Clarence Clemons wasn’t born in New Jersey, but he might as well have been. Those of us who hail from the Garden State are used to the “What exit?” jokes, but truth to tell, we can identify those exits by the great musicians who lived in those towns off the Garden State Parkway or New Jersey Turnpike. One such towering talent was our favorite adopted son Clarence, who had an early job counseling troubled children in Newark (Parkway Exit 145), participated in one of his first recording sessions
Review: Paul McCartney, "The Paul McCartney Archive Collection: McCartney and McCartney II"
Paul McCartney is still on the run, as his just-announced concert tour of the same name attests. But one thing the former Beatle doesn’t have to run from is his own legacy. Last year he inaugurated The Paul McCartney Archive Collection with his 1973 Band on the Run, making the title available in multiple platforms and prices. The next two releases in the non-chronological series have just arrived, and though the formats are slightly tweaked, the same hallmark of quality is evident on the
Lalo Schifrin Score To Gene Roddenberry Flick Arrives From FSM
Argentinian composer Lalo Schifrin has never been one to be boxed into any single genre. He created one of the most memorable television themes of all time with his “Mission: Impossible,” recorded jazz albums for labels like Verve and Creed Taylor’s CTI, and scored innumerable films, racking up six Oscar nominations in the process. Now, after the recent release by Quartet Records of Schifrin’s score to Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You, another one of living legend Schifrin’s most unknown scores
Miss Peggy Lee's Capitol Catalogue Goes Digital
Norma Deloris Egstrom of Jamestown, North Dakota, was born in 1920, but as Peggy Lee she blazed a trail like few others in American popular music. A triple threat singer/songwriter/actress, Lee had a long recording career spanning over fifty years. Her first No. 1 was scored in 1942 and her final track was released in 1995, seven years before her death in 2002. She was an Academy Award-nominated actress (Pete Kelly's Blues) and a talented songwriter whose collaborators included Harold Arlen,
Cash, Perkins, Lewis and...The Chipmunks? Ace Revisits 1958 On "The London American Label"
After a terrifically eclectic volume dedicated to the hits, misses and everything in between of 1963, Ace’s London American Label turns the clock back to the early days of rock and roll via the pioneering British imprint. The London American Label: 1958, the sixth volume of the series, similarly offers something for everyone. Unlike so many other British labels mining this period thanks to public domain law, Ace licenses each and every track from the current copyright owners and remasters them
Review: Jimi Hendrix, "South Saturn Delta" and "Band of Gypsys: Live at the Fillmore East"
When Jimi Hendrix wrote the lyrics, "Well, she's walking through the clouds, with a circus mind that's running 'round?," is it possible that he was writing about himself? Hendrix isn't generally considered part of the school of autobiographical singer/songwriters, and appreciation of his lyrical and melodic craft usually takes a backseat to his dazzling virtuosity as a musician. So while "Little Wing" isn't precisely about Hendrix, the vivid lyrical imagery of a dreamer with a "circus mind"
A Quartet of Broadway Classics Coming From Masterworks
Back on April 5, we filled you in on the latest slate of reissues from Sony's Masterworks Broadway division, available as digital downloads or discs-on-demand from Arkiv Music. Next week, May 17, sees release of RCA Victor's 1964 Music Theater of Lincoln Center Recording of Franz Lehar's The Merry Widow, making its very first appearance in the CD age. The classic operetta is joined by four new releases returning to print: the Original Broadway Cast Recordings of Irving Berlin’s Mr. President and
Wainwright Family Tree: Anna and Kate McGarrigle, Reissued and Expanded
When Kate McGarrigle succumbed to cancer in February 2010, the music world lost one of its brightest lights. The wife of Loudon Wainwright III and mother of Rufus Wainwright, Kate proved herself a keen observer of the world as both a songwriter and a performer, most often with her older sister Anna. The very same week Loudon’s long career was celebrated with the release of a career-spanning box set, Nonesuch released a three-disc collection devoted to Kate and Anna McGarrigle. Tell My Sister
Review: Loudon Wainwright III, "40 Odd Years"
