With their seminal first two albums, Music from Big Pink and The Band, the group consisting of Garth Hudson (keyboards, piano, horns), Levon Helm (drums, vocals, mandolin), Richard Manuel (keyboards, vocals, drums), Rick Danko (bass, vocals, fiddle) and Robbie Robertson (guitar, piano, vocals) had earned the right to call themselves, simply, The Band. They effortlessly fused folk, country, blues, gospel, soul, and a dash of rock to create an organic, back-to-basics sound that reverberated with
New Morning: Bob Dylan 1970 Copyright Extension Release To Get Wider Release, 3CD Set Due in February
In a move that will no doubt excite Bob Dylan aficionados everywhere, on February 26, Legacy Recordings will release Bob Dylan: 1970 in a new, more widely available limited edition set with revised artwork and fresh liner notes by Michael Simmons. The collection includes all the songs from this year's quietly announced copyright extension release. It's an interesting move on the part of Legacy and Dylan's team. Fans of the artist have come to expect micro-batches of 50 year old recordings
Release Round-Up: Week of December 18
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Tom Jones, The Complete Decca Studio Albums Collection (Decca/UMC) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Link TBD) This long-awaited box from Sir Tom Jones - counting 17 discs, including 15 studio albums and two CDs of non-LP single and EP sides - boasts over 200 tracks and 10+ hours of music from Jones' classic Decca period of 1965-1975. It includes hits such as "What's New Pussycat?," "It's Not Unusual," "Help Yourself," "Green, Green
Soundtrack Watch: Everybody's Talkin' About Quartet's Score Reissues
As we approach the end of 2020, soundtrack labels are working overtime to put out some great archival score presentations. Not to be ignored this time of year is an impressive line-up from European label Quartet Records: last week they announced three incredible expanded releases and a new re-recording. Additionally, they recently issued another two expanded releases that are absolutely worth fans' time. Those recent releases are a pair of acclaimed scores from 1990: Jerry Goldsmith's work on
Stir It Up: Bob Marley's 75th Anniversary Celebration Continues with Two Box Sets, Vinyl Reissues
Nearly 40 years after his passing, Bob Marley's music, image and message continue to fascinate audiences the world over. The end of this year has seen some considerable activity around his classic '70s and '80s catalogue for Tuff Gong/Island Records, including a new career-spanning box set and some vinyl reissues - and another box set, a new version of an old collection, is due early next year. Five years from its original vinyl release in 2015, a CD edition of The Complete Island Recordings
Holiday Gift Guide Spotlight: Cherry Red Box Set Bonanza - Graham Bonnet's "Solo Albums 1974-1992"
Perhaps no label this holiday season has offered such a bonanza of box sets as Cherry Red. Yesterday, we looked at Evelyn "Champagne" King's The RCA Albums 1977-1985. Today, we're turning the spotlight onto Graham Bonnet's Solo Albums 1974-1982! Cherry Red's Hear No Evil (HNE) imprint has long been a home for archival releases from singer Graham Bonnet of Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, Alcatrazz, and The Michael Schenker Group. Now, HNE has brought together Bonnet's first four solo albums,
So Much Love: Real Gone Music Collects Dusty Springfield's "Complete Atlantic Singles," Expands Norma Tanega's Debut Album
For several years in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Dusty Springfield was romantically linked to singer-songwriter Norma Tanega. On February 5, 2021, the late, talented duo will be linked once more with a pair of new releases from our friends at Real Gone Music. Real Gone has previously surveyed Springfield's remarkable career on releases including Faithful (premiering her complete, lost album with producer-songwriter Jeff Barry in standalone form), A Brand New Me: The Complete Philadelphia
Rumbling in the Skies: David Bowie's Unreleased Covers of John Lennon and Bob Dylan Collected on New 7" Single
On January 8, Parlophone will celebrate what would have been David Bowie's 74th birthday with a special 7" single featuring his covers of John Lennon's "Mother" and Bob Dylan's "Tryin' To Get To Heaven." "Mother" had been prepared for a Tony Visconti-led John Lennon tribute album that went unreleased, while "Tryin' To Get To Heaven" was recorded at Sony Music Studios during the mixing sessions for the LiveAndWell.com compilation (itself recently announced for release, find out more here). The
Holiday Gift Guide Spotlight: Cherry Red Box Set Bonanza - Evelyn "Champagne" King, "The RCA Albums 1977-1985"
