The Christmas season is almost here - that time of year when the indelible sound of the late Harry Lillis Crosby once again takes the airwaves. This year, however, there may be a twist. On November 22, Decca Records will release Bing at Christmas, melding Crosby's classic vocals with new orchestrations recorded by The London Symphony Orchestra. Nick Patrick, producer of similar symphonic albums from Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, and Roy Orbison, helmed Bing at Christmas. "White Christmas," of
June 22, 2019 will mark the fiftieth anniversary of the passing of Judy Garland. Though Garland was only on this earth for 47 short years, she packed that time with incendiary performances on stage, screen, radio, television, and records. That still-singular body of work has been exceedingly well-documented in the years since her death, but remarkably, there's still more to be discovered. JSP Records has just followed up its acclaimed 2010 collection Lost Tracks 1929-1959 with a second
On December 7, Verve/UMe will release The Founder, a 4-CD box set in honor of Norman Granz's centennial earlier this year (August 6, 1918). The collection will also be available as a digital download and on streaming services. The set includes 44 tracks, some appearing on CD for the first time ever. It presents a chronological overview of the first two decades of the jazz impresario's impressive career by way of recordings of the musicians he recorded. The booklet includes new liner notes by
Verve/UME celebrate the career of a jazz impresario for the ages. As founder of the Clef, Norgran and Verve labels, Granz helped bring jazz to the masses and launched the careers of many of the genre's brightest stars. The 4-CD set includes 44 tracks, some appearing on CD for the first time ever. The booklet includes new liner notes by Tad Hershorn, author of Norman Granz: The Man Who Used Jazz For Justice. On the discs, you'll find incendiary performances by the likes of Coleman Hawkins
The history of commercial recorded music stretches back over 100 years and has encompasses the stories of many artists and talents. One of the biggest figures in this early history was Ralph S. Peer. The A&R (Artists and Repertoire) and publishing pioneer might not be a household name today, but he made major contributions to many varied musical genres including blues, country and Latin. Sony Music Latin has recently released a wide-ranging, eclectic 3-CD box set entitled The Roots of
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Debby Boone, You Light Up My Life: 40th Anniversary Expanded Edition (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Finally, the platinum LP containing the biggest hit of the 1970s arrives on CD! Real Gone's new edition expands Debby Boone's original You Light Up My Life album by a whopping thirteen tracks, tracing Debby's career back to her earliest recordings with her sisters as The Boone Girls. You'll hear their effervescent
Saturday, October 14, marked 40 years since the passing of one of America's legendary vocalists, Bing Crosby. The famed crooner could fairly be recognized as the father of pop singing, treating the microphone and the studio of essential components of his art, and bringing intimacy to the form. On December 8, Bing Crosby Enterprises will team with UMe for new two titles in the Bing Crosby Archive Collection. New Tricks: 60th Anniversary Deluxe Edition and Among My Souvenirs: More Treasures
Throughout her illustrious, if tragically curtailed, career, Judy Garland raised her voice in song with some of the greatest artists of all time, including Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire, Al Jolson, Gene Kelly, Kay Thompson, and many more. Last Friday, August 4, a new 4-CD set arrived from the U.K.'s JSP Records celebrating Garland's greatest vocal collaborations with these performers and many others. Judy Garland: Classic Duets features 109 tracks over 4 CDs, including 15 tracks
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a host of holiday offerings (including three new titles from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music!) and much, much more! Jack Jones, The Jack Jones Christmas Album (Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music proudly bring Jack Jones' 1964 Kapp Records classic to CD for the very first time! The Jack Jones Christmas Album features lush renditions of "White
Masterworks Broadway has announced a new slate of three titles in the Sony imprint's ongoing CD-R/DD initiative restoring classic cast recordings to print. This trio hails from the RCA Victor and Columbia catalogues, with two titles new to the digital domain. Sid and Marty Krofft are beloved creators of a pantheon of children's television classics including H.R. Pufnstuf, Land of the Lost and Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, the latter of which has recently been revived as a brand-new program
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a host of titles on CD and vinyl! Fleetwood Mac, In Concert (Warner Bros./Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) This 3-LP concert album features 22 live recordings from Fleetwood Mac's 1979-1980 tour, originally presented in December on the Tusk Deluxe Edition box set, for the very first time on vinyl. The music heard on In Concert was recorded at four stops (Wembley, Tucson, St. Louis, Omaha) during the band's 111-show
Welcome to Part One of a two-part series exploring the recent line-up of Christmas releases from Real Gone Music! 1954’s White Christmas, quite simply, remains one of the most beloved holiday musicals to ever hit the silver screen. Built around the songbook of Irving Berlin – who lived to the age of 101 in 1989 but was already a Grand Old Man of American music by 1954 – the film starred Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye and Vera Ellen. Such a quartet promised an evening’s
Simon and Garfunkel, The Complete Albums Collection (Columbia/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) This 12-CD box includes all five of Simon & Garfunkel's stereo studio albums released between 1964 and 1970, newly remastered from first-generation analog sources plus first-time remasters of The Graduate soundtrack and 1981's The Concert in Central Park; 1972's Greatest Hits album (which contained some unique performances unavailable elsewhere); and the live concert albums from 1967, 1969
