This time of year, it’s nearly impossible to spend much time on a holiday music station without hearing the familiar, resonant voice persuasively imploring, “Hang all the mistletoe/I’m gonna get to know you better/This Christmas!” Donny Hathaway’s 1970 single “This Christmas” has become one of the most frequently-sung latter-day Christmas standards, recorded in recent years by everybody from Carole King to Mary J. Blige. In a too-short life that was tragically curbed at 33 in January 1979, the
A Record Company, Rosie, Just Gave Me a Big Advance: Is Bruce Working on New Remasters?
Buried deep in a newly-released piece on Rolling Stone about Bruce Springsteen's forthcoming album High Hopes, Springsteen's longtime manager Jon Landau may have given some insight as to what might come next from the Boss on the catalogue front. While next year is the 30th anniversary of Springsteen's landmark hit Born in the U.S.A., Landau suggests that the next bit of catalogue activity might come from before that era - particularly 1980's double album The River. "There's ongoing work on
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Buck Owens, "Buck 'Em! The Music of Buck Owens"
No less an eminent personage than American author William Faulkner once said that "a writer needs three things - experience, observation, and imagination - any two of which, at times any one of which, can supply the lack of the others." Country music legend and Bakersfield Sound pioneer Buck Owens, however, utilized all three of those key elements in his songs, which may help explain their timeless stature. Fifty of those recordings are anthologized on Omnivore's new Buck 'Em! The Music of
No Time to Lose: Rainbow Announce Singles Box Set on CD
In the tradition of similar boxes for Deep Purple (released by EMI in 2002) and Dio (released by Universal last year), Universal will release a 19CD box set replicating the singles offering by hard rock outfit Rainbow. Formed toward the end of guitarist Ritchie Blackmore's tenure with Deep Purple in 1975, Rainbow was a meticulously-coordinated rock band, inspired by the chord progression of classical music and with a lyrical bent toward medieval imagery. Adding greatly to the mix was the
The Beatles and The Beach Boys Beat The Boots On "The Big Beat 1963" and "Bootleg Recordings"
1963 was a landmark year for the favorite sons of Hawthorne, California. During those twelve months, The Beach Boys released three Top 10 studio albums (Surfin’ USA, Surfer Girl and Little Deuce Coupe) and launched three Top 10 singles (“Surfin’ USA,” “Surfer Girl,” and “Be True to Your School”). Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson, the outgoing David Marks and returning Al Jardine were perfecting their harmony-laden brand of surf rock and setting the stage for the next step in
Release Round-Up: Weeks of December 17 and 24
With the last two weeks of the year so light on catalogue titles, we figured we'd combine it all into one post. Below you'll find two new titles for this week, and two for the next! The Pogues, 30 Years (Rhino U.K.) Here, in one box, is all of the Irish folk-rockers' original albums, including new mixes of debut Red Roses for Me and Peace and Love, plus a bonus unreleased live show from 1991 with Joe Strummer of The Clash assuming lead vocal duties. (Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.) Boz Scaggs, Boz
Tony Bennett's "The Classics" Features Solo Hits Plus Streisand, Winehouse, Sinatra Duets
Following the success of 2013’s Bennett/Brubeck: The White House Sessions Live 1962 and Live at the Sahara: Las Vegas 1964, Columbia Records, RPM Records and Legacy Recordings are starting off 2014 with a newly-assembled collection from Tony Bennett due on January 28.The Classics, available in a 20-track standard edition or a 30-track deluxe configuration, features material personally selected by the 87-year old living legend. In a statement provided by Legacy, Bennett confirmed that he kept
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Woody Guthrie, "American Radical Patriot"
The title of Rounder Records’ new box set describes its subject, Woody Guthrie (1912-1967), as an American Radical Patriot. Especially in today’s politically-polarized times, some might find those words a contradiction in terms. But in the late folk troubadour’s world, very little was black-and-white. It’s that world which is explored in such depth in this lavish new collection, a limited edition of 5,000 units. American Radical Patriot (Rounder 11661-9138-2) not only proves why Guthrie
Holiday Tunes Watch: Sony CMG Celebrates The Season with Bing, Buck, B.J., JB, Elvis and More
Occasionally the aisles of your local grocery or big-box store turn up releases you won't find even in your local indie music store. Such is the case with a recent batch of holiday-themed titles from Sony Commercial Music Group. Just in time for Christmas '13, CMG has unveiled a number of holiday compilations - and a handful of straight album reissues - for fans of classic pop (Bing Crosby, Patti Page), country (B.J. Thomas, Buck Owens, Roy Clark), rock-and-roll (Elvis Presley) and R&B
Always Something There: Cherry Pop Reissues Viola Wills' "If You Could Read My Mind"
