Kritzerland’s final release of 2013 is sure to be one of its most talked-about. Today, the label announced an expanded and remastered CD presentation of Elmer Bernstein’s score to The Buccaneer. The 1958 Paramount Picture starred the King of Siam himself, Yul Brynner, opposite Claire Bloom, Charles Boyer and Charlton Heston in a rip-roaring adventure tale loosely based on real life and set during the War of 1812. Director Anthony Quinn’s film was a remake of Cecil B. DeMille’s 1938 movie of
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Various Artists, "The South Side of Soul Street"
The trusty musical archaeologists at the Omnivore label have the perfect stocking stuffer for those looking for a little bit of southern soul hung by the chimney with care. The 2-CD anthology The South Side of Soul Street (OVCD-68, 2013), collecting the A- and B-sides of 20 singles released by the Minaret label between 1967 and 1976, makes the argument that Valparaiso, Florida’s Playground Recording Studio deserves to be spoken of in the same breath as Muscle Shoals, American Sound, Stax and
Holiday Gift Guide Review: "Here's Edie: The Edie Adams Television Collection"
In one of the many testimonials that enhance the booklet to the first-ever DVD release of Here’s Edie: The Edie Adams Television Collection, Carl Reiner may have put it best and most succinctly: “Edie Adams...a combination of beauty, brains and talent...what else do you need?” Based on the evidence in this thoroughly delightful 4-DVD, 12-hour, 21-episode set now available from MVD Visual (MVD 59200), you don’t need anything else. Adams just about had it all, and showed it off for the 1962-1964
Holiday Gift Guide Review: The Who, "Tommy: Super Deluxe Edition"
The opening chords of The Who’s Tommy may be among the most famous in all of rock. By the time the horns kicked in, around the forty-second mark, it was already clear that this double-album wasn’t business as usual for the heavy mod-rockers. In fact, the melodic, thunderous, commanding piece of music that opened the 1969 album sounded a bit like the overture to a Broadway musical, weaving together themes that would follow. Thirty-four years later, it would become one. By the time The Who’s
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Matt Monro, "The Rarities Collection" and "Alternate Monro"
How lovely to sit here in the shade, with none of the woes of man and maid/I’m glad I’m not young anymore! The rivals that don’t exist at all, the feeling you’re only two feet tall/I’m glad I’m not young anymore! Matt Monro recorded those Alan Jay Lerner lyrics in January 1973 at just 42 years of age. But by that point, the golden-voiced singer had already acquired enough experience to interpret them with supreme confidence and natural charm. Monro’s reassuring, crisply impeccable tone
Ace Celebrates Soulful Girls with "The Artistry of Brenda Holloway" and "Where the Girls Are"
If you want to know Where the Girls Are, look no further than two of Ace Records’ latest releases. The eighth installment of the label’s Where the Girls Are series is a grab-bag of the best girl-group pop you’ve never heard, while The Artistry of Brenda Holloway gives a much-deserved spotlight to the underrated Motown vocalist who so often found herself in the shadows of Diana Ross or Martha Reeves. Where the Girls Are Volume 8, compiled and annotated by Malcolm Baumgart and Mick Patrick,
Eric Clapton Goes to the "Crossroads" and Brings Friends On New CD, DVD, BD
Eric Clapton is big on giving back. The guitar god founded Antigua’s Crossroads Centre for the treatment of alcoholism and drug addiction in 1998, and in 2004, spearheaded the creation of the Crossroads Eric Clapton Guitar Festival to benefit the facility of the same name. Since that first ’04 fest, Crossroads Festivals have taken place every three years, in 2007, 2010 and 2013. Highlights from the 2013 shows, which took place on April 12 and 13 at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden, are
Piano Jazz: Robinsongs Revives Ramsey Lewis, Richard Tee LPs on CD
If you’re in the mood for funky jazz played by two piano giants, Cherry Red’s Robinsongs label has a couple of recent releases just for you. The late Richard Tee (1943-1993) may be best known for his session work; the pianist/arranger’s credits include pivotal recordings by Marvin Gaye, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Aretha Franklin, George Harrison, Daryl Hall and John Oates, The Bee Gees, Dionne Warwick and many others. For much of the seventies, if you needed electric piano, keyboards or organ on
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Donny Hathaway, "Never My Love: The Anthology"