Diana Ross, Why Do Fools Fall in Love / Silk Electric / Ross / Swept Away / Eaten Alive / Red Hot Rhythm and Blues (Expanded Editions) (Funky Town Grooves) Why Do Fools Fall in Love: Expanded Edition (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Silk Electric: Expanded Edition (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Ross: Expanded Edition (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Swept Away: Deluxe Edition (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Eaten Alive: Deluxe Edition (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Red Hot Rhythm and Blues: Deluxe
It can be fairly said that any singer today owes a debt to Bing Crosby. The late vocalist was among the first performers to conversationally and intimately sing as an extension of speech; he also pioneered the technique of the microphone so a singer wouldn’t have to belt to the rafters. In his lifetime, Crosby was at the vanguard of recording techniques. He left behind over 2,000 commercial recordings, and introduced countless standards including the yearly radio perennial “White Christmas,”
Occasionally the aisles of your local grocery or big-box store turn up releases you won’t find even in your local indie music store. Such is the case with a recent batch of holiday-themed titles from Sony Commercial Music Group. Just in time for Christmas ’13, CMG has unveiled a number of holiday compilations – and a handful of straight album reissues – for fans of classic pop (Bing Crosby, Patti Page), country (B.J. Thomas, Buck Owens, Roy Clark), rock-and-roll (Elvis Presley) and R&B
The two latest releases in the Bing Crosby Archive Collection – now distributed by Universal Music – take the legendary crooner around the world, from the American South to the streets of Paris, France. Bing Crosby Enterprises has just released one new anthology, Bing Sings the Johnny Mercer Songbook, along with a 60th anniversary deluxe expanded reissue of the Decca album Le Bing: Song Hits of Paris. In the tradition of past Archive Collection releases, these discs are packed with rarities
Duane Allman, Skydog: The Duane Allman Retrospective (Rounder) A massive seven-disc box set celebrates the life and work of a guitar legend, gone far too soon. Read Joe's review here! (Amazon U.S.) Elvis Presley, Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite: Legacy Edition (RCA/Legacy) The classic best-selling live album, taken from the famed TV special, is paired with a newly-remixed version of The Alternate Aloha (a rehearsal show recorded days earlier) and rare bonus performances. You'll find Joe's
Merle Haggard, The Complete '60s Capitol Singles / Wanda Jackson, The Best of the Classic Capitol Singles / George Jones, The Complete United Artists Solo Singles (Omnivore) Joe's review of all three of these new country/rock singles anthologies from Omnivore speaks for each of them pretty well! Merle: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Wanda: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. George: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Borderline, Sweet Dreams and Quiet Desires/The Second Album / Sam Dees, The Show Must Go On / Kenny
Today’s Short Takes looks at a variety of upcoming releases with one thing in common: great vocalists in the tradition of the Great American Songbook! First up, let's take a look at an album of new recordings from a favorite reissue label. One genre has never been enough to contain the musical restlessness of Willie Nelson. The country legend and honky-tonk hero created his own standards with his early songs such as “Crazy” and “Funny How Time Slips Away” before paying tribute to the Great
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we focus on notable albums and the reissues they may someday see. Today's installment looks back at the mighty career of the late Marvin Hamlisch and how his best songs might be compiled into a truly "Essential" release. On Tuesday morning, August 7, news broke that composer Marvin Hamlisch had unexpectedly died the day before, at the age of 68. The worlds of music, theatre and film were all shocked, as Hamlisch's latest musical, The
With each holiday season inevitably comes a new Christmas-themed compilation CD from Starbucks, combining rare and familiar tracks from artists new and old, designed as the perfect accompaniment for that venti skinny Peppermint Mocha! 2011’s entry in the annual series, Let It Snow, features Michigan singer/songwriter Rosie Thomas’ recording of the Jule Styne/Sammy Cahn title song, along with fifteen other tracks. Some tracks are from the “usual suspects” (Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley) and others
What would Christmas be without the voice of Bing Crosby? And with radio stations going all-Christmas earlier and earlier each year, chances are you've already lifted your seasonal spirits with Crosby's famous recording of Irving Berlin's "White Christmas," still the biggest-selling single of all time. Or perhaps you've heard "Jingle Bells," with The Andrews Sisters vocally supporting Crosby. But Crosby's holiday catalogue runs quite deep. Last year, Collector's Choice Music and Bing Crosby
Eagle-eyed crate diggers might have noticed a major disappearing act of late. Collectors’ Choice Music, long renowned for its diverse and eclectic line-up of releases by artists ranging from Bing Crosby to Jefferson Airplane, has quietly been allowing its label’s releases to go out-of-print. In fact, many of those titles are already commanding high prices on the second-hand market. (The beginning of the end of the Collectors’ Choice label can be read here.) Though the company’s famed
Peter Tosh, Legalize It: Legacy Edition / Equal Rights: Legacy Edition (Columbia/Legacy) The first two albums by the onetime Wailer are greatly expanded with rare alternate mixes and other goodies. (Official site) Ace, Five-a-Side: Expanded Edition / Time for Another/No Strings: Expanded Edition (Cherry Red) How long can you wait for expanded editions of the whole Ace catalogue? Each set (Five-a-Side as one set and the other two albums in another package) is remastered and expanded with a