Alto saxophonist and Ray Charles’ onetime musical director Hank Crawford had a keen ear for incorporating R&B influences into jazz, making him a perfect addition to Creed Taylor’s CTI roster. At CTI’s Kudu imprint, Taylor encouraged his jazz artists to court the mainstream while still staying true to their artistry and musicianship, and in the process, his label released some of the best fusion jazz with funk, soul and pop influences. Crawford’s third and fourth albums with Taylor, 1973’s
A Dream Goes On Forever: Vintage Todd Rundgren and Utopia Show Comes To CD
Todd Rundgren has been rather generous of late with his archive, treating fans to a number of live concert recordings on various labels including gigs from 2010 (Todd Rundgren's Johnson Live), 1990 (Live at the Warfield Theatre, San Francisco) and 1975 (Todd Rundgren's Utopia Live at Hammersmith Odeon). Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings label continues its Archive Series with the release of Todd Rundgren and Utopia's 2-CD set Live at the Electric Ballroom: Milwaukee, 23rd October 1978. As
Review: Hank Williams, "The Garden Spot Programs 1950"
Hello everybody, Garden Spot is on the air/So just relax and listen in your easy rocking chair/Music for the family in the good old-fashioned way/I hope that we can please you, bring you sunshine every day! That bucolic, peppy introduction opened Naughton Farms' Garden Spot radio program, "the show that brings you all your favorite folk music singers." One such "folk music singer" in 1950 was Hank Williams. Omnivore Recordings' new The Garden Spot Programs, 1950 (OVCD-87, 2014) preserves 24
Audio Fidelity In Surround: Label Premieres Kooper's Multichannel "Super Session," Reissues Benson's "Breezin'" In 5.1
Thanks to the dedication of audiophile specialty labels like Audio Fidelity, Analogue Productions, and Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, the high-resolution Super Audio CD (SACD) format remains alive and well. Yet most of these labels’ recent releases have featured stereo mixes only. Audio Fidelity is finally making its first major leap into the world of 5.1 multi-channel surround sound with two upcoming reissues of classic albums including one long-coveted title. On August 5, the label will
The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy Returns: Raven Collects David Allan Coe Albums
If “outlaw country” has a face, it’s likely that of David Allan Coe. Though many have been associated with the rabble-rousing, convention-defying, honky tonk-embracing genre, including Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard, Coe has been a perennial “bad boy” since bursting onto the music scene in the late 1960s fresh out of prison. In fact, many attribute the term “outlaw country” itself to Coe, who was a member of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club and certainly lived his life
Lovely Day: Aretha, Sly, Andy, Marvin and Billie Headline "The Brazil Connection"
Well, summer is officially upon us! Already there's talk about which songs will be anointed the perfect summer jams for 2014 - songs by artists like Ariana Grande, Iggy Azalea and the ubiquitous Pharrell Williams. If those names don't set your pulse racing, however, Legacy Recordings has an alternative that's bound to conjure up images of tropical sunsets, refreshing drinks and summer breeze. Studio Rio Presents The Brazil Connection makes over 12 pop classics from the Sony vaults by melding the
"Pin Ups" In Reverse: Ace Explores The Roots of Ziggy Stardust With "Bowie Heard Them Here First"
David Bowie did the unthinkable in this media-obsessed age when, on the date of his sixty-sixth birthday (January 8, 2013), he managed to catch the world off-guard to announce his first new album in a decade. Bowie and his cohorts had kept The Next Day a secret, proving that the iconoclastic artist could still do things his way. In six decades, from the 1960s through the present, David Bowie has kept his fans guessing what might come next. And while Bowie's sound is one of the most
Real Gone's Sizzling Summer Features Cass Elliot, Peggy Lipton, Annette, The Shirelles, Dee Dee Warwick and More
Summer is finally here, and Real Gone Music has a bevy of offerings due on July 29 which should make your vacation even sunnier! The label is throwing a beach party, sixties-style, with the original stereo soundtrack to How to Stuff a Wild Bikini featuring screen legends Annette Funicello and Mickey Rooney and “Louie, Louie” rockers The Kingsmen; celebrating true California royalty with an expanded edition of “Mama” Cass Elliot’s Don’t Call Me Mama Anymore (sorry, Cass!) featuring previously
Big Break Big Round-Up, Divas Edition: Label Reissues Carolyn Franklin, Gloria Gaynor, Patti LaBelle
