They did it. Nearly nine years after the first volume in Hip-O Select's The Complete Motown Singles box set series was released, the 14th and final entry in the series, Volume 12B: 1972, will be released on December 10, just in time for the holidays. The year 1972 marks, for many, the end of the "classic Motown" period. Label founder Berry Gordy moved label operations from Detroit to Los Angeles, and many of his most treasured acts were in periods of transition. Diana Ross was long a solo
With You I'm Born Again: SoulMusic Label Revives Motown Duets with Syreeta and Billy Preston, Thelma Houston and Jerry Butler
With two of its latest releases, Cherry Red's SoulMusic Records imprint has revisited three classic Motown duets albums on two CDs. Longtime collectors of SoulMusic Records’ releases know that the label frequently jumps back and forth with an artist’s catalogue rather than releasing titles in chronological order. Such is the case with its latest reissue from Syreeta, born Syreeta Wright. In recent months, SoulMusic has revisited Motown queen Syreeta’s third and fourth solo albums, 1977’s One
Black Oak Arkansas Rarities Sail Under the Radar
Surprise! While we were focusing on the biggest of box sets over at The Second Disc, Atlantic quietly released a disc of unreleased vintage material from Southern rockers Black Oak Arkansas. One of the top touring acts of the early 1970s, Black Oak Arkansas - with its triple-guitar lineup and idiosyncratic vocal style of Jim "Dandy" Mangrum - earned a great deal of acclaim in studio and on the road. Earlier this year, Mangrum reunited with original members Rickie Lee "Risky" Reynolds (rhythm
Review: Miles Davis, "The Original Mono Recordings"
“Mono featured less audio trickery and fewer audio distractions, so you can actually hear the musical conversation between Miles and the other musicians as it occurred in the studio.” That’s producer George Avakian as quoted in the liner notes for Columbia and Legacy’s new nine-album box set Miles Davis: The Original Mono Recordings. And that purity of sound - further described by the producer of Davis’ first two Columbia albums as “truer to the studio sound and the original intent” – is
Dido Says "Thank You" with First Compilation
At the arguable height of controversy over Eminem in 2001, the Detroit rapper released, from his sophomore album The Marshall Mathers LP, one of the greatest and most haunting singles in the genre's history. "Stan," told from the perspective of an increasingly unhinged fan of Mathers, whose erratic (and ultimately fatal) rants are counterpointed by a minor-key refrain - the first verse of "Thank You" by British singer Dido Armstrong. Her debut album, No Angel, had been available in the U.S. for
Magic in a Box: Decades of Disney Compiled on New Set
A new box set released today chronicles the musical legacy of The Walt Disney Company with a variety that hasn't been seen in quite awhile. The new Disney Classics celebrates nearly every medium of entertainment the animation studio-turned-film-titan has dabbled in, from film and television to revolutionary theme park attractions. Disney Classics is touted in a press release as being released in honor of 90 years of musical history as it pertains to the work of Walter Elias Disney (1901-1966).
Review: The Beatles, "On Air: Live at the BBC Volume Two"
Meet the Beatles...again. The new Apple/Capitol/Universal release On Air: Live at the BBC Volume Two sets the Wayback Machine at Destination: 1963 and 1964, when four Liverpool lads named John, Paul, George and Ringo ignited a British Invasion that continues to this very day. All 63 tracks (both spoken-word introductions and songs) on this new 2-CD time capsule date back to those two years, when the Fabs recorded unique performances for such BBC programs as Saturday Club and Pop Go the
Release Round-Up: Week of November 11/12
The Beatles, Live At The BBC / On Air: Live At The BBC Volume 2 (Capitol) What's better than a remaster of The Fab Four's 1994 double-disc set of live BBC sessions? How about another two-disc set of those sessions? Live At The BBC (2CD): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Live At The BBC (3LP): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. On Air: Live At The BBC Volume 2 (2CD): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. On Air: Live At The BBC Volume 2 (3LP): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Live At The BBC: The Collection (4CD): Amazon U.S. /
Wild Swans' "Coldest Winter" Heats Up on Occultation Recordings
