Welcome to Part One of our two-part look at some of the most exciting soul and R&B reissues to have recently arrived from the Ace and Kent labels! Wayne Cochran was known as “The White Knight of Soul,” for his outrageous onstage attire and white pompadour. But underneath all the glamour of his showbiz persona, Cochran was a commanding soul vocalist. With Goin’ Back to Miami: The Soul Sides 1965-1970, Ace aims to showcase Wayne Cochran, the singer. This 2-CD, 38-track set collects
Variety Is The Spice: Varese Serves Up Ian Hunter, Ray Price
Upon his departure from Mott the Hoople, frontman Ian Hunter wasted little time in establishing a solo career. His first, eponymous solo album in 1975 yielded the single that made Hunter’s name as a solo artist, the original version of “Once Bitten, Twice Shy.” Recorded at George Martin’s AIR Studios, “Once Bitten” boasted Hunter’s old cohort Mick Ronson as arranger, guitarist and co-producer, and the track made it all the way to No. 14 on the U.K. chart. (Great White’s 1989 cover version
Review: John Denver, "All of My Memories: The John Denver Collection"
“Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy,” goes one of John Denver’s most well-known songs. In a little over five minutes – and even less in its single version – “Sunshine” touches on many of the themes most important to the singer-songwriter: nature, love, beauty. Throughout the course of a career sadly cut short when he perished in a plane crash in 1997 aged just 53, Denver revisited these themes over and over again, using his pure, crystalline tone to bring comfort and spread a message of
Rush Celebrates 40 Years Of Live Rock With "R40" Box Set
Hot on the heels of the 40th anniversary vinyl reissue earlier this year of Rush’s debut album, the Canadian prog-rock legends are celebrating their four decades of making music with a new career-spanning live box set coming soon from Concord Music Group and Rounder Records. R40, available in both DVD and Blu-ray formats on November 11, brings together live performances by Rush from each decade of the band’s long career. The box includes five videos first released between 2003 and 2013: Rush
From Hoagy To Popcorn: Croydon Municipal Mines Carmichael Tunes, Vintage Pop, R&B and Film Music
St. Etienne co-founder Bob Stanley’s Croydon Municipal imprint from the Cherry Red Group continues to have some of the most eclectic releases out there, emphasizing classic fifties and early sixties pop, R&B and beyond. The label’s latest offerings include a tribute to the pride of Bloomington, Indiana – Mr. Hoagy Carmichael – as well as a return to the realm of Popcorn, and a collection of cool, swinging film themes! Any songwriter would likely sell his soul to compose a song with the
Review: Bob Dylan and The Band, "The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes - Complete"
I. They Shall Be Released 1967: Jimi Hendrix asks, "Are You Experienced?" The Beatles plead, "Let me take you down" to "Strawberry Fields Forever." Brian Wilson spins a yarn of "Heroes and Villains." The Summer of Love is in full swing, and psychedelia is in the air. Fast forward one year. In July, The Band releases Music from Big Pink. Reportedly, hearing the album convinces Eric Clapton to leave Cream. The ripples of its influence would be felt in the ranks of The Beatles and Pink Floyd.
Birth Of The Blue: "Uncompromising Expression" Box Set Celebrates 75 Years of Blue Note
Blue Note Records’ 75th anniversary celebration has already encompassed compact disc and vinyl reissues from the venerable jazz label’s classic roster of artists including Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Clifford Brown and Thelonious Monk. On November 4, the Blue Note party continues with the release of a new 5-CD box set. Blue Note: Uncompromising Expression is the title of both the box set, a 75-track compendium of key Blue Note singles, and an accompanying hardcover book. Uncompromising
Sound Chaser: Steven Wilson Revisits Yes, Jethro Tull In Stereo and Surround
When it comes to new surround-sound mixes, one name has become closely associated with the format: Steven Wilson. Keeper of the progressive-rock flame and frontman for Porcupine Tree, Wilson has in recent years created definitive 5.1 remixes for artists like King Crimson, Yes, XTC, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Gentle Giant, and Jethro Tull. It was recently announced that Wilson would be extending his talents to an upcoming reissue from (non-prog!) rock band Tears for Fears, and we can also confirm
Rhino Gets The Led Out, Wave Two: "Led Zeppelin IV" and "Houses of the Holy" Arrive TODAY!
