Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! America, Half Century (America Records/Gonzo) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The 50th anniversary celebration of America rolls on with a massive new box set. Half Century is an expansive 7-CD/1-DVD box packed with rare and previously unreleased material from the beloved band featuring Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell, and the late Dan Peek. There's a slew of unreleased demos circa 1970; a remastered full-length radio session in Bremen
With "I'm Your Puppet," the duo of James and Bobby Purify gained soul immortality. The 1966 single written by Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham went top ten Pop and top five R&B on the Billboard charts (and No. 1 R&B on Cash Box!), sold an estimated million copies, and still gets airplay today. Now, Cherry Red's SoulMusic Records imprint has brought together all of the Purifys' recordings for the Bell Records label on the 2-CD collection entitled (naturally) I'm Your Puppet: The Complete
As a member of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, Eddie Hinton played on countless recordings by the likes of Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, and Otis Redding. But there was another side of the guitarist that led Jerry Wexler to once proclaim him "the next big thing." Hinton was a persuasive performer and moreover, a fine songwriter. In collaboration with Donnie Fritts, he penned what's likely his most famous song: "Breakfast in Bed," immortalized by Dusty Springfield on Dusty
2016 proved a very good year for fans of southern soul songwriter (and sometimes singer) extraordinaire Dan Penn. The U.K.'s Ace Records label released a generous second volume of Penn's rare and previously unreleased recordings for Fame Records as Close to Me: More Fame Recordings, and later in the year, Analog Spark delivered a surprising and very welcome release. Nobody's Fool was recorded by Penn for Bell Records in 1973, and remained his only solo album for more than two decades.
An upcoming trio of releases from Light in the Attic turns the label's spotlight on two of popular song's most enduring writers and one maverick producer/label impresario (who also happened to be one heckuva songwriter!) - namely Carole King, Spooner Oldham, and Lee Hazlewood. LITA is bringing King's one remarkable album with her band The City back to CD and LP, and premiering on official CD and vinyl a reissue of Oldham's 1972 solo LP Pot Luck. Then the label continues to dig deep into the