Rhino has announced the launch of new audiophile vinyl series: Rhino Reserves. The series kicks off on January 31, 2025 as part of the label's annual Start Your Ear Off Right campaign available exclusively through Rhino.com and select retail outlets (typically independent record stores and Barnes & Noble locations) with Allen Toussaint's Southern Nights and Eddie Hazel's Game, Dames, and Guitar Thangs. Going forward, each Rhino Reserves title will be pressed locally by the California-based label at Fidelity Record Pressing's brand-new plant in Oxnard, CA, and cut by mastering engineer Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab. For this pair of inaugural releases, however, the lacquers were cut by veteran engineer Chris Bellman, with the vinyl pressed at Bernie Grundman Mastering. All titles in the series will be pressed on 180-gram black vinyl and will replicate the original packaging with heavyweight board jackets, branded inner poly sleeves, and custom Rhino Reserves labels.

A pianist, singer, songwriter, producer, arranger, and all-around renaissance man, Louisiana native Allen Toussaint (1938-2015) is responsible - in one capacity or another - for some of the most memorable songs and recordings in the modern pop and soul canon: "Working in the Coal Mine," "Southern Nights," "Mother-in-Law," "Lady Marmalade," and "Yes We Can Can" among them. Though those hits for Lee Dorsey, Glen Campbell, Ernie K-Doe, Labelle, and The Pointer Sisters are all well-known, Toussaint's small but vital solo catalogue is somewhat less so.

Produced and arranged by Toussaint and his Sea-Saint Studio partner Marshall Sehorn, Southern Nights incorporated tastes of funk, sweet soul, pop, R&B, and psychedelia into one New Orleans stew. The LP linked its songs with instrumental passages for a loose concept album feel, but it will, of course, always be remembered for introducing its title track. One of Toussaint's most enduring melodies, "Southern Nights" was reinvented in pop-country style by Glen Campbell who took it straight to the top of the charts in 1977, but Toussaint's original has an altogether different groove and feel. The album also featured "What Do You Want the Girl to Do," later recorded by artists including Boz Scaggs, Bonnie Raitt, and Lowell George. Even in light of Toussaint's late-career renaissance (which included the recording of an acclaimed album, 2006's The River in Reverse, with fan and friend Elvis Costello), Southern Nights remains ripe for rediscovery.

Eddie Hazel, who grew up in New Jersey, became part of George Clinton's Parliament/Funkadelic family in 1967 at only 17 years old when he joined as part of the touring band. Within a couple of years, Hazel was a lead force in the group and contributed a ten-minute guitar for the song "Maggot Brain" from the 1971 album of the same name. Hazel would quit Funkadelic that same year over financial disputes and begin to work with Motown's Temptations, but he would return to the group over the next few years, even co-writing all of the songs on 1974's Standing on the Verge of Getting It On. Legal troubles would, however, curtail his work with the group even further.

In 1977, Hazel released his one and only solo album: Game, Dames and Guitar Thangs. He was joined by members of the Parliament/Funkadelic family with George Clinton co-writing all four of the album's original songs together with co-writing contributions from Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell, Gary Cooper, Garry Shider, and Hazel himself. The LP was rounded out by covers of The Beatles' "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" and The Mama & The Papas' "California Dreamin'" (which was released as a single). The Brides of Funkenstein also contributed vocals. However, Games did not have a long shelf life and was soon taken out of print, becoming a collector's item over the years. Eddie Hazel would never release another solo project in his lifetime. He continued to work as a guitarist on albums including George Clinton's Computer Games in 1982 before passing away in 1992.  This Rhino Reserves reissue follows both CD and LP reissues in recent years by Real Gone Music.

Look for the debut of Rhino Reserves on January 31 with these R&B/soul gems from Allen Toussaint and Eddie Hazel. You'll find the track listings below. Watch this space for more news of Rhino's Start Your Ear Off Right campaign, as well as order links when they become available!

Allen Toussaint, Southern Nights (Reprise MS 2186, 1975 - reissued Reprise/Rhino, 2025)

Side One

1. Last Train
2. Worldwide/Filler
3. Back in Baby's Arms
4. Country John/Filler
5. Basic Lady/Filler

Side Two

1. Southern Nights
2. You Will Not Lose/Filler
3. What Do You Want the Girl to Do?
4. When the Party's Over
5. Cruel Way to Go Down/Filler

Eddie Hazel, Game, Dames, and Guitar Thangs (Warner Bros. LP BS 3058, 1977 - reissued Warner Bros./Rhino, 2025)

Side One

1. California Dreamin'
2. Frantic Moment
3. So Goes the Story

Side Two

1. I Want You (She's So Heavy)
2. Physical Love
3. What About It?
4. California Dreamin' (Reprise)​