The wait is over! The second wave of Led Zeppelin reissues arrive in stores today! Led Zeppelin IV premieres an entire alternate version of the album, including the Sunset Sound Mix of "Stairway to Heaven," the U.K. mix of "When the Levee Breaks" and the basic track with guitar overdubs of "Black Dog." Houses of the Holy has seven of its eight tracks in bonus form, primarily rough or working mixes. This is your place to sound off on this pair of remastered and expanded releases
Soul Masters: BBR Reissues Edwin Starr, Gap Band, Yarbrough and Peoples, Boys Town Gang
For its latest batch of reissues, Big Break Records travels back in time to the days when The Sound of Young America ruled the airwaves with two vintage titles from the late, great Edwin Starr, and returns to the catalogues of two more label favorites - The Gap Band and Yarbrough and Peoples! Ultimately, Edwin Starr (1942-2003) will forever be best-known for his incendiary 1970 recording of Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong's "War," a scorching protest song that tapped into the growing
Back Tracks: Scott Walker, Part 2 (1975-2014)
Where Part 1 of our Back Tracks feature left Scott Walker, he was in a creatively barren period, cranking out albums of AM pop and country, a far cry from the Brel songs and even the Brill Building tearjerkers that characterized his best work. Having left the sublime pop symphonies and edgy chansons behind, he found inspiration in the unlikeliest of places. In 1975, The Walker Brothers reformed, much to the surprise of many. The group recorded the LP No Regrets, which they followed up with
Early Years of Jon Lord, Keef Hartley Chronicled on The Artwoods' Box Set "Steady Gettin' It"
Today, The Artwoods might be best remembered as footnotes in the stories of a number of other famous bands. Frontman and namesake Art Wood was the oldest brother of Faces/Rolling Stones man Ronnie. Organist Jon Lord went on, of course, to found Deep Purple. And drummer Keef Hartley would, among other credits, form The Keef Hartley Band. RPM Records has recently celebrated the music of the mod R&B revivalists with the release of the 3-CD box set Steady Gettin’ It: The Complete Recordings
Back Tracks: Scott Walker, Part 1 (1967-1974)
This week, Scott Walker released his latest studio album, Soused, a predictably unpredictable collaboration with drone-metal band Sunn O))). To mark the occasion, we’re reviewing the musical iconoclast’s complete discography in this two-part Back Tracks series originally presented in June 2010 and freshly updated! The music business is famous for hyperbole, but it’s no exaggeration to say that few have had a career anything like that of Scott Walker. An American who skyrocketed to fame on
A Little Love In Her Heart: "She Did It" Spotlights Songs of Jackie DeShannon
That Jackie DeShannon is one of the most gifted singer-songwriters in popular music should come as no surprise to anybody reading this. Equally skilled at interpreting her own songs as well as those of others, the multi-talented Miss DeShannon was the concerned yet optimistic voice of “What the World Needs Now is Love,” the flower-power spokeswoman who implored you to “Put a Little Love in Your Heart,” one of the first Ladies of the Canyon, and one-half of the songwriting team behind the
O-o-h Child! Real Gone's December Line-Up Features Five Stairsteps, Grateful Dead, B.J. Thomas and More
O-o-h Child! Real Gone Music has announced its December 2 release slate, and following the label's holiday offerings set for November 4, it’s packed with rare soul, classic rock and folk! The Real Goners have a complete collection of Linda Jones’ recordings for not one, not two, but three labels – Warner Bros., Atco and Loma –marking the most comprehensive collection yet for the “Hypnotized” songstress, including tracks new to CD! Joining the Linda Jones set is a two-for-one release of two
Review: Pugwash, "A Rose in a Garden of Weeds" (Or: The Best Band You Never Heard?)
