Tomorrow sees the release of a new compilation of tunes by the late, great Ray Charles, to commemorate his latest posthumous achievement: a stamp from the United States Postal Service.Ray Charles Forever is far from your typical hits-packed compilation; the biggest "hits" of note are Charles' takes on "America the Beautiful" and Leon Russell's "A Song for You," for which Ray won a Grammy for Best R&B Male Vocal Performance in 1993. The songs on display run the gamut of his entire discography
BBR Round-Up: "It's Happening" With Bebu Silvetti, Foxy, Vernon Burch
The masterminds at Big Break Records certainly like to keep fans of great soul music on their toes! In addition to the delicious soul-jazz hybrid Reality from Monk Montgomery, the label has recently unveiled another quartet of adventurous soul, dance and R&B reissues. Two of BBR’s latest hail from deep in the Salsoul Records vaults. 1977’s Spring Rain, credited to The Sensuous Sound of Silvetti, was the brainchild of Argentine pianist, composer, arranger and conductor Bebu Silvetti
Return to Creeque Alley: Sundazed Continues CD, LP Reissues for The Mamas and the Papas
The folks at Sundazed are going where they wanna go with two new reissues from the classic catalogue of The Mamas and the Papas. The label is following their mono edition of the group’s 1966 debut If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears with 1967’s self-titled sophomore album in mono and third album The Mamas and the Papas Deliver in stereo. Both The Mamas and the Papas and Deliver are slated for release on September 24 in both vinyl and CD formats. It would be difficult for any band to top a
Hangin' Out with Henry Mancini and Ferrante and Teicher: Intrada, Vocalion Revisit 1970s Gems
For fans of the legendary composer Henry Mancini, these really are the days of wine and roses. The soundtrack specialists at Intrada have just announced the CD release of Mancini's score to the 1974 adventure film The White Dawn for the very first time in a deluxe edition with bonus material. And the U.K.-based Vocalion label is looking to the same decade with the reissue of two of Mancini's never-before-on-CD RCA albums plus another pair from piano duo Arthur Ferrante and Lou
Review: Joanie Sommers, "Come Alive! The Complete Columbia Recordings"
On the opening track of Joanie Sommers' 1966 Columbia LP Come Alive!, the velvet-voiced singer seductively taunted, "You better love me while you may! Tomorrow I may fly away..." True, the Hugh Martin/Timothy Gray tune was originally sung by the late Elvira, a ghost haunting her husband in the musical High Spirits. But it could just as easily have applied to Sommers. Following a string of hit albums and singles for Warner Bros. Records, her home since 1960, the winsome "Pepsi Girl" and
He Left His Heart In Las Vegas: Tony Bennett's "Live at the Sahara: 1964" Arrives In October
When Tony Bennett took the stage at Las Vegas’ Sahara on April 8, 1964 he was riding high. Bennett was in the business of creating standards, after all. During that seminal year, he released three studio albums immortalizing such songs as “When Joanna Loved Me,” “The Rules of the Road,” and “Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me).” Columbia Records recorded Bennett’s show live from the Sahara’s Congo Room, but the recording sat on the shelf until 2011 when it was included in Bennett’s
Release Round-Up: Week of September 17
The Band, LIve at the Academy of Music: The Rock of Ages Concerts (Capitol/UMe) This five-disc box set (four CDs and a DVD) features selections from The Band's famed four-night run in New York in 1971. Though these shows would create the live Rock of Ages album, this box instead features highlights from the shows on two discs (including guest appearances by Bob Dylan), another two discs of the complete soundboard mix of the final concert on New Year's Eve 1971, and a DVD with 5.1 surround mixes
Ava Cherry Takes A Ride On A "Streetcar Named Desire"
“Black people don’t do new wave. She’s supposed to be doing soul,” Ava Cherry recollected of radio’s reaction to her 1982 Capitol Records single “Love to Be Touched.” Yet not only did Cherry – the former model, stalwart background vocalist and onetime muse to David Bowie - do new wave, but she did it with fervor and flair. With production from Bob Esty (Donna Summer’s “Last Dance,” Barbra Streisand’s “The Main Event”), Cherry’s sophomore solo album Streetcar Named Desire, produced by Bob
Lamb of God's "Palaces" Burn Brighter with New Anniversary Edition
