Rolling Reissues 2016

Back to xpost Velvet Crush: so limber tunes, even some hooks, can push through or to the surface of concentrated demos----but the more I play these *live* 8 (out of 16) tracks, the more I call for more shows, bros!

https://gallery.mailchimp.com/a088e1e7fb68010cf6ad8ff4a/images/77000891-c7a2-412f-9435-22f648d10321.jpg

Waxwork Records is proud to announce the new double LP release of MY BLOODY VALENTINE (1981). Praised by director Quentin Tarantino as his favorite slasher movie of all time, MY BLOODY VALENTINE (1981) tells the story of a small mining town and it’s residents that fall victim to a vengeful, homicidal maniac on Valentine’s Day. The film has garnered a cult following and has also sparked a major-studio remake in 2009.

By working directly with composer Paul Zaza (Prom Night, Curtains, Porky’s), Waxwork was allowed to work directly from the original master tapes to source the complete, haunting score. This release marks the very first time the score to the 1981 slasher-horror classic has been re-leased in any format.

The foreboding score by Paul Zaza is a mix of both minimal synth and orchestral compositions intertwined with bluegrass and country soundtrack cues. Expertly mastered by Thomas DiMuzio at Gench Mastering, the complete score clocks in at over one hour and spans two 180 Gram opaque blood red vinyl records.

LP Package Details:

• The Complete MY BLOODY VALENTINE (1981) Film Score Debut
• Double LP Featuring Over One Hour Of Music
• Pressed to Two 180 Gram Opaque Red Vinyl Records
• Liner Notes By Composer Paul Zaza
• Liner Notes By Director George Mihalka
• Artwork By Ghoulish Gary Pullin
• Old Style Tip-On Gatefold Jacket With Soft Touch Coating
• Printed Inner Sleeves

LISTEN: My Bloody Valentine Original Score (Samples) -
https://soundcloud.com/waxwork-records/sets/my-bloody-valentine-1981

http://d31hzlhk6di2h5.cloudfront.net/20160531/ef/7b/77/70/025a8e0165a3edfc7354b424_560x560.jpg

JUDY HENSKE & JERRY YESTER’S CLASSIC
FAREWELL ALDEBARAN RETURNS NEARLY 50 YEARS
AFTER ORIGINAL RELEASE VIA OMNIVORE RECORDINGS
ON AUGUST 12
First-ever legitimate CD version of lost classic is remastered
from original master tapes with five previously unissued bonus tracks.
First-ever reissue LP pressing to appear on starburst vinyl
with gatefold jacket and eight-page booklet.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Farewell Aldebaran arrived at the end of 1969 and promptly disappeared by the start of the new decade. With each of its ten tracks differing in style, and no promotion upon its original release, the album never had chance. While many records have tags “lost classic” or “cult masterpiece” hung on them, this album actually is one and inexplicably slipped through the cracks, never having been afforded a proper reissue.
Conceived and composed by singer Judy Henske (dubbed “Queen of the Beatniks” by producer Jack Nitzsche) and artist-producer, Jerry Yester (The New Christy Minstrels, The Modern Folk Quartet, The Lovin’ Spoonful, The Association, Tim Buckley, and later, Tom Waits), Farewell Aldebaran was co-produced with Lovin’ Spoonful alum Zal Yanovsky (who also chipped in on guitar, bass and vocals). Among its many notable contributors: David Lindley, Paul Beaver (of the pioneering electronic music duo Beaver and Krause) and influential jazz bassist, Ray Brown.
Why did it languish in obscurity originally? “Maybe its snarling rockers, genteel ballads and gothic mood pieces made it too difficult to fit into conventional musical categories, or perhaps it simply fizzled due to lack of promotion. Whatever its initial fate, Judy Henske and Jerry Yester’s only album as a dud has become a genuine cult classic savored and pondered over by fans for nearly half a century,” surmises Barry Alfonso in his reissue liner notes.
Henske says, “At the time we recorded Farewell Aldebaran, I was reading only two things, The Oxford Book of English Verse and my Encyclopedia Britannica. It was the most psychologically balanced that I have ever been. One night I prayed, ‘Please God, give me a whole lyric in a dream so I can write it down.’ The next morning when I woke up I had ‘Snowblind’; it was complete. The next week I got ‘Raider’ the same way. I love this album.”
“Judy and I started writing together in ’66,” explains Yester. “And I believe our first effort was ‘Three Ravens.’ A year and a half later Herb Cohen gave us the go-ahead to do an album. It was very exciting for us to concentrate on an album of our own songs, and from the beginning there was a feeling of ‘no rules.’ That feeling stayed with us all through the making of Farewell Aldebaran. The excitement was heightened by it being the first of a number of albums co-produced by Zal Yanovsky and I. Of all the albums that I’ve been a part of, this one has always stood out as being the most fun, and free of constraints. It feels like it was yesterday.”
Omnivore Recordings is proud to reintroduce Farewell Aldebaran nearly 50 years after its first release on August 12, 2016. This is the first authorized and licensed reissue of this oft-bootlegged psych-folk classic — originally issued on Frank Zappa’s avant-garde Straight Records label — now remastered from the original master tapes. The CD includes five instrumental demos from Jerry Yester’s personal archives while the limited-edition first pressing of the LP will be on starburst colored vinyl. Both editions have extensive liner notes by Alfonso drawing upon new interviews with Henske and Yester, plus photos, original lyric sheets and additional illustrations.
From baroque pop to guitar-driven rockers, Farewell Aldebaran employs the use of instruments as unconventional as bowed banjos and hammered dulcimers to vocal samples on a Chamberlin tape organ to an early use of the Moog synthesizer on the title track. Farewell Aldebaran still defies classification, but has more than stood the test of time. This long-out-of-print album has now found a home; please say hello to Farewell Aldebaran.
Track Listing:
1. Snowblind
2. Horses on a Stick
3. Lullaby
4. St. Nicholas Hall
5. Three Ravens
6. Raider
7. One More Time
8. Rapture
9. Charity
10. Farewell Aldebaran

Previously unissued bonus tracks (CD only):
11. Merry-Go-Round (“Horses on a Stick” instrumental demo)
12. Charity (instrumental demo)
13. Zanzibar (“Farewell Aldebaran” instrumental demo)
14. Moods For Cellos (“Three Ravens” instrumental demo)
15. Divers Asleep (“Rapture” instrumental demo)
# # #

Watch (and feel free to post) the Farewell Aldebaran trailer:
http://youtu.be/G_85DzlXJ_E

