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Release Round-Up: Week of December 15

The Kinks, Anthology 1964-1971 (BMG/InGrooves, 2014) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Producer Andrew Sandoval (the recent The Monkees: Super Deluxe Edition) helms this kink-sized 5-CD kollection of hits, demos, interviews, alternate mixes, session outtakes, 25 previously unavailable tracks, an exclusive 7-inch single and copious, new liner notes!

Dionne Warwick, Finder of Lost Loves: Expanded Edition (Arista/Funky Town Grooves) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

This 2-CD edition of Warwick’s 1985 album features a bonus disc with 12 additional tracks – three rare single versions and nine previously unreleased recordings, including the Barry Gibb-produced Heartbreaker outtake “Broken Bottles” and two alternate versions of the Burt Bacharach/Carole Bayer Sager title track featuring Dionne joined by Luther Vandross!

Aretha Franklin, Aretha: Expanded Edition (Arista/Funky Town Grooves) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

FTG adds a staggering 19 bonus tracks to create a 2-disc edition of The Queen of Soul’s 1986 album featuring “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)” – including rare remixes of five songs as well as the Aretha Megamix! It appears that the companion disc – an expanded edition of Through the Storm – won’t be available until next month.

The Manhattans, Black Tie / Forever by Your Side (Columbia/Funky Town Grooves)

Black Tie: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Forever: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

FTG continues its series of reissues from The Manhattans’ catalogue with expanded editions of the legendary vocal group’s 1981 and 1983 albums of silky R&B!

Trip Shakespeare, Applehead Man / Are You Shakespearienced? (Omnivore)

Applehead CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Applehead Translucent Red Vinyl & Download Card: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Are You... CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Are You… Translucent Green Vinyl & Download Card: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Omnivore remasters and expands the first two albums from Minnesota band Trip Shakespeare – the training ground for John Munson and Dan Wilson, two members who would later go on to form Semisonic!

Foreigner, The Best of Foreigner 4 and More (Sony) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Just two months ago, on October 3 and 4, 2014, Foreigner took the stage at Atlantic City’s Borgata. Now, highlights from those concerts are being released on one budget-priced ($5.99 as of this writing!) CD including the hit songs from 1981’s landmark Foreigner 4 and other favorites. Tracks include “Waiting for a Girl Like You,” “Cold as Ice,” “Hot Blooded” and “I Want to Know What Love Is.”

Stephen Sondheim, Into the Woods: 2-CD Deluxe Edition Soundtrack (Walt Disney Records) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Okay, this isn’t a reissue, but we’re looking forward to it all the same. This week, Walt Disney Records releases the original soundtrack to the new film version of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s 1987 Broadway musical Into the Woods, featuring Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Anna Kendrick, Emily Blunt and future Late Late Show host James Corden. The 2-CD edition features all of Sondheim’s songs plus the film’s orchestral underscore.

Original Broadway Cast Recording, The Last Ship (UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Sting recently stepped into his Broadway musical The Last Ship for a limited run through January 24; here’s a chance to experience his songs for the musical as performed by the original cast of Michael Esper, Jimmy Nail, Fred Applegate and others. Sting himself is heard on a bonus track singing “What Say You, Meg?” from the show’s impressive score.

Written by Joe Marchese

December 15, 2014 at 08:32

Posted in Aretha Franklin, Box Sets, Dionne Warwick, Foreigner, News, Reissues, Stephen Sondheim, Sting, The Kinks, The Manhattans, Trip Shakespeare

Tagged with Release Round-Up

Release Round-Up: Week of December 2

Release Round-Up: Week of October 27

So Amazing: FTG Expands Dionne Warwick’s Arista Albums With Previously Unheard Songs

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In 1979, Dionne Warwick 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 in the rearview mirror. Bacharach and David had bitterly split after just one album with Warwick at Warner Bros. Records, leaving their muse feeling high and dry. One more dynamic success followed for Dionne in 1974 with the Thom Bell-produced Spinners duet “Then Came You,” unbelievably her first-ever No. 1 Pop single. But other than that one smash, 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 all Holland/Dozier/Holland had all been unable to rekindle the magic she had with her “triangle marriage.” Enter Clive Davis. The Arista honcho believed that Dionne’s best days weren’t all behind her. Davis’ gamble paid off when 1979’s Dionne, produced by Barry Manilow, became Warwick’s first platinum LP and spawned two massive, Grammy-winning hit singles in “I’ll Never Love This Way Again” and “Déjà Vu.” Warwick became the first-ever artist to take home Grammys in the same night for her pop and R&B vocals. She remained at Arista through 1994, recording eleven studio albums and one live set. Three of those LPs – No Night So Long (1980), How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye (1983) and Finder of Lost Loves (1985) – are set for expanded reissues from Funky Town Grooves this fall.