British postpunk band The Wild Swans, led by singer/songwriter/keyboardist Paul Simpson, have recently reissued their most recent album with a raft of bonus material. The haunting work of Simpson first came to prominence in the late '70s as member of the short-lived A Shallow Madness, which featured two future frontmen from the same genre: Julian Cope of The Teardrop Explodes and Ian McCulloch of Echo & The Bunnymen. His Wild Swans project has existed in three phases: once from 1980 to
Celebrate Good Times, Come On! BBR Reissues, Expands Four Kool and the Gang Classics
You can't keep a Kool man down. This week, Robert "Kool" Bell (now known as Muhammad Bayyan) leads the legendary funk-soul-R&B-disco outfit Kool and the Gang through its latest studio album, the Best Buy/Wal-Mart exclusive Kool for the Holidays. But for nearly 45 years, the music of Kool and the Gang has been celebrated for all seasons. Big Break Records last revisited the Kool catalogue in 2011 with an expanded edition of 1976's Open Sesame, but the label is returning to the group in a
Dial-a-Reissue: Edsel to Release Two-Fers by They Might Be Giants
"I'm your only friend I'm not your only friend But I'm a little glowing friend But really I'm not actually your friend But I am" If those lyrics mean anything to you, you'll probably dig Edsel's next round of two-fers: all four albums released by quirk-rock band They Might Be Giants on the Elektra label. Formed by John Flansburgh and John Linnell, two teenage friends from Massachusetts who found themselves moving to the same building in Brooklyn on the same day, TMBG gained early cult success
Back To Muscle Shoals: Ace Revives Classic Southern Soul From Dan Penn, James Govan
Director Greg “Freddy” Camalier’s 2013 documentary Muscle Shoals brought some long-overdue attention to Rick Hall’s Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama – a hotbed of southern soul that attracted some of the most notable artists in rock and soul, from The Rolling Stones to Aretha Franklin. But the folks at Ace Records have never overlooked Muscle Shoals’ immeasurable contribution to the sound of American soul. Two recent compilations cast further light on the historic music that made the
Review, "Released! The Human Rights Concerts 1986-1989" On DVD and CD
Sex, drugs and rock and roll have been closely linked since, well, the dawn of rock and roll itself. But those who have been lucky enough to make a living in the rough-and-tumble world of rock have also frequently given themselves over to more noble pursuits. George Harrison’s 1971 Concert for Bangla Desh wasn’t the first time a rock superstar had performed for charity, but The Quiet Beatle’s star-studded event is rightfully considered the first benefit concert of such stature. Since then,
Purple Reign: Numero Anthologizes Early Minneapolis Funk Bands
It was something like Sly Stone or James Brown for the New Wave set: tight, sparse R&B jams peppered with funky guitar and pulsating bass, sweetened with electronic accoutrements in the percussion section and dazzling synthesizers where a horn section might be. The "Minneapolis sound" changed soul music dramatically in the '80s, with Prince and his collaborators, associates and followers (The Time, Andre Cymone, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Alexander O'Neal) helping rewrite musical style for
BBR Completes Pointer Sisters' Planet Catalogue with "Priority" and "Black and White" Remasters
Between 1978 and 1988, The Pointer Sisters recorded a stunning series of nine albums with producer Richard Perry (Barbra Streisand, Harry Nilsson), first for his Elektra-distributed Planet Records label, and then for RCA, to whom Perry eventually sold Planet. During this period, June, Ruth and Anita finally were able to Break Out on the U.S. charts - to quote the title of the group's multi-platinum 1983 album which introduced four U.S. Top 10 hits. Previously the Pointers had mastered jazz,
Something to Remember: How Alex Chilton (and Jeff Vargon) Generated "Electricity by Candlelight"
The recent release of Alex Chilton's Electricity by Candlelight on Bar/None Records turns a "you had to be there" moment into a "you are there moment." The late, great singer/songwriter and Big Star frontman took a major setback - a sudden power outage between two sets at New York City's Knitting Factory in 1997 - and spun it into a most magical listening experience: Chilton picked up an acoustic guitar and regaled a small audience with a clutch of covers, from standards ("My Baby Just Cares for
Review: Bob Dylan, "The Complete Album Collection Volume One"
