From their million-selling U.S. No. 1 hit "Pick Up the Pieces" to a slew of soulful albums that have served as the backbone for countless hip-hop greats, Scottish funk outfit Average White Band have been long overdue for a proper catalogue rediscovery - something the fine folks at Edsel are doing with an exhaustive 19-disc box set, All the Pieces: The Complete Studio Recordings 1971-2003. The AWB - first comprised on record of bassist/guitarist/vocalists Alan Gorrie and Hamish Stuart, "Dundee
Gentle On His Mind: Raven Collects John Hartford's First Five Albums
It's knowin' that your door is always open/And the path is free to walk/That makes me tend to leave my sleeping bag/Rolled up and stashed behind your couch... John Hartford's "Gentle on My Mind" picked up two 1968 Grammy Awards - one for Hartford himself as Best Folk Performance, and one for Glen Campbell as Best Country and Western Solo Vocal Performance - Male. The song, a charting single for Campbell, Patti Page, Aretha Franklin and Dean Martin, announced Hartford as a songwriter to watch.
Give It to Us, Baby: Rick James' Motown Masters (and More) Are Digitally Reissued
Singer, songwriter, bassist, producer, partier, punk-funk pioneer - however you know him, one thing's clear: he's Rick James. (You'll have to imagine the word that usually follows.) Though the world lost the "Super Freak" hitmaker 10 years ago this summer, his legend continues: this week sees the release of his authorized biography Glow, written with David Ritz, and to celebrate, two labels are joining forces to update his killer catalogue in the digital domain. From the earliest moments
RPM Promises To "Keep Lookin'" On New Box Set Of British Mod, Soul and Freakbeat Nuggets
Last fall, Cherry Red’s RPM Records label offered Looking Good, a 3-CD, 75-song box set dedicated to “femme mod-soul nuggets.” That collection itself followed Looking Back: 80 Mod, Freakbeat and Swinging London Nuggets, and now, a third entry in the series has arrived. Keep Lookin’ presents, as its subtitle states, 80 More Mod, Soul and Freakbeat Nuggets. The format, style and emphasis are the same, but the collection offers a diverse array of sixties hidden gems – in its own words, “from
Reissue Theory: Joe Jackson, "Live in Tokyo: The Big World Tour"
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we focus on classic musical works and the reissues they could someday see. Today, Mike reflects on one of British rock's angriest young men all grown up, and the one weird aspect of the catalogue market that has yet to be greatly exploited. Like many of you, I've had an angry young man phase. You know the feelings, I'm sure. You're a bundle of emotions and everything is just super-serious. You're insecure but maddeningly self-assured -
He Is, He Said: Capitol Preps Neil Diamond's "All-Time Greatest Hits"
In January of this year, Neil Diamond ended his 40+-year association with Columbia Records, decamping to Universal Music Group’s Capitol label along with his complete Bang and Columbia masters. The deal united Diamond’s Uni catalogue with the Bang and Columbia material that bookended it, bringing the legendary performer’s complete recordings under one roof. Tomorrow, the first results of the new Capitol deal will arrive in stores. Expectedly, it’s a single-disc retrospective intended to replace
Deep Purple Go Mono on New Early Years Box
The Deep Purple catalogue has seen its share of reissues over the years - even during The Second Disc's four and a half year tenure - but there's another box set to be had courtesy of Parlophone this summer: one that collates the band's perhaps-underrated Mk. 1 era. Hard Road: The Mark 1 Studio Recordings 1968-1969 collects the three albums the band cut for Parlophone/Harvest (Tetragrammaton in the U.S.), full of psych-blues jams that would find little attention in the band's native U.K. but
A Fifth of Walter Murphy: Hot Shot Reissues Original "Beethoven" LP
Today, composer-bandleader Walter Murphy may be best-known for his work with comedy’s enfant terrible Seth MacFarlane. Murphy has lent his talents to projects including Family Guy, American Dad and Ted, and has been recognized with an Emmy Award and an Oscar nomination. Yet the first time most Americans heard of Walter Murphy was in 1976 - as a result of a composition written between 1804 and 1808! The Walter Murphy Band took Beethoven onto the dance floor with “A Fifth of Beethoven,” based on
Shaken, Not Stirred: Ace Mines "The Secret Agent Songbook" With "Come Spy with Us"
