Good Morning, Captain: Slint’s “Spiderland” Gets Super Deluxe Treatment

Spiderland, the second and final full-length album by Louisville, Kentucky post-rockers Slint, is getting expanded in a big way this spring with a multi-disc box set.

Considered to be one of the best records of its subgenre, brimming with shifting dynamics and intense, narrative lyrics (rumors circulated that the brief, tense sessions that birthed the record sent at least one of the band’s members into a psychiatric hospital for a stay), Spiderland was nonetheless ignored by many upon first release, save a pivotal appearance of closing track “Good Morning, Captain” on the soundtrack to the iconic 1995 drama Kids. Gradually – thanks in part to repeated reunions by the band (who broke up shortly after the album’s release) over the past decade, as well as championing from fans and influences like PJ Harvey, Explosions in the Sky and Godspeed You Black Emperor! – it’s become a classic (perhaps the first such) of the post-rock genre.

The limited box set, of which only 3,138 will be made, features a lot of content:

• The set is packaged in a hand-numbered limited box
• The original album will be remastered from the original analog master tapes by original producer Bob Weston and pressed on 180 gram vinyl at RTI as well as CD
• A total of 14 previously unreleased outtakes selected by the band and mastered by Weston feature on two 180 gram vinyl albums and a bonus CD
• 104 page book features more than 100 never-before-seen photos from the band’s entire history, full lyrics and a foreword by Will Oldham, the singer-songwriter better known as Bonnie “Prince” Billy (who also shot the iconic album art)
• Breadcrumb Trail, a new, never-before-seen, 90-minute DVD documentary directed by Lance Bangs

As an added bonus, those who pre-order the box before March 8 will get a free T-shirt “created from the recently discovered silk screen Slint used to hand print their one and only 1989 tour T-shirt.” (These shirts will be exclusive to these pre-orders only.)

The box will be available April 15. Pre-order it here and hit the jump for the full track list.

Dance a Little Bit Closer with Charo and The Salsoul Orchestra, Loleatta Holloway

Cuchi-cuchi!  Charo, or María del Rosario Mercedes Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza, burst onto the cultural radar with her goofy, slightly suggestive catchphrase during the late-sixties run of the television phenomenon Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In.  Once a frequent passenger on The Love Boat, the comedienne-bombshell still is a familiar face today on television (Dancing with the Stars, RuPaul’s Drag University) and onstage – on land and on sea, even on the good ship Disney Magic.  In 1977, Charo teamed with Vince Montana Jr., the arranger-conductor of Salsoul Records’ house band The Salsoul Orchestra, for a fun disco romp entitled (what else?) Cuchi-Cuchi.  It’s one of two Salsoul classics recently given the deluxe treatment by Cherry Red’s Big Break Records label, along with Loleatta Holloway’s 1978 Queen of the Night.

Cuchi-Cuchi, jointly credited to Charo and The Salsoul Orchestra, definitely proved that camp and stellar musicianship could co-exist.   “Dance a little bit closer…move it in like this…a little bit closer/You and me can dance so free/Oh, come/A little bit closer/Slide your feet like this/A little bit closer…” Charo coos on the opening song, one of the three compositions that sold Salsoul’s Cayre Brothers on Montana’s concept for a Philly soul-meets-Latin-fusion orchestra.  The lyrics of “Dance a Little Bit Closer” don’t get any deeper than that, but the seductively insinuating groove and immaculate arrangement – with lush strings, commanding horns and of course a vibes solo from Vince – were pure, sophisticated Philly disco.  “Dance,” breathily sung in the heavily accented English that made Charo famous (or infamous?) on Laugh-In, makes room for asides in Spanish (“Loco, loco, loco!”) as the singer’s playful personality compensates for her lack of a powerhouse voice.  She was rewarded with a Top 20 dance hit for the infectious track.

