I can’t stop this feelin’ deep inside of me/Girl, you just don’t realize what you do to me… For more than five decades, we’ve been hooked on the feelings imparted in song by B.J. Thomas: the despair of “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” the soaring optimism of “I Just Can’t Help Believin’,” the longing of “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song,” the unfettered spirit of “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” and the sheer euphoria of “Hooked on a Feeling.” Oklahoma-born, Texas-raised Billy Joe Thomas passed away…
Release Round-Up: Week of April 9
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Fleetwood Mac, Live: Super Deluxe Edition (Warner/Rhino) (Rhino.com / Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Rhino reissues Fleetwood Mac’s 1980 Live – the first live album from the line-up of Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood – as a deluxe 3CD/2LP/7″ box set. The two CDs and two LPs will both have the remastered original double album. The third CD will offer 14 previously unreleased performances plus the unique single remix of “Fireflies,” while the 7-inch single offers the never-before-heard demos of “Fireflies” and “One More Night.” David Wild has penned the liner…
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Front Porch Singin’
The Oak Ridge Boys’ fourth collaboration with Nashville uber-producer Dave Cobb, Front Porch Singin’ finds the quartet in RCA’s venerable Studio A harmonizing on classic country and gospel favorites as well as a couple of originals. The album is available on CD, LP, and digitally.
Beautiful Scars
The powerful voice of Merry Clayton returns on Beautiful Scars, a poignant new album that reunites her with legendary producer Lou Adler. Beautiful Scars is the singer’s first album after an accident in 2014 robbed her of both her legs but not her spirit, determination, and voice. It merges gospel and soul as only Clayton can do, on material including Donny Hathaway’s “A Song for You,” Chris Martin’s “Love Is a Mighty River,” and Diane Warren’s title track.
Release Round-Up: Week of March 19
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Neil Young, After the Gold Rush: 50th Anniversary [Vinyl + 7″ Box] (Reprise) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) This 50th Anniversary remastered edition of Neil Young’s classic album was released on CD in December; now the vinyl version arrives. The set includes two different recordings of the outtake “Wonderin’” on the bonus 45. The A-side was recorded in March 1970 in Topanga (previously heard on Archives Vol. 1) while the B-side is a previously unreleased performance. The box is rounded out with and…
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I Want You, I Need You: Retroactive Reissues Three from Chris Christian Including Star-Studded LP with Cross, Valli, Champlin, Beckley, Foster
Chris Christian rose to prominence as one-third of the pop trio Cotton, Lloyd and Christian alongside producer Michael Lloyd (The Osmonds, Barry Manilow) and Daryl Cotton (Zoot, Olivia Newton-John). Before long, Christian’s songs were being recorded by the likes of Elvis Presley (“Love Song of the Year”), Dionne Warwick (“When the World Runs Out of Love”), and Carpenters (“(Want You) Back in My Life Again”). Christian also produced and wrote songs for artists including B.J. Thomas, Marilyn McCoo, America’s Dan Peek, and the artist whom he discovered and signed when she was…
Holiday Gift Guide Stax Spotlight: The Staple Singers’ “Come Go with Me” and “The Gospel Truth: Complete Singles Collection”
UPDATED DECEMBER 2020: Earlier this year, Craft Recordings released The Staple Singers’ Come Go with Me: The Stax Collection in vinyl and digital editions. The set compiled all of the famed gospel group’s 1968-1974 albums for the Stax label plus a volume of rarities, non-LP single sides, and live recordings. Now, that box has come to CD as beautifully remastered from the original analog tapes by Jeff Powell at Take Out Vinyl. Come Go with Me: The Stax Collection features the following original studio albums which broadened the Staples’ sound from gospel…
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Release Round-Up: Week of November 13
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Elton John, Jewel Box (EMI/UMe) 8CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Deep Cuts 4LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Rarities & B-Sides 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada And This Is Me… 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Elton John is reaching deep into the vault with Jewel Box, a new, super-sized collection of rare and unreleased material. The British pop legend’s deep dive into his expansive, five-decade-plus archive features 148 tracks on 8 CDs, approximately 63 of which are previously unreleased, plus three dozen B-sides being compiled together for the first time. The discs are thematically organized as Deep…
