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
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
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
Big Break Big Round-Up, Divas Edition: Label Reissues Carolyn Franklin, Gloria Gaynor, Patti LaBelle
As the youngest daughter of The Reverend C.L. Franklin, Carolyn Franklin was destined to live in the shadow her older sister Aretha. But like eldest sister Erma, Carolyn carved out an impressive career of her own. During her too-short life, sadly curbed by cancer at age 43 in 1988, Carolyn recorded for both the independent Double L label and the major RCA Victor. In addition to serving as a background singer on such classics as "Respect" and contributing to its now-famous arrangement, she wrote
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
Ramble On! Review: The Led Zeppelin Remasters - "I," "II" and "III"
Led Zeppelin wasn’t built in a day. “Good Times Bad Times,” the first track off the hard rock combo’s first album, today sounds very much of its time and also unusually forward-thinking. The crunchy riff that introduces the track augured for the amped-up sound of metal to come, but the opening verse and chorus still have one foot in mod pop. Yet the sheer attack that marks Zeppelin’s best work was already there. Jimmy Page’s guitar cuts loose at about the minute-and-a-half point, John Bonham’s
He Wants YOU To Have His Baby: "Paternity" Premieres On CD, Plus Two By Leigh Harline
Kritzerland is back this month with a pair of new releases premiering three film scores on CD for the very first time! First up is the music from the 1981 Burt Reynolds comedy Paternity, composed by David Shire. No stranger to stage (Closer Than Ever, Big) or screen (Norma Rae, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three), Shire supplied director David Steinberg’s film (also starring Beverly D’Angelo, Paul Dooley, Norman Fell, Lauren Hutton and Elizabeth Ashley) with charming, light and romantic
Ain't That The Shames! Now Sounds Reissues, Expands The Cryan' Shames' Psych-Pop LP "A Scratch In The Sky"
Put “California Girls” in a blender with “Cherish” and you might well wind up with something like “A Carol for Lorelei,” the bright, harmony-drenched pop nugget that opens The Cryan’ Shames’ sophomore album, 1968’s A Scratch in the Sky. Though the Chicago band recorded the LP in New York City, the good vibrations of the Summer of Love were clearly in the air back east for the Columbia Records artists. Whereas the band’s debut album Sugar and Spice was a blast of energetic rock and roll by way of
Still Here: Elaine Paige Celebrates Career On New "Ultimate Collection" With Previously Unreleased Songs and Rare Singles
Though her appearances on the Broadway stage have been rare, Elaine Paige remains one of the reigning first ladies of musical theatre around the world. Paige has been a fixture in London's West End since her debut there in the 1968 production of Hair, rising to fame as the first actress to portray Eva Peron onstage in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Evita in 1978. Paige went on to introduce the role of Grizabella and the song "Memory" in Cats, and subsequently starred in such musicals as
From Brazil to Ireland, Él Releases Grab-Bag of Jazz, Vocals, Soundtracks and Bossa Nova
Fans of vintage jazz can thank Cherry Red's él label for a number of recent reissues from such artists as Cal Tjader, Dave Lambert and Jon Hendricks, Herbie Mann and Antonio Carlos Jobim. In a Latin Bag and Saturday Night/Sunday Night at the Blackhawk combines two albums on one CD from Latin jazz pioneer Cal Tjader. The vibraphonist/percussionist recorded these long out-of-print albums in 1961 and 1962, respectively, at Verve under the aegis of future CTI chief Creed Taylor. By the time he
Do It Again: JSP's "The Garland Variations" Box Set Collects Multiple Recordings of Judy Garland Songs
Like so many of the great vocalists of her day, Judy Garland frequently revisited repertoire over the years. An arrangement might vary, in great or small ways, and so, of course, would the interpretation. Garland’s unparalleled interpretive gifts, apt for wringing as much authentic emotion out of a song as possible, are front and center on the latest box set of the late artist’s recordings from JSP Records. The Garland Variations – Songs She Recorded More Than Once is a new 5-CD collection, set
BBR Embarks On An Odyssey With "Native New Yorker" Group and The Hues Corporation
Cherry Red’s Big Break Records imprint has rocked the boat with a batch of recent reissues from the RCA vaults – one seminal title from The Hues Corporation and a trio from “Native New Yorker” group Odyssey. When “Rock the Boat” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1974, it wasn’t exactly new. It had first appeared almost a year earlier on the August 1973 release of Freedom for the Stallion, The Hues Corporation’s debut album for RCA. “One lovely lady” and “two bright young men” is
Nils Lofgren "Faces the Music" with Massive, Career-Spanning 10-Disc Box Set
This Thursday evening, Nils Lofgren joins the esteemed ranks of Rock and Roll Hall of Famers when he’s inducted into the institution as a member of The E Street Band. But Lofgren’s work as one of Bruce Springsteen’s resident axemen is only one facet of his exhilarating 45-year career in music. On May 27, 2014, Fantasy Records will deliver the ultimate celebration of Lofgren’s creativity and longevity with Face the Music. This definitive 9-CD/1-DVD box set contains 169 tracks drawn from Lofgren’s
Release Round-Up: Week of March 18
