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Holiday Gift Guide Review: A Classic Christmas With Rosemary Clooney, Frank DeVol

Welcome to Part One of a two-part series exploring the recent line-up of Christmas releases from Real Gone Music!

1954’s White Christmas, quite simply, remains one of the most beloved holiday musicals to ever hit the silver screen. Built around the songbook of Irving Berlin – who lived to the age of 101 in 1989 but was already a Grand Old Man of American music by 1954 – the film starred Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye and Vera Ellen. Such a quartet promised an evening’s entertainment filled with song and dance, and the movie more than delivered. But what it couldn’t deliver was an accompanying soundtrack album.

Bing Crosby was a Decca recording artist and Rosemary Clooney was on Columbia. (This wasn’t the first time this particular problem plagued an Irving Berlin musical. The 1950 Broadway production of Call Me Madam starred Decca’s Ethel Merman. Yet due to RCA’s holding the rights to the cast album, that label’s Dinah Shore subbed for The Merm on record, leaving Ethel to record her own version of the score with Dick Haymes at Decca.) Crosby and Kaye appeared along with Trudy Stevens (dubbing dancer Vera Ellen) on the nominal soundtrack release, with Decca’s star Peggy Lee subbing for Clooney. As for Rosemary, she, like Merman before, was left to record a “studio” version of the score to her big hit musical. Clooney’s 8-song, 10-inch record has just been reissued and expanded by Real Gone Music (RGM-0309) in a wonderful new edition.

At Columbia, Clooney couldn’t exactly replicate the film’s performances. The full minstrel sequence required a large ensemble; songs like Crosby’s “What Can You Do with a General” and Kaye’s “Choreography” weren’t exactly extractable or particularly suitable for her talents. So on the album overseen by Mitch Miller, Clooney reprised her stunning “Love – You Didn’t Do Right by Me,” turned “Snow,” “Gee, I Wish I Was Back in the Army” and “Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep” into solos, took over for Crosby on “White Christmas” and Kaye on “The Best Things Happen While You’re Dancing,” and extracted “Mandy” from the minstrel show. Notably, she also reprised “Sisters,” but with her own sister and onetime singing partner Betty Clooney happily filling in for Vera Ellen. The latter is one of the album’s undisputed highlights; if the album versions of “Snow” (a quartet in the film) and “Count Your Blessings” pale in comparison to the movie arrangements, the strength of Clooney’s vocals on these quintessential Berlin songs keeps them wholly enjoyable. Clooney was an innate jazz singer, a quality which would come to the fore in her later years. Her interpretive skills, pure tone and sly vocal wit elevated even the most absurd novelty material foisted on her by Miller; matched with Irving Berlin, the results could hardly be less than delightful. Rosemary Clooney in Songs from the Paramount Pictures Production of White Christmas, as the full title goes, isn’t a true “Christmas album,” but it’s certainly right for the season – or any other.

After the jump: more on White Christmas, plus a look at a rare title from Frank DeVol and the Rainbow Strings! Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Joe Marchese

December 9, 2014 at 11:48

Posted in Bing Crosby, Frank DeVol, Reissues, Reviews, Rosemary Clooney

Tagged with Holiday Gift Guide, Reviews

Release Round-Up: Week of November 24

Release Round-Up: Week of October 14

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Diana Ross, Why Do Fools Fall in Love / Silk Electric / Ross / Swept Away / Eaten Alive / Red Hot Rhythm and Blues (Expanded Editions) (Funky Town Grooves)

Why Do Fools Fall in Love: Expanded Edition (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)
Silk Electric: Expanded Edition (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)
Ross: Expanded Edition (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)
Swept Away: Deluxe Edition (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)
Eaten Alive: Deluxe Edition (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)
Red Hot Rhythm and Blues: Deluxe Edition (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Funky Town Grooves has remastered and expanded all six of Miss Ross’ RCA albums, first released between 1981 and 1987 during what turned out to be an extended hiatus from Motown. These editions are loaded with rarities and remixes; see full details here!

