For all its influence, it sometimes feels like the Chicago blues label Chess Records doesn’t get the respect it deserves. That changes this fall with a series of new compilations and reissues of old ones, set for release from Universal Music Group to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the label’s creation. Polish immigrants Leonard and Phil Chess became ingratiated into the club scene on the south side of Chicago in the ’30s and ’40s. They were intrigued by the thriving local talent – many of them Black transplants from the Mississippi delta…
Take Me Home Tonight: Liberation Hall Preps Eddie Money, Muddy Waters, Charlie Parker, More for Record Store Day
When it comes to Record Store Day, Liberation Hall sure isn’t kidding around. The label has seven titles from a host of rock, jazz, blues, and folk superstars, all set for release on vinyl at independent record stores everywhere tomorrow, April 22 – but that’s not all. All seven albums have also arrived on CD. Eddie Money’s The Covers (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) brings the late rock-and-roller’s two 2009 EPs together on one album. The eight songs on The Covers encompass the rock spectrum, from the classics (The…
Hey, Love: Vinyl Me, Please Celebrates Cadet Records Legacy on New Anthology Box Set
Following recent releases celebrating The Comedy Store, Ghetto Records, and the Philadelphia International label, the Vinyl Me, Please record club has announced the next title in its lavish Anthology series. The Story of Cadet Records, with eight albums spanning the halcyon era of 1968-1972, is available for pre-order now. Cadet Records emerged in 1965 as the successor to Argo Records, the jazz imprint of Chicago-based rhythm-and-blues label Chess Records. When brothers and co-founders Leonard and Phil Chess discovered that another Argo label existed, they took the opportunity to rebrand Argo as Cadet. …
Release Round-Up: Week of September 17
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Bob Dylan, Springtime in New York: The Bootleg Series Vol. 16 (1980-1985) (Columbia/Legacy) 5CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The latest volume of Bob Dylan’s long-running archival series, Springtime in New York: The Bootleg Series Vol. 16 (1980-1985) covers the period in which Dylan recorded the albums Shot of Love (the final LP in his so-called “Christian trilogy”), Infidels, and Empire Burlesque. While in a creatively fertile period as a songwriter and performer, Dylan was dealing – like everyone else – with the seismic changes that…
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Long Distance Call: “The Montreux Years” Series Continues in September with Marianne Faithfull and Muddy Waters Volumes
Last week, the 55th Montreux Jazz Festival wrapped up in Switzerland. Started in 1967 by Claude Nobs, Geo Voumard and Rene Langel, the yearly festival was at first true to its name and focused exclusively on jazz performers. However, over the years, it has grown to encompass nearly all types of music and has seen a wide range of performers including Etta James, Bob Dylan, Elton John, Lauren Hill, Aretha Franklin, David Bowie, James Brown, Kendrick Lamar, Leonard Cohen, Marvin Gaye, Miles Davis, Nina Simone, and many more. It has also proven…
Off The Handle: Rory Gallagher Rarities Collection “Blues” Arrives From UMC
Eric Clapton once described Rory Gallagher as “the man who got me back into the blues.” Though he never reached the same “household name” fame as Clapton or other contemporaries, Irish guitar legend Gallagher led a movement back to blues roots that began with his band Taste and continued on throughout his solo career from 1971 to 1994. To commemorate 50 years since Gallagher began his recording, UMC has released a new collection that mines the vaults of the celebrated singer and instrumentalist in search of his most bluesy fare. Appropriately titled…
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Rare Power: Legacy Announces Record Store Day Black Friday Slate with Hendrix, Byrds, Joan Jett, More
Seven is Legacy Recordings’ lucky number for this Black Friday’s annual Record Store Day event. On November 23, the label will release seven titles on limited edition vinyl in a variety of genres reflecting the diversity of the Sony vaults. The offerings are highlighted by an EP of mono mixes from Jimi Hendrix; the vinyl debut of the Legacy Edition of The Byrds’ Sweetheart of the Rodeo, coinciding with Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman’s current tour celebrating the album; and more vinyl premieres of rare material from Iggy and The Stooges and…
Release Round-Up: Week of March 16
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Various Artists, Andrew Lloyd Webber: Unmasked – The Platinum Collection (Polydor/UMC) 4CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Let the memory live again! Andrew Lloyd Webber celebrates his 70th birthday and provocative new memoir Unmasked with this 4-CD, 71-track box set of the same name. The career-spanning anthology features many of the composer’s most famed songs from Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar, School of Rock, and more, performed by artists including…
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He’s Ready: Chess and Universal to Release New Muddy Waters Collection
