News

Canadian hard rock heroes Triumph have been selected as the Canadian Ambassadors for Record Store Day 2021 – and the band isn’t showing up empty-handed!  As previously reported, RSD will be held in two “Drops” this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.  The first of those drops is June 12, with the second to follow on July 17.  On June 12, Triumph – Rik Emmett (guitars/vocals), Mike Levine (bass, keyboards) and Gil Moore (drums, vocals) – will release a 40th Anniversary vinyl box set of their 1981 classic Allied Forces.  The album was the first to be recorded at the band’s MetalWorks studio.  It yielded the radio favorites “Magic Power,” “Fight the Good Fight,” and “Say Goodbye,” and the success of the singles helped the LP attain a Platinum sales certification in the United States.  The box set, arriving on Round Hill Records, will include:

• LP 1: Picture Disc of Original Allied Forces Studio Album
• LP 2-3: Remastered double album Live in Cleveland 1981
• 7″ Single – Tribute 2021 Version of Allied Forces + Magic Power Live from Ottawa 1982 (previously unreleased)
• 11×17 Maple Leaf Gardens Poster (RSD Canada exclusive)
• 24-page booklet featuring rare photos and behind the scenes + Allied Forces essay
• 40th Anniversary Allied Forces retro tour book
• 40th Anniversary Allied Forces retro tour poster
• 40th Anniversary Allied Forces retro tour pass
• Rik Pics (3 Hand-Drawn Cartoons)
• Handwritten Lyrics (Magic Power, Allied Forces & Fight the Good Fight)

Triumph has recorded a video greeting for Record Store Day Canada which can be viewed at this link.

Mike Levine shares in the press release, “”We’re extremely proud of Allied Forces. It was the record that started the global rocket ride for us and we’re also excited to share with our fans some really great moments from our archives with this box set.”  Though Triumph no longer tours, this set is a reminder of the “magic power” the band possessed.  Look for the new box on RSD Drop 1, June 12, 2021.

Meanwhile, Omnivore Recordings is taking a trip to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and the city’s “Combo Corner” scene. Yesterday’s Tomorrow: Celebrating the Winston-Salem Sound arrives from the label on May 7 and preserves a concert held on May 12, 2018 at the Ramkat club.  On that evening, original members of Winston-Salem bands including Arrogance, Little Diesel, Sacred Irony, and Rittenhouse Square –including such familiar names as Mitch Easter (Let’s Active), Peter Holsapple, Will Rigby, and Chris Stamey (the dB’s); singers Don Dixon, Dale Smith, Lynn Blakey, and Bob Northcott; and many others — got together to make a big noise in a (relatively) small space in celebration of Winston-Salem’s musical legacy.

The group revived the psychedelic-tinged, garage-honed, electric guitar-led music from local bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s with names such as Captain Speed and the Fungi Electric Mothers, The Imperturbable Teutonic Griffin, and Rittenhouse Square, joined by strings, percussion, and brass from The Occasional Orchestra.  Doug Davis of Vagabond Saints’ Society provided the musical direction, and the evening also found room for surprising covers of tunes by The Easybeats, The Music Machine, The Electric Prunes, The Beatles, Kool and The Gang, and others – just like you might have heard in a Winston-Salem club back in the day.  The concert – a companion of sorts to Chris Stamey’s memoir A Spy in the House of Loud – was recorded to multitrack and mixed by Stamey and Mitch Easter. Yesterday’s Tomorrow: Celebrating the Winston-Salem Sound is due May 7 from Omnivore on CD and digitally.  Pre-orders are available now from Omnivore and at Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada.

Evie Sands has enjoyed a remarkable career.  In 1967, she recorded the first version of Chip Taylor and Al Gorgoni’s timeless “Angel in the Morning” with Taylor and Al Gorgoni at the helm.  She also introduced the pair’s “I Can’t Let Go,” popularized by The Hollies in the 1960s and again by Linda Ronstadt at the dawn of the 1980s.  Evie’s songs were recorded by Barbra Streisand, Dusty Springfield, and Gladys Knight, and her solo albums including the 1970 A&M LP Any Way That You Want Me (also produced by Taylor and Gorgoni), 1974’s Estate of Mind with hitmaking producers Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter, and 1979’s Suspended Animation (on which she took the role of producer in an era not very hospitable to women in that position) remain underrated cult favorites. In more recent years, Evie has returned to writing, recording, and performing including 1998’s rootsy Women in Prison (featuring a duet with Lucinda Williams), the 2014 Queen of Diamonds/Jack of Hearts collaborative album with Billy Vera and Chip Taylor, and the 2017 EP Shine for Me.  Now, Sands is readying a new LP.  Get Out of Your Own Way is due on April 23 from R-Spot Records.

Get Out of Your Own Way blends pop, rock, soul, and Americana, reflecting Sands’ many musical personas over the years.  An interconnected collection of songs, the album found the artist producing, singing lead vocals, and playing guitar and keyboards.  She was joined by the bandmates who have supported her for years, including Teresa Cowles on bass, Jason Berk on guitar, Eric Vesper on drums, and engineer Steve Refling.  Sessions were recorded live, resulting in spontaneous in-studio invention.  The release of Get Out of Your Own Way coincides with Sands’ new affiliation with Warner Chappell Music, and the singer-songwriter hopes to return to the road as soon as it’s safe to do so to share these songs with live audiences.  Look for this powerful and authentic musical statement from the groundbreaking Evie Sands to hit all platforms on April 23 from R-Spot Records.  The album is available now as a U.K. import from Amazon on both CD (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) and vinyl (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada).