The sound is familiar but different. The harmony is spellbinding if a bit woozy. You've only given me a flower/I wish I had the whole bouquet... The track, led by acoustic guitar and gently funky percussion, is spare and raw. If I should ask you for an hour/Is there a chance that you would stay/And maybe spend the day? The falsetto is recognizable but eerily haunting. The song is "You're A Song (That I Can't Sing)" performed by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons for the album Chameleon, the
UPDATED 6/13: Mobile Fidelity Delivers The Band's "Stage Fright" On SACD
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab continues its ongoing series of stereo hybrid SACD reissues of The Band's storied catalogue with the release of the group's third album, Stage Fright. Recorded in Woodstock in 1970, Stage Fright marked a departure for the group in a number of ways. Produced by The Band and engineered by the up-and-coming Todd Rundgren, there were more confessional, personal songs than on The Band or Music from Big Pink, and the harmony vocals were much less prominent. Was The Band -
"O Brother!" Burnett's Expanded Soundtrack Album Due In August
2000’s O Brother, Where Art Thou? was far from a commercial sure bet. Joel and Ethan Coen’s film reset Homer’s Odyssey to 1937 Mississippi, set to a score of period folk music. Yet it defied the odds, garnering critical praise, Oscar nominations for its screenplay and cinematography, and perhaps most surprisingly, the biggest-selling soundtrack of the last decade. Universal has just announced that a 2-CD expansion of the original soundtrack will be released on August 16 including 13 songs
Friday Feature: Indiana Jones
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZOcoxjeUYo] This Sunday, June 12, marks the 30th anniversary of one of the best films of all time: Raiders of the Lost Ark. For three decades, Harrison Ford's iconic, fedora-clad hero, Indiana Jones, has become a touchstone of film heroism for the whole world. The brilliant visionaries who created Jones, producer/directors George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, reinvented blockbuster cinema on their own time; together, they created what may be the perfect
Ipanema, Again: "Getz/Gilberto" Restored To Original Mix For New SACD and Vinyl LP
Bossa nova, translated, literally means "new trend." And as 1964 began, with the British Invasion taking flight, America was also experiencing a Brazilian Invasion thanks to this new trend in popular music and jazz. Identified by gentle acoustic guitar and sometimes piano, and often adorned with subtle string or horn accents, bossa nova was based on the rhythms of the samba. It soon was adapted on stages from the concert hall to Broadway, spawned the "lounge" genre and influenced countless
Judas Priest Prep Singles Box
Judas Priest may be heading toward the finish line, at least as live performances go, with their current Epitaph World Tour (though sadly without founding guitarist K.K. Downing, who elected to retire a bit early), but they still have plenty of irons in the fire - including a neat catalogue set for hardcore collectors. The band announced the impending release of Single Cuts: The Complete U.K. Singles Collection, a 20-disc set replicating every one of the band's British singles, right down to
Tony Bennett's Improv Years Revisited By Concord For Crooner's 85th Birthday
In 1975, Tony Bennett was without a record label and at a crossroads. He had turned down numerous entreaties to return to Columbia Records, the label that launched him to stardom in 1950 but refused to give him the creative freedom he deserved. (See our special feature on Tony Sings the Great Hits of Today for more on that!) He had finished a two-album tenure at MGM Records and felt the time was right to strike out on his own. And so Improv Records was born. And although the label only
Review: Frank Sinatra, "Ring-a-Ding Ding!: Expanded Edition"
Ring-a-ding ding! It can be used as an adjective or an interjection. But when Frank Sinatra chose the expression to title his very first album for his very own label, it was simply an ecstatic expression of pure joy. Sinatra was no longer tethered to Capitol Records, the label at which he'd made history with a series of "concept" albums. He had the freedom to make some new history, his way, when he launched Reprise. And Ring-a-Ding Ding!, now reissued and remastered for its 50th anniversary
Release Round-Up: Week of June 7