Foreigner, The Complete Atlantic Studio Albums 1977-1991 (Atlantic/Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Rhino boxes up 7 CDs from Foreigner, including five U.S. multi-platinum smash LPs and hits like “Waiting for a Girl Like You,” “Feels Like the First Time,” “Cold as Ice,” “Hot Blooded,” and “I Want to Know What Love Is.”

The Kinks, The Essential Kinks (RCA/Arista/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Legacy kicks off its Kinks campaign (kampaign?) with this 48-song, 2-CD anthology featuring just about every Kinks hit except for the original studio recording of “Lola.” (A live recording from 1979 takes its place.) Every track has been newly (and splendidly) remastered by Vic Anesini, and the deluxe 28-page booklet include liner notes from David Bowie and critic Bob Mehr, plus appreciations from Iggy Pop, Howard Kaylan, Creed Bratton, Pete Townshend and many more!

Jaco Pastorius, Anthology: The Warner Bros. Years (Warner Bros./Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Rhino has 2 CDs and 22 tracks from jazz bassist Jaco Pastorius (1951-1987) drawing on the albums Word of Mouth, Invitation and The Birthday Concert plus tracks on which Jaco joined Mike Stern and Airto Moreira and one previously unreleased bonus track, “Donna Lee,” from 1981. Bill Milkowski, author of Jaco: The Extraordinary And Tragic Life Of Jaco Pastorius, provides new liner notes.

Ozzy Osbourne, Memoirs of a Madman (Legacy)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

2-LP Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

This career spanning release features 17 of the Black Sabbath legend’s greatest hit singles compiled in one place for the first time in his career and will be available in a single CD, two-LP set and two-LP picture disc set configurations. The companion 2-DVD set includes classic music videos, plus previously unreleased and out-of-print live performances, and interviews from his solo career.

Sly Stone, I’m Just Like You: Sly’s Stone Flower 1969-1970 (Light in the Attic) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. )

During those creatively fertile days of the late 1960s, producer-arranger-composer Sly Stone couldn’t be confined to work with his band Sly and the Family Stone, so he formed the Stone Flower label and production company. Stone Flower released a handful of tracks on its own label as well as on Scepter and Atlantic by the artists Little Sister, Joe Hicks, and 6ix; those are collected here along with ten previously unissued songs. The sound on these tracks recalls the Family Stone’s groundbreaking There’s a Riot Goin’ On thanks to Sly’s use of the early Rhythm King drum machine/beat box. Light in the Attic packages this fascinating and essential chapter of the Sly and the Family Stone story with a 52-page booklet including a new interview by Alec Palao with Stone himself. Also available on vinyl.

Dean Martin, The Essential Dean Martin (Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. )

Legacy has 40 tracks on 2 CDs from the king of cool, Dean Martin. Though this compilation concentrates on Dino’s Reprise years, five key Capitol cuts are included as well as one late-period single at Warner Bros. Records. You’ll hear “Volare,” “That’s Amore,” “Sway,” “Everybody Loves Somebody,” “Memories Are Made of This,” “Houston,” “I Will” and many more on this set which has been remastered by Vic Anesini and annotated by James Ritz.

Meat Loaf, ICON (UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Universal’s budget-priced ICON series is back with a new entry for Meat Loaf. This odd volume features six of the eleven tracks from 1993’s smash hit comeback Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell and four songs from its follow-up, 1995’s Welcome to the Neighborhood. “Hot Patootie (Bless My Soul)” from Rocky Horror rounds out the 11-song compilation.

White Christmas: Diamond Edition Blu-ray with CD (Paramount) (Amazon U.S.)

This new Blu-ray edition of the 1956 musical film has, among its bonus features, a 12-song CD featuring Crosby, Danny Kaye and Rosemary Clooney, with guest appearances by Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee and Judy Garland. Eight of the songs on this exclusive bonus CD are previously unreleased.

