Real Gone Announces Hendrix-Produced LP from Cat Mother, Plus Grateful Dead, Rod McKuen, The Hello People, Freddie King, More

From a lost classic produced by Jimi Hendrix to Grateful Dead playing Warren Zevon, Real Gone Music’s February release slate has a little bit of soul, rock, pop, blues and even poetry!  The label founded by Gordon Anderson and Gabby Castellana has an impressive line-up of titles due on February 26, including the first-ever standalone CD reissue of the Richard Perry-produced Reprise debut of Fanny (the first all-female rock group signed to a major label), a definitive 2-CD singles collection from blues great Freddie King, two expanded albums from poet and musician Rod McKuen, and the Jimi Hendrix-helmed LP from Cat Mother and the All Night Newsboys.  (They don’t make band names like that anymore, do they?)  And that’s not all.  There’s more from Grateful Dead and The Hello People!

Plus: eagle-eyed readers might have noticed that Real Gone’s two promised collections of Patty Duke’s four United Artists albums have disappeared from the January 29 release calendar.  These two releases have been rescheduled for February 26.

Hit the jump for the press release for Real Gone’s February schedule, plus pre-order links to all titles!

Beat The Boots: Digital Volumes of “Motown Unreleased 1962” Quietly Released Online

There’s been much talk this week of Bob Dylan’s 50th Anniversary Collection, a (very) limited edition title released in Europe to protect the singer’s 1962 recordings from entering the public domain there.  But we can report that it’s not alone.  On December 18, Universal Music very quietly released six exciting, digital-only compilations under the umbrella of Motown Unreleased: 1962.  The New York Times has been among those speculating that the 120 tracks contained on the six “albums” have all been liberated from the vaults as a result of the same “use it or lose it” European copyright provision that led Sony to make the Dylan tracks available for the first time.

The Motown Unreleased: 1962 campaign, alas only available in digital format from providers including Amazon.com and iTunes, includes two volumes each of The Guys and Jazz, and one volume each for The Girls and Gospel.  In 1962, the young Motown family of labels included Divinity (gospel), Gordy (home to The Temptations, The Vandellas and The Contours), Mel-o-dy (Lamont Dozier, The Creations, The Charters), Tamla (The Miracles, The Marvelettes, Marvin Gaye), Workshop (jazz) and Motown itself (Mary Wells, Eddie Holland, The Supremes).   Among the most memorable songs of the year from Gordy’s burgeoning empire included The Miracles’ “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” Marvin Gaye’s “Stubborn Kind of Fellow,” Mary Wells’ “The One Who Really Loves You” and “You Beat Me to the Punch,” and The Marvelettes’ “Beechwood 4-5789.”  Many of Motown’s most famous acts were still on the cusp of stardom, including The Supremes and The Temptations.  The Motown Unreleased series includes heretofore-unissued titles from artists both familiar and unfamiliar.

What tracks can you expect to find?  Hit the jump for the complete track listings and more!