Kill Rock Stars' YouTube channel incl their collections of Kleenex/LiliPUT, Essential Logic, and many other albums (original releases too): http://www.youtube.com/user/KillRockStars/playlists?view=50&shelf_id=5&sort=dd

Farewell Aldebaran: Foreboding yet outward bound, folk, olde verse, and mid-20th Century romantic and Romantic (idealistic, fatalistic) imagery X concerns ("Age of Anxiety" Auden called it, Bomb Culture Jeff Nuttall titled his life studies of UK para-Beat etc. activities/mindset), further times expert chamber folk-pop-rock focus---crisp, fluid, but not "snarling rockers" or particularly "guitar-driven" in the rawk sense----otherwise, just as advertised above.
Although Henske maybe has even more vocal range, and male vocals (mostly Yester's deceptively gentle, Nesmith-ish clarity, and Yanosky's unpretentious support) are occasionally featured, otherwise the vibe & polish remind me of Michele (O'Malley's) studio aces-in-space Saturn Rings, another 1969 release, and produced by Curt Boettcher, with hip guests, though Henske and Yester did almost all of this themselves. Some of it also suggests the more expansive tracks on Cale's pastoral-post-country gothic Vintage Violence, released in 1970. And it sails by the wilder shores of early English folk-rock too.
Title track is esp. rec to fans of Laser Pace, what with synthesizer (incl morphing of vox) by Paul Beaver (I gotta check Beaver & Krause, right? Bernie Krause added electronic shadings to one of my favorites, Link Wray's mid-70s The Link Wray Rumble.
Fun instrumental bonus versions, incl. "Moods For Cellos," very different from scary swooping LP use: this seems like a wordless Beacn Boys lullaby.
Lots to wrap brain around, but so far only the opener, "Snowblind," seems a bit awkward, as written. It's more about the overall effect, anyway (attitude w musical smarts also re with United States of America's '68 s/t).

And is the xpost Modern Folk Quartet good??

So glad taht this version of farewell Alderbaraan is coming. Been waiting to hear about a legit reissue of this for years. joe foster said he was about to do one about 10 or so years back, then the Radioactive needledrop appeared and the legit from tapes one was dropped. & looks like various post-Radioactive versions of the same label have been brought out since.

I have a different needledrop that was circulated through a blog after the radioactive one appeared. & I think there are corners in the sound i'd like to hear more clearly.

Fantastic news. love that lp.

yeah, i'm surprised it hadn't been reissued before, outside of phoenix/radioactive boots. kinda one of those legendary collector records.

That was a period where Radioactive seemed to get off on "scooping" legit labels with needle-drop bootlegs... I remember they dropped the Christ Tree record right before Hand/Eye's box set came out, too.

As I mentioned in the band's own thread, the Screaming Blue Messiahs box Vision in Blues is now available for pre-order. Their debut EP and all three of their studio albums, remastered, with all available B-sides and bonus tracks appended, plus a previously unreleased live album.

Nice! Couldn't really get into the later albums, but I'll buy if I can find a reasonable price.

This essential garage noir release comes out August 19:

http://www.numerogroup.com/products/the-scientists-a-place-called-bad

With a sound that was swampy, primal and modern-urban all at once—as much in the tradition of rock n’ roll and punk rock as it was a rejection of those things, the Scientists’ formula was as universal as it was specific to their own experience. The themes of getting wasted, driving around in hotted-up cars, being trapped in crap jobs, and paranoia were their subject matter. Machine throb bass and drums with jagged car-wreck guitars were their modus operandi. Fitting into no place or time they spurned all but the most rudimentary and elemental of rock structures to create a sound all their own.

> 4CD includes complete studio recordings, live recordings, and a previously unissued set from Adelaide UniBar, plus dozens of previously unpublished photographs, discography, and fold out Perth Punk family tree.

> 2LP version boils the box down to 22 essentials, plus unpublished photographs, discography, and fold out Perth Punk family tree.

> Deluxe mail order only version includes previously unissued Cheap Nasties 7" EP (limited to 1000) or 10 song cassette (limited to 100)!

Saxophonist Arthur Blythe's first four albums - In The Tradition, Lenox Avenue Breakdown, Illusions and Blythe Spirit, all released on Columbia between '79 and '82 - are being reissued as a 2CD set, remastered with new liner notes, by the UK label Beat Goes On.

Great to have those out again. I never did hear them all, but think Illusions was the one to employ Blood Ulmer as a jangling barbed wire team player (it worked).
Still got some doubts about some of the opening tracks on xpost Farewell Aldebaran: the mix seems too crowded at tymes, though 60s enthusiasm would do that, and better than too sparse; also the aforementioned mid-20th Century romantic and Romantic (idealistic, fatalistic) imagery X concerns can seem dated and predictable (like a lot of dystopian science fiction, then and now), but the musical enthusiasm and freshness does take it further than a lot of other artistes managed. "Three Ravens" pulls and pushes like that, though thought it was gonna be a draw, for a while. Don't know why I referred to this finished track as "scary and swooping," but it sure is different enough from the bonus instrumental source, "Moods For Cellos."
I may have confused "Three Ravens" for "Raider," which is my fave now, with the calling voices I mentioned, like an Appalachia-to-British Isles ballad ritual the Velvet Underground might've dug: " 'Raider,' she cries, 'you got tearrrs in your eyes, oh you're dreeam-ing mmmeee." Excellent bass by Jerry Scheff, bowed banjo and hammered dulcimer by David Lindley and Solomon Feldthouse of Kaleidoscope.
I shouldn't have said that "Henske and Yester do almost all of it themselves." Yes, Yester does a lot, but, as well as Zal and some Kaleidoscopians, jazz bassist Ray Brown shows up, ditto Tim Buckley's sometime co-writer, Larry Beckett, and the splendid session/touring drummer Fast Eddie Ho (who played on Buckley's Yester-produced Goodbye and Hello, also with the Mamas and Papas and many others).
Anybody heard Rosebud, Henske & Yester's later group? Still wondering about Modern Folk Quartet too.

Heard a track from this today and very lovely it was too.

http://www.numerogroup.com/products/jimmy-carter-and-dallas-county-green-summer-brings-the-sunshine

THE HEATERS,
ONE OF L.A.’S BEST-KEPT SECRETS OF THE NEW WAVE,
RELEASES 1983 RECORDINGS SOME 33 YEARS LATE
Omnivore to release American Dream: The Portastudio Recordings on August 19. Features new liner notes from band members.

