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,
Review: The Beatles, "The U.S. Albums"
I. Meet the Beatles! Did The Beatles save rock and roll? If John, Paul, George and Ringo didn’t save the still-young form, they certainly gifted it with a reinvigorating, exhilarating jolt of musical euphoria the likes of which hadn’t been seen before – and hasn’t been duplicated since. The scene was early 1964. Buddy Holly was long gone, and the big hits had dried up – at the moment, at least – for Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard. Elvis had served his time in the Army, threatening
Release Round-Up: Week of January 28
Uncle Tupelo, No Depression: Legacy Edition (Legacy) After at least two teasers in the form of Record Store Day releases, one of the most beloved alt-country albums is greatly expanded as a double-disc set with a host of rare and unreleased demos. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Tony Bennett, The Classics (RPM/Columbia/Legacy) One of the most beloved singers of the 20th century is the subject of a new career-spanning compilation, available in single and double-disc iterations. 1CD: Amazon U.S. /
Headed For The Future: Neil Diamond's Back Catalogue Moves to Capitol Records
Hell yeah, he did. Billboard reports that Grammy Award winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Neil Diamond has departed Columbia Records after a forty-plus-year association, and has brought his back catalogue to Capitol Records, now part of the Universal Music Group. The surprise move comes just a few months following the release of Diamond’s Classic Christmas Album, the latest in a string of recent archival projects from Diamond, Columbia and Legacy Recordings including the Grammy-nominated
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
A Filmography Fit for a King, Chronicled on New Elvis Box Set
If a Legacy Edition of Elvis' Recorded Live on Stage in Memphis wasn't enough excitement from the King, try this one on for size: Sony's U.K. arm is releasing a 20-disc box set collecting Elvis Presley's soundtrack albums. From the beginning of his career, Elvis Aaron Presley had an eye on Hollywood. He enjoyed acting, despite having no formal training in it, and had a screen test for Paramount Pictures just days after his first long-player for RCA Victor was released. Producer Hal Wallis
Holiday Gift Guide Review: "Here's Edie: The Edie Adams Television Collection"
In one of the many testimonials that enhance the booklet to the first-ever DVD release of Here’s Edie: The Edie Adams Television Collection, Carl Reiner may have put it best and most succinctly: “Edie Adams...a combination of beauty, brains and talent...what else do you need?” Based on the evidence in this thoroughly delightful 4-DVD, 12-hour, 21-episode set now available from MVD Visual (MVD 59200), you don’t need anything else. Adams just about had it all, and showed it off for the 1962-1964
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Matt Monro, "The Rarities Collection" and "Alternate Monro"
How lovely to sit here in the shade, with none of the woes of man and maid/I’m glad I’m not young anymore! The rivals that don’t exist at all, the feeling you’re only two feet tall/I’m glad I’m not young anymore! Matt Monro recorded those Alan Jay Lerner lyrics in January 1973 at just 42 years of age. But by that point, the golden-voiced singer had already acquired enough experience to interpret them with supreme confidence and natural charm. Monro’s reassuring, crisply impeccable tone
The Second Disc's HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE 2013
Don't have time to make that list and check it twice? Looking for that perfect present to place under the tree this holiday season? Look no further! 2013 has brought an amazing array of deluxe (and super deluxe!) special editions and box sets, so we have highlighted the cream of the crop right here to make your spirits bright, whatever your musical taste! The Animals, The Mickie Most Years and More (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Real Gone Music jumps into the box set market with this
BBR Continues Its "Journey" With Salsoul Catalogue
If you're looking for another chance to "dance your ass off," look no further. Big Break Records has returned to the mighty catalogue of Salsoul Records for another three "made in Philadelphia" classics from the soulful disco label. "C'mon, Vince, play your vibes!" Loleatta Holloway exclaimed before the leader of The Salsoul Orchestra, Vince Montana Jr., stepped forward for a solo on "Run Away," the third track on the powerful unit's third non-holiday long-player. 1977's Magic Journey
Release Round-Up: Week of November 19
There's a Dream I've Been Saving: Lee Hazlewood Industries 1966 - 1971 (Light in the Attic) The legendary psychedelic cowboy shone brighter than ever as a singer-songwriter-producer on his own label in the latter half of the decade. This 4CD/1DVD/1 flexidisc box (also available with an extra three data DVDs!) covers that period of his career in exhaustive detail. Standard box: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Deluxe box: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Frank Sinatra, Duets: 20th Anniversary
Slices of Bread: David Gates and James Griffin's Solo Records, Reissued and Remastered
Bread occupied a unique place on the Elektra Records roster. The so-called “soft rock” band shared a label with the likes of Love, The Doors, The Stooges and The MC5, and regularly visited the charts with such signature songs as “Make It with You” (No. 1, 1970), “It Don’t Matter to Me” (No. 10, 1970), “If” (No. 4, 1971), “Baby I’m-a Want You” (No. 3, 1971), “Everything I Own” (No. 5, 1972) and “The Guitar Man” (No. 11, 1972). All of those staples were written and sung by David Gates, the
