Real Gone Captures David Allan Coe, Eddy Arnold, Blue Öyster Cult, Henry Mancini and More!

It’s that time of the month again!  Real Gone Music has just announced its April 30 slate of releases, a typically full complement of nine reissues crossing all genre lines.

For rock enthusiasts, Real Gone reinvents Blue Öyster Cult’s 1988 album Imaginos in a 2012 remix, enhancing the band’s controversial Columbia Records swansong with Scott Schinder’s new liner notes.  Schinder also annotates a two-fer from Allman Brothers offshoot band Sea Level, containing Cats on the Coast and On the Edge.  Wilderness Road’s offbeat 1973 Reprise album Sold for the Prevention of Disease Only brings the band’s blend of country, psychedelic rock and political satire to CD for the very first time with new notes from Richie Unterberger.  On the country side of town, Real Gone has two titles that couldn’t be more different: a 28-track collection of original chart-toppers from the legendary cowboy Eddy Arnold plus outlaw David Allan Coe’s 1977 album Texas Moon.  For jazz aficionados, the thriving partnership between Real Gone and Chicago institution Dusty Groove Records continues with three titles blurring the lines of jazz, soul and funk: Allspice’s Wayne Henderson-produced Allspice, Larry Williams’ That Larry Williams, and vibraphonist Johnny Lytle’s The Soulful Rebel and People and Love.  Lastly, renowned composer (and Second Disc favorite) Henry Mancini’s beautiful score to Blake Edwards’ 10 – featuring vocals from none other than Julie Andrews and a piano solo from Dudley Moore – makes its long-overdue U.S. CD debut.

Whew!  After the jump, we have full details and pre-order links for all titles via Real Gone’s detailed press release!

Goin’ Back to New Orleans: Rounder Anticipates Mardi Gras With New Collection

Laissez les bons temps rouler!  Each year, the good times do indeed roll in New Orleans, Louisiana, when the city throws the biggest Mardi Gras bash in the country.  Though carnival season is celebrated around the world, the revelry in New Orleans surely has one of the richest legacies, and a major part of that legacy is, of course, its music.  Rounder Records, founded in 1970 and now part of the Concord Music Group, has built a solid foundation of Cajun and carnival favorites in its impressive roots-music catalogue.  Twelve songs have been culled from the vaults of both Rounder and sister label Specialty Records for a new 12-track collection ins stores today, Meet Me at Mardi Gras.  With New Orleans’ Mardi Gras just a little over a month away (Tuesday, February 21 is the date!), the time is right for this instant party disc.

The twelve tracks date from the 1950s to the present day, blending both the familiar and the lesser-known.  The Soul Rebels’ 2011 sing-along “Say Na Hey” opens the album and is the most recent cut on the collection, juxtaposing some scorching electric guitar with the expected brass.  Another modern slant on the classic sound is present in the form of the New Orleans’ Nightcrawlers’ “Funky Liza,” their take on the traditional brass band favorite “Li’l Liza Jane.”  Chuck Carbo of The Spiders closes out the set with “Meet Me With Your Black Drawers On,” a bit of carnival fun.

Vintage R&B sides take their place alongside these “future classics.”  Perennial “Bad Boy” Larry Williams is heard on his smoking 1957 reading of “Jockamo,” before the Dixie Cups reinvigorated the tune as “Iko-Iko.”  Also from the Specialty catalogue comes the classic jazz of Joe Liggins’ “Goin’ Back to New Orleans.”  One of the fathers of New Orleans piano, Professor Longhair, is represented with two songs.  He’s heard on a 1960s take of his own “Go to the Mardi Gras,” while Bo Dollis and the Wild Magnolias do the honors on the Professor’s “Tipitina” from their 1990 album I’m Back…at Carnival Time.  Al Johnson’s original 1960 recording of “Carnival Time” adds more authentic flavor.

Cajun music still thrives today in the French-speaking churches south and west of New Orleans, but holds a special place in Mardi Gras tradition.  “Mardi Gras Mambo,” originally recorded by Art Neville’s Hawkettes, is heard here in a rendition by Zachary Richard.  Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys contribute “La Danse de Mardi Gras,” a song central to Cajun dance festivities at Mardi Gras time.

Rounder’s Scott Billington has compiled the disc, and provides liner notes as well.  Meet Me at the Mardi Gras is in stores today from Rounder Records.  Hit the jump for an order link and the full track listing!