Category Archives: Reissue

The Soulful Strings: The Magic of Christmas

SoulfulStrings_TheMagicOfChristmas1968 Chicago soul with strings, finally on CD

The Soulful Strings are surprisingly little known, given the relative success of their first few albums. Their origin lay somewhere between Chess label owner Leonard Chess, producer Esmond Edwards, and arranger Richard Evans, but the project’s voice and artistic success lay squarely with the latter. Working with Cadet studio players, including Charles Stepney, Lenard Druss, Bunky Green, Phil Upchurch, and Ronald Steele, Evans fashioned superb, soulful music that wove together a string section and jazz players without artifice or novelty. The strings lent an orchestral weight to the solid funk of the band, broadening the tonal palette without losing the music’s essential swing.

Although the group released six studio albums and a live set, only their second album, Groovin’ with the Soulful Strings (#59 Top LPs, #6 R&B, #2 Jazz) has seen previously licensed for digital reissue, and then only in Japan. The Evans-composed single “Burning Spear” (#64 Hot 100, #36 R&B) has turned up on compilation albums and been widely sampled, but the bulk of the group’s catalog remained locked in the vault, tied up in vagaries of commercial potential, much to Evans’ frustration. Evans would continue on to arrange and produce for many other artists, and he spent twenty-five years as a much-loved professor at Berklee, but the red tape tying up Soulful Strings’ reissues vexed him to his passing in 2014; no doubt this reissue of the group’s fourth album would have made the best possible Christmas present.

The album’s song selection mixes traditional Christmas songs, classical pieces and a few jazz and R&B titles. Along with the studio regulars, Evans added vibraphonist Bobby Christian (a talented percussionist who’d been a mainstay of Dick Shory’s ensembles) and harpist Dorothy Ashby, the latter of whom Evans had signed and produced for three albums with Cadet. Ashby solos alongside flutist Lenny Druss on an arrangement of “The Little Drummer Boy” whose beat is equally stoke by the bass, drums and cellos. Ashby and Druss provide the swirling flakes for Claude Thornhill’s “Snowfall,” and Ashby’s harp takes the lead on a bluesy rendition of Charles Brown’s “Merry Christmas Baby.” The vibraphone provides mood throughout the album, but it’s turned loose for a pair of high-energy solos on Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy.”

In addition to strings, woodwinds, percussion, horns, bass and drums, Evans employed congas and even Ron Steele’s electric sitar. His arrangements span the minor key string fantasy of “Deck the Halls” to a funky take on “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” highlighted by the outstanding cello work of Cleveland Eaton. The funk continues to reign on “Jingle Bells,” with drummer Morris Jennings and guitarist Phil Upchurch joined by what’s credited as a French horn, but what sounds like an oboe (either way, most likely played by Lenny Druss, who could apparently play anything with a mouthpiece or reed). Christian’s vibes provide a suitably warm lead for Mel Torme’s “The Christmas Song,” and the album closes with flute and vibes leading the “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers.”

Richard Evans was a scholarly, studious and dedicated artist, but he also had a terrific sense of swing and a fun sense of humor (check out the melodic quote of “La Marseillaise” in “Jingle Bells”). Together with his studio crew, string section and a few talented guests, he put together a Christmas album that celebrates the season in a truly original fashion. This album plays well with holiday titles from Charles Brown, Jimmy Smith, Frank Sinatra, James Brown, Ella Fitzgerald and label sets by Atco, Motown and Verve, but these arrangements and performances have a magic all their own. For next Christmas, let’s hope Real Gone puts on the red suit again and brings the rest of the Soulful Strings’ catalog in their bag. [©2015 Hyperbolium]

Raging Fire: Everything is Roses – 1985-1989

RagingFire_EverythingIsRosesMid-80s post-punk from the heart of country music

From a vantage point on the West Coast, Jason and the Nashville Scorchers seemed to be an anomaly – a rock band from Nashville – and when they dropped “Nashville” from their name, the connection between Music City and native-born rock music grew even more tenuous. But the Scorchers turn out to be both the nationally known emblem of and an inspiration for a lively Nashville rock scene that was broader than the mating of country and punk. A less widely known darling of that scene was Raging Fire, whose mid-to-late ‘80s catalog is sampled for this 22-track anthology.

