The Vocalion label continues to mine Henry Mancini’s RCA Victor catalogue for two new releases, each containing two of the late composer’s albums. The Big Latin Band of Henry Mancini/The Latin Sound of Henry Mancini brings together the recordings from 1968 and 1965, respectively; Symphonic Soul /The Cop Show Themes combines the LPs from 1976 and 1975, respectively. The Latin Sound of Henry Mancini arrived in 1965, the same year as Mancini’s score album on RCA for his frequent collaborator
Review: Roy Orbison, "Mystery Girl: 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition"
Roy Orbison never intended Mystery Girl to be an epitaph. Yet The Big O never had the chance to enjoy the overwhelming success of the 1989 album, as he passed away almost two months to the day prior to its release. Still, as far as epitaphs go, Mystery Girl was – and is – a stunner, a parting gift from one of the most distinctive and resonant voices in rock and roll. Roy’s Boys, the company formed by Orbison’s sons, and Legacy Recordings have teamed for a 25th anniversary reissue of Orbison’s
Sign of the Times: "Look For A Star" Collects Early Songs of Tony Hatch
Encouraged by his publisher to pen a song for a Norman Wisdom film in pre-production, teenager Tony Hatch wrote "Follow a Star." Though the beloved British comedian passed on it, the tune found its way into a B-movie called Circus of Horrors with a new title: "Look for a Star." The same week in June 1960, four recordings of the pretty little tune entered the Billboard Hot 100 across the pond. Dean Hawley reached No. 29, Billy Vaughn made it to No. 19, Garry Miles hit No. 16, and the original
"It's A Wonderful" Soundtrack: Score to Frank Capra's Classic "Life" Gets First-Ever Release
"You see, George, you've really had a wonderful life. Don't you see what a mistake it would be to throw it away?" Each year, director Frank Capra's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life continues to lend a note of hope and inspiration to those discovering it for the first time. The story of suicidal George Bailey (James Stewart) and the guardian angel (Henry Travers) who shows him what life would have been like had he never been born, It's a Wonderful Life has transcended its modest origins to
I Just Can't Help Believin': "Elvis: That's The Way It Is" Goes Super Deluxe In 8-CD/2-DVD Box Set
The title of the 1970 documentary That's The Way It Is might have been plain-spoken, but nothing else was plain about the chronicle of Elvis Presley's return to the concert stage. And there's certainly nothing plain about the extravagant treatment being accorded the film and its companion album this summer. Why, we'd even say it's fit for a - make that, The King. On August 5, Legacy Recordings will team with Warner Bros. Home Video for a massive 8-CD/2-DVD box set including six full-length
Review: Billy Joel, "A Matter of Trust: The Bridge to Russia"
Billy Joel has been famously prickly in recent years about many of the archival releases bearing his name. But one hopes that the troubadour, currently in the midst of his tenure as a “franchise” at New York’s Madison Square Garden, is beaming with pride at A Matter of Trust – The Bridge to Russia. This set, available in a variety of audio and video formats from Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings, not only splendidly chronicles Joel’s historic 1987 trek to the Soviet Union but vividly
Give Me the Future: Hear No Evil Label Reissues Meat Loaf’s "Bad Attitude" for 30th Anniversary
Though he burst onto the scene like a Bat Out of Hell and has enjoyed a 35+-year solo career to date, the artist known as Meat Loaf has never been terribly prolific in the studio. Over the course of three and a half decades, he has only released 11 full studio solo albums with a 12th due next year. To the casual observer, however, that may seem a high number. After all, his career is often thought to consist of just the two smash Bat Out of Hell albums released 16 years apart in 1977 and 1993.
Release Round-Up: Week of May 27
Holland-Dozier-Holland: The Complete 45s Collection: Invictus/Hot Wax/Music Merchant 1969-1977 (Harmless) The H-D-H compositions/production didn't stop after the trio left Motown; they in fact created several labels and did an awful lot of work for them, as evidenced by this massive eight-disc box set of their works for three labels through the late '60s and '70s. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) KISS,
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
Viva Morello: Cherry Red Label Reissues Roy Rogers, Porter Wagoner, Ray Price, More
The Viva vaults are open! Viva Records, formed by producer Snuff Garrett (“The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia,” “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves,” “This Diamond Ring”), released a diverse catalogue of music during its roughly two-decade existence – light instrumental pop, garage rock, comedy, and more. But the label might be best-remembered for its string of country successes in the early 1980s, most notably from David Frizzell and Shelly West. Earlier this year, Varese Sarabande reissued a
This One Goes Out: R.E.M.'s Early B-Sides Collected on Digital Set
On Tuesday, May 19, the same day that Warner Bros. Records issues R.E.M.’s 2-CD Unplugged 1991/2001: The Complete Sessions, UMe will offer a digital-only package for fans of the Athens, Georgia band’s earliest days. Complete Rarities: I.R.S. 1982-1987 collects 50 previously released odds and ends from Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry. These rarities have been culled from such releases as the 1987 Dead Letter Office (originally released in the wake of the success of Lifes
Dark Shadows Over Transylvania: Robert Cobert's Score to "Dan Curtis' Dracula" Arrives On CD
Since Bram Stoker introduced Count Dracula in 1897, the Transylvanian vampire has captivated audiences in every medium conceivable. Of course, the visceral possibilities of film has allowed the nightmarish character to leave his mark on generation after generation, most famously in 1931’s Bela Lugosi-starring film. Much as Universal Pictures produced a string of films following its original, Hammer Films launched its own series of Dracula pictures with 1958’s adaptation starring Christopher
Henry Mancini's "Who Is Killing The Great Chefs of Europe?" Inaugurates New Vintage Soundtrack Series From Varese
