Ace’s Songwriter Series and Black America Sings compilations always promise a good time, but their latest may have outdone them all: a hits and rarities packed tribute to the songs, sound and style of Stevie Wonder. Black America Sings Stevie Wonder, available March 27, collects 20 compositions by the Motown legend from across the pop and soul diaspora. From familiar tracks in less familiar versions to songs he gave others both on and off the label he was part of for more than half a century, there’s quite a bit to appreciate here,…
Q’s Cues: New ‘Écoutez Le Cinéma’ Box Celebrates the Music of Quincy Jones
When Rhino released Q: The Musical Biography of Quincy Jones – a 4CD, 74-track collection – in 2001, it was a valiant attempt to tell a story that was still being written. The gifted bandleader, composer and producer, who passed away at the age of 91 in 2024, had an enduring way with sound, be it jazz, pop, R&B, rock or even film and television scoring. His decades of work with the 20th century’s greatest luminaries made him a tremendous (if controversial) raconteur, with countless stories to tell and luminaries to work alongside….
Release Round-Up: Week of December 6
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles out today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Laura Nyro, Hear My Song: The Collection 1966-1995 (Madfish) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Madfish) Over three years after the release of its 8LP vinyl box set American Dreamer 1967-1978, the Madfish label is returning to the discography of late singer-songwriter Laura Nyro for the 19CD box set Hear My Song: The Collection 1966-1995. This collection includes every one of Nyro’s original studio albums, six live albums (two of which are previously…
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Mellow as a Shower on a Summer’s Day: SoulMusic Celebrates Nancy Wilson on “You’re as Right as Rain: The Capitol Albums 1970-1980”
For over 20 years, Nancy Wilson was a mainstay of the Capitol Records label. Deftly blending jazz, pop, soul, and rhythm and blues, the late chanteuse’s distinctive tone anchored collaborations with the illustrious likes of Billy May, George Shearing, Cannonball Adderley, Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, Thom Bell, Eugene McDaniels, and numerous others. A sprawling new box set from Cherry Red’s SoulMusic Records in association with The Second Disc brings her second decade with Capitol into sharp focus. Due on December 6, You’re as Right as Rain: The Capitol Albums 1970-1980 contains…
The Weekend Stream: June 3, 2023
Welcome to The Weekend Stream, a relaxing review of notable digital-only catalogue titles. There may be no CD or vinyl, but there’s plenty of great new/old music to usher you into the weekend. Our latest round-up brings new music from Joan Jett, terrific live rarities from Bruce Springsteen, a band with a lot more going on than their name, and a tribute to one of the 20th century’s greatest lyricists. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, The Darkness Tour ’78 (Columbia/Legacy) (iTunes / Amazon) Following up a record as lauded as…
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The Weekend Stream: November 20, 2021
Welcome to The Weekend Stream, a relaxing weekly review of notable digital-only catalogue titles. There may be no CD or vinyl, but there’s plenty of great new/old music to discover! This week features some new remixes for Marvin Gaye and Teddy Pendergrass, a revisit of Josh Groban’s debut and some great rarities for soul and alt-rock fans. Marvin Gaye + SaLaAM ReMi, Save the World Remix Suite (Motown/UMe) (iTunes / Spotify / Amazon) From remixer SaLaAM ReMi – who helped organize Gaye’s aborted You’re the Man into proper release in 2019 –…
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The Second Disc Guide to Record Store Day Drop 1 TOMORROW!