No Night So Long, Dionne’s second Arista LP, was built around the title track written by “I’ll Never Love This Way Again” tunesmiths Richard Kerr and Will Jennings. Isaac Hayes and Adrienne Anderson, the team responsible for “Déjà Vu,” also returned with “We Never Said Goodbye.” Crucially, however, Manilow didn’t return for No Night So Long; instead, production duties were handled by Steve Buckingham (Dolly Parton, Alicia Bridges). The album very much continued the classy, smooth pop style of its predecessor, however, with the sweeping title ballad scoring Warwick her third No. 1 AC single and a No. 23 Hot 100 success. Other songs on the LP came from such talents as Peter Allen, Melissa Manchester. Peabo Bryson, Steve Dorff and the team of Carole Bayer Sager and David Foster (“It’s the Falling in Love,” also recorded by Michael Jackson). A 2010 reissue from Expansion Records added three bonus tracks – “Dedicate This Heart” from Hot! Live and Otherwise (a cut that was omitted from that album’s CD release), the Michael Masser-produced Hot! Live B-side “This Time is Ours,” and “Only Heaven Can Wait” from the same sessions. Funky Town drops those three songs, as none are actually related to No Night So Long, and instead adds four never-before-released outtakes from the album: “This Is What I’ve Wanted All My Life” in two distinct versions, “Now That the Feeling’s Gone” and “Starting Tomorrow.”

After the jump: full details on the Luther Vandross-produced How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye plus Finder of Lost Loves, with productions from Barry Manilow, Burt Bacharach and Stevie Wonder! Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Joe Marchese

September 24, 2014 at 10:26

Posted in Dionne Warwick, News, Reissues

Ace’s “Black America Sings Bacharach and David” Features Dionne, Aretha, Cissy, Nina and More

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In retrospect, it might be telling that Burt Bacharach’s first recorded song, “Once in a Blue Moon,” was cut in 1952 by Nat “King” Cole. From those earliest days, Bacharach and his lyrical partner Hal David saw their songs recorded by a host of African-American artists: Johnny Mathis, Gene McDaniels, Joe Williams, Lena Horne, and Etta James among them. Once the duo began to change the sound of American music with their ultra-cool, sophisticated pop-soul compositions, those songs were most frequently interpreted by African-Americans: The Shirelles, Jerry Butler, Lou Johnson, The Drifters, Aretha Franklin, and of course, Dionne Warwick. It’s no small feat to distill the best of Bacharach and David’s R&B recordings onto one disc, but Ace Records has proved up to the task with the release of Let The Music Play: Black America Sings Bacharach and David. This 24-track compilation follows similar releases for Lennon and McCartney, Bob Dylan, and Otis Redding, and draws from the halcyon period between 1962 and 1975. For much of that period, Bacharach and David’s songs were rarely far from the top of the pop and R&B charts. As per Ace’s custom, the set includes both the familiar hits and the lesser-known tracks that just might become future favorites.

Songwriter-producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller were among the earliest professionals to champion Bacharach and David’s work. Both teams were integral to the sound of so-called “uptown soul” in which strings and Latin rhythms melded with gutbucket R&B to create some of the most indelible records ever made. Both of those elements are present on Leiber and Stoller’s production of Marv Johnson’s majestic 1963 recording of “Another Tear Falls,” one of B&D’s songs that fell short of hit status. Johnson passionately navigates its martial beat and darkly brooding orchestration, and Bacharach’s signature unexpected melodic shifts and rhythms are already in place. (Just listen to the song seemingly end around the 2 minute, 7 second mark, only to return with a coda – a device which Bacharach would revisit in the future.) Leiber and Stoller also produced a couple of other stunning tracks here, like Jerry Butler’s booming original recording of “Message to Martha” (later “Michael” in Dionne Warwick’s version) and The Drifters’ dramatic “In the Land of Make Believe.” With its nearly-operatic vocals and offbeat jazzy instrumental noodling, it’s one of the more unusual items in the Bacharach and David catalogue and all the more beguiling for it.

