Over the years, there have been countless collections of Beatles covers. Cherry Red's Grapefruit imprint threw its hat into the ring late last year with a fulsome new 3-CD set. We Can Work It Out: Covers of The Beatles 1962-1966 concentrates only on the Fab Four's first years, arranging its 85 songs in the order of the original Beatles song releases. Most, though not all, of the versions are contemporaneous, making this set a particularly enjoyable tour through the rapidly shifting pop music
As longtime collectors know, great "nuggets" show up in the most unlikely places...and so do Nuggets, naturally. Warner Music Japan has just issued four volumes of Soft Rock Nuggets, but most of the tracks on these collections are firmly in the harmony-drenched, lushly melodic, sunshine pop genre. Any fans of Rhino Handmade's Come to the Sunshine: Soft Pop Nuggets from the WEA Vaults (reissued on vinyl this year for Record Store Day) will find much to savor on these latest additions to the
When American soul great Tommy Hunt first approached the Wigan Casino in Wigan, England to celebrate the nightclub's second anniversary on September 27, 1975, his first reaction was decidedly mixed. He recalled in 2013, "When I got to Wigan, I refused to go in! It scared me because it looked so rough! I'd been playing these fabulous clubs. When I looked at the outside, I said to the driver, 'you must be at the wrong place.' He said, 'Tommy, wait 'til you get inside.' When I walked in
When I think of the songs of Jackie Trent, I think of the big sound, the pulsating brass, the bold vibrancy, the irresistible beat, the drive. With her first husband Tony Hatch, Trent penned some of the most indelible songs of a golden age of pop music – “I Couldn’t Live Without Your Love,” “Don’t Sleep in the Subway,” “The Other Man’s Grass is Always Greener,” “Joanna” – and saw her work recorded by many of the era’s most remarkable performers, among them Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Scott