May / June 2003
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BOOKER T. & THE MGS |
VARIOUS ARTISTS PET PROJECTS |
ELO |
LOVIN' SPOONFUL |
PINK FLOYD |
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CREAM BBC Sessions (Polydor / Chronicles) During the 60s, America had music shows like Shindig, Hullaballoo and American Bandstand while over in England, the BBC was busy recording the greatest names in rock and roll history. Thankfully one of those great U.K. groups recorded live by the BBC was Cream. The focus of Creams sound was very much centered on the groups guitarist Eric Clapton, but Cream was also very much a musical democracy and Cream bassist Jack Brucetogether with his songwriting partner Pete Brownand the trios drummer Ginger Baker and producer Felix Pappalardi were equally gifted musicians and composers who proved to be just as important as Clapton in shaping the Cream sound. The long awaited Cream BBC Sessions was released by Polydor / Chronicles in early 2003 and its clearly been worth the wait. Between 1966 and 68 Cream recorded a wealth of live tracks for BBC-related shows like Saturday Club, Top Gear and Guitar Club and BBC Sessions compiles 26 previously unreleased classic Cream performances. adding in four brief interview tracks with Clapton. With its mostly unreleased, live BBC renditions of tracks originally featured on Cream albums like Fresh Cream and Disraeli Gears, the CD is topped off by a 16 page CD booklet featuring stunning color and b&w photos along with a fresh perspective on Creams incredible history and unique contributions to the development of progressive music. www.universalchronicles.com
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BOOKER
T. & THE MGS In the words of guitarist Steve Cropper, When wed play, we had fun. That fact is readily apparent on Soul Mena collection of 25 previously unissued outtakes from Booker T. & The MGs. The house band at Stax Records, Booker T.& The MGs backed up just about every Stax and Volt Records artist between 62-69, but when it came time to record themselves, keyboard great Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper & company often chose to elegantly rework huge pop hits of the day, giving them that fabled Booker T. instrumental touch. Featuring classic instrumental versions of 60s pop smashes like Day Tripper, Downtown, The Letter along with instro covers of Marvin Gaye, The Supremes and Ray Charles, Soul Men shows why this band is still held in such high regard among pop and instrumental R&B enthusiasts. Soul Men also features unique Booker T. instrumentals of songs that originally found them backing up famous singers, like on Sam & Daves hit Soul Man, which is given a rousing instro version here. With some of these instrumentals dating back to the dawn of the 60s, the 25 track Soul Mencomplete with four pages of insightful liner notesdemonstrates why Booker T. & The MGs are still considered the quintessential R&B instrumental band. Another fine 2003 related title on Stax Records is Stax Instrumentals. A split bill featuring twenty five outtakes and unreleased tracks from Booker T. & The MGs and The Mar-Keys, the CD features more detailed liner notes and serves as a fitting companion to the Soul Men CD. www.fantasyjazz.com
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VARIOUS
ARTISTS During
the heyday of the 60s, and even into the 70s, the genius
of Brian Wilson was too great to contain in The Beach Boys.
Ask those who know theyll tell you Brian Wilson was the
Beach Boys or better yet in the words of the late great Dennis Wilson
(one of his songs is on this CD), we are just Brians
messengers. Brian was lucky in love and early on he married Marilyn
Rovell and a wealth of surf-pop recordings with her group, The
Honeys were among Brians great early productions. Not only
does Brian produce and play on each of these 23 songs but he wrote most
if not all the songs here. Spector-sized productions with The Honeys,
a one off single with his one time collaborator, the late great Gary
Usher, Glen Campbell, Paul Petersen, more... and of
course his groundbreaking work on the legendary early 70s American
Spring album. Packed with Brian songs that often reflected his songwriting
styles that were featured in the Beach Boys repertoire, Pet Projects
- The Brian Wilson Collaborations is a real boon for Beach Boys
collectors. As if it was needed, any one seeking further verification
of Wilsons enormous studio talents will be amazed at the CD packaging
and impeccable 20 page booklet. Available in the U.S. through the catalog
of Collector's Choice Music. www.ccmusic.com
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ELECTRIC
LIGHT ORCHESTRA
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THE
LOVIN' SPOONFUL Hums Of The Lovin' Spoonful Everything Playing (Buddha / BMG Heritage) Back during the golden days of 60s Top 40 AM radio days, The Lovin Spoonful were an unstoppable pop force. Lead by the songwriting and vocal skills of the great John B. Sebastian and the guitar antics of the late, great Zal Yanovsky, the group charted with one great pop classic after another. By the time Hums Of The Lovin Spoonful was released at the tail end of 1966, they were already a worldwide phenomenon and the albums inclusion of the Sebastian-penned classics Summer In The City and Rain On The Roof reflected that. The Spoonful regrouped without Zal for their January 68 album Everything Playing, an album that stands as one of their most underrated and accomplished Lps. Both albumsoriginally released on Kama Sutra Recordswere reissued on CD in early 2003 on Buddha / BMG Heritage. These first ever U.S. reissues of Hums Of The Lovin Spoonful and Everything Playing provide a wealth of insight into the Spoonful legacy. Packed with extensive liner notes, excellent remastering, original artwork, bonus tracks and instrumental alternate versions, both CDssounding better than everare fittingly dedicated to the memory of Zal Yanovsky. www.bmgheritage.com
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PINK
FLOYD Capitol Records unveils its new line of hybrid SACDs with a reissue that is usually referred to as Pink Floyds quintessential album. Released in 1973 to utter amazement and near shock, its sold over 20 million and, even though it wasnt quite as good as the best parts of Atom Heart Mother or See Emily Play, Dark Side Of The Moon was the turning point album that saw the band evolve from their experimental psychedelic early years towards a highly polished, commercial sound sporting a diamond like veneer. This 2003 version of Dark Side Of The Moon features both the CD stereo and 5.1 surround sound versions on one dual layer hybrid disc with both layers featuring SACDs direct stream digital encoding process that samples the music 64 times faster than CD, making for a very dynamic listening experience. Playable on vintage CD players and also an item of choice for the new line of hi-tech 5.1 surround sound players, Capitol's new 30th anniversary Dark Side sounds great but with its ultra hot dynamic range be prepared to crank the volume! www.emimusic.com
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