Miles Davis, Bitches Brew (Hybrid SACD) (Mobile Fidelity) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

The great trumpeter’s revolutionary 1970 jazz-rock double album arrives on stereo hybrid SACD as part of Mobile Fidelity’s series of Davis reissues.

Madeleine Peyroux, Keep Me In Your Heart For A While: The Best Of Madeleine Peyroux (Rounder) (Amazon U.S.)

Here’s the very first compilation release in the singer-songwriter’s 18-year career, including tracks from the Rounder, Atlantic and Decca/Emarcy catalogues. Keep Me in Your Heart will include one previously unreleased song, the Warren Zevon title track which appeared in 2011’s independent film Union Square. Liner notes by former Atlantic Records A&R man Yves Beauvais, complete the package of the chanteuse’s greatest performances. A 2-CD edition is also available from Amazon U.K. with 27 tracks vs. the domestic version’s 15.

Billy Strayhorn, Out of the Shadows (Storyville) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

This 7-CD/1-DVD box set from venerable label Storyville turns the spotlight on a man who preferred to remain in the shadow of his close friend, collaborator and benefactor, Duke Ellington. 62 of Strayhorn’s compositions are presented here, both with and without Duke’s company, featuring such personnel as Art Tatum, Tommy Flanagan, Johnny Hodges, Clark Terry and Ben Webster plus Strayhorn and Ellington. Tracks were recorded between 1939 and 2007; see here for more details!

Swing Out Sister, The Essential Swing Out Sister (Salvo) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. )

This set has 17 tracks from the Manchester band formed in 1985 including their breakout hit “Breakout” and more originals and covers like “La La Means I Love You,” “Am I the Same Girl” and “The Windmills of Your Mind.” This survey of the sophisti-pop duo’s career concludes with a previously unreleased “Big Band” version of “Forever Blue,” a track arranged in its original version by Jimmy Webb.

Bob Seger, Ride Out (Capitol) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. )

The Detroit rocker returns with his first studio album since 2006 and seventeenth overall. It’s available in a variety of formats including deluxe edition CD, vinyl and a Target exclusive with two bonus tracks.

Jerry Goldsmith, Our Man Flint/In Like Flint: Original Motion Picture Scores (Intrada)

Intrada brings two of Jerry Goldsmith’s grooviest scores to CD for the very first time, remastered from the recently discovered original 20th Century Fox stereo album session masters! Differing from the Varese Sarabande release of soundtrack highlights from these spy capers, this single disc offers both classic original albums exactly as Goldsmith recorded them. For more background, see Joe’s review of Our Man Flint at The Digital Bits!

Michel Legrand, Summer of ’42/The Picasso Summer: Original Motion Picture Scores (Intrada)

Here’s the world premiere expanded release of two “summer” Michel Legrand soundtracks including his Oscar-winning score for Summer Of ’42 (1971). Legrand’s complete score runs just 17 minutes, so to fill the original Warner Bros. soundtrack album, 30 minutes of his score for the 1969 film The Picasso Summer was included. Intrada premieres the entire 55-minute Picasso score on the second disc of this 2-CD set, while the original album assembly of his “Picasso Suite” also plays intact on CD 1, following Summer Of ’42.

Written by Joe Marchese

October 14, 2014 at 08:11

Posted in Billy Strayhorn, Bing Crosby, Blu-Ray, Bob Seger, Diana Ross, Foreigner, Jaco Pastorius, Jerry Goldsmith, Madeleine Peyroux, Michel Legrand, Miles Davis, News, Ozzy Osbourne, Reissues, Swing Out Sister, The Kinks

Tagged with Release Round-Up

Swinging On A Star: November Is Bing Crosby Month With Deluxe CD, DVD, BD Releases Coming

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It can be fairly said that any singer today owes a debt to Bing Crosby. The late vocalist was among the first performers to conversationally and intimately sing as an extension of speech; he also pioneered the technique of the microphone so a singer wouldn’t have to belt to the rafters. In his lifetime, Crosby was at the vanguard of recording techniques. He left behind over 2,000 commercial recordings, and introduced countless standards including the yearly radio perennial “White Christmas,” still the best-selling single of all time. Arguably the most influential of all popular singers, Crosby is being fêted in the coming months with four new compact disc releases – two deluxe reissues of original albums and two new compilations, all with previously unissued material – coming on November 25 from Bing Crosby Enterprises and Universal Music (UMe), plus choice DVD and BD releases, as well.

