With Billy Joel in the midst of his unprecedented concert run as a “franchise” at New York’s Madison Square Garden, the time has never been better to revisit one of the most significant concert appearances of the Long Island troubadour’s long musical career. On May 20, 2014, Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings will definitively chronicle Joel’s historic 1987 Russian concert tour on A Matter of Trust – The Bridge to Russia. A Matter of Trust will be available in a Deluxe Edition box set
EXCLUSIVE: Real Gone Saddles Up To Record Store Day With Never-Before-Heard Music From Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
Waylon Jennings might have said it best: "Bob Wills is still the King." The song of that name closed Jennings' 1975 album Dreaming My Dreams, which was released just one month after the death of the King of Western Swing at age 70. Waylon's ode to Bob Wills was revived three decades later by The Rolling Stones, and the sentiment still held true. Now, Real Gone Music is celebrating Record Store Day 2014 - that's Saturday, April 19 - with a slice of ultra-rare, vintage Americana that you've
Gainsbourg's Women: Ace Collects "Vamps et Vampire: The Songs of Serge Gainsbourg"
When considering Serge Gainsbourg (1928-1991), it’s often impossible to separate the provocateur’s art from his outré behavior. The French songwriter, poet, actor and director was described by one journalist as “David Bowie, Mick Jagger and John Lennon rolled into one smoke cloud of controversy,” but it’s hard to imagine any of those rock icons at their most outrageous ever releasing anything like Gainsbourg’s duet with Jane Birkin, “Je t’aime...moi non plus.” The song’s odd amalgam of steamy,
Still Surfing: Joe Satriani's "Complete Studio Recordings" Collected on New Box Set
Close your eyes and think about Joe Satriani. Chances are if you’re not picturing the guitar hero himself, you’re picturing his sophomore album, 1987’s Surfing with the Alien. The artwork adorning the album, majestically drawn by Marvel Comics legend John Byrne for a 1982 comic book, depicts Marvel Comics’ noble Silver Surfer astride his surfboard as he travels through the farthest reaches of space. Though Satriani hasn’t explored any new galaxies (yet), he has traveled many sonic avenues.
Somewhere Out There: Linda Ronstadt's Greatest "Duets" Arrive On CD in April
On April 10, Linda Ronstadt joins the class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – an honor that was certainly not needed to acknowledge Ronstadt’s place as among the top vocalists of her generation, but a welcome and long-overdue honor nonetheless. Two days earlier, Rhino celebrates the career of the versatile artist with the release of Linda Ronstadt – Duets. Its fifteen tracks encompass performances alongside artists including Aaron Neville, Emmylou Harris, Don Henley, Frank Sinatra, James
Review: Dionne Warwick On Edsel Records
Dionne Warwick's third album bore the title Make Way for Dionne Warwick. But truth to tell, by the time of its release in September 1964, America had already made way for the New Jersey-born singer. She had climbed the charts with the immortal likes of "Don't Make Me Over," "Anyone Who Had a Heart," "Walk on By" and "Reach Out for Me," the latter two of which were included on that LP. Of course, all of those singles were written and produced by the team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, who
Forever Dusty: Four New Releases Celebrate Springfield's Musical Legacy
Dusty Springfield’s ebullient first solo single, 1963’s “I Only Want to Be with You,” announced just how far the former Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien had come from her pop-folk trio The Springfields and the likes of “Silver Threads and Golden Needles.” The thunderous production and joyous vocals augured for a significant new talent, and the song was selected as one of the very first ever to be played on the BBC’s Top of the Pops. And indeed, Dusty Springfield remained at the top of
BBR Has "The Force" With Latest Kool and the Gang Remasters
Big Break Records is determined to make sure that Everybody's Dancin' with its latest two reissues from the kings of Kool. The Cherry Red label dived into the Kool and the Gang catalogue in late 2013 with deluxe, expanded editions of all four of the band's epochal albums with arranger-producer Eumir Deodato: Ladies' Night (1979, Platinum), Celebrate! (1980, Platinum), Something Special (1981, Platinum) and As One (1982, Gold). Prior to that, BBR had already given similarly lavish treatment to
Too Much Heaven: Bee Gees' "Warner Bros. Years" Box Set Premieres Unreleased Tracks, Complete Concert
