If ever a group lived up to its name, that group was Change. The brainchild of French-Italian music impresario and producer Jacques Fred Petrus, in collaboration with Italian-based producer/arranger Mauro Malavasi and bassist Davide Romani, Change released six albums between 1980 and 1985. Built on infectiously danceable rhythms, melodic hooks and sublimely soulful vocals, the sound of Change was primarily created by a rotating cast of Italian-based musicians and America-based vocalists.
Along Comes "1966": Ace Anthology Features The Supremes, The Who, Velvet Underground, Bowie, More
Was 1966 the greatest year ever in popular music? The case could certainly be made for its significance - and Jon Savage has done just that in his new book 1966: The Year the Decade Exploded. Savage's book looks at the events and culture of the year in twelve essays, each one built around one 45 RPM record. Naturally, such a book deserves a soundtrack, and Ace Records has seen to it that it receives one with the companion volume of the same name. Jon Savage's 1966: The Year the Decade
Review: "The Classic Christmas Album" Series 2015
Since 2011, Sony's Legacy Recordings has offered a crop of ideal stocking stuffers with the Classic Christmas Album series. This year's quartet of releases has a decidedly more modern bent, featuring artists associated with the '70s (Earth, Wind & Fire), '80s (a various artists compilation), '90s (Sarah McLachlan) and 2000s (Celtic Thunder). Three of these titles are actually expanded editions of previously released albums. Earth, Wind and Fire's Classic Christmas entry reprises last
One Of A Kind (Love Affair): Big Break Reissues, Expands "Spinners"
When The Spinners left Motown Records after nearly a decade, the vocal group had never scored a Top 10 Pop hit. They'd come this close in 1970 with the irresistible, Stevie Wonder-penned "It's a Shame" (No. 14) - one of many fine tracks recorded for Berry Gordy's empire that, for one reason or another, never crossed The Spinners over to major stardom. That all changed when Thom Bell - the multi-hyphenate musician, producer, songwriter, arranger and conductor - declared that he wished to
This Is The Love (I've Been Waiting For): Ace Releases "More Motown Girls"
Rarely is the sequel ever the equal - but Ace Records has handily disproved that with Love and Affection: More Motown Girls, a recent trawl through the vaults of Hitsville, USA. And not only is this follow-up to 2013's Finders Keepers - Motown Girls the equal of its predecessor, it might be its better. Whereas that volume featured both previously unreleased music and rarities, every one of the 25 tracks on Love and Affection is never-before-heard (save for five songs culled from last year's
Something Bad On Her Mind: Rare and Unreleased Timi Yuro Arrives From Cherry Red
There was only one Timi Yuro. The late, Chicago-born Italian-American vocalist was signed to Liberty Records as a teenager, bringing jazz and R&B influences into her emotional, heart-on-its-sleeve blue-eyed soul style. After having spent the first portion of her career at Liberty, Yuro departed the label in 1963. She was dubbed The Amazing Timi Yuro by Mercury Records for her Quincy Jones-produced LP debut there in 1964, but Mercury never followed it up with another long-player, opting
Review: Dr. John, "The Atco/Atlantic Singles 1968-1974"
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: "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,
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: 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
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
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: 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
"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
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
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: Bee Gees, "1974-1979"
For many veteran artists, disco was simply a mountain that couldn’t be climbed….not that they didn’t try. The Beach Boys, Grateful Dead, Elton John and so many others – even Frank Sinatra! – flirted with the genre only to find that that those sultry disco grooves weren’t as easy to emulate as they may have appeared to be. Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb not only climbed the mountain, but conquered it. The brothers had already amassed a back catalogue of some of the richest, most melodic and
Dance to the Music! Sly and the Family Stone Vinyl Box Arrives
A little more than a week ago, on March 15, Sly Stone turned 72. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and multi-hyphenate artist has survived more than his share of ups and downs. But for a staggering period of nearly 50 years, Sly's work as composer, singer, producer and musician has continued to take listeners higher with his groundbreaking blend of funk, rhythm and blues, soul, rock, psychedelia, jazz and pop. Epic Records and Legacy Recordings have recently reissued the first five albums from Sly
Still Into Something Good: Ace Collects More From Carole King and Gerry Goffin
The songs of Carole King and Gerry Goffin have been enjoying a rather spectacular renaissance on both sides of the Atlantic thanks to the success of King’s biographical Broadway and West End musical Beautiful. Happily, Ace Records has returned to the duo’s catalogue for a fourth anthology. Hung on You: More from the Goffin and King Songbook follows three previous excursions: Goffin & King: A Gerry Goffin and Carole King Song Collection 1961-1967 (2007), Honey and Wine: Another Gerry Goffin
Hang On Sloopy! "The Bert Berns Story Volume 3" Features Van Morrison, Lulu, Drifters
Here comes the night…again! Even if you don’t know the name of Bert Berns, chances are you know the songs he wrote (“Twist and Shout,” “I Want Candy,” “Hang On, Sloopy,” “Piece of My Heart”), produced (“Under the Boardwalk,” “Baby I’m Yours,” “Brown-Eyed Girl,” “Here Comes the Night”) and oversaw as head of Bang Records (“Cherry, Cherry,” “Solitary Man” and the rest of Neil Diamond’s earliest recordings). Though Berns died in the final days of 1967 at just 38 years of age, a year hasn’t gone by
A Time In Her Life: Ace Reissues Sarah Vaughan's Soul-Jazz Classic
By 1971, the expansion of the Great American Songbook was well underway. It became clear to many that the songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Jimmy Webb, Joni Mitchell, Carole King and Gerry Goffin, Bob Dylan and their contemporaries were more than just a flash in the pan. The most prescient observers could have realized – and some did – that these songs would one day be sung in programs alongside those of Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, Irving
Soul Spotlight: Linda Jones, Barbara Lynn Get Complete Treatment from Real Gone, SoulMusic
Of all the great labels famous for soul and R&B, few could boast the pedigree of Atlantic Records. Atlantic’s commitment to quality soul music extended beyond just the famous names such as Aretha Franklin or Solomon Burke. An Atlantic label on an artist was a stamp of quality. SoulMusic Records and Real Gone Music have recently released collections from two underrated artists from the Atlantic family of labels. Linda Jones scored only one hit in her too-short 28 years: 1967’s
Better Be Fierce: Real Gone Reissues Two From Ronnie Dyson On "Phase 2/Brand New Day"
In the annals of underrated R&B vocalists, Ronnie Dyson (1950-1990) was among the greatest. A versatile singer equally comfortable with smooth soul, pure pop and showbiz pizzazz, Dyson left behind a small but rich catalogue for the Columbia and Cotillion labels. With the recent release of Phase 2 and Brand New Day from 1982 and 1983, respectively, Real Gone Music and SoulMusic Records have filled in two of the major holes in Dyson’s CD discography (RGM-0294). With the release of this stellar
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