Archive for the ‘Peabo Bryson’ Category
The Softer Side of UMe’s Budget Compilation Lines: “Ballads” Released
Having recently introduced some EMI-controlled artists to the ICON roster, Universal now incorporates some of those artists (and some of their most treasured R&B and country acts) into a new budget-oriented series, Ballads.
And while none of the artists covered here really, truly need more compilations on the market – and, one can assume, the assembly of these is as low-impact as the ICON series – there’s actually some promise to be had here. The overall selection of artists isn’t terrible, particularly on the EMI side; new sets from culled from the catalogues of Peabo Bryson and Freddie Jackson as well as The O’Jays three albums on EMI America in the late 1980s/early 1990s are all anthologized here, giving fans perhaps a lesser-seen side of these acts.
And that’s the case throughout: from country crooners (Trisha Yearwood, Vince Gill) to Motown acts (Marvin Gaye, New Edition) and other soul acts (Barry White, The Impressions, Kool & The Gang), there’s not a terrible amount of “same old, same old” tracks. Some barely have any singles on them, making for a good “second step” if you’ve got any of these group’s earlier compilations.
All titles can be found after the jump and can be ordered or bought in stores now.
Release Round-Up: Week of March 15
Queen, Queen / Queen II / Sheer Heart Attack / A Night at the Opera / A Day at the Races: Deluxe Editions (Island/UMe)
Deluxe editions of the band’s first five albums are out in the U.K., all remastered with bonus discs of rare or unreleased content. (They’ll be out in the U.S. in May!) (Official site)
Nick Lowe, Labour of Lust (Proper (U.K.)/Yep Roc (U.S.))
Lowe’s New Wave classic, featuring the immortal “Cruel to Be Kind,” is reissued on both sides of the Atlantic, featuring all the tracks heard on original U.K. and U.S. pressings and a non-LP B-side. (Yep Roc)
Rick Springfield, Eartha Kitt, Django Reinhardt, Steve Vai, Nina Simone, The 5th Dimension, Paul Revere and The Raiders and Ricky Skaggs, The Essential(RCA/Columbia/Epic/Legacy)
New two-disc compilations for each of the above artist, each featuring their share of hits and deeper cuts. (We’ve posted the track lists for The 5th Dimension and Paul Revere and The Raiders and will post the remaining track lists later today.) (Amazon)
Peabo Bryson, Reaching for the Sky / Crosswinds: Expanded Edition / Billy Preston, Everybody Likes Some Kind of Music / Jennifer Holliday, I’m on Your Side (Soul Music/Cherry Red)
Remastered editions of four soul classics (the Peabo set is expanded with some U.S. single edits) coming out in the U.K. today. (Soul Music: Peabo, Preston, Holliday)
The Collage, The Collage: Expanded Edition (Now Sounds)
A lost psych-pop classic with some impressive people involved in its recording and production gets a deluxe release on the Now Sounds label in the U.S., having been out for two weeks in England. (Now Sounds)
Inner City: Original Broadway Cast Recording (Masterworks Broadway/Arkiv)
The out-of-print soundtrack to the Tony-winning musical is out through Arkiv as a made-to-order CD-R. (Masterworks)
Various Artists, American Idol 10th Anniversary: The Hits (19/RCA)
Notable tracks from various winners and finalists of American Idol in America. (Official site)
Cherry Red Reissues A-Plenty in March
As if the impressive release schedule from Big Break Records wasn’t enough to excite catalogue fans, next month will see another impressive wave of reissues from other labels in the Cherry Red family. 7Ts, Cherry Pop and Soul Music are all planning some impressive remastered and expanded discs which will bring some pop, rock and R&B acts from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s back into print.
From 7Ts comes expansions of the first two LPs by singer/actress Suzi Quatro. While these two glam-rock LPs attracted little attention in the U.S., they were both considerably successful in Europe. (Quatro’s Stateside success began with a guest role as Leather Tuscadero on Happy Days and culminated in the Top 5 hit “Stumblin’ In” in 1979.) These reissues of Suzi Quatro (1973) and Quatro (1974) are augmented with non-LP singles and B-sides, which along with the albums themselves were largely written and produced by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn (who wrote another big hit around the same time, Sweet’s “Ballroom Blitz,” and would write or co-write plenty of hits in the ’80s for Pat Benatar, Huey Lewis and The News and Tina Turner).
Cherry Pop has prepped reissues of both the first and last albums by the classic line-up of A Flock of Seagulls. The quintessential ’80s band, known for both the worldwide (except for the band’s native U.K.) hit “I Ran” and lead singer/keyboardist Mike Score’s distinctive haircut, will see expanded versions of the band’s self-titled 1982 debut and 1986′s Dream Come True, all augmented with bonus B-sides and remixes. (The band released one last album in 1995, The Light at the End of the World, but Mike Score was the only original member involved.)
Finally, the Soul Music label has four albums coming back into print. Peabo Bryson’s first two albums for Capitol (his second and third overall), Reaching for the Sky (1977) and Crosswinds (1978), will be released together as a two-disc set with three U.S. single edits as bonus tracks. The label will also issue straight remasters of Everybody Likes Some Kind of Music, the 1973 LP by Billy Preston, and I’m on Your Side (1991), the most recent pop album by Jennifer Holliday, famed for her Tony-winning turn in Dreamgirls and the hit “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.”
The Soul Music titles have a U.K. release date of March 14, while the rest hit U.K. shops a week later. Full track lists and order links are after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