STUDIO CITY, Calif. — The Heaters were one of L.A.’s hottest live acts in the late ’70s, opening for heavyweights like Talking Heads, Van Halen, and Cheap Trick. The band’s explosive stage technique, visual smarts, great pop songwriting, and Mercy Bermudez’s soaring lead vocals — the sound of Phil Spector mixed with the energy of punk — made them the band to see on the Sunset Strip. Sadly, their debut album (one of the most highly anticipated releases of the day) was plagued with problems and captured none of their magic. It was a commercial failure, with little exposure in radio and no sales. A second album “sounded” better, but met the same fate.
However, sisters Maggie and Missy Connell along with Mercy Bermudez kept recording on a Portastudio, concentrating on the girl-group side of their sound. They created tracks that would become a Holy Grail for not only Heaters and girl-group fans, but for anyone who was lucky enough to have heard them. Rhino Records loved the material and wanted it re-recorded it for a new release, but the three thought the songs should be released as they were, and turned down the deal. That was more than 30 years ago.
American Dream: The Portastudio Recordings, due out August 19, 2016 on Omnivore Recordings, is the first-ever official release of those 10 tracks from Maggie, Missy, and Mercy as the Heaters. Their glistening harmonies, which drew on the golden era of girl groups, the ’50s and ’60s, and were filtered through the ’80s, will finally be widely available — in the 21st century! But great music is timeless, and the time has come for the true sound of the Heaters to reach the masses the way it was intended.
According to Maggie Connell: “Today anyone with a computer can record an album at home. That was not the case when Missy, Mercy, and I began the Porta Project. Before 1983, album making was like an occult science — available only to the chosen few. Young musicians were blindfolded novices and producers were High Priests. So there was something subversive about recording yourself . . . like Toto defrocking the Wizard of Oz by discovering the ‘man behind the curtain.’ Today technology has created a more level playing field . . . along with greater freedom. Yet I wonder if that freedom has led to better music. There is something enlivening about pushing against limitation, and having something to prove — if only to yourself. So, I’m grateful for my part in this record — and for all the frustration that inspired it.”
With the full cooperation, and liner notes, by the band, we can finally turn up the Heaters!
Track Listing:
1. American Dream
2. All I Want To Do

3. 10,000 Roses

4. Every Living Day

5. Just Around The Corner
6. Sandy
7. I Want To Love Again
8. Rock This Place

9. Love Will Be Hurrying To You
10. I’ll Meet You There

Blonde Redhead announces Numero Group box set collecting early material, shares rare early single "Big Song"

STREAM: "Big Song" -
Soundcloud / Pitchfork
https://soundcloud.com/numerogroup/blonde-redhead-big-song-1/s-8RCqT

VIDEO: Trailer Video -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrHDACdGNnE

Teeming with the energy and grit of pre-Giuliani Manhattan, Blonde Redhead's long out-of-print early recordings have finally crawled their way out of the '90s basement thanks to Numero Group who will issue a 4LP / 2CD set on Sept. 30. Weighing in at 37 tracks, Masculin Féminin compiles the band's first two albums for Steve Shelley's Smells Like Records (self-titled and La Mia Via Violenta), their period singles, extant demos, and radio performances across four LPs or two CDs. Dozens of previously unpublished photographs illustrate two lengthy essays on this essential New York band's formative years.

This is the latest installment in Numero Group's 200 Line series which has also included releases from Unwound, Bedhead, Codeine, White Zombie and The Scientists.

"These songs combine a raw need, a ready access to neediness, with seemingly incongruous cinematic changes reminiscent of '60s Italian pop music and movie scores. They switch between emotional grandeur and eye scratching immediacy." -Arto Lindsay

TOUR DATES:

06/16 - Brooklyn, NY - Red Hook Summer Stage



Blonde Redhead
Masculin Féminin
(Numero Group)
Street Date: Sept. 30, 2016

Track List:

Masculin
LP 1 - Self-titled

1. I Don't Want U
2. Sciuri Sciura
3. Astro Boy
4. Without Feathers
5. Snippet
6. Mama Cita
7. Swing Pool
8. Girl Boy
LP 2 - 7"s and Bonus Material

9. Amescream
10. Big Song
11. Inside You
12. Vague
13. Jet Star
14. This Is The Number Of Times I Said I Will But Didn't (4 Track Demo)
15. Instrumental (Live at Snacktime)
16. Slogan Attempt
17. Swing Pool Instrumental (Live at Snacktime)
18. Woody (4 Track Demo)

Féminin
LP 1 - La Mia Vita Violenta

19. (I Am Taking Out My Eurotrash) I Still Get Rocks Off
20. Violent Life
21. U.F.O.
22. I Am There While You Choke On Me
23. Harmony
24. Down Under
25. Bean
26. Young Neil
27. 10 Feet High
28. Jewel

LP 2 - 7"s and Bonus Material

29. Flying Douglas
30. Harmony (7" Version)
31. 10 Feet High (7" Version)
32. Valentine
33. Not Too Late
34. (I Am Taking Out My Eurotrash) I Still Get Rocks Off (KCRW Session)
35. Pier Paolo (KCRW Session)
36. Country Song (La Mia Vita Violenta Outtake)
37. It Was All So Sudden (4 Track Demo)

Soundcloud advance track & YouTube trailer remind me of some comparisons of Blonde Redhead to younger Sonic Youth trying to be more accessible, re (what I hear as) bad vocals and dull riffs---but maybe they got better?

xpost The Heaters:The band’s explosive stage technique, visual smarts, great pop songwriting, and Mercy Bermudez’s soaring lead vocals — the sound of Phil Spector mixed with the energy of punk seems plausible after to listening to these vintage demos (occasionally clunky as played, though never ever as sung). Although the 60s meets 80s thing, such a thing in some of the 80s, mostly obviously comes across in the first and last tracks: "I'll Meet You There" is stately, swaggering sincerity, jangle-to-twangle and even maybe a Moog briefly improving on 50s-60s-to-80s sax: Bangles-worthy, if not Bangles-challenging (nah, they could handle it now).

"American Dream" seems like a de facto parody and celebration of 60s-80s, high-stepping like "Uptown Girl" (though here's where some of the clunking comes in), serenading someone whose smile is like a new car, "Your hair is like an airport," and even changing faster than "a color TV"---hmmm changing colors, a passing ziiing---little bit of everyday science fiction-reader's snidery there, like xpost United States of America's 60s s/t. By the same token, it's a bit we-get-it-already as written, though proud and fine singing, even ditto final instrumental flourish.