Universal Music Catalogue will issue a new collection celebrating the work of the bluesman born McKinley Morganfield but known the world over as Muddy Waters. Can’t Be Satisfied: The Very Best of Muddy Waters 1948-1975 presents 40 classic tracks from across the singer/guitarist’s tenure on the Chess label. Waters recorded for Chess for most of his life, after being discovered by Alan Lomax in the early 1940s for his Library of Congress-sanctioned sojourn to discover and record local country and blues musicians. From his birthplace of Mississippi, Waters relocated to Chicago, where,…
Charmed and Dangerous: Blind Pig Records Celebrates 40 Years on Anthology
Since 1977, Blind Pig Records has been a leading light for the blues in all its many forms. The label, originally formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan and named for that city’s Blind Pig Café (welcoming musical artists since 1971), has just celebrated its fortieth anniversary with a new 2-CD, 34-track compendium. Blind Pig Records: 40th Anniversary Collection boasts selections from each decade of the Blind Pig story, featuring many recognizable artists and some lesser-known lights that might just become favorites themselves. The tale of Blind Pig Records began when Café owner Jerry…
Do Your Thing: 20 Record Store Day Black Friday Essentials
Are you making a list and checking it twice? We are! Record Store Day Black Friday is here in less than a month, and this week we’re showcasing all of our favorite titles. We’ve shown you the goods from Legacy, Real Gone, Rhino and Omnivore; now, here are 20 more titles we think you should absolutely check out. There’s soundtrack goodies from Varese Sarabande and Light in the Attic; holiday favorites from Bob & Doug McKenzie, Frank Sinatra and “Dolemite” himself; lost gems from Isaac Hayes, The Runaways and Harry Nilsson; and…
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Life Is A Carnival: The Band Celebrates 40 Years of “The Last Waltz” With New Reissues
Forty years ago on Thanksgiving Day 1976, The Band took the stage at San Francisco’s Winterland for their final performance. Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters and others joined Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel for the concert event known as The Last Waltz. Director Martin Scorsese’s film of the evening was released in April 1978, setting a high bar for concert movies. On November 11, Rhino will mark this landmark anniversary of The Last Waltz with four new…
Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Mike Bloomfield, Dr. John Featured On “Soundstage Blues Summit”
Muddy Waters (1913-1983) was frequently considered the father of Chicago blues. Born in Mississippi and discovered there in 1941 by musicologist Alan Lomax, he moved to the Windy City in 1943 and proceeded to refine and redefine the sound of the blues, inspiring not just future artists in the genre but, significantly, those who later created rock-and-roll. In July 1974, some of the country’s premier blues artists joined together onstage in Chicago to celebrate the Muddy Waters legacy with the man himself. On April 21, Legacy Recordings will issue Muddy Waters and…
Sweet Blues: Guitar Legend Mike Bloomfield Celebrated On New Box, Bob Dylan Tracks Debut on Set
The time was 1965, the place was Columbia Records’ studios on Seventh Avenue in New York City between 52nd and 53rd Streets, the occasion was the recording of Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited. Al Kooper – he of the famed organ riff that propelled “Like a Rolling Stone” – recalled, “Suddenly Dylan exploded through the doorway with this bizarre-looking guy carrying a Fender Telecaster guitar without a case. It was weird, because it was storming outside and the guitar was all wet from the rain. But the guy just shuffled over into…
The Second Disc Buyers Guide: The 100 Greatest Reissues of All Time, Part 13 (#40-36)
It’s the lucky thirteenth part of our look at the many reissues of the 100 greatest albums of all time, as selected by Rolling Stone in 2003! We’ll explore the various versions of these classic albums on disc, letting you know which audio treasures can be found on which releases. In today’s group, we get the blues, meet the Brits, head to Laurel Canyon and fall in Love! 40. Love, Forever Changes (Elektra, 1967) Welcome to the Top 40! Released just months after the so-called Summer of Love, Forever Changes was the third…
Even More “ICON” Titles on the Way
Mark your calendars, friends: a new batch of ICON budget compilations are due from Universal. Between May 3 and 24, UMe is releasing a clutch of ICON sets that run the gamut from country (Willie Nelson, Hank Williams) to R&B (New Edition, Kelly Price), from classics (The Mamas & The Paps, Louis Armstrong) to modern day heroes (Gin Blossoms, Rob Zombie). As usual, there’s not much in the way of brand-new or rare material, although some titles have some one-off tunes to their credit. Others, namely Willie Nelson and Louis Armstrong, cover the lesser-known…
A Dozen “Playlist” Sets Due in May
Love ’em or hate ’em, the various budget compilations that come from the major labels are quick, easy ways to get catalogue material out to the masses. Universal’s ICON and Sony’s Playlist series are probably the highest-profile of these series, but the latter is arguably the more beloved of the two, thanks to a concerted effort by some of the producers at Legacy to get rarer tracks on the Playlist discs, whether it’s a rare single version or bonus track from a previous reissue. Legacy has 12 new Playlist titles ready to go for next…
