Review: Taj Mahal, “The Hidden Treasures of Taj Mahal: 1969-1973”

Perhaps Henry Saint Clair Fredericks Jr. just didn’t have the right ring to it?  Whatever the reason, the former Fredericks took the name of Taj Mahal after the palatial Indian mausoleum, and never looked back.  The singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and all-around renaissance bluesman had his first solo tenure with Columbia Records, from 1968 to 1976, and most of that period is addressed on the new 2-CD anthology The Hidden Treasures of Taj Mahal 1969-1973 (Columbia/Legacy 82876 82294 2, 2012). This set features two CDs of previously unreleased material, both live and in the studio. The first disc debuts studio recordings dating from 1969-1973, and the second disc premieres a full-length live concert, recorded April 18, 1970 at the legendary Royal Albert Hall in London between the releases of Giant Step/De Old Folks at Home (1969) and Happy to Be Just Like I Am (1971). And plans are already afoot for further projects from Mahal’s entire Columbia Records catalogue.

Disc One of Hidden Treasures compiles unreleased songs and alternate takes from four distinct sessions, each with its own musicians.  These different bands bring out different qualities in Taj Mahal, the singer, and it’s a pleasure to hear, since his work as a vocalist is often overlooked in favor of his instrumental prowess.  His singing is obviously blues-derived, as Mahal is one of the most influential figures in establishing the ongoing relevance of traditional acoustic blues.  But he also takes in folk, country, gospel and world music influences, not to mention rock; after all, he played the Sunset Strip with Ry Cooder as a member of The Rising Sons in the heady, a-go-go days of the mid-sixties!  All of these influences are evident on the twelve tracks here.  That said, it’s easy to see why many of these rough performances didn’t see release initially, although that doesn’t diminish their value.  This disc may not be an ideal introduction to Taj Mahal’s artistry, but it’s a gift to those familiar with his deep history.

We dive in right after the jump!

Déjà Vu: Expanded Reissue of Dionne Warwick’s 1979 “Dionne,” Produced by Barry Manilow, Arrives on CD

Dionne Warwick recently announced a new album, produced by Phil Ramone.  Entitled Now, the projected October release will reflect on a storied career that’s lasted 50 years.  But Warwick was in a very different place then, meaning in 1979.  The sophisticated soul singer was at a crossroads.  Her unprecedented string of pop and R&B hits written and produced by Burt Bacharach and Hal David at Scepter Records were far in the rearview mirror.  Bacharach and David had bitterly split after just one album with Warwick at Warner Bros. Records, despite Warwick’s having been handsomely signed to the label expressly to the view of further collaborations with the duo.  One more dynamic success awaited with 1974’s “Then Came You,” unbelievably Warwick’s first-ever No. 1 Pop single, a duet with The Spinners produced by Thom Bell.  But other than that one single, Warwick’s studio career was commercially floundering.  Her expressive voice was as strong as ever, maybe even stronger than before, but producers including Jerry Ragovoy, Michael Omartian and Holland/Dozier/Holland had all been unable to rekindle the magic she had with her “triangle marriage.”  Enter Clive Davis and Barry Manilow.

That’s the story being told on Big Break Records’ new expanded and remastered reissue of Warwick’s 1979 Arista debut Dionne, arriving in U.K. stores on August 27 and in the U.S. one week later (CDBBR 0176).  Manilow was Arista’s golden child, having delivered to label president Clive Davis nine Top 10 hits including three that went straight to the top, not to mention a No. 1 album and many more charting singles.  Manilow and Davis also had a close friendship and intuitive sense of song selection.  Davis would often find a potential hit for Manilow, and the singer/songwriter would deftly rearrange it to his strengths as a vocalist.  Witness Manilow’s sublime reworkings of David Pomeranz’ “Tryin’ to Get the Feeling Again,” Randy Edelman’s “Weekend in New England,” and Ian Hunter’s “Ships,” just to name a few.  Davis knew that Manilow was the right man to reinvigorate Dionne Warwick’s career once she was signed to Arista.  The resulting album is one of the strongest entries in Warwick’s impressive catalogue, and also one of the most enduring albums produced by Manilow.