Other lyrics are mostly played 60s-girl-group straight---which also means healthy emotional range, which can incl. flamboyant as hell, from the daze when Ellie Greenwich and her mostly female competitors (yeah, sorry Phil) were concocting AM radio chartbusting showstoppers, not waiting for Broadway to finally cough up Grease and Hairspray.
Oh, one more 60s-80s lyrics exception (and I guess this is the one where "punk" is the closest to applying, re if and where it might get radio/video play): "Sandy" starts like maybe a cover of the Boss's song, but it's another original serenade, girl-to-girl, though also like the cute-friendly-girls-dressed-as-boys-dressed-as/for-girls British Invasion-power-pop publicity pic, she's playing a guy maybe, like in Shakespeare's time, OK---but then suddenly she's explaining, in thee midst of this midsummer night's cold call, "He's in love with his own feelings/He doesn't really see-ee you, he just wants to bee-ee you," and then the full-group chorus really spells it out: "That boy wants to be a girl/That boy wants to be a girl!" Punchline adds another surprise, but still.
60s-wise,rec to fans of the Shangri-Las etc., their influence on early Laura Nyro, also other very belatedly resurrected girl groups like Honey Ltd., who had their own cosmic harmonic thing, incl. in more country-pop reincarnation as Eve.

60s=>80s-wise, yeah the Bangles a bit there at the very end (right before that, they do pick up the pace and the guitars a bit more than previously). Otherwise, Cyndi Lauper's early 80s group Blue Angle maybe, though think Lauper did all the belting, maybe---Annie Golden and Shirts? Don't think I ever heard them, but back in the day said to have a bit of early 60s/Broadway influence (and before that, same was true of early Blondie, esp. with Shadow Morton, who did the same for Noo Yawk Dolls and actual early-mid 60s groops). Other examples worth hearing--??

Blue *Angel*--sorry Cyndi!

"Right before that" (re "they do pick up the pace and guitars a bit more than previously"): tracks 8 and 9.

Anybody heard the two Heaters albums that *were* released in the 80s? Not so good if even the publicist says they weren't, but I still want to check them out.

Bear Family Records and MVD Entertainment Group reach exclusive distribution agreement for the US market

Bear Family Records, the German independent record label specializing in reissues of archival country, rock 'n' roll, rhythm 'n' blues, blues, folk and soul music, will have exclusive distribution in the US (for the first time) via MVD Entertainment Group. The label has been in existence since 1975, founded by collector Richard Weize, started with the double LP "Going Back to Dixie" by Bill Clifton.

Bear Family's oldest recording archives date back to 1896, but a great deal of their releases contain material from the 1960s and '70s. The label has become known for its extravagant box sets and the company describes itself as "a collector's record label" due to its primary business, which is reissuing rare recordings in CD format in small amounts. Historically, Bear Family material has had only limited availability in the US, stocked at Ernest Tubb Record Shops and through mail order sources. With the MVD deal in place, Bear Family box sets will be widely available in the US.

"With joining the MVD Entertainment group of labels, Bear Family is making the next step," said Detlev Hoegen of Bear Family. "While as a record label we are preserving the past, with MVD as our distribution partner we are meeting the challenges of today's global market."

Hoegen also presides over Cree Records, a new-ish imprint of Bear Family specializing in Caribbean, calypso, soul, funk, reggae, disco, and obscure European releases. The label is heavily expanding in the vinyl market and will have approximately 20 new titles on LP (12" 180 gram, 10", and 45s).

"We are so proud to be working closely with Detlev and his team, and especially proud to be affiliated with such a strong brand as Bear Family." said Ed Seaman, COO of MVD. "This opens new doors for our growing business and allows MVD to expand further into the high end music collector's market."

xpost on Blonde Redhead. They did get better, on the third album. Then they got worse, though slowly, and eventually were the soundtrack to buying clothes in Soho (New York). This is probably close to their peak:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_b-WxQo47U

holy shit @ Bear Family news

Yeah that's awesome... hopefully be able to buy their single CDs for less than $27 or whatever.

Speaking of xxpost Henske & Yester and their prior involvement w members of the Modern Folk Quartet, the MFQ stars in the dramatic climax of this "Stairway" vs. "Taurus" coverage:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/led-zeppelin-stairway-trial-gets-ugly-as-plaintiffs-rest-their-case-20160618
It figures that, even now, a Stone writer would get shook by x-ray looks at the Zep mystique, since LZ long ago entered the RS Boomer Pantheon, and once you're in, you're in. But doesn't really diminish what they did with what they found.

Still, these particular comparisons (by the defense; basically standard practice, as in trials of John Fogerty, Charlie Daniels, etc. etc.) are a bit startling.

re: Modern Folk Quartet - I *adore* the lone track I have of theirs from the Back to Mono boxset "This Could Be the Night". Don't think anything else has ever surfaced, but I would be curious to hear any that did.

"To Catch a Shad" = not bad!

guess I should have specified nothing else produced by Phil Spector has ever surfaced

Uh-oh (re Pentangle, what about, er, "White Summer?)
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/led-zeppelins-10-boldest-rip-offs-20160622

And re xpost Kaleidoscope guys on Farewell Alderbaran, one of 'em, Lindley, was sometimes said to be the source of Page's approach to bowed guitar, although JP said a fellow session muso told him to try it.

He also called Kaleidoscope "the best band I've ever seen," and I think he did mean US, not UK, K, though can't find interview right now.

I thought most people put bowed guitar down to The Creation's Eddie Phillips who was certaionly using it in the mid 60s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC4CcclI2NI

though there may be other sources, but they are a band worth checking out if you're not familiar with them.

Thanks! I should have checked them out a long time ago.

NEW ORDER

Remastered And Updated Version Of Singles Compilation
To Be Rereleased On September 9 Via Warner Music

"All the perks of indie, dance and pop in one seamless package... the results are still terrific
listening". - Pitchfork

"Singles' is a peerless and ultimately simple example of how wonderful pop music can be."
- NME

LOS ANGELES - One of the most celebrated back catalogues in music history is set to be rediscovered when New Order's SINGLES compilation is released in remastered and updated form on September 9, 2016.

SINGLES charts New Order's finest moments, ranging from their 1981 debut "Ceremony" through to the influential classic "Blue Monday" and other career highlights including "Confusion," "True Faith," "Regret," and "Crystal" plus the chart-topping football anthem "World in Motion."

A decade after its initial release, SINGLES has been refined to become a greatly improved representation of the band's history. The renowned Frank Arkwright (The Smiths' Complete) at Abbey Road has remastered the collection with all audio sourced from high quality transfers.

In addition, SINGLES adds "I'll Stay With You" from 2013's Lost Sirens album and replaces the correct single edits or mixes for the tracks "Nineteen63," "Run 2," "Bizarre Love Triangle," "True Faith," "Spooky," "Confusion" and "The Perfect Kiss." The result is a considerable upgrade on the previous version of the album.

