Dr. John's most famous single was titled "Right Place Wrong Time," but the one and only Mac Rebennack has certainly found himself in the right place at many a right time. One particularly halcyon period of the funky New Orleans piano man's long career is captured on Omnivore Recordings' essential new collection of The Atco/Atlantic Singles 1968-1974 (OVCD-149). Though the 22 U.S. and U.K. singles included on this collection represent Dr. John's earliest years as a solo artist under that
Review: Johnny Mathis, "The Singles"
A new 4-CD box set from Legacy Recordings and Columbia Records can be best summed up by the title of its very first track: "Wonderful! Wonderful!" Johnny Mathis' simply-titled The Singles doesn't bring together every track released by the legendary artist on 45 RPM; such an endeavor would take far more than four discs. Instead, it features the tracks originally released by Mathis on Columbia in the singles format - in other words, non-LP sides - between the years of 1956 and 1981, in their
Review: Tennessee Ernie Ford, "Portrait of an American Singer"
With three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a Presidential Medal of Freedom, and inductions into the Country Music and Gospel Music Halls of Fame to his name, there were few heights that Ernest Jennings Ford - a.k.a. Tennessee Ernie Ford - didn't scale. A mainstay of radio and television, Ford's decades-long association with Capitol Records yielded a rich catalogue filled with country, proto rock-and-roll boogie-woogie, western swing, pop and folk ballads, gospel, novelty records, blues and
Review: Pugwash, "Play This Intimately (As If Among Friends)"
One of the happiest pop-rock discoveries of 2014 was undoubtedly Pugwash's A Rose in a Garden of Weeds, compiling the Irish band's best music from 1999-2011. Now, the four-piece consisting of Thomas Walsh, Tosh Flood, Shawn McGee and Joe Fitzgerald is back with an all-new set recorded at Konk Studios and released on Omnivore Recordings. Produced by Walsh and Flood, Play This Intimately (As If Among Friends) features the same bright, vibrant spirit and unabashedly melodic sensibility that
Review: "Groove and Grind: Rare Soul '63-'73"
Got a few spare hours? You'll definitely want to put some time aside for a new box set that just might get you up and dancing... The four packed CDs comprising RockBeat Records' Groove and Grind: Rare Soul '63-'73 (ROC-CD-3255)- that's 112 songs, most of which have never previously appeared on CD - add up to one of the most exhaustive rare soul archives in the CD era, and one which you'll want to spend hours and hours exploring. As accompanied by a 112-page book with Bill Dahl's copious,
Pay Attention! On-U-Sound Reissues, Expands The Mothmen's Debut
The Second Disc welcomes back our roving musical correspondent Ted Frank! A recent visit to Chicago's Pitchfork Festival inspired Ted to revisit the debut album of short-lived British band The Mothmen, recently reissued and expanded on CD and vinyl! You'll want to "Pay Attention!" to this alternative gem. Having recently attended the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago's Union Park, it was a reminder of that expansive, mercurial sound that comes when the calendar hits June's solstice! On June 1
It's "Happy Lovin' Time": Ace Collects Rare Sunshine Pop and More
Ace Records has previously mined the eclectic catalogue of producer-impresario Gary S. Paxton, most notably on Hollywood Maverick: The Gary S. Paxton Story. That 2006 volume featured Paxton's work with artists including The Hollywood Argyles ("Alley Oop"), Paul Revere and the Raiders ("Midnight Ride") and Bobby "Boris" Pickett ("The Monster Mash"). Recently, Ace has returned to the archives of Paxton's Garpax production company with the delicious Happy Lovin' Time: Sunshine Pop from the Garpax
Review: Chicago, "The Studio Albums" and America, "The Warner Bros. Years"
In 1969, Chicago Transit Authority - a.k.a. Robert Lamm, Peter Cetera, Terry Kath, Danny Seraphine, Lee Loughnane, James Pankow and Walter Parazaider - released its first album on Columbia Records. 46 years and a total of 36 core albums later, the band simply known as Chicago is still intact with Lamm, Loughnane, Pankow and Parazaider. In the waning days of 1971, another band made its first appearance on records. America - the trio of Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell and Dan Peek -
Omnivore Uncovers The Lost Soul of Carl Hall
