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NOVEMBER /
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 DAVID BOWIE |
 TOM DOWD |
 THE KINKS |
 THE WHO |
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VARIOUS ARTISTS The Rolling Stones Rock And Roll Circus (Abkco)
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CREAM Disraeli Gears (Polydor / Chronicles)
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DAVID
BOWIE
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VARIOUS
ARTISTS Tom Dowd & The Language Of Music (Palm Pictures)
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THE
KINKS Preservation Act 2 (Koch / Konk)
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THE
WHO Live At The Isle Of Wight Festival 1970 (Eagle Vision)
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Back
in December 1968, The Beatles had just released their historic
“white album” and The Rolling Stones had just released
what is still referred to as their greatest album ever, Beggar’s
Banquet. With that celebratory vibe hanging in the air the Stones
convened the high court of rock royalty for their Rolling Stones
Rock And Roll Circus. Sort of a live carnival-like version
of the Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour, the Stones’ Rock
And Roll Circus was originally planned as an hour long BBC-TV special,
yet with the firing of the late, great Brian Jones from the band
by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, this last gasp
of the original Stones line-up lay dormant in the vaults till 1995 when
Abkco finally released it on VHS. Nine years later in 2004, Abkco
raises the flag again with the first ever DVD of Rock And Roll Circus
remixed in 5.1 surround sound and transferred from the original
16mm negatives. On reflection, Mick and Keith were on the right track
with their “circus”, enlisting live appearances from Jethro
Tull, The Who, Taj Mahal and Marianne Faithful.
In addition to the Stones’ performing key tracks from Beggar’s
Banquet, Let It Bleed and a rousing “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”,
the other obvious highlight here remains the appearance of John Lennon
& Yoko Ono, performing “Yer Blues” as The
Dirty Mac—backed up by Eric Clapton, Mitch Mitchell
and Keith Richards on bass. Less than a year later, Brian Jones
would be dead and The Beatles would soon take their final walk on the
Abbey Road, yet for a shining moment in late ‘68, The Stones’
Rock And Roll Circus was truly the greatest show on earth. In
addition to the excellent digital sound and vision, the DVD also features
a recent, historic filmed interview with the great Pete Townshend,
who, in his own unique way, reflects back on all the key events on that
fateful day in December ‘68. 
As
you can plainly hear on the 2004 Deluxe Edition: Disraeli Gears CD
release on Polydor/UMG, Jack Bruce taught Eric Clapton how
to sing. The second Cream album, following the incredibly fantastic
Fresh Cream, the 1968 release of Disraeli Gears cemented
the band’s reputation as the first bona-fide rock supergroup. Perhaps
it was the unique combination of all three, including drummer Ginger
Baker, as songwriters and singers, or maybe the addition of producer
Felix Pappalardi and engineer Tom Dowd. Whatever it was
Disraeli Gears was a quantum leap over Fresh Cream and
remains one of the key musical milestones from the incipient days of
progressive rock music. The double CD is spread out with a stereo mix
(disc 1) and mono mix (disc 2) while both CDs are packed with meaty
bonus tracks, mono/stereo outtakes, rare mixes and BBC tracks from their
May ‘67-January ‘68 heyday. Accordingly, the set features
a 24 page booklet. Like Hendrix, the Cream phenomenon was over way too
soon, but like The Beatles and Jimi, Cream epitomized the classic ‘60s
sound and their music still sparks with tangible alacrity. Unlike Jack
Bruce and Ginger Baker—who went on to incredible solo careers as
jazz-rock virtuosos—”Slowhand” Clapton joined the likes
of Delaney Bramlett for a shot at the back to the roots pop market.
Produced by the great Tom Dowd, Clapton’s 1974 solo album,
461 Ocean Blvd. was also reissued as a 30th anniversary,
double CD Deluxe Edition on Polydor. In addition to Clapton favorites
like “I Shot The Sheriff”, disc 2 culls tracks from Clapton’s
December 4-5, 1974 concerts at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. 
Back
in 1974, David Bowie stunned long time fans by parting ways with guitarist
Mick Ronson and engineer Ken Scott and recorded an album that to this
day amazes and delights. Regardless of just how much Diamond Dogs
freaked people out, (and that it did) you could only sit in amazement
at Bowie’s post-Ziggy reinvention as Anthony Newley meets Lou Reed
in a guitar rock spectacle of musical twilight zone proportions. EMI
recently released their Summer 2004 double CD set of DD complete
with the original eleven track album song cycle and a second eight cut
CD featuring single mixes, alternate tracks and Bowie’s final work
with Ronno for Bowie’s 1980 floor show musical from early ‘74.
Hard to believe that just six months later, (as he did just six months
before DD on Pinups) Bowie would reinvent another musical
personality yet again as the Bing Crosby of Motown on Young Americans.
EMI packs their 2004 Diamond Dogs double CD with a fascinating
artwork and vivid timeline details of that fabled early 1974 period
in Bowie’s career. 
Behind
every great artist there’s often a producer or engineer that’s
so in synch with the music that his contributions can’t be understated.
Case in point—The Beatles and George Martin, Yes had Eddie Offord,
and so on. In that light it’s well worth reexamining the audio
contributions of the late great Tom Dowd, who passed away at
the close of 2002. From the start, Dowd was an innovative figure at
Atlantic Records and thanks to a new DVD he can take credit for helping
to mastermind some of the label’s greatest recorded achievements.
