What goes up must come down. So sang David Clayton-Thomas in the opening line of his Grammy-winning song "Spinning Wheel," which became a No. 2 Pop/No. 1 AC in 1969 for Blood, Sweat & Tears. And so went the fortunes of the jazz-rock band itself. The band's signature rock-with-horns style was soon eclipsed by that of Chicago (Transit Authority), who shared a producer in James William Guercio. But when BS&T was hot, few bands were hotter. Wounded Bird Records is revisiting the
Don't Walk On By: Dionne Warwick's "Unissued Warner Bros. Masters" Joins "The Complete Warner Bros. Singles" On CD
When Dionne Warwick signed on the dotted line with Warner Bros. Records, the possibilities must have seemed endless. The singer had embraced change, after all. A new decade was in its infancy. She had traded a feisty New York independent (Scepter) for a Burbank giant. She had even added an "e" to her surname on the advice of an astrologer. And although the exact amount wasn't disclosed, Warwick had reportedly signed the biggest deal ever for a female vocalist. What didn't change, at least
Review: A Trio from Townes Van Zandt
Steve Earle once famously wrote, “Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world,” adding for good measure, “and I’ll stand on Bob Dylan’s coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that.” Earle later backtracked on his statement, answering in the negative whether he really believed Van Zandt was Dylan’s superior. Van Zandt was also embarrassed by the fulsome praise (“I’ve met Bob Dylan’s bodyguards and if Steve thinks he can stand on Bob Dylan’s coffee table, he’s sadly mistaken!”) but
A Paramount Package: Three Vintage Franz Waxman Scores Premiere On New Release
Long before Andrew Lloyd Webber set Sunset Boulevard to music, Franz Waxman was Norma Desmond’s composer of choice, having created the score to the original Paramount picture. But Sunset wasn’t Waxman’s only Paramount film. Nor was it his only collaboration with legendary director and screenwriter Billy Wilder. Waxman’s scores for the studio are among his most renowned works – think of A Place in the Sun, Come Back, Little Sheba or Rear Window, to name three. The Kritzerland label, already
The Roots of Philadelphia International: BBR Reissues O'Jays, MFSB Classics
Though London, England is some 3,500 miles away from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States, the spirit of the City of Brotherly Love is alive and well thanks to Cherry Red’s Big Break Records label. Two more remarkable artifacts from Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff’s Philadelphia International empire have recently arrived from BBR, and though both titles have previously been available on CD, these new reissues are their best representations in the format yet. Fans who only know The
Throw Off Your Mental Chains: Howard Jones Releases Music Video Anthology
New Wave hitmaker Howard Jones did a fantastic job remastering his catalogue through his own Dtox label with the help of Rhino U.K., releasing three great waves of remastered albums from his years on WEA/Elektra over the past three years. Now, he's got one more package up his sleeve: a new anthology of music videos. The Video Collection will nicely collate not only all of Jones' videos from his MTV years (with all the audio newly remastered), but four recent videos, taken mostly from the
The Aeroplane Flies Even Higher: Smashing Pumpkins Singles Box Gets Generous Expansion
Details for the next title in the ongoing Smashing Pumpkins reissue series, a new edition of the box set The Aeroplane Flies High, have been announced. Originally released in 1996 after the success of the diamond-certified double-album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (itself the latest notch in the Pumpkins' reissue campaign, with a six-disc box set edition released last year), Aeroplane collated and expanded all of the CD singles released to promote that album, featuring "Bullet with
Ramblin' Men: Allman Brothers Band's "Brothers and Sisters" Goes Super Deluxe In June
Though it was The Allman Brothers Band’s fifth album, 1973’s Brothers and Sisters actually marked a rebirth. The tight-knit unit had weathered the tragic deaths of leader Duane Allman and Berry Oakley in 1971 and 1972, respectively. The 1972 double album Eat a Peach would be the last to feature Duane’s inimitable slide guitar, as he died during its recording. And Oakley perished as sessions for Brothers and Sisters were occurring. Yet the band soldiered on, and even flourished. The
Tell All The People: "The Best of Merry Clayton" Shines Spotlight on "Gimme Shelter" Singer