As the youngest daughter of The Reverend C.L. Franklin, Carolyn Franklin was destined to live in the shadow her older sister Aretha. But like eldest sister Erma, Carolyn carved out an impressive career of her own. During her too-short life, sadly curbed by cancer at age 43 in 1988, Carolyn recorded for both the independent Double L label and the major RCA Victor. In addition to serving as a background singer on such classics as "Respect" and contributing to its now-famous arrangement, she wrote
The Entertainer: Marvin Hamlisch's "D.A.R.Y.L." Premieres on CD, Features Teddy Pendergrass and Nile Rodgers
It's appropriate that Marvin Hamlisch's only children's book was titled Marvin Makes Music, for making music was indeed what the man did - music for Broadway, music for television, music for the concert hall, music for the silver screen. In any genre, Marvin made music overflowing with melody, wit and heart, and his populist approach earned him the nickname "the people's composer." Hamlisch's film career began in 1968 with the score to the cult film The Swimmer and ended with his
Every Dog Must Have Its Day: Iconoclassic Remasters and Expands Three Dog Night's Debut LP
One may be the loneliest number, but it was also the luckiest number for Three Dog Night. The band – led by vocalists Danny Hutton, Cory Wells and Chuck Negron – took Harry Nilsson’s song “One” to the U.S. Top 5, beginning an impressive run that encompassed 21 consecutive Top 40 hits, 18 Top 20s, 11 Top 10s, three No. 1s, seven million-selling 45s and 12 Gold LPs. Yet today, Three Dog Night is often overlooked by the rock cognoscenti, largely because its members didn’t write their own
Return To A Northern Town: Real Gone Preps Dream Academy Anthology with Previously Unreleased Tracks
The Dream Academy announced itself to American listeners in 1986 when “Life in a Northern Town,” the first single off the British band’s first album, made it all the way to No. 7 on the Hot 100. More than twenty years later, the strength of The Dream Academy’s music was made clear when country-pop duo Sugarland took the song back to the Top 40, this time on the country chart. The trio, consisting of Nick Laird-Clowes (guitars/vocals), Kate St. John (piano/accordion/saxophone/various) and
In Memoriam: Gerry Goffin (1939-2014)
When this old world starts getting me down, a sure way to cheer me up is to play a Gerry Goffin lyric. Songs like “I’m Into Something Good,” “Some Kind of Wonderful” and “The Loco-Motion” all are filled with youthful optimism and unfettered joy, qualities that Goffin could lyrically impart with abundant heart and craftsmanship. These songs can raise the spirits (and the pulse!) in the way that only the most transcendent music can. Goffin passed away today at the age of 75, but lived long
The Manhattans' "Its Feels So Good" Comes To CD In Expanded Edition
The Manhattans took their name from a New York borough, had their roots in New Jersey, and found their greatest success with The Sound of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. But thanks to the enduring success of songs like “Kiss and Say Goodbye” and “Shining Star,” the vocal quartet belonged not just to the Tri-State Area of the United States, but to the world. 1977’s It Feels So Good, from The Manhattans’ classic tenure on Columbia Records with Philly soul producer Bobby Martin, has finally arrived on
It's Got That Swing: Ellington's "After Midnight" Recordings Collected By Legacy [UPDATED 6/19]
When this year’s Tony Award nominations were announced on April 29, After Midnight was among the most-recognized productions of the season with seven nominations including Best Musical. The critically-acclaimed show, which has been running at Broadway’s Brooks Atkinson Theatre since October of last year, picked up one Tony for Warren Carlyle's vivid choreography. But After Midnight has recently announced a closing date of June 29. With its departure from the Great White Way, prospects for an
Steven Wilson Has "Passion" For Jethro Tull's "Play" With New Box Set
Jethro Tull continues its series of deluxe reissues with producer/engineer Steven Wilson on July 1 with the release of the (slightly belated) 40th anniversary edition of 1973’s A Passion Play. Following the reissues of Aqualung, Thick as a Brick and Benefit, the deluxe A Passion Play: An Extended Performance will include 2 CDs and 2 DVDs – containing new stereo and 5.1 surround mixes of the original album and previously unreleased material - along with an 80-page book. As with Thick as a
Mancini's Got Soul: Vocalion Revisits Composer's Latin, Jazz-Funk Albums
The Vocalion label continues to mine Henry Mancini’s RCA Victor catalogue for two new releases, each containing two of the late composer’s albums. The Big Latin Band of Henry Mancini/The Latin Sound of Henry Mancini brings together the recordings from 1968 and 1965, respectively; Symphonic Soul /The Cop Show Themes combines the LPs from 1976 and 1975, respectively. The Latin Sound of Henry Mancini arrived in 1965, the same year as Mancini’s score album on RCA for his frequent collaborator
