Category Archives: Reissue

Vince Guaraldi: The Very Best Of

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Much more than just “Linus & Lucy”

San Francisco jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi would have been remembered in the popular music conscience for his 1962 hit “Cast Your Fate to the Wind,” had he not redefined his legacy three years later with the soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas. The animated special’s annual broadcast turned Guaraldi’s score, particularly the instrumental “Linus and Lucy,” into an indelible musical signature. The two bouts of popular acclaim obscured the rest of Guaraldi’s career, which began in the 1950s backing Cal Tjader, blossomed into his own trio and first struck pay dirt with his tribute, Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus. It was from this latter album that the Guaraldi original “Cast Your Fate to the Wind” sprung onto the airwaves as the B-side of his cover of Luiz Bonfa’s “Samba de Orfeu.” Though the latter isn’t included here, another of the film’s themes, “Manha de Carnaval,” shows off Guaraldi’s interest in Latin rhythms, as well as the contemplative side of his playing.

Brazillian music played an on-going role in Guaraldi’s repertoire, as he covered the bossa nova “Outra Vez,” and collaborated with guitarist Bola Sete on the gentle “Star Song,” the rush-hour “Ginza” and a live recording of “El Matador.” The latter shows how easily Guaraldi transitioned back and forth from straight to swing time, much as he does in “Linus and Lucy,” his left hand beating out boogie-woogie as his right hand picks out melodies. 1964’s “Treat Street” attempted to follow-up on the commercial success of 1962, but the swinging, Latin-tinged single failed to click with fickle radio programmers and record buyers. It wouldn’t be until the 1965 Peanuts breakthrough that Guaraldi’s music would again seep into the broad public’s consciousness. Even then, it didn’t make a mark on the singles chart, though the soundtrack albums have been perennial sellers.

In addition to writing originals, Guaraldi, like his contemporaries, also reinterpreted standards, including Frank Loesser’s “The Lady’s in Love With You” and Oscar Hammerstein’s “Softly as in a Morning Sunrise.” The collection closes out with three pieces from Guaraldi’s Peanuts repertoire, including “Christmas is Coming” (the theme to which the gang dances) and a six-minute instrumental version of “Christmas Time is Here.” The two-disc Definitive Vince Guaraldi, issued three years ago, provides a deeper helping of Guaraldi’s sound, and the A Charlie Brown Christmas Original Soundtrack is a must-have. But for those wishing to taste Guaraldi’s music beyond what you’ve heard on TV, this is a good place to start. [©2012 Hyperbolium]

Dion: The Complete Laurie Singles

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Dion’s teen-idol and comeback solo sides for Laurie

Dion DiMucci is one of the few first-generation rock ‘n’ rollers to fruitfully navigate the cultural twists and turns of succeeding decades. He had doo-wop hits fronting the Belmonts in the late ‘50s, teen idol solo hits in the early ‘60s, a resurgence in the ‘70s, and a string of albums running through 2008’s Giants of Early Guitar Rock and this year’s Tank Full of Blues that still find him making vital music. Real Gone’s 2-CD set reaches back to Dion’s breakout as a solo artist on the Laurie label, and catalogs all thirty-six of the sides he released as singles. He hit as a solo in 1960 with “Lonely Teenager,” and scored a 1-2 punch the following year with “Runaround Sue” and “The Wanderer.” He reached the Top 10 with  “Lovers Who Wander,” “Little Diane” and “Love Came to Me,” but in late 1962 departed for Columbia. Laurie had enough material in the vault to issue singles into 1964, charting with the originals “Sandy” and “Lonely World,” and covers of “Come Go with Me” and “Shout.”

He returned to Laurie in 1968, and at the label’s suggestion recorded “Abraham, Martin & John,” a song that resounded strongly amid the year’s social upheaval and the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy. The record’s forlorn mood was just right for the times, and the single charted to #4 in the U.S. Dion’s stay at Laurie proved short-lived, as he moved to Warner Brothers the following year, but before going he released several more singles, including covers of Fred Neil’s “The Dolphins,” Joni Mitchell’s “From Both Sides Now,” a nearly unrecognizable folk-rock arrangement of “Purple Haze,” and a soulful take on the Four Tops’ “Loving You is Sweeter Than Ever.” He also recorded a few originals, including the heavy “Daddy Rollin’ (In Your Arms)” and socially charged “He Looks A Lot Like Me.” Dion’s songwriting had clicked as early as “Runaround Sue,” and it continued to sustain him through the rest of his career.