Lucky for us, Loudon Wainwright III is only "so damn happy" on an infrequent basis. The singer-songwriter-humorist-satirist-actor (is that enough of a multi-hyphenate for you?) posited the question "Is it necessary to feel like shit in order to be creative?" He arrived at the final answer "yes!" but prefaced it with "unless you're J.S. Bach." Over the course of 91 songs on four CDs and another 38-plus on DVD, Shout! Factory's new box set 40 Odd Years (82663-12189, 2011) - dig the double
UPDATE: Macca Mania: Paul's "McCartney" and "McCartney II" Expanded Editions Coming in June [NOW WITH COMPLETE CD/DVD TRACK LISTS]
“Do you foresee a time when Lennon/McCartney becomes an active songwriting partnership again?” That question was one of many posed on a press release enclosed with advanced copies of Paul McCartney’s 1970 solo debut, McCartney. With the Cute Beatle’s one word response, the world knew that The Beatles were irreparably broken. McCartney’s simple “no” spoke volumes. His other answers didn't help matters. And so while the world’s most beloved band was fracturing, a solo career that flourishes to
Review: Roy Orbison, "The Monument Singles Collection (1960-1964)"
It's frequently been said that image is everything in the music business. And surely one of the most recognizable images in all of music is that of Roy Orbison, the loner behind dark sunglasses, clad in black. If one could see his eyes, wouldn't they surely betray his lifetime of heartache? His wife Claudette (the inspiration behind the song) was killed at his side in a motorcycle accident, his two young sons perished in a fire at his home. There was more than meets the eye to Roy Orbison,
Release Round-Up: Week of April 26
Derek and the Dominos, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (Universal) The 2-CD remastered/expanded 40th Anniversary Edition (previously a Best Buy exclusive) and super deluxe 4-CD/2-LP/1-DVD box set of the seminal album both arrive in stores today. Read more here. (2-CD – Amazon, Box Set – Amazon) Bob Dylan, The Other Side of the Mirror: Live at the Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965 (Columbia/Legacy) Murray Lerner’s film chronicling Dylan’s incendiary performances at Newport is released on
Review: Don Sebesky, "Giant Box"
Why can’t jazz be populist and pure, both at the same time? One imagines Creed Taylor asked that question when he launched CTI (Creed Taylor Incorporated) as a solo label back in 1970. Three years earlier he had decamped from Verve and christened the CTI name as an imprint of Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss’ A&M Records. At A&M, Taylor produced nearly 30 albums by such jazz greats as Wes Montgomery, Montgomery's heir apparent George Benson, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Herbie Mann. Taylor’s
Stage and Screen Classics, Reissued: "Until September" and "Camelot"
If there’s a link between Kritzerland’s two new releases, it would have to be melody. I’m speaking of sheer, unadulterated, romantic melody, courtesy of two of music’s finest purveyors of such themes: John Barry and Frederick Loewe. This morning, the stage and screen specialists announced two limited edition titles of 1,000, and both are notable, indeed. From Mr. Barry comes the 1984 score to Until September, while Mr. Loewe is represented by the first-ever CD release of the 1964 Original
Friday Feature: "Night Shift"
Fate works in mysterious ways. Dionne Warwick was home one evening, half-asleep while the 1982 film Night Shift played on her television set. “I didn’t really pay attention to the names that were going up on the credits,” Warwick recounted, “but I knew that was Burt Bacharach’s melody. There was no way in the world it could be anybody else’s.” She was speaking of “That’s What Friends Are For,” an all-but-forgotten song written for the 1982 film Night Shift, Ron Howard’s major big screen
Crossing the Pond: "London American Label 1963" Spotlights Spector and More
It’s 1963. Imagine a label that counted Roy Orbison, Darlene Love, James Brown, The Drifters and Jerry Lee Lewis all among its artists. While such an array of talent never convened under one roof in America, it was a very different story in the United Kingdom. The U.K.’s Decca Record Company indeed brought all of those artists, and more, under the umbrella of its London American label. London American delivered the best in American pop, R&B and rock and roll to British audiences. Ace is
That's Amore: Capitol Releases More from Dean Martin in June
Dean Martin once implored in song, "Please don't talk about me when I'm gone." Dino has been gone since 1995, but I doubt he'd mind that fans and collectors alike haven't stopped talking about him since. Part of this is due to the seemingly endless stream of repackaged "greatest hits" collections - and guess what? Not one, not two, but three such sets are on the way this June, just in time for Father's Day. Now ain't that a kick in the head! Back in February, we reported on Hip-o's two-CD,