Released during the last days of disco, Viola Wills’ 1980 album If You Could Read My Mind blended then-current dance styles with deliciously soulful vocals and a genre-bending repertoire of songs. Cherry Pop has recently reissued this LP from the onetime Barry White protégé and Joe Cocker backing vocalist in an expanded and remastered edition that reveals it to be a hidden gem with appeal to fans of disco, Hi-NRG and MOR pop/soft rock. Los Angeles-born Viola Wills (1939-2009) was joined by
British Invasion! The Beatles Unveil "The U.S. Albums" Box Set in January
Get ready to revisit the original British Invasion: On January 21 in North America (and January 20 worldwide), The Beatles are coming to America with the release of The U.S. Albums, a 13-CD box commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Fabs’ arrival in New York City on February 7, 1964. Two nights later, 74 million viewers watched the band make history on The Ed Sullivan Show, and Beatlemania was officially in full swing. This new box set includes The Beatles’ U.S. albums from 1964’s Meet the
Winter's Coming: Legacy's "True to the Blues" Boxes Johnny Winter
Johnny Winter is turning 70 on February 23, 2014, and Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings aren’t about to let the occasion pass without celebration. Two days later, on February 25, the label will release True to the Blues: The Johnny Winter Story. This new 4-CD box set includes 56 tracks spanning Winter’s entire major-label career from 1968 to the present day (his most recent album having been released in 2011). Though the two-time Grammy Award nominee is looking back with this
Want, Too: Rufus Wainwright Announces First Compilation
When I was about to listen to his tape, I remember clearly I was thinking, "Gee, if he has the mom's musicality and smarts, and the dad's smarts and voice, that'd be nice"...Then I put it on and I said, "Oh, my God, this is stunning." -Lenny Waronker on Rufus Wainwright The scope and longevity of Rufus Wainwright's career is almost underserved by his own historic musical lineage. The eldest child of folk singers Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle (who would divorce when Rufus was three),
Baby Ride Easy: Lost Johnny Cash Album Unearthed for March Release
Though the catalogue of Johnny Cash has been mined numerous times, for acclaimed Bootleg volumes and even a Complete Album Collection box set, there’s still more of the story of the Man in Black yet to be told. A crucial part of that story will be revealed on March 25, 2014 when Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings release Out Among the Stars, a “lost album” comprised of twelve recently discovered studio recordings made by Cash between 1981 and 1984. Produced by Nashville legend Billy
Marc Bolan Remembered: T. Rextasy Sweeps Cherry Red With John's Children, Gloria Jones
It’s T. Rextasy at the Cherry Red Group, with two recent titles exploring the music of T. Rex’s Marc Bolan. The Grapefruit imprint has collected two discs’ worth of material from Bolan’s early band John’s Children, while RPM has reissued two albums from Gloria Jones on one CD including the Bolan-produced Vixen. By the time Marc Bolan joined the ranks of John’s Children in 1967, the British band had already established quite a reputation. Encouraged by manager Simon Napier-Bell to engage in
Holiday Gift Guide Review: A Real Gone Christmas With Andy Williams, Patti Page and The New Christy Minstrels
When Andy Williams passed away on September 25, 2012 at the age of 84, the loss was keenly felt by anyone who had ever played the “red album” and the “green album” during the holiday season. The Andy Williams Christmas Album (1963) and Merry Christmas (1965) were the best-selling Columbia LPs that led Williams to embody the title of “Mr. Christmas.” His rich, warm and resonant tenor was ideally suited to holiday music of both the secular and spiritual traditions, and his association with the
Review: James Taylor, "The Essential James Taylor"
In the annals of American popular song, there’s a place reserved for James Taylor. For 45 years, the Boston-born troubadour’s distinctive and soothing baritone has been a reassuring voice bringing light to the darkness with his nakedly emotional, often autobiographical music. Sure, recording technology has changed a bit over the years, but Taylor’s style now is essentially the same as it was then – applying that warm voice and shimmering, precise guitar to those direct, melodic and deceptively
Bob Mould, Lone Justice, Dream Syndicate Added to Busy Omnivore Release Schedule
Happily for fans, Omnivore Recordings has willfully ignored the unwritten rule that reissue labels wind down for a bit toward the end of the calendar year. They've just announced the latest catalogue projects of what is already shaping up to be a busy 2014, with rare and unreleased recordings due from Paisley Underground group The Dream Syndicate, country-rockers Lone Justice and legendary ex-Hüsker Dü member Bob Mould. [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDnNr6lNxvc] Omnivore
Release Round-Up: Week of December 10
Eric Clapton, Give Me Strength: The '74/'75 Recordings (Polydor/UMe) One of Clapton's most prolific periods is revisited with this six-disc box, featuring expanded versions of 461 Ocean Boulevard (1974), There's One in Every Crowd (1975), a remixed and expanded double-disc version of live album E.C. Was Here (1975), a disc of sessions at Criteria Studios with blues legend Freddie King and a Blu-Ray featuring new 5.1 surround and original quadrophonic mixes. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Ella
SECOND DISCMAS 2013: Holiday Giveaways Just for You!