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Come Go with Me: The Stax Collection
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Earlier this year, Craft Recordings released The Staple Singers’ Come Go with Me: The Stax Collection in vinyl and digital editions. The set compiled all of The Staple Singers’ 1968-1974 albums for the Stax label plus a volume of rarities, non-LP single sides, and live recordings. Now, that box is available on CD as remastered from the original analog tapes by Jeff Powell at Take Out Vinyl. Come Go with Me: The Stax Collection features the following original studio albums: Soul Folk in Action(1968) We’ll Get…
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They’ll Take You There: Craft Recordings Releases Staple Singers’ “Come Go with Me: The Stax Collection” on CD
Earlier this year, Craft Recordings released The Staple Singers’ Come Go with Me: The Stax Collection in vinyl and digital editions. The set compiled all of The Staple Singers’ 1968-1974 albums for the Stax label plus a volume of rarities, non-LP single sides, and live recordings. On November 13, that box will come to CD as remastered from the original analog tapes by Jeff Powell at Take Out Vinyl. Come Go with Me: The Stax Collection features the following original studio albums: Soul Folk in Action(1968) We’ll Get Over (1970) The Staple…
The Gospel Truth: The Complete Singles Collection
The Gospel Truth: The Complete Singles Collection features all 17 singles issued by Stax Records imprint Gospel Truth between 1972 and 1974 – 34 songs on 2 CDs or 3 LPs – including both non-LP singles and samplings of the imprint’s album catalogue. Among the highlights are numerous tracks from Gospel Truth’s first signing, Michigan’s The Rance Allen Group, who specialized in reworkings of secular songs into spiritual ones. Also featured are four sides from Joshie Jo Armstead including her rendition of Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields’ “Ride Out the Storm” which…
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Ride Out the Storm: Craft Recordings Collects “Complete Singles” From Stax’s Eclectic Gospel Truth Imprint
Earlier this year, Craft Recordings kicked off its celebration of Stax Records’ Gospel Truth imprint with a weekly digital album campaign. That series wrapped up on August 28, opening the door for the November 13 release on CD and LP of The Gospel Truth: The Complete Singles Collection. Stax chief Al Bell launched Gospel Truth in 1972, working in close coordination with radio promotions guru/producer/songwriter Dave Clark and Stax staffer Mary Peak Paterson. Early press materials for the imprint indicated that it sought to “carry the message of today’s gospel to the…
Release Round-Up: Week of July 10
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Grateful Dead, Workingman’s Dead: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Grateful Dead/Rhino) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Often hailed as one of Grateful Dead’s most accessible albums along with its follow-up, American Beauty, Workingman’s Dead placed its focus on tighter songcraft in a country/folk-oriented vein that would later be described as “Americana.” It introduced the group’s first chart hit, the timeless “Uncle John’s Band,” as well as the favorite “Casey Jones” which has received substantial…
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In Memoriam: Little Richard (1932-2020)
The stupid but true thing to start off with is there was nothing “little” about him. I was born in 1987, a year after Richard Penniman was officially canonized as one of rock and roll’s true pioneers, inducted into the first class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. From that point through the early ’90s, he got to enjoy some unlikely fruits of becoming an elder statesman that aren’t typically afforded to many at this stage in their careers. In 1986, his song “Great Gosh A’Mighty,” from the soundtrack to…
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Message in the Music: Craft Recordings Celebrates Legacy of Stax’s Gospel Truth Records
Craft Recordings is celebrating the Gospel Truth with a new reissue campaign dedicated to that Stax Records imprint. Every week, the label drops a digital reissue of a Gospel Truth title culminating in the vinyl, CD, and digital release in September – Gospel Heritage Month – of a newly-curated singles collection. Various digital playlists and lyric videos will also be unveiled throughout the course of the series. Stax chief Al Bell launched Gospel Truth in 1972, working in close coordination with radio promotions guru/producer/songwriter Dave Clark and Stax staffer Mary Peak Paterson….
