65 years ago this coming Christmas Eve, The Lawrence Welk Show welcomed a winsome young quartet for their very first television appearance. The story goes that the host's teenaged son brought Dianne, Peggy, Kathy, and Janet Lennon home to sing for him; their shimmering vocal harmonies won the elder Welk over and he quickly booked them to appear on his show. The response was so tremendous that The Lennon Sisters continued to appear every Saturday night with the "wunnerful, wunnerful" host until
Over the past weeks, radio stations across America have been changing to holiday formats. There's a good chance that if you spin the radio dial, you'll end up on the voice of Andy Williams. The late singer's 1963 favorite "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" has become an unofficial anthem of the Christmas season, and last year reached an all-time peak of No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 - an all the more impressive feat considering his first appearance on the chart was in 1956. Williams'
October is upon us, and while 2020 hasn't given us much to rejoice about, the holiday season is almost here. Before the month is out, radio stations will begin switching to seasonal formats, and television will begin showing yuletide movies. With a never-ending barrage of bad news, "we need a little Christmas right this very minute" has hardly seemed more apt. Sony's Legacy Recordings is getting a head start on Christmas this year with the release on vinyl of 10 favorite albums from the
Though born in the small town of Wall Lake, Iowa, Howard Andrew Williams always had his sight on the stars. From a young age, he sang with his older brothers Bob, Don, and Dick - first in church, then on local radio. While their father was a railroad worker, he encouraged his sons' showbiz dreams as they "graduated" on the airwaves from Des Moines to Chicago to Cincinnati. It wasn't long before word reached Hollywood of the brothers' potential, and upon moving there in 1943, they were rewarded
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, Orange Crate Art: 25th Anniversary Edition (Omnivore) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Omnivore 2LP Black Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Omnivore 2LP Colored Vinyl: Omnivore Omnivore celebrates 25 years of Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks' beautiful Orange Crate Art with a variety of reissues. The 2-CD version boasts three previously unreleased bonus tracks on the first
By any metric, 2020 has been a challenging year. But fans of Andy Williams have had some rays of sunlight with a number of releases. Demon Music Group's Crimson Productions released the late vocalist's Gold, a 3-CD, career-spanning anthology of many of his finest recordings. Real Gone Music issued Emperor of Easy: The Lost Columbia Masters 1962-72, premiering 20 outtakes and rare singles on CD from Williams' first decade at the label. Now Demon's Edsel label is turning back the clock for a new
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Andy Williams, Emperor of Easy: Lost Columbia Masters 1962-72 (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Real Gone Music has the first-ever collection of never-before-heard music from Andy Williams' Columbia Records years. Emperor of Easy: Lost Columbia Masters 1962-72 boasts 20 selections direct from the Columbia vault encompassing 16 previously unreleased studio outtakes and four rare singles. Every track on Emperor of Easy
Tomorrow, Real Gone Music will release the first-ever collection of never-before-heard music from Andy Williams' Columbia Records years, and we can confirm that it will have been worth the wait. Emperor of Easy: Lost Columbia Masters 1962-72 boasts 20 selections direct from the Columbia vault encompassing 16 previously unreleased studio outtakes and four rare singles. Every track on Emperor of Easy is new to CD. Throughout his two decades with Columbia Records, Williams recorded 30 studio
With all apologies to Christmas, March just might be the most wonderful time of the year to be an Andy Williams fan. On March 27, Real Gone Music will release the first-ever collection of never-before-heard music from Andy's Columbia Records years. Emperor of Easy: Lost Columbia Masters 1962-72 boasts 20 selections direct from the Columbia vault encompassing 16 previously unreleased studio outtakes and four rare singles. Every track on Emperor of Easy is new to CD. Throughout his two decades
Demon Music Group's Crimson Productions label is continuing its series of low-priced, music-packed releases under the Gold banner. Among January's releases in the series were titles from Andy Williams, Gene Pitney, and The Tremeloes. Andy Williams (1927-2012) remains one of the most beloved popular vocalists of all time. After brief affiliations with Columbia Records (with Kay Thompson and his siblings, The Williams Brothers) and RCA Victor's X imprint, Williams established himself at Archie
Have you caught the Christmas spirit yet? If not, things are very likely to change on Saturday, November 16. That's when TJL Productions debuts a new special on PBS that's sure to get you ready for the holiday season. A Classic Christmas, part of T.J. Lubinsky's acclaimed My Music series, presents an array of yuletide favorites from an all-star roster of legendary artists. Hosted by Marion Ross (Happy Days) and Gavin MacLeod (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Love Boat), A Classic Christmas is
The busy members of The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra are decking the halls with boughs of holly for their latest, all-star release. Christmas with The Stars and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, due as a digital-only title in the U.S. on Friday, November 29, brings the acclaimed orchestra together with some of the biggest names in the classic Columbia and RCA Victor constellations for newly-arranged symphonic versions of Christmas favorites. Featured artists include Elvis Presley, Tony Bennett,