The Bing banquet arrives one week before the airing of PBS’ American Masters special Bing Crosby: Rediscovered. The film by director Robert Trachtenberg (American Masters’ Mel Brooks: Make a Noise) is narrated by Stanley Tucci, and features material from the Crosby family archives as well as interviews with the crooner’s wife Kathryn, daughter Mary, and sons Harry and Nathaniel, along with Tony Bennett and Michael Feinstein, record producer Ken Barnes, biographer Gary Giddins and writers Buz Kohan and Larry Grossman. Accordingly, the first release in the Crosby CD series is a soundtrack to accompany Rediscovered. The 22-track soundtrack features duets with Judy Garland (Irving Berlin’s “You’re Just in Love”), Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin (Guys and Dolls’ “The Oldest Established”), Les Paul (“It’s Been a Long, Long Time”), Maurice Chevalier (“I’m Glad I’m Not Young Anymore/I Wish I Were in Love Again”), Louis Armstrong (Cole Porter’s “Now You Has Jazz”) and Crosby’s Road co-star, Bob Hope (“Put It There, Pal”). It also promises to premiere previously unissued recordings.

Rediscovered is joined by a new anthology, Bing Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook. This compilation follows past releases dedicated to The Great American Songbook as a whole, the songs of Johnny Mercer, and songs associated with Frank Sinatra, and is drawn from familiar classics recorded by Crosby at Decca alongside rare and previously unissued recordings. This album features the first ever CD release of the posthumous 2012 Crosby duet with Michael Bublé on “White Christmas” as well as other duets with Les Paul, Connee Boswell, Eugenie Baird, Dick Powell, Trudy Erwin and Gary Crosby.

Two deluxe, newly-remastered reissues of vintage Decca albums round out the series as part of the Bing Crosby Archive Collection. Some Fine Old Chestnuts was Crosby’s second album for Decca, released in 1954 as a 10-inch LP with eight songs; the label later expanded the title to twelve songs for a 12-inch reissue. This 60th Anniversary Edition adds eleven previously unreleased songs for a total of 23 tracks; to the original group of chestnuts including “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” “After You’ve Gone” and “Somebody Loves Me,” this edition adds never-before-released Crosby versions of “Painting the Clouds with Sunshine,” “Bright Eyes” and “Sometimes I’m Happy” with Helen O’Connell plus alternates of “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” and “After You’ve Gone.”

Songs I Wish I Had Sung the First Time Around was Crosby’s fourth album for Decca. The 1956 collection featured twelve standards such as “My Blue Heaven,” “April Showers,” “Memories are Made of This” and “Thanks for the Memory.” This reissue is bolstered with ten bonus tracks, nine of which are previously unreleased including never-before-released Crosby versions of “Thank Heaven for Little Girls,” “You’ll Never Know,” “’Deed I Do,” “A Kiss to Build a Dream On,” and a duet of “Heart of My Heart” with The Four Aces.

That’s not all coming up from Bing! Hit the jump for much more, including track listings and pre-order links! Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Joe Marchese

October 10, 2014 at 09:33

Posted in Bing Crosby, Blu-Ray, DVD, News, Reissues, Soundtracks

Holiday Tunes Watch: Sony CMG Celebrates The Season with Bing, Buck, B.J., JB, Elvis and More

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Occasionally the aisles of your local grocery or big-box store turn up releases you won’t find even in your local indie music store. Such is the case with a recent batch of holiday-themed titles from Sony Commercial Music Group. Just in time for Christmas ’13, CMG has unveiled a number of holiday compilations – and a handful of straight album reissues – for fans of classic pop (Bing Crosby, Patti Page), country (B.J. Thomas, Buck Owens, Roy Clark), rock-and-roll (Elvis Presley) and R&B (James Brown, and latter-day incarnations of The Drifters, The Platters, The Miracles and Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes). As you’ll see, there are some buried treasures to be discovered here.