Barry Manilow’s love of soul and R&B has never been in doubt to those who know his discography, despite an image that might suggest otherwise.  He covered Martha and the Vandellas’ “My Baby Loves Me” on his second album, doffed his hat to “Dancing in the Streets” with his own “It’s a Miracle,” and even performed a Motor City medley in early concerts.  That love, combined with a kinship for the songwriting of Laura Nyro and the craft of the great musical theatre writers, led to the development of Manilow’s own trademark sound.  He applied all of that knowledge in producing Dionne, and he and Davis selected a nearly perfect 10-track line-up for the singer possessed of class, elegance and a sublime vocal restraint.  Manilow played piano, with the rhythm section also including bassist Will Lee, percussionist Alan Estes, keyboardist Bill Mays, drummer Rick Schlosser and guitarist Mitch Holder.

Hit the jump for much more, including the track listing and order link!

As the Globe Turns: Universal Adds Classic, Possibly Rare, Soundtrack Material to Blu-Ray Box Set

In 1912, an ex-dry goods merchant and owner of the nascent Independent Moving Pictures (IMP) studio stood in a New York office with five other movie moguls and made history.

These six men, organized by IMP founder Carl Laemmle, were keen to merge their businesses with an eye toward the growing big business of moviemaking. As they struggled for a title for their venture, Laemmle allegedly saw a wagon zip by on the street below with a grandiose name: “Universal Pipe Fitters.” Turning back to the window, he announced the venture would be named Universal, an apt name for the magnitude of what they wanted to accomplish.

A century later, Universal is one of the biggest entertainment corporations in the world and the longest-running American film company. Dozens of their blockbuster films sit toward the top of the all-time box office lists, and their bi-coastal studio backlot/theme parks in Los Angeles and Orlando are prime vacation destinations. For film fans, Universal has been keen to celebrate their 100th anniversary this year, releasing not only stunning restorations of classic films on Blu-Ray (JAWS hit shops last week, with boxes devoted to Alfred Hitchcock and Universal Studios Monsters due in the next few months along with the hi-def debut of Second Disc favorite E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) but at least one classic soundtrack in the form of the premiere release of Henry Mancini’s original film score to the classic Charade.

On November 6, the studio will release their biggest box set yet – a collection of 25 of their most classic films with value-added bonus content. But soundtrack enthusiasts will want to keep an eye on this package for the possibility of exceptionally rare film music. We explain all after the jump.

If It’s Meant to Be: Barbra Streisand Announces “Release Me” Collection of Long-Lost Songs

Everybody knows “The Way We Were.”  But how about “The Way We Might-Have-Been?”

The what-ifs are many in Barbra Streisand’s career.  The legendary vocalist, about to celebrate her fiftieth year with Columbia Records in 2013, has amassed a vault filled with unreleased outtakes from her decades of recording.  These date as far back as 1962 when the young singer recorded an as-yet-unissued rendition of Harold Arlen and “Yip” Harburg’s “Right as the Rain” for possible release on 45.  (In fact, you can date unissued Streisand recordings even further back, if you count non-commercial private recordings, demos for RCA Victor and the demo tape that landed her a contract at Columbia!)  Streisand has even recorded unreleased albums, let alone songs.  Fans and collectors have patiently waited for some of these lost treasures to escape from the archives.  Some emerged on 1991’s multi-disc box set Just for the Record, but the Streisand vault has largely remained under lock and key.  That all changes on September 25 when the vinyl LP of Release Me arrives in stores from Columbia Records (who else?), with a CD following two weeks later on October 9.  Finally, the open secret of this album is out!

Release Me premieres eleven tracks recorded between 1967 and, possibly, 2011.  These encompass the various sides of Streisand’s diverse career, from Broadway (including a medley from the abandoned, Rupert Holmes-produced original iteration of Back to Broadway) to pop (Jimmy Webb’s “Didn’t We” from the incomplete album project The Singer, Randy Newman’s “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today” with the composer on piano, cut from Stoney End) to Hollywood (Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher’s “With One More Look at You” from A Star is Born, arranged by Nick DeCaro for another aborted single).  Along the way, there’s a bossa nova excursion (“Lost in Wonderland,” a 1968 English-language version of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Antigua,” with lyrics by Marshall Barer of Once Upon a Mattress fame) and one song from the Streisand “holy grail” concept album Life Cycle of a Woman: “Mother and Child” (1973), penned by Alan and Marilyn Bergman with composer Michel Legrand.

