When Frank Sinatra met Count Basie, it was far from a clash of the titans. No, the "historic musical first" that occurred between the grooves of Reprise 1008 in 1962 was more like a perfect union. Both were Jersey boys, with Basie's formative years spent south of Hoboken, in Red Bank, New Jersey. The men were unusually simpatico, similar in their enormous respect for musicians. Though Basie titled a 1959 album Chairman of the Board, the title was later bestowed upon Sinatra. When Basie put
It Moves Us All: "Lion King" Compilation Coming Soon
Walt Disney Records builds upon the excitement of the forthcoming Blu-Ray release (and 3-D theatrical reissue) of the studio's classic The Lion King by releasing a new compilation, available now, in honor of the timeless film. Anyone with a shred of doubt in The Walt Disney Company's ability to turn out great animated features after Disney's passing in 1966 had their fears allayed in 1989, with the release of The Little Mermaid, a high watermark of animated storytelling and musical scoring.
Review: Jimi Hendrix, "Winterland" and "Hendrix In The West"
"The story of life is quicker than the wink of an eye, the story of love is hello and goodbye...until we meet again." That poem, reportedly written by Jimi Hendrix some hours before his death, has added to the guitarist’s mystique over the years, but as usual, the restless musician was prescient. Although his entire recorded solo catalogue amounts to the work of a mere four-year period between 1966 and 1970, we’ve continued to say hello to Jimi Hendrix’s music many years after having said
Passions Just Like Mine: Smiths Mega-Box Arrives in U.S.
Ready your credit cards! Rhino has the super-exhaustive Smiths box set ready for order in the United States. As previously reported, the set is available in three distinct formats: a box set of the band's eight main albums on CD, remastered by Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr and Frank Arkwright; a box of those albums on 12 vinyl LPs and a mega-box - limited to 4,000 copies worldwide - featuring all the CDs and vinyl with 25 bonus 7" singles, art prints and The Complete Picture DVD. While it's not
Release Round-Up: Week of September 13
Jimi Hendrix, Winterland / Hendrix in the West / Blue Wild Angel: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival / The Dick Cavett Show (Experience Hendrix/Legacy) Another wave of Hendrix catalogue titles from Legacy, all of a live nature. The Winterland set captures The Jimi Hendrix Experience's legendary run at the venue of the same name over four discs (or one, if you're into the whole brevity thing), while In the West provides an expanded, slightly alternate presentation of the posthumous live LP. The
A Wizard, A True Star: Edsel Rolls Out Todd Rundgren Catalogue Overhaul
He's been called a wizard, a true star, even God. But by any name, Todd Rundgren is one of music's most enduring iconoclasts. Not merely content to rest on his early career laurels as a purveyor of top-tier AM pop ("Hello, It's Me," "I Saw the Light") the restless musician has followed his muse from one direction to another over 40+-years, taking in soul (of the Philadelphia and blue-eyed varieties), pop, prog rock, jazz, funk, arena rock, avant-garde experimentalism, a cappella, musical
Friday Feature: "Lost Horizon" (1973)
Have you ever dreamed of a place far away from it all? Where the air you breathe is soft and clean, and children play in fields of green? And the sound of guns doesn't pound in your ears anymore? Hal David's lyrics expressed a sentiment shared by many of the optimistic generation who hadn't yet felt their ideals vanquished by the reality of Vietnam and growing dissension under the White House of President Richard M. Nixon. David's words were captivatingly sung by folk artist Shawn Phillips,
Review: "Godspell: 40th Anniversary Celebration"
When Hair ushered in the Age of Aquarius on April 29, 1968, it heralded the arrival of the rock revolution on Broadway. The New York Times' influential critic Clive Barnes didn't mince his words, declaring that the musical was a "long-term joust against Broadway's world of Sigmund Romberg [the composer of such operettas as The Student Prince]" and more importantly, "the first Broadway musical in some time to have the authentic voice of today rather than the day before yesterday." And while the
He's Got Rhythm: Bill Wyman's Post-Rolling Stones Career Gets Boxed
When Bill Wyman took the stage on August 25, 1990 at London’s Wembley Stadium alongside his fellow Rolling Stones, few in the audience could have predicted that the evening would turn out to be Wyman’s final stand with the group he joined in 1962. That final night found Wyman truly going out on top; the Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle tour marked a return to touring for the group after a seven-year hiatus, and was among the most commercially successful concert tours ever. Word on Wyman’s decision
So Mystifyingly Glad: The Critters' Project 3 Recordings Are Coming From Now Sounds
As I type these words, I’m just a couple of miles away from the heart of Westfield, New Jersey, a bucolic suburb with a bustling and vibrant Main Street. Over the years, Westfield has boasted a number of illustrious residents, among them Charles Addams, Langston Hughes and Paul Robeson. But it should be no surprise to find that Westfield is also the birthplace of a beloved pop group. After all, New Jersey’s musical roots run deep, from Sinatra to Springsteen, the Four Seasons to Bon Jovi.
