Cher’s album 3614 Jackson Highway arrived midway through 1969 as the singer and her partner Sonny Bono worked furiously to re-establish themselves in a changing musical landscape and escape from mounting debt. Their first child had been born in March, a Sonny and Cher single arrived in May and was quickly followed by a Cher solo 45, and her film Chastity hit theatres in June. Sonny and Cher hadn’t had a major hit single since 1967’s “The Beat Goes On” and the solo Cher hadn’t had a chart entry since the same…
Earwig Music Unearths Trove of Chicago Blues and Soul on “Cadillac Baby’s Bea & Baby Records: The Definitive Collection”
Chicago in the ’50s was overflowing with skilled bluesmen, vocal groups, gospel singers, not to mention the mom-and-pop labels eager to make a hit off the artists. There are the now-famous labels – Chess, Delmark, and Vee-Jay among them. But the Windy City was so teeming with talent (and entrepreneurial hucksters trying to launch their own careers) that small, independent labels were plentiful. Earwig Music Company celebrates one such label in its ambitious new box set, Cadillac Baby’s Bea & Baby Records: The Definitive Collection. It’s not too far-fetched to say the…
Wake Up Everybody: Cherry Red, SoulMusic Collect Classic Philadelphia International Albums from Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes
If you don’t know Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes by now, Cherry Red and SoulMusic Records have just the right collection for you. Be for Real: The PIR Recordings (1972-1975) brings together the four albums recorded by the group for Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff’s Philadelphia International Records on two CDs, plus a six-song bonus disc. Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes came to Gamble and Huff’s newly-formed label in 1972 after having bounced from label to label including Landa, Arctic, and UNI. Melvin had known Gamble and Huff since childhood,…
Review: Craft Latino Invites You To Take A Far-Out Trip With “Fania Goes Psychedelic”
Get ready for a freak-out, because Craft Recordings has announced a new 15-song compilation of experimental and far-out treasures from the legendary Latin music label Fania! Entitled Fania Goes Psychedelic, this crate-digger’s fantasy is part of Craft Latino’s ongoing celebration of the influential imprint that became a home to the Latin-soul fusion “boogaloo” tunes that were coming out of the barrios. Originally founded by musician Johnny Pacheco and lawyer Jerry Masucci in 1964, the label grew quickly and eventually become one of the most significant imprints in Latin music as it “documented…
Run Back to Mama: Ace’s “Horn Rock” Anthology Features Chase, Blood Sweat and Tears, Delaney and Bonnie, More
The new collection on Ace Records’ BGP imprint packs a mighty punch. That’s because it’s dedicated to Horn Rock (with the equally-important subtitle And Funky Guitar Grooves), that boldest and brassiest of rock subgenres. The phrase “horn rock” immediately brings to mind the sound popularized by Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears (only one of which is represented here) but the added colors afforded by horns were applied to recordings in the baroque-rock, art-rock, psych-rock, and jazz-rock idioms, just to name a few. This 17-track sampler from artists both unfamiliar and unknown…
Rhino’s 10-CD Woodstock Set “Back To the Garden: The 50th Anniversary Experience” Delivers the Goods
Fifty years ago this summer, more than 400,000 fans convened at Max Yasgur’s farm for a music festival that would come to define not only the era, but the entire ethos of music festivals to come. With every passing decade, the magic of Woodstock has been celebrated and, indeed, re-marketed to new generations of music fans. The ’90s saw two new Woodstock-branded festivals and an array of 25th anniversary products, including a compilation called Woodstock Diary and a 4-CD box set. To mark the festival’s 40th anniversary in 2009, yet another box…
Review: Cheryl Lynn, “Got To Be Real: The Columbia Anthology”
Last month, Cherry Red’s SoulMusic imprint released an exciting new compilation of Cheryl Lynn classics. Got To Be Real: The Columbia Anthology brings together 31 of the powerhouse vocalist’s most enduring tracks. The 2-CD set not only represents tracks from her classic Columbia albums Cheryl Lynn (1978), In Love (1979), In the Night (1981), Instant Love (1982), Preppie (1983) and It’s Gonna Be Right (1985), but also features rare 12″ remixes; dance versions; soundtrack selections; and duets with the likes of Toto, Hubert Laws, and Luther Vandross. The result is the first-ever…
Review: Various Artists, “Motown: The Complete No. 1s”
Smokey Robinson’s mama famously told the young singer-songwriter that he’d better shop around, but happily, those looking for the definitive chronicle of Smokey and Diana and Mary and Flo and Martha and Marvin and Stevie and co. need shop around no more. To mark the label’s 60th anniversary, Motown: The Complete No. 1s is back in print in a slightly-expanded edition, and this 11-CD box set is, simply, one-stop shopping. Impressively housed within a sturdy replica of 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan, this collection features all of the company’s chart-toppers…
Swinging Doors: Grateful Dead, Emmylou, Dolly, Dino, More Celebrate “The Merle Haggard Songbook”
Along with Buck Owens – with whom he shared a musical history and a wife – Merle Haggard (1937-2016) defined The Bakersfield Sound of country music: authentic, raw, rooted in honky-tonks. But unlike the Texas-born and Arizona-raised Owens, Haggard was actually born in Bakersfield and raised just across the river from that California town. “Hag,” as he preferred to be known, rocketed to superstardom thanks to “Okie from Muskogee,” his controversial 1969 song that was either a scathing indictment of the younger generation or of the smalltown, heartland folk criticizing them. (Hag…
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If Loving You Is A Crime: Lee Moses Rarities Collected on “How Much Longer Must I Wait?”