Thom Bell, along with his Mighty Three music partners Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, updated the “uptown soul” ethos for a new generation with The Sound of Philadelphia. Bell, who recently (and correctly) described his own music as “Bacharach-strange,” is represented on Black America Sings Bacharach and David with his 1968 production and arrangement of “Alfie” for The Delfonics. Bell delivered his ultimate homage to Bacharach with his reinvention of “You’ll Never Get to Heaven” for The Stylistics in 1972, but the lush, William Hart-led “Alfie” is no less classy. Bacharach’s influence on Philly soul is evident elsewhere, too. The Orlons made the most of a straightforward Richard Rome arrangement of “Anyone Who Had a Heart,” but it wasn’t enough to restore the “South Street” group to chart supremacy. Future “Hustle” man Van McCoy produced and arranged “Don’t Make Me Over” for Philly’s Brenda and the Tabulations, and also hewed closely to Bacharach’s original template.

Cissy Houston more radically overhauled her niece Dionne’s second hit, “This Empty Place,” in 1970. The funky arrangement takes liberties with Bacharach’s original time signatures but gives the powerfully-voiced Houston the opportunity to get down-and-dirty with her vocal. Aretha Franklin, like Houston a powerhouse vocalist, knew when to cut loose and when to play it cool on her hit 1968 recording of “I Say a Little Prayer.” Even the piano that opens Aretha’s “Prayer” is slinky and sexy. Bacharach has always been unduly harsh on his bright arrangement of the song for Dionne Warwick, but Aretha’s recording more vividly brought out its longing and passion. Bobby Womack and Isaac Hayes are expectedly and excitingly torrid on “(They Long to Be) Close to You” and “I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself,” respectively. More restrained is Nina Simone’s detached, smoky reading of the sultry “The Look of Love” from 1967, one of the now-ubiquitous song’s first covers.

After the jump, we have plenty more for you, including the complete track listing with discography and order links! Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Joe Marchese

April 30, 2014 at 10:44

Posted in Burt Bacharach, Compilations, Dionne Warwick, Gloria Gaynor, Hal David, Irma Thomas, Isaac Hayes, News, Nina Simone, Reviews, The Drifters

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Review: Dionne Warwick On Edsel Records

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Dionne Warwick’s third album bore the title Make Way for Dionne Warwick. But truth to tell, by the time of its release in September 1964, America had already made way for the New Jersey-born singer. She had climbed the charts with the immortal likes of “Don’t Make Me Over,” “Anyone Who Had a Heart,” “Walk on By” and “Reach Out for Me,” the latter two of which were included on that LP. Of course, all of those singles were written and produced by the team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, who with Warwick were stretching the boundaries of American pop and soul with each new 45. The elegant singer made an art out of her vocal control, deftly navigating the tricky contours of Bacharach’s angular, complex compositions with preternatural cool. Bacharach shattered convention with his shifting time signatures and unexpected chord progressions, but Warwick suffused those melodies with a clarion tone and seemingly effortless restraint. She naturally brought an actress’ gifts and a musician’s know-how to Bacharach’s tunes and David’s direct, deceptively simple lyrics. Until an acrimonious breakup in 1972, their “Triangle Marriage” raised the bar for sophisticated, contemporary, adult and urbane pop.

Following last year’s series of 23 expanded reissues of Dionne Warwick’s Scepter and Warner Bros. catalogue from WEA Japan, the U.K.’s Edsel label has just reissued 16 of those very albums on four new, multi-CD sets. Each one of Edsel’s sets contains four original stereo albums in chronological sequence, with two of the sets adding singles and retaining bonus tracks originally introduced on Rhino Handmade’s expanded reissues. The titles have been reissued as follows:

Presenting Dionne Warwick (1963) / Anyone Who Had a Heart (1964) / Make Way for Dionne Warwick (1964) / The Sensitive Sound of Dionne Warwick (1965) (2 CDs)
Here I Am (1965) / Dionne Warwick in Paris (1966) / Here Where There is Love (1966) / On Stage and in the Movies (1967) (2 CDs)
The Windows of the World (1967) / In the Valley of the Dolls (1968) / Promises, Promises (1968, with bonus tracks) / Soulful (1969, with bonus tracks) (3 CDs)
I’ll Never Fall in Love Again (1970) / Very Dionne (1970, with bonus tracks) / Dionne (1972) / Just Being Myself (1973) (2 CDs)