The earliest track on Release Me is the standard “Willow Weep for Me,” intended for 1967’s Simply Streisand, arranged by Ray Ellis and conducted by film and theatre composer David Shire (Closer Than Ever, Norma Rae).  The most recent appears to be “If It’s Meant to Be,” with music by Brian Byrne and lyrics by the Bergmans.  In liner notes to her 2011 tribute album What Matters Most: Barbra Streisand Sings the Lyrics of Alan and Marilyn Bergman , Streisand mentions recording more songs than were ultimately included; Byrne himself confirmed that one of his songs was being recorded by Streisand.  Five songs plus an extended King and I medley reportedly hit the cutting room floor from the chart-topping, quadruple-platinum The Broadway Album (1985), and two have been resuscitated for Release Me: Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green’s “Being Good (Isn’t Good Enough)” from the Tony Award-winning Best Musical Hallejulah, Baby! (1967) and “Home” from Charlie Smalls’ score to 1975’s The Wiz.  Another of the rarities is Larry Gatlin’s “Try to Win a Friend,” cut from 1977’s Superman album.

After the jump: more details, pre-order links and a track listing with source information for each song!

Take the “A” Train to Complete Boxes From Ellington, Armstrong, Christian and Smith

The roaring twenties are back!

Okay – or should that be OKeh? – in fairness, so are the thirties, forties, and fifties, thanks to four upcoming box sets spotlighting legendary jazz and blues stars.  Legacy Recordings adds to its growing Complete Albums Collection library on October 30 with these new volumes:

• Louis Armstrong, The Complete OKeh, Columbia and RCA Victor Recordings 1925-1933 (OKeh/Columbia/RCA/Legacy) (10 CDs);
• Charlie Christian, The Genius of the Electric Guitar (Columbia/ Legacy) (4 CDs);
• Duke Ellington, The Complete Columbia Studio Albums Collection 1951-1958 (Columbia/ Legacy) (9 CDs); and
• Bessie Smith, The Complete Columbia Recordings (Columbia/ Legacy) (10 CDs).

These titles follow up the recent releases from The Brecker Brothers, Etta James and Sarah Vaughan (all due in stores Tuesday) and like those titles and the other Complete Albums sets, these include original albums or compilations packaged in replica mini-LP sleeves.  In most cases, bonus tracks that have been appended to past Legacy reissues have been retained, and booklets have been prepared with new liner notes and full discographical information for each artist and title contained.  Virtually all of the CDs in the Complete Album Collection jazz series have been newly remastered by multiple Grammy-winning engineer Mark Wilder.

The beloved Louis Armstrong was last year the subject of a massive 10-CD box set spotlighting his entire career, a set which drew considerable attention when Elvis Costello proclaimed it a superior purchase to a similarly-priced set of his own material.  Well, Mr. Costello would likely approve of The Complete OKeh, Columbia and RCA Victor Recordings 1925-1933, with its ten CDs of some of the earliest recordings by the man alternately known as Satchmo or Pops.  This period yielded the famous Hot Fives and Hot Sevens recordings, among the most historically important and, indeed, entertaining, of Armstrong’s long career during which he influenced virtually every musician who’s ever picked up a horn.  Any understanding of popular music begins with these famous sessions, featured on the first three discs of this new set.  (A 2000 Legacy box set was previously dedicated to these recordings.)

CDs 1-7 of the new box replicate the contents of the first seven volumes of the now out-of-print Armstrong Columbia Jazz Masterpieces series, released 1988 to 1993; the first three discs are dedicated to the Hot Fives and Hot Sevens as recorded between 1925 and 1928.  CD 4 spotlights Pops’ recordings alongside pianist Earl “Fatha” Hines with a variety of groups in 1927-1928, while CDs 5 and 6 cover the seminal 1929-1930 period during which time Armstrong recorded in New York and Los Angeles.  CDs 7 and 8 find Louis embracing the 1930s with open arms with sessions in Chicago, while the final two discs in the box pick up with his move to Victor in late 1932 with recordings made from Camden to Chicago!  The ten-CD set ends with Louis (and wife Lil on piano!) backing country –and-western pioneer Jimmie Rodgers on his “Blue Yodel No. 9,” recorded in Los Angeles in July 1930.

Legacy notes that The Complete OKeh, Columbia and RCA Victor Recordings 1925-1933 does not include the recordings on which Armstrong served as a sideman during these years for artists such as  Maggie Jones and Lillie Delk Christian.  Ricky Riccardi, author of the must-read What a Wonderful World: The Magic of Louis Armstrong’s Later Years (and keeper of a fine Armstrong blog), provides the new liner notes for the box.  Louis Armstrong returned to RCA Victor in 1946-1947 and Columbia in 1954-1956; perhaps those sessions will see release down the road!

