The summer's winding down and so Ted Frank, our resident maven of all things eclectic, is looking back on his favorites from the past few months, from reissues to future classics of all genres! We hope you make some new discoveries as you enjoy the Labor Day weekend! As the boys of summer's mettle is currently being put to the test, here are some favorite releases - new and old - from the past couple of summer months that have staying power and could perfectly score those few remaining
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,
Wicked Good: Wilson Pickett's "Complete RCA" Arrives TOMORROW From Second Disc Records!
This Friday, Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music continue the story of one of soul music's leading lights. The late Wilson Pickett (1941-2006) lived life - and made music - on strictly his own terms. Everybody knows the story of The Wicked Pickett's groundbreaking tenure at Atlantic Records during which time he largely defined the sound of sixties soul. Hits such as "In the Midnight Hour," "Land of 1,000 Dances," "Mustang Sally" and "Funky Broadway" all still cornerstones of any classic
Sweet Touch of Love: Raven Collects Three Albums From Allen Toussaint
Of all the great names in the annals of R&B history, there is only one Allen Toussaint. A pianist, singer, songwriter, producer, arranger, and all-around renaissance man, the Louisiana native is responsible - in one capacity or another - for some of the most memorable songs and recordings in the modern pop and soul canon: "Working in the Coal Mine," "Southern Nights," "Mother-in-Law," "Lady Marmalade" and "Yes We Can Can" among them. Though those hits for Lee Dorsey, Glen Campbell, Ernie
Release Round-Up: Week of August 28
Welcome to New Release Friday and this week's Release Round-Up! Faces, You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything (1970-1975) (Rhino) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. This long-awaited 5-CD box set includes Faces' First Step (1970), Long Player (1971), A Nod Is as Good as a Wink...to a Blind Horse (1971), and Ooh La La (1973), and adds never-before-released bonus tracks to each album. The set is topped off with a bonus disc containing non-LP selections.
BREAKING! Return To Cypress Avenue: Rhino Remasters, Expands Van Morrison's "Astral Weeks," "His Band and the Street Choir"
There's even more coming from Van Morrison! Following up on 2013's multi-disc deluxe edition of the Northern Irish soul man's 1970 classic Moondance and on the heels of Legacy Recordings' announcement earlier this week that the Sony imprint has acquired the majority of Morrison's post-1971 catalogue, Rhino has just announced two new deluxe editions drawn from Morrison's seminal early Warner Bros. discography. Both 1968's label debut Astral Weeks and 1970's jubilant His Band and the Street
Big Break Boasts Bursting Line-Up With Chaka and Rufus, Gloria Gaynor, Kool and the Gang, More
Big Break Records has been on a big roll with its powerhouse slate of recent releases! We've already filled you in on the worldwide CD debut of MFSB's Philly soul classic Universal Love; today, we'll take a look at another quartet of releases from the Cherry Red imprint. BBR has returned to the catalogue of Gloria Gaynor with another first-time-on-CD reissue. I've Got You was Gaynor's third solo album and first for Polydor Records. Released 39 years ago in August 1976, the album found her
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
BREAKING! Van Morrison Goes To Legacy Recordings, Deluxe Editions and Digital Releases Planned
The music of Van Morrison is returning to CD - and about to make a splash on digital platforms, as well. Rolling Stone broke the news today that Sony Music's Legacy Recordings has recently acquired the rights to 50 albums, videos and compilations from the venerable Northern Irish troubadour. The vast majority of Morrison's albums have been out-of-print on CD since the plug was abruptly pulled on a U.K. series of remastered and expanded editions. Legacy's very welcome campaign kicks off this
Release Round-Up: Week of August 21
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, packed with box sets, reissues, special collections, and more! The Isley Brothers, The RCA Victor and T-Neck Album Masters (Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Legacy has boxed up 23 discs of The Isley Brothers - featuring every one of the group's RCA and T-Neck albums released between 1959 and 1983, including one previously unreleased album and a total of 84 previously unissued or new-to-CD bonus tracks! Every track has been newly-remastered
R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Rhino Reissues Deluxe "Otis Blue", Preps Redding Albums Box
This September, Otis Redding's album masterwork Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul celebrates its 50th anniversary. To mark the occasion, Rhino will reissue its out-of-print 2008 expanded edition on September 18; then, on October 30, the label will compile Redding's original albums into a new box set. A testament to Redding's power to reinvent a song, Otis Blue primarily features his interpretations of familiar melodies - plus three choice originals. The album, an R&B chart-topper,
Those Old Sweet Rolls: Light In The Attic Reissues Carole King's "The City," Spooner Oldham, Lee Hazlewood's Kitchen Cinq
An upcoming trio of releases from Light in the Attic turns the label's spotlight on two of popular song's most enduring writers and one maverick producer/label impresario (who also happened to be one heckuva songwriter!) - namely Carole King, Spooner Oldham, and Lee Hazlewood. LITA is bringing King's one remarkable album with her band The City back to CD and LP, and premiering on official CD and vinyl a reissue of Oldham's 1972 solo LP Pot Luck. Then the label continues to dig deep into the
Christmas Joy: Real Gone Kicks off the Holidays with Four Seasons and More in October
