Eddie Hardin and Pete York first met as members of The Spencer Davis Group. York, the drummer, was a founding member of Davis’ outfit while keyboardist-singer Hardin joined in 1967 to fill the void left by Steve Winwood. As they refined the sound of the “new” Group, Hardin and York developed their own rapport but found themselves at odds with their bandmates. York was moving in a more improvised, jazz-oriented direction and Hardin was more interested in songwriting; both men left the Group in October 1968. Months later, they reunited, and soon…
Shine It on Me: Cherry Red Celebrates Guitarist Ray Fenwick on New Anthology
In a career spanning eight decades, guitarist Ray Fenwick has played pop, prog, hard rock, rhythm and blues, rock-and-roll, and just about every genre conceivable. He’s curated a new 3-CD compendium for Cherry Red’s Lemon imprint appropriately entitled Playing Through the Changes: Anthology 1964-2020, bringing together 61 tracks (some previously unreleased and new to CD) on which his guitar is heard alongside The Spencer Davis Group, Roger Glover, Ronnie James Dio, David Coverdale, Bo Diddley, Ian Gillan, Graham Bonnet, The Syndicats, James Burton, Hardin and York, and many others. It covers his…
Look at the View: Cherry Red’s New Strawberry Imprint Collects Mod, Pop, Psych, and Freakbeat on “Halcyon Days”
Last year, Cherry Red’s RPM imprint closed up shop after almost 30 years and some 600+ releases. But a new imprint was announced to pick up where RPM left off: Strawberry. Its inaugural collection, Halcyon Days: ’60s Mod, R&B, Brit Soul, and Freakbeat Nuggets has proved an auspicious debut for the imprint with big shoes to fill. The 3-CD collection traces the development of ’60s British soul and R&B from the mod period to the first flowering of psychedelia featuring a blend of names both familiar (The Animals, The Kinks, David Bowie,…
I’ll Be Doggone: Ace Collects U.K. Motown Covers From The Hollies, Dusty, Cilla, and More
Ace Records has released a number of splendid Motown collections in recent years, but now the label is taking a different approach to the music of Hitsville, USA. As Motown celebrates its landmark 60th anniversary, On the Detroit Beat: Motor City Soul – U.K. Style 1963-1967 brings together 24 diverse British interpretations of Motown classics, making for a potent reminder that the Sound of Young America was, truly, international. Compiler Tony Rounce helpfully points out in his liner notes that Motown was far from an overnight sensation in the U.K.; some 40…
What a Groovy Day: Cherry Red’s Grapefruit Records Celebrates “The British Psychedelic Sounds of 1969”
Cherry Red’s Grapefruit imprint has recently released the latest volume in its year-by-year chronicle of British psychedelia. Try a Little Sunshine: The British Psychedelic Sounds of 1969 follows Let’s Go Down and Blow Our Minds (1967) and Looking at Pictures in the Sky (1968) with 3 CDs and 73 tracks from another fascinating year in music history. The box explores the various musical strains impacted by psychedelia, such as pop (including bubblegum, baroque, and sunshine/harmony pop), progressive rock, folk, and singer-songwriter. Tracks have been freed from the vaults of the labels like…
David Bowie, Moody Blues, Procol Harum, The Move Featured On “Let’s Go Down and Blow Our Minds” Box
Cherry Red’s Grapefruit imprint has continued its series of box sets – including Love, Poetry and Revolution and I’m a Freak Baby – with another musical journey through the world of British psych and rock. Let’s Go Down and Blow Our Minds is a more focused collection than either of those past two releases, concentrating solely on the U.K.’s psychedelic sounds of 1967. Of course, you won’t find selections from two of that year’s landmark psych-rock releases, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band or Their Satanic Majesties’ Request, here, but you will…
With Their New Face On: RPM Collects Spencer Davis Group’s “Complete Recordings 1967-1969”
Cherry Red’s RPM Records has just celebrated the legacy of The Spencer Davis Group with a new 3-CD box set. Taking Out Time: Complete Recordings 1967-1979 brings together two complete albums with a host of singles, soundtrack performances, BBC sessions and rarities to paint a full portrait of the group’s “Mk. II” years in which Eddie Hardin, Phil Sawyer, Ray Fenwick, Nigel Olsson and Dee Murray all passed through its ranks. This release can be considered an expansion of RPM’s 2000 release of 20 tracks from the same period, similarly titled (just)…
Release Round-Up: Week of August 19
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! The Turtles, The Complete Original Album Collection (Manifesto/FloEdCo) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The definitive Turtles box set is here! The Complete Original Albums Collection presents all six albums released by The Turtles between 1965 and 1970, expanded with rare bonus material. Each of the group’s first three albums — It Ain’t Me Babe, You Baby and Happy Together — is presented in its original mono and stereo mixes, while each of the remaining three — The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands, Turtle Soup and Wooden Head -boast rare bonus tracks, including previously…
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