These four collections span Warwick’s entire groundbreaking period at Florence Greenberg’s New York-based Scepter label at which she recorded her most enduring hits, as well as her first two albums for Warner Bros. Records, the first of which was her final full-length album collaboration with Bacharach and David. As such, these compact packages of truly essential American music deserve a place on the shelf. One couldn’t better trace the evolution and growth of Warwick’s artistry as an interpretive singer, as well as the songwriting, production and arranging acumen of Bacharach and David, than via these seminal recordings.

As Dionne released very few non-LP singles at Scepter, all of her familiar hits from the period can be found on these four releases. But newcomers to her catalogue will also discover that her albums, though primarily consisting of Bacharach and David’s uptown take on R&B, were also peppered with standards, showtunes and later, pop “covers.” All of these varied songs spoke to her versatility as both a superior vocalist and an entertainer for all seasons.

This campaign from Edsel is the first large-scale reappraisal of Warwick’s catalogue in the U.K. since a series of early Scepter-era reissues from Sequel Records in the mid-1990s. And a daunting catalogue it is, especially for newcomers. In 2003 and 2004, Rhino Handmade premiered a number of the later Scepter albums on CD in generously expanded editions, but the series was abruptly ended before its scheduled conclusion. The first four Warner Bros. titles arrived on CD from Ambassador Soul Classics. Real Gone Music precursor Collectors’ Choice Music then reissued much of the Scepter catalogue plus the fifth and final Warner Bros. title in 2007 in straightforward album reissues with no additional material. (Discussion of Dionne’s non-Scepter and WB work is best left for another day!) The 2013 WEA Japan release series was the first major effort by one label to completely standardize the catalogue, and it did so admirably, including mono and stereo versions of each album (where applicable) plus a healthy selection of bonus tracks, many of which were never previously available on CD. The 23 Japanese reissues still didn’t include the entirety of Warwick’s Scepter and Warner recordings; some single versions, foreign language tracks and miscellaneous recordings were left off. But, especially with its inclusion of the first-ever CD reissues of Dionne Warwick’s Greatest Motion Picture Hits, The Dionne Warwicke Story: A Decade of Gold and From Within, the Japanese series made it possible for Dionne’s entire Scepter and Warner Bros. album catalogue to be obtained from one label in uniform editions.

Edsel’s new reissue series differs substantially from that of WEA Japan’s. We’ll dive into what you’ll find on these affordably-priced collectors’ sets after the jump! Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Joe Marchese

February 20, 2014 at 13:19

Posted in Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick, News, Reissues, Reviews

Tagged with Reviews

Release Round-Up: Week of January 28

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Uncle Tupelo, No Depression: Legacy Edition (Legacy)

After at least two teasers in the form of Record Store Day releases, one of the most beloved alt-country albums is greatly expanded as a double-disc set with a host of rare and unreleased demos. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Tony Bennett, The Classics (RPM/Columbia/Legacy)

One of the most beloved singers of the 20th century is the subject of a new career-spanning compilation, available in single and double-disc iterations.

1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
2CD: Amazon U.S.

Frank Sinatra, Sinatra, with Love (Capitol/UMe)

The first in a new Sinatra series (now distributed by Universal) explores the Chairman’s romantic side, with an unreleased alternate take on “My Foolish Heart” from Sinatra’s last studio session for Reprise. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

The Gaslight Anthem, The B-Sides (SideOneDummy)

The New Jersey rockers compile their rarer tracks on a new single-disc compilation.

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

Dionne Warwick, Presenting Dionne Warwick/Anyone Who Had a Heart/Make Way for Dionne Warwick/The Sensitive Sound of Dionne Warwick; Here I Am/Live in Paris/Here Where There is Love/On Stage and In the Movies; The Windows of the World/Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls/Promises, Promises/Soulful…Plus; I’ll Never Fall in Love Again/Very Dionne/Dionne/Just Being Myself (Edsel)

Sixteen Dionne Warwick albums (plus some bonus tracks) combined on four new sets from Edsel.