That effervescent personality is also used to good effect on a cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Let’s Spend the Night Together.”  Its once-controversial lyrics have always lent themselves to interpretation by sexy female artists – think Claudine Longet’s steamy rendition.  Charo’s salsa-fied rendition of the Jagger/Richards melody comes with a healthy dollop of humor, as does “You’re Just the Right Size.”  This remake of Montana’s 1976 Salsoul Orchestra song (basically an instrumental with choice vocal interjections) is one of the album’s most carnal cuts, but it’s also a fine showcase for the Orchestra’s trademark Latin percussion and Montana’s swirling and oddly elegant strings. “Cookie Jar,” co-written by the bandleader, is driving yet catchy funk, highlighted by Charo’s lighthearted double entendres.

More boisterous is Pedro Calaf’s singalong-style “Borriquito,” sung in Spanish as a disco-fied flamenco track.  Charo warbles modestly in both English and Spanish on Mexican singer-songwriter Roberto Cantoral’s “The Clock” (reportedly recorded over 1,000 times by various artists worldwide).  It’s performed in a straight ballad version with another delectable string chart from Montana.  The oddest, campiest track on Cuchi-Cuchi, however, is far less authentically Mexican.  It’s the disco revival of Pat Boone’s “Speedy Gonzales,” sans Mel Blanc’s animated interjections that enlivened the original recording.  A more successful tongue-in-cheek moment comes courtesy of Montana and Ronnie Walker’s made-to-order title track “Cuchi-Cuchi,” a centerpiece disco workout for the album.

Charo is backed by the ubiquitous background vocalists known as the Sweethearts of Sigma on the quintessential Philly soul of “More of You,” on which she sings “straight” over the irresistible and slickly funky track.  Her hushed vocal is also commendable on the sensual ballad “Only You,” co-written by Montana, Ronnie James and Janet Gugliuzza.  The melody is tailored to Charo’s strengths, and boasts some lovely Spanish-style guitar, too.  Though Charo herself is a flamenco guitarist, she’s not among the credited musicians on the LP, but that’s hardly a liability considering those who did play on Cuchi-Cuchi.  Among this list of Philadelphia all-stars: Earl Young and Charles Collins on drums, Michael “Sugar Bear” Foreman on bass, T.J. Tindall and Bobby Eli on guitar, Ron Kersey on keyboards, Larry Washington on percussion and Don Renaldo leading the string section.

What extras will you find on BBR’s reissue?  Hit the jump!  Plus: the scoop on Loleatta Holloway’s Queen of the Night!

I Can Read Your Mind: The Alan Parsons Project’s “Complete Albums” Box Arrives In March

On March 31, The Alan Parsons Project’s many tales of mystery and imagination will come to life anew on Arista Records and Legacy Recordings’ 11-CD box set The Alan Parsons Project – The Complete Albums Collection.  This new set marks the first time that the Project’s complete discography has been assembled in one place, from 1976’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination to 1987’s Gaudi.  Sweetening the pot will be the first-ever release of the APP’s fifth album The Sicilian Defence.

The Complete Albums Collection follows the 2013 Legacy Edition reissue of I Robot, the APP’s 1977 sophomore effort and Arista debut.  That album proved that high-concept, progressive art-rock could still impact the charts when it placed in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200.  Further triumphs were still to come for the studio group spearheaded by producer-engineer Alan Parsons (The Dark Side of the Moon) and songwriter-executive producer Eric Woolfson, especially 1982’s Eye in the Sky.  The album shot to No. 7 on the Billboard 200, the APP’s first album since I Robot to crack the Top 10, and the Woolfson-written and –sung title track made it all the way to No. 3 on the Hot 100 and the Hot AC chart.