The 1978 film Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? billed itself as "a delicious mystery." Naturally, a delicious mystery would require a delicious score. To accompany the film's recipe of drama, suspense, comedy and action, director Ted Kotcheff turned to "top chef" Henry Mancini. No stranger to all of those genres and more, composer-arranger-conductor Mancini crafted a score that became one of the film's most memorable assets. The long out-of-print soundtrack album, originally
Can You Feel The Love Tonight: 2-CD Expanded Edition of "The Lion King" Kicks Off Disney Legacy Collection
With Walt Disney Records’ juggernaut soundtrack to Frozen preparing to enjoy its thirteenth week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 – becoming one of only 39 albums in the history of the chart to have spent at least 13 weeks at pole position – the time has never been better for the record label to revisit the studio’s classic animated film library. Today, Walt Disney Records announced what’s arguably its most ambitious reissue program ever. The Legacy Collection will mark the anniversaries of
Folk Heroes: Omnivore Celebrates Hank Williams and Dave Van Ronk
This month, Omnivore Recordings turns its attention to two singer-songwriters who could be said to embody the spirit of American music, Hank Williams and Dave Van Ronk. Though he died just aged 29 in 1953, Hank Williams remains a towering figure in country-and-western music. The likes of "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," "Your Cheatin' Heart," "Cold, Cold Heart," "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)" and "Hey Good Lookin'" have been recorded countless times in country, pop, R&B and rock renditions by
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
"I Hunger For Your Touch" Collects 31 Recordings of "Unchained Melody" From Elvis, The Righteous Brothers, Many More
It began life as the theme to a 1955 B-movie that asked, “No locks! No walls! In the prison without bars! What keeps men like these from crashing out?” The film was Unchained, and the song was “Unchained Melody” with music by Alex North (A Streetcar Named Desire, Spartacus) and lyrics by Hy Zaret (“Dedicated to You”). Though the movie - in which just a brief snippet of the song was sung by Porgy and Bess’ original Porgy, Todd Duncan – is hardly remembered today, the intensely romantic
I Don't See Nothin' Wrong with a Little "Essential R. Kelly"
On May 19, Legacy Recordings adds to its growing library of Essential volumes with the release of The Essential R. Kelly, the first-ever career-spanning anthology for the three-time Grammy-winning R&B superstar. Over 35 tracks on 2 CDs, this title chronologically revisits the key recordings of Kelly’s major-label career, including cuts from every one of the artist’s albums from 1991 to 2012. The career of Chicago-born Robert Sylvester Kelly has been one of the most successful in modern-day
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
The (Motown) Music That Makes Me Dance: The Supremes' "Funny Girl" Gets Expansion
I'm the greatest star/I am by far! But no one knows it... - Fanny Brice, Funny Girl Back in 2012, while reviewing Hip-o Select's splendidly expanded edition of The Supremes at the Copa, I wrote of the "altogether enjoyable [and] still inexplicably not on CD" album The Supremes Sing and Perform Funny Girl. Indeed, that 1968 LP, featuring Motown's greatest stars tackling the showstoppers from Jule Styne and Bob Merrill's score, has long been one of the rarest and most-requested titles in the
"Porky's" Is Back! "Revenge" Soundtrack Features George Harrison, Dave Edmunds, Robert Plant, More
“Keep an eye out for the funniest movie about growing up ever made,” read the poster to 1982’s raunchy comedy Porky’s. It depicted the eye of a Peeping Tom, looking onto a woman showering. “You’ll be glad you came!” Despite – or more likely, because of – its puerile humor, the modestly-budgeted teen sex comedy Porky’s became a runaway hit and spawned two theatrical sequels by 1985. The third Porky’s film, Porky’s Revenge, was the least successful, grossing just $20 million compared to the first
Real Gone Has Sweet Inspiration(s) For June With Vikki Carr, Fanny, Grateful Dead, More
The details are out on Real Gone Music's June 3 release slate, and it's so eclectic and so packed with rarities that you might find yourself exclaiming of the Real Gone team, "It must be them!" Of course, "It Must Be Him" was Vikki Carr's signature hit, and Vikki is featured on not one, but two, releases from her Columbia Records tenure - including one with a full seventeen previously unissued recordings! If you like your female artists a bit more rocking, Real Gone has an expanded edition of
The Second Disc's Record Store Day 2014 Must-Haves
If you've been following these pages for the past few weeks, you've likely noticed an awful lot of coverage about Record Store Day! Well, the day is nearly here! Tomorrow, Saturday, April 21, music fans and collectors will flock to their local independent record stores to celebrate both the sounds on those round black platters and the very concept of shopping in a physical retail environment. To many of us, both are a way of life. We're doubly excited this year because one special title was
Kritzerland Premieres Rare Scores From Paul Glass and Robert Farnon on New 2-CD Set
The composers represented on Kritzerland’s most recent release might not be the most widely recognized, but the label’s deluxe 2-CD set from Paul Glass and Robert Farnon should surely earn them quite a few more fans. Overlord / Disappearance / Hustle brings together two scores from Glass (b. 1934) and one from Farnon (1917-2005) on two CDs – for the price of one. Glass, also a prolific composer of “serious” music including pieces for orchestras and chamber groups, was versatile enough to tailor
Hey Hey! They're Boyce and Hart - And You Can Help Complete Their Documentary!
For a few years in the halcyon days of the sixties, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart were on top of the world. Singers, songwriters and producers, Boyce and Hart - individually or collectively - were behind some of the most enduring hits of that era or any other: "Last Train to Clarksville," "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone," "Come a Little Bit Closer," "Hurt So Bad," "I Wanna Be Free," "Valleri," "Pretty Little Angel Eyes," and of course, the immortal "Theme from The Monkees." As if turning out hits
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