Once again, Record Store Day here in the U.S. looks a little – make that a lot – different this year. The usual offerings have been split among two dates in 2021 with Drop 1 taking place tomorrow, June 12, at your local independent record retailer. Drop 2 then takes place on July 17. Every retailer is handling the Drop a bit differently thanks to the necessary accommodations for social distancing, smaller crowds, and better safety precautions. So please check in with your favorite store to find out more information. Below, you’ll…
Release Round-Up: Week of May 7
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! New Order, Education Entertainment Recreation (Live at Alexandra Palace) (Rhino) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD/BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD/BD/3LP (Clear Vinyl) Box Set: New Order Store Education Entertainment Recreation (Live at Alexandra Palace) documents New Order’s only U.K. show of 2018. The November 9 gig was played at London’s Alexandra Palace with the current line-up of Bernard Sumner, Stephen Morris, Gillian Gilbert, Phil Cunningham, and Tom Chapman. At 2 hours and 20 minutes in length, the band celebrated its 2015 release Music Complete in addition to…
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In Your Eyes: Mondo Expands ‘Say Anything…’ Soundtrack with Unreleased Material
Soundtrack vinyl label Mondo offers a killer new expanded release this week that’ll make even the staunchest opponent to selling, buying or processing anything reconsider their position: the stirring soundtrack to 1989 romantic comedy Say Anything… Already lauded for his teenaged work as a journalist for Rolling Stone (which inspired his 2000 film Almost Famous) and the book-turned-’80s film classic Fast Times At Ridgemont High, screenwriter Cameron Crowe made his directorial debut with this unlikely hit about a high school valedictorian (Ione Skye) who falls for an underachieving misfit classmate (Jon Cusack). The film’s mixture of sweetness…
Stop! And Think It Over: Perry Como’s Color “Music Hall” DVD Features Nancy Wilson, Bobbie Gentry, George Carlin
For a staggering six decades, Perry Como was a welcome presence on television screens with his long-running, award-winning programs. Perhaps no recording artist used the medium of television as well as Mr. C did, all the while charting dozens of hit records including “Catch a Falling Star,” “Magic Moments,” and “It’s Impossible.” Last year saw a new PBS biography and song retrospective (Till The End Of Time – Perry Como Classics) and an accompanying 4-CD set with 100 original recordings spanning Como’s five decades with RCA Records, including dozens of rare and…
Review: “Music from Vanilla Sky” and “Orange County: The Soundtrack” LPs From Real Gone
Real Gone Music has recently given soundtrack lovers and vinyl aficionados something to talk about with two new color vinyl reissues of turn-of-the-millennium soundtracks: Music from Vanilla Sky (on “blue cloud” vinyl) and Orange County: The Soundtrack (on orange vinyl). The plots of both films are tied to the music within. The soundtrack for the far-out Vanilla Sky shifts moods and tones while maintaining some sense of cohesion as it takes listeners from classic rock to folk, trance and hip-hop. Meanwhile, Orange County‘s soundtrack is more of a music time capsule of the late-’90s and early ’00s rock and hip-hop…
In Memoriam: Nancy Wilson (1937-2018)
Vocalist, activist, storyteller, actress, host and personality of television and radio. All were apt descriptions for Nancy Wilson, but the one she preferred most was, simply, “song stylist.” For when Nancy Wilson, who died at the age of 81 on Thursday, stepped up to a microphone, she inevitably made whatever composition she was singing – however familiar – all her own. Wilson’s singular style, somehow both smoky and creamy, was rooted in jazz, but incorporated pop, rhythm and blues, and above all, soul. When she embraced the bold rhythms of dance and…
Sweetness Follows: Real Gone Announces “Music From Vanilla Sky” and “Orange County” on LP
Last month, Real Gone Music announced the release of seven Christmas-related goodies, including a pair of joint releases with Second Disc Records. But, as temperatures fall, Real Gone plans to bring more than just holiday melodies to keep listeners warm this winter. On December 14, the label will release limited-edition, two-disc colored vinyl sets of two cult film soundtracks: Music From Vanilla Sky and Orange County: The Soundtrack. Vanilla Sky was Cameron Crowe’s seventh film. Based on Alejandro Amenábar’s 1997 psychological thriller, Abre los ojos (Open Your Eyes), it follows the reflections of a real estate magnate as he tries…
Release Round-Up: Week of June 30
Welcome to our final Tuesday Release Round-Up – and it’s a doozy! As many of you know, the record industry will next week adopt a universal Friday release day. No releases are scheduled for Tuesday, July 7; instead, Friday, July 10 is the date! DVDs and Blu-rays will, for the foreseeable future, remain released on Tuesdays. We’ll resume with a new Release Round-Up on Friday, July 10! Ronny and the Daytonas, The Complete Recordings (2-CD Set) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) / The Viscounts, Harlem Nocturne (Limited Mini LP Sleeve Edition) (Amazon U.S….