The Scottish band Pilot provided the Alan Parsons Project with its core musicians.  Ian Bairnson (guitar) played on every APP album, David Paton (bass and vocals) appeared on all albums except the 1987 swansong Gaudi, and Stuart Tosh (drums) played on Tales of Mystery and Imagination and I Robot before joining 10cc and being replaced by Stuart Elliott of Cockney Rebel.  Pilot’s Billy Lyall also played keyboards on those first two APP albums.  It was a bit of reciprocity at work; Parsons had produced Pilot’s debut album including the hit single “Magic,” and produced two more albums for the band as well.   Vocalists on the APP albums include Woolfson, Lesley Duncan (the contemporary standard “Love Song,” recorded by artists including Elton John, Dionne Warwick, and Neil Diamond), Clare Torry (The Dark Side of the Moon), Allan Clarke of The Hollies, Colin Blunstone of The Zombies, Gary Brooker of Procol Harum, Lenny Zakatek, John Miles and others.

The main attraction of the new box may be an album that nobody has ever heard.  The Sicilian Defence was created by Parsons and Woolfson over a three-day session at France’s Bear Studios and delivered to Arista Records in March 1981 amid tense contract negotiations between the Project and Clive Davis’ Arista label.  The title derived from the name of a series of opening chess moves, which was apt considering the circumstances surrounding it.  Reportedly a dissonant, atonal collection that was far-removed from what Davis expected of the band, The Sicilian Defence was shelved.  The Project remained on Arista through 1987’s Gaudi, its final release.  (Parsons and Woolfson resumed their collaboration on the 1990 album Freudiana, the studio cast recording of a Woolfson-composed rock opera.)  An edited  version of “Elsie’s Theme” from The Sicilan Defence was included as a bonus track on an expanded edition of the 1979 album Eve, but the full-length track and the album from which it was derived makes its first-ever appearance as part of this box set.

After the jump: what else can you expect from The Complete Albums Collection?

Say Hello, Hello: UMe Pays Lavish Tribute to Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”

It’s an odd irony that Elton John began his seventh and most ambitious studio album with a piece he imagined would play in the event of his death. The singer-songwriter-pianist was one of the most alive rockers on the planet at that point; with a dazzlingly theatrical stage presence, a cracking live band and an increasing string of successes (his most recent album at that point, Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player, was released at the top of 1973 and was both his second No. 1 album in the U.S. and his highest seller, with a double platinum certification), it was hard to imagine how he could get any bigger.

Enter Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, a double album that didn’t seem to have a dud on it. All four of its singles – the rollicking “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting,” the Marilyn Monroe tribute ballad “Candle in the Wind,” the glammed-out “Bennie and The Jets” and the anthemic farewell to capricious youth of the title track – were Top 20 hits on one or both sides of the Atlantic, with more added  to U.S. radio playlists beyond the promotion cycle. (Chief LP cuts included the sprawling 11-minute intro, “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding” and the sublime “Harmony,” with more than enough vocal multitracking to earn its title.) Elton and lyricist Bernie Taupin’s potent collaboration yielded some of its best and most intriguing work, from silly reggae (“Jamaica Jerk-off”) to piano-pounding boogie (“Your Sister Can’t Twist (But She Can Rock ‘N Roll”), concert-hall melancholia (“This Song Has No Title”) and dusty-road, Americanized nostalgia (“Roy Rogers”).

The plaudits were many: over 7 million units have moved through the United States (one of his most successful albums), Rolling Stone named it one of the 100 best rock albums of all time in 2003 – and now, on March 25, Universal Music Enterprises will pay tribute to the album with a multi-format reissue of the album, a few months past its 40th anniversary.

After the jump, you’ll find a comprehensive breakdown of all five versions of this new reissue, with pre-order links and track lists to boot!

