Doris Troy to Be Rediscovered on New Compilation

Interest in Doris Troy was piqued late last year, when her one LP for Apple Records was included in EMI’s series of Apple reissues. Now, U.K. label Kent is offering fans another step in discovering the “Just One Look” singer on CD: I’ll Do Anything: The Doris Troy Anthology 1960-1996.

This heavily-packed single-disc anthology includes an equal amount of hits and rarities, from Troy’s early years as a little-known soul singer on many small labels, to her beloved time on Atlantic in the mid-’60s (with stints on Cameo-Parkway and Capitol), to her run on Apple and beyond. The set includes several tracks that have never made it to CD, including the early singles and the unreleased “Smilin’/Let Me Make Love to You” (the latter a cover of an O’Jays song). The liner notes include excerpts from a 1995 interview with Troy.

It streets in the U.K. on January 31; find it here and get the track list after the jump.

Doris Troy, I’ll Do Anything: The Doris Troy Anthology 1960-1996 (Kent (U.K.), 2011)

1. I’ll Do Anything (He Wants Me to Do)
2. Face Up to the Truth
3. Just One Look
4. You Better Mind
5. What a Night, Night, Night
6. What a Wonderful Lover
7. Tell Him I’m Not Home – Chuck Jackson
8. What’cha Gonna Do About It
9. Tomorrow is Another Day
10. Lazy Days (When Are You Coming Home)
11. Time
12. But I Love Him
13. Please Little Angel
14. One More Chance
15. Beg Me – Chuck Jackson
16. Hurry
17. He Don’t Belong to Me
18. Heartaches
19. He’s Qualified
20. Ain’t That Cute
21. You Tore Me Up Inside
22. Don’t Tell Your Mama
23. Can’t Hold On
24. Smilin’/Let Me Make Love to You (Medley) – (With Vy Higginsen)
25. Hear Me Calling – James Hunter
26. Take My Hand, Precious Lord

Track 1 from Cameo-Parkway single C-101, 1966
Tracks 2 and 19 from Capitol single 2043, 1967
Tracks 3, 8, 10 and 11 from Just One Look (Atlantic, 1963)
Track 4 from Shirley single 101, 1960
Track 5 from Arliss single 1008, 1961
Track 6 from Everest single 19327, 1960
Track 7 from Stateside single SS 171, 1963
Track 9 from Atlantic single AT-4011, 1964
Track 12 from Mojo single 2092 011, 1971
Tracks 13-14 from Atlantic single AT-4020, 1965
Track 15 from Pye International single 7N-25247, 1964
Tracks 16-17 from Atlantic single 2269, 1965
Track 18 from Atlantic single AT-4032, 1965
Track 20-21 from Doris Troy (Apple, 1970)
Track 22 from Stretchin’ Out (People, 1974)
Track 23 from Midland International single Mb-11082, 1977
Track 24 previously unreleased
All other tracks – exact origins unknown

Big Country’s Moscow Show to Be Reissued

Not exactly sure of the exact origins of this set, but exciting news either way: Slicing Up Eyeballs reports a reissue of Big Country’s famed 1988 Moscow show on CD and DVD.

The Scottish rockers were one of the first acts from the West to play the U.S.S.R., and this set – first released on the band’s Track Record label in 2009 and getting a wider release now – captures that show at the Palace of Sports in September of 1988, as the band promoted their newest LP, Peace in Our Time (1988). The band haven’t gotten much widespread catalogue attention in the CD era (though the Track Record label has put out plenty of compilations of demos, outtakes and remixes), but perhaps this wider release will be the start of something bigger for them.

Order the set from Amazon here and hit the jump for the track list.

The Show That Never Ends: ELP Catalogue Moving Abroad with New Compilation

One of the big music business stories today is that Pink Floyd ended their disputes with EMI and signed a new deal to keep their catalogue with the beleaguered label. However, another ’70s rock group – the prog-rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer – recently jumped from one label to another, and the first fruits of their new partnership are about to be released.

ELP inked a worldwide deal with Sony in March – having initially signed with Island/Manticore in the U.K. and Cotillion/Atlantic in the U.S. (parts of their back catalogue have been reissued and expanded in various territories by Universal, Rhino and even Shout! Factory, who released last year’s A Time and a Place box set) – and the first two phases of this campaign involve a new compilation – The Essential Emerson, Lake & Palmer, to be released in the U.K. next week – and straight reissues of the band’s first four studio LPs and two live albums (in total, that’s Emerson, Lake & Palmer (1970), Tarkus (1971), Pictures at an Exhibition (1971), Trilogy (1972), Brain Salad Surgery (1973) and Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends…Ladies and Gentlemen, Emerson, Lake & Palmer (1974)).

