To an entire generation of families, Peabo Bryson was the voice behind the end-credit versions of the beloved Disney animated themes “Beauty and the Beast” and “A Whole New World” from Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, respectively. But long before – and well after – he brought to life the melodies of Alan Menken and lyrics of Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, Bryson distinguished himself as one of the richest, smoothest, and most versatile voices in contemporary R&B. Yesterday evening, June 2, family announced his death at the age of 75…
Tale As Old As Time: ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Added to Disney’s Legacy Collection (UPDATED 2/9)
After two years of dormancy, Walt Disney Records’ archival series, The Legacy Collection, swung back into stores last year with an expanded edition of the music to 1973’s Robin Hood. Now, The Legacy Collection is giving the red-carpet treatment to one of the studio’s most popular films: 1991’s Beauty and the Beast. After initial Amazon solicitations indicated that Beauty would be reissued (this revelation following a separate confirmation by engineer Bruce Botnick of his involvement in a future expansion of the soundtrack to Disney’s follow-up film Aladdin (1992)), the Disney Music Emporium…
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.) …
The Softer Side of UMe’s Budget Compilation Lines: “Ballads” Released
Having recently introduced some EMI-controlled artists to the ICON roster, Universal now incorporates some of those artists (and some of their most treasured R&B and country acts) into a new budget-oriented series, Ballads. And while none of the artists covered here really, truly need more compilations on the market – and, one can assume, the assembly of these is as low-impact as the ICON series – there’s actually some promise to be had here. The overall selection of artists isn’t terrible, particularly on the EMI side; new sets from culled from the catalogues of Peabo…
Release Round-Up: Week of March 15
Queen, Queen / Queen II / Sheer Heart Attack / A Night at the Opera / A Day at the Races: Deluxe Editions (Island/UMe) Deluxe editions of the band’s first five albums are out in the U.K., all remastered with bonus discs of rare or unreleased content. (They’ll be out in the U.S. in May!) (Official site) Nick Lowe, Labour of Lust (Proper (U.K.)/Yep Roc (U.S.)) Lowe’s New Wave classic, featuring the immortal “Cruel to Be Kind,” is reissued on both sides of the Atlantic, featuring all the tracks heard on original…
Cherry Red Reissues A-Plenty in March
As if the impressive release schedule from Big Break Records wasn’t enough to excite catalogue fans, next month will see another impressive wave of reissues from other labels in the Cherry Red family. 7Ts, Cherry Pop and Soul Music are all planning some impressive remastered and expanded discs which will bring some pop, rock and R&B acts from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s back into print. From 7Ts comes expansions of the first two LPs by singer/actress Suzi Quatro. While these two glam-rock LPs attracted little attention in the U.S., they were…