Listen to the Music of the Night: "Phantom" Box Coming to the U.K.
Two decades after The Beatles ushered in the first British Invasion, the Brits were back. This time, they had their sights set on Broadway, traditionally home to one of America’s great indigenous art forms, the musical. The British Invasion of the 1980s saw the work of American musical theatre legends like Stephen Sondheim, Jerry Herman, Cy Coleman and John Kander and Fred Ebb take a seeming back seat to lavish spectaculars imported from London, often with iconic logos and some kind of special
Review: John Barry, "The Black Hole: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack"
When John Barry won two 1967 Academy Awards for his work on Born Free, the trophies were a vindication. Over the initial objections of his director, Barry envisioned his score to reflect a "Disneyesque kind of movie, lovely family entertainment" and fought for the dramatic integrity of that sound. Twelve years later, Barry actually got his chance to score a Walt Disney Productions motion picture. One of many science-fiction epics produced in the wake of Star Wars, Disney's The Black Hole was
Listen To The Music: Doobie Brothers Catalogue Expanded In The U.K.
Are you ready to listen to the music? If you are, you're in for quite a treat. The U.K.'s Edsel label has just launched a series of expanded Doobie Brothers remasters, encompassing the band's first eight studio albums (1971-1978) as four 2-CD packages. Doobie Brothers/Toulouse Street and The Captain and Me/What Once Were Vices were just released this past Monday, while Stampede/Takin' It to the Streets and Livin' On The Fault Line/Minute by Minute follow on September 26. These eight albums
Review: Alberta Hunter, "Downhearted Blues"
Alberta Hunter may have sang the blues, but she was far from forlorn when she took the stage at New York’s Cookery, at 8th Street and University Place, in 1981 to record the gig captured on Downhearted Blues: Live at the Cookery. Newly remastered on both CD and 180-gram vinyl from Rockbeat Records (ROC-CD-3024, 2011), this 18-track live set captures the bawdy blues singer at the ripe age of 86 and just as vibrant than she was in the 1920s and 1930s recording for storied labels like OKeh,
Who's Next? "Quadrophenia" Gets The "Director's Cut" Treatment In November [UPDATED 8/31 WITH TRACK LIST]
UPDATE: The full press release with track list is now after the jump. Original post:After Tommy, there was Jimmy. He’s the protagonist of Pete Townshend’s rock opera Quadrophenia, first a 1973 2-LP studio album by The Who, then a 1979 film and most recently a 2009 musical. Never one for small ideas, Quadrophenia was Townshend’s way of working out the relationship between the band and its fans while telling the story of a prototypical Mod Who fan. The album yielded some of The Who’s most
Review: Charles "Packy" Axton, "Late Late Party: 1965-67"
Were there a Stax family portrait, label founders Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton would undoubtedly be surrounded by any number of the famed artists they shepherded to fame: Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Steve Cropper, Booker T. Jones, Donald “Duck” Dunn, Eddie Floyd and the Wicked Wilson Pickett, to name a few. And lurking somewhere near the corner of the frame, in the shadows, would be Charles “Packy” Axton, his saxophone in tow, looking for the nearest party. Though Axton is far from a household
BREAKING NEWS! Good, Good, Good Vibrations: The Beach Boys' "SMiLE" Arrives November 1
Surf's up. At long last, we can finally announce that SMiLE is coming to a shop near you. On November 1, Capitol Records will release The Beach Boys' 1967 lost masterwork as The SMiLE Sessions in three editions: a 5-CD/2-LP/2 7-inch single box (yes, 9 discs!), a slimmer 2-CD version and a 2-LP set. Where to start? First, I recommend digging that artwork at your left. Has it settled in that this set is becoming a reality? Good. Read on, friends. The saga of SMiLE, 2011, was becoming
Act Naturally: Buck Owens Is "Bound For Bakersfield"