You’re Gonna Hear From Her: Dory Previn’s Debut Album Reissued on CD

When songwriter Dory Previn died in 2012, The Los Angeles Times noted one of the contradictions inherent in her life and art: “Although she was an Oscar-nominated songwriter, Dory Previn was better known for ballads that spoke to wounded souls.”  Truth to tell, even her early film music was often believably personal, intense, and filled with emotion.  It’s no wonder that vocalists including Judy Garland, Dionne Warwick, Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Bobby Darin, Barbra Streisand, Matt Monro, Nancy Wilson, Liza Minnelli and Tony Bennett have all recorded Dory Previn’s songs.  (And can anybody explain how “You’re Gonna Hear from Me” from Inside Daisy Clover and “(Theme From) Valley of the Dolls” didn’t get Oscar nods?  For the record, Ms. Previn received nominations for songs from Pepe, Two for the Seesaw and The Sterile Cuckoo.)  Now, Cherry Red’s new Croydon Municipal label – founded by Bob Stanley of St. Etienne – has unearthed Previn’s first, largely forgotten solo recording, 1958’s The Leprechauns are Upon Me, and reissued it on CD under the name of one of its songs, My Heart is a Hunter.  It’s cause for celebration.

Born in Rahway, New Jersey in 1925 or 1929 (reports vary) as Dorothy Veronica Langan, the future Dory Previn made a connection with legendary lyricist and producer Arthur Freed.  At MGM, Freed (Singin’ in the Rain, The Band Wagon) hooked up Dory – writing as Dory Langdon – with another young but already established talent, the composer Andre Previn.  The pair became creatively and romantically linked, and married in 1959 – but not before they joined forces to record The Leprechauns are Upon Me for Verve Records.  Previn, on piano, joined Kenny Burrell on guitar to accompany Dory for a set of thirteen original songs.  Dory wrote all of the lyrics herself, while melodies were contributed by Andre as well as Gene DePaul (Li’l Abner, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers), David Raksin (Laura), Herm Saunders, Lyn Murray, J. Raymond Henderson and Dory herself.

After the jump, we’ll take a deeper look at My Heart is a Hunter!  Plus: order links and track listing!

It’s About That Time: Complete Concerts On “Miles at the Fillmore” Box Set Chronicle Davis’ Rock Revolution

Between June 17 and 20, 1970, the fresh musical possibilities of a new decade were on vivid display in New York City’s East Village when the bill at the Fillmore East was shared by two titanic talents on the Columbia Records roster – Miles Davis and Laura Nyro.  Though the pairing might seem an incongruous one, both Davis and Nyro shared an affinity for pushing the envelope and synthesizing various genres into a singular style of music that was easily identifiable as their own.  Davis’ stand as Nyro’s opening act was first released in October 1970 as Miles Davis at Fillmore, a 2-LP set which contained edited highlights from the four nights of performances.  Now, as the third installment of Davis’ acclaimed Bootleg Series, Columbia and Legacy Recordings are issuing his complete Fillmore East shows.  The 4-CD box set due on March 25 premieres more than 100 minutes of previously unreleased music, and as a special bonus, adds three bonus tracks (and another 35 minutes of never-before-released music) from Davis’ April 1970 stint at Bill Graham’s Fillmore West in San Francisco on a bill with Stone the Crows and the Grateful Dead.

When Davis took the stage at the Fillmore East, he was riding high on the success of the April 1970 release of Bitches Brew.  The groundbreaking electric LP would become the trumpeter’s first gold record, and win him a Grammy Award as well.  Davis was leading a group including Chick Corea on electric piano, Dave Holland on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums as well as tenor and soprano saxophonist Steve Grossman and percussionist/flautist/vocalist Airto Moreira.   Corea, Holland and DeJohnette all played on Bitches Brew; Grossman and Moreira had been joining Davis in the studio since November 1969 and joined his touring line-up in February and April 1970, respectively.  At the Fillmore East, this all-star aggregation was joined by Keith Jarrett on organ and tambourine, part of the blazing three-month period when both Jarrett and Corea played keyboards for Davis. Jarrett continued in the band until late 1971, and also performed with Davis at his two later Fillmore dates in San Francisco in October 1970 and May 1971.

After the jump, we have the full details on this new set, including the complete track listing and pre-order links!

Review: The Beatles, “The U.S. Albums”

I. Meet the Beatles!

Did The Beatles save rock and roll?