Marvin Gaye, What's Going On: 40th Anniversary Edition (Motown/UMe) Two CDs feature the original album and a host of rarities, single mixes, and all the best outtakes leading up to the making of this R&B classic (almost a dozen of which are unreleased). The deluxe package is rounded out by the great Detroit mix of the album on vinyl. (Check out our interview with Harry Weinger on the set!) (Amazon) Paul Simon, Paul Simon / There Goes Rhymin' Simon / In Concert: Live Rhymin' / Still Crazy
Les Baxter's "Marco Polo" Follows "Black Sunday" and "House of Usher" To CD Release
Rory Calhoun as Marco Polo? The California-born star of films like How to Marry a Millionaire and camp cult classic Motel Hell was cast in the title role of 1962's freewheeling Italian historical epic (shot in CinemaScope, no less!) Marco Polo. When the film was picked up for release in America, it was courtesy the wild ones at American-International Pictures! This Marco Polo was directed by Hugo Fregonese and featured a multi-cultural cast with Calhoun playing opposite Yoko Tani. And like
UPDATED 6/6: Some Trouble in Meat Loaf's "Neighbourhood" As Error Found On Deluxe Edition Disc
Whether quarreling with Gary Busey on The Celebrity Apprentice or taking the stage beneath a giant bat, Meat Loaf has never done anything in a small way. So it’s not surprising that EMI’s just-announced 2-CD/1-DVD deluxe reissue of 1995’s Welcome to the Neighborhood looks to be a weighty package! It’s due in the U.K. on June 6, and the original 12-track line-up has been augmented with some choice bonus material. Four bonus tracks have been added to the original album on Disc 1, plus another
Another British Invasion From RPM: Ian and the Zodiacs, Katch-22 Reissued
The RPM arm of the U.K.'s mighty Cherry Red empire has had a busy 2011, recently highlighted by the first-ever collection of the young Dusty Springfield's recordings with The Lana Sisters. The label's latest titles shed light on two largely-overlooked bands to come out of England in the 1960s, Ian and the Zodiacs and Katch 22. The Best of Ian and the Zodiacs: Wade in the Water and Major Catastrophe: The Katch 22 Story are both in stores now, and have much to offer fans of Merseybeat, mod,
Review: "The Belle of New York: Original Soundtrack Recording"
Film Score Monthly has established a top-notch reputation for restoration, but the label can carve a notch on its belt for resuscitation, too. With the release of the Original Soundtrack Recording of The Belle of New York, FSM has resuscitated the line of expanded MGM musical soundtracks, once the province of Turner Classic Movies Music and Rhino, later Rhino Handmade. Under the aegis of George Feltenstein, the Rhino/Turner affiliation produced definitive editions of classic musical
"House of Rufus" Has Lots of Furnishings
Just in case you were waiting on a track list to buy Rufus Wainwright's mega-box House of Rufus, the wait is over. The 19-disc box set, which encompasses all the albums and DVDs the baroque-pop tunesmith has released in his career, is packed with some intriguing extras, too. Many of the CDs are augmented with some sort of bonus tracks, either extra songs that were released as retail exclusives, old or new live performances and outtake material. And there are another four discs of rarities as
"Masada"! Intrada! Another Soundtrack Holy Grail Comes to CD
One word describes a television movie event that harkened back to epics like Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandments. That same word is the title of a soundtrack from one of film's great musical legends that's become one of the most-desired archival releases. And now, the wait is over: Intrada Records today announced the release of the complete original score to Masada (1981). Masada was based on the siege of the titular Jewish citadel in Israel in A.D. 73. The defenders of the citadel held bravely
Release Round-Up: Week of May 31
Ozzy Osbourne, Blizzard of Ozz / Diary of a Madman: Legacy Edition (Epic/Legacy) The Prince of Darkness' first two LPs, finally put back into print with the original drum and bass tracks and expanded with bonus material (including a previously unreleased live disc for Diary). A box set packs all the CDs in with vinyl, a commemorative book and the new documentary Thirty Years After the Blizzard. (Official site) Twisted Sister, Under the Blade: Deluxe Edition (Eagle) Another welcome hard-rock
Review: Rosanne Cash, "The Essential Rosanne Cash"
It should come as no surprise to fans of Rosanne Cash that she believes “at the heart of all country music lies family, lies a devotion to exploring the boundaries of blood ties, both in performance and songwriting.” In her revealing 2010 memoir Composed, Cash acutely puts her finger on the qualities missing from modern country, finding it lacking in “desperate loss” with even the stories of family fading from sight. Where are the stories of grievous loss, dead babies, even dead dogs that