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Glenn Frey, Above the Clouds: The Collection (UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The 3-CD/1-DVD Above the Clouds: The Collection celebrates the musical legacy of Eagles' Glenn Frey, presenting key tracks from Frey as a solo artist on 2 CDs as well as the long-awaited, official CD premiere of Longbranch/Pennywhistle as newly remixed by J.D. Souther and Elliot Scheiner, and a live concert DVD, Strange Weather/Live in Dublin,
Welcome to this end-of-year Release Round-Up! The Monkees, More of The Monkees: Super Deluxe Edition (Rhino) Rhino delivers a 3-CD Super Deluxe Edition of The Monkees' 1967 sophomore album with mono and stereo versions of the album and a plethora of alternate takes, never-before-heard rarities, and a recently-discovered live recording! With 91 tracks (55 previously unreleased!), this set greatly expands upon the 2-CD iteration from 2006. Read all about it here! Herbie Mann,
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Supremes, The Ultimate Merry Christmas (Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music are joining Motown Records to unwrap a celebration of The Supremes' 1965 perennial Merry Christmas. The Ultimate Merry Christmas features the album in three distinctive versions: the original 1965 mono and stereo mixes, as well as a brand new, never-before-heard 2017 mix premiering
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Who, Maximum As and Bs: The Complete Singles (Polydor/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The Who's complete singles from 1964-2015 are collected on a new 5-CD box set, which also contains a 48-page booklet featuring track-by-track annotations on each single. Read more here! Willie Nelson, Teatro: The Complete Sessions (Modern Classics Recordings) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Willie Nelson's
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Alex Chilton, A Man Called Destruction: Expanded Edition (Omnivore) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2-LP Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada In 1995, the late Big Star and Box Tops frontman Alex Chilton returned to Memphis' Ardent Studios, the site of his classic work with Big Star, to record A Man Called Destruction. Blending original songs with a host of eclectic covers from the likes of Chris Kenner ("Sick and
Randy Newman once observed of his friend Harry Nilsson, "The records Harry made, and the first records I made, it was like The Rolling Stones never existed." Indeed, before his famously chronicled lifestyle as a Hollywood hellraiser threatened to overshadow his reputation as a talent nonpareil (and left his once-angelic voice in tatters), Nilsson had carved out an artful niche of wit and whimsy. He expressed his musical muse in gentle psychedelia, baroque pop, folk rock, vaudeville
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up featuring box sets, deluxe editions, rare albums and more! The Replacements, The Complete Studio Albums 1981-1990 (Sire/Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Rhino boxes up the Minnesota rockers’ complete studio output in one tidy package, utilizing the 2008 remasters but sans all bonus material. Tori Amos, Little Earthquakes and Under the Pink: Deluxe Editions (Rhino) Little Earthquakes: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Under the
The first day of autumn is almost here, but Real Gone Music is looking ahead to winter – and the most spectacular line-up of holiday music we’ve seen since The Second Disc started up nearly five years ago! The label has just unveiled its release slate for November 4, with a whopping seven Christmas titles, two contemporary Christian albums from a classic pop legend that make a perfect seasonal complement, and – just to keep things rocking – a hotly-anticipated CD from a classic rock
Well, summer is officially upon us! Already there's talk about which songs will be anointed the perfect summer jams for 2014 - songs by artists like Ariana Grande, Iggy Azalea and the ubiquitous Pharrell Williams. If those names don't set your pulse racing, however, Legacy Recordings has an alternative that's bound to conjure up images of tropical sunsets, refreshing drinks and summer breeze. Studio Rio Presents The Brazil Connection makes over 12 pop classics from the Sony vaults by melding the
Today, Legacy Recordings issues a number of titles from some of music's greatest artists as part of the label's ongoing Essential series of anthologies. We're taking a look at the collections from Harry Nilsson, Andy Williams, Jerry Lee Lewis, Pete Seeger, Mott the Hoople and Midnight Oil! Plus: we have track listings for all titles! A 2010 documentary posed the question, Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why is Everybody Talkin' About Him)? Well, if you don't already know the answer, The
It's tempting to say "they don't make 'em like they used to," but truth to tell, they never made 'em quite like Andy Williams. Howard Andrew Williams, the favorite son of Wall Lake, Iowa, died yesterday at the age of 84, having valiantly fought bladder cancer. But Williams leaves behind a rich and reassuring legacy of music and entertainment that recalls a gentler time in American life, of huckleberry friends and caroling out in the snow. If any popular singer defined Christmas in the
Though the A&M stands for (Herb) Alpert and (Jerry) Moss, A&M Records has meant a great many things to a great many people since its founding in 1962. Those who came of age in the 1980s may think of the famous logo adorning records by Sting, Janet Jackson or Bryan Adams. In the 1970s, the label was home to The Carpenters, Cat Stevens and Joe Cocker. In the 1960s, A&M was not only a label but a “sound.” That sound was a certain, beguiling style of sophisticated adult soft-pop