This new version of SINGLES will be available in three formats: a heavyweight 180 gram 4LP vinyl box set, a double-CD, and on digital/streaming services.

SINGLES

Track Listing:

Disc 1

Ceremony
Procession
Everything's Gone Green (7'' version)
Temptation (original 7" version)
Blue Monday
Confusion (UK 7'' promo edit)
Thieves Like Us (7'' promo edit)
The Perfect Kiss (7'' edit)
Sub-Culture (7'' version)
Shellshock (7'' edit)
State of the Nation (7'' edit)
Bizarre Love Triangle (7'' remix edit)
True Faith (7'' edit)
Touched by the Hand of God (7'' edit)
Blue Monday '88 (7'' version)

Disc 2

Fine Time (7'' version)
Round and Round (7'' version)
Run 2 (7'' remix edit)
World in Motion
Regret
Ruined in a Day (radio edit)
World (The Price Of Love) (radio edit)
Spooky (minimix)
Nineteen63 (Arthur Baker radio remix)
Crystal (radio edit)
60 Miles An Hour (radio edit)
Here To Stay (radio edit)
Krafty (single edit)
Jetstream (radio edit)
Waiting for the Sirens' Call (Rich Costey radio version)
Turn (Stephen Street edit)
I'll Stay With You ('Lost Sirens' LP version)

Manufactured Reissues Four Rare Jazz LPs On July 22nd
Featuring Milton Marsh and Brother Ah (Sun Ra Arkestra)
Previously Unreleased Brother Ah Material Coming In November
https://gallery.mailchimp.com/78dc98191efe28151fba166f0/images/23df17a2-f92f-4283-aea4-5a8caf5a7522.jpg

more info and audio:
http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=78dc98191efe28151fba166f0&id=753e244dba&e=591064d8e7

eh, since I brought it up:
http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7416371/led-zeppelin-stairway-to-heaven-trial-verdict

the Creation are fantastic

Will def be delving more into the C.

Just might order this, out July 1--guess he was imitating Skip James, but something in him responded to that sound:

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61IarTjLI7L.jpg

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Amazon sez:
(2-CD set) His was the voice of the Woodstock generation who asked 'baby, do you want to go' in the Canned Heat anthem Going Up the Country. Now Severn Records releases The Blind Owl, a compilation of Alan Wilson's greatest works with the legendary band he helped form. The Blind Owl features 20 songs of satisfying blues boogie including My Time Ain't Long, Mean Old World, and the band's breakout recording On the Road Again, plus Wilson's prophetic Poor Moon and fan favorite Time Was. In September of 1970 Alan overdosed, making him a member of the 27 Club. Still his legacy remains strong today as proven in this collection of remarkable recordings. The Blind Owl is a must for serious blues collectors as well as fans of 60's psychedelic rock. Packaged in 2-CD digipack with cover art provided by The 27s book.
if back image is messed up, here's another track list:

Disc: 1
1. On the Road Again
2. Help Me
3. An Owl Song
4. Going Up the Country
5. My Mistake
6. Change My Ways
7. Get Off My Back
8. Time Was
9. Do Not Enter
10. Shake It and Break It
11. Nebulosity/Rollin' & Tumblin'/Five Owls

Disc: 2
1. Alan's Intro
2. My Time Ain't Long
3. Skat
4. London Blues
5. Poor Moon
6. Pulling Hair Blues
7. Mean Old World
8. Human Condition
9. Childhood's End

Product Details
Audio CD (July 1, 2016)

AFTERSCHOOL SPECIAL: THE 123s of KID SOUL
FROM NUMERO GROUP
CHRONICLES SECRET HISTORY
OF TEENAGE SOUL SENSATIONS
The names may not be household
— Next Movement, Brighter Side of Darkness, Five Ounces of Soul, Scott Three — but the sound stands up to soul’s elder stars. In stores September 16.

Scott Three
CHICAGO, Ill. — The formula was simple: marry bubblegum and soul to the absolute sincerity of an enthusiastic child, cross your fingers and pray for airplay. But while the youthful sums of that formula may have grown up and walked away from their illusions of stardom, their permanent records remain.
By 1973, Michael, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Jackie were as hip as kids could get — household names with lunchboxes, coloring books, a Saturday morning cartoon, and an Alpha-Bits cereal commercial pushing the J5 brand onto any kid with television reception.
Their impressive run of four consecutive #1 singles playing on both pop and R&B stations cemented their appeal to both whites and blacks, prompting MGM to launch the Osmonds as the safer (read: white) alternative. And parents? Well, Michael had that wrapped up with his impossible-not-to-love mini-James Brown thing. Even the group’s song selection straddled both sides, with “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” and “ABC” for kids, and contemporary standards “Standing in the Shadows of Love” and “My Cherie Amour” for the older crowd. This marketing and merchandising juggernaut created the kid soul explosion.
On September 16, 2016, Numero Group will release the compilation Afterschool Special: The 123Ss of Kid Soul. A decade removed from the label’s acclaimed Home Schooled compilation comes a fresh batch of talent-show titans. With enterprising parents, neighbors, and teachers turning play dates into recording dates, groups like Magical Connection, Little Man and the Inquires, and Five Ounces of Soul emulated the Jacksons, who’d made grade-school stardom appear easy as ABC. Afterschool Special: The 123s of Kid Soul contains 19 tiny tunes ranging from bilingual D.A.R.E. anthem, to James Brown bio, to young love and life beyond the playground.

Track Listing:
1. I'm A Special Kid Bethlehem Children's Choir
2. Runnin' Wild (Ain't Gonna Help You) Scott Three
3. Guessing Game Jimi Hill
4. You Got Me Believing (Dreamin' 'Bout You) Leonard Kaigler
5. I Love You Still Cash
6. Because I Love You Brighter Side Of Darkness
7. Everywhere You Go Next Movement
8. I Want A Little Girl The Bennetts
9. Simon Says Future Kind
10. I Am Free No Dope For Me The Dynamics
11. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised Brother's Rap
12. We Don't Dig No Busing (The Busing Song) Greer Brothers
13. Funky Breakdown Little Man & The Inquires
14. Love Got A Piece Of Your Mind Five Ounces Of Soul
15. Girl Why Do You Want To Take My Heart Magical Connection
16. It's Time For Love Soul Emotions & Co.
17. Losing My Girl Brotherly Five
18. The Other Guy The Mighty Mustangs
19. James Brown Nancy Dupree
# # #

Music Industry, 1993: everyone is looking to sign the "next" Nirvana. Atlantic Records found exactly the band they were looking for in the Melvins. Birthed in the Pacific Northwest gloom of Aberdeen that would spawn grunge music and culture, the Melvins were writing songs that were clearly inspired by the right stuff and written for the right people...and they had Nirvana's unequivocal stamp of approval, which meant everything in the early 90's. For the next four years after their signing, the Melvins would deliver three stellar, influential albums that were criminally only moderately appreciated at the time. In the past 23 years, they've continued onwards with Buzz Osborne, Dale Crover and a revolving cast of bassists at the helm, cementing themselves as one of the most important American rock bands of all time.