Perhaps no label this holiday season has offered such a bonanza of box sets as Cherry Red. Today we kick off a three-part feature on five of these sets (any of which just might make the perfect stocking stuffer!) with a Holiday Gift Guide spotlight on Evelyn "Champagne" King's The RCA Albums 1977-1985. Bronx-born, Philadelphia-raised vocalist Evelyn "Champagne" King came from a showbiz family including her uncle Avon Long - perhaps best known as Sportin' Life in multiple productions of Porgy
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Kiki Dee, "The Fontana and Motown Years"
UPDATED DECEMBER 2020: Kiki Dee rocketed to worldwide stardom (no pun intended) on Elton John's Rocket Records in 1976, imploring "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" to John on the chart-topping duet. She had been recording for Rocket since 1973, scoring such U.K. hits as "Amoreuse" and "I've Got the Music in Me," the latter of which also went to the top 20 of the U.S. Hot 100, as well. Anyone familiar with Dee's Rocket recordings knows her to be a singer of both power and sensitivity, and last year,
Return Trip: Rick Wakeman Releases Box Set of "Return to the Centre of the Earth"
Rick Wakeman's 1974 opus Journey to the Centre of the Earth was a landmark effort from the Yes keyboardist. The orchestral rock adaptation of Jules Verne's 1864 novel was narrated by actor David Hemmings (Blowup, Gladiator) and featured the London Symphony Orchestra, the English Chamber Choir, and a rock group later to be known as the English Rock Ensemble. Wakeman's progressive sci-fi fusion went all the way to No. 1 in the U.K. (the first album by A&M Records to do so there) and No. 3 in
Holiday Gift Guide Review: The Doors, "Morrison Hotel: 50th Anniversary Edition"
For The Doors, 1970 should have been a new beginning. Upon the February 1 release of the band's fifth album, Morrison Hotel, Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore were still recovering from the events of the prior year. On March 1, 1969, Morrison famously (or infamously?) exposed himself onstage in Coconut Grove, Florida. The Lizard King's "indecent exposure" led to the cancellation of over two dozen concerts and some radio stations' refusal to play The Doors' music.
In Memoriam: Charley Pride (1934-2020)
Before Darius Rucker or Lil Nas X, there was Charley Pride. The fourth of eleven children born to sharecroppers in Sledge, Mississippi didn't just break the race barrier in country music; he positively shattered it. Pride wasn't the first African-American performer in the genre - DeFord Bailey's success in country and blues dated back to the 1920s - but he earned the same level of stardom accorded his white contemporaries such as Willie Nelson or Glen Campbell. With Pride's death today of
Short Takes: David Bowie, Burt Bacharach and Melody Federer, Willie Nelson, and Frank Sinatra
An unusual amount of news broke this morning, so another installment of Short Takes is here to cover it all in bite-sized nuggets! The third volume of David Bowie's Brilliant Live Adventures series is now available for pre-order in 1CD and 2LP editions. Liveandwell.com was culled from performances in New York, Amsterdam, and Rio de Janeiro during Bowie's Earthling tour and first issued in 2000 as a website-exclusive release for subscribers to Bowienet. This expanded and remastered edition
Holiday Gift Guide Reviews: Cat Stevens, "Mona Bone Jakon" and "Tea for the Tillerman" 50th Anniversary Editions
1970 was a defining year for pop music, and few stars ascended to quite the same heights as Cat Stevens, whose Mona Bone Jakon and Tea For the Tillerman re-introduced the songwriter and singer to audiences. Gone are the production excesses of his late-'60s pop recordings. Here, Stevens' songs are stripped-down as he looks inward and embraces a soulful sound. Fifty years on, these two albums have been revisited by Yusuf through his aptly titled Cat-O-Log Records imprint, in coordination with
Release Round-Up: Week of December 11
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Neil Young, After the Gold Rush: 50th Anniversary Edition (Reprise) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The 50th Anniversary Edition of Neil Young's classic album features new art based on Gary Burden's original album cover design. The CD is out today while the vinyl edition will be released in March, 2021 and presented in a box set with the LP and a bonus 7″ single in a newly designed picture sleeve. This set includes two different
Holiday Gift Guide: Vinyl Me, Please - A Year in Review
Over the past few months you've probably heard us mention Vinyl Me Please. The subscription-based record club frequently partners with the major labels to create exclusive pressings from across genres. They also curate Records of the Month for subscribers - available in three tracks: Classics, Essentials, and Hip Hop - specially selected by their staff to spotlight albums of importance in pop, rock, soul, world music, jazz, and beyond. This year, the offerings ran the gamut from The Stooges,
