Comes
9. Arizona Skies
10. Short Side of Nothing
11. Two Janes
12. Wicked Rain
13. Whiskey Trail
14. Just a Man
15. Peace
16. Rio de Tenampa
17. Whiskey Trail (Studio Demo)
18. Rio de Tenampa (Studio Demo)
19. Peace (Live @ Capitol Studios on NPR – 12/25/1992)
20. Arizona Skies/Borinquen Patria Mia (Live @ Capitol Studios on NPR – 12/25/1992)
21. Kiko and the Lavender Moon (Live @ Capitol Studios on NPR – 12/25/1992)

Kiko Live (Shout! Factory, 2012)

1. Dream in Blue
2. Wake Up Dolores
3. Angels with Dirty Faces
4. That Train Don’t Stop Here
5. Kiko and the Lavender Moon
6. Saint Behind the Glass
7. Reva’s House
8. When the Circus Comes
9. Arizona Skies
10. Short Side of Nothing
11. Two Janes
12. Wicked Rain
13. Whiskey Trail
14. Just a Man
15. Peace
16. Rio de Tenampa
17. Carabina 30-30
18. Volver Volver
19. La Bamba

All tracks recorded live at the House of Blues, San Diego – 2/24/2006

Who among us hasn’t been touched by the music of Donna Summer?  One of the defining voices of the disco era, Summer has been silenced today after a brave battle with cancer.  Yet the music of LaDonna Adrian Gaines, born on New Year’s Eve in 1948, will doubtless continue to transport us back to a time when vivacious music blared “On the Radio.”  Donna Summer implored us to take that “Last Dance” on the disco floor with some very “Bad Girls” in a nearly unrivalled string of hits.  She reminded us about that cake in the rain in a chart-topping remake of Jimmy Webb’s “MacArthur Park,” and taught Barbra Streisand to have “No More Tears (Enough is Enough).”  Today, we remember the sublimely soulful, deeply dramatic Donna Summer.  Please share your memories of Donna Summer and her legacy of “Hot Stuff” below.

Here’s a compilation that slipped through the cracks a few weeks back: Best of Beserkley ’75-’84, a new disc covering the work of The Greg Kihn Band, for many years the flagship artist of Beserkley Records.

The Berkeley, California-based indie label trafficked in power pop and alt-rock stylings, with early acts including Earth Quake, The Rubinoos and Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers. Kihn, a Baltimore-born singer/songwriter living in Berkeley was an early signee, as well; his debut recording was released on the label’s first LP, the audaciously titled Beserkeley Chartbusters Vol. 1.

Despite the size of that claim, Kihn would indeed become the main (and by the ’80s, among the only) artist for the label, with huge hits in “The Break Up Song (They Don’t Write ‘Em),” which peaked at No. 15 in 1981, and “Jeopardy,” a No. 2 hit in 1983. (The latter was, of course, an early tune parodied by “Weird Al” Yankovic as “I Lost on Jeopardy.” Kihn even appeared in the video!)

The Greg Kihn Band stopped putting out records in 1986, a few years after Beserkley folded; Kihn now operates as a radio DJ in San Jose. Rhino issued a compilation of their work in 1989, and other labels have licensed the Beserkley catalogue in the decades since. The Riot label takes the reins on this new disc, which gathers 21 of the band’s best singles and album cuts for a new generation to enjoy.

The set is out now, and can be ordered after the jump.

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Another Kinks-size box is on the way.

Following the recent, well-received series of deluxe album reissues and the limited-edition Kinks in Mono box set, Universal U.K. and Sanctuary Records have announced the latest project celebrating the quintessentially English rockers.  Due on August 13, the 5-CD/1-DVD box set The Kinks at the BBC isn’t the first survey of the band’s BBC live recordings, but it’s by far the most comprehensive.  It has been compiled from all of the existing recordings made by The Kinks still residing in the British Broadcasting Corporation’s archives, and includes “a raft of sessions and live recordings from throughout the band’s career including the rare concert and unheard session recordings,” according to the label.  In addition to the five CDs’ worth of audio tracks, a DVD will present live appearances from programs including Top of the Pops and The Old Grey Whistle Test.  And no fear!  If this is too much Kinks for you, a 2-CD “Best Of” distillation will also be offered.