The thirty-six sides collected here represent nineteen singles released by Dion as a solo act for Laurie (two of the singles shared B-sides with other singles, hence the disparity between the number of sides and number of singles). All thirty-six sides are remastered from the original single mixes. Missing are Dion’s earlier releases with the Belmonts, as well as his sides on Columbia (which included the hits “Ruby Baby,” “Donna the Prima Donna” and “Drip Drop”). Lining up all the A’s and B’s, listeners will hear the tug-of-war between the label’s belief in pop songs, Dion’s love of gutsier blues and rock, the fast pace at which the music scene changed in the 1960s, and an artist’s ability to expand and reinvent himself. The 20-page booklet includes photos, picture sleeve reproductions, and extensive liner notes by Ed Osborne that feature generous quotes from Dion. [©2012 Hyperbolium]

Dion’s Home Page

Edna McGriff: Start Movin’ in My Direction

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Winning collection of obscure ‘50s R&B vocalist

At the age of sixteen, R&B vocalist Edna McGriff scored a hit with only her second single, 1952’s “Heavenly Father.” But despite more solid outings on a half-dozen labels, she never again found true commercial success. Bear Family’s twenty-nine track anthology picks up the story in 1954 and winds through a multi-year tenure on Bell with backings from the Jimmy Carroll Orchestra, and one-offs for Brunswick, Felsted and Savoy. She and her producers ranged widely for material, covering many hits-of-the-day, including R&B, pop (The Chordette’s “Born to Be With You” and Sal Mineo’s “Start Movin’ in My Direction”), rockabilly (Lee Hazlewood’s “The Fool”), spirituals (“He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”), folk revival favorites (“Freight Train”) and a trio of tunes from Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song.

Though she was a sophisticated balladeer, her R&B numbers generate the most heat and vocal distinction. She hadn’t the bluesy grit of either Ruth Brown or Lavern Baker, but her energy really moves the former’s “Mambo Baby” and the latter’s “I Can’t Love You Enough.” At times she’s more kittenish, as on covers of “Sh-Boom” and “Dance with Me, Henry,” though, to be fair, even Etta James waited until 1958 to really hot-up the latter tune. McGriff could rock a bit, as she does on the clever multi-voiced, guitar-driven “Oh Joe!” She was a precise vocalist, and her control worked well on ballads, where the tremolo in her held notes added emotion. On rock ‘n’ roll tunes, such as the Bobettes’ “Mr. Lee,” her excellent diction feels at odds the song’s youthful exuberance.

McGriff’s commercial fortunes were hampered by Bell’s practice of splitting singles between two artists and diffusing DJ attention. At the same time, the focus on covering hot singles kept her from forming a distinct profile. Still, her sophisticated style and wide-ranging material should have garnered more action. Bear Family’s digipack includes an attached 43-page booklet that’s stuffed with photos, label and picture sleeve reproductions, discographical data and liner notes by Bill Dahl. Dahl spends several pages on McGriff’s earlier Jubliee releases (including duets with the Orioles’ Sonny Til) and several paragraphs on her post-Bell sides, making one wish Bear Family had expanded this into a “Complete Edna McGriff” package. For now, you’ll have to check out the grey market Heavenly Father to get more of the story. All tracks here are mono except 27-29, which are stereo. [©2012 Hyperbolium]

Sanford & Townsend: Smoke from a Distant Fire / Nail Me to the Wall

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First and third albums from soulful mid-70s one-hit wonders

Ed Sanford and John Townsend first worked together in their native South, but it wasn’t until they moved toLos Angelesthat their music garnered any commercial impact. The duo initially signed on as staff writers, but their aspirations to perform was achieved via songwriting demos and a contract with Warner Brothers. Their self-titled 1976 debut was produced by Jerry Wexler at Muscle Shoals, but even with all that going for it, it didn’t make a commercial impression at first. It wasn’t until the single “Smoke from a Distant Fire” climbed the chart and the album was reissued under the single’s title that the duo gained traction, including opening slots for major ‘70s hit makers. But as hot as the single became, climbing to #9, the duo was never able to chart again, and was dropped by their label after their third album.