Elvis Presley, Recorded Live on Stage in Memphis: Legacy Edition The King's 1974 live gig in his home turf is remastered and paired with a show in Richmond, Virginia from two days before and a handful of RCA studio rehearsals in Hollywood. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Belinda Carlisle, The Anthology / The Collection (Edsel/Demon) Edsel did a great job of expanding Belinda's solo catalogue last year; now, they've prepped a CD/DVD hits set and 3CD/2DVD box for the fans, with singles, rarities,
Brotherhood's "Complete Recordings" Show Another Side of Former Paul Revere and the Raiders Members
Rock's back pages are littered with "creative differences." Such differences split Paul Revere and the Raiders into two warring factions - Paul Revere and Mark Lindsay on one side; Phil "Fang" Volk, Mike "Smitty" Smith and Drake "The Kid" Levin on the other. The Volk-Smith-Levin triumvirate bristled at the more pop direction that the onetime garage band had been taking, and were none too pleased with the studio musicians being enlisted to beef up the Raiders' recordings. In early 1967, the
Hot Shots: Big Break Relights Dan Hartman's "Fire," Expands Sheryl Lee Ralph's Solo Debut
Talk about fusion! For "Hands Down," the opening cut of his 1979 album Relight My Fire, Dan Hartman enlisted rock and roll great Edgar Winter to weave his alto saxophone licks throughout the Latin-flavored disco track, and Stevie Wonder to provide his instantly recognizable harmonica. Hartman wasn't just a dilettante, but a regular musical renaissance man. A veteran of the Johnny Winter Band and the Edgar Winter Group, he wrote the latter's smash hit "Free Ride," and successfully completed
You're Gonna Hear From Her: Dory Previn's Debut Album Reissued on CD
When songwriter Dory Previn died in 2012, The Los Angeles Times noted one of the contradictions inherent in her life and art: “Although she was an Oscar-nominated songwriter, Dory Previn was better known for ballads that spoke to wounded souls.” Truth to tell, even her early film music was often believably personal, intense, and filled with emotion. It’s no wonder that vocalists including Judy Garland, Dionne Warwick, Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Bobby Darin, Barbra Streisand, Matt Monro,
Billy Paul Is "Feelin' Good" On BBR Reissue Of His First Studio Album
Big Break Records and Billy Paul - they've got a thing going on. The label, an imprint of the Cherry Red Group, has just returned to the soul titan's catalogue for the sixth time - and with this release has gone back to the very beginning. BBR's previous reissues from the "Me and Mrs. Jones" singer have explored his Philadelphia International discography as well as his Neptune release Ebony Woman and a post-PIR album for Total Experience Records. Now, the label has turned its attention to
Feats Won't Fail You Now on New Rhino Box Set
Rhino is giving the complete albums treatment to another classic rock artist on the Warner Bros. label: the eclectic combo Little Feat. Rad Gumbo: The Complete Warner Bros. Years 1971-1990 will feature all 11 studio and live albums the band cut for the label, as well as two additional bonus discs of rare material. Formed by ex-Mothers of Invention guitarist Lowell George, Little Feat first rose to prominence for their killer rock-blues style, particularly both versions of the song "Willin'"
SoulMusic Goes "Loco" with Expanded Reissues From Dee Dee Warwick, The Four Tops
Dee Dee Warwick signed with Mercury Records’ Blue Rock imprint in 1964, the same year her sister Dionne solidified her place in the upper reaches of the charts with songs like “Walk on By,” “Reach Out for Me” and “You’ll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart).” Though Dee Dee never saw the same kind of commercial success as Dionne, she carved out a unique vocal identity with her dark, bluesy and intense tone. At Mercury, Dee Dee recorded two albums and a number of singles. In 2012, Soul
Here Where There Is Love: Edsel Repackages Sixteen Dionne Warwick Albums In Four Sets
Following last year’s series of 23 expanded reissues of Dionne Warwick’s Scepter and Warner Bros. catalogue from WEA Japan, the U.K.’s Edsel label is revisiting 16 of those very albums on four new, multi-CD sets. Each one of Edsel’s sets will contain four original stereo albums in chronological sequence, with two of the new titles adding singles and retaining bonus tracks originally introduced on Rhino Handmade’s expanded reissues. The titles, due in stores on January 13, are as
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Woody Guthrie, "American Radical Patriot"
The title of Rounder Records’ new box set describes its subject, Woody Guthrie (1912-1967), as an American Radical Patriot. Especially in today’s politically-polarized times, some might find those words a contradiction in terms. But in the late folk troubadour’s world, very little was black-and-white. It’s that world which is explored in such depth in this lavish new collection, a limited edition of 5,000 units. American Radical Patriot (Rounder 11661-9138-2) not only proves why Guthrie
Holiday Gift Guide Review: A Real Gone Christmas With Andy Williams, Patti Page and The New Christy Minstrels
When Andy Williams passed away on September 25, 2012 at the age of 84, the loss was keenly felt by anyone who had ever played the “red album” and the “green album” during the holiday season. The Andy Williams Christmas Album (1963) and Merry Christmas (1965) were the best-selling Columbia LPs that led Williams to embody the title of “Mr. Christmas.” His rich, warm and resonant tenor was ideally suited to holiday music of both the secular and spiritual traditions, and his association with the
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