Sanctuary first packaged the Kinks’ BBC recordings in 2001 as BBC Sessions 1964-1977 (06076 84504-2).  This 35-track compilation, remastered by Andy Pearce and Ray Davies himself, included many of the band’s most iconic songs like “You Really Got Me,” “All Day and All of the Night” and “Waterloo Sunset.”  As the group’s early recordings were supplemented with seasoned session players, the live recordings often had a raw dimension that the more polished studio cuts lacked.  The Kinks’ association with the BBC was a long one, and especially in the early days, covers were played alongside originals.  As “You Really Got Me” was climbing to number one, the band recorded its first BBC session on September 7th, 1964 at London’s Playhouse Theatre.  The Kinks’ last BBC performance to date took place just over thirty years later, on October 8, 1994.  A total of 24 visits were made by the band to the media giant’s studios.

Hit the jump for details! Read the rest of this entry »

It’s no exaggeration to state that the entertainment world was shaken by the sudden passing of Davy Jones on February 29 of this year, responding not only with an outpouring of grief, but with genuinely fond memories of the actor, singer and Monkee. Friday Music is joining Rhino Entertainment in keeping Jones’ rich legacy of music alive, with two new releases slated for April 24. After having recently reissued Jones’ pre-Monkees debut, the label turns its attention to Jones’ 1971-1972 recordings for the Bell Records label, featuring the hit “Rainy Jane” as well as “Girl,” the song immortalized on The Brady Bunch. But that’s not all. On the same day as Davy’s The Bell Recordings 1971-1972, Friday will reissue The Monkees’ 1987 reunion album Pool It! in an expanded edition boasting two bonus tracks and a DVD.

The first twelve tracks on The Bell Recordings represent the complete 1971 Davy Jones album, on which Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield’s “Rainy Jane,” a No. 52 hit for the singer. (Sedaka’s own 1969 version achieved some measure of popularity in Australia in the period between his early RCA hits and Rocket Records comeback.) The Bell era is also notable for Jones’ appearance on the Brady Bunch episode “Getting Davy Jones,” but Jones also kept a high profile via television guest spots on Love American Style, Here Come the Brides and even The New Scooby-Doo Movies! Davy Jones was arranged and conducted by Al Capps, who also worked with Bobby Sherman, Andy Williams and Cher, and carried on the lighter sound of the Monkees’ repertoire rather than that band’s later sonic explorations. The twelve tracks from Davy Jones are augmented by six bonus tracks: the mono singles “Girl” b/w “Take My Love” and “I’ll Believe in You” b/w “Road to Love,” plus album tracks “How About Me” and “I Really Love You,” also both in mono.

UPDATE 5/16/12: Rhino Records announced today that a limited edition green vinyl single of Davy’s “Girl” and “Rainy Jane” will be released as a double A-side 7-inch single!  Only 1,000 copies of this limited edition release have been pressed!  “Girl/Rainy Jane” is available exclusively at Rhino.com and can be pre-ordered here!  It’s set to arrive on May 29 at Rhino.com.

Hit the jump to join Davy, Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork as we dive into The Monkees’ Pool It! on Friday Music!

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Soundtrack fans had a lot of courses to chew on this week, with batches from Intrada and Varese Sarabande landing within mere hours of each other on Monday and Tuesday and a reissue announced for next week by La-La Land Records.

Over at Intrada, fans got to enjoy a new entry in the label’s Special Collection series: Michael Small’s sexy, suspenseful score to The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981). Small’s soundtrack is released in full for the first time anywhere, featuring a handful of alternate cues intended for a soundtrack LP that never materialized.

Intrada’s second release is an interesting one: a reissue of the expanded score to Star Trek V: The Final Frontier by Jerry Goldsmith. As you may recall, La-La Land’s expansion of the album, which combined the complete score with the original soundtrack LP and bonus material, was a sellout not long after its limited release in 2010. Paramount apparently requested it be back in print in perpetuity – now, virtually every classic Trek soundtrack reissue of the past few years is now available in unlimited quantities – and so, with only minor changes in artwork, it can boldly go to your collection once more.

Varese dropped a crazy amount of titles on Tuesday, and you can read all about them after the jump!