Presenting…: Amazon U.S. /Amazon U.K.
Here I Am…: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
The Windows…: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
I’ll Never Fall in Love Again…: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Kool & The Gang, The Force / Kool & The Gang, Everybody’s Dancin’ / Leon Haywood, Naturally (Big Break Records)

The latest from BBR includes two semi-obscure Kool & The Gang LPs (released between their biggest hit periods of the early-mid ’70s and early-mid ’80s) and a funky classic from Leon Haywood.

The Force: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Everybody’s Dancin’: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Naturally: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Hazell Dean, The Sound of Bacharach and David (Cherry Pop)

An ultra-rare promotional LP from the Hi-NRG queen, making its debut on CD. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Dory Previn (Langdon), My Heart is a Hunter (Croydon Municipal)

The debut LP from the Oscar-winning singer/songwriter (otherwise known as The Leprechauns Are Upon Me). Features new sleeve notes by Bob Stanley, author of the recent Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Privates on Parade: Original London Cast Recording (Stage Door Records)

The original cast recording to this U.K. farce (later made into a film with John Cleese) gets a CD release. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Written by Mike Duquette

January 28, 2014 at 08:15

Posted in Burt Bacharach, Compilations, Dionne Warwick, Dory Previn, Features, Frank Sinatra, Hal David, Hazell Dean, Kool & The Gang, Reissues, Soundtracks, The Gaslight Anthem, Tony Bennett, Uncle Tupelo, Vinyl

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Here Where There Is Love: Edsel Repackages Sixteen Dionne Warwick Albums In Four Sets

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Following last year’s series of 23 expanded reissues of Dionne Warwick’s Scepter and Warner Bros. catalogue from WEA Japan, the U.K.’s Edsel label is revisiting 16 of those very albums on four new, multi-CD sets. Each one of Edsel’s sets will contain four original stereo albums in chronological sequence, with two of the new titles adding singles and retaining bonus tracks originally introduced on Rhino Handmade’s expanded reissues. The titles, due in stores on January 13, are as follows:

Presenting Dionne Warwick (1963) / Anyone Who Had a Heart (1964) / Make Way for Dionne Warwick (1964) / The Sensitive Sound of Dionne Warwick (1965) (2 CDs)
Here I Am (1965) / Dionne Warwick in Paris (1966) / Here Where There is Love (1966) / On Stage and in the Movies (1967) (2 CDs)
The Windows of the World (1967) / In the Valley of the Dolls (1968) / Promises, Promises (1968) / Soulful (1969) (Includes bonus tracks, 3 CDs)
I’ll Never Fall in Love Again (1970) / Very Dionne (1970, with bonus tracks) / Dionne (1972) / Just Being Myself (1973) (Includes bonus tracks, 2 CDs)

Edsel’s series does not include 1967’s The Magic of Believing, 1969’s Dionne Warwick’s Greatest Motion Picture Hits, the Scepter anthologies The Dionne Warwicke Story: A Decade of Gold (1971) and From Within (1972), or any of Warwick’s Warner Bros. albums post-Just Being Myself. [Motion Picture Hits, The Dionne Warwicke Story and From Within all made their CD debuts in Japan and still await U.S. or U.K. reissue.] What will you find on these new editions? The full contents of Rhino Handmade’s 2003 reissue of Soulful are replicated, while other bonus material has been drawn from non-LP singles and Handmade’s expanded editions of The Windows of the World/In the Valley of the Dolls, Promises, Promises/I’ll Never Fall in Love Again and Very Dionne. In addition, two tracks appear to make their CD debuts outside of Japan, “Amanda” and “He’s Moving On” from the film The Love Machine. It’s unclear as of this writing whether these will be presented in mono or stereo; the mono single versions were included on the 2013 Japanese remaster of The Dionne Warwicke Story: A Decade of Gold but the stereo versions have never appeared on CD anywhere.

These new reissues also eliminate the duplicated songs heard on Warwick’s second and third albums. In addition, the new Very Dionne seems to drop the 1970 live recording of “The Look of Love” from the otherwise all-studio original album. (This track, recorded at New Jersey’s Garden State Arts Center, was joined by nine more tracks – most previously unissued – from the same performance on Handmade’s Very Dionne. The balance of the concert was scheduled for reissue on an expanded edition of On Stage and in the Movies. When Handmade abandoned the Warwick series, those four songs remained in the vaults. One hopes a full standalone release of this dynamic show will arrive soon.)