A 2004 DVD on Palm Pictures, Tom Dowd & The Language
Of Music takes a timely look back at Dowd’s 50+ year career,
which began as Atlantic Records’ foremost engineer / producer.
Whether working in the studio with greats like John Coltrane and Charles
Mingus or times spent in Memphis with the Stax Records crew straight
through to his ground breaking work with Cream and Derek And The Dominos,
Dowd always had one hand on the studio console and another on the pulse
of the greatest music of the 20th Century. Filled with new and vintage
performance footage and interviews with Dowd and some of the greatest
recording artists of all time—including Eric Clapton, Les Paul,
The Allman Brothers and Ray Charles—Palm Pictures’s DVD provides
an eye-opening look back at one of the most influential Americans ever
to walk into a recording studio. The 90 minute DVD documentary is supported
by fine liner notes and 90 more minutes of interviews and scenes with
Les Paul, Clapton and many other musical giants. 
Back
in the ‘60s The Kinks were signed to Pye in the U.K. and
Reprise Records here in the U.S. After recording some of the most innovative
rock music of the ‘60s, things fell into place for Ray Davies,
Dave Davies & company with Muswell Hillbillies,
released worldwide in 1971 on RCA Records. The Kinks albums on RCA
still stand out as some of their best. Muswell Hillbillies was
a brutally transformational Kinks album, single handedly dispelling
the myth of The Kinks as mere pop stars, much in the same way that David
Bowie changed his image with his 1971 Hunky Dory release.
Following the 1972 release of Everybody’s In Showbiz, The
Kinks retooled again for their fabled two part Preservation
series. Both the 1973 release of Preservation Act 1 and
the 1974 double album, Preservation Act 2 were groundbreaking
rock efforts, combining the catchy pop The Kinks were renowned for with
a new socially conscientious approach to music making. Preservation
Act 2, in particular made for quite a live spectacular during the
fabled Kinks concert tours of the mid ‘70s. As part one of their
2004 Kinks SACD reissue series, Koch Records have reissued Muswell
Hillbillies, both Preservation Act 1 & 2, in addition
to the band’s final original RCA release, Schoolboys In Disgrace.
Containing the same detailed booklets and bonus material as the
prior Koch remasters from 1998, these 2004 hybrid Super Audio SACDs
now boast the finest sound quality yet for these timeless musical masterpieces.
In addition to the band’s early RCA remasters, Koch have also begun
reissuing hybrid stereo / SACD remasters of Kinks titles released by
Arista following the RCA years. First off are the second Kinks album
on Arista, Misfits (1978), Give The People What
They Want (1981), One For The Road (1980), Word
Of Mouth (1981) and State Of Confusion (1983).
A sound improvement over the original 1998 CD remasters, these late
Summer 2004 SACD’s will be appreciated by audiophiles and long
time Kinks fans, who can also look forward to early 2005, when Koch
reissues more Kinks titles on hybrid SACD. 
They
were a smash at the 2004 Isle Of Wight festival, but it was their 1970
show that is still remembered one of the most memorable Who shows ever.
Performing a number of Who classics—including a near complete version
of Tommy and rarities like “I Don’t Even Know Myself”,
“Water” and “Heaven And Hell—before a crowd of 600,000
people, The Who took the stage at the Isle Of Wight festival on August
30, 1970. The entire festival was filmed by director Murry Lerner,
and now 34 years later, the filmed negative of entire 85 minute Who
performance has been reproduced with amazing clarity on a 2004 DVD.
For this special 2 hour DVD, the entire soundtrack of the Who’s
performance has been personally remixed by Pete Townsend from
original 8 track masters resulting in a new 24 bit stereo / surround
sound mix. Topping off the DVD is a detailed, filmed interview with
Pete Townshend, reflecting back on the magical 1970 Isle Of Wight festival.
Also on Eagle Vision is a 2004 DVD from blues-rock legend John
Mayall entitled The Godfather Of British Blues / The Turning
Point. The 2 part DVD pairs “The Turning Point”—a
25 minute documentary on Mayall’s fabled 1969 album Turning
Point with an hour long biography on Mayall entitled “The Godfather
Of British Blues”. Extensive liner notes by Chris Welch seals
the deal on this definitive look at Mayall’s prolific and prestigious
past. Pop icons, The BeeGees are the subject of a 2003 2 disc
Eagle DVD entitled The Hits And The History Of The Bee Gees.
Disc one, The Official Story Of...tells the story of the
Gibb brothers rise to fame with key interviews from George Martin,
Robert Stigwood, Timothy White and more, while disc 2,
One Night Only features a complete BeeGees performance culled
from their one and only 1997 concert at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Special features on this nearly 4 hour DVD includes bonus interviews,
photo gallery and a video for their late period smash, “This Is
Where I Came In”. Fans of the late great Janis Joplin will
enjoy a 2004 Eagle DVD by Big Brother And The Holding Co. With Janis
Joplin entitled Nine Hundred Nights. Janis
died way too soon, yet she lives again on D.A. Pennebaker’s
impeccably filmed footage of Janis with Big Brother performing classics
like “Piece Of My Heart”, live videos from Monterey Pop and
more. Narrated by Rip Torn, the two and half hour DVD pairs classic
live performance footage with interviews from Janis, Big Brother guitarists
Sam Andrew and David Getz, Nick Gravenites, James
Gurly, rock scribe Lenny Kaye and more along with
a rare audio recording of Big Brother doing “Hall Of The Mountain
King”, interview outtakes and other psychedelic treats. 