Three years ago, Light In the Attic reissued Time and Place, the lone album by soul powerhouse Lee Moses. The self-taught instrumentalist and singer made a name for himself in Atlanta, where he performed with Gladys Knight, among others. Upon its original release, Time and Place didn’t make waves financially but in the decades since, it became a cult classic. On May 24, Light In the Attic’s Future Days Recordings imprint will continue its celebration of the raw and beautiful soul music of Lee Moses with How Much Longer Must I Wait? Singles…
And I Never Knew: Ace Collects Rare, Unreleased Tommy Hunt on “The Complete Man”
One of the brightest stars in the uptown soul firmament, Tommy Hunt, has just been celebrated by Ace’s Kent Records on a new collection filled with rare and previously unheard material. The Complete Man: 60s NYC Soul Songs follows up the label’s The Biggest Man with a second dip into his recordings for New York indie Scepter Records as well as Capitol, Atlantic, and Dynamo. Born in 1933 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Tommy Hunt’s family settled in Chicago during his formative years. But difficulties plagued him. He served in the U.S. Air Force…
In the Pocket: Ace Salutes Mickie Most, Reggie Young on New Anthologies
The names of Mickie Most and Reggie Young might not be among the most familiar except to diehard music aficionados, but the songs that benefited from their respective golden touches certainly are among the most well-known ever. Ace Records has recently paid tribute to both of these late talents with a pair of deluxe anthologies. The Pop Genius of Mickie Most may be the most lavish single-disc package yet released by Ace, housed in a heavy slipcase also containing a squarebound 74-page biography of the producer-impresario. Most (1938-2003) made no bones about…
I’ll Be Doggone: Ace Collects U.K. Motown Covers From The Hollies, Dusty, Cilla, and More
Ace Records has released a number of splendid Motown collections in recent years, but now the label is taking a different approach to the music of Hitsville, USA. As Motown celebrates its landmark 60th anniversary, On the Detroit Beat: Motor City Soul – U.K. Style 1963-1967 brings together 24 diverse British interpretations of Motown classics, making for a potent reminder that the Sound of Young America was, truly, international. Compiler Tony Rounce helpfully points out in his liner notes that Motown was far from an overnight sensation in the U.K.; some 40…
Shake Some Action: Cherry Red Revisits The Mod Sound of The Action
Periodically this month, we’ll be looking at titles released in the latter part of 2018 that we either didn’t cover, or only covered briefly, the first time around! We hope you enjoy this look at “some nice things we’ve missed”… Cherry Red’s Grapefruit Records imprint knows where The Action is. The label has collected the complete 1964-1968 recordings of the British mod group on a splendid 4-CD box set including original masters, alternate takes, outtakes, and more – adding up to every surviving recording released under the band’s name. The Action performed…
Breakfast In Bed: Eddie Hinton Saluted By Dusty, Cher, Box Tops, More On New Ace Collection
As a member of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, Eddie Hinton played on countless recordings by the likes of Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, and Otis Redding. But there was another side of the guitarist that led Jerry Wexler to once proclaim him “the next big thing.” Hinton was a persuasive performer and moreover, a fine songwriter. In collaboration with Donnie Fritts, he penned what’s likely his most famous song: “Breakfast in Bed,” immortalized by Dusty Springfield on Dusty in Memphis. Late in 2018, Ace Records issued a definitive anthology of…
Presley, Darin, Orbison, Sinatra, Beach Boys Featured On Ace’s New “State of the Union”
Elvis and Dino took on hypocrisy. Dion lamented the senseless deaths of Abraham, Martin, and John. Johnny “Poetry in Motion” Tillotson cast a spotlight on the poor treatment of veterans returned home from war. Bing Crosby wondered “What Do We Do with the World” and Paul Anka observed that “This crazy world has come undone.” Such are the moments captured on Ace’s thoroughly captivating new collection Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs Present State of the Union: The American Dream in Crisis 1967-1973. This 24-track set chronicles the tumult and upheaval of Vietnam-era…
Review: “Stax ’68: A Memphis Story”
Otis Redding’s “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay,” the first Stax single of 1968, should have been a new beginning for the artist and label. Instead, the posthumous release ushered in a tumultuous year for the Memphis institution. The death of Redding and members of The Bar-Kays on December 10, 1967 was a tremendous loss for Stax and popular culture, but no one could have predicted the upheaval that would affect Stax and the city of Memphis in the following twelve months. That time has just been chronicled in a new…