For Merry Clayton, fame was just a shot away. For she was a member of a very exclusive club of well-respected yet all-too-unheralded performers: background singers. Documentarian Morgan Neville’s new film 20 Feet from Stardom chronicles some of the great artists who have excelled in that capacity, including Clayton, Darlene Love, Lisa Fischer, Judith Hill, Claudia Lennear and Táta Vega. Many of music’s greatest background singers also had solo careers, though, and Legacy Recordings and Ode
She's Got The Beat: Belinda Carlisle's Deluxe 2-CD/1-DVD Reissues Due in August (UPDATED WITH TRACK LISTINGS)
The Tabu catalogue isn't the only major acquisition of late for the Demon Music Group. Back in March, Demon - home to labels including Edsel, Harmless and Music Club Deluxe - announced that a deal had been struck for much of the solo catalogue of onetime Go-Go Belinda Carlisle. Ooh, baby, do you know what that's worth? Demon picked up rights to four of Carlisle's studio albums, the rights to which had previously resided with Virgin (part of the former EMI). Demon's agreement covers the
Sandie Shaw Reissues Are At Your Feet from Salvo (UPDATED 6/3)
UPDATE (6/3): Available today, Salvo has expanded and reissued three more Sandie Shaw LPs. They are 1968's The Sandie Shaw Supplement, featuring covers of The Rolling Stones ("(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction") and Simon & Garfunkel ("Scarborough Fair"); the self-produced cult hit Reviewing the Situation (1969) and 1988's Hello Angel, her first LP for Rough Trade and featuring a heap of single-only material with labelmates and fans The Smiths. ORIGINAL POST (4/8/2013): British pop chanteuse
Release Round-Up: Week of June 4
Bob Dylan, Greatest Hits Volume 2 (SACD) (Audio Fidelity) A double hybrid SACD version of the classic Dylan compilation, mastered by Steve Hoffman. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Sandie Shaw, The Sandie Shaw Supplement / Reviewing the Situation / Hello Angel: Expanded Editions (Salvo) Sandie Shaw's late '60s and '80s material gets newly remastered and expanded. Smiths alive! (Click on the post above for a full breakdown and order links.) Ben Folds Five, Live (ImaVeePee/Sony Music) The power
What's It All About: Burt Bacharach Celebrated On PBS, Lost Song Included on "Dionne Warwick Sings Burt Bacharach"
The first voice you’ll hear on My Music: Burt Bacharach’s Best, now airing on PBS stations nationwide, is that of The Maestro himself. “What’s it all about, Alfie?,” he sings in his familiar, quavering tone, finding the fragility in the Hal David lyric that he calls his favorite. Then comes “What the World Needs Now is Love,” sung by its composer with an assist from that International Man of Mystery, Austin Powers (Mike Myers). It’s appropriate that the solo Bacharach introduces this
Review: Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, "Playlist: The Very Best Of"
When Bruce Springsteen gave the green light to officially release his 1973 recording of “The Fever” on 1999’s 18 Tracks, The Boss’ decision was rightfully greeted with acclaim. But many of us Jersey boys were in on a secret: Bruce wrote it, but “The Fever” belonged to Southside Johnny Lyon and his Asbury Jukes. Springsteen’s torrid evocation of a burning blue-collar romance, as produced by “Miami” Steve Van Zandt, was the centerpiece of the band’s 1976 Epic Records debut I Don’t Want to Go
Resistance is Futile: Iconic "Star Trek: TNG" Episode Gets Expanded Score Release
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh9GDlGZm7Y] "I am Locutus of Borg. Resistance is futile. Your life, as it has been, is over. From this time forward, you will service us." Fewer words sent a chill down the spine of millions of Trekkies on the night of June 18, 1990, toward the conclusion of "The Best of Both Worlds, Part I," the third season finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Not since James T. Kirk engaged Khan Noonien Singh in the Mutara Nebula in 1982's Star Trek II: The Wrath
It's a Family Affair: Sly and the Family Stone Want to Take You "Higher!" With New Career-Spanning Box Set
Epic Records and Legacy Recordings want you to have some hot fun in the summertime. On August 27, the labels will release the first-ever career-spanning box set dedicated to Sly and the Family Stone, as previewed on Record Store Day 2013. The box succinctly entitled Higher! wants to take you there. 77 tracks chronicle the period between 1964 and 1977, and 17 of those recordings are previously unissued. Sly Stone, born Sylvester Stewart in 1943, couldn’t hide his prodigious musical talents
The Art of Excellence: Tony Bennett's Columbia Catalogue Reissued On CD and Digital Formats
"My ambition has always been to create a hit catalogue rather than hit records," wrote Tony Bennett in 2011. Of course, the modest Mr. Bennett has managed to do both. He's charted successful singles and continues to chart albums, but has also crafted a catalogue distinguished by its sustained excellence. On the same day as the release of Bennett/Brubeck, the landmark 1962 concert performance of Tony Bennett and Dave Brubeck, Sony’s Legacy Recordings also made good on a couple of other
