Jerry Lee’s late-70s/early-80s country hits on Elektra
There’s some sort of twisted justice in Jerry Lee Lewis’ having survived his own hard living to produce both personal and professional longevity. Rejected by Nashville, he built foundational rock ‘n’ roll pillars at Sun, faded at Smash, rebuilt himself as a country star in the late ‘60s, rode a wave of nostalgia in the ‘70s, faded from the country charts, and regained critical acclaim with late-70s and early-80s records for Elektra. It’s these latter recordings that are the subject of this fourteen track collection, highlighted by his eight charting singles (including the double A-side “Rockin’ My Life Away†b/w “I Wish I Was Eighteen Againâ€), and select album tracks.
Imagine if the two hundred miles separating Nashville and Memphis hadn’t birthed two entirely separate musical cultures. As if the country songwriters of the former had more freely shopped their material among the blues and soul musicians of the latter. That’s the premise of the Bo-Keys third album, as they give songs by Harlan Howard, Curly Putnam, Hank Williams and Freddy Fender a spin down Beale Street and on a road trip to Muscle Shoals. Traveling beyond Nashville, the soul transformation roams West for Merle Haggard’s early album track “The Longer You Wait,†and East (albeit, via Nashville Skyline) for Bob Dylan’s “I Threw It All Away.â€
The Bo-Keys aren’t the first to put a soulful spin on these song; Swamp Dogg’s “Don’t Take Her (She’s All I Got)†started as a soul side before turning country, as did Curly Putnam’s “Set Me Free,†which had been given soulful treatments by Charlie Rich, Joe Tex, Van & Grace and Esther Phillips before Ferlin Husky took it to the Nashville mainstream. Even closer, Little Richard gave “I’m So Lonesome I Could Die†the full Stax treatment on 1971’s King of Rock and Roll. None of which takes away from the Bo-Keys creativity, but helps show that great songs can stand apart from the genre in which they were birthed. Floyd Cramer’s “Last Date,†for example, is equally compelling when shifted here from piano and strings to guitar and horns.
Extraordinary collection of Jamaican rocksteady 1966-68
The difference between ska, rocksteady and reggae may be lost on casual listeners, but even without an academic understanding of Jamaican music’s evolution, rocksteady’s slower tempos, heavy backbeat and harmony vocals will get listeners on their feet. In celebration of rocksteady’s fiftieth anniversary, this forty track set pulls together some of the short-lived, foundational genre’s most important tracks, including Roy Shirley’s prototype “Hold Them,†Hopeton Lewis’ genre-defining opener, “Take it Easy,†material from internationally renowned exponents Desmond Dekker and Johnny Nash, and deep, collectible tracks from Jamaica’s greatest musicians.
Rocksteady slowed the tempo and simplified the instrumentation of ska, dropping the horns in most cases, shifting emphasis to the rhythm section, leaning more heavily on the backbeat, and freeing the bass to play melody. Technology also had an impact, as the introduction of two-track recorders allowed backing tracks to be reused, as did the Melodians with “Last Train to Expo ‘67†and “Last Train to Ecstacy,†and Stranger Cole for “Seeing is Knowing†and “Darling Jeboza Macoo.†Rocksteady also freely borrowed melodies, such as Miriam Makeba’s “Pata Pata†for “Pata Pata Rocksteady†and Paul Desmond’s “Take Five†for both “The Russians Are Coming†and “The Great Musical Battle.â€
The Impressions have a long history, rooted in their late-50s Tennessee origins as The Roosters, growing through their 1960s reformation in Chicago as the Impressions, and continuing to the present day as a live act. Their earliest hits featured Jerry Butler as lead singer, their fertile middle period was voiced by Curtis Mayfield, and their post-Mayfield years were fronted variously by LeRoy Hutson, Ralph Johnson, Reggie Torian and Nate Evans. Many of the group’s iconic sides were waxed for ABC-Paramount in the mid-60s, but this 1968-76 run on Mayfield’s Curtom label is highlighted by both hits (“This Is My Country,†“Choice of Colors,†“Check Out Your Mind†and “Finally Got Myself Together (I’m A Changed Man)â€) and Mayfield’s growing sophistication as a composer and social critic.
These eighteen tracks include all of the Curtom singles that cracked the Top 100, plus “Loving Power,†which bubbled under at #103, and “This Time,†which was released by Cotillion. Following Mayfield’s departure (his last lead vocal here is 1971’s “Ain’t Got Timeâ€), the lead slot was passed between Leroy Hutson (“Love Meâ€, a Mayfield song), Fred Cash (on the Preacher Man album, not sampled here), Ralph Johnson (“If It’s in You to Do Wrong†and “Finally Got Myself Together (I’m A Changed Man)â€) and Nate Evans (“This Timeâ€). The group’s gospel foundation, sophisticated soul style and trademark harmonies continued to flourish, though only “Finally Got Myself Together†brought them back to widespread commercial success.
