THE MAGNIFICENT 7 – SUPERB REISSUES FROM THE 20TH CENTURY
FROM SOUL TO SOUNDTRACKS, COUNTRY TO JAZZ, PRINCE & WILLIE NELSON “INTERPRETED” + BARBARA DANE’S EARLY EFFORTS, THIS IS A RICH MIX
The late, great Barbara Dane leads a chorus in song. Two of her early albums have been reissued on a single CD and are amongst my favourite reissues of 2024
A few weeks ago I posted a round-up of new albums I’d enjoyed over 2024. I then promised that I’d post a selection of my favourite reissues/compilations of older material. I got stuck into doing so over the Xmas break and found there were around 14 reissues I wanted to champion. And as each is quite substantial (many are double CDs, one is a triple CD) and I was intent on listening to each through its entirety before writing it up, well, this took a rather long time. And it would also make for a lengthy post for Yak readers to plough through. So: there will be 2 posts – this one and another in a week or two.
This stunner is on Miami Sound 2. As an original copy of Gwen’s masterpiece will now set you back a whack I suggest you buy MS2 and enjoy!
At the end of each overview I’ve listed the format its available in – this is due to multi-artist compilations being the least likely new releases to be found on streaming services (or available for download) as the label has generally needed to license from several other labels (who likely own the streaming/download rights). Also: some of these releases are CD only – I realise the vinyl revival has created a climate of fetishising LPs