When Muhammad Ali died on June 3, 2016 at the age of 74, his immortality had already been long guaranteed. President Barack Obama summed up the feelings of many when he proclaimed, "Muhammad Ali was America. He will always be America. What a man. What a spirit. What a joyous, mighty champion." It was no accident that history's only three-time lineal heavyweight champion, the man born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., was nicknamed "The Greatest." That moniker also was used for the title of the
WIN! WIN! WIN! Muhammad Ali's "The Greatest" Featuring George Benson, Michael Masser
When Muhammad Ali died on June 3, 2016 at the age of 74, his immortality had already been long guaranteed. President Barack Obama summed up the feelings of many when he proclaimed, "Muhammad Ali was America. He will always be America. What a man. What a spirit. What a joyous, mighty champion." It was no accident that history's only three-time lineal heavyweight champion, the man born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., was nicknamed "The Greatest." That moniker also was used for the title of the
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Margaret Whiting, "Dream: The Lost Recordings"
Margaret Whiting was a singer's singer. Possessed of a clarion vocal instrument capable of both great exultation and deep longing, a performance by Whiting guaranteed a path to the heart of a song. It's no wonder that Johnny Mercer, a songwriter of no small stature, made sure that the 18-year old songbird was one of the first artists signed to his fledgling Capitol Records label. Mercer had known Whiting since her childhood as the daughter of his collaborator, composer Richard Whiting, and
A Groovy Kind of Love: Ace Collects Classical-Inspired Pop Songs on "Classical Gassers"
Classical music has long been a source of inspiration for pop. Just ask Barry Manilow ("Could It Be Magic"), Eric Carmen ("All By Myself," "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again"), Billy Joel ("This Night"), or Walter Murphy ("A Fifth of Beethoven"). Ace Records has recently collected 24 of these classical "crossovers" on the aptly-titled Classical Gassers: Pop Gems Inspired by the Great Composers. These tracks date between 1960 and 1971 and feature such hitmaking artists as Lesley Gore, Jay and the
Release Round-Up: Week of November 18
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up - the last of the major release weeks for 2016! The Beatles, Eight Days a Week (DVD or BD) (Apple/Capitol) 2-Disc Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2-Disc DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Standard Edition Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Standard Edition DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Ron Howard's acclaimed 2016 documentary chronicling Beatlemania, Eight Days a Week, hits DVD
Review: "Unsung Sherman Brothers: Song Scores from Three That Got Away"
How often does one get the opportunity to hear a never-before-released score from one of the most beloved songwriting teams of all time? How about three unreleased scores, then? And what if one of those scores featured seven never-before-heard performances from Sammy Davis, Jr.? Indeed, such opportunities are rare...making Kritzerland's new release of Unsung Sherman Brothers all the more special. This delectable and tuneful collection premieres rare demo recordings of three unproduced scores
Ace Collects Classic Beatles Covers On "Let It Be: Black America Sings Lennon, McCartney and Harrison"
If there was ever any doubt as to the versatility, adaptability and endurance of the songs of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison, it would certainly be dispelled by Ace’s new release of Let It Be: Black America Sings Lennon, McCartney and Harrison. The latest volume in the label’s Black America Sings series (also encompassing volumes dedicated to Sam Cooke, Bob Dylan, Otis Redding, and the team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David) and the second dedicated to the music of The Beatles,
One Way Ticket: BBR Reissues Disco Hits From Coffee, Eruption
Big Break Records has dug into the vaults of De-Lite Records for a heady brew. The 1980 album Slippin' and Dippin' from the trio known as Coffee ("hot, black and sweet," per group founder Elaine Sims!) has newly arrived on CD in an expanded edition boasting five bonus tracks. Elaine Sims, Gwen Hester and Dee Dee Bryant got their start on the streets of Chicago. Though they initially comprised a line-up of the quartet Portraits of Black, the departure of Portraits member Betty Caldwell left
Review: David Bowie, "Who Can I Be Now? 1974-1976"