Pugwash is currently wrapping up its first-ever U.S. tour with two more performances scheduled in Los Angeles: this Sunday, October 19, on a bill alongside Wings' great guitarist Laurence Juber and Now Sounds' musical guru and all-around renaissance man Steve Stanley; and next Friday, October 24, with Love Revisited! If you're in the area, you just might want to check the lads out! The first track on the first-ever North American release by Irish band Pugwash implores “Take Me Away,” but
From "Last Christmas" To "Blue Xmas": Legacy's Black Friday Slate Features Wham!, Miles Davis, Hendrix, Kinks, Elvis, More
It’s that time of year again! Announcements are finally coming in for Record Store Day’s annual Black Friday event happening on Friday, November 28. Rather than storming malls and big box stores, maybe you’ll want to pay a visit to your favorite local independent record store for an assortment of exclusive vinyl goodies. Legacy Recordings certainly hopes you will; the label’s roster for Black Friday’s RSD event includes titles from heavy-hitters including David Bowie, Joe Satriani, Miles
A Case of Joni: Mitchell Curates New Love-Themed, Career-Spanning Box Set
In 2007, Joni Mitchell released her last studio album to date, Shine. That release was her first recording since 2002’s Travelogue and first collection of new songs since 1998’s Taming the Tiger. Over the past seven years, the influential singer-songwriter has mainly made headlines for her candid and revealing interviews, on which she’s held forth about such topics as Bob Dylan’s alleged plagiarism and her own struggles with Morgellons disease. So it’s refreshing that Mitchell is back in the
Precious Dreams: Cherry Pop Rediscovers Cock Robin
Who killed Cock Robin? Fans might have been forgiven for wondering that when Peter Kingsbery and Anna LaCazio went their separate ways after the release of 1989’s First Love/Last Rites, the band’s third album. Yet, in 2006, Cock Robin returned with a new album, and since then, they’ve sporadically recorded and toured. Now, Cherry Red’s Cherry Pop imprint is celebrating the legacy of the San Francisco-formed band with deluxe, generously expanded reissues of Cock Robin’s first and second
Now Sounds Celebrates 50th Release With Paul Parrish's Trippy "Forest"
On a map of the psychedelic landscape, down a ways from the windmills of your mind and not too far from Strawberry Fields, somewhere between Itchycoo and MacArthur Parks, you might find the forest of Paul Parrish’s mind. The Michigan native could be best remembered for a couple of singer-songwriter albums on the Reprise and ABC labels in the 1970s, or as one-half of Parrish and Toppano in the 1980s…or perhaps as the lead vocalist of The Brady Bunch theme during the sitcom’s first season! But
Review: Spanky and Our Gang, "The Complete Mercury Singles"
Between 1966 and 1970, Spanky and Our Gang released three studio albums, one greatest-hits collection, one live set and 21 single sides. Though the gang was, in Spanky McFarlane’ s words, “eclectic as hell”– they covered John Denver and The Music Man on their first LP alone – they’re best remembered for three AM radio staples released in 1967 and 1968: “Sunday Will Never Be the Same,” “Lazy Day” and “Like to Get to Know You.” These three tunes are inextricably tied to the period in which they
In Memoriam: Paul Revere (1938-2014)
The official website of Paul Revere and the Raiders has just confirmed the passing of group leader Paul Revere at the age of 76. Today, we remember Revere for the timeless music he created with Mark Lindsay, Phil "Fang" Volk, Mike "Smitty" Smith, Drake "The Kid" Levin, Freddy Weller, Joe Correro, Jr. and Keith Allison - songs like "Kicks," "Hungry," "Just Like Me," "Good Thing" and so many others, all of which reminded listeners besotted with the British Invasion that Americans still knew a
Reviews: The Posies, "Failure" and Game Theory, "Blaze of Glory"
There’s something about power pop. In this era of EDM and songwriting-by-committee (not that there’s anything wrong with that – is there?), there’s still something about a couple of guys armed with little but guitars, harmonies, and their own imaginations, driven to create a joyful noise. In this era when radio is dominated by music that can’t be duplicated onstage without benefit of technology, there’s something about the thought of musicians just plugging in and getting
Beginning To See The Light: 6-CD Super Deluxe "Velvet Underground" Coming In November
For the third year in a row, a classic album by The Velvet Underground will receive the super deluxe treatment from Polydor and Universal Music Enterprises (UMe). On November 24, 2014, the label will release The Velvet Underground – 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition, a 65-track, 6-CD hardcover book-style box set, following 2012’s release of The Velvet Underground and Nico and 2013’s White Light/White Heat. The 1969 release of The Velvet Underground introduced Doug Yule to the band,
All The Way To Paradise: BBR Revisits Stephanie Mills, Burt Bacharach, Hal David's Motown Gem "For The First Time"
Following the commercial failure of the big-budget 1973 movie musical Lost Horizon, Burt Bacharach retreated. Tension over the film had led to a split with his longtime songwriting partner Hal David, and their split had in turn led to a breakup of their “triangle marriage” with singer Dionne Warwick. Lawsuits ensued. Only one new Bacharach song emerged in 1974, Gladys Knight and the Pips’ “Seconds,” co-written with playwright Neil Simon for a proposed movie version of the 1968
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