Music pundits like to pontificate on how the bottom will drop out of the music industry as more and more artists will assume control of their own masters. But if ELP (or Paul McCartney, or Queen) is any indication (all three bands having switched from one major to another), the labels aren’t in as dire straits as they seem – reissue-wise, at least.

After the jump, the track list for The Essential ELP.

Gold Reissues Coming Soon for Collins, Taylor, Wonder

Audiophile specialist label Audio Fidelity has announced its initial trio of 24K Gold CD reissues for 2011, and it is comprised of three familiar names, all of whom have previously had titles reissued on the label: Phil Collins, James Taylor and Stevie Wonder.

Already having tackled the gold CD of Collins’ 1981 solo debut Face Value, Steve Hoffman returns to remaster the artist’s 1985 breakthrough, No Jacket Required. Spawning four U.S. Top 10 singles, No Jacket Required was the former Genesis drummer’s third solo LP (Audio Fidelity has revealed no plans yet to reissue 1982’s Hello, I Must Be Going) and first to go No. 1 in the U.S. Quite simply, this record is a juggernaut, with “One More Night,” “Take Me Home” and leadoff track “Sussudio” all ubiquitous. Sting even makes a guest appearance on “Long Long Way to Go.”

1974’s Walking Man was James Taylor’s fifth studio LP, and followed 1972’s One Man Dog, itself recently reissued by Audio Fidelity. Like One Man Dog, Walking Man has been remastered by Steve Hoffman. Produced by guitarist David Spinozza, this underrated and overlooked LP found Taylor moving away from the introspective, acoustic sound of his commercial peak and experimenting with horn and string arrangements as well as excursions into jazz, folk and edgier rock. The latter is represented by “Rock ‘n’ Roll is Music Now” (on-the-nose title, no?) where Taylor is joined by his old friend Paul McCartney as well as McCartney’s wife Linda and Taylor’s wife Carly Simon. The same group adds background vocals to “Let It All Fall Down,” while Simon appears on a number of tracks. In addition to his own material, Taylor covers Chuck Berry’s “The Promised Land” as well as Joey Levine and Spinozza’s “Ain’t No Song.” While Walking Man didn’t yield any hit singles, Taylor would find his commercial groove again with the following year’s Gorilla, on which he introduced “Mexico” and famously gave new life to “How Sweet It Is (to Be Loved by You).”

The same year as Walking Man, Stevie Wonder released Fulfillingness’ First Finale. Like Taylor’s LP, Wonder’s remains an overlooked title in his catalogue, largely because the singles weren’t overtly radio-friendly. While Fulfillingness isn’t Wonder’s most accessible LP, it’s as rewarding than any of his other, more familiar titles. It boasts the electrifying “Boogie On Reggae Woman” and an angry message to President Nixon, “You Haven’t Done Nothin’.” Wonder is joined by an illustrious “who’s who” of background vocalists, including Paul Anka, The Jackson 5, Minnie Riperton, the Persuasions, Syreeta Wright and Deniece Williams, and Funk Brother James Jamerson lays down some killer bass on “Too Shy to Say.” Kevin Gray handles the remastering honors as he has done for the label’s reissues of two other prime Wonder classics, Music of My Mind and Talking Book. Fulfillingness’ First Finale took home the statue for Album of the Year at the 1975 Grammy Awards; Wonder had received the same award the previous year for Innervisions and would again take it in 1977 for Songs in the Key of Life. Upon accepting Album of the Year in 1976 for Still Crazy After All These Years, Paul Simon famously thanked Wonder for not releasing an album that year!

Hit the jump for pre-order information, track listings and full discographical information!

Release Round-Up: Week of January 4

Another short schedule for the first week of 2011.

Various Artists, Icon (UMe)

As detailed in this post, a variety of releases in Universal’s budget compilation series are released today. Unlike previous batches, though, they’re either fairly comprehensive or feature some neat rarities here and there.

Ella Fitzgerald, Twelve Nights in Hollywood Vol. 1 & 2 / Vol. 3 & 4 (Verve)

A pair of double-disc live sets first released as a full box set by Hip-o Select in 2009. (Vol. 1 & 2 at Amazon, Vol. 3 & 4 at Amazon)