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Heavy “Drama”: SoulMusic Slate Includes The Dramatics, Nancy Wilson, D.J. Rogers
As the old expression goes, all good things must come to an end. And so Nancy Wilson’s 37-album, 20-year tenure at Capitol Records ended in 1980 with the release of Take My Love. At Capitol, Wilson had proved her mastery of Broadway, Hollywood, traditional vocal jazz, fusion jazz, pop and soul, and had collaborated with the likes of George Shearing, Cannonball Adderley, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, Thom Bell, and Oliver Nelson. On her final Capitol LP, Wilson enlisted producers Larry Farrow and Carolyn Johns with whom she had worked on Life,…
SoulMusic Records Is “Born to Love” With Reissues from Peabo and Roberta, Nancy Wilson and Tavares
With its latest batch of reissues, including titles from Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack, Tavares, and Nancy Wilson, Cherry Red’s SoulMusic Records imprint can truly be said to cover a wide swath of the soulful spectrum. Duets have long been staples of great R&B. Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway, James Ingram and Patti Austin, and Otis Redding and Carla Thomas – just to name a few in the pantheon – all proved that “it takes two.” (That title, in fact, gave Gaye and Kim Weston a hit.) …
Good Love: SoulMusic Expands Two From Nancy Wilson and Meli’sa Morgan
Following its 2012 reissue of R&B songstress Meli’sa Morgan‘s Capitol Records debut Do Me Baby, Cherry Red’s SoulMusic Records imprint has turned its attention to Morgan’s second long-player for the label. Good Love built on the success of Do Me Baby. Besides boasting a No. 1 R&B title track, the album established the Queens-born Morgan as a top R&B talent in her own right. She had previously sung on background vocals for the likes of Whitney Houston and Kashif, and fronted the groups Shades of Love and High Fashion, but her rendition…
Nancy Wilson Goes Pop and Philly Soul With New Two-For-One CD Reissue
By 1970, Nancy Wilson had already been a marquee recording artist for Capitol Records for a decade. The supreme song stylist never allowed herself to be pigeonholed into one musical style, having made her successful debut single with a Broadway showtune (“Guess Who I Saw Today”), dabbled in R&B (“Save Your Love for Me”) and collaborated with jazz greats such as Cannonball Adderley and George Shearing. All in all, Wilson was a leading light of adult pop, selling out nightclubs and even playing a Vegas club singer on television’s I Spy. But…
Release Round-Up: Week of April 2
The S.O.S. Band / Cherrelle / Alexander O’Neal, “Tabu Reborn” Vinyl Editions (Wave 1) (Tabu/Edsel) The start of a lengthy reissue campaign from Demon Music Group, these are 180-gram vinyl reissues of The S.O.S. Band’s III (1982), Cherrelle’s 1984 debut Fragile, and Alexander O’Neal’s self-titled debut from 1985. Expanded editions of these albums come out on CD next week, followed by a great many more waves of product throughout 2013 and into 2014! S.O.S. Band: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Cherrelle: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Alexander O’Neal: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. The Four Tops / Martha Reeves…
Little Bit O’Soul: Thelma Houston, Syreeta, Nancy Wilson, Brecker Brothers, George Duke Reissued
Soul music was alive and well in 2012, and some of the finest reissues arrived courtesy of Cherry Red’s SoulMusic Records label. With the label already looking forward to 2013 releases from artists including Ronnie Laws, Patti Austin, Stephanie Mills, George Duke, Gwen Guthrie and Freda Payne (more on those soon), the time is right to revisit some of the year-end titles that might have fallen under the radar! In addition to celebrating the post-Motown recordings of Mary Wells at 20th Century Fox and The Miracles at Columbia Records, two other Motown-centric…
Dionne, Natalie, Nancy Reissues Coming from Soulmusic Label
Cherry Red’s got soul. Mike and I reported last week on the impressive slate planned by Cherry Red’s Big Break Records label. A smaller yet equally rich line-up is on the way from another Cherry Red division, Soulmusic.com Records.On February 14 in the U.K. and one week later stateside, the label will reissue five classic albums from a trio of accomplished vocalists: Nancy Wilson, Dionne Warwick and Natalie Cole. Perhaps most exciting is the two-on-one CD release of Wilson’s 1974 Capitol LP All in Love is Fair and its follow-up, 1975’s Come Get to This….