For many, the sound of John Barry epitomizes the sound of the spy thriller. It’s no surprise – with 12 James Bond films under his belt, the late, great British composer imbued his melodies with the right amount of adventure, humor, tension, sophistication, and well, sex. It’s fitting that Barry opens Ace Records’ superlatively entertaining new anthology Come Spy with Me: The Secret Agent Songbook, collecting 25 samples of swinging music from spies and secret agents (and even a handful of
Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing: Two CTI/Kudu Albums From Hank Crawford Reissued On One CD
Alto saxophonist and Ray Charles’ onetime musical director Hank Crawford had a keen ear for incorporating R&B influences into jazz, making him a perfect addition to Creed Taylor’s CTI roster. At CTI’s Kudu imprint, Taylor encouraged his jazz artists to court the mainstream while still staying true to their artistry and musicianship, and in the process, his label released some of the best fusion jazz with funk, soul and pop influences. Crawford’s third and fourth albums with Taylor, 1973’s
A Dream Goes On Forever: Vintage Todd Rundgren and Utopia Show Comes To CD
Todd Rundgren has been rather generous of late with his archive, treating fans to a number of live concert recordings on various labels including gigs from 2010 (Todd Rundgren's Johnson Live), 1990 (Live at the Warfield Theatre, San Francisco) and 1975 (Todd Rundgren's Utopia Live at Hammersmith Odeon). Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings label continues its Archive Series with the release of Todd Rundgren and Utopia's 2-CD set Live at the Electric Ballroom: Milwaukee, 23rd October 1978. As
Omnivore Succeeds with Reissue of The Posies' "Failure"
Last week Omnivore Recordings announced their latest title for the late summer: an expansion of the debut album by power-pop idols The Posies. The Washington-based group, built around singers/songwriters/guitarists Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow, earned immediate indie acclaim when first album Failure was released on the PopLlama label in 1988 after Scott McCaughey - leader of The Minus 5 and a constant collaborator with R.E.M. since the mid-1990s - was given a self-released copy of the album on
Review: Hank Williams, "The Garden Spot Programs 1950"
Hello everybody, Garden Spot is on the air/So just relax and listen in your easy rocking chair/Music for the family in the good old-fashioned way/I hope that we can please you, bring you sunshine every day! That bucolic, peppy introduction opened Naughton Farms' Garden Spot radio program, "the show that brings you all your favorite folk music singers." One such "folk music singer" in 1950 was Hank Williams. Omnivore Recordings' new The Garden Spot Programs, 1950 (OVCD-87, 2014) preserves 24
Soundtrack Watch: La-La Land Rebuilds "Empire," Gets Creepy and Kooky
Two heavy-hitters were announced for release from La-La Land Records this week, including a major expansion in the Spielberg-Williams canon worthy of the label's 300th release. First up, LLL has a single-disc expansion of Marc Shaiman's score to the 1991 hit comedy The Addams Family. Based on Charles Addams' iconic New Yorker cartoon strips, The Addams Family film features Gomez and Morticia (Raul Julia and Angelica Huston) and their brood welcoming the return of Gomez's long-lost brother Uncle
The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy Returns: Raven Collects David Allan Coe Albums
If “outlaw country” has a face, it’s likely that of David Allan Coe. Though many have been associated with the rabble-rousing, convention-defying, honky tonk-embracing genre, including Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard, Coe has been a perennial “bad boy” since bursting onto the music scene in the late 1960s fresh out of prison. In fact, many attribute the term “outlaw country” itself to Coe, who was a member of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club and certainly lived his life
Practically Perfect: Disney's Legacy Collection Announces Next Volume
In every job that must be done There is an element of fun You find the fun, and - SNAP! The job's a game! -Julie Andrews, "A Spoonful of Sugar," Mary Poppins (song written by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman) There's certainly an element of fun in catalog music, particularly catalog soundtracks, particularly the somehow oft-ignored discography of The Walt Disney Company. Disney's somewhat passive approach to a catalog initiative (tempered by their licensing deal with the Intrada
"Pin Ups" In Reverse: Ace Explores The Roots of Ziggy Stardust With "Bowie Heard Them Here First"