Bing Crosby Enterprises has released a number of projects in recent years featuring ultra-rare Crosby tracks from the late legend’s archives, and the new Christmas with Bing! is no exception. This release follows other recent, unique seasonal collections like 2011’s Bing Crosby Christmas from Sonoma Entertainment and South Bay Music and Christmas Favorites from Somerset Entertainment. Produced by Robert S. Bader, the compilation offers 14 tracks including a few reprised from the indispensable Crosby Christmas Sessions (Collectors’ Choice Music, 2010). Three duets are sprinkled in among vintage singles and rare radio performances, including Ella Fitzgerald on “A Marshmallow World,” Bing’s widow Kathryn Crosby on “Away in a Manger,” and David Bowie on, of course, “The Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth.” Real Gone Music has recently reissued the late Patti Page’s 1955 Mercury release Christmas with Patti Page; now CMG has delivered the singer’s 1965 Columbia set of the same name which featured re-recordings of some of the earlier album’s music plus new holiday songs. The Columbia Christmas with Patti Page includes such favorites as “Silver Bells,” “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” “Christmas Bells” and “Pretty Snowflakes.”

The late Bakersfield, California country hero Buck Owens has been in the spotlight for much of 2013 thanks to Omnivore Recordings’ stellar release program and the release of his autobiography Buck ‘Em!. CMG’s Christmas with Buck Owens, produced by Rob Santos and licensed directly from Owens’ estate, includes twelve originals from Owens and his Buckaroos, including “Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy,” “Santa’s Gonna Come in a Stagecoach” and a still-relevant lament about “Christmas Shopping.” Its eleven tracks sample Owens’ Capitol long-players Christmas with Buck Owens and His Buckaroos (1965) and Christmas Shopping (1968). Buck’s Hee-Haw co-host and compatriot Roy Clark also gets a holiday overview with A Christmas Collection, produced by Doug Wygal. Its fifteen tracks including such classics as “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!,” “Home for the Holidays” and “White Christmas” have all been licensed from Grand Ole Opry member Clark.

Sony collects twelve Christmas tunes from Lee Greenwood (“God Bless the U.S.A.”) on Christmas, licensed from Cleopatra Records. As well as “Tennessee Christmas” and “Lone Star Christmas,” Greenwood sings traditional classics from “The Little Drummer Boy” to “White Christmas.” For years, B.J. Thomas has successfully walked the line between country and pop, and he showcases his still-strong voice on his enjoyable Christmas Live set. This collection, licensed from Cleopatra and of mid-2000s vintage, features twelve live Christmas songs from the “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” man, including “The Christmas Song,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Tennessee Christmas.” A longer version of the concert, with some non-holiday material, can be obtained on CD-R from Goldenlane Records as Hooked on Christmas or on DVD from Video Music as B.J. Thomas’ Christmas.

B.J. shared some of his repertoire, such as “Suspicious Minds” and “I Just Can’t Help Believin’,” with Elvis Presley. Twelve of the King’s Christmas staples are represented on Merry Christmas…Love Elvis, produced by Jeff James and Lisa Grauso and remastered by Tom Ruff. The compilation is drawn from Elvis’ 1957 and 1971 Christmas albums plus the 1966 single “If Every Day Was Like Christmas. On the classic rock front, CMG also offers up a reissue of Ann and Nancy Wilson’s A Lovemongers’ Christmas. Originally released in 1998 as The Lovemongers’ Here is Christmas, credited to the Wilsons’ Heart side project, it’s since been reissued under the official Heart name. This edition contains the two bonus tracks that did not appear in 1998 but have been added to subsequent reissues, Patty Griffin’s “Mary” and Ann Wilson and Sue Ennis’ “Let’s Stay In.”