Like many one-hit wonders, Sanford & Townsend made good music both before and after their brush with fame, and their albums have something to offer beyond the single. Johnny Townshend sings in an arresting tenor reminiscent of Daryl Hall, and the Muscle Shoals sound, supervised by keyboardist Barry Beckett, is solid and soulful. The duo’s songwriting is full of hooks that should have grabbed more radio time alongside Boz Scaggs, Steely Dan, Orleansand Hall & Oates. Recorded in their home state of Alabama, the duo’s lyrical milieu was often cautionary tales of Southern Caifornia, to which they added carefully crafted moments of country, blues and Doobie Brothers-styled funk. The group’s third album, 1979’s Nail Me to the Wall, doesn’t fully measure up to the debut with which it’s paired, but both provide worthwhile listening beyond the well-known single. [©2012 hyperbolium dot com]

Johnny Townsend’s Home Page

Clover: Clover / Fourty Niner

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Early ‘70s country-rock, blues and soul from Marin County

Clover was a Marin County, California four-piece that formed in the late ‘60s and recorded this pair of albums for Fantasy Records in 1970-71. Their renown, however, stems from later exploits, including the slot as Elvis Costello’s backing band on his 1977 debut, My Aim is True, as well as spinning off Huey Lewis and the News, and launching the solo and songwriting (including Tommy Tutone’s “867-5309/Jenny”) career of Alex Call. Their original albums didn’t catch on upon initial release, and have been tough to find. Reissued on this two-fer, the performances reveal a band drawing inspiration from both the San Francisco scene and the country-rock wafting up from Los Angeles, and with additional dashes of blues and soul Clover was ready to rock the local clubs and bars.

The albums, like the band’s set list, sprinkled covers (Jr. Walker’s “Shotgun” Rev. Gary Davis’ “If I Had My Way” and a Creedence-styled jam on the spiritual “Wade in the Water” that surely stretched out to fifteen minutes on stage) amid originals that included country, electric blues, and jazz- and funk-rock. The former comes in several varieties, including the traditional-sounding lament “No Vacancy,” Bakersfield-influenced “Monopoly,” Clarence White-styled guitar picking of “Lizard Rock and Roll Band,” and bluegrass “Chicken Butt.” Guitarist John McFree shows off his steel playing on “Howie’s Song,” and drummer Mitch Howie adds funky beats to “Love is Gone.” In the end, Clover was a good band, though not particularly distinct, and their albums provide a reminder of how deep the bench was in the San Francisco scene. [©2012 hyperbolium dot com]

Jackie Gleason: Music for Lovers Only

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Jackie Gleason’s moody mood music

Jackie Gleason was a man of many talents, not the least of which was his ear for music. Gleason didn’t write a great deal, nor play any instruments, but as a musical director he picked the songs and arrangers, and conducted the orchestra in creating a lush body of romantic  mood music. For this first album, originally released as an eight-song 10” in 1952, he featured the cornet playing of Bobby Hackett. Hackett became a regular on Gleason’s recordings (see the 4-CD The Complete Sessions for more), and here he helps establish the intimate, forlorn feel of Gleason’s recordings. These are neither the syrupy sounds of the ‘50s, though they include lush string scores, nor the swinging sounds of the ‘60s. The mood, particularly in the searching tone of Hackett’s lonely horn, blends dreamy seduction, the tears of Sinatra’s Where Are You? and the fatalism of film noir. The song list draws from the great American songbook, including titles by Rodgers & Hart, George & Ira Gershwhin and Mel Torme; Gleason’s original “My Love for Carmen” closes the set. The original eight-song LP was expanded to sixteen tracks in 1955, all in mono; a 12-track stereo re-recording was issued in 1958. Real Gone reaches back to the 16-song lineup, expanding on Collectors’ Choice’s out-of-print two-fer. [©2012 hyperbolium dot com]

Johnny Cash: The Greatest

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In celebration of Johnny Cash’s 80th birthday, Sony’s Legacy division has released a tributary live show (We Walk the Line) and a quartet of compilations covering his #1 hits, duets, country and gospel songs. The titles are cleverly punctuated (The Greatest: Duets) to suggest these are songs from one of country greatest artists, rather than definitive collections of the named slice of Cash’s catalog. And that’s a good idea, since reducing Cash’s greatest country or gospel songs to collections of fourteen titles is sure to engender argument. Instead, these collections provide a good sample of the riches in Cash’s enormous catalog.

Country Classics

Cash was a musical omnivore who wove his personal tapestry from folk, country, rock and other genres. He was a musical historian who married into the Carter family he’d long-since revered, and a steward of tradition as a living thing, rather than a pedant who always colored inside the historical lines. The selections gathered here are about the songs and performances, rather than the records – only one of which (“Ghost Rider in the Sky”) – was a hit single. To Cash, these songs were warp threads in country music’s tapestry. And though he wrote many of his own country classics, the producers have focused on others’ songs that meant enough to Cash to garner a cover.