Omnivore’s bonus-laden reissue of the Kingbees debut album is now matched by a reissue of the band’s lesser-known follow-up. Originally released in 1981, the album stalled amid label problems and the band’s breakup. Lead bee Jamie James recorded four more tracks with a new rhythm section, and they’re included here as bonuses along with fresh liner notes, photos and a period press release. As on their debut, the band remained grounded in rockabilly, but never allowed themselves to become enslaved by retro fashion. Their goal was to make “short, snappy and punchy rock ‘n’ roll songs,†and though James, bassist Michael Rummans and drummer Rex Roberts took inspiration from the stand-up style of rockabilly, they weren’t limited by it.
Carmen’s only solo album of the 1980s, reissued with bonuses
For those who grew up with the transcendent guitar-pop that Eric Carmen made with the Raspberries in the 1970s, this 1984 solo album may be a bit of a surprise. The transition from power pop to power ballads was seeded on his earlier Arista solo albums, but this Bob Gaudio-produced set dials down the charging guitars in favor of keyboards, strings and slick studio drums. Carmen was still singing beautifully and writing catchy songs, but Gaudio draped them in sounds that have become dated. Whether that’s good or bad probably depends on how much you like the commercial sounds of the ‘80s, and whether you’re looking to spark a nostalgic memory.
“You Took Me All the Way†reaches back to the Raspberries’ “Go All the Way,†but its guitar is undercut by the modern rock production. “Maybe My Baby†opens with a great a cappella passage, but the synths sap the song’s charms. Only “As American as Apple Pie†provides the unalloyed guitar rock Carmen had wanted to deliver in the first place. The latter was produced by Don Gehman after Carmen and Gaudio fell out over the album’s direction. Carmen’s one and only album for Geffen spun off the hit “I Want to Hear It From Your Lips†and the lesser-charting followup, “I’m Through With Love,†both of which also found success on the adult contemporary chart.
Standard, deluxe and vinyl re-reissues of the Wilburys catalog
Originally released in 2007, this 2 CD + 1 DVD set collects together the Wilbury’s two original albums, a quartet of bonus tracks, a 25-minute documentary, “The True History of the Traveling Wilburys,†and all five of the group’s music videos. It’s a testament to Rolling Stone’s assessment that the Wilbury’s were “one of the few rock supergroups actually deserving to be called either super or a group.†The group’s debut, Volume 1, shot up the charts to #3 in 1988, while the follow-up (which was recorded after Roy “Lefty Wilbury†Orbison’s passing), just missed the Top 10 two years later. With the original albums having gone out of print in 1995, the pent-up demand sent the original 2007 issue of this set to the top of the UK charts and into the U.S. Top 10.
From the group’s start, George Harrison was the ringleader, with close connections to Orbison, Dylan, Petty and Lynne. And it was Harrison’s need for a B-side that sparked the group’s genesis. But when the initial results proved too good for a B-side, and the time together proved so enjoyable, the quintet went back into the studio (actually Dave Stewart’s home studio) to fill out an album. The results had an off-the-cuff aliveness that exemplified music made by musicians who were friends first, and the singles, “Handle With Care,†the track originally intended as a B-side, and “End of the Line,†both rose to #2 on Billboard’s mainstream rock chart. Together with “Last Night†and “Heading for the Light,†the album spawned a quartet of Top 10 hits.
The group’s second album, humorously titled Volume 3, was recorded in 1990. Though not as surprising as the debut, and with Orbison’s passing having changed the group balance, the album still resounds with the informal chemistry of friends who also happen to be top-flight music pros. The singles “She’s My Baby,†“Inside Out†and “Wilbury Twist†all charted mainstream rock, and the album went platinum (though not the triple platinum of the debut) in the U.S. It was to be the last group Wilbury outing, though Harrison would use the Wilbury name for a producer’s credit on a 1992 live album. With Harrison’s passing in 2001, any hopes of a Wilburys tour was dashed, and it was another six years until official reissues of the two albums were released by Rhino.
The initial 2007 issue of this set came in four flavors, and the 2016 reissues replicate the standard, deluxe, vinyl and digital (standard and deluxe) editions. The standard CD+DVD edition comes in a four-panel digipack with a 16-page booklet that includes Mo Ostin’s 2007 liner notes, original album liner notes by Hugh Jampton (a/k/a Michael Palin) and Professor “Tiny†Hampton (a/k/a Eric Idle), album credits, and pictorial instructions for dancing the Wilbury Twist. The deluxe CD+DVD edition adds a linen-cloth slipcase, a 40-page booklet, souvenir postcards, photocards and a sticker, as well as a numbered letter of authenticity. The vinyl edition necessarily drops the video content, but adds a third LP of bonus tracks. The digital editions match the discs, and differ from one another by the inclusion of the video elements in the deluxe edition.
Jerry Lee’s late-70s/early-80s country hits on Elektra