If John, Paul, George and Ringo didn’t save the still-young form, they certainly gifted it with a reinvigorating, exhilarating jolt of musical euphoria the likes of which hadn’t been seen before – and hasn’t been duplicated since.  The scene was early 1964.  Buddy Holly was long gone, and the big hits had dried up – at the moment, at least – for Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard.  Elvis had served his time in the Army, threatening to turn the rebellious rogue into a symbol of The Establishment.  Of course, all was far from lost.  The rise of the Brill Building led to some of the most well-crafted, immaculately-produced records of all time, though many of those were as indebted to classic Tin Pan Alley songwriting as to the youthful spirit of rock and roll.

Enter The Beatles.  By the end of the tumultuous year, the group had charted 28 records in the U.S. Hot 100 (11 in the Top 10) and released five – count ‘em, five – albums on Capitol plus one soundtrack on United Artists.  Capitol had a lot of catching up to do to sate seemingly insatiable demand for the music of the Liverpudlian quartet.  Those heady early days in which The Beatles began the charge that would transform “rock and roll” into “rock” are chronicled on the splendid new 13-CD box set The U.S. Albums.  It presents the unique albums released stateside between 1964 and 1966, plus one from 1970, including five which have never before appeared on CD (well, legally, anyway) anywhere in the world.  [Every album in the box is also available for individual sale save The Beatles’ Story which is exclusive to the box.]

From the time The Beatles broke into the British Top 20 in late 1962 with “Love Me Do,” there was no turning back.  By the end of 1963, the hard-working band had scored five singles in the U.K. Top 20, three of which went to No. 1.  Debut long-player Please Please Me was No. 1 on the U.K. Albums Chart for 30 weeks, only finally displaced with the arrival of sophomore LP With the Beatles.  The stage was set for world domination, and the key to that international success was America.  But could The Beatles repeat that level of success on American shores?

Dave Dexter Jr., head of Capitol’s international A&R, had been rejecting Beatles singles since late 1962 and “Love Me Do.”  Dexter’s recalcitrance led to EMI entering into early licensing agreements with labels like Swan and Vee-Jay (Remember The Beatles vs. The Four Seasons?  Or Introducing…The Beatles?  Altogether unsurprisingly, they’re not included in this box set!).  But the executive could only ignore the future Fabs for so long.  “She Loves You,” rejected by Dexter for U.S. release, had become the first British record to sell one million copies prior to its release; With the Beatles sold 500,000 copies within a week of its release date.  Capitol had no choice but to pay attention to these numbers, especially given the small size of the U.K. compared to the U.S. market.  When Capitol finally acquiesced and signed the lads, Dexter was the one in charge of packaging the band’s music for American audiences.

Meet the Beatles, his first newly-created U.S. album, was based on With the Beatles, the group’s second British LP.  It arrived in stores on January 20, 1964, just weeks before the band debuted on the February 9 broadcast of The Ed Sullivan Show.  73 million viewers tuned in, a higher number than had watched any program in television history.  The reviews weren’t all glowing; in fact, many were far from it.  But Beatlemania couldn’t be stopped.  The ensuing frenzy was, perhaps, a manifestation of the power of the nascent youth culture, but soon the Fab Four dominated culture, period.

The American media was poised to rebel against this revolution, looking upon The Beatles’ seemingly inevitable success with curiosity and distrust.  But America, still smarting from the tragic assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963, was poised to accept these bright young men with all of their enormous promise, goofy humor, and messages of love and hope in their music.  What wasn’t immediately evident except perhaps to the most perceptive listeners was the mélange of influences that informed The Beatles’ revolutionary sound – showtunes, music hall ballads, rockabilly, country-and-western, Brill Building pop, and rhythm and blues, to name a few.  It didn’t hurt that the lads’ looks were as revolutionary as their music.  They were, of course, “the whole package.”    The Beatles were frequently queried about how long such success could possibly last.  Even the most confident of them likely couldn’t have imagined the fact that, 50 years later, their music would remain just as beloved – perhaps even more – as during those heady days of 1964.