Gimme Something Real: Groove Line Celebrates Ashford and Simpson on New Anthology
Had Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson written nothing but “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” the duo would have found their place in the musical pantheon assured. But the reality is that the husband-and-wife team also wrote such American pop standards as “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing,” “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand),” “You’re All I Need to Get By,” “California Soul,” and “Solid (As a Rock).” They were so prolific that even top-notch material was left on the shelf; Second Disc Records’ recent collection of Bobby Darin’s lost Motown recordings featured…
Review: Solomon Burke, “The Best of Atlantic Soul 1962-1965”
When Solomon Burke died in 2010 at the age of 70, American song lost one of its most towering talents. With a figure as imposing as his deep voice, The King of Rock and Soul sat upon his throne for decades, spreading the gospel…not just the gospel of music, but the Gospel itself. Tapping into his roots in church music, jazz, blues, and country, Burke was one of the pioneering artists who bridged the gap between “R&B” and “soul,” and he did it at Atlantic Records. Run Out Groove’s new 14-song vinyl…
If They Could See Me Now: Blixa Sounds Reissues Four Albums From Linda Clifford
May 1978 was certainly Linda Clifford’s month. The Chicago songstress had taken to the top of the Billboard Disco chart – and wasn’t about to let it go for five consecutive weeks. The bold reinvention of Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields’ Sweet Charity showstopper “If My Friends Could See Me Now” established Clifford in the top tier of disco superstars, and now Blixa Sounds is revisiting that golden era. On Friday, the label will reissue four of Clifford’s albums for Curtis Mayfield’s Curtom label on CD. All four titles – If My…
Her Music Is Hot: Cherry Red, Robinsongs Reissue Rare R&B from Lalomie Washburn
My Music Is Hot: Lalomie Washburn exuded confidence with the very title of her 1977 LP debut. With a husky voice entrenched in the spirit of the blues and a keen sense of herself as both a singer and songwriter, she seemed a prime candidate for soul stardom. While solo fame eluded Washburn, she left behind a great legacy of music that’s gone overlooked for far too long. Happily, Cherry Red’s Robinsongs label has just resuscitated My Music Is Hot for its first-ever CD version. This edition is hotter than ever, with…
Review: Dennis Coffey, “One Night at Morey’s: 1968”
For guitarist Dennis Coffey, music was no mere day job. While plying his trade each day as a member of the Funk Brothers, laying down funky licks on some of Detroit’s finest records, Coffey was spending his evenings at Morey Baker’s Showplace Lounge as one-third of organist Lyman Woodard’s instrumental trio. With Woodard and drummer Melvin Davis, Coffey treated patrons to sizzling renditions of the day’s hits as well as original songs. One of the trio’s 1968 sets was issued last year on Resonance Records as Hot Coffey in the D; now,…
Piece of His Heart: “Bang: The Bert Berns Story” Arrives On DVD
During his all-too-short lifetime, Bert Berns never received the kind of fame afforded many of his contemporaries on the New York music scene such as Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, or Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman. Yet, across the pond, young men like Paul McCartney and Keith Richards were taking notice whenever they saw the Berns imprimatur on one of their favorite 45s. McCartney and Richards are just two of the luminaries who lined up to salute the songwriter-producer-entrepreneur, who died in 1967 at 38 years old,…
Review: “Fab Gear: The British Beat Explosion and Its Aftershocks 1963-1967”
“Yesterday’s Gone”: the song by folk-pop duo Chad and Jeremy opens the first of the six discs comprising Cherry Red and RPM’s new box set Fab Gear: The British Beat Explosion and Its Aftershocks 1963-1967. It’s a most appropriate opener, as yesterday really was gone for an entire generation of artists swiftly rendered obsolete by the emergence of The Beatles. As the box eloquently explains, the Fab Four “in name, song, band structure, image, defined this new Beat music…Until 1967, when The Beatles reinvented pop again with Sgt. Pepper’s, Beat music –…
Run Out Groove Round-Up: Dr. John’s “Funknology” and Marshall Crenshaw’s Live “Thank You”
Today, we’re looking at two of Run Out Groove’s most recent releases! Now is also the time to order the label’s next release: Vagabonds: Expanded Edition, from Gary Louris of The Jayhawks! Pre-orders close on June 7, so don’t miss out, and don’t forget to vote on ROG’s next release. Will it be Luna’s Lunafied, Fred Neil’s Bleecker & MacDougal, or Billy Byrd’s Lonesome Country Songs? Vote now! It’s not called Funknology for nothing! Run Out Groove’s recent release from Dr. John, Professor Bizarre’s Funknology (RGV-020) is a hearty helping of gris-gris…