“Country Classics” is to be taken in the wide screen that Johnny Cash lived as an artist. The song list here includes foundational folk songs, historical epics, murder ballads, and numerous songs of romantic longing and heartache. The recordings stretch from 1960 covers of Hank Williams (“I’m So Lonesome I Could Die”) and Hank Thompson (“Honky-Tonk Girl”) to a 1984 recording of the Browns’ “The Three Bells.” Much like the titles on Rosanne Cash’s The List, these are songs that country music listeners should know; some famous, some obscure, but each one a piece of the colorful picture Johnny Cash painted with his career.  

Duets

This collection pulls together duets from 1962 (“Another Man Done Gone,” with Anita Carter) through 1985 (“Jim, I Wore a Tie Today,” with Willie Nelson), and shows off Cash’s gravitational pull as a partner. Even when singing with strong stylists, Cash draws his partners into his own musical universe, as he does with George Jones on “I Got Stripes.” The equation is reversed as Cash sings withJennings, the latter’s ‘70s sound backing “There Ain’t No Good Chain Gang.” Cash’s tic-tac and Jenning’s phased guitar mix for “I Wish I Was Crazy Again,” and the two meet in the middle with the rolling trail rhythm of 1978’s “The Greatest Cowboy of Them All.”

Friendship (or kinship) is a central theme of Johnny Cash’s best duets. These weren’t marriages of commercial convenience; they were instances of folk music’s most vital conduit. Cash was a singular musical figure, but one who drew widely for both musical inspiration and personal sustenance. Three of his four Top 10’s with June Carter Cash are here, as are duets with Cash’s younger brother Tommy, his musical fellow-traveler Bob Dylan, and fellow outlaws Willie Nelson and Billy Joe Shaver. The selections are drawn from original albums, Cash’s television show, appearances on other artist’s albums and session tracks previously released as bonus cuts. The set includes liner notes from David McGee.

Gospel Songs

Though Johnny Cash had his share of personal demons, he was a man of deep faith, and a regular singer of gospel music. It’s rumored that he moved to the Columbialabel to escape Sam Phillips’ inability to see a market for an entire album of sacred songs, and to record the 1959 album Hymns by Johnny Cash. Cash had recorded songs of faith at Sun (including the first two titles here), and continued to do so at Columbia, sprinkling them throughout his albums and recording purpose-built volumes such as The Holy Land, from which this collection draws Carl Perkins’ “Daddy Sang Bass” and the original “He Turned the Water Into Wine.”

The bulk of these selections are from the late 1950s through the 1960s, with only “Far Side of Banks of Jordan,” a duet with June Carter Cash, reaching into the 1970s. Many of these recordings aren’t really gospel; “gospel and country songs of faith” would be a more accurate title. Cash’s sanctified work from of the 1970s and 1980s can be found on the double-disc Bootleg Vol. IV: The Soul of Truth, but these earlier master recordings are a better musical spin, and provide a fine overview of material scattered across dozens of original singles and albums.

The Number Ones

This set collects titles that topped either the Billboard or Cashbox charts, forgoing several that topped the Canadian country chart without doing so in the U.S. The collection draws a diverse arc from Cash’s stark, reverb-laden Sun productions of the ‘50s to his last #1, “Highwayman,” sung with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson.  Most of the titles will be familiar to even casual Cash fans, though a few of the Cashbox hits, “The Way of a Woman in Love,” “What Do I Care” and a duet with Jennings on “”There Ain’t No Good Chain Gang” remain less exposed. Tracks 1-5 are mono, the rest stereo (“A Boy Named Sue” is presented in unbleeped form), and the booklet includes lengthy new liner notes by Anthony DeCurtis. [©2012 hyperbolium dot com]

