James Brown, The Singles Vol. 10 1975-1979 (Polydor/Hip-o Select) The Godfather of Soul's penultimate complete singles compilation from Select. One more to follow! (Hip-o Select) Carole King and James Taylor, Troubadours: The Rise of the Singer-Songwriter (Hear Music) A new documentary on the California singer/songwriter scene of the 1970s, coupled with a bonus disc of some of the best songs from that period. (Amazon) Various Artists, Icon (UMe) Budget compilations from artists across the
Universal has another batch of Icon titles coming your way. The next wave kicks off with a tribute to recently-deceased Motown luminary Teena Marie on February 15; the rest of the titles are set for a March 1 release. They run the gamut from country (Loretta Lynn, Billy Ray Cyrus) to soul/funk (The Four Tops, Kool & The Gang, The Gap Band) and some rock-oriented surprises (Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh, joke-rockers The Bloodhound Gang). Are there many surprises? Not really, although the
I've been waiting for this one for a long time: Hip-O Select is releasing a new compilation of classic Motown songs in a whole new way. Motown Around the World: The Classic Singles compiles 38 songs from the label as recorded in other languages for international markets. The Supremes, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, The Four Tops, The Velvelettes, Smokey Robinson and Edwin Starr sing the songs you know and love (plus a few folk ballads native to other countries) in Italian, Spanish, French and