David Bowie did the unthinkable in this media-obsessed age when, on the date of his sixty-sixth birthday (January 8, 2013), he managed to catch the world off-guard to announce his first new album in a decade. Bowie and his cohorts had kept The Next Day a secret, proving that the iconoclastic artist could still do things his way. In six decades, from the 1960s through the present, David Bowie has kept his fans guessing what might come next. And while Bowie's sound is one of the most
The Entertainer: Marvin Hamlisch's "D.A.R.Y.L." Premieres on CD, Features Teddy Pendergrass and Nile Rodgers
It's appropriate that Marvin Hamlisch's only children's book was titled Marvin Makes Music, for making music was indeed what the man did - music for Broadway, music for television, music for the concert hall, music for the silver screen. In any genre, Marvin made music overflowing with melody, wit and heart, and his populist approach earned him the nickname "the people's composer." Hamlisch's film career began in 1968 with the score to the cult film The Swimmer and ended with his
Smile! Three Expanded Reissues Coming From The Jayhawks
Years after their early major label discography was expanded on CD by Legacy Recordings, the remainder of the alt-country band's output for the American Recordings label will be remastered and expanded by Universal this summer. The band's last three albums for American - Sound of Lies (1997), Smile (2000) and Rainy Day Music (2003) - caught the band in an interesting time of transition. Marc Olson, who with Gary Louris formed the band's primary singer/songwriter/guitarist unit, unexpectedly
Every Dog Must Have Its Day: Iconoclassic Remasters and Expands Three Dog Night's Debut LP
One may be the loneliest number, but it was also the luckiest number for Three Dog Night. The band – led by vocalists Danny Hutton, Cory Wells and Chuck Negron – took Harry Nilsson’s song “One” to the U.S. Top 5, beginning an impressive run that encompassed 21 consecutive Top 40 hits, 18 Top 20s, 11 Top 10s, three No. 1s, seven million-selling 45s and 12 Gold LPs. Yet today, Three Dog Night is often overlooked by the rock cognoscenti, largely because its members didn’t write their own
In Memoriam: Gerry Goffin (1939-2014)
When this old world starts getting me down, a sure way to cheer me up is to play a Gerry Goffin lyric. Songs like “I’m Into Something Good,” “Some Kind of Wonderful” and “The Loco-Motion” all are filled with youthful optimism and unfettered joy, qualities that Goffin could lyrically impart with abundant heart and craftsmanship. These songs can raise the spirits (and the pulse!) in the way that only the most transcendent music can. Goffin passed away today at the age of 75, but lived long
Steven Wilson Has "Passion" For Jethro Tull's "Play" With New Box Set
Jethro Tull continues its series of deluxe reissues with producer/engineer Steven Wilson on July 1 with the release of the (slightly belated) 40th anniversary edition of 1973’s A Passion Play. Following the reissues of Aqualung, Thick as a Brick and Benefit, the deluxe A Passion Play: An Extended Performance will include 2 CDs and 2 DVDs – containing new stereo and 5.1 surround mixes of the original album and previously unreleased material - along with an 80-page book. As with Thick as a
Mancini's Got Soul: Vocalion Revisits Composer's Latin, Jazz-Funk Albums
The Vocalion label continues to mine Henry Mancini’s RCA Victor catalogue for two new releases, each containing two of the late composer’s albums. The Big Latin Band of Henry Mancini/The Latin Sound of Henry Mancini brings together the recordings from 1968 and 1965, respectively; Symphonic Soul /The Cop Show Themes combines the LPs from 1976 and 1975, respectively. The Latin Sound of Henry Mancini arrived in 1965, the same year as Mancini’s score album on RCA for his frequent collaborator
The Beatles Go Mono Once More - on Vinyl
It sure has been quite a year for Beatlemaniacs looking to fill their shelves with catalogue wares from The Fab Four. Last winter saw the CD release of a second volume of BBC recordings (coinciding with a remaster of the first from 1994) and a
Early Albert Hammond, Sixto Rodriguez Songs Featured On The Family Dogg's "A Way of Life: Anthology"
Few pop songwriters have proven as adaptable as Albert Hammond. His string of hits dates from the 1960s straight through the 1990s, and his durable compositions continue to be recorded today. Yet one chapter of the Hammond legacy has never been properly anthologized until now: his tenure with the British pop group The Family Dogg. Cherry Red’s RPM label has just delivered A Way of Life: Anthology 1967-1976, named for the band’s U.K. Top 10 hit and including all of the band’s recordings on two
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