I Think I Love Them: The Partridge Family’s First Two Albums Combined on One CD from 7Ts

C’mon, get happy…again!

2012 has already seen David Cassidy’s solo catalogue mined in the U.S. by Real Gone Music and in the U.K. by Cherry Red’s 7Ts label, and now 7Ts is turning its attention to none other than The Partridge Family!  A two-fer of the group’s first two albums, The Partridge Family Album and Up to Date, has just arrived in stores from 7Ts.

The made-for-TV group fronted by David Cassidy and Shirley Jones came out of the gate swinging with 1970’s The Partridge Family Album.  The November 1970 LP release on the Bell label (released in January 1971 in the U.K.) arrived soon after the Partridges’ first single.  “I Think I Love You” b/w “Somebody Wants to Love You” was issued in August 1970 in advance of the television show’s debut on September 25.  After the catchy A-side, penned by Tony Romeo, was featured on an episode of the show, the single’s ascent began, and it hit No. 1 on the U.S. chart in late November, displacing the Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There” from the top spot.  Containing both sides of the single, The Partridge Family Album got all the way to No. 4 on the LP chart.  Though it ostensibly was the soundtrack to the television show, the album was a success on its own merits.  Like the fictional-turned-real band The Monkees before them, The Partridge Family boasted quality compositions from top-tier pop writers who were seeing their Brill Building work taking a backseat to singer/songwriters.  The fabled L.A. Wrecking Crew, including Hal Blaine on drums, Larry Knechtel on keyboards, Joe Osborn on bass and Tommy Tedesco on guitar, brought their inimitable style to the recordings spearheaded by producer and songwriter Wes Farrell (“Hang On, Sloopy,” “Come a Little Bit Closer”).  The Partridge Family Album featured songs by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Mark Charron, Farrell and Romeo, among others, and Cassidy took the lead vocals on all but three of its session musician-created tracks.

After the jump: we get Up to Date!  Plus: track listings and an order link!

Muddy Waters Sings Big Bill (and More) on New “Chess Masters” Volume

Six years after the last set of Muddy Waters’ Chess recordings by Hip-O Select, the boutique label will release You Shook Me: The Chess Masters Volume 3 1958-1963 next week.

While Waters’ profile was well on the rise before the period covered on this two-disc set – having put singles like “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man,” “I Just Want to Make Love to You” and “Mannish Boy” in the upper reaches of the R&B charts – You Shook Me is notable for being anchored not only around single releases but two of Waters’ first LPs. 1960’s Muddy Waters Sings “Big Bill” was a tribute to Big Bill Broonzy, the Chicago bluesman who gave Waters one of his first major professional breaks opening for him at local clubs. The other, recorded that same year, was Muddy Waters at Newport 1960, a killer of a live album that featured revelatory versions of “Hoochie Coochie Man” and “Got My Mojo Workin.'”

This 49-track set also includes one unreleased instrumental, “Sweet Black Angel,” and a handful of songs that appeared only on a multi-LP box set of Waters’ Chess output released in Japan. Mary Katherin Aldin pens liner notes for the booklet, which is filled with rare photos of Waters in action.

You Shook Me is available next Tuesday, December 18. Grab it from Amazon U.S. or Amazon U.K. and hit the jump for full specs.

Don’t Just Stand There: Real Gone Readies January Slate with Patty Duke, Rick Wakeman, Billy Joe Shaver, and More

2012 isn’t yet over, but it’s not too soon to look forward to all of the amazing releases already slated for 2013!  Real Gone Music is doing its part with a whopping nine-title slate due January 29 from a plethora of pop, rock, country and soul artists.

One of the sixties’ most unexpected hits might have been Patty Duke’s “Don’t Just Stand There,” a 1965 Top 10 hit that sounded more than a little like Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me.”  By the time the actress recorded her first album for United Artists Records, she had already conquered both television and film, with an Academy Award under her belt for her work in 1962’s The Miracle Worker.  Duke recorded four albums for the UA label between 1965 and 1968, and all four are getting the Real Gone treatment.  Don’t Just Stand There and Patty came out in 1965 and 1966, respectively, and are being joined on one CD.  In addition to the first album’s No. 8 title track, this album duo included songs by Bacharach and David and Tony Hatch, and the hits “Say Something Funny” and “Whenever She Holds You.”  Another hit, the single “Funny Little Butterflies,” has been included as a bonus track. 1967’s Sings Songs from Valley of the Dolls tied into Duke’s role as Neely O’Hara in the controversial film adaptation of the Jacqueline Susann novel, and features Duke’s renditions of the Andre Previn/Dory Previn theme song and “I’ll Plant My Own Tree.”  Duke finished her UA tenure with 1968’s Sings Folk Songs, but the LP was never released.  Real Gone rectifies this, pairing it with Valley of the Dolls.  These two releases mark the first legitimate release of these four albums on CD, and are taken from the original master tapes.  Ms. Duke herself has contributed quotes to the liner notes.

Also from the sixties, Real Gone excavates two more gems.  The Pozo Seco Singers’ third album for Columbia Records, 1968’s Shades of Time, was the first album from the group following the departure of Lofton Klein, leaving just Don Williams and Susan Taylor to soldier on with the Pozo Seco blend of pop, country and rock.    For Shades of Time, Williams and Taylor dropped “Singers” from their moniker and teamed with producers Elliot Mazer and Bob Johnston.  The album, however, wasn’t a commercial success, and Pozo Seco disbanded in 1970, setting Don Williams on his way to solo country stardom.  Real Gone has added eleven single sides (nine in mono, two in stereo) to this reissue.  Vic Anesini has remastered the entire album, while Tom Pickles has contributed liner notes with new quotes from Susan Taylor, a.k.a. Taylor Pie.

One year before Shades of Time, country songwriter Kenny O’Dell recorded Beautiful People for the Vegas label.  Though O’Dell would later gain fame writing for artists including Charlie Rich and The Judds, Beautiful People was less country and more pop-psych, even yielding a Top 40 hit with the title track.  Real Gone’s reissue adds seven bonus tracks from O’Dell’s brief tenure with the Vegas and White Whale labels, and also includes O’Dell’s only other Top 40 hit, “Springfield Plane.”  Ed Osborne has written the new liner notes and Steve Massie has remastered.

After the jump: a prog-rock legend, a soul man, an outlaw and a Sham!