If you're a fan of metal band Lamb of God, here's some good news about them that doesn't involve the legal system: their third album, As the Palaces Burn, is getting the deluxe treatment for its 10th anniversary this November. The Richmond, Virginia-based, thrash/groove metal-inspired quintet recorded two albums in 1999 and 2000 (the first under the name Burn the Priest) before engaging with audiences on the road for two years. At the end of their tour, they harnessed that burgeoning live
A Match Made In "Hell": Cherry Red Revisits Meat Loaf and Ellen Foley
Ain’t no doubt about it: Ellen Foley achieved classic rock immortality via her role on “Paradise by the Dashboard Light,” opposite Meat Loaf on his 1977 album Bat Out of Hell. Foley was the girl “glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife” in Jim Steinman’s rock opera in miniature, with Meat Loaf as the boy “praying for the end of time” and the end of their time together. All these years later, Foley and the former Marvin Lee Aday are together again - on CD shelves, at least, thanks to two
October Is The Most Wonderful Time of The Year With Real Gone Releases From Andy Williams, Bobby Darin, Patti Page, More
It's not too early to start making that Christmas list! Just ask Real Gone Music. On October 29, the label will release five deluxe holiday-themed collections from some of the most beloved vocalists of all time, in addition to two other titles reflecting the label's usual eclectic tastes. For those who need a little Christmas right this very minute, now's the time to peruse Real Gone's upcoming offerings. The crown jewel comes from Andy Williams, already announced as the subject of a 2013
Along Came Jones (And Robbins, Too): Morello Revives Classic Country from George and Marty
Cherry Red’s busy Morello Records imprint has continued its classic country revival with three recent releases – all available now - from some very legendary names: George Jones, Merle Haggard, Johnny Paycheck and Marty Robbins. George Jones was the first artist to be reissued on the Morello label, and just a few months ago, the two-fer of Jones Country (1983) and You’ve Still Got a Place in My Heart (1984) arrived. Morello’s exploration of Jones’ latter-day work has now brought the reissue on
Pure Serendipity: Now Sounds Uncovers Serendipity Singers' Psych-Pop Treasure
Here’s a prescription for convalescent hippies you oughta know... Webster’s defines serendipity as “the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for,” making it an apropos name for The Serendipity Singers. The group was formed in 1963 at the University of Colorado in the days when The New Christy Minstrels could sell one million copies of “Green, Green” and folk music was being happily served to the masses by clean-scrubbed young men and women with a spoonful of
Best of Their Love: Eagles LPs Boxed Up on Vinyl
Some seven months after packing up all of the Eagles' studio albums in one CD box set, Rhino's at it again, doing the same for those six albums on vinyl. The Studio Albums 1972-1979 collects all of the Asylum-era LPs - Eagles (1972), Desperado (1973), On the Border (1974), One of These Nights (1975), Hotel California (1976) and The Long Run (1979) - and replicates the original packaging almost entirely to the letter of the original releases. We say "almost" thanks to two upgrades made by Rhino
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah! The Beatles' "On Air: Live at the BBC Volume 2" Rocks November
The worst-kept secret of this fall's upcoming release schedule is finally out - and we're shouting, "Yeah, yeah, yeah!" After weeks of speculation, Capitol Records has finally confirmed the November 11 arrival of The Beatles' On Air - Live at the BBC Volume 2. Its 63 tracks - encompassing 40 musical performances (37 of which are previously unreleased) and 23 selections of on-air, in-studio repartee - were all recorded for the Fab Four's 1963-1964 BBC radio performances on shows such as Pop Go
Special Review: Glen Campbell and Jimmy Webb Conjure Old Ghosts On Two New Releases
Since 1967, it’s been difficult to think of Glen Campbell without thinking of Jimmy Webb – and vice versa. When the ace session guitarist interpreted the young songwriter’s “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” on the album of the same name, the result wasn’t just a Grammy-winning hit single, but the beginning of a partnership that’s survived through six decades. Campbell scored successes with a string of Webb’s songs in the late 1960s (“Wichita Lineman,” “Galveston,” “Where’s the Playground, Susie”),
In His "Reality": Philly Soul Meets Jazz On Monk Montgomery Reissue
UPDATE 9/10/13: Just yesterday, we published the following review of Monk Montgomery's 1974 album Reality, produced, arranged, and co-written by a true legend of soul music and architect of The Sound of Philadelphia, Mr. Bobby Martin. Today, word has arrived that Martin, 83, has passed away following a brief illness. A masterful orchestrator of horns and strings with a background steeped in jazz, Martin created music that was sweet and sophisticated, romantic and wrenching. and always