Fronted by vocalist Melora Zaner, Raging Fire could pull back and give hints of their Nashville origins, but the band’s dynamic rock ‘n’ roll rage was more in line with the barking poetry of Patti Smith, post-punk of X and new wave studio sounds of the 80s, than southern rock or country twang. Even the band’s acoustic numbers, such as “After Loving One Man From East Texas,” have some bite. Had they been in San Francisco or Los Angeles, or five years later in Olympia, things might have been different; but as it played out, they attracted attention from record labels, but never closed a deal.

The group toured the midwest and south, and gained college radio play for their EP A Family Thing and album Faith Love Was Made Of. The former is included here in its entirety, the latter sampled alongside demos and tracks drawn from compilation albums. Without a label deal, the band’s momentum stalled, the members’ lives moved in different directions, and the group drifted and broke apart. With this first-ever reissue, it’s still hard to imagine this music coming out of Nashville, but even harder to imagine there wasn’t one label who could get this band signed. [©2015 Hyperbolium]

Raging Fire’s Home Page

Hank Williams Jr.: Hank Jr. Sings Hank Sr.

HankWilliamsJr_HankJrSingsHankSrA dozen covers gathered from Hank Jr.’s back catalog

Hank Jr. has paid tribute to his daddy’s work many times, starting with the 1963 soundtrack album Your Cheatin’ Heart (and Rhino’s 1998 reissue, Hank Williams, Jr. Sings Hank Williams, Sr.) and continuing with 1969’s Songs My Father Left Me, 1975’s Insights Into Hank Williams, 1993’s A Tribute to My Father, a handful of singles and album tracks, and even a series of Luke the Drifter, Jr. albums. This Cracker Barrel exclusive gathers a dozen covers, ranging from the ghostly father-son duet of the opening “There’s a Tear in My Beer,” to a concert mashup of Jr’s “Family Tradition” with Senior’s “Hey, Good Lookin,” to the 1986 hit “Mind Your Own Business” with Reba McEntire, Willie Nelson, Tom Petty and Reverend Ike. The songs are classics, the voices solid, and the productions modern. It’s nothing revelatory, but it’s lively and engaging, and a nice set for fans of the Williams. [©2015 Hyperbolium]

Hank Williams Jr.’s Home Page

Marshall Crenshaw: #392 – The EP Collection

MarshallCrenshaw_392TheEPCollectionSix originals, six covers and two bonus tracks

This fourteen-song collection pulls together material Crenshaw originally recorded and released across three years of 10” vinyl EPs [1 2 3 4 5 6] and a Kickstarter campaign. Each EP included an original A-side and a B-side that featured a cover song and a reworking of an earlier Crenshaw tune. Developed as an antidote to the grinding cycle of album-tour-album-tour, Crenshaw used the project as an opportunity to record with a variety of musical friends, as well as alone in his studio, and to revisit favorite songs from his and other writers’ catalogs. This set omits the reworkings of his own material, but adds a bonus live cover of the Everly Brothers’ “Man With Money,” recorded with the Bottle Rockets, and a previously unreleased demo of the original “Front Page News.”