After the jump, we’ll explore the sets from Charlie Christian, Duke Ellington and Bessie Smith.  Plus: we have pre-order links for all titles!

In Case You Missed It: Don’t Forget Glass Tiger’s Expanded Debut, New Compilation

The band themselves likely wouldn’t want it any other way, so we won’t forget to tell you about some relatively recent catalogue projects that just arrived up north from rock band Glass Tiger.

The Canadian rockers shot to fame in the mid-’80s with the irresistibly catchy “Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone).” With a synth-horn-fueled hook that could make the most stoic musician bop along, a dollop of perfect pop-rock production from co-writer Jim Vallance and an edgy vocal cameo from fellow Northern light Bryan Adams, “Don’t Forget Me” is one of the decade’s best buried treasures, topping the Canadian charts and peaking in the U.S. at No. 2. The album which held it, 1986’s The Thin Red Line, also yielded sizable North American hits in “Someday” and “I Will Be There,” Top 40 hits in America and Canada alike. Additionally, the band were nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy Award and won five Juno Awards in 1986 and 1987.

While the band’s subsequent albums, Diamond Sun (1988) and Simple Mission (1991) never held America’s attention as well as “Don’t Forget Me,” they were smash hits in their native country; Simple Mission spun off four Top 10 hits alone, including Top 5 tune “Animal Heart.” After a solo career, lead singer Alan Frew reunited with his bandmates (save for original drummer Michael Hanson) in the 2000s, and Glass Tiger remains a strong Canadian live act.

The group, partnering with EMI Canada, has taken 2012 to both look back and forward with two new catalogue titles. The first is a deluxe anniversary edition of The Thin Red Line, featuring new artwork and a bonus disc of archival B-sides, remixes and unreleased demos. Some of that material, including a new, stripped-down version of the title track, appears on Then…NOW…Next, a new Glass Tiger compilation featuring singles from the band’s three Capitol albums, two tracks from lead singer Alan Frew’s 1994 solo disc Hold On and four new tracks, including Frew’s solo acoustic take on The Beatles’ “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away.”

The deluxe Thin Red Line snuck up on us back in June, while Then…NOW…Next hit stores this Tuesday, August 21. Hit the jump to order both of them and check out the track lists!

The Spinners’ Rare Motown Sides Can Be “Truly Yours” On New Compilation, Reviewed Here!

It’s a shame the way The Spinners’ Motown catalogue has been overlooked in the CD era, and quite frankly, for all time.  The group exploded in popularity under the aegis of producer/arranger/composer Thom Bell at Atlantic Records in 1972, with their first three singles all hitting No. 1 R&B and Top 20 Pop (two went Top 10 Pop).  But The Spinners had been making sweet music since 1954 and recording since at least 1961, and made Motown their home since the folding of Harvey Fuqua’s Tri-Phi Records in 1963.  Now, the earliest days of the beloved soul group is chronicled thanks to the latest release in Kent Records’ splendid, ongoing Motown series, with Truly Yours: Their First Motown Album with Bonus Tracks.

Truly Yours is, in fact, an expanded edition of The Spinners’ debut long-player for Motown, 1967’s The Original Spinners.  Despite the release date, its songs dated back as far as 1961, and was a compendium of the group’s work up through that date.  The Original Spinners has never been on CD before, and Kent has generously expanded it with fourteen bonus tracks, more than doubling the original twelve-song line-up.  Ten of these fourteen songs are previously unissued.  This isn’t the complete early Spinners; compiler and annotator Keith Hughes notes that over 30 unreleased tracks were whittled down to the fourteen selected for this disc.  Perhaps the rest will emerge on an expanded edition of The Spinners’ second and final Motown album, 1970’s 2nd Time Around?

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, however.  The 26 tracks here from tenor Bobby (sometimes spelled “Bobbie”) Smith, tenor Chico Edwards, baritone Henry Fambrough, bass Pervis Jackson and tenor Billy Henderson are essential to any soul collector.  (Fambrough and Smith, for the record, still perform as part of The Spinners today.)  The Original Spinners, and therefore this disc, contains all eight sides from the Spinners’ first four singles, plus the original 1961 Tri-Phi label recording “That’s What Girls Are Made For” and three “new” songs.  When Harvey Fuqua and then-wife Gwen Gordy closed Tri-Phi and migrated to her brother Berry’s Motown family, The Spinners were among the acts selected by Berry to join the roster.

We’ll be around, right after the jump!

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!