Even the most diehard soul connoisseurs can be forgiven for not knowing the name of Carl Hall. After all, he left behind just a handful of singles on labels including Mercury, Loma, Atlantic and Columbia before focusing on a stage career. But thanks to Omnivore's recent release of You Don't Know Nothing About Love: The Loma/Atlantic Recordings 1967-1972, it's highly unlikely that you'll forget the name, and sound, of Carl Hall. Distinguished by both his intensity and his stratospheric vocal
Let's Go Disco: Big Break Gets Down With MFSB's "Universal Love"
Big Break Records is letting the love come through - Universal Love, that is! - with its new reissue of the third album from Philadelphia International Records' inimitable house band, MFSB. The only mystery about the 1975 album is how this No. 2 R&B smash (and respectable No. 44 Pop success, as well) has avoided compact disc release after all these years. Happily, it follows 1972's MFSB and 1973's Love is the Message into Big Break's catalogue in a newly-expanded and remastered
It's Clobberin' Time! Ace Unearths Gems From Motown's Fantastic Four
Last weekend, The Fantastic Four - the super-powered Reed Richards, Susan Storm, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm - returned to the big screen, ultimately to disappoint fans. But Ace Records' Kent label has another group of the same name in the spotlight - and this one is bound to thrill! Joe Pruitt, Ralph Pruitt, Toby Childs and James Epps made their debut as The Fantastic Four in 1966 on Detroit's Ric-Tic label, notching a series of R&B and Pop hits (including 1967's No. 6 R&B/No. 63 Pop
Review: Simon and Garfunkel, "The Complete Columbia Albums Collection" and "The Concert in Central Park"
When Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel took the stage on April 24, 2010 at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, it's doubtful that many in the audience knew they were witnessing the end of one chapter in the story of Simon & Garfunkel. That concert marked the final time that the famous duo have performed together to date, but over five years later, the specter of Simon & Garfunkel still looms large over both men. It's no surprise; the question of a reunion cropped up almost
Review: Various Artists, "Here Today! The Songs of Brian Wilson"
The title of Ace Records' recent collection is Here Today! The Songs of Brian Wilson, after one of those famous Wilson songs off The Beach Boys' 1966 Pet Sounds. But the fact of the matter is - as this enjoyably diverse set proves over the course of its 25 tracks - Brian Wilson's music is not only here today, but will be here for many tomorrows. Unlike Ace's 2003 volume Pet Projects: The Brian Wilson Productions, this anthology concentrates on Brian as songwriter. But there are a couple of
Omnivore's Got The Knack! Three Reissues, Reviewed
"Pop is dead, bring a shovel!" So proclaimed The Knack in the acerbic lyric to the opening track of 1998's "comeback" album Zoom. Of course, the song proved otherwise, as the years between 1991's Serious Fun and Zoom had been kind to the band, a.k.a. Doug Fieger (lead vocals/rhythm guitar), Prescott Niles (bass) and Berton Averre (lead guitar/keyboards/vocals). Omnivore Recordings has recently reissued Zoom and its follow-up, Normal as the Next Guy, along with 2001's Live from
New "Rare Soul" Collection Features Otis Redding, Percy Sledge, Solomon Burke, Mary Wells and More
If Rare Soul is what you're looking for, PopMarket has an exclusive release just for you. The online shop has recently released A Crate Digger's Collection of Rare Soul, a 3-LP set pressed on heavyweight180-gram vinyl presenting 35 tracks culled from the Warner Music Group family of labels including Atlantic, Cotillion, Loma, Atco and Warner Bros. itself. This handsome package, a limited edition of 1,000 units, features 35 tracks from some of the labels' heaviest hitters as well as names that
Review: Ronny and the Daytonas, "The Complete Recordings"
The sound was surf-rock, but the pedigree was pure Nashville. Ronny and the Daytonas burst onto the scene in 1964 with the rip-roaring California-style car tune "G.T.O.," scoring a Top 5 hit on both the Billboard and Cash Box charts. The group - in actuality, singer-songwriter John "Buck" Wilkin and a rotating cast of Music City's finest - recorded a couple of albums and notched other hits, most notably 1965's dreamy "Sandy," through 1966 on the Mala label before moving to RCA for a stint
Good Grief! Varese Premieres "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" On CD
When Charles Schulz, director-producer Lee Mendelson and co-producer Bill Melendez announced they were bringing Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the Peanuts gang to the big screen for the very first time, anticipation was naturally high. A Boy Named Charlie Brown was well-received upon its December 1969 theatrical debut, going on to do good business and receiving credit for breaking the Disney monopoly on feature-length animation. Today, it's still remembered as the best of the four Peanuts animated