The originals are surprisingly similar in mood, given the span of time over which they were recorded. All are mid-tempo, introspective and slightly downcast, though the earlier sides, “Stranger and Stranger” and particularly the recriminations of “I Don’t See You Laughing Now,” spark with a bit more energy. The covers are an eclectic lot, both in the artists covered and the specific songs selected, spanning titles from The Move, Carpenters, Lovin’ Spoonful, Bobby Fuller Four, Easybeats and James McMurtry. Programming the originals 1-6 (in reverse chronological order) and covers 7-12 undoes the original release structure and makes the disc’s second half more interesting than the first, but a playlist (6, 7, 5, 8, 4, 9, 3, 10, 2, 11, 1, 12) restores the original order and pairings. A nice collection for turntable-less fans, but newbies still need to start with Marshall Crenshaw. [©2015 Hyperbolium]

Marshall Crenshaw’s Home Page

Conway Twitty: The Complete Warner Bros. and Elektra Chart Singles

ConwayTwitty_CompeteWarnerBrosTwitty’s early ‘80s hits for Elektra and Warner

After successful tenures at MGM, Decca and MCA, Conway Twitty moved to Elektra in 1981, and subsequently the label’s parent, Warner Brothers. Though he returned to MCA in 1987, the Warner years saw continued success on the country singles and album charts. Varese’s collection pulls together all sixteen of Twitty’s A-sides for Elektra and Warner Brothers, half of which topped the country chart, and all but two (“The Legend and the Man” and “You’ll Never Know How Much I Needed You Today,” which reached #19 and #26, respctively) made the top ten.

The 1980s found Twitty singing ballads (“The Clown” “We Did But Now You Don’t”), waltzes (“Lost in the Feeling”) and lots of covers (“Slow Hand” “The Rose” “Heartache Tonight” “Three Times a Lady” “Ain’t She Somethin’ Else”). The productions have the gloss of 1980s Nashville, but Twitty’s voice retains its soulful edge. “Don’t Call Him a Cowboy” strikes up some Waylon-styled orneriness, and “Between Blue Eyes and Jeans” rustles up some two-stepping fiddle and twang. These aren’t the iconic hits Twitty recorded for MGM and MCA, but they’re an interesting later chapter in his career. [©2015 Hyperbolium]

Various Artists: Groove & Grind – Rare Soul ‘63-’73

Various_GrooveAndGrindRareSoulAstonishing collection of rare soul singles

Those who miss the tactile pleasure of holding an album cover, or even reading the relatively microscopic copy of CD booklets, are likely to break out in a wide smile when they first heft this collection. The four discs are housed in a hard-bound 127-page book that’s stuffed with striking artist photos, label reproductions and detailed song notes by author and journalist Bill Dahl. And all of that is in service of an expertly-curated collection of rare soul sides that stretch from 1963 through 1973. Collections of this magnitude can be as exhausting as they are exhilarating, but by gathering singles from a variety of labels, and organizing them into four themed discs, the programs flow more like a crowd-pleasing jukebox than the well-curated anthology at the set’s heart. Even better, by mating obscurity with quality, every track becomes both a surprise and a delight.

These discs are stuffed, clocking in at nearly five hours of music. Disc 1 surveys urban soul from the major markets of New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit and Los Angeles. Disc 2 focuses on vocal groups, disc 3 on southern soul, and disc 4 on funkier sounds. The roster mixes well-known and obscure artists, but even in the case of famous names, the sides are not likely the ones you know. Betty LaVette’s “Almost,” Ike & Tina’s “You Can’t Miss Nothing That You Never Had,” Kenny Gamble’s “Hard to Find the Right Girl,” Candi Staton’s “Now You’ve Got the Upper Hand,” Betty Wright’s “Mr. Lucky,” Eddie Floyd’s “Hey Now,” Carla Thomas’ “Every Ounce of Strength,” and Margie Joseph’s “Show Me” all suffered the same lack of circulation and chart renown as their more obscure set-mates. Even the familiar “Love on a Two-Way Street” is rendered here in the obscure Lezli Valentine All Platinum B-side that marked the song’s debut.