WINNERS! WE HAVE WINNERS! CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WEEK TWO WINNERS! RAY SCHOO, Winner of a Belinda Carlisle Gift Set! RYAN BRUSH, Winner of a Status Quo Gift Set! HANK NIEMCZYK, Winner of a Saxon Gift Set! ANTHONY CUSUMANO and ROBERT LETT, Winners of Buck Owens Bundles! WILL ETKIN, DAVID CURVIN and ANGELA M. CAMPBELL, Winners of Knack Bundles! MARK ATHERLAY and DAMIEN McPHERSON, Winners of Rhino Box Set Bundles! DARRYL NORSEN and RON LAVERY, Winners of Townes Van Zandt
Now Sounds Tip-Toes Thru The Tulips With "God Bless Tiny Tim"
Welcome to my dream, and how are you? Will you be here long, or just passing through? Brush off that stardust, where have you been? Don’t tell me my rainbow was late getting in... When Herbert Buckingham “Tiny Tim” Khaury, 37, married Victoria May “Miss Vicki” Budinger, 17, on December 17, 1969 before Johnny Carson, Ed McMahon, The Rev. William Glenesk and a studio audience filled with 268 of the happy couple’s closest friends, roughly 40 million people were watching. It was a high point
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Bobby Darin, "The 25th Day of December" and Various Artists, "Funky Christmas"
Real Gone Music is ensuring that it’s going to be a merry Christmas, indeed, with a number of holiday-themed releases that practically beg to be enjoyed alongside a glass of egg nog and a warm fireplace. Bobby Darin’s The 25th Day of December, the late singer’s only holiday LP, arrived on the Atco label in 1960. However, the album wasn’t the work of Bobby Darin, the splish-splashin’ rock-and-roller, or Bobby Darin, the finger-snapping, tuxedoed crooner. It’s not even the work of Bob Darin,
Morrissey Reloads "Arsenal" for February Reissue
Maybe it's his catalogue in the hands of a new owner, with Parlophone now being managed by Rhino/Warner Music Group. Maybe it's the rushing wave of acidic nostalgia that came with publishing his hit Autobiography. Or maybe it's just been too long since the last reissue. Whatever the reason, Morrissey's 1992 album Your Arsenal is getting remastered and expanded for a February release. Featuring a new band anchored by guitarists Boz Boorer and Alain Whyte - still Moz's chief collaborators to this
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Frank Sinatra, "Duets: Twentieth Anniversary"
"May you live to be one hundred and may the last voice you hear be mine." The image of Frank Sinatra, glass in hand, delivering that favorite toast is an indelible one. His wasn't just a voice, after all. Before he was Ol' Blue Eyes or The Chairman of the Board, he was simply The Voice. And through all its many changes, The Voice endured. The pure, romantically-charged timbre that set the hearts of bobbysoxers pounding in the forties transformed into the ultimate instrument of ultimate cool
Esoteric Label Rediscovers Lord Sutch's "Heavy Friends" Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, John Bonham
When Screaming Lord Sutch promised the presence of some “Heavy Friends,” he wasn’t messing around. The cover of 1970’s Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends boasts some of the heaviest hitters in rock and roll: guitarists Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, drummer John Bonham, pianist Nicky Hopkins and Jimi Hendrix Experience bassist Noel Redding. It’s recently been remastered and reissued by Cherry Red’s Esoteric Recordings imprint, and certainly qualifies for release on a label called Esoteric! David Edward
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