Following the release of 1981’s Living Eyes, The Bee Gees effectively called it a day. The band reportedly clashed during the making of the album, and its lack of chart success convinced Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb to pursue non-band projects for a time. Solo albums and soundtrack recordings arrived, and the Barry Gibb/Karl Richardson/Albhy Galuten team worked its magic on releases by Dionne Warwick, Kenny Rogers and Diana Ross (featuring numerous songs co-written by all three brothers, of
He Wears It Well: Long-Delayed Rod Stewart Box Set Back On Track For March Release
2014’s gonna be alright for fans of Rod Stewart. Following 2012’s sex-drugs-and-rock-and-roll memoir Rod: The Autobiography and the 2013 release of Rarities (largely culled from the box set The Rod Stewart Sessions: 1971-1998), the one-time Rod the Mod and all-time superstar is still in a reflective mood. Stewart will look back on three decades of concert performances with the March 18 release from Warner Bros. Records of Live 1976-1998: Tonight’s the Night. This long-rumored box set consists
Starbucks Goes Hip and Jazzy On Venti Release Slate
If you’re looking for a little music to go with your grande toffee nut latte, Starbucks has recently unveiled a number of new audio offerings to kick off 2014. In addition to its annual Sweetheart disc – an anthology of new(ish) artists playing old(ish) love songs including, this year, songs by John Lennon, Bob Dylan and Harry Nilsson – the coffee giant has curated a selection of Music for Little Hipsters, sets dedicated to Women of Jazz and When Jazz Meets Guitar, and an Opus Collection volume
Brand New Year, Brand New Compilation: Legacy Preps "The Essential Eric Carmen"
Will the real Eric Carmen please stand up? There's Eric Carmen, the power pop prince of The Raspberries. There's Eric Carmen, the classically-inspired balladeer of "All By Myself" and "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again." And there's Eric Carmen, the eighties "comeback kid" of "Make Me Lose Control" and the Dirty Dancing perennial "Hungry Eyes." Luckily, all sides of the versatile artist figure prominently on Arista Records and Legacy Recordings' upcoming release of The Essential Eric Carmen.
Alice Cooper's "Trash" Gets Another Look From Hear No Evil, Cherry Red
There’s always something slightly disingenuous about the term “comeback album” – especially when an artist has never really left. Such was the case with Alice Cooper’s 1989 Epic Records release Trash. But one certainly sees why the expression would be used to describe Trash. Alice Cooper’s eighteenth studio release, it became his first Top 20 album in the U.S. since 1975’s epochal Welcome to My Nightmare, his biggest-ever U.K. success with a No. 2 peak, and contained his first U.S. Top 10 hit
Review: Blood, Sweat and Tears, "The Complete Columbia Singles"
Blood, Sweat and Tears has much in common with Rodney Dangerfield - they get no respect. Though the band founded by Al Kooper, Steve Katz, Bobby Colomby, Jim Fielder, Dick Halligan, Randy Brecker and Jerry Weiss produced some of the most enduring pop singles of the late 1960s and early 1970s, the group has long lingered in the shadows of rock's back pages. Eclipsed in fame by Columbia Records labelmates Chicago, plagued by a series of acrimonious departures from the ranks, and pilloried for
Jeepers! Kritzerland Scares Up Reissue of "Jeepers Creepers: Great Songs from Horror Films"
It’s not Halloween for a while yet, but the Kritzerland label is scaring up some ghoulish tunes with its brand-new reissue of the 2003 anthology Jeepers Creepers: Great Songs from Horror Films! With a stellar cast of performers drawn from Broadway and Hollywood including Brent Barrett, Alison Fraser, Jason Graae, Juliana Hansen, Katharine Helmond, Judy Kaye, Rebecca Luker, Michelle Nicastro and Christiane Noll, with a special appearance from the “Cool Ghoul” Zacherley (a.k.a. John Zacherle),
Ode to Bob: "Dylan's Gospel" Reissue Due in April, Features Merry Clayton, Gloria Jones, Edna Wright
Light in the Attic is getting ready to spread the Gospel of Bob. Dylan, that is. On April 1, the label returns Ode Records’ 1969 tribute Dylan’s Gospel to print with new CD and LP reissues. Credited to The Brothers and Sisters, Dylan’s Gospel featured the cream of the crop of Los Angeles’ session singers including Merry Clayton, Clydie King, Patrice Holloway, Edna Wright and Shirley Matthews on a variety of Dylan staples, sanctified-style. Producer Lou Adler formed Ode Records after selling
Review: Two From Camper Van Beethoven and Omnivore Recordings
