New Reissues Fit Hip-o Select to a “Tee”

After a few days of shuttering their website for some repairs, Hip-o Select is back with a bang, announcing four new titles ready for order.

The first three we already knew about per our chat with Harry Weinger in May: a trio of titles devoted to the late soul queen Teena Marie. Her second and third albums, Lady T and Irons in the Fire, both released in 1980, are being remastered and expanded by Select.

Featuring production from Teena herself as well as Richard Rudolph, husband and songwriting partner of recently-deceased soul legend Minnie Riperton (“Too Many Colors (Tee’s Interlude)” features vocals from the couple’s daughter, future actress/comedienne Maya Rudolph), the albums were an expansion of Tee’s soul-funk sound established on Wild and Peaceful (1979) and featured her most successful single at the time, “I Need Your Lovin’,” which hit the bottom of the Top 40 in 1980 and was a Top 10 R&B hit.

There’s some interesting bonus material on each disc, too: Lady T is augmented by three mixes of “Behind the Groove,” a Top 10 hit in England. One is the original LP mix of the track that was soon replaced by the more familiar version that kicks off the album, and the other two are unreleased remixes overseen by Rick James in 1980 and John Morales in 2011. Irons, meanwhile, features five newly remixed tracks from Teena’s killer set in Long Beach, California in July 1981. Four of them have been released before, either as bonus tracks from other reissues or as part of the larger show with Rick James and the Stone City Band that was included in the deluxe package of James’ Street Songs (1981).

But that’s not all from either Tee or Select. Hit the jump to read on about two other titles ready to order from the label!Select has one more Teena Marie release to offer: an expansion of the digital-only set First Class Love: Rare Tee released earlier this year. That 12-track anthology featured alternate and unreleased versions of classic Teena tracks from her tenure at Motown. For the physical version, six of those tracks have been remixed and included alongside the other vault tracks. But that’s not all: the first disc closes out with a few more mixes of some of those songs that were apparently commissioned for an unreleased LP circa 1983. (By this point, Teena had already engaged in a contentious battle over her contract with Motown and jumped ship to Epic.) And if that wasn’t enough, another disc features several of these songs and a few others in raw acoustic demo form.

And finally, there’s one other non-Teena release coming from Verve Select: a straight reissue of Buddy and The Juniors, a 1970 album recorded by blues legend Buddy Guy in a raw, unrehearsed session with vocalist/harmonica player Junior Wells and pianist Junior Mance. This is the first domestic CD release for the album.

All order pages and discographical info can be found below.

Teena Marie, Lady T: Expanded Edition (Motown/Hip-o Select B0015495-02, 2011)

1. Behind the Groove
2. Now That I Have You
3. Lonely Desire
4. Aladdin’s Lamp
5. You’re All the Boogie I Need
6. Can It Be Love
7. Young Girl in Love
8. Why Did I Fall in Love with You
9. Too Many Colors (Tee’s Interlude)
10. Behind the Groove (Original LP Mix)
11. Behind the Groove (Rick James Mix)
12. Behind the Groove (The Missing M+M 12″ Mix)

Tracks 2-10 released as Gordy LP G7-992R1, 1980 – Track 1 featured on later pressings of the album. Tracks 11-12 previously unreleased.

Teena Marie, Irons in the Fire: Expanded Edition (Motown/Hip-o Select B0015494-02, 2011)

1. I Need Your Lovin’
2. Young Love
3. First Class Love
4. Irons in the Fire
5. Chains
6. You Make Love Like Springtime
7. Tune in Tomorrow
8. You Make Love Like Springtime (Reprise)
9. I’m a Sucker for Your Love (Live in Long Beach, CA – 7/30/1981) (Extended)
10. I Need Your Lovin’ (Live in Long Beach, CA – 7/30/1981)
11. Someday We’ll All Be Free (Live in Long Beach, CA – 7/30/1981) (Alternate Mix)
12. Deja Vu (Live in Long Beach, CA – 7/30/1981) (Alternate Mix)
13. Square Biz (Live in Long Beach, CA – 7/30/1981) (Alternate Mix)

Tracks 1-8 released as Gordy LP G8-997M1, 1980. Original mixes of Tracks 9 and 13 from Street Songs: Deluxe Edition (Motown 440 014 696-2, 2001). Track 10 previously unreleased. Original mixes of Tracks 11-12 from reissue of It Must Be Magic (Motown 440 064 988-2, 2002).

Teena Marie, First Class Love: Rare Tee (Motown/Hip-o Select B0015475-02, 2011)

Disc 1

1. First Class Love (Early Version) (2011 Mix)
2. More Love (2011 Mix)
3. Wasn’t I Good to You (2011 Mix)
4. Love Just Wouldn’t Be Right (2011 Mix)
5. You Got Away (2011 Mix)
6. Oh Love (Duet with Ronnie McNeir) (2011 Mix)
7. Betcha I’ll Prove (Duet with Ronnie McNeir)
8. My Baby Loves Me (Duet with Ronnie McNeir)
9. White Soul
10. Can You Do It
11. Why Can’t I Get Next to You
12. Co-Pilot to Pilot
13. Hey Boy
14. Don’t Turn Your Back on Me
15. Wasn’t I Good to You (1983 Mix)
16. Love Just Wouldn’t Be Right (1983 Mix)
17. You Got Away (1983 Mix)
18. Oh Love (Duet with Ronnie McNeir) (1983 Mix)

Disc 2: Acoustic Demos

1. First Class Love (Demo)
2. Don’t Turn Your Back on Me (Demo)
3. God Has Created (Demo)
4. Wasn’t I Good to You (Demo)
5. Why Can’t I Get Next to You (Demo)
6. Happiness is in Your Soul (Demo)
7. Make You Surrey (Demo)
8. The Greatest Love of All Time (Demo)

Original mixes of Disc 1, Tracks 1-6 and 9-14 released as digital edition of First Class Love: Rare Tee (Motown/Hip-o Select, 2011). All other tracks previously unreleased.

Buddy Guy with Junior Wells and Junior Mance, Buddy and the Juniors (originally released as Blue Thumb Records BTS-20, 1970 – reissued Verve/Hip-o Select, 2011)

1. Talkin’ ‘Bout Women Obviously
2. Riffin’ (a.k.a. A Motif is Just a Riff)
3. Buddy’s Blues
4. Hoochie Coochie Man
5. Five Long Years
6. Rock Me Mama
7. Ain’t No Need