Omnivore Spotlights Memphis Soul and Funky Fusion On Upcoming Reissues

January 15, 2014 By Joe Marchese — No Comments

Cold weather got you down? Omnivore Recordings is heating things up with a pair of gems – hidden no more – due on March 11. The label will bring a lost Memphis classic from artist Sid Selvidge (and Big Star producer Jim Dickinson) to CD for the first time in over two decades, along with a funk-filled fusion excursion courtesy of Bayeté, a.k.a. Todd Cochran (writer of Santana’s “Free Angela”).

Though born in Mississippi, singer-guitarist Sid Selvidge was a fixture on the Memphis music scene right up through his death last year at the age of 69 following a long battle with cancer. Founder and executive producer of the still-thriving Beale Street Caravan radio program, Selvidge’s recording career included albums for Stax and Elektra, as well as on his own Peabody label. Selvidge played a key role in the recording and release of the late Alex Chilton’s first official solo album, 1979’s Like Flies on Sherbert, and his C.V. also included recordings by Cybill Shepherd and baseball all-star Tim McCarver! The Cold of the Morning, recorded for Peabody in 1975, is soon to be arriving in an expanded and remastered edition by Omnivore.

For the album sessions, Selvidge was joined by Memphis stalwarts Mudboy and the Neutrons, and producer Dickinson on piano. The eclectic tunestack included selections ranging from “Danny Boy” to “Then I’d Be Satisfied with Life” (also recorded by none other than Tiny Tim). But the Cold of the Morning almost didn’t see the light of day. Omnivore explains, “With a cover photo taken by William Eggleston, it was destined for greatness, but when Peabody Records’ benefactor decided not to put the record out at the last minute, he gave the rights to the recently pressed LP to Selvidge, who drove down to the plant, loaded up his car and distributed them himself. The album eventually found its way into regional stores and the national press, even reaching the Cashbox charts, and was enough to take Selvidge to New York, but life intervened, and bigger record deals were not in the cards.”

This expanded reissue has been produced with the cooperation of Selvidge’s son Steve of The Hold Steady, and features six previously unissued bonus tracks from the album sessions. (The CD will contain the full 18 track playlist, while the LP has the original 12 tracks with a download card for the full 18 songs. The initial LP pressing will be on translucent blue vinyl. Finally, the album will also be available in digital form.) Journalist Bob Mehr of The Commercial Appeal provides in-depth new liner notes. Steve Selvidge sums it up: “He said, ‘Look, I’ve made my classic record. It was almost like he was apart from it. It really was the perfect capturing of the perfect moment, and it made for his most perfect statement.”

After the jump: the lowdown on Bayeté’s Worlds Around the Sun!

One of the highlights of Santana’s 1974 live triple-LP psychedelic music explosion Lotus was “Free Angela,” one of the “new” tracks that peppered the tracklist alongside Santana staples like “Oye Como Va” and “Black Magic Woman.” But while “Free Angela” (inspired by controversial activist Angela Davis, also the subject of songs from The Rolling Stones and John Lennon and Yoko Ono) was new to Santana, it had been previously recorded by its composer, Todd Cochran, on his 1972 Prestige Records release Worlds Around the Sun.

Worlds Around The Sun, released under the name of Bayeté, was wholly written and produced by Cochran, who also played keyboards (including, naturally, fusion staple Fender Rhodes!) alongside personnel including percussionist Bobby Hutcherson. Though its reputation has grown over the years, the album has never been released on CD…until now. Not only is Omnivore premiering the album on CD, but the label has added two previously unissued bonus tracks from the original sessions, “Phoebe” and “Shine the Knock,” bringing the total number of tracks from six to eight. The package includes a brand-new conversation with Cochran and author Pat Thomas (Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975) as well as photos from Cochran’s archive.

Cochran recorded one more album for Prestige (Seeking Other Beauty), recorded for CTI as part of Fuse One, and went on to perform with musicians from the jazz, rock and R&B worlds including Stanleys Clarke and Turrentine, Freddie Hubbard, Teena Marie and Peter Gabriel. But his heart and soul can be found on Worlds Around the Sun. The CD is available on March 11, and it can be pre-ordered below – along with Sid Selvidge’s The Cold of the Morning!

Sid Selvidge, The Cold of the Morning (Peabody LP PS-101, 1976 – reissued Omnivore Recordings, 2014)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

I’ve Got a Secret (Didn’t We Sugaree)
Frank’s Tune
The Outlaw
Boll Weevil
Wished I Had a Dime – with Mud Boy and the Neutrons
Judge Boushé
Then I’d Be Satisfied with Life
Danny Boy
Lazrus
Many a Mile
I Get the Blues When It Rains – with Mud Boy and the Neutrons
Miss the Mississippi and You
East St. Louis Blues
Wild About My Lovin’
Keep It Clean
Atomic Power
Wished I Had a Dime (Alternate Take) – with Mud Boy and the Neutrons
Ain’t Nobody’s Business

Tracks 13-18 are previously unreleased

Bayeté, Worlds Around the Sun (Prestige LP PRST 10045, 1972 – reissued Omnivore Recordings, 2014) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

It Ain’t
Free Angela (Thoughts…And All I’ve Got to Say)
Njeri (Belonging to a Warrior)
I’m On It
Bayeté (Between Man and God)
Eurus (The Southwest Wind)
Phoebe (previously unreleased)
Shine the Knock (previously unreleased)

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Sid Selvidge, Todd Cochran

Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song and beyond, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with labels including Real Gone Music and Cherry Red Records, has released newly-curated collections produced and annotated by Joe from iconic artists such as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Spinners, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Meat Loaf, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Darlene Love, Al Stewart, Michael Nesmith, and many others.

Joe has written liner notes, produced, or contributed to over 200 reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them America, JD Souther, Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, BJ Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, and Andy Williams.

Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray.

Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.