Let’s Fall in Love with New Jackson 5 Rarities Set from Hip-O Select

If hearing Bad-era demos and live material aren’t enough of a Michael Jackson fix for you next month, the fine vaultkeepers at Motown have a set for you: 32 previously-unreleased tunes by The Jackson 5 are coming from Hip-O Select.

Come and Get It: Rare Pearls champions Michael, Jermaine, Tito, Jackie and Marlon throughout their seven-year tenure on the Motown label; arguably, the last of the great pure pop groups to be signed by the Detroit label (which, within several years of The Jackson 5’s initial success, would move westward to Los Angeles). Though the group’s image and style may have been carefully cultivated, there was little mistaking the raw vocal talent within Michael and his brothers, and countless gems have been dug up for fans to pore over, most recently on the 2009 single-disc compilation I Want You Back! Unreleased Masters.

What Come and Get It has that sets it apart from that set isn’t just more music, but a dazzling array of songs – some of which will be very familiar to fans of rock music in the late ’60s and early ’70s – as well as at least one major gem that stands as one of the true J5 holy grails.

What grooves await you after the jump? Just click to find out!

The Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour” Is Coming to Take You Away

The Magical Mystery Tour is coming to take you away on October 9 when The Beatles’ 1967 feature film arrives on DVD and Blu-ray in a completely restored new edition!  Initially aired on BBC1 television in December, 1967, The Beatles starred in the film opposite a motley crew of performers including Ivor Cutler, Victor Spinetti, Jessie Robins, Nat Jackley, Derek Royle, and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.  Both the DVD and Blu-ray will sport a fully remixed soundtrack (5.1 and stereo) as well as special features such as three new edits of song performances, commentary from Paul McCartney, and scenes that were cut out of the original film including footage with the band Traffic.  A special, boxed deluxe edition will also be available, and, for the first time ever, there will be a limited theatrical release from September 27th.  This Apple Films release follows the recent, acclaimed restoration of Yellow Submarine which was released in the DVD and BD formats earlier this year.

“Paul said ‘Look I’ve got this idea’ and we said ‘great!’ and all he had was this circle and a little dot on the top – that’s where we started,” Ringo Starr recalled of the film that follows one Richard Starkey and his recently widowed Auntie Jessie (Jessie Robins) on a British tour bus. Ringo and Auntie Jesse are joined by tour director Jolly Jimmy Johnson (Derek Royle), hostess Miss Wendy Winters (Mandy Weet), conductor Buster Bloodvessel (Ivor Cutler), and of course, the other Beatles, who portray whimsical magicians alongside pal and road manager Mal Evans.  Victor Spinetti, who also appeared in A Hard Day’s Night and Help! with the Fabs, appeared as an army drill sergeant in one scene in the loosely-plotted, largely unscripted adventure.

Of course, the central attraction of any Beatles film was bound to be the music, and Magical Mystery Tour featured group composition “Flying” and of course, title song “Magical Mystery Tour” in addition to “The Fool on the Hill,” “Your Mother Should Know,” “I Am the Walrus,” “Blue Jay Way” and more.  Those six songs were originally released in the U.K. on a double-EP soundtrack.  (The film itself offers a few more instrumental pieces, and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band even got into the act performing “Death Cab for Cutie.”)  Capitol Records added a few non-album singles to create a Magical Mystery Tour LP that is today a part of the standardized Beatles catalogue.  Both the EP and American LP preceded the television airing of the film.

Hit the jump for more, including the complete list of special features and pre-order links!

Saturday Night Special: Lynyrd Skynyrd “Ultimate Collection” Offers New 5.1 Surround DVD-Audio

Lynyrd Skynyrd’s thirteenth studio album, Last of a Dyin’ Breed, arrived in stores just yesterday, but another recent release may have fans of the Southern rock legends even more excited.  Southern Surroundings: The Ultimate Skynyrd Collection is a Wal-Mart-exclusive 1-CD/2-DVD set, selling at the retail giant’s locations for just $11.88.  (That is, if you can find it; your author visited four locations before procuring a copy!)

Of its three discs, the third is the most unique, and it’s also the disc that gives the new collection its title: a DVD containing full high resolution 5.1 surround mixes of ten Skynyrd classics.  Yes, these all-new discrete mixes have been prepared by the dean of surround sound, Grammy Award winner Elliot Scheiner, and are available in Advanced Resolution Surround in true DVD-Audio format.  A Dolby 5.1 track has also been included for those playing the disc in standard DVD-Video players.  (The songs are also playable in 96 kHz/24-bit stereo on the DVD-A layer and PCM stereo on the standard portion.)  Not only does this title mark a major-label return to the DVD-Audio format, but Scheiner (Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs, Hotel California, The Nightfly) has worked the magic he’s known for in creating a truly immersive surround mix on Skynyrd favorites including “Free Bird” and “Gimme Back My Bullets.”

Top 10 hit “Sweet Home Alabama,” alas, isn’t one of the ten tracks mixed into surround.  But it leads off the CD on Southern Surroundings, which is actually identical to 2000’s anthology All-Time Greatest Hits, with Doug Schwartz’s remastering.  This platinum-selling CD remains a solid single-disc Skynyrd primer, running nearly 75 minutes’ length over fourteen tracks.

What else will you find on the new set?  Hit the jump!  Plus: the full track listing and order link!