Play It Again: Esoteric Salutes The Moody Blues' Ray Thomas with Anthology, Surround Mix
As a founding member of The Moody Blues, Ray Thomas (1941-2018) played the haunting flute solo on the band's 1967 hit "Nights in White Satin." He also was responsible for writing many of the Moodies' most beloved songs including "Twilight Time," "And the Tide Rushes In," and "Legend of a Mind." A multi-instrumentalist and singer, Thomas recorded two solo albums for the group's Threshold Records label: 1975's From Mighty Oaks and 1976's Hopes, Wishes, and Dreams. This fall, Cherry Red's
Soundtrack Watch: La-La Land Plans Goldsmith Series, 'Tremors' and More
Six new and archival soundtracks made up La-La Land's celebrated Black Friday batch this year, including continuations of several of the label's riessue series and the creation of a new one! The label continues its ongoing individual expansions of Bill Conti's scores to The Karate Kid series with a new pressing of the score to the third film in the series. Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita and director John G. Avildsen again reunited for a slightly redundant story in which Daniel and Mr. Miyagi are
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Buck Owens and His Buckaroos, "A Merry 'Hee Haw' Christmas"
Omnivore has served up one of the year's most festive treats with the first-ever CD reissue of A Merry "Hee Haw" Christmas from Buck Owens and The Buckaroos. The 1970 Capitol release collected both of Buck and his band's Christmas albums - 1965's Christmas with Buck Owens and His Buckaroos and its 1968 follow-up, Christmas Shopping - as a double-album tie-in with Owens' starring role on television's Hee Haw. The country-themed variety show was midway through its 1969-1971 run on CBS-TV; it
Classic Bad Brains Albums to Get Definitive Reissues in 2021
Legendary punk band Bad Brains will embark on a special "re-everything" of their seminal catalogue, having formed a new label to be distributed by Org Music. Founded in Washington, D.C. in 1977, the band initially known as Mind Power transitioned from jazz fusion to a fast-paced, rhythmic form of rock (known today as hardcore) along with elements of reggae and funk. Vocalist Paul "H.R." Hudson, his brother Earl on drums, guitarist Gary "Dr. Know" Miller and bassist Daryl Jenifer comprised the
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Donna Summer, "The Wanderer: 40th Anniversary"
A new beginning - Donna Summer was certainly ready for one when she signed as the first artist on David Geffen's upstart record label in 1980. She had clashed and litigated with her longtime home of Casablanca Records over her artistic direction, and on a personal level had become a born-again Christian. Her first album for Geffen would build on her success at Casablanca but confidently introduce a new Donna Summer, as well. The Wanderer, her eighth studio album, became a top 20 success in
Not Far Down to Paradise: Christopher Cross Collects "The Complete Works" on 13-CD/1-LP Box Set
Forty years ago, Christopher Cross set sail on a musical journey that has continued unabated to the present day. His self-titled debut was released in the waning days of December 1979, spinning off three smash hit singles in 1980 ("Ride Like the Wind," the Pop No. 1 "Sailing," and AC chart-topper "Never Be the Same") and netting a whopping five Grammy Awards. Cross became the first artist in the awards' history to pick up Record, Album, and Song of the Year along with Best New Artist. While
Magical Mystery Tour: Little Steven's Liverpool Show Captured on "Macca to Mecca!" and Expanded "Soulfire Live!"
For most of us, 2021 can't come soon enough. Little Steven Van Zandt is doing his part by injecting some Soulfire into the new year with a pair of releases due January 29. On that date, Wicked Cool Records and UMe will release Macca to Mecca!, a live-in-Liverpool set, as a CD/DVD combo pack. On the same date, Little Steven will also deliver an expanded edition of 2018's Soulfire Live! CD set which adds the audio of Macca to Mecca! as its fourth disc. In fall of 2017, Van Zandt and his band
They're Red Hot: AIDS-Combating Compilations Get Digital Reissues for 30th Anniversary
Since 1989, the Red Hot Organization (RHO) has been combatting the scourge of HIV/AIDS. Red Hot has primarily raised money through the creation of music compilations beginning with the 1990 release Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute to Cole Porter. Now, that star-studded release and numerous others have come to digital and streaming services to continue raising money for the charity. RHO co-founder John Carlin, an entertainment lawyer spurred into action by the devastating losses suffered by the New
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