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!
- Capitol has a reissue of the 2008 “comeback,” Meet Glen Campbell, on the docket for February 7 release. It comes just before The Recording Academy bestows its Lifetime Achievement Award to the artist on February 11. The acclaimed album, produced by Julian Raymond, brought the sound of Campbell’s classic mid-1960s records to an array of songs from the likes of Green Day, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne and The Replacements. Capitol’s reissue includes five bonus tracks: 2008 remixes of “Gentle on My Mind” and “Galveston,” plus three live tracks (“Wichita Lineman,” “Rhinestone Cowboy,” “All I Want Is You”) from an AOL Sessions concert of 2008. Dedicated fans may remember a Wal-Mart exclusive edition of the album, which included the “Gentle” and “Galveston” remixes plus the same treatment for “Wichita Lineman,” “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” and “Rhinestone Cowboy.” The AOL Sessions cuts make their physical CD debut here.
- Motown’s Rare Earth imprint doesn’t often get a lot of love. The imprint, aimed at breaking the lucrative FM rock market, released more than forty LPs between 1969 and 1976, including ten albums by the band that shared its name. Yet remarkably few of the Rare Earth label’s releases have made it to CD. One album that has made it is the 1970 collection by The Power of Zeus, entitled The Gospel According to Zeus. The one and only LP by the Detroit band, it’s a mixture of hard rock, soul and psychedelia, and might be an unknown commodity to even dedicated Motown collectors. Produced by familiar Motown presences Ralph and Russ Terrana, the album is a true hidden gem, often considered Rare Earth’s first “heavy rock” release. The Gospel was reissued in 2011 by Get On Down Records, but as that release fell somewhat under the radar ,we felt it was “better late than never” to bring this news to you! We can only hope that Get On Down and other enterprising labels bring more highlights from the largely-unknown Rare Earth roster to the fore in 2012! (Wouldn’t a comprehensive label retrospective be nice?)
- Back in July, Universal Music Group’s European arm celebrated the legacy of Impulse! Records with the release of a collection of two-on-one CDs drawn from the jazz imprint’s rich library. Another round of fifteen titles arrived yesterday on American shores from greats like Charles Mingus, Sonny Stitt, Keith Jarrett and Freddie Hubbard, all with the same distinct cover style. Even songwriter/television personality Steve Allen shows up to join Oliver Nelson for Soulful Brass! These budget-minded releases of long-unavailable material can be viewed as an appetizer for the Impulse! 50 box set, containing 50 discs of jazz classics. That set has been pushed back to March release, but as soon as the details are confirmed, we’ll share them with you! And here’s the full list of your Impulse! buys:
- Marion Brown, Geechee Recollections/Sweet Earth Flying (1973, 1974)
- Mel Brown, The Wizard/Blues for We (1968, 1969)
- Alice Coltrane, Huntington Ashram Monastery/World Galaxy (1969/1971)
- Sonny Criss, The Joy of Sax/Warm and Sonny (1976, 1977)
- Chico Hamilton, El Chico/The Further Adventures of El Chico (both 1966)
- John Handy, Hard Work/Carnival (1976, 1977)
- Freddie Hubbard, The Artistry of Freddie Hubbard/The Body and the Soul (1962, 1963)
- Keith Jarrett, Mysteries/Shades (both 1975)
- Charles Mingus, The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady/Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (both 1963)
- Blue Mitchell, African Violet/Summer Soft (both 1977)
- Oliver Nelson and Friends, Happenings/Soulful Brass (1966, 1968)
- Howard Roberts, Antelope Freeway/Equinox Express Elevator (1971, 1972)
- Sonny Stitt, Now!/Salt and Pepper (both 1963)
- Clark Terry, The Happy Horns of Clark Terry/It’s What’s Happenin’ (1964/1967)
- Michael White, Spirit Dance/Pneuma (1971/1972)
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Glad that UMG’s Euro division is reissuing some of these long-unavailable Implulse titles. I hope they get around to releasing some of the rarer Archie Shepp albums, and most paricularly, Pharoah Sanders’ “Live At the East,” arguably his greatest work.
Is there a post about the twenty-eight Impulse titles that were released last July? I totally missed these and would love to know what came out then. Or barring a post here, does anyone have a list?
I got the ‘First Impulse: The Creed Taylor Collection’ when it came out last year and it’s a wonderful introduction to the first wave of Impulse releases.
Here’s the list of the first wave, Jason: https://theseconddisc.com/2011/07/26/impulse-buys-abound-from-ume/
I’ve also linked to it in the article. Thanks! (And I heartily second your recommendation of The Creed Taylor Collection – what a treat that was!)
Thanks a lot for the list/link. Lots of good music there! I was hoping to cut down on new music purchaces this year after spending astronomical amounts last year. But it’s not looking good.
Thanks again.