Finding these singles is impressive, but documenting them in such detail is a task only the most devoted fans would undertake. The material came from the collections of rare-records dealer Victor Pearlin, musician Billy Vera and the set’s producer James Austin; the audio restoration was performed by Jerry Peterson. The results are good, though the original productions weren’t often as refined as those from Stax, Atlantic or Motown. There’s occasional vinyl patina, but that’s part of the show when you dig this deep, and it never gets in the way of the songs or performances. This anthology is a tremendous gift to the crate diggers of soul music, filling in gaps they didn’t even realize were in their collections. Casual fans will dig these sides as well, even without dirt-laden fingertips from a thousand record swaps, back rooms and thrift store racks. [©2015 Hyperbolium]

Margo Smith: The Very Best Of

MargoSmith_TheVeryBestOfCountry singer’s ‘70s and ‘80s Warner Brothers hits

Margo Smith was a country singer whose career began with a self-titled 1975 album on 20th Century Fox, and the top ten single “There I Said It.” Varese picks up her story the following year, when the closing of 20th Century Fox’s Nashville division precipitated a move to Warner Brothers. She debuted on Warner with a cover of the Brotherhood of Man’s chirpy Eurovision Song Contest winner, “Save Your Kisses For Me.” Her singles see-sawed between country and pop, with “Take My Breath Away” employing steel, fiddle and a forlorn vocal that showed off Smith’s talent for blue notes and hair-raising yodels. The follow-on, “Love’s Explosion,” had double-tracked vocals and soaring strings that were closer to bubblegum than country.

The doubled vocals on Smith’s first #1, “Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You,” echo Connie Francis’ 1962 original, and her follow-up chart-topper, “It Only Hurts For a Little While,” was also a cover, this time of the Ames Brothers’ 1956 hit. After a third hit cover (Kitty Kallen and Joni James’ “Little Things Mean a Lot”), Smith took a bold turn in 1979 with her original co-write, “Still a Woman,” and its thirty-something’s declaration of sexual desire. She recorded a pair of duets with Rex Allen Jr. and the homesick “The Shuffle Song,” and concluded her tenure on Warner with a cover of Mary Wells’ “My Guy.” The set’s eight-page booklet includes photos and discographical data, wrapping up a nice package for Smith’s many fans. [©2015 Hyperbolium]

Margo Smith’s Home Page

Nicolette Larson: Lotta Love – The Very Best Of

NicoletteLarson_LottaLoveTheVeryBestOfSolid overview of Larson’s pop years

Nicolette Larson’s first and biggest hit, 1978’s “Lotta Love,” is surprisingly unrevealing of her bona fides. Produced by Ted Templeman, it’s smooth, contemporary pop that evidences none of the roots music that had been Larson’s metier as a backing and duet vocalist. Her work with Commander Cody, Emmylou Harris, Guy Clark, Rodney Crowell, Billy Joe Shaver and Neil Young didn’t portend the horns, strings and flute of “Lotta Love.” Most pop radio listeners probably didn’t even realize that the single had been written by Young (and released on Comes a Time), or were aware of Larson’s earthier contributions to other artists’ records.

The album’s second single, Jesse Winchester’s “Rhumba Girl,” added a touch of funk, with crisp drums and horns, electric piano and flavorful percussion, but the third single, “Give a Little,” veered again to the middle of the road. The album held some deeper charms, including a stellar cover of the Louvin Brothers’ “Angels Rejoice” and a sweet, if somewhat sedate take on Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me.” Her second album, In the Nick of Time, leaned almost completely on the crystalline production sounds of the late ‘70s, highlighted by a duet with Michael McDonald on “Let Me Go, Love,” the upbeat “Dancin’ Jones,” and the mid-tempo Karla Bonoff-penned “Isn’t It Always Love.”