Bing Crosby Goes "Through the Years" and Crosby Archive Continues Digitally
With the Collector's Choice Music label in a state of flux and no new releases on the horizon, disappointment is in the air. One of the most acclaimed series created at Collector's Choice in recent years is The Bing Crosby Archive. With the cooperation of Crosby's family and access to his personal collection, executive producer Gordon Anderson spearheaded a deluxe series of expanded reissues restoring the legendary artist's album catalogue to print. While no formal announcement has been made by
Rare Cinema Treasures from Barry, Addison and Sarde Coming Soon
Film score collectors are among the most insatiable music purchasers, but luckily, there’s frequently a steady stream of releases. Three new and exciting titles have just been announced. Direct from Los Angeles on the estimable Kritzerland label comes Phillipe Sarde’s score to Roman Polanski’s 1986 film Pirates. A continent away in Spain, the Quartet Records label has been growing an impressive library of soundtracks, and the label has recently announced two new additions: John Barry’s 1965
The SMiLE Saga: A Happy Ending Promised for Lost Beach Boys Masterwork
The story of The Beach Boys' 1967 SMiLE, often considered the greatest lost album of all time, has long been a story of heroes and villains. On February 3, the band's Al Jardine was a hero when he announced that SMiLE would finally be arriving in record stores everywhere later this year. The Second Disc duly passed this on before Jardine offered a bizarre quasi-retraction, likely at the behest of his record label, on February 14. Mastering engineer Steve Hoffman (who was worked with the Beach
Friday Feature: "The Graduate"
“Just one word…plastics.” With that one word, spoken to the disaffected Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) by an associate of his father’s, the audience viewing 1967’s film The Graduate, could both laugh and sneer along with Benjamin. After all, “plastics” stood for all that was superficial and fake in society. Mike Nichols, directing only his second feature film after a successful Broadway career, was anything but subtle as he masterfully threaded the film’s themes throughout every aspect of
Review: Neil Diamond, "The Bang Years 1966-1968"
When it comes to Neil Diamond, I'm a believer. There's not a trace of doubt in my mind that Diamond burst onto the scene at the right time - not necessarily the night time, though I, too, thank the lord for it. No, Diamond made a big noise in the corridors of Bang Records in the period between 1966 and 1968, an era when the music business was experiencing change more rapidly than anyone could have predicted. And it was far from predictable that the somber and intense young man pictured on The
Billy Preston's Debut to Get Digital Reissue
Interest in Billy Preston has piqued in recent years thanks to reissues of his work with The Beatles ("Get Back," of course one of the last great hits on The Fab Four's recent, Grammy-winning remasters) and beyond (two albums for The Beatles' Apple Records, reissued last year). Now, ABKCO goes a bit deeper into the vaults to release, for the first time in years, Preston's first album. 16 Year Old Soul, released in 1963 on Sam Cooke's SAR/Derby label, captured Preston at the very beginning. He
King, Taylor and Fellow "Troubadours" Arrive on DVD with Bonus CD
Morgan Neville’s 2010 film Troubadours: The Rise of the Singer-Songwriter is nothing if not ambitious. A participant in the Sundance U.S. Documentary Competition, Troubadours functions as a dual biography of Carole King and James Taylor, as well as the story of Doug Weston’s club on Los Angeles’ Santa Monica Boulevard that gave rise to King, Taylor and so many others. Their 2007 reunion and subsequent tour in 2010 provides the framework for the film. Yet moreover, it touches on the entire
"Monument"al Orbison Singles Collection Coming from Legacy
April 23, 2011 would have marked the 75th birthday of Roy Kelton Orbison. The perpetually cool, sunglass-clad, big-voiced singer, a.k.a. Lefty Wilbury and The Big O, may have died in 1988, but he left behind a rich catalogue recorded for on a variety of labels including Sun, RCA and MGM. However, it was at Fred Foster's Monument label, also an early home to Dolly Parton and Ray Stevens, that Orbison introduced most of his signature songs. Many of these were achingly vulnerable and even
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