It may be hard to believe, but the holiday season will be here sooner than we think! To prove that point, Real Gone Music is getting Christmas started early with its October slate of releases featuring five yuletide gems along with three titles good for year-round enjoyment. This batch of Christmas classics kicks off with the 4 Seasons' The 4 Seasons Greetings, continuing Real Gone's series of mono Seasons reissues which began in September. Next, you've got holiday tunes from crooner and
Release Round-Up: Week of August 14
Welcome to New Release Friday! Lesley Gore, Someplace Else Now (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Someplace Else Now marked Lesley Gore's first full immersion into the world of the singer-songwriter. She penned every one of the twelve tracks on this 1972 album for MoWest Records, writing solo and with lyricists Ellen Weston and her brother Michael Gore. Joe Porter (Gladys Knight and the Pips, Thelma Houston) supplied the passionate production. Lesley's lost Motown gem - a
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
Right Place, Right Time: Omnivore Collects Dr. John's Atlantic and Atco Singles In September
The Doctor is in! On September 18, Omnivore Recordings is heading to the bayou with one of New Orleans' favorite sons, Mac Rebennack - a.k.a. Dr. John! The Atco/Atlantic Singles 1968-1974 collects the Good Doctor's A- and B-sides, from both the U.S. and the U.K., as issued on the Atco and Atlantic labels during that prolific period. These 22 tracks take the piano-pounding Night Tripper from his debut album, Gris-Gris, through Desitively Bonnaroo, produced by fellow N'awlins legend Allen
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
Release Round-Up: Week of August 7
Welcome to another New Release Friday, and today's Release Round-Up! Dusty Springfield, Come for a Dream: The U.K. Sessions 1970-1971 (Real Gone) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Earlier this year, Real Gone released Faithful - a collection of Dusty Springfield's complete sessions with producer-songwriter Jeff Barry, compiled for the first time as originally envisioned on one disc. Now, the label has turned its attention to Dusty's 1970-1971 London sessions intended for the album See All
Get Ready to "Groove and Grind" on RockBeat's New "Rare Soul" Box Set
Hot on the heels of its recent Super Rare Doo Wop Box, RockBeat Records is turning its attention to another corner of the rhythm and blues world and further advancing into the 1960s with a new four-CD box set. Groove and Grind: Rare Soul 1963-1973, due in stores on Friday, August 18, is packed with 112 songs - the vast majority of which have never been reissued on CD! Groove and Grind, compiled by RockBeat's James Austin and annotated in its hardcover 127-page book by Bill Dahl, has divided
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
Release Round-Up: Week of July 31
Led Zeppelin, Presence / In Through the Out Door / Coda [Various Editions] (Swan Song/Atlantic) Presence: Super Deluxe Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Deluxe Edition CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Original Album CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Original Album Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Deluxe Edition Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. In Through the Out Door: Super Deluxe Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Deluxe Edition CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Original Album
Let's Hang On! Real Gone Has Four Seasons, Texas Tornados, More in September
We've already told you about the two September releases from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music - Wilson Pickett's The Complete RCA Studio Recordings and an expanded edition of Ricci Martin's all-star California rock classic Beached - but we know that you're going to be just as excited about the entire action-packed Real Gone slate! For starters, it's a line-up that's always in season - with new deluxe mono mini-sleeve editions of The 4 Seasons' first two albums for the first time ever
Something Wicked This Way Comes: Second Disc Records Presents Complete Wilson Pickett On RCA
You don't have to wait for the midnight hour - Second Disc Records, in conjunction with Real Gone Music, is ready now to announce its latest release! We're thrilled to welcome to our label one of the true legends of rhythm and blues, The "Wicked" Wilson Pickett, with the world premiere CD release of Mr. Magic Man: The Complete RCA Studio Recordings. This new 2-CD set is due in stores on September 4. Between 1964 and 1972, Pickett established himself as one of the greatest soul men of all
Release Round-Up: Week of July 17
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up featuring classic rock, soul and jazz box sets and more! Sly and the Family Stone, Live at the Fillmore East: October 4th and 5th, 1968 (Epic/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Dance to the music! On October 4th and 5th, 1968, shortly after the release of the band's third album Life, Sly & The Family Stone took the stage for a two-night, four-show engagement at Bill Graham's Fillmore East in New York City. Epic Records recorded all four of
Satisfy Your Soul: RPM Collects Rare Rock and Soul from Larry's Rebels and Ronnie Jones
RPM Records, an imprint of the Cherry Red Group, continues to delve deep into the vaults for another pair of rare rock-and-roll releases. Larry's Rebels has long been a beloved band to fans in the group's native New Zealand; with RPM's release of I Feel Good: The Essential Purple Flashes of Larry's Rebels 1965-1969, the rest of the world can get hip to the Rebels, too! Active for a rough five-year period during which time the band, like so many others, endured personnel changes, Larry's
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