In summary, all of the bonus tracks from the Rhino Handmade and WEA Japan campaigns have not been reprised by Edsel, but all of the bonus tracks on Edsel’s series do appear on the Japanese discs. (The lone exceptions would be “Amanda” and “He’s Moving On” if Edsel includes them in stereo.) We hope to provide further details soon on the remastering and liner notes for this upcoming series, so watch this space. (And don’t forget to check out The Second Disc’s 2013 Gold Bonus Disc Awards, in which a title from Ms. Warwick and Real Gone Music took home a Reissue of the Year recognition!)

In the meantime, this series promises to deliver an affordable way to acquire the core of Dionne Warwick’s monumental catalogue, much of it crafted in tandem with Burt Bacharach and Hal David. It’s an alternative to acquiring the costly Japanese reissues or hunting down the out-of-print and pricey album reissues on labels including Sequel, Collectors’ Choice Music and Rhino Handmade. All four sets, encompassing sixteen albums, are due from Edsel on January 14, and you can pre-order below.

After the jump, you’ll find pre-order links and a complete discography for all titles! Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Joe Marchese

January 2, 2014 at 15:20

Posted in Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick, Hal David, News, Reissues

The Year in Reissues: The 2013 Gold Bonus Disc Awards

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Welcome to The Second Disc’s Fourth Annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards!

Though this is a slow time of year for news, it’s the perfect time to look at the year in review. As with every year’s awards, our goals are simple: to recognize as many of the year’s most essential reissues and catalogue titles as possible, and to celebrate those labels, producers and artists who make these releases possible in what many might deem an increasingly-challenging retail landscape. These labels have bucked the trends to prove that there’s still a demand for physical catalogue music. And from our vantage point, there’s still great strength and health in this corner of the music industry. By my very rough estimate, The Second Disc covered around 500 releases in 2013 – and we firmly believe that the best is still yet to come. We dedicate The Gold Bonus Disc Awards to the creators of the music and releases we cover, and to you, the readers. After all, your interest is ultimately what keeps great music of the past – this site’s raison d’etre – alive and well.

With that in mind, don’t forget to share your own thoughts and comments below. What made your must-have list in 2013? Please join us in recognizing 2013′s best of the best.

Which releases take home the gold this year? Hit the jump below to find out!

Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Joe Marchese

December 30, 2013 at 11:04

Posted in Box Sets, Cast Recordings, Compilations, Dick Jensen, Dionne Warwick, Duane Allman, Features, Harry Nilsson, Henry Mancini, Herbie Hancock, News, Paul McCartney, Reissues, Ruthann Friedman, Soundtracks, The Three O'Clock, Van Morrison

Tagged with Gold Bonus Disc Awards

Baby, It’s Burt: “The Warner Sound” and “The Atlantic Sound” Compile Rare Bacharach Tracks

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In his 85th year, Burt Bacharach has kept a pace that would wear out many a younger man. In addition to performing a number of concert engagements, the Oscar, Grammy and Gershwin Prize-winning composer has released a memoir, continued work on three musical theatre projects, co-written songs with Bernie Taupin and J.D. Souther, and even penned a melody for Japanese singer Ringo Sheena. Though Bacharach keeps moving forward, numerous releases this year have looked back on his illustrious catalogue. Universal issued The Art of the Songwriter in 6-CD and 2-CD iterations to coincide with the publication of his memoir, Real Gone Music rescued his three sublime “lost” 1974 productions for Dionne Warwick from obscurity, and Warner Music Japan reissued the near-entirety of Warwick’s Scepter and Warner Bros. tenures under the umbrella of Burt Bacharach 85th Birth Anniversary/Dionne Warwick Debut 50th Anniversary. Two more titles have recently been added to that Japanese reissue series: The Atlantic Sound of Burt Bacharach and The Warner Sound of Burt Bacharach. These 2-CD anthologies are both packed with rarities and familiar songs alike for a comprehensive overview of the Maestro’s recordings on the Warner family of labels.

The Warner Sound of Burt Bacharach is the more wide-ranging compilation of the two, drawing on recordings made not just for Warner Bros. Records but for Valiant, Festival, Elektra, Reprise, Scepter, and foreign labels like Italy’s CDG and Sweden’s Metronome. This 2-CD set is arranged chronologically, with the first CD covering 1962 (Dionne Warwick’s “Don’t Make Me Over,” her only appearance on the set) to 1978 (Nicolette Larson’s “Mexican Divorce”), and the second taking in 1981 (Christopher Cross’ Oscar-winning chart-topper “Arthur’s Theme”) to 2004 (Tamia and Gerald Levert’s “Close to You”).