After the jump: we have the scoop on the soulful titles in this series, plus full track listings and pre-order links for all releases, plus discographical information where available! Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Joe Marchese

December 16, 2013 at 11:46

Posted in Bing Crosby, BJ Thomas, Buck Owens, Compilations, Don Rich, Elvis Presley, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, James Brown, News, Patti Page, Reissues, Roy Clark, The Drifters, The Miracles, The Platters

Too Marvelous For Words: Bing Crosby Archive Collection Celebrates Johnny Mercer, “Le Bing”

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The two latest releases in the Bing Crosby Archive Collection – now distributed by Universal Music – take the legendary crooner around the world, from the American South to the streets of Paris, France. Bing Crosby Enterprises has just released one new anthology, Bing Sings the Johnny Mercer Songbook, along with a 60th anniversary deluxe expanded reissue of the Decca album Le Bing: Song Hits of Paris. In the tradition of past Archive Collection releases, these discs are packed with rarities and previously unissued songs from one of the most influential singers of all time.

Savannah, Georgia’s favorite son Johnny Mercer was championed by Bing Crosby from virtually the start of his illustrious career. Crosby gave Mercer his first major hit in the movies when he sang “I’m an Old Cowhand” in the 1936 film Rhythm on the Range, but even that wasn’t the first time Bing recorded a Mercer composition. The Johnny Mercer Songbook kicks off with a 1934 radio performance of “P.S. I Love You,” co-written by Mercer and composer-arranger Gordon Jenkins. It concludes with a 1953 radio take of the same song for which Crosby still evinced great affection. All told, this new compilation produced by Robert S. Bader includes 22 tracks of prime Mercer sung by one of his biggest admirers between 1934 and 1955.

A full 14 of these recordings are receiving their first-ever release, while the remaining eight tracks first appeared on Decca Records. Of the previously unreleased material, Bing tackles songs co-written with Harold Arlen (“That Old Black Magic”), Hoagy Carmichael (“Lazy Bones,” sung in duet with Louis Armstrong), Harry Warren (“Jeepers Creepers”), Joseph Kosma (“Autumn Leaves”) and Paul Lincke (“Glow Worm”). From the Decca catalogue, Crosby brings his relaxed tones to the Arlen co-writes “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive” with the Andrews Sisters and “Blues in the Night” and further standards written with Carmichael (“Skylark”) and Harry Warren (“On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe,” “You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby”). From Mercer’s solo songbook, Crosby sings “Jamboree Jones” (1951) and “Something’s Gotta Give” (1955). The songwriter himself even duets with Bing on a 1940 Decca single of “Mister Meadowlark.” Indeed, Bing Sings the Johnny Mercer Songbook could simply be called Bing Sings the Great American Songbook. Like Crosby himself, Johnny Mercer is still synonymous with American song itself. Howard E. Green provides new liner notes, and Gene Hobson has remastered all tracks.

After the jump: we have the details on Le Bing, plus full track listings with discographical annotation for both titles and order links! Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Joe Marchese

November 15, 2013 at 09:37

Posted in Bing Crosby, Compilations, News, Reissues

Release Round-Up: Week of March 19

Release Round-Up: Week of February 12

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Merle Haggard, The Complete ’60s Capitol Singles / Wanda Jackson, The Best of the Classic Capitol Singles / George Jones, The Complete United Artists Solo Singles (Omnivore)

Joe’s review of all three of these new country/rock singles anthologies from Omnivore speaks for each of them pretty well!

Merle: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Wanda: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
George: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Borderline, Sweet Dreams and Quiet Desires/The Second Album / Sam Dees, The Show Must Go On / Kenny O’Dell, Beautiful People / Pozo Seco, Shades of Time / Sam Samudio, Hard and Heavy / Billy Joe Shaver, The Complete Columbia Recordings /Rick Wakeman, No Earthly Connection (Real Gone Music)

The latest from Real Gone (some of which is on tap in the preceding link), including a solo LP from Sam The Sham, all of Billy Joe Shaver’s Columbia work and a solo disc from Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman.

