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
While The Bee Gees have never truly faded from the popular consciousness, it's fair to say the group founded by Barry Gibb and his late brothers Maurice and Robin is currently experiencing a renaissance. Director Frank Marshall's documentary How Can You Mend a Broken Heart earned acclaim for its candid chronicle of the group's ups and downs while Barry has reaffirmed his legacy with the new album Greenfields: The Gibb Brothers Songbook Vol. 1. On the latter, he's joined by an array of country
Earlier this year, The Second Disc shared news of Rock, Pop and Doo Wop, a 7-DVD collection from Treasury Collection and executive producer-director TJ Lubinsky. Now, with the holidays upon us, a new set featuring dozens of classic hit-makers has just been released: '60s Rock, Pop and Soul. This 4-DVD package has been culled from two decades of Lubinsky's historic television concerts, with 130 hit songs from a "Who's Who" of legendary performers including Frankie Valli ("Can't Take My Eyes
Producer-compiler Bob Stanley's last couple of compilations for Ace have placed him squarely within the 1970s. Earlier this year, Saint Etienne Present Songs for the Fountain Coffee Room (compiled by Stanley, Sarah Cracknell, and Pete Wiggs) conjured "the soundtrack for a bar in mid-'70s Los Angeles," or a St. Etienne-style spin on "yacht rock" with Stephen Bishop, Ned Doheny, Boz Scaggs, and Seals and Crofts among those featured. Stanley has followed Fountain Coffee Room up with a trip to a
Let me take you down... The Beatles' songs were so sturdy and well-crafted that artists such as Matt Monro and Ella Fitzgerald became early adopters. But from the start, John, Paul, George, and Ringo's contemporaries had been just as likely as the older generation to mine their songbook. As the sixties continued and the Beatles ushered in the shift from pop to rock (minus the "and roll"), similarly youthful artists brought their own increasingly adventurous spins to the lads' material.
Earlier this year, Craft Recordings kicked off its celebration of Stax Records' Gospel Truth imprint with a weekly digital album campaign. That series wrapped up on August 28, opening the door for the November 13 release on CD and LP of The Gospel Truth: The Complete Singles Collection. Stax chief Al Bell launched Gospel Truth in 1972, working in close coordination with radio promotions guru/producer/songwriter Dave Clark and Stax staffer Mary Peak Paterson. Early press materials for the
We've already filled you in on Ace's recent anthology collecting works by Philly soul maestro Thom Bell; now we're looking to the American South with another release! Way back in 2012, Ace Records collected the multifaceted sounds of Chips Moman and Don Crews' American Studios on Memphis Boys: The Story of American Studios. The 24-song tribute collection featured such visitors to Memphis as Dusty Springfield, Wilson Pickett, B.J. Thomas, and Solomon Burke as well as Elvis Presley, one of the
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Willie Nelson, First Rose of Spring (Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Willie Nelson's latest studio album emphasizes love and positivity at a time when we all need it most. First Rose of Spring features new Nelson originals co-written with producer and longtime associate Buddy Cannon, as well as new songs from Toby Keith and Chris Stapleton and covers such as "Yesterday When I Was Young." Available on CD, LP, and
By any estimation, 1966 was a pivotal year in rock. On one side of the Atlantic: Pet Sounds, Blonde on Blonde, Sounds of Silence. On the other: Revolver, Fresh Cream, Aftermath. Those albums merely represent the tip of the iceberg, however. 1966 was a year in which psychedelia emerged from the fringes and onto the charts via such artists as The Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, and yes, The Beatles with "Tomorrow Never Knows." The underground scene continued to grow and increasingly attract the
After having previously celebrated two of his musical inspirations - Burt Bacharach and Teddy Randazzo - with their own volumes, Ace's Songwriters and Producers series is turning its attention to legendary soul maestro Thom Bell. On June 26, the label's Kent imprint will release Ready or Not: Philly Soul Arrangements and Productions 1965-1978. As the title indicates, all 23 tracks were either produced or arranged (or both!) by the multi-hyphenate musician-composer-producer-arranger-conductor who
It's time to break out the piña coladas. This Friday, the long-running NOW series will release its second volume of NOW That's What I Call Yacht Rock. This collection of classic songs in the "yacht rock" genre - think: seventies and early eighties soft rock with memorable melodies, sparkling productions, and plenty of saxophones - arrives on CD and in digital/streaming formats, with a 2-LP vinyl set arriving on July 3. With eighteen songs, NOW That's What I Call Yacht Rock 2 boasts return
Today, we're looking at another trio of recent releases from the team at Ace Records! If you missed Part One of our Ace Round-Up, click here! While The Beatles are no doubt Liverpool's most famous musical export, Merseyside - spanning 249 square miles (or 645 square kilometers) bordering Lancashire to the northeast, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south and southeast, and The Irish Sea to the west - yielded an abundance of groups like The Cryin' Shames, Gerry and The
Australia's Playback Records label returned to the scene in 2019 with a pair of new releases and the promise of more to come. Today, we're looking at those new titles from Curtis Mayfield and Timi Yuro! As a writer, producer, and artist - both solo and with The Impressions - Curtis Mayfield (1942-1999) was one of the foremost exponents of Chicago soul. He penned such favorites as Jan Bradley's "Mama Didn't Lie" and Major Lance's "The Monkey Time," not to mention such Impressions hits as