Buck Owens and Bakersfield have always gone together, the singer and guitarist inextricably linked to his California home. Owens’ “Bakersfield Sound” was a carefully-developed response to the slick, string-laden productions frequently coming out of Nashville, and a return to real country roots in the late 1960s. RockBeat Records is building an eclectic line-up (including a new studio recording from a California legend of the pop/rock world, Jackie DeShannon) and has announced Bound for
Speaking of Monkees: Rhino Announces Very Limited "Head" Vinyl
A no-nonsense brief on this story, because the product may be gone by the time you read: Rhino's taking orders on a special vinyl repressing of Head for you Monkeemaniacs out there. It's not as involved as last year's box set, but this 180-gram clear vinyl pressing of the album will feature a bonus 7" single of two tracks from the Rhino Handmade deluxe edition, "Circle Sky (Live)" and "Can You Dig It (Mono Mix)." There's only 500 of them going to be made, though, so act fast! Here's the link,
Review: Original Cast, "Half-Past Wednesday"
Anyone have a little love for Rumpelstiltskin? The Brothers Grimm popularized the story of the mischievous imp in the early part of the 19th century, but he has never received the same kind of commercial fame as many of the Grimms’ other creations. No wonder, then, that Rumpelstiltskin was so ornery when he appeared as the villain of Shrek Forever After. And how many indignities did he survive as the titular character of a 1996 grade B horror film! Rumpelstiltskin has had a few moments in
Review: Patti Smith, "Outside Society"
The calling came early for Patti Smith. At twelve years of age, a family excursion to the Museum of Art in Philadelphia brought the young Smith in contact with Modigliani, Sargent and Picasso, the latter affecting her with his “brutal confidence.” It was with a similar confidence that Smith, not even in her teenage years, concluded that “to be an artist was to see what others could not.” Smith was steadfast in her determination to make her mark in the turbulent art world of New York in the
UPDATED 8/23: Ben Folds Unfolds Box Set Track List For "Retrospective"
Ben Folds' first proper album, 1995's Ben Folds Five, was named for his band. And although Alanis Morissette had her breakthrough hit that same year with "Ironic," I'll put money down that nobody was more ironic that year than Ben Folds. After all, there were only three members of this Ben Folds Five! The pianist/singer/songwriter wore his sensibilities on his sleeve, and that slightly skewed - and yes, ironic - worldview has served him well over the years. "Underground," off that first album,
Intrada, Disney Reach a "Hole" New World!
You know how it goes: When you wish upon a star…your dreams come true! Well, if that’s not always quite so cut-and-dried in the real world, it certainly happened over the past couple of days in the film score and catalogue music world! I’m recently returned from Anaheim, California and the second-ever D23 Expo, where thousands of fans and collectors descended on the Anaheim Convention Center to spend a weekend immersed in all things Disney. On Friday, I shared some of our personal wishes
Seger Reloads for September
Was it really that far back in April that we reported expanded, remastered editions of Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band's live classics, 'Live' Bullet and Nine Tonight, for a May release? For whatever reason, those discs never turned up when they were supposed to (at least one big box retailer near Second Disc HQ has a lonely endcap space for the Bullet reissue!) - but fear not, friends! They're on the way once again. We can thank our friends at Ultimate Classic Rock for reporting that the
Prepare Ye: "Godspell" Turns 40, Celebrates With Deluxe Album Reissues
Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Just as the musical gears up for its first-ever Broadway revival, Masterworks Broadway is giving the deluxe treatment to Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak's Godspell with a new 2-CD set to celebrate both the new revival and the show's 40th anniversary. Godspell and its score announced a major new talent in Stephen Schwartz, alumnus of Carnegie-Mellon University (the birthplace of his next musical, the legendary Pippin). With its varied and diverse
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