This time of year, it’s nearly impossible to spend much time on a holiday music station without hearing the familiar, resonant voice persuasively imploring, “Hang all the mistletoe/I’m gonna get to know you better/This Christmas!” Donny Hathaway’s 1970 single “This Christmas” has become one of the most frequently-sung latter-day Christmas standards, recorded in recent years by everybody from Carole King to Mary J. Blige. In a too-short life that was tragically curbed at 33 in January 1979, the
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Buck Owens, "Buck 'Em! The Music of Buck Owens"
No less an eminent personage than American author William Faulkner once said that "a writer needs three things - experience, observation, and imagination - any two of which, at times any one of which, can supply the lack of the others." Country music legend and Bakersfield Sound pioneer Buck Owens, however, utilized all three of those key elements in his songs, which may help explain their timeless stature. Fifty of those recordings are anthologized on Omnivore's new Buck 'Em! The Music of
The Beatles and The Beach Boys Beat The Boots On "The Big Beat 1963" and "Bootleg Recordings"
1963 was a landmark year for the favorite sons of Hawthorne, California. During those twelve months, The Beach Boys released three Top 10 studio albums (Surfin’ USA, Surfer Girl and Little Deuce Coupe) and launched three Top 10 singles (“Surfin’ USA,” “Surfer Girl,” and “Be True to Your School”). Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson, the outgoing David Marks and returning Al Jardine were perfecting their harmony-laden brand of surf rock and setting the stage for the next step in
Tony Bennett's "The Classics" Features Solo Hits Plus Streisand, Winehouse, Sinatra Duets
Following the success of 2013’s Bennett/Brubeck: The White House Sessions Live 1962 and Live at the Sahara: Las Vegas 1964, Columbia Records, RPM Records and Legacy Recordings are starting off 2014 with a newly-assembled collection from Tony Bennett due on January 28.The Classics, available in a 20-track standard edition or a 30-track deluxe configuration, features material personally selected by the 87-year old living legend. In a statement provided by Legacy, Bennett confirmed that he kept
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Woody Guthrie, "American Radical Patriot"
The title of Rounder Records’ new box set describes its subject, Woody Guthrie (1912-1967), as an American Radical Patriot. Especially in today’s politically-polarized times, some might find those words a contradiction in terms. But in the late folk troubadour’s world, very little was black-and-white. It’s that world which is explored in such depth in this lavish new collection, a limited edition of 5,000 units. American Radical Patriot (Rounder 11661-9138-2) not only proves why Guthrie
Holiday Tunes Watch: Sony CMG Celebrates The Season with Bing, Buck, B.J., JB, Elvis and More
Occasionally the aisles of your local grocery or big-box store turn up releases you won't find even in your local indie music store. Such is the case with a recent batch of holiday-themed titles from Sony Commercial Music Group. Just in time for Christmas '13, CMG has unveiled a number of holiday compilations - and a handful of straight album reissues - for fans of classic pop (Bing Crosby, Patti Page), country (B.J. Thomas, Buck Owens, Roy Clark), rock-and-roll (Elvis Presley) and R&B
Always Something There: Cherry Pop Reissues Viola Wills' "If You Could Read My Mind"
Released during the last days of disco, Viola Wills’ 1980 album If You Could Read My Mind blended then-current dance styles with deliciously soulful vocals and a genre-bending repertoire of songs. Cherry Pop has recently reissued this LP from the onetime Barry White protégé and Joe Cocker backing vocalist in an expanded and remastered edition that reveals it to be a hidden gem with appeal to fans of disco, Hi-NRG and MOR pop/soft rock. Los Angeles-born Viola Wills (1939-2009) was joined by
British Invasion! The Beatles Unveil "The U.S. Albums" Box Set in January
Get ready to revisit the original British Invasion: On January 21 in North America (and January 20 worldwide), The Beatles are coming to America with the release of The U.S. Albums, a 13-CD box commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Fabs’ arrival in New York City on February 7, 1964. Two nights later, 74 million viewers watched the band make history on The Ed Sullivan Show, and Beatlemania was officially in full swing. This new box set includes The Beatles’ U.S. albums from 1964’s Meet the
Winter's Coming: Legacy's "True to the Blues" Boxes Johnny Winter
Johnny Winter is turning 70 on February 23, 2014, and Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings aren’t about to let the occasion pass without celebration. Two days later, on February 25, the label will release True to the Blues: The Johnny Winter Story. This new 4-CD box set includes 56 tracks spanning Winter’s entire major-label career from 1968 to the present day (his most recent album having been released in 2011). Though the two-time Grammy Award nominee is looking back with this