And so went her next two albums, with synthesizers added to the title track of 1981’s Radioland, Linda Ronstadt adding harmonies on Annie McLoone’s “Ooo-eee,” and Larson finding a deep groove on Allen Toussaint’s “Tears, Tears and More Tears.” 1982’s All Dressed Up & No Place to Go capped Larson’s pop career (as well as her time with Warner Brothers), after which she shifted to contemporary country music. Backed in large part by Andrew Gold (as was Linda Ronstadt on several of her most iconic works), Larson’s cover of “I Only Want to Be With You” gained some radio play (charting at #53), and Lowell George’s “Two Trains” gave her another funky pocket in which to sing.

Varese’s sixteen track set samples all four of Larson’s Warner Brothers albums, including charting singles and well-selected album tracks. Also featured are duets with Emmylou Harris (an absolutely stellar version of the Carter Family’s “Hello Stranger” from Harris’ Luxury Liner) and Steve Goodman (“The One That Got Away” from his High and Outside), and Larson’s contribution to the Arthur soundtrack. “Fool Me Again.” It’s a fair sample of Larson’s pop career, but necessarily missing some strong album tracks, particularly from her debut, and reputation-minting contributions to other artist’s albums. This is a good introduction, but new fans should follow-up with Nicolette and Neil Young’s Comes a Time. [©2015 Hyperbolium]

The Buckinghams: The Complete Hit Singles

Buckinghams_TheCompleteHitSInglesThe original recordings, but not the original mono singles

It took Chicago’s Buckinghams five tries to crack the singles chart. Their second single, a 1966 cover of James Brown’s “I’ll Go Crazy,” bubbled under, but their fifth release, “Kind of a Drag” raced up the Billboard chart to sit in the top spot for two weeks in February 1967. The group continued to chart through 1969, with their last entry, “It’s a Beautiful Day,” creeping up to #126. In between, they clicked with four more pop icons in 1967, “Don’t You Care,” “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy,” “Hey Baby (They’re Playing Our Song” and “Susan,” and posted several lower-charting singles – all of which are included here – on the charts.

The Buckinghams built their initial success with six superb singles and an album on the Chicago-based U.S.A. Records label. The album was released in both mono and stereo, but the singles, which were aimed at AM radio, were released only in mono. Varese has included all six of the A-sides, but, as has generally been the case for the Buckinghams in the digital age, the less impactful stereo mixes are used. Apparently Sony (who owns the recordings) wouldn’t or couldn’t produce the mono masters. And that’s a shame, as the wide stereo mixes dissipate much of the energy conjured by the hot mono singles. Also a question mark is the last of the group’s U.S.A. singles, “Summertime,” which is offered at the album’s 3:53 length, rather than the single’s reported 2:17 edit. Perhaps only the DJ single was edited, but if so, it would have made a nice inclusion.

The group moved to Columbia Records, where they produced three albums and nine singles, the latter of which are included here, again in stereo. The one novelty among the Columbia material is an edited version of the hit “Susan.” Originally issued with a thirty-second instrumental freakout inserted by the group’s producer, the single was reissued in edited form, and it’s the latter that’s included here. Beyond the hits scored for Columbia, the group had several fine singles that charted lower or not at all, including “Back in Love Again” (which turned up the following year as a “moldy oldy” on Chicago’s Kiddie-A-Go-Go!), the bubblegum soul “Where Did You Come From,” light-psych “This is How Much I Love You” and two more non-LP sides.

Other than “Susan” (and the inclusion of “Summertime”), these recordings appear to be the same as released on the earlier Mercy, Mercy, Mercy compilation. What distinguishes this set from Mercy are the stereo mixes. When Mercy was produced, a number of tracks were remixed by Vic Anesini; Varese asked Sony for the original period mixes, and assuming that’s what they received, they’re a great addition to the group’s digital canon. The absence of original mono singles, particularly for the U.S.A. sides, merits a more accurate title for this collection, but the 12-page booklet includes rare photos and excellent liner notes by Clark Besch, and Steve Massie’s remaster sounds great. [©2015 Hyperbolium]