On the Elektra label, Love scored a hit with “My Little Red Book,” presented here in its mono single version. The composer didn’t care for the band’s melodic liberties, but the Sunset Strip rockers’ version is today better known than the Manfred Mann original. From the Reprise catalogue, you’ll hear the great arranger Marty Paich with a swinging instrumental version of “Promise Her Anything,” a genuine Bacharach and David rocker originally recorded by Tom Jones. Trini Lopez’s groovy “Made in Paris” is also heard in its mono single version. Morgana King is sultry on a Don Costa arrangement of “Walk On By.” Buddy Greco delivers a hip “What the World Needs Now,” and Tiny Tim makes the same song his own. Ella Fitzgerald puts her stamp on “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” produced like Tiny Tim’s “World” by Richard Perry. Another production great, Wall of Sound architect Jack Nitzsche, brings a touch of class to the Paris Sisters’ dreamy “Long After Tonight is All Over.”

Numerous tracks on the first CD come from the worldwide Warner vaults. The two stars of the original Italian production of Promises, Promises – Catherine Spaak and Johnny Dorelli – are heard in their beautiful, low-key performance of “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again” as released on the CDG label. The Sweden Metronome label yields Svante Thuresson’s “This Guy’s In Love with You,” Siw Malmkvist’s “I Say a Little Prayer,” and one of the strangest songs in Bacharach and David’s entire catalogue, “Cross Town Bus” as sung by the Gals and Pals in English. Australia’s Festival label – the original home of the Bee Gees – has been tapped for Noeleen Batley’s “Forgive Me (For Giving You Such a Bad Time)” and Jeff Phillips’ “Baby It’s You.” The treasures on the Warner Bros. label proper are just as eclectic, from Liberace’s gentle “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” to The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band’s torrid “I Wake Up Crying.” Harpers Bizarre’s “Me Japanese Boy (I Love You),” with an atmospheric Nick DeCaro arrangement, is another highlight. The Everly Brothers truncated Bacharach’s melody to “Trains and Boats and Planes” but their harmony blend is at its peak in a 1967 recording.

The second disc of The Warner Sound emphasizes latter-day R&B as Bacharach branched out with a variety of lyricists. Chaka Khan is heard on “Stronger Than Before” by Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager; Earth Wind and Fire on “Two Hearts” co-written with Philip Bailey and Maurice White; Tevin Campbell on “Don’t Say Goodbye Girl” co-written with Narada Michael Walden and Sally Jo Dakota; and Randy Crawford on “Tell It To Your Heart” from Bacharach and Tonio K. Mari Ijima’s original version of “Is There Anybody Out There” – penned by Bacharach, John Bettis, James Ingram and Puff Johnson – is a welcome surprise; the song was recorded in 2012 by Dionne Warwick on her Now album. Ingram is also heard with “Sing for the Children.” On the 1993 track, co-producer/arranger Thom Bell channeled Bacharach’s classic flugelhorn sound to great effect. Old favorites are also revisited and reinterpreted on this disc via Everything But the Girl’s “Alfie,” The Pretenders’ “The Windows of the World,” Linda Ronstadt’s “Anyone Who Had a Heart,” Anita Baker’s “The Look of Love,” guitarist Earl Klugh’s “Any Old Time of Day” and frequent Bacharach collaborator Elvis Costello’s “Please Stay.” With big hits (“Arthur’s Theme”) alongside rarely-anthologized gems (the George Duke-produced “Let Me Be the One” performed by Marilyn Scott), there’s something for everybody here.

After the jump: check out The Atlantic Sound of Burt Bacharach! Plus: track listings with discography and order links for both titles! Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Joe Marchese

October 1, 2013 at 10:08

Posted in Aretha Franklin, Burt Bacharach, Carmen McRae, Chaka Khan, Compilations, Connie Stevens, Dionne Warwick, Ella Fitzgerald, Elvis Costello, Everything But the Girl, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Hal David, Love, News, Percy Sledge, Sergio Mendes, Stacy Lattisaw, The Drifters, Vanilla Fudge

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Archive for the ‘Dionne Warwick’ Category

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