Tucked away on Bob Dylan’s 23rd studio album Empire Burlesque, the troubadour sings simply but sternly, “Trust yourself/Trust yourself to do the things that only you know best/Trust yourself/Trust yourself to do what’s right and not be second-guessed...” Dylan had trusted himself since he first arrived on the scene in 1962, engaging in a series of transformations that enthralled, angered, transfixed and bewildered those that followed his career – from folk troubadour to electric rocker to
Don't Deceive Your Free Will At All: New Yes Box Compiles Studio Album Remasters
If that recently-released Japanese SACD box is out of your price range, but you really want to get to know the catalogue of prog rockers Yes intensely well, Rhino has a new "studio albums" box you'll want to order. The Studio Albums 1969-1987 includes every remastered and expanded album originally released for the Atlantic and ATCO labels over a two-decade period. What started as a dense progressive band featuring the likes of vocalist Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, drummers Bill Bruford
Review: Jefferson Starship, "Live in Central Park NYC May 12, 1975"
“The police say you guys in the trees are causing problems...you can either jump out or they’ll...do something!” So went one of the colorful and increasingly adamant stage announcements about tree-dwelling audience members made throughout the near-entirety of Jefferson Starship’s free concert at New York City’s Central Park on May 12, 1975. The eight-strong band line-up of Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, Marty Balin, Craig Chaquico, Papa John Creach, John Barbata, David Freiberg and Pete Sears was
The Ballad of Big Star: Legacy Collects Live, Studio Recordings On New "Playlist"
On November 26, the Memphis boys of Big Star will be back “In the Street” – and on store shelves. On that date, Magnolia Home Entertainment releases the acclaimed documentary Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me on DVD and Blu-ray, and Sony’s Legacy Recordings unleashes Playlist: The Very Best of Big Star. Reviewing Omnivore Recordings’ soundtrack to the film, we wrote, “Rare is the cult band that actually lives up to its legend. Yet, with each listen – time after time, year after year – Big Star
WE HAVE OUR WINNERS! Humble Pie's "Performance: Rockin' the Fillmore - The Complete Recordings" is Served!
STEVE HARRIS, WARD WHIPPLE and RICH KAMERMAN - you've won a copy of this great box set! Message us on Facebook and tell us where to send them!
Hey, Lady (and Gentlemen)! Kritzerland Releases Two Scores for Jerry Lewis Comedies
In the golden age of Hollywood, comedy rarely was better than when Jerry Lewis took his act to the silver screen. With a knack for moving kinetically through zany situations, Lewis earned high regard as a movie star, first with his inimitable partner, singer Dean Martin, on stage, radio, television and film, and ultimately on his own in the 1950s, 1960s and beyond. The newest archival soundtrack release from Kritzerland brings two soundtracks from some of Lewis' first solo projects to CD for the
Release Round-Up: Week of November 5
David Bowie, The Next Day: Extra (ISO/Columbia) The year's biggest comeback album is now available as a 2CD/1DVD set featuring B-sides, remixes, unreleased songs and four music videos. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Bob Dylan, The Complete Album Collection Vol. One (Columbia/Legacy) Dylan's "official" albums discography from 1962 to 2012 is collected on this 47-disc set, featuring studio and live titles, 14 newly remastered albums and a two-disc compilation of non-LP material. CD: Amazon U.S. /
A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening: Ace Collects The Innocents' "Reprise, Decca, Warner Bros. and A&M Recordings"
Ace Records has recently given a classic vocal group its due with the release of The Innocents' Classic Innocents: The Reprise, Decca, Warner Bros. and A&M Recordings...Plus More. Drawing from the vaults of all of those labels, the new 28-track collection premieres 12 previously unissued tracks from the California doo-wop trio best-known for "Honest I Do," "Gee Whiz," and "A Thousand Stars," the latter with Kathy Young. The non-chronologically-sequenced new anthology is a belated follow-up
It's Love That Really Counts: Él Continues Vintage Burt Bacharach Series
In 1962 alone, Burt Bacharach premiered more than 30 new compositions, recorded by a variety of artists from Marlene Dietrich to The Drifters. It's even fair to say that '62 was the year the composer truly came into his own. While previous years offered their share of hits for the songwriter - "I Wake Up Crying," "Tower of Strength," "Baby, It's You," "Magic Moments," "The Story of My Life" - the Bacharach sound hadn't completely crystallized. With Jerry Butler's July 1962 single of Bacharach
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