The Buckinghams’ Home Page

Steppenwolf: The ABC/Dunhill Singles Collection

Steppenwolf_ABCDunhillSinglesA treasure trove for Steppenwolf and John Kay fans

Steppenwolf’s residual radio legacy – “Born to Be Wild” and “Magic Carpet Ride” – may fairly represent their brand of hard-rocking psychedelia, but it simultaneously over-represents their otherwise modest results as a singles band, and under-represents their enormous success as an album act. These two towering hits overshadow four years of gold-selling albums and a string of mid-charting singles that deserved a bigger stage. Real Gone’s two-disc set assembles Steppenwolf’s ABC/Dunhill A’s and B’s (except for “Monster,” which uses the full “Monster/Suicide/America” album track in place of the shorter single edit), alternate B-sides, and John Kay’s solo singles into a compelling recitation of the group’s lesser known singles and adventurous flipsides.

Beyond the two big hits, a few of the groups singles remain familiar. Their second release, a funky rock cover of Don Covay’s “Sookie Sookie,” failed to chart, but gained airplay on soul stations, their chilling take on Hoyt Axton’s “The Pusher” graced the opening scene of Easy Rider, and “Rock Me” closed out their top ten run in 1969. Nine more singles over the next couple of years brought some musical highlights, but only middling chart success, topped by 1969’s “Move Over.” AM radio was a big tent in the early ‘70s, and though there was still space for rock music, apparently the Doors, Who, Alice Cooper and Led Zeppelin had sharper commercial elbows than Steppenwolf. But even though the group’s singles stalled midway up the charts, their albums continued to sell and their popularity as a concert draw resulted in a gold-selling live LP.

The group’s B-sides often provided more musical reach than the A’s. Goldy McJohn’s signature organ provides an ominous underpinning, and John Kay’s gruff, bluesy vocal was well spent on producer Gabriel Mekler’s “Happy Birthday,” the original “Power Play” has a Dylan-esque meter and showcases then newly-added lead guitarist Larry Byrom, snappy horns were added to the instrumental B-side “Earschplittenloudenboomer.” and the arrangement turns acoustic for the string quartet backed “Spiritual Fantasy.” There’s was also a lengthy experimental instrumental, “For Madmen Only,” which was replaced as the B-side of Mars Bonfire’s “Ride With Me” by the more conventional “Black Pit.” The top sides had their adventurous moments, including the Kustom Electronics’ “The Bag” talk box used on “Hey Lawdy Mama” and a superb take on Hoyt Axton’s anti-drug “Snowblind Friend.”

In 1972, Steppenwolf disbanded, and Dunhill retained John Kay as a solo artist. His work combined originals and covers drawn from a surprising range of sources, leading off with a heavy cover of Hank Snow’s “Movin’ On.” Kay also covered Hank Williams’ wounded “You Win Again,” Alan O’Day’s “Easy Evil” and Five Man Electrical Band’s “Moonshine (Friend of Mine).” Kay’s voice is easily recognized, but freed from the legacy of Steppenwolf’s “heavy metal thunder,” he finds resonance with Richard Podolar’s spacious and more gentle productions. The combination is particularly effective on Kay’s fine country, folk and soul-tinged originals “Walk Beside Me,” “Somebody” and “Nobody Lives Here Anymore.”

This is a terrific set for the band’s fans, with mono singles mixes used for disc one (except track 15), and nearly half of disc two (3-5, 8-9 and 14-15), and true stereo for the rest. Those seeking the band’s hits are better off with a single disc collection (or even bargain priced copies of their first two albums), but fans will really enjoy this view of the band and John Kay’s early solo work. The latter may be the set’s biggest surprise, particularly for those weaned only on Steppenwolf’s radio hits. The generous running time (77:48 for disc 1, 69:26 for disc 2), is complemented by a 24-page booklet that’s stuffed with photos and intimate liner notes by John Kay. [©2015 Hyperbolium]

Steppenwolf’s Home Page