Having previously chronicled 1956-1966 over eleven volumes, Ace has returned to its London American Label series for a last (?) hurrah. The London American Label Year by Year: 1967 is packed with 28 stellar selections to illuminate a year in which the label was in steadfast decline. London had long been the destination for great American records, but the major U.S. companies were launching their own U.K. arms and declining to license to London. This led London to release fewer 45s from
Cherry Red's ongoing series of small clamshell box sets filled with big content make for the perfect stocking stuffer! Here's a look at three more titles you might have missed... Climax Blues Band's The Albums 1973-1976 is the second such box set released this year by Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings imprint, following The Albums 1969-1972. This 4-CD set contains the following albums, culminating in the biggest commercial triumph for the band that began its life as The Climax Chicago Blues
Get Along Down to Town Bakersfield, California is a long way from Nashville - a little under 2,020 miles west, actually. But the distance isn't quite as great when one considers how much significant country music came out of the city in Kern County. Recent years have seen numerous reissues from legendary Bakersfield artists like Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, as well as a fine exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame. But now Bear Family Records has delivered the ultimate tribute to the
Between 1961 and 1970, households across America delighted in an annual series of Christmas releases available exclusively through Goodyear locations. 900,000 copies of the first volume of The Great Songs of Christmas were pressed - and proved so successful that, by December 1, 1961, Goodyear ordered all advertising to stop as the album had already sold out. The following year's order was for 1.5 million albums, and 2 million for 1962. By 1966, the series' astounding order was for 3 million LPs.
Have you caught the Christmas spirit yet? If not, things are very likely to change on Saturday, November 16. That's when TJL Productions debuts a new special on PBS that's sure to get you ready for the holiday season. A Classic Christmas, part of T.J. Lubinsky's acclaimed My Music series, presents an array of yuletide favorites from an all-star roster of legendary artists. Hosted by Marion Ross (Happy Days) and Gavin MacLeod (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Love Boat), A Classic Christmas is
High Moon Records' new collection from Curt Boettcher and Friends, Looking for the Sun, takes its title from a 1968 Boettcher production for singer-songwriter Gordon Alexander. Given Boettcher's participation, one might expect the song to be a dreamy SoCal pop fantasia with richly layered harmonies. But instead it's a rather sparse, dark rumination with an acid coffeehouse feel. Alexander, in the song at least, doesn't find the sun, and arguably, neither did Curt Boettcher in his lifetime. But
Today, we're taking a look at three recent, stellar additions to Ace Records' long-running Songwriter Series! Teddy Randazzo (1935-2003) might have not attained the same "household name" status as some of his peers, but the prodigiously gifted composer-arranger-producer-artist nonetheless left behind a remarkable body of work in a career spanning over five decades. Ace's Yesterday Has Gone: The Songs of Teddy Randazzo is the first-ever anthology of his output, concentrating on the mid-1960s -
The sound of East Los Angeles is spreading far and wide with the November 29 release of a new 4-CD box set. Land of 1,000 Dances: The Rampart Records Complete Singles Collection, which arrives on Black Friday's Record Store Day, offers a comprehensive overview of the groundbreaking Mexican-American rock coming out of East L.A. between 1961 and 1991 on Eddie Davis' Rampart label. The Minky Records release is limited to 1,000 units. Minky has previously mined the Rampart family of labels via
Last week, Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music announced our first release of the Christmas season: Chet Atkins' The Complete RCA Victor and Columbia Christmas Recordings, due on November 8. Today, we're excited to announce two more titles coming your way this holiday season! Between 1961 and 1970, households across America delighted in an annual series of Christmas releases available exclusively through Goodyear locations. 900,000 copies of the first volume of The Great Songs of
This weekend, Motown fans and alumni are descending on Detroit for the ultimate celebration of Hitsville, USA's 60 years of music and memories culminating in the Hitsville Honors gala. But the label doesn't want fans elsewhere to be left out in the cold. In a surprise, the annual digital collection of Motown Unreleased won't be arriving in December, but instead is available now. To mark 60 years, Motown Unreleased 1969 boasts 60 tracks, all recorded in 1969 and left unheard - until now. The
Can the circle be unbroken? asks The Carter Family on the opening track of Legacy Recordings' new 5-CD, 105-song soundtrack to Ken Burns' epic documentary Country Music: A Film by Ken Burns. The 1935 funeral hymn is a most appropriate way to begin this collection exploring the manifold branches of country music, but the tone on the box set is far from funereal as it gallops from "hillbilly music" to blues, folk, western swing, rockabilly, countrypolitan, outlaw country, and beyond. Country Music
The new collection on Ace Records' BGP imprint packs a mighty punch. That's because it's dedicated to Horn Rock (with the equally-important subtitle And Funky Guitar Grooves), that boldest and brassiest of rock subgenres. The phrase "horn rock" immediately brings to mind the sound popularized by Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears (only one of which is represented here) but the added colors afforded by horns were applied to recordings in the baroque-rock, art-rock, psych-rock, and jazz-rock
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