Celebrate Good Times, Come On! BBR Reissues, Expands Four Kool and the Gang Classics
You can't keep a Kool man down. This week, Robert "Kool" Bell (now known as Muhammad Bayyan) leads the legendary funk-soul-R&B-disco outfit Kool and the Gang through its latest studio album, the Best Buy/Wal-Mart exclusive Kool for the Holidays. But for nearly 45 years, the music of Kool and the Gang has been celebrated for all seasons. Big Break Records last revisited the Kool catalogue in 2011 with an expanded edition of 1976's Open Sesame, but the label is returning to the group in a
Review: Bob Dylan, "The Complete Album Collection Volume One"
Tucked away on Bob Dylan’s 23rd studio album Empire Burlesque, the troubadour sings simply but sternly, “Trust yourself/Trust yourself to do the things that only you know best/Trust yourself/Trust yourself to do what’s right and not be second-guessed...” Dylan had trusted himself since he first arrived on the scene in 1962, engaging in a series of transformations that enthralled, angered, transfixed and bewildered those that followed his career – from folk troubadour to electric rocker to
A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening: Ace Collects The Innocents' "Reprise, Decca, Warner Bros. and A&M Recordings"
Ace Records has recently given a classic vocal group its due with the release of The Innocents' Classic Innocents: The Reprise, Decca, Warner Bros. and A&M Recordings...Plus More. Drawing from the vaults of all of those labels, the new 28-track collection premieres 12 previously unissued tracks from the California doo-wop trio best-known for "Honest I Do," "Gee Whiz," and "A Thousand Stars," the latter with Kathy Young. The non-chronologically-sequenced new anthology is a belated follow-up
Kritzerland Can't "Wait" For Two Dave Grusin Premieres; "Moon" Swings With Billy May, Too!
For more than fifty years, Robert David Grusin – or Dave Grusin, as he’s better known – has been making music to the tune of multiple Grammys and an Oscar, not to mention Golden Globes and various other honors. Grusin has successfully scored for motion pictures and kept a busy profile in pop, soul and jazz, co-founding GRP Records and encouraging compact disc technology at the dawn of the era. The Kritzerland label has visited the Grusin well before with releases of his scores to films as
Review: Pablo 40th Anniversary Series with Gillespie, Ellington, Tatum, Peterson, Grappelli and Sims
When impresario Norman Granz founded the Pablo label in 1973, fusion, funk and Latin sounds were at the forefront of jazz. Granz, founder of the Verve, Norgran and Clef labels, initially launched Pablo as a platform for his management clients Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson and Joe Pass, but soon its roster was filled out with the equally starry likes of Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Sarah Vaughan. Granz’ new label was an instant success and a safe haven for traditional jazz in this period
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
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
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
Silk 'N Honey: LITA's Lee Hazlewood Archive Series Continues With "Honey Ltd."
Light in the Attic has a taste of Honey for you – Honey Ltd., that is. The latest release in the label’s Lee Hazlewood Archive Series, The Complete LHI Recordings brings together the complete LHI Records output (1968-1969) of the girl group produced by Hazlewood and Mike Post, and arranged by Ian Fairbairn-Smith and Jack Nitzsche. The 13-track anthology is available now. Laura Polkinghorne, Marsha Jo Temmer and sisters Joan and Alexandra Silwin first raised their voices in song at Detroit’s
Let Him Sing and We're Happy: Parlophone Readies The "Alternate" Matt Monro
Matt Monro (1930-1985) made one of his first major splashes under the pseudonym of “Fred Flange,” adding the requisite touch of Sinatra to Peter Sellers’ 1959 comedy LP Songs for Swingin’ Sellers. Good as he was at being Sinatra, however, he was even better at being Matt Monro. Producer George Martin picked up on this, and the rest is history. Monro began his tenure at EMI signed (like Sellers) to Parlophone, later became an artist for EMI’s famous U.S. Capitol label, and still later saw
Review: Nilsson, "The RCA Albums Collection"
A largess universal like the sun His liberal eye doth give to every one, Thawing cold fear, that mean and gentle all, Behold, as may unworthiness define, A little touch of Harry in the night. - William Shakespeare, Henry V, Act IV He's a pretty nifty guy Always looks you in the eye Everybody passing by will sigh For Harry... - Eric Idle, "Harry" Harry Nilsson had the voice of an angel, and raised hell like the devil. A consummate songwriter, he had his biggest hits with two songs
Review: Otis Redding, "The Complete Stax/Volt Singles Collection"
Otis Redding was just 21 years of age when Volt Records issued his first single for the label, “These Arms of Mine” b/w “Hey Hey Baby,” in October 1962. The latter is a solid if unremarkable riff on rockabilly (“Hey, hey, pretty baby/Baby, you sure is fine...Every time I look at you/You drive me out of my mind!”) but the torrid, smoldering A-side reveals a singer-songwriter far older than his years. Otis Redding couldn’t have known then that he was living on borrowed time; he would, in fact,
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