R.E.M., Original Album Series / Yes, Original Album Series (Rhino U.K.)

Two new entries in Rhino’s “Original Album Series” sets, budget boxes packaging five albums by the same artist together, with a minimum of frills. R.E.M.’s set includes their final five albums, all recorded as a trio after drummer Bill Berry retired (Up (1998), Reveal (2001), Around the Sun (2004), Accelerate (2008) and Collapse Into Now (2011)), while Yes’ box includes their final works for Atlantic/Atco (Going for the One (1977), Tormato (1978), Drama (1980), 90125 (1983) and Big Generator (1987)).

R.E.M. Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Yes: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Joni Mitchell, The Studio Albums 1968-1979 (Rhino)

Already available in the U.K., this domestic new release features the iconic singer-songwriter’s first ten albums in one box. Nothing new in the way of packaging or remastering, just a quick way to snag ’em all at once. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

INXS, Shabooh Shoobah/The Swing (Friday Music)

From Friday Music comes the Australian band’s third and fourth albums on one compact disc. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Aretha Franklin, In the Beginning: The World of Aretha Franklin 1960-1967 (Wounded Bird)

A 1972 compilation of Aretha’s oft-overlooked early days on Columbia gets reissued by Wounded Bird. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Pat Boone, I’ll See You in My Dreams/This and That / Jane Morgan, What Now My Love/At the Cocoanut Grove / Tony Mottola, Roman Guitar 2/Spanish Guitar / Original Soundtrack Recordings, The Road to Hong Kong/Say One for Me (Sepia)

Some special two-for-one albums, many with bonus tracks, making their CD debuts from this British reissue label.

Written by Mike Duquette

February 13, 2013 at 11:49

Posted in Aretha Franklin, Billy Joe Shaver, Bing Crosby, Compilations, George Jones, INXS, Joni Mitchell, Merle Haggard, News, Pat Boone, R.E.M., Reissues, Rick Wakeman, Wanda Jackson, Yes

Tagged with Release Round-Up

Short Takes, Classic Pop Edition: What’s Coming From Willie Nelson, Bing Crosby, Aretha Franklin, Tony Bennett

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Today’s Short Takes looks at a variety of upcoming releases with one thing in common: great vocalists in the tradition of the Great American Songbook!

First up, let’s take a look at an album of new recordings from a favorite reissue label. One genre has never been enough to contain the musical restlessness of Willie Nelson. The country legend and honky-tonk hero created his own standards with his early songs such as “Crazy” and “Funny How Time Slips Away” before paying tribute to the Great American Songbook of yore with 1978’s chart-topping Stardust. Since that seminal album, the prolific Nelson has made frequent returns to the realm of standards of both the pop and country genres. His latest such effort arrives from our friends at Legacy Recordings on April 15.

Roughly two weeks before Nelson celebrates his 80^th birthday on April 30, Legacy will release Let’s Face the Music and Dance from Willie Nelson and Family. Recorded in Austin, Texas and produced by Buddy Cannon, the album of all-new recordings is titled after the 1936 Irving Berlin song. He’s joined by Family, the band he formed with his sister Bobbie Nelson (on piano), drummer Paul English and Mickey Raphael on harmonica. They’re accompanied by Paul’s brother Billy English (keeping it all in the family, after all) on electric gut string and snare drum, Kevin Smith on upright bass and Jim “Moose” Brown on B-3 organ. Willie’s son Micah Nelson, who contributed to Nelson’s 2011 Legacy debut Heroes, contributes percussion. Pop, rock, jazz and country classics all have found a place on Let’s Face the Music and Dance, including songs from Carl Perkins (“Matchbox”), Frank Loesser (“I Wish I Didn’t Love You So”), Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh (“I Can’t Give You Anything But Love”) and Django Reinhardt (“Nuages”).