And this here's a government experiment and we're driving like Hell To give some cowboys some acid and to stay in motels We're going to eat up some wide open spaces like it was a cruise on the Nile Take the hands off the clock, we're going to be here a while - Camper Van Beethoven, “Eye of Fatima (Pt. 1)” You can take the band out of the underground, but you can’t take the underground out of the band. California’s Camper Van Beethoven had been making its brand of “surrealist, absurdist folk”
RPM Collects Complete Singles of Beatle Pal Buddy Britten
Who’s that guy holding the guitar with the Buddy Holly glasses? Why, it’s Buddy Britten! Geoffrey David Glover-Wright reinvented himself in the fashion of Buddy Holly after taking in a March 1958 concert, recalling his hero leaping about the stage “like a lunatic” and playing an “extraordinary” guitar. And so Glover-Wright, a.k.a. Britten, joined the ranks of early British rock and rollers. His short but exciting career from Merseybeat to psychedelia has recently been chronicled by RPM, an
It Ain't Hard to Tell: Nas' "Illmatic" Celebrated for Its 20th Anniversary
In recent years, Long Island City at the westernmost edge of the New York City borough of Queens has become a hotbed of arts-related activities. But before gentrification hit Long Island City, the neighborhood was already hosting an artistic renaissance in the form of rap. One of the most acclaimed rappers to come out of the scene is Nas, or Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones. Born in 1973, the son of jazz trumpeter Olu Dara made his album debut with 1994’s Columbia Records release Illmatic. Now,
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Feeling Good: Rare Albums From Henry Mancini, Anthony Newley Arrive From Vocalion
The U.K.’s Vocalion label is dedicated to exploring the corners of music catalogue too often overlooked by other labels: dance bands, big bands, “personalities,” “easy, light and Latin,” soundtracks, and classical titles, per its website. A new batch of rare and new-to-CD titles (including “easy listening” releases from Peter Nero, Floyd Cramer, Paul Mauriat and George Melachrino) is highlighted by a two-fer containing two rare Henry Mancini LPs, and another two-fer drawn from Anthony Newley’s
Review: Michael Bloomfield, "From His Head to His Heart to His Hands"
“I think we’ve exploited you enough. I just want you to know I’m signing you!” With those words, spoken by John Hammond Sr. and heard on the first disc of Legacy Recordings’ new 3-CD/1-DVD box set From His Head to His Heart to His Hands, Michael Bloomfield became a Columbia Records recording artist. Though he died in 1981 at the age of 37, the blues guitarist extraordinaire left behind a substantial body of work in a variety of musical settings. Perhaps he never fulfilled the entirety of his
Cherry Red Turns Up the Heat with Any Trouble's "Complete Stiff Recordings"
When the band Any Trouble made its debut on Stiff Records in 1979 with the single “Yesterday’s Love” b/w “Nice Girls,” the label had already survived the defection of co-founder Jake Riviera and, with him, artists including Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe. Any Trouble was one of the headliners of the 1980 “Son of Stiff” tour, alongside Ten Pole Tudor, Dirty Looks, Joe “King” Carrasco and The Crowns, and The Equators, and made their LP debut that year with Where Are All the Nice Girls? Produced by
Sweeter Than Wine: "This Magic Moment" Compiles Brill Building Nuggets
Today, 1619 Broadway in the heart of New York City’s theatre district doesn’t particularly stand out. Despite the building’s ornate façade, 1619 appears to be just another office building on a busy thoroughfare populated with every kind of attention-grabbing signage. But this building – along with its neighbor to the north, 1650 Broadway – is as much a part of rock and roll history as Sun Studios or Abbey Road. 1650 is the one and only Brill Building, incubator to some of the finest songs in
Dance a Little Bit Closer with Charo and The Salsoul Orchestra, Loleatta Holloway
Cuchi-cuchi! Charo, or María del Rosario Mercedes Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza, burst onto the cultural radar with her goofy, slightly suggestive catchphrase during the late-sixties run of the television phenomenon Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In. Once a frequent passenger on The Love Boat, the comedienne-bombshell still is a familiar face today on television (Dancing with the Stars, RuPaul’s Drag University) and onstage – on land and on sea, even on the good ship Disney Magic. In 1977, Charo
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