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Bill Withers titled his 1971 debut album Just As I Am, and the raw, simple and understated cover photo seemed to support that title.  Withers, with an ingratiating smile on his face and a lunch pail in his hand, is standing against a brick wall at California’s Webber Aircraft facility.  The US Navy aircraft mechanic turned guitar-slinging singer/songwriter was somewhat of an anomaly on the music scene, and in his understated manner wrote on the album’s jacket, “It matters not where I came from in relation to the world, as long as the world and I arrive at a common point at a common time.  I would like to thank Sussex Records and Booker T. Jones for allowing me to present myself to whoever is kind enough to listen.”  Though Withers largely retired from music over twenty-five years ago, his debut statement and its oft-covered “Ain’t No Sunshine” has been recognized as a bona fide classic of pop and soul.  Big Break Records has reissued Just As I Am with Withers’ participation for a 40^th Anniversary Edition which has just arrived in stores.

A native of West Virginia, Withers served for nine years in the U.S. Navy, and upon his 1965 discharge continued to work in the aircraft business even as he began pursuing an extracurricular interest in making music.  A number of fortuitous occurrences led to Withers being introduced to Clarence Avant of Sussex Records, who in turn brought Booker T. Jones, of Booker T. and the MGs, to Withers.  Jones was signed to produce the album that became Just As I Am, and brought along compatriots like Al Jackson and the recently-departed Donald “Duck” Dunn to contribute musically.  Adding a unique sound to the album was the guitar of Stephen Stills, with whom Jones had recently worked and also enlisted to join the sessions for the debut of this new singer/songwriter.

Hit the jump for more, including the track listing and an order link! Read the rest of this entry »

It will be a sixties flashback on June 26 when Real Gone Music ushers in the summer with five releases from that golden decade of music.  “Complete Singles” collections are due from experimental rockers The Electric Prunes and big-voiced soul queen Timi Yuro, and the label is also anthologizing the legendary folk group The New Christy Minstrels.  Last but certainly not least, two original LPs are being remastered and expanded: an outré pop classic from The Tokens and the debut of “international teen-age sensation” Rita Pavone.

One of the most indelible of the Nuggets compiled by Lenny Kaye for the original 1972 compilation of psychedelic garage-rock “artyfacts” – and indeed, the first cut on the seminal anthology – was The Electric Prunes’ “I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night.”  That No. 11 hit was only the Prunes’ second single, but it announced that the Seattle, Washington-formed band had plenty to say.  The story of the Prunes is a tumultuous one, with dominating producers (Dave Hassinger, David Axelrod) shaping the band’s sound and identity through a variety of changes to both the group sound’s and its line-up.  Yet the remarkably diverse music released under the Electric Prunes name has endured thanks to its consistently high quality.  The Complete Reprise Singles compiles for the very first time all 23 of the band’s Reprise single sides.  The Prunes’ music was described by band members James Lowe and Mark Tulin in 2007 as “Electric, eclectic, sinister, existential, whimsical, [and] innocent,” and all of those qualities are very much in evidence on these singles.  They’re presented in their original mono mixes, and Richie Unterberger supplies sleeve notes including commentary from the band and photos of the original singles.  And as a bonus, you’ll hear the Prunes’ demonstration of the Vox Wah-Wah Pedal!  The Complete Reprise Singles should make the perfect companion to Rhino U.K.’s 2007 compilation Too Much to Dream: Original Group Recordings 1966-1967, which presented the group’s first two LPs in expanded form.

The next artist to receive Real Gone’s “Complete Singles” treatment is Timi Yuro (1940-2004).  The Complete Liberty Singles is described by the label as the first to feature original mono single mixes rather than “after-the-fact stereo remixes or album tracks.”  This 2-CD collection includes for the first time the A- and B-sides of all of the U.S. singles Timi released on Liberty Records during her two stints with the label, , all remastered at Capitol Studios.   Despite her young age, the Chicago-born Yuro’s style was deeply soulful, influenced by R&B and jazz vocal greats.  In addition to her signature 1961 hit “Hurt,” The Complete Liberty Singles features Phil Spector’s uncredited production of “What’s A Matter Baby (Is It Hurting You),” the rare single and Northern soul favorite “It’ll Never Be Over for Me/As Long as There Is You” and the early Burt Bacharach/Hal David song “The Love of a Boy,” also arranged by Bacharach.  The set’s co-producer Ed Osborne writes the liner notes and supplies a singles discography along with photos.

Hit the jump to see what’s coming from The Tokens, The New Christy Minstrels and Rita Pavone! Read the rest of this entry »