Meet Me Down in Soulville: Numero Unearths The Royal Jesters' "English Oldies"
To residents of San Antonio, Texas, The Royal Jesters are hometown heroes. To even the most astute music fans outside of the San Antonio region, the vocal group might be all but unknown. Thanks to Chicago's Numero Group reissue specialists, however, The Royal Jesters have gotten a big break. The group founded by high school pals Oscar Lawson, Henry Hernandez, Mike Pedraza and Louis Escalante in 1958 continued to perform and record through 1977, with sporadic reunions after that. Their sound
Review: Robin Gibb, "Saved by the Bell: The Collected Works 1968-1970"
Give me a smile! With the new release of Robin Gibb's Saved by the Bell: The Collected Works of Robin Gibb 1968-1970 (R2 549315), Rhino/Reprise has unveiled the most significant archival collection related to The Bee Gees in nearly a decade. Not since 2006's The Studio Albums 1967-1968 has the vault door been opened to reveal such a remarkable wealth of pop treasure from an artist with the surname of Gibb - in this case, the late Robin. This three-CD set, produced with stunning attention to
Review: Little Richard, "Directly From My Heart"
The annals of rock have been filled with colorful characters, but few can compare to Richard Penniman, a.k.a. Little Richard. Over the course of just eighteen months beginning in 1955, the man who has called himself The King and Queen of Rock and Roll recorded the songs that laid the foundation of the genre, notching seventeen R&B Top 10s - four of which also made the Pop Top 10. After that initial burst of fame, however, Richard retreated from the spotlight. The new box set Directly from
Hey, Look Me Over! Harbinger Celebrates The Music of Cy Coleman On New Collection
When Bob Dylan released his first collection of standards earlier this year, the venerable singer-songwriter took umbrage at the notion that he was "covering" classic songs. "I don't see myself as covering these songs in any way," he reflected. "They've been covered enough. Buried, as a matter a fact. What me and my band are basically doing is uncovering them." Among the songs uncovered by Dylan was Cy Coleman and Joseph McCarthy's "Why Try to Change Me Now," first recorded by Frank Sinatra
Review: Nils Lofgren, "Nils Lofgren"
Nils Lofgren was only in his teenage years when Neil Young called upon him to add piano and guitar to his now-classic 1970 album After the Gold Rush. The Chicago-born musician's association with Young announced him in a big way, launching a career that flourishes to this very day. Lofgren served a brief stint in Crazy Horse, playing on that band's 1971 album, and with his own band Grin recorded four well-received albums between 1971 and 1973 on the Epic and A&M labels. It was in 1975 for
River Deep Mountain High: Ace Returns to the Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich Songbook
With Sweet Things, Ace Records has picked a most apt title for its third volume of music from the Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry songbook (Ace CDCHD 1434). Though Greenwich and Barry were united as husband and wife for just the short period of 1962-1965, and only worked together for a short time after that, a year hasn't gone by since when their enduring songs haven't been recorded and re-recorded. The collection's 24 titles span 1963-1978 and blend hits and rarities from the duo with tracks
Review: Andrew Gold, "The Late Show - Live 1978"
Isn't it about time for an Andrew Gold renaissance? Then again, the late artist's music is still very much a part of today. Just tune in to TV Land, Hallmark, or Logo TV and you'll hear Cynthia Fee's rendition of Gold's "Thank You for Being a Friend" introducing the exploits of Dorothy, Rose, Blanche and Sophia on every episode of The Golden Girls. And when "yacht rock" playlists started popping up, reviving breezy, laid-back 1970s soft rock sounds (many of which emanated out of California),
Review: Peggy Lee, "At Last: The Lost Radio Recordings"
When Mad Men returned to television on April 5 for the first of its final seven episodes, viewers saw a different Don Draper - perhaps ready, at last, to realize what he'd become. To underscore his possible epiphany of disillusionment, the strains of Peggy Lee's "Is That All There Is?" recurred numerous times throughout the episode. The song's placement underscored just how resonant Lee's music - mysterious, elegant, startling, bluesy, sensual, sly, hip, alternately hot and cool - continues to
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