Who Can I Be Now? asks the title of Parlophone's second in a series of elegant, chronologically-assembled box sets dedicated to the late David Bowie's oeuvre. Indeed, Bowie might have made that query as he reinvented himself in fashion and music from album to album. The twelve discs comprising Who Can I Be Now? span the brief period of 1974-1976 during which time Bowie was riding high on both sides of the Atlantic with his genre- and gender-bending brand of theatrical rock. This set, every
A Swingin' Safari: El Reissues Classics From James Last, Bert Kaempfert, Bernard Herrmann
Cherry Red's El imprint has recently turned its attention to a trio of disparate composer-conductors. Happy Sounds Forever reissues the 1963 album from James Last, the king of "happy music," and adds selections from the catalogue of Bert Kaempfert ("Strangers in the Night") to round out the disc. On the other end of the spectrum, the label also has The Fantasy Film World of Bernard Herrmann, a collection dedicated to film score maestro and Alfred Hitchcock's most notable musical
Ramseur Reissues Josh White's Elektra Classic "Josh At Midnight" On Vinyl
Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman once said of Josh White, "Josh was his own man in a time before it became fashionable." Indeed, White (1914-1969) had a remarkable career. He recorded blues, gospel and folk on so-called "race records" in the 1920s and 1930s before moving on to headline at New York's Café Society, and appearing on radio, in motion pictures and in four Broadway productions. He played stages around the world, singing before royalty. Yet the career of the pioneering
Review: The Turtles, "Complete Original Album Collection" and "All the Singles"
Prepare to be shell-shocked! Manifesto Records and FloEdCo have, at long last, given fans of The Turtles deluxe sets befitting the band's happy (and happily subversive!) musical legacy. The 6-CD Complete Original Album Collection and 2-CD All the Singles round up, in truly definitive fashion, the original band's recordings between 1965 and 1970 as first released on White Whale Records. Though The Turtles have long been recognized as top-flight purveyors of classic 45s, a journey through their
You Keep Me Swinging: Parlophone Collects Matt Monro's "The George Martin Years"
Earlier this year, George Martin passed away at the age of 90. Among the great producer's most lasting associations was with vocalist Matt Monro. Martin and Monro's professional partnership endured for more than fifteen years, while their friendship survived until the singer's untimely death in 1985 at just 54 years old. Now, the joint Martin/Monro legacy has been celebrated on a wonderful new anthology. Matt Monro's The George Martin Years is available now from Rhino and Parlophone U.K.,
It's All Happening: "Charlie Faye and The Fayettes" Captures The Girl Group Sound
Summer is at last here, and leave it to New York native and Austin music mainstay Charlie Faye to have provided us with one of the first must-have, window-down soundtracks for the season! In shaping Charlie Faye and The Fayettes, her tribute to the girl-group sound, the singer-songwriter has clearly done her homework. This brisk and breezily enjoyable listen places Faye's voice up front over sweet, honeyed group harmonies on eleven, new hook-filled tunes. Faye wrote or co-wrote every
Cash, Robbins, Jones, Arnold Feature On Ace's "More Country Hits"
Ace Records has recently continued its Golden Age of American Popular Music Series with another volume dedicated to the sounds of country-and-western. More Country Hits follows The Country Hits, released in 2008, and like that volume, presents a collection of country classics that crossed over to the pop side on the Billboard Hot 100. Many familiar names from the first collection show up here, too, including Johnny Horton, Johnny Cash, Faron Young, Ray Price, George Jones, Skeeter Davis, Marty
Got Rhythm: The Happenings, Mitch Ryder Collected By Varese Vintage
The classic, exhilarating sound of AM radio is alive and well with a pair of new releases from Varese Vintage that emphasize the "golden" in golden oldies! Last week, the label offered The Very Best of The Happenings from the New Jersey pop vocal quartet, and this Friday, Varese releases All-Time Greatest Hits from the Motor City's own Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels! Bob Miranda, Ralph DiVito, Tom Giuliano and Harry Arthur came together in northern New Jersey one night in 1961, united
Just For a Thrill: Edsel Offers Third Box Set From Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings
Edsel has continued its series of mini-box sets dedicated to Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings with a recently-released third volume. The Kings of Rhythm Volume 3: Tell You a Secret collects four albums originally issued between 2003 and 2011 by the legendary Rolling Stones bassist's rhythm-and-blues-rock big band. This new box follows previous releases in the label's Bill Wyman's Recording Archive series including White Lightnin': The Solo Box and The Complete Willie and the Poor Boys. The first
Review: The Kinks, "Everybody's in Show-Biz: Legacy Edition"
When Kinks bio-musical Sunny Afternoon took home the 2015 Olivier Award for Best Musical, it must surely have been a sweet moment for composer-lyricist and band frontman Ray Davies, whose concept albums and rock operas have long bore the hallmarks of strong theatrical storytelling. (He's also written a handful of musicals over the years.) By the time of 1972's Everybody's In Show-Biz, Davies was already pushing the envelope of his quintessentially British sound, incorporating rootsy American
What'cha Gonna Do: Big Break Reissues Chaka Khan, Brenda Russell, Stargard
Big Break Records has unveiled its an exciting slate of releases from The Emotions, Kool and the Gang, Gloria Gaynor, and more! But first we'd like to turn our attention to a trio of recent releases from the Cherry Red imprint that you might have missed! First up, BBR has an expanded edition of the third solo album from the one and only Chaka Khan. What'cha Gonna Do for Me was named for the infectious title song (an R&B No. 1 hit) co-written by Ned Doheny, the underrated
You Go To My Head: Resonance Uncovers Bill Evans' Lost Album
The title of Resonance Records' new archival release from Bill Evans, Some Other Time: The Lost Session from The Black Forest, has proven to be incredibly apt. The source of this new album is a never-before-released studio session held in 1968 for Germany's MPS Records - the only studio session recorded by the then-Bill Evans Trio featuring bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Jack DeJohnette. The discovery of a "new" Evans studio album would be cause for celebration enough; when one takes into
In Memoriam: Billy Paul (1934-2016)
Farewell to another remarkable voice. Philly soul and R&B legend Billy Paul has passed away at the age of 81, leaving behind a decades-long legacy of rich, passionate and sublimely soulful music. Big Break Records has been one of the stewards of Billy's musical history on CD; below, we've reprinted our review of 2014's reissue of Feelin' Good at the Cadillac Club in this great artist's memory. Big Break Records and Billy Paul - they've got a thing going on. The label, an imprint
Love T.K.O.: Big Break Reissues Two From Teddy Pendergrass
Big Break Records has recently reissued two albums from the late, great Teddy Pendergrass in remastered and expanded editions. 1980's TP, originally released on Philadelphia International Records, welcomed the smoldering soul man into the 1980s and premiered one of his most beloved recordings, "Love TKO." Eight years later, having survived a life-threatening accident, Pendergrass solidified his comeback with the Elektra LP Joy. By the time of 1980's platinum seller TP, the artist with the
Some Velvet Morning: Ace Salutes Lee Hazlewood on "Shazam!"
The title of Ace's new entry in its Songwriter Series - Shazam! - doesn't refer to Captain Marvel's magic word or Gomer Pyle's favorite expression. Rather, the new compilation CD is titled after Duane Eddy's (naturally) twangy western gallop "Shazam!" penned by Eddy and maverick producer Lee Hazlewood and released in 1960. (Okay, Duane and Lee likely did take its name from C.C. Beck and Bill Parker's popular comic book superhero!) Shazam! and Other Instrumentals Written by Lee Hazlewood is
Release Round-Up: Week of April 8
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Ronnie Spector, English Heart (Savoy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The one and only Ronnie Spector returns with an all-new studio album saluting her British Invasion friends. Expect Ronnie-ized renditions of the Jagger/Richards-written "I'd Much Rather Be with the Boys" (as "I'd Much Rather Be with the Girls") as well as "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying," "Tell Her No," "Girl Don't Come" and more! Amazon has an exclusive
Still Driving: America Releases "Lost and Found" On Vinyl
Last year, Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell, a.k.a. America, released two significant archival collections bookending their still-thriving career. Archives Vol. 1 presented 15 previously unreleased alternate versions, early mixes, demos, rehearsals and outtakes spanning the halcyon period between America's 1971 debut album America and 1975's Hearts. These, of course, featured Beckley and Bunnell in addition to original member Dan Peek. Lost and Found pressed fast-forward on the band's history
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