Review: Tabu Wave 2 - Alexander O'Neal, Cherrelle, Kathy Mathis and The S.O.S. Band
The earth has music for those who listen, proclaimed Clarence Avant's Tabu Records label. A major force in contemporary R&B from the late 1970s through the 1990s, Tabu followed in the footsteps of other black-owned, independent music empires as Berry Gordy's Motown and Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff's Philadelphia International. While Tabu never achieved the same level of crossover success as those aforementioned labels, it indeed picked up the torch of "The Sound of Young America," and its
Rock & Roll Revival: Edsel Plans Massive Box for U.K. Act Showaddywaddy
Fans of classic rock and roll revival act Showaddywaddy have got quite the box set coming their way from Edsel in June. The Complete Studio Recordings 1973-1987 collects just about the band's entire output, released or otherwise, in a 10-disc set. The U.K. act rose to almost improbable fame in the mid-to-late '70s by dressing up in 1950s-London fashion (known to the uninitiated as "Teddy Boy" subculture) and covering a host of old-time rock songs, from Buddy Holly ("Heartbeat") and Eddie
BBR Goes For The Total Experience with Gap Band, Billy Paul Reissues
Today we're taking a look at two recent reissues from Big Break Records. Both Billy Paul's Lately and Gap Band VII were originally released by Total Experience Records, and both were the production work of Jonah Ellis. Big Break has expanded and remastered both albums. Billy Paul, Lately (Total Experience, 1985 - reissued Big Break CDBBR 0224, 2013) Could anyone among us have an inkling or a clue, what magic feats of wizardry and voodoo you can do? And who would ever guess what powers
Here's Your Chance: Philly Soul Legends, Deep Soul Grooves Comprise BBR's Next Release Slate
From the streets of Philadelphia to the deepest vaults of soul and R&B, this coming week's slate of reissues from Big Break Records has got just about something for everyone. Enchantment, the Detroit soul group behind 1978's hit "It's You That I Need," would make some changes in the '80s, having moved labels a few times (from Roadshow/United Artists to RCA and finally Columbia for two albums) and also subtly altering their sound from a lush, disco feel to a Fairlight-led modern groove.
Review: Paul McCartney and Wings, "The Paul McCartney Archive Collection: Wings Over America"
"Yesterday" and Today (1976) With a burst of boogie woogie, Paul McCartney finally acknowledged the elephant in the room. And then he made it abundantly clear that he wasn't going to be standing in any shadow, even his own. That moment came seven songs into the first disc of Wings Over America when Paul suddenly became Beatle Paul once again, tearing into "Lady Madonna" with Fats-inspired glee. The Wings Over the World tour - taking in three continents, 66 concerts and roughly one million
Release Round-Up: Week of May 28
Wings, Wings Over America: The Paul McCartney Archive Collection (MPL/Hear Music/Concord) Paul McCartney's first great U.S. tour was chronicled brilliantly on this 1977 live album, and it's been greatly expanded herein for McCartney's ongoing reissue campaign. 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 3CD (Best Buy exclusive) 4CD/1DVD box: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Tony Bennett & Dave Brubeck,
From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come): Three Soundtracks by Michael Small Are Collected On A New 2-CD Set
Kritzerland offered a Memorial Day surprise yesterday when the label announced its latest release, a three-for-the-price-of-one soundtrack special from composer Michael Small. Small (1939-2003) was a major voice of 1970s film scoring, with such films as Klute, The Parallax View, Marathon Man and The China Syndrome under his belt. A favorite of such acclaimed directors as Alan J. Pakula and Bob Rafelson, he continued to be a major presence in Hollywood writing for both television (Alex Haley’s
They've Still Got a Place in Our Hearts: George Jones, Marty Robbins Reissues Arrive From Morello
When George Jones died on April 26, 2013 at the age of 81, American song lost one of its all-time greats. Yet Jones’ music lives on thanks to a steady stream of reissues drawn from his deep catalogue, including a recent two-for-one package from Cherry Red’s Morello imprint. Jones inaugurated the Morello label last year with four albums on two CDs, and he’s returned to the roster with Jones Country and You’ve Still Got a Place in My Heart, from 1983 and 1984, respectively. Morello’s
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