Willie’s celebratory jaunt through some of the songs that have shaped his own musical legacy hits stores on April 15.

The U.K.’s Sepia Records label continues to offer a number of rare vocal, soundtrack and cast album treats, many of them available as a result of the U.K.’s current public domain laws. Last month’s batch of reissues included titles from Jack Jones, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, and Enoch Light. Come February 12, Sepia will release the following:

Pat Boone, I’ll See You in My Dreams/This and That – Sepia continues its series dedicated to Pat Boone with this new release. The label is supplementing two original Boone LPs with seven bonus tracks, and many of these tracks have not appeared on CD outside of Bear Family’s complete box sets. Rather than being in rock-and-roll mode here, Boone tackles standards including “That Old Black Magic,” “My Blue Heaven,” “The Tennessee Waltz” and even “Peg o’ My Heart.”

Jane Morgan, What Now My Love/At the Cocoanut Grove – The great chanteuse’s final two albums for Kapp Records, both from 1962, are joined together on one CD. What Now My Love, a collection of torch songs, is notable for having been arranged and conducted by the young Burt Bacharach. It includes Bacharach and Bob Hilliard’s song “Waiting for Charlie to Come Home.” (Morgan first recorded a new Bacharach song with 1959’s “With Open Arms.” Around the time of the LP, Bacharach recorded his “Forever My Love” with Morgan as the B-side to the single of “What Now My Love,” and he also arranged and conducted a Terry Gilkyson song, “Ask Me to Dance,” for her.) Cocoanut Grove features Jane on extended medleys of Paris-themed songs and tunes popularized by actress/singer Lillian Russell (1860-1922).

Tony Mottola, Roman Guitar 2/Spanish Guitar – Sepia pairs two 1962 Command Records LPs from session guitarist extraordinaire Tony Mottola on one CD. Roman Guitar 2 made it all the way to No. 46 on the U.S. Billboard album chart and contains performances of Italian-themed favorites like “Funiculi Funicula.” For Spanish Guitar, Mottola turned to “Tico-Tico,” “Granada” and even “Lady of Spain.” Mottola continued to record into the 1980s, but this pair of albums finds the guitarist in his prime, making music ready-made for dancing in front of the hi-fi.

Original Soundtrack Recordings, The Road to Hong Kong/Say One for Me – Two rare soundtracks starring Bing Crosby have been collected on one CD. From 1962 and 1959, respectively, The Road to Hong Kong and Say One for Me have never previously been available on CD. The original Liberty Records soundtrack to Hong Kong finds Crosby and Bob Hope joined by Joan Collins and Dorothy Lamour; Columbia’s Say One for Me album features Debbie Reynolds and Robert Wagner.

After the jump: Wounded Bird revives a long out-of-print title from the Queen of Soul, and travel with Tony Bennett as time goes by! Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Joe Marchese

January 30, 2013 at 11:25

Posted in Aretha Franklin, Bing Crosby, Burt Bacharach, Compilations, Jane Morgan, News, Pat Boone, Reissues, Tony Bennett, Willie Nelson

The Second Disc

Archive for the ‘Bing Crosby’ Category

Holiday Gift Guide Review: A Classic Christmas With Rosemary Clooney, Frank DeVol

Release Round-Up: Week of November 24

Release Round-Up: Week of October 14

Swinging On A Star: November Is Bing Crosby Month With Deluxe CD, DVD, BD Releases Coming

Holiday Tunes Watch: Sony CMG Celebrates The Season with Bing, Buck, B.J., JB, Elvis and More

Too Marvelous For Words: Bing Crosby Archive Collection Celebrates Johnny Mercer, “Le Bing”

Release Round-Up: Week of March 19

Release Round-Up: Week of February 12

Short Takes, Classic Pop Edition: What’s Coming From Willie Nelson, Bing Crosby, Aretha Franklin, Tony Bennett

Reissue Theory, In Memoriam: Various Artists, “The Essential Marvin Hamlisch”

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