Houdini, Stoner Witch, and Stag have all been out-of-print on vinyl for over two decades and original copies can command into the three figures in back alley craps games. Third Man Records is proud to reintroduce these titles, officially available June 24th, to the hungry vinyl-buying public, all remastered from original analog tapes, pressed on 180-gram vinyl and given the deluxe, gatefold jacket treatment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ5nQXnd_LE

huh I have Lysol on vinyl, had no idea that was worth more than $20

They didn't mention that one, and prices for others may be speculative in more ways than 1, re can command into the three figures in back alley crap games ho ho.

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BORIS announce 10th anniversary Pink album deluxe reissue, U.S. tour performing Pink in its entirety

Hear & share "Are You Ready?" https://soundcloud.com/sargent-house/boris-are-you-ready/s-Xi3N5

Japanese trio Boris announce the 10th anniversary deluxe reissue of Pink today and premiere one of 9 previously unreleased tracks from the new edition via Pitchfork. See track list below.

Boris will launch a full U.S. headlining tour in July in which they will perform Pink in its entirety. The band's new Sargent House labelmates Earth will play all dates except two in Canada. Please see complete dates below.

Pink, the landmark 2006 album by Boris, which earned widespread critical praise -- including Pitchfork's Top 10 Albums of 2006 -- will be reissued in a deluxe edition this summer to commemorate the album's 10th anniversary.

The deluxe 3xLP box set and 2xCD features an entire album of previously unreleased tracks recorded during the Pink album sessions in 2004-2005. The bonus Forbidden Songs collects 9 tracks of the same hyperactive, accessible and aggressive caliber of the original album, available here for the first time, mixed (with additional editing and arrangement) in 2015 and mastered in January 2016. Like the original U.S. vinyl release, the Pink (Deluxe Edition) LP set has three longer edits of songs that were truncated on the original CD issue ("Farewell", "Pseudo-Bread" and "My Machine"). Otherwise, both the LP and CD versions have the same audio as the 2006 release. And, Pink (Deluxe Edition) also features the artwork of the original Japanese release, made by the band members themselves.

In 2006, Pink was Boris' 10th album and a major breakthrough that earned new fans outside of the underground metal community -- the track "Farewell" was even featured in Jim Jarmusch's classic film The Limits of Control. The album landed on countless "best of the year" lists from underground metal sites to mainstream rock magazines. And the praise was certainly well deserved for its more accessible sound and explorations into shoegaze and ambient structures alongside brutal noise, searing psychedelia and apocalyptic doom.

Pink succeeds at what most bands cannot do: swiftly changing styles from song to song, while always sounding distinctly like themselves. The seamless, explosive set of fan favorites from the classic longtime lineup of drummer/vocalist Atsuo, guitarist/vocalist Wata and bassist/guitarist/vocalist Takeshi still sounds as mindblowing as it did a decade ago. And, Forbidden Songs continues with the same unbridled creativity and ferocity. These songs aren't outliers, they're rather more like the director's cut version of the original album.

Boris is now in their 24th year as a band -- 20 years in the classic trio lineup -- and showing no signs of slowing down. They have always demolished expectations of what a band can do musically and aesthetically. And in looking back with Pink (Deluxe Edition), the band's trajectory as experimenters and innovators over subsequent releases becomes even clearer.

Pink (Deluxe Edition) will be available everywhere (excluding Japan) on July 8th on 3xLP box set, 2xCD and download via Sargent House.

BORIS / EARTH / SHITSTORM TOUR 2016:
07/22 San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
07/23 Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
07/25 Dallas, TX @ Trees
07/26 Austin, TX @ The Mohawk
07/28 Ybor City, FL @ The Orpheum
07/29 Orlando, FL @ The Social
07/30 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
07/31 Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
08/01 Nashville, TN @ Third Man Records
08/03 Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle
08/04 Washington, DC @ 930 Club
08/05 Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
08/06 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
08/07 New Haven, CT @ College Street Music Hall
08/09 Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
08/10 Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz P.D.B. (no Earth)
08/11 Toronto, ON @ Lee's Palace (no Earth)
08/12 Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
08/13 Grand Rapids, MI @ Pyramid Scheme
08/14 Chicago, IL @ Metro
08/16 Madison, WI @ Majestic Theater
08/17 Minneapolis, MN @ Fineline Music Cafe
08/18 Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theatre
08/19 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
08/20 Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
08/22 Seattle, WA @ Neumo's
08/23 Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
08/25 San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
08/26 Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent Theater
08/27 Las Vegas, NV @ Hard Rock Hotel - Psycho Las Vegas

Artist: Boris
Album: Pink (Deluxe Edition) 3xLP
Label: Sargent House
Release Date: July 8th, 2016

LP I: Pink

Side A
01. Pink
02. Woman On The Screen
03. Nothing Special
04. Blackout

Side B
5. Electric
6. Six, Three Times
7. Afterburner
8. Pseudo Bread (long version)

LP II: Pink

Side C
9. My Machine (long version)
10. Farewell (long version)

Side D
11. Just Abandoned Myself

LP III: Pink Sessions "Forbidden Songs"

Side E:
1. Your Name Part 2
2. Heavy Rock Industry
3. SOFUN
4. Non/Sha/Lant
5. Room Noise

Side F
6. Talisman
7. N.F. Sorrow
8. Are You Ready?
9. Tiptoe

Artist: Boris
Album: Pink (Deluxe Edition) 2xCD
Label: Sargent House
Release Date: July 8th, 2016

Disc I: Pink
01. Farewell
02. Pink
03. Woman On The Screen
04. Nothing Special
05. Blackout
06. Electric
07. Pseudo Bread
08. Afterburner
09. Six, Three Times
10. My Machine
11. Just Abandoned Myself

Disc II: Pink Sessions "Forbidden Songs"
01. Your Name Part 2
02. Heavy Rock Industry
03. Sofun
04. Non/Sha/Lant
05. Room Noise
06. Talisman
07. N.F.Sorrow
08. Are You Ready?
09. Tiptoe

On the Web:
www.borisheavyrocks.com (Official site: Japan)
www.sargenthouse.com/Boris
www.facebook.com/borisheavyrocks
borisheavyrocks.tumblr.com (BORIS news U.S.)