Kritzerland Requests The Pleasure of Your Company For Classic Newman Score
Film legend Alfred Newman – that’s “Brother” to Lionel and Emil Newman, “Uncle Al” to Randy Newman, and “Dad” to Thomas and David Newman! – has long had a home at the Kritzerland label. 2013 alone has seen Kritzerland release Newman’s scores to Leave Her to Heaven (paired with his Take Care of My Little Girl) and How Green Was My Valley, and now, those titles are being followed up by another CD premiere release which is now available for pre-order. Director George Seaton’s The Pleasure of His
Funky Town Grooves Stirs Up Chocolate Milk Reissues
The rich New Orleans soul of Chocolate Milk will be revisited by Funkytowngrooves in the fall. First gaining prominence as a backing band for Allen Toussaint in the 1970s, Chocolate Milk would release eight albums for RCA in the '70s (all of which were produced or co-produced by Toussaint) and '80s. They're now perhaps best known for the title cut to debut LP Action Speaks Louder Than Words (1975), which featured a breakbeat popular in hip-hop, namely Eric B. & Rakim's "Move the Crowd" in
Ellie Goulding Burns Up U.K. Charts with "Halcyon" Reissue
British dance-pop singer Ellie Goulding enjoyed her biggest worldwide success to date with the release of sophomore album Halcyon in 2012. Late last month, a heavily-expanded edition of the album was released with the hopes of taking that success even further. The 27-year-old Goulding earned national acclaim in England when she won the Critic's Choice BRIT Award and topped the BBC's Sound Of... poll in 2010 - just the second artist to achieve both, two years after Adele did so in 2008. Her
Out of the Shadow(s): Morton's Story Features Shangri-Las, Vanilla Fudge, New York Dolls
A scrappy street fighter with a knack for teenage melodrama, George “Shadow” Morton lived with a “self-invented mythology,” in the words of Jerry Leiber. But his work with The Shangri-Las, Janis Ian, The New York Dolls and many more solidified Morton’s place as a real-life “leader of the pack.” Ace’s new anthology Sophisticated Boom Boom: The Shadow Morton Story (CDTOP 1369) brings the songwriter and producer out of the shadow and into the (spot)light. In a 1968 Time Magazine blurb:, Morton
Legacy Plans Jimi Hendrix Bonanza With "Miami Pop Festival" and "Hear My Train A Comin'"
There continues to be plenty to experience from Jimi Hendrix. On August 20, Legacy Recordings and Experience Hendrix restored the original 2000 “purple box” to the catalogue in a new reissue adding four bonus tracks (B-side “The Stars That Play with Laughing Sam’s Dice,” “Peace in Mississippi” from the “Valleys of Neptune” CD single, and live versions of “Burning of the Midnight Lamp” and “Like a Rolling Stone”) to the original 4-CD configuration. On November 5, the ongoing Hendrix campaign
Buck 'Em! Omnivore Rides High With New Owens Anthology
Omnivore Recordings is saying, “Buck, yeah!” to the legacy of the late Mr. Owens. Though the Bakersfield, California country-and-western legend died in 2006, his autobiography will arrive on November 5 from Backbeat Books and Hal Leonard Books. Colorfully entitled Buck ‘Em!, it’s co-written with Randy Poe, author of Skydog: The Duane Allman Story. And Omnivore is at the ready with the perfect soundtrack. Buck ‘Em! The Music of Buck Owens (1955-1967) hits stores the very same day as the book,
Lonely Boy No More: Edsel Honors Andrew Gold with Complete Albums Set
If you've been looking for a simple way to acquaint yourself with the soft rock stylings of the late Andrew Gold, Edsel may have just the set for you: a triple-disc, bonus-laden compilation of Gold's four albums for Asylum Records. The singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist enjoyed his greatest successes as one of the pre-eminent smooth pop tunesmiths of the late '70s. "Lonely Boy" was a Top 10 hit in 1977, while follow-ups "Thank You for Being a Friend" and "Never Let Her Slip Away" enjoyed
Cowboy In Sweden, And Everywhere Else: LITA Boxes "Lee Hazlewood Industries"
If you’ve been following Light in the Attic’s ongoing Lee Hazlewood Archive Series, you’ve discovered a treasure trove of wild ‘n’ wooly music from the country-pop maverick. But the past releases in the series are proving to be delicious appetizers for the just-announced main course. On November 26, Light in the Attic will unveil There’s a Dream I’ve Been Saving: Lee Hazlewood Industries 1966-1971. This seven-years-in-the-making deluxe box set will be available as a 4-CD/1-DVD/1-flexidisc
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