Meet the Beatles! didn’t disappoint…far from it.  Dexter’s LP remained at No. 1 on the Billboard chart for eleven weeks, ceding only to The Beatles’ Second Album.  When the United Artists soundtrack album to A Hard Day’s Night arrived, it spent 14 weeks at No. 1, the longest run of any album in 1964.  Capitol’s Something New could have been considered a disappointment as it peaked at No. 2, but it was held from the top position by…A Hard Day’s Night!  Beatles ’65 spent nine weeks at No. 1 and was crowned the best-selling LP of 1965.  The Beatles were no flash in the pan.

After the jump: what exactly will you find in The U.S. Albums?

Status Quo Deliver Expanded “Piledriver” in March

To commemorate the forthcoming live dates from Status Quo’s “Frantic Four” reunion, the British boogie-rockers’ first release for Vertigo Records, Piledriver, is getting reissued and expanded in March.

The classic lineup of Status Quo – guitarist/vocalists Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt, bassist Alan Lancaster and drummer John Coghlan had existed in one shape or another since 1967, five years after schoolmates Rossi and Lancaster decided to start a band. Their first three albums, which included early favorites like “Pictures of Matchstick Men” and “Ice in the Sun,” were recorded with a fifth member, keyboardist Roy Lynes, and on a different label, Pye Records. With Piledriver, a move to Vertigo and further away from their early semi-psychedelia toward straightforward boogie rock, the band found themselves back on top of the charts with the No. 8 single “Paper Plane.” (It would be the band’s first of 33 Top 40 singles in the U.K. between 1972 and 1988.)

The deluxe Piledriver comes with a new bonus disc of 15 live bonus tracks, including BBC sessions with John Peel and a live show recorded at London’s Paris Theatre for BBC in Concert. Dave Ling of Classic Rock Magazine contributes new liner notes, which feature rare photos from former Quo tour manager Bob Young. Look for the set on March 24, four days before the tour kicks off.

Full track specs and order links are after the jump!

In Memoriam: Pete Seeger (1919-2014)

American music has many diverse strains – from the blues of the Mississippi Delta to the jazz of 52nd Street, and everything in between.  But it’s no exaggeration to state that Pete Seeger is American music.  Though the singer-songwriter-activist died on January 27 at the age of 94, his song – a song filled with honesty, integrity, compassion, conscience and bold simplicity – will continue to be sung by every man, woman and child who picks up an instrument with the belief that music can make the world a better, and more charitable, place in which to live.

Seeger has been frequently described as a folk singer, and he was, indeed, a singer for all folks.  If Pete’s only accomplishment was to have helped popularize and transform the spiritual “We Shall Overcome” into an anthem, his place in culture would have been ensured.  But Seeger’s influence on the entire rock and roll generation – a generation in which youth shared his belief that the establishment could be peacefully challenged – can’t be underestimated.  His composition “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” became a hit for the Kingston Trio and Johnny Rivers, and his “If I Had a Hammer” was indelibly recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary as well as Trini Lopez.  His adaptations of “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There is a Season)” and “The Bells of Rhymney” were adopted by The Byrds, and “Guantanamera” was memorably sung by The Sandpipers.   Such was the power of Pete Seeger’s music to blur lines of genre, age and background.  He also memorably engaged audiences in sing-alongs of the music he loved, sharing the work of Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Phil Ochs and so many others in his performances.  A survivor of the blacklist, Seeger never stopped taking the world’s stages, even throughout the numerous periods when controversy threatened to derail his career.  His spirit proved indomitable as he enthusiastically delivered messages of peace, civil rights and harmony with nature and each other.

To everything, there is a season.  Pete Seeger, the man, might be gone, but his music will continue to resonate for each person who passes on a favorite song – whether of protest or of celebration – to a friend, hoping that it may augur a brighter day to come.

WE HAVE A WINNER! A Copy of Uncle Tupelo’s “No Depression: Legacy Edition” is YOURS!

LORI LONDON, you’ve won a copy of Uncle Tupelo’s NO DEPRESSION: LEGACY EDITION! Thanks to all who entered!