Get Righteous! Label Serves Up Dick Dale, Jimmy Smith, Northern Soul
Cherry Red’s Righteous label celebrates “aching country, forgotten soul music and other strange exotica...from George Jones to Hank Snow’s immortal ‘When Tragedy Struck’ to the roots of Dylan’s twisted songwriting inspiration...” Three of the label’s recent titles aren’t too exotic, but certainly are righteous. Dancing by Myself: Lost in Northern Soul collects 26 obscure R&B floor-fillers, primarily from independent labels; The Search for Surf chronicles the formative years of the surf-music
Ramble On! Review: The Led Zeppelin Remasters - "I," "II" and "III"
Led Zeppelin wasn’t built in a day. “Good Times Bad Times,” the first track off the hard rock combo’s first album, today sounds very much of its time and also unusually forward-thinking. The crunchy riff that introduces the track augured for the amped-up sound of metal to come, but the opening verse and chorus still have one foot in mod pop. Yet the sheer attack that marks Zeppelin’s best work was already there. Jimmy Page’s guitar cuts loose at about the minute-and-a-half point, John Bonham’s
Early Albert Hammond, Sixto Rodriguez Songs Featured On The Family Dogg's "A Way of Life: Anthology"
Few pop songwriters have proven as adaptable as Albert Hammond. His string of hits dates from the 1960s straight through the 1990s, and his durable compositions continue to be recorded today. Yet one chapter of the Hammond legacy has never been properly anthologized until now: his tenure with the British pop group The Family Dogg. Cherry Red’s RPM label has just delivered A Way of Life: Anthology 1967-1976, named for the band’s U.K. Top 10 hit and including all of the band’s recordings on two
Review: Roy Orbison, "Mystery Girl: 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition"
Roy Orbison never intended Mystery Girl to be an epitaph. Yet The Big O never had the chance to enjoy the overwhelming success of the 1989 album, as he passed away almost two months to the day prior to its release. Still, as far as epitaphs go, Mystery Girl was – and is – a stunner, a parting gift from one of the most distinctive and resonant voices in rock and roll. Roy’s Boys, the company formed by Orbison’s sons, and Legacy Recordings have teamed for a 25th anniversary reissue of Orbison’s
Sign of the Times: "Look For A Star" Collects Early Songs of Tony Hatch
Encouraged by his publisher to pen a song for a Norman Wisdom film in pre-production, teenager Tony Hatch wrote "Follow a Star." Though the beloved British comedian passed on it, the tune found its way into a B-movie called Circus of Horrors with a new title: "Look for a Star." The same week in June 1960, four recordings of the pretty little tune entered the Billboard Hot 100 across the pond. Dean Hawley reached No. 29, Billy Vaughn made it to No. 19, Garry Miles hit No. 16, and the original
Who Loves You: Rhino Celebrates "Jersey Boys" With Box Sets For Frankie Valli and Four Seasons, First Bob Gaudio Anthology
Next Friday, June 20, marks the highly-anticipated opening of director Clint Eastwood’s film adaptation of the smash 2005 Broadway musical Jersey Boys. With John Lloyd Young reprising his Tony Award-winning performance as Frankie Valli opposite a cast of theatre and film veterans including Christopher Walken as Jersey mobster Gyp DeCarlo, Eastwood’s film promises to bring the gritty story of Valli and The Four Seasons (Nick Massi, Tommy DeVito and Bob Gaudio) to an even wider audience than
I Know A Place: Petula Clark, Scott Walker, Connie Francis Celebrate "The Songs of Tony Hatch"
Ace Records’ latest addition to its Songwriters Series, Colour My World: The Songs of Tony Hatch, should come with a warning label – CAUTION: THESE SONGS WILL MAKE YOU HAPPY. A composer, lyricist, producer, arranger and A&R man (whew!), Hatch was a hitmaker par excellence, and one of no small skill for imparting joy through his music. Petula Clark’s bright 1964 single “Downtown” alone would likely have assured Hatch a place in the Book of Pop, Swingin’ Sixties chapter. But listening to a
Vikki Carr's "Love Again: The Lost Columbia Masters" Unearths Never-Before-Heard Recordings
I recently had the great pleasure of providing the liner notes for Real Gone Music’s first-ever CD reissue of Vikki Carr’s Columbia Records album The First Time Ever (I Saw Your Face). That title arrived in stores last week joined by a collection of previously unreleased material from the great vocalist. Love Again: The Lost Columbia Masters is a major find for fans of Carr and in large part presents her voice in a new, contemporary country setting.- JM Have forty years really passed since
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 109
- 110
- 111
- 112
- 113
- …
- 173
- Next Page »