Follow BORIS on Twitter: @Borisheavyrocks

Um, wow...

Betty Davis - The Columbia Years 1968-1969
LP/CD, Light In The Attic
Release Date: 7/1/2016

One can hardly imagine Prince, Erykah Badu, or Outkast without the influence of Betty Davis. Her style of raw and revelatory punk-funk defies any notions that women can't be visionaries in the worlds of rock and pop. In recent years, rappers from Ice Cube to Talib Kweli have rhymed over her intensely strong but sensual music. Betty penned the song 'Uptown' for The Chambers Brothers and wrote the tunes that got The Commodores signed to Motown. The Detroit label soon came calling, pitching a Motown songwriting deal, which Betty turned down. Motown wanted to own everything. Heading to the UK, Marc Bolan of T. Rex urged the creative dynamo to start writing for herself. A common thread throughout Betty's career would be her unbending DIY ethic, which made her quickly turn down anyone who didn't fit with the vision. She would eventually say no to Eric Clapton as her album producer, seeing him as too banal. In 1968, she married Miles Davis and quickly influenced him on the magic of psychedelic rock along with introducing him to Jimi Hendrix -- personally inspiring the classic album, Bitches Brew. Miles and Betty fans have long debated the truth of a near mythological session recorded in Studios B and E at Columbia's 52nd Street Studios on May 14th and 20th, 1969. The landmark session was produced by Miles and Teo Macero and featured Betty on vocals, accompanied by Jimi Hendrix Experience drummer Mitch Mitchell, guitarist John McLaughlin, Herbie Hancock on keys, and Dylan/Miles session bassist Harvey Brooks. Other players included bassist Billy Cox (Band of Gypsys), saxophonist Wayne Shorter, and organist Larry Young. Now, Light In The Attic, with full support from Betty herself, presents these recordings to the public for the very first time. These historic sessions -- never heard, never bootlegged -- predate Miles' revolutionary album, Bitches Brew, and are the true birth of Miles' jazz-rock explorations, along with the roots for Betty's groundbreaking funk that came years later, starting with her self-titled debut in 1973. While, ultimately, these recordings would go unreleased for nearly half a century, they would greatly shape each of their careers. The vibe is intrinsically unique, fresh, and futuristic -- jazz heavyweights playing psychedelia, rock, and jazz-fusion long before the term became commonplace. The songs include Betty originals and covers of classics by Creedence and Cream. The concepts explored on these previously unheard sessions fueled concepts that wouldn't be fully realized until years later with Miles' seminal On The Corner. Additionally, included here is the first time rerelease of a 1968 Columbia single, recorded in October 1968 at Columbia Studios in Los Angeles. The session was produced by Jerry Fuller and featured South African maverick Hugh Masekela on trumpet and arrangements, plus members of jazz-funk pioneers The Crusaders -- including trombonist Wayne Henderson and pianist Joe Sample. All tracks previously unreleased (except track B5/8). Production by Miles Davis & Teo Macero with performances from Hugh Masekela, Mitch Mitchell (Jimi Hendrix Experience), John McLaughlin, Herbie Hancock, Harvey Brooks, Wayne Shorter, Billy Cox (Band of Gypsys), Larry Young, and members of The Jazz Crusaders. Remastered from the original analog master tapes.New interviews, rare photos, and unseen historical documents from the Teo Macero archive.

Pink is one of those albums I bought because everyone was recommending it. On paper it pushes all of my buttons. But I've never liked it.

That's pretty much how I feel about Boris in toto. I tried! I think the one with Kurihara is the only one I'd keep.

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Still happy, still together…
’60s POP LEGENDS THE TURTLES COME OUT OF THEIR SHELLS
WITH LONG-AWAITED REISSUES OF THEIR CLASSIC ’60S ALBUMS
ON AUGUST 19
The Complete Original Albums Collection is a six-CD box set;
two-CD All the Singles collects the A and B sides
of every original 1965-1970.
Compilations overseen by Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — During their original 1965-1970 run, the Turtles led a musical double life, scoring a lengthy run of unforgettable pop hits — such as “Happy Together,” “Elenore,” “You Baby” and “She’d Rather Be With Me” — while making albums that were among the era’s most distinctive, inventive and gently subversive. With co-frontmen Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman providing heavenly harmonies, infectious sonic craft and effervescent humor, the Turtles were a ubiquitous presence on Top 40 radio for much of the ’60s, while earning their counterculture credentials with such adventurous LPs as the Ray Davies-produced Turtle Soup and the wildly eclectic The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands, on which they impersonated a different fictional act on each track.
Originally released on the small White Whale label, the Turtles’ original albums have remained stubbornly out of print for many years, leaving fans with various greatest-hits collections that only scratched the surface of the band’s deep and rewarding catalog. That situation changes on August 19, 2016, when the Turtles’ label FloEdCo, in association with Manifesto Records, celebrates the band’s 50th anniversary with the release of a pair of definitive CD packages that encompass, for the first time, the whole of the Turtles’ recorded output from 1965 to 1970.
The Complete Original Albums Collection is a six-CD box set of the six albums that the Turtles released between 1965 to 1970, plus a wealth of rare bonus material. Each of the band’s first three albums — It Ain’t Me Babe, You Baby and Happy Together — is presented in its original mono and stereo mixes, while each of the remaining three — The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands, Turtle Soup and Wooden Head — provide a generous assortment of rare bonus tracks, including some previously unreleased material.
The two-CD All the Singles collects the A and B sides of every original 1965-1970 Turtles 45, with the tracks presented in the same mono or stereo mixes that were heard on the original singles. All the Singles also features several tracks that were prepared for singles release but not issued at the time.
Both sets have been meticulously researched and prepared from the original master tapes by renowned engineer Bill Inglot, and both contain detailed liner notes by noted writer and archivist Andrew Sandoval. The resulting packages offer a unique insight into one of rock’s most misunderstood bands.
“We were thought of as a hit-making machine, but buried in there was a very thought-provoking group,” Mark Volman notes. “We really cared about what was going on ... We were never really afforded the credibility of bands like the Byrds.”
The Turtles, Volman points out, were “making records that made it to the radio, but were still challenging and adventurous records. Experimental, but at the same time full of commerciality. The Turtles were really walking on a fine edge. We were only two years out of high school and we were making some pretty challenging music.”
After the Turtles disbanded at the end of the decade, Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman maintained their partnership, serving a five-album stint as members of Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention before releasing several albums as Flo and Eddie. They also had an extended run as FM rock DJs, provided voices for animated films and became in-demand studio singers, lending their trademark harmonies to a wide range of acts from T. Rex and Alice Cooper to Bruce Springsteen and the Ramones. Today, the pair continues to carry the Turtles’ legacy forward, leading the band’s present-day incarnation on their wildly successful annual Happy Together tours. This year’s tour launches on June 3 in Biloxi, Mississippi and continues through September.
http://theturtles.com/tour/