Johnny Cash’s Home Page

Booker T. & The M.G.s: Green Onions

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Booker T. & The M.G.s’ 1962 debut LP couldn’t possibly live up to the invention and excitement of its title single, but it doesn’t have to, as even without the catchy hooks of their hits, the band’s soul grooves cut deep. With only three originals (“Green Onions,” the cooler variation, “Mo’ Onions,” and the exquisite late-night organ blues, “Behave Yourself”), the Stax house band was left to pull together cover songs from a wide variety of sources. They give instrumental hits by Dave “Baby” Cortez (“Rinky-Dink”) and Phil Upchurch (“Can’t Sit Down”) solid shots of Memphis soul, and though Acker Bilk’s “Stranger on the Shore” could be the last slow dance of the evening in a restaurant’s cocktail lounge, Steve Cropper’s guitar still manages to add some flavor. More impressive are his chops on Ray Charles’ “I Got a Woman” and Jones’ soulful chords and lightning-fast single notes on “Lonely Avenue.” The original track lineup closes with a wonderful take on the jazz tune “Comin’ Home Baby,” with both Jones and Cropper shining brightly. The 2012 reissue includes a 12-page booklet featuring full-panel front- and back-cover shots, Bob Altshuler’s original liners and new notes from Rob Bowman. Also included are hot live takes of “Green Onions” and “Can’t Sit Down,” recorded in stereo in 1965 and originally released on Funky Broadway: Stax Revue Live at the 5/4 Ballroom. Though Booker T. & The M.G.s are best known for their hits (e.g., The Very Best Of) and the Stax singles they powered for others, their original albums hold many lesser-known charms that will delight ‘60s soul fans. [©2012 hyperbolium dot com]

Elvis Presley: I Am An Elvis Fan

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Elvis fans vote their favorites from producers’ short lists

RCA/Legacy is to be applauded for the tremendous Elvis reissues they’ve released over the past few years: The 75th birthday 4-CD anthology Elvis 75 – Good Rockin’ Tonight, the 5-CD chronicle of 1956 Young Man with the Big Beat, and expanded editions of From Elvis in Memphis, On Stage and Elvis Country. Each presented generous helpings and deep views of the king’s greatest jewels. By pulling together material that spanned Presley’s working years and posthumous releases, these collections fed both Elvis fanatics and those new to the catalog. Legacy’s latest collection is more straightforward and less revealing of its subject than it is of the inventive marketing used to have fans vote their favorites [1 2 3] across seven categories: ‘50s, ‘60s, country, movies, love songs, gospel and in concert. The results touch a lot of bases, but hold no revelations.

In addition to five pop chart toppers, there’s a host of Top 10s, and a few icons such as “Viva Las Vegas” and “Guitar Man,” whose popularity outstripped their chart performance. Other picks, such as 1969’s “Memories” and a jokey live cover of Jim Reeves’ “Welcome to My World” are interesting for their lack of wear, but sound slight in comparison to the set’s more towering achievements. The four tracks drawn from Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite, including a rushed take of “Suspicious Minds,” belie the range of live recordings from which the producers could have chosen. It’s Elvis, and the individual tracks are great, but with more carefully selected anthologies available, it’s not clear who this set really serves. [©2012 hyperbolium dot com]

Wes Montgomery: The Very Best of

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Solid picks from Wes Montgomery’s years on Riverside

Guitarist Wes Montgomery had an unusually long incubation as a supporting player, and a too-short time as a leader. Throughout the 1940s and ‘50s he toured and played sessions for others, finally breaking through as a leader with a series of late-50s and early-60s releases for Riverside. Montgomery’s run with the label, sampled here, continued throughRiverside’s demise in the wake of its co-founder’s death in 1963, at which point he moved to Verve, and subsequently to A&M. It was at the last stop where the guitarist’s fame grew into the mainstream via his explorations of hit pop melodies, but this earlier work, with his sumptuous tone set against piano- and organ-trios and -quartets remains his definitive musical signature.

The eleven tracks cover the years 1959 through 1963, stretching from The Wes Montgomery Trio through Boss Guitar, omitting selections from a number of excellent albums along the way. Montgomery is heard playing with a number of rhythm sections that include his brothers Buddy and Monk, Ron Carter, Philly Joe Jones, Percy Heath, Paul Chambers, along with Mel Rhyne (Hammond), Hank Jones and Tommy Flanagan (piano) and Milt Jackson (vibes). The only reed in this collection is Johnny Griffin’s tenor on a live take of the Montgomery original “Cariba.” The set features several jazz favorites, including a meditative reading of Thelonious Monk’s “’Round Midnight” and a swinging version of west coast pianist Carl Perkins’ “Groove Yard.”

Montgomery’s guitar is brilliantly engaging throughout, whether vamping behind other soloists or playing one of his wonderfully fluid leads. He picks percussively against the stabs of Rhyne’s B-3 and Jimmy Cobb’s ride cymbal on an upbeat take of “Besame Mucho” and shares the spotlight with Milt Jackson and Wynton Kelly on “Delilah.” The eleven tracks, clocking in at just over an hour, are a fair sample of Montgomery’s run on Riverside, but for those without the rest of the catalog, this will merely whet your appetite for the individual albums. For those willing to go all-in, check out The Complete Riverside Recordings. This is a good place to start; just don’t expect it to be your last Wes Montgomery purchase. [©2012 hyperbolium dot com]