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
Review: Wes Montgomery, "In the Beginning"
Never-before-heard music by Wes Montgomery isn't easy to come by. Montgomery - an influence to George Benson, Jimi Hendrix, Pat Metheny and every great guitar man in between - didn't enter a recording studio until 25 years of age, didn't record as a leader until another ten years had elapsed, and was dead ten years after that, felled by a heart attack at age 45. His body of work can neatly be divided into three distinct periods at different labels: Riverside (1959-1964), Verve (1964-1966) and
The Ides of March Celebrate 50 Years with "Last Band Standing" Box Set
"Beware the ides of March," goes the famous admonition. Thankfully, Jim Peterik, Larry Millas, Bob Bergland and Mike Borch didn't heed the warning. Formed in Berwyn, Illinois in 1965 as the Shon-Dels, The Ides of March are still going strong 50 years later with their brassy blend of good-time rock and roll, R&B, pop and soul epitomized on the 1970 hit single "Vehicle." These rock and roll survivors and local legends around the Chicago scene have recently assembled a definitive box set
Review: Drivin' N' Cryin', "Best of Songs"
In a career spanning almost thirty years on both independent and major labels, Drivin' N' Cryin' has refused to be pigeonholed. The band, formed by Kevin (or Kevn) Kinney in 1985 has happily leaped from genre to genre, drawing on hard rock, country, pop, punk and other influences. Between June 2012 and January 2014, the band - now consisting of Kinney, founding member Tim Nielsen, Sadler Vaden and Dave V. Johnson - recorded a series of four EPs from which a tight, all-killer, no-filler
RPM Hitches a Ride with Vanity Fare On New 2-CD Complete Anthology
With "Hitchin' a Ride" and "Early in the Morning," Vanity Fare assured its immortality to AM radio connoisseurs. The two 1969 hits are still in rotation on oldies radio today, but they're just two of the nearly 50 songs cut by the British band over the ten year period of 1966 to 1976. Cherry Red's RPM label has recently put those two famous tunes in context with Vanity Fare's I Live for the Sun: Complete Recordings 1966-76. This 2-CD anthology collects the band's output for the Page One, DJM,
Review: The Pretenders CD/DVD Reissue Series
Chrissie Hynde, Pete Farndon, James Honeyman Scott and Martin Chambers may have taken the name of The Pretenders, but anybody paying attention soon realized that there was nothing "pretend" about this band - not its brash amalgam of British and American styles (Hynde was a U.S. émigré; the other three were Brits), not its unabashedly punk approach to a classic rock sound, not its effortless, cool swagger. 1979's Pretenders launched the band on a journey that continues to this day. It's been a
Review: Frank Sinatra, "Ultimate Sinatra"
On August 31, 1939, Frank Sinatra stepped into a New York recording studio as vocalist of Harry James' orchestra for a two-song session. The second song recorded, Arthur Altman and Jack Lawrence's "All or Nothing at All," captured a philosophy that the 23-year old "boy singer" would hold closely. "All or nothing at all/Half a love never appealed to me," he asserted. "If it's love there is no in-between..." Indeed, Frank Sinatra's life was one of triumphant highs and shattering lows - no
"Boz Scaggs" Returns In Deluxe 2-CD Edition
After appearing on the first two albums by The Steve Miller Band, singer-songwriter-guitarist William Royce "Boz" Scaggs sensed that it was time to strike out on his own once more. In 1968, he inked a deal with Atlantic Records to record his second solo album; his first, 1965's Boz, was a Swedish release that to this day hasn't seen a reissue. So Scaggs and his co-producers Marlin Greene and Jann Wenner (yes, that Jann Wenner) headed down to Muscle Shoals' Alabama's most famous address, 3614
Wouldn't It Be Loverly? Two Julie Andrews Classics Return to CD
By anyone's estimation, Julie Andrews was one of Columbia Records' leading lights by 1962. Her Tony-nominated performances onstage in My Fair Lady and Camelot had both led to chart-topping, record-breaking original cast recordings on the Columbia label; in fact, it was under the leadership of president Goddard Lieberson that the record label underwrote the original Broadway production cost of My Fair Lady - an investment that, needless to say, paid off many times over! So it was unsurprising
Review: "Beale Street Saturday Night"
Beale Street in downtown Memphis, Tennessee runs approximately 1.8 miles from the Mississippi River to East Street. Created in 1841 and originally named Beale Avenue, it was immortalized in 1916 by composer, musician and bandleader W.C. Handy in his "Beale Street Blues." By the middle of the century, Louis Armstrong, B.B. King, Albert King, Muddy Waters and more had all played Beale Street, recognized as one of the nation's foremost cradles of the blues. But by the mid-1960s, the legendary
The Legend of Paul Revere: Now Sounds Reissues, Expands The Raiders' "Revolution!"
You say you want a Revolution!? Now Sounds is ready to take you on a ride suitable for midnight or any time with its new Deluxe Expanded Mono Edition of Paul Revere and the Raiders' Revolution! (CRNOW 53). Originally released in August 1967, during the Summer of Love, the album blended pop, rock and R&B, West Coast-style, proving just how far the little band from Boise, Idaho had come. Revolution! followed The Spirit of '67, which had actually been released in late
Review: Perry Como, "Live on Tour"
"I was a barber. Since then, I've been a singer. That's it." So reflected Perry Como on an astounding career in which the onetime haircutter from Canonsburg, Pennsylvania sold more than 100 million records, charted 131 singles in the United States, fourteen No. 1s, and seventeen Gold records - including the very first single to receive that certification, 1958's "Catch a Falling Star." He hosted more than 1,000 television programs, earned five Emmys, a Grammy, and a Kennedy Center Honor.
Review: Six By Booker T. and the MG's
"Soul Dressing," "Jelly Bread," "Red Beans and Rice," "My Sweet Potato," "One Mint Julep," and of course, "Green Onions" and "Mo' Onions" - Edsel has served up a veritable feast with its recent reissues of the complete 1962-1968 recordings of Booker T. and the MG's [sic] originally issued on the Stax label during its affiliation with Atlantic Records. The new reissues pair two albums per package: Green Onions and Soul Dressing plus bonus tracks on one CD; And Now and In the Christmas Spirit
Review: Todd Rundgren, "Global"
Almost two years ago to the day, Todd Rundgren released his 24th studio album, State. The prolific singer-songwriter-producer hasn’t been resting on his laurels in the period since State. He’s maintained a busy touring schedule both solo and with Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band, and has contributed to numerous studio projects this year including the progressive collaboration Runddans with Hans-Peter Lindstrøm and Emil Nikolaisen, and Starr’s Postcards from Paradise (on which he co-wrote
Review: Dion, "Recorded Live at the Bitter End August 1971"
Armed with nothing but his guitar and his familiar, reassuring voice, Dion DiMucci took the stage at the Bitter End, in New York’s Greenwich Village, in August 1971. The rock and roll survivor had successfully made the transition from teenaged doo-wopper to folk-rock troubadour, moving from independent Laurie Records to New York major Columbia and back again to Laurie, briefly reuniting with his old group The Belmonts at ABC, too. Then, in 1969, Dion made the shift to the West Coast-based
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