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Oh yeah, and more info, audio samples (30" ea., but all tracks) from xpost Betty Davis prev. unreleased
http://lightintheattic.net/releases/2429-the-columbia-years-1968-1969

We've been talking about 'em on her thread:

YES

― chr1sb3singer, Tuesday, June 28, 2016 11:59 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

listening to the clips now, seems more hard R&B than funk, but still interesting

― Dominique, Tuesday, June 28, 2016 12:03 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah from the clips, i dunno if it really supports the idea that betty was the inspiration behind the bitches brew sound, everything here is pretty straight ahead (though maybe some of it gets more wigged out as the songs progress). but it sounds cool anyway!

― tylerw, Tuesday, June 28, 2016 12:09 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this just strikes me as a bit of a stretch: "The concepts explored on these previously unheard sessions fueled concepts that wouldn’t be fully realized until years later with Miles’ seminal On The Corner."

― tylerw, Tuesday, June 28, 2016 12:14 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, hard to tell what just what might eventually happen in these tracks---for 30" excerpts especially, might have been better not to make 'em all the intros. The voice does sound kinda thin, but *not* tuneless, as some have said upthread. The band sounds stronger right off and all through. Suspect it's not nearly as wild or raunchy as the finished albums may be ---still haven't heard 'em, but I wanna, and this too.

― dow, Tuesday, June 28, 2016 12:30 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Don't think this page lists release date, but press sheet says July 1.

― dow, Tuesday, June 28, 2016 12:31 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

estimated ship date is 7/11

― tylerw, Tuesday, June 28, 2016 12:32 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Here's what I said on Facebook yesterday:

Heard it this morning. It's not a lost album - it's demos. And if the personnel listed are really present, you coulda fooled me. The music is semi-generic late '60s soul/funk, so if Herbie Hancock and Larry Young are playing keyboards, they're not given enough room to stretch out; it's impossible to tell it's them. I didn't hear a note of saxophone, either, so where was Wayne, exactly? McLaughlin, though, is in full Jack Johnson mode, which is great, and the rhythm section (Billy Cox and Mitch Mitchell) are as "tightly loose" as they were behind Jimi. Davis's lyrics (on the three songs she wrote) are sketches at best. The cover of Cream's "Politician" is good, the cover of Creedence's "Born On The Bayou" isn't - too Tina Turner-ish by half. And the last three tracks, the ones done with Hugh Masekela in 1968, are just OK in a showbizzy, Vegas-pop kind of way (think Tom Jones). It's good-not-great; there's some studio dialogue from Miles which is intermittently hilarious (he tells her to keep her gum in her mouth when she sings); Betty fans (of which I am not really one, honestly) will almost certainly love it. But the stuff she did later was much more exciting.

Not surprising--even the 30" samples sounded like demos---but I'll check it out anyway. (No Larry Young though, dang.)

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INDEPENDENT RAMSEUR RECORDS HONORS
BLUES HERO JOSH WHITE
WITH VINYL REISSUE OF HIS SEMINAL 1956 LP
JOSH AT MIDNIGHT ON AUGUST 19

Album celebrating 60th anniversary
“The incredible Josh White, at the absolute peak of his powers! Universally acclaimed as Josh's very finest album (Elektra 102)”
—Jac Holzman, Founder and President of Elektra Records 1950 - 1974

.
CONCORD, N.C. — In a massively influential career that spanned several decades, South Carolina-bred singer-guitarist Josh White (1914-1969) established himself as a pioneering musical force, a uniquely charismatic performer and a popular entertainer whose appeal transcended the racial and social barriers of the time.
At a time when African-American blues artists were routinely marginalized, White performed successfully on Broadway and in nightclubs, film and radio. He also emerged as a respected civil rights crusader and a trusted confidant of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who in 1941 invited White to be the first African-American artist to give a White House Command Performance.
Despite the fame and success that he achieved during his lifetime, and his influence upon a diverse array of artists ranging from Nat “King” Cole to Bob Dylan, White has largely been forgotten by contemporary audiences. The roots-savvy North Carolina-based independent label Ramseur Records plans to return White and his music to spotlight with its vinyl reissue of the vintage LP Josh at Midnight, originally released in 1956 on the then-fledgling Elektra label. The album will be re-released in a deluxe vinyl edition on August 19, 2016.
Recorded with a single microphone by Elektra founder Jac Holzman over two nights in a converted Manhattan church in late 1955, Josh at Midnight finds White delivering spare, impassioned performances of a dozen spirituals and blues numbers. The artist is accompanied throughout the sessions by noted jazz bassist Al Hall and baritone vocalist Sam Gary.
By the time Josh at Midnight was recorded, White had been blacklisted for his social activism and his career was in decline. This situation prevented him from recording for larger record companies, but the idealistic Holzman (who was a staunch admirer of White’s music) was willing to take a chance. His faith was rewarded when White’s Elektra recordings became some of the struggling label's biggest sellers, helping to revive the artist’s career and propel Elektra’s evolution from tiny indie imprint to successful industry force. Josh at Midnight remained one of Elektra’s top-selling titles for years, and became a fixture in many an album collection at the time.
As Holzman writes in his liner notes, “Josh at Midnight is probably the finest Josh White recording ever made. Sixty years later it still dazzles with the radiance of a great artist, thoughtfully recorded, whose contribution is unchallenged and firmly set in the bedrock of American vernacular music.”
The Josh at Midnight reissue is a labor of love for Ramseur Records founder Dolphus Ramseur, who’s been a committed White fan since childhood, when he first heard Josh at Midnight's lead track “St. James Infirmary” on a local radio station's blues show. White’s music has remained a touchstone in Ramseur’s life ever since. After meeting Jac Holzman through their mutual association with the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Ramseur became determined to restore Josh at Midnight to the vinyl marketplace with the same attention to quality and detail for which Ramseur Records has become known.
The Josh at Midnight reissue was mastered with the participation of original producer Holzman, as well as legendary engineer Bruce Botnick and fabled mastering engineer Bernie Grundman.
“Josh was a special artist and this is a special record,” Ramseur comments. “It wasn’t about making money — I just felt like this music should be available. Josh was such an important artist and a unique voice and he was a really big star at one point. I want more people to know about him, and this is a good place to start.”