Cadillac Baby’s Bea & Baby Records: The Definitive Collection
Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Earwig Music has one of the year’s most intriguing box sets and most significant historical excavations – a beautiful 124-page, 4-CD hardcover tome chronicling in words and music the story of Narvel Eatmon, a.k.a. Cadillac Baby, and his Chicago label Bea & Baby Records. From 1959-1989, the label and its various imprints (among them Key, Keyhole, Miss, and Ronald) championed the Windy City music scene with an impressive array of blues, gospel, soul, doo-wop, hip-hop, and even comedy recordings – the best of which…
Trying To Make A Living: Classics From Chicago’s Independent Blues Scene Collected on “Cadillac Baby’s Bea and Baby Records”
Blues fanatics rejoice! Earwig Music Company invites listeners to take a spin with a new 101-track, 4-CD collection of classic Chicago blues, R&B, and gospel recordings. Cadillac Baby’s Bea & Baby Records: The Definitive Collection, due to arrive on July 19, chronicles one of Chicago’s finest indie blues labels. Bea & Baby Records was founded by entrepreneur and music fanatic Narvel “Cadillac Baby” Eatmon. From 1959-1989, the label and its subsidiaries (among them Key, Keyhole, Miss, and Ronald) championed Chicago’s music scene with an impressive array of blues, gospel, soul, doo-wop, hip-hop,…
Release Round-Up: Week of May 24
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! America, Classic Album Collection: The Capitol Years (Capitol/Caroline) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) All six of America’s Capitol albums are collected in one newly remastered box set. Classic Album Collection: The Capitol Years presents newly remastered versions of 1979’s Silent Letter, 1980’s Alibi, 1982’s View from the Ground, 1983’s Your Move, 1984’s Perspective, and 1985’s In Concert in one deluxe, affordable package complete with a booklet. It’s been compiled by America archivist Jeff Larson and remastered by Andy Pearce. Read all about it…
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I’ve Got A Sure Thing: Craft Presents “Soul Explosion” Vinyl Reissue, Plus A Month of Stax Digital Rarities
Craft Recordings has announced the next phase of its campaign to honor one of the great labels of soul – Stax Records. Entitled “Soul Explosion,” the campaign began with their Record Store Day releases of Boy Meets Girl: Classic Stax Duets, Stax Does The Beatles and the first-ever mono reissue of Albert King’s Born Under A Bad Sign. The next phase begins on May 31 and will see new vinyl and digital reissues of classics from 1969, which proved to be a watershed year for the label, and beyond. Fifty years ago, the…
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True Grit: Capitol Reissues, Updates “Glen Campbell: The Legacy” Box Set For June Release
Since going out of print, Capitol Records’ 2003 box set Glen Campbell: The Legacy [1961-2002] has been regularly commanding three-figure sums on the secondhand market. Yesterday, the label delivered some great news to fans of the late superstar. On June 21, Capitol and UMe will issue a new, updated version of the box set in slimmer, digipak packaging, and with a completely new Disc Four bringing the story of Campbell’s incredible career to its completion. The first three CDs of the original box set, reprised here in full, trace the artist’s journey…
One Night Only: Smithsonian Folkways Celebrates 50 Years of “Jazz Fest: The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival,” Box Set Due in May
The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, or simply “Jazz Fest,” as it’s become known, is more than a gathering of musicians performing for a crowd. Since its founding, it’s become a cultural event; an annual celebration of the unique music, art, food, and people of New Orleans and beyond, with acts ranging from jazz, rock, pop, country, blues, and more. To celebrate the festival’s fiftieth year, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings has announced the May 10 release of Jazz Fest: The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. It’s a 5-disc box set presented…
Amazing Grace: The Complete Recordings [4-LP]
Amazing Grace: The Complete Recordings presents Aretha Franklin’s iconic concerts at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles during January 1972 in full. Both the Thursday night and Friday night sets are accounted for, spread across four 180-gram LPs.
Release Round-Up: Week of March 22
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up. Here’s what’s on the way today, March 22! Aretha Franklin, Amazing Grace: The Complete Recordings (Rhino/Atlantic Catalog Group) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Amazing Grace: The Complete Recordings presents Aretha Franklin’s iconic concerts at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles during January 1972 in full. Both the Thursday night and Friday night sets are accounted for, spread across four 180-gram LPs. For more about the Amazing Grace vinyl reissue, check out our post here! Aretha Franklin, Songs of Faith: Aretha Gospel (Geffen/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Songs…
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The Smithsonian Folkways Collection [6-CD and Book]
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings has announced an upcoming box set entitled Pete Seeger: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection, due to arrive on May 3, exactly 100 years after Seeger’s birth. The newly curated collection was produced by Jeff Place and Robert Santelli, who also produced the acclaimed box sets Woody at 100 and Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection. The set is filled with 137 tracks — classic songs, historic live recordings recorded from the ’50s to the ’90s, special collaborations, and 20 previously unreleased tracks, all of which were newly remastered by Grammy-winning…
Precious Memories: Rhino Brings Aretha Franklin’s Complete “Amazing Grace” to Vinyl
Fans of the late, legendary Aretha Franklin are often surprised to discover that The Queen of Soul’s best-selling album isn’t I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, Lady Soul, or even Who’s Zoomin’ Who? Rather, that honor goes to the Grammy-winning 1972 live album Amazing Grace – a fact that no doubt pleased Franklin. In fact, it’s recognized as the best-selling live gospel album of all time. The 1999 expanded edition of the heartfelt, passionate gospel set will make its vinyl premiere from Rhino and Atlantic on March 22,…
