In Memoriam: Loretta Lynn (1932-2022)

By Joe Marchese | October 4, 2022 | 2 Comments

On her 2016 album Full Circle, Loretta Lynn openly pondered, "Who's gonna miss me when I'm gone?"  Today, upon the pioneering singer-songwriter's death at the age of 90, that answer was abundantly clear. Tributes poured in from Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Kacey Musgraves, Martina McBride, Carrie Underwood, and LeAnn Rimes, as well as from The […]

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Pleasure and the Pain: Iconoclassic Expands The Damned's "Strawberries" for 40th Anniversary

By Joe Marchese | October 4, 2022 | 1 Comment

The cover of The Damned's 1982 studio album Strawberries featured a pig with a strawberry on its head.  Lead singer Dave Vanian once revealed that the title was inspired by fans' reaction to the band's new music: "We were playing a lot of new material and we had an audience that didn't want to hear […]

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Just For A Thrill: Peggy Lee's "Norma Deloris Egstrom" Returns to CD for 50th Anniversary

By Joe Marchese | October 3, 2022 | 7 Comments

The words I have to say may well be simple, but they're true/Until you give your love, there's nothing more that we can do... Those lyrics from Lesley Duncan's "Love Song" opened Peggy Lee's 40th original album and her final one for Capitol Records, the label with whom she had been associated since 1944.  (She […]

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Summer Storms: Cherry Red, Righteous Collect "Dark Exotica" from Stan Kenton, Others

By Joe Marchese | October 3, 2022 | 0 Comments

The word "exotica" typically conjures up breezy, mid-20th century imagery of tikis, palm trees, and tropical drinks.  Indeed, many musicians were all too happy to contribute to the genre named after Martin Denny's 1957 album, the title of which was coined by Liberty Records executive Si Waronker.  Denny's musical island fantasies indeed proved transporting for […]

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From L.A. to Bakersfield: Omnivore Celebrates California Music Heroes Dean Torrence and Buck Owens on New Collections

By Joe Marchese | September 30, 2022 | 1 Comment

This fall, Omnivore will be revisiting the back pages of two California artists with whom the label has become associated: Dean Torrence and Buck Owens. Back in 2017, Omnivore issued Filet of Soul Redux: The Rejected Master Recordings from Jan Berry and Dean Torrence, the innovative surf-rock duo and Beach Boys pals who transformed the […]

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