Baby Ride Easy: Lost Johnny Cash Album Unearthed for March Release
Though the catalogue of Johnny Cash has been mined numerous times, for acclaimed Bootleg volumes and even a Complete Album Collection box set, there’s still more of the story of the Man in Black yet to be told. A crucial part of that story will be revealed on March 25, 2014 when Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings release Out Among the Stars, a “lost album” comprised of twelve recently discovered studio recordings made by Cash between 1981 and 1984. Produced by Nashville legend Billy
Marc Bolan Remembered: T. Rextasy Sweeps Cherry Red With John's Children, Gloria Jones
It’s T. Rextasy at the Cherry Red Group, with two recent titles exploring the music of T. Rex’s Marc Bolan. The Grapefruit imprint has collected two discs’ worth of material from Bolan’s early band John’s Children, while RPM has reissued two albums from Gloria Jones on one CD including the Bolan-produced Vixen. By the time Marc Bolan joined the ranks of John’s Children in 1967, the British band had already established quite a reputation. Encouraged by manager Simon Napier-Bell to engage in
Holiday Gift Guide Review: A Real Gone Christmas With Andy Williams, Patti Page and The New Christy Minstrels
When Andy Williams passed away on September 25, 2012 at the age of 84, the loss was keenly felt by anyone who had ever played the “red album” and the “green album” during the holiday season. The Andy Williams Christmas Album (1963) and Merry Christmas (1965) were the best-selling Columbia LPs that led Williams to embody the title of “Mr. Christmas.” His rich, warm and resonant tenor was ideally suited to holiday music of both the secular and spiritual traditions, and his association with the
Review: James Taylor, "The Essential James Taylor"
In the annals of American popular song, there’s a place reserved for James Taylor. For 45 years, the Boston-born troubadour’s distinctive and soothing baritone has been a reassuring voice bringing light to the darkness with his nakedly emotional, often autobiographical music. Sure, recording technology has changed a bit over the years, but Taylor’s style now is essentially the same as it was then – applying that warm voice and shimmering, precise guitar to those direct, melodic and deceptively
SECOND DISCMAS 2013: Holiday Giveaways Just for You!
WINNERS! WE HAVE WINNERS! CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WEEK TWO WINNERS! RAY SCHOO, Winner of a Belinda Carlisle Gift Set! RYAN BRUSH, Winner of a Status Quo Gift Set! HANK NIEMCZYK, Winner of a Saxon Gift Set! ANTHONY CUSUMANO and ROBERT LETT, Winners of Buck Owens Bundles! WILL ETKIN, DAVID CURVIN and ANGELA M. CAMPBELL, Winners of Knack Bundles! MARK ATHERLAY and DAMIEN McPHERSON, Winners of Rhino Box Set Bundles! DARRYL NORSEN and RON LAVERY, Winners of Townes Van Zandt
Now Sounds Tip-Toes Thru The Tulips With "God Bless Tiny Tim"
Welcome to my dream, and how are you? Will you be here long, or just passing through? Brush off that stardust, where have you been? Don’t tell me my rainbow was late getting in... When Herbert Buckingham “Tiny Tim” Khaury, 37, married Victoria May “Miss Vicki” Budinger, 17, on December 17, 1969 before Johnny Carson, Ed McMahon, The Rev. William Glenesk and a studio audience filled with 268 of the happy couple’s closest friends, roughly 40 million people were watching. It was a high point
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Bobby Darin, "The 25th Day of December" and Various Artists, "Funky Christmas"
Real Gone Music is ensuring that it’s going to be a merry Christmas, indeed, with a number of holiday-themed releases that practically beg to be enjoyed alongside a glass of egg nog and a warm fireplace. Bobby Darin’s The 25th Day of December, the late singer’s only holiday LP, arrived on the Atco label in 1960. However, the album wasn’t the work of Bobby Darin, the splish-splashin’ rock-and-roller, or Bobby Darin, the finger-snapping, tuxedoed crooner. It’s not even the work of Bob Darin,
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Frank Sinatra, "Duets: Twentieth Anniversary"
"May you live to be one hundred and may the last voice you hear be mine." The image of Frank Sinatra, glass in hand, delivering that favorite toast is an indelible one. His wasn't just a voice, after all. Before he was Ol' Blue Eyes or The Chairman of the Board, he was simply The Voice. And through all its many changes, The Voice endured. The pure, romantically-charged timbre that set the hearts of bobbysoxers pounding in the forties transformed into the ultimate instrument of ultimate cool
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