Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. This week, there's rare jazz, country, pop standards and gospel, plus remixes of a Madonna hit and one of the most unexpected Disney covers you'll ever hear.
Madonna, Who's That Girl EP (Warner/Rhino) (iTunes / Amazon)
¿Quién es esa niña? Madonna's international chart-topping 1987 single - the title track to her first soundtrack album from the film of the same name, which she also co-starred in - is now available as a digital EP, featuring previously unstreamed extended and dub versions.
Simple Plan, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" (Walt Disney Records) (iTunes / Amazon)
Unquestionably the least expected release announcement of the week, pop-punk band Simple Plan have put their spin on the romantic hit penned by Elton John and Tim Rice for the animated blockbuster The Lion King. It's part of a forthcoming collection due later this year called A Whole New Sound, which will feature other, as-yet unannounced alternative bands adding some edge to the Disney songbook.
Hank Snow, Country Classics (Expanded Edition) (RCA/Legacy) (iTunes / Amazon)
Canadian-born country icon Hank Snow scored three chart-topping country singles in 1950 with "I'm Movin' On," "The Golden Rocket" and "The Rhumba Boogie" - all of which ended up on 1952's Country Classics, released as both a 10" album and a pair of 7" EPs. (A similar LP was released with the same name in 1956.) This digital expanded edition includes the original eight tracks from the album and a baker's dozen of non-album sides issued contemporaneously.
Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Turrentine, Herbie Hancock, In Concert Volume Two (CTI) (iTunes / Amazon)
One of two albums on Creed Taylor's label that showcased a pair of shows at the Chicago Opera House and the Ford Auditorium in Detroit on March 3 and 4, 1973, performed by trumpeter Hubbard, saxophonist Turrentine and pianist Hancock (augmented by Eric Gale on guitar, Ron Carter on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums). The album features versions of Hancock's "Hornets" done at either show, along with Hubbard's "Gibraltar" from Detroit (the Chicago version having been pressed on In Concert Volume One).
Perry Como, Sing to Me, Mr. C (RCA Victor) (iTunes / Amazon)
The famously relaxed Italian-American crooner's eighth long-player has finally come to streaming. Arranged by Joe Lipman, the 1961 album finds Como replicating the medley style of his popular NBC television show, complete with its opening and closing themes. The six medleys (three songs each) added up to an usually long running time for the era - 43 minutes - and feature tunes from the great songwriters of the day including Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, and Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.
Jaye P. Morgan, Just You, Just Me (RCA Victor) (iTunes / Amazon)
Today, Jaye P. Morgan is probably best-remembered for her tenure as a panelist on Chuck Barris' zany Gong Show - including a notorious breast-baring moment that led NBC to ban her from the airwaves. But Morgan, 92, began her career as a vocalist and racked up numerous hits for RCA over a six-year period. This 1958 album, arranged and conducted by the great Marion Evans, showcases her distinctive and stylish pipes on an array of standards including "The Song is You," "There's a Small Hotel," "You Are My Lucky Star," and "All I Do Is Dream of You." (Fans of Jaye P. should also check out her 1976 self-titled LP featuring producer-arranger David Foster, Bill Champlin, and the Tower of Power Horn Section; it's a lost MOR/"yacht rock" classic!)
The Edwin Hawkins, Angels Will Be Singing / Have Mercy / Give Us Peace (Birthright)
Angels: iTunes / Amazon
Mercy: iTunes / Amazon
Peace: iTunes / Amazon
Three rare 1980s LPs from gospel legend Edwin Hawkins ("Oh Happy Day," Melanie's "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)") originally released on the Birthright label have come to streaming. On all three, Hawkins rousingly leads the Music and Arts Seminar Mass Choir.
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To RCA/Legacy's credit they have re-releasing digital versions of Hank Snow's original RCA Victor albums at a fairly good pace lately. This latest release is based on Hank's first 10 inch 33RPM released for the label in 1952. The 1956 revised version added new cover art plus 4 additional tracks. Only one of the tracks that was added to the 1956 release, With This Ring I Thee Wed [the B side of I'm Movin' On] is included on this new compilation. The other 3 tracks - (Now And Then There's) A Fool Such As I, The Gal Who Invented Kissin' & I Don't Hurt Anymore have been issued on earlier RCA/Legacy downloads.
The 12 tracks added to this new release include B sides and several uncharted singles. Star Spangled Waltz [B side of Marriage Vow/1949], Nobody's Child & The Only Rose [both sides of uncharted 1949 single], The Blind Boy's Dog & The Anniversary Of My Broken Heart [both sides of uncharted 1949 single], The Law Of Love [B side of a 1949 uncharted single - the A side My Filipino Rose is not included in this comp], I Wonder Where You Are Tonight [uncharted 1950 A side], I Cried But My Tears Were Too Late [uncharted 1950 & 1952 A side] , Paving The Highway With Tears [B side of The Golden Rocket/1950], You Pass Me By [B side of Rhumba Boogie/1951], Your Locket Is My Broken Heart [B side of Unwanted Sign Upon Your Heart/1951] and Love Entered The Iron Door [B side of the 1952 re-release of I Cried But My Tears Were Too Late]
As successful as Hank's records were in the early 1950's, it is surprising the number of his singles released in between some of his most memorable hits that failed to even make the charts. Of course the country charts only had 10-15 positions in that era so many singles were left out due to the scarcity of available slots.
Bear Family released all of Hank's recordings across several CD box sets going back 30 years or more, but some of these tracks are making their legal download debut.
Thanks for highlighting Hank and this new release!