Carly Simon Goes For The Gold: "No Secrets" Coming In 24K
Only yesterday, we shared the speculation of our good buddies at MusicTAP that big things might be in store for the catalogue of Carly Simon. Well, we've got a start, just one day later! On June 21, Audio Fidelity will drop a remastered, limited 24K Gold edition of the songstress' third - and some say, best - album, No Secrets. 1971's Carly Simon announced a major new talent, offerings songs like the epic and hauntingly personal "That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be," the folk-rock
Cherry Red Has Ace in Their Hand
Some time ago, we reported on Cherry Red's new reissue of an Ace compilation and subsequent intention to reissue all of the band's back catalogue later in the year. Now, the U.K. reissue label has revealed their titles for June, and all three Ace LPs are slated for release this summer, each greatly expanded with bonus material. The Sheffield pub-rockers - best known, of course, for the U.S. Top 5 hit "How Long" and the kickstarting of vocalist Paul Carrack's career (he'd later join Roxy Music,
Review: Chicago, "Live in '75"
When they took the stage at Largo, Maryland’s Capital Centre in June, 1975, nostalgia was foremost on the minds of the members of Chicago. Early in the set so immaculately preserved by Rhino on the new Live in ’75 (Rhino Handmade RHM2 526436, 2011), comments are made from the stage with a great deal of surprise: “[Here’s] another blast from the past!” “Nostalgia is in nowadays.” “We would like to be nostalgic.” Would the Robert Lamm, Walter Parazaider, Lee Loughnane and James Pankow of 1975
Greater Hits, Volume II: Three Times the Bob
Our first installment of Greater Hits was a rousing success, and the big musical celebration of the day prompts our next installment of the series. Bob Dylan, 70 years old today, has been rhapsodized about all over the Internet. Rolling Stone made him the focus of their newest issue, while other publications have counted down the Bard's best work (I'm of course partial to Popdose's write-up). And PopMarket, Sony's beloved clearinghouse for box set deals, is offering the three-disc Dylan set from
Byrds, Cooke, Corea, Getz “Complete Album Collections” Coming from Legacy
This morning, Sony’s Legacy division kicked off a new catalogue initiative that’s sure to raise a few eyebrows! The Complete Album Collection box sets bring together an artist’s entire tenure at a label (in these cases, Columbia and RCA Victor) in one tidy box set, with albums in individual mini-LP sleeves. The first four artists to receive this treatment are The Byrds, Sam Cooke, Stan Getz and Return to Forever, and the boxes are available for pre-order now exclusively through PopMarket.
Reissue Theory: Bob Dylan, "New Morning: Legacy Edition" Including "Dylan (1973)"
Happy Birthday, Bob! Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we focus on notable albums and the reissues they could someday see. To celebrate Mr. Dylan's 70th birthday, we're taking a look at one acclaimed LP and the controversial collection drawn from its outtakes. Can these albums be reissued and expanded in the proper context? One answer follows! Greil Marcus famously asked, "What is this shit?" in his review of Bob Dylan's 1970 Self-Portrait. Dylan's tenth album for
Make Me Wanna Holler: A Chat with Harry Weinger on "What's Going On" (Part 2)
The wait is over. We continue our discussion of Marvin Gaye's classic What's Going On, to be released as a super-deluxe edition on June 7, with reissue producer Harry Weinger. In this portion of the discussion, Weinger touches on the always-hot topic of remastering the source material, a thought on super-deluxe box sets, and future projects to honor both Gaye's legacy and other Motown greats. Read on after the jump!
Wouldn't It Be Nice? "Pet Sounds" Coming to SACD
“I figure no one is educated musically ‘til they’ve heard [Pet Sounds],” Paul McCartney once said of The Beach Boys’ classic, released 45 years and one week ago on May 16, 1966. George Martin concurred: “Without Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper wouldn’t have happened.” Brian Wilson poured his musical heart into the album’s thirteen tracks; in less than thirty-five minutes, he delivered an entire spectrum of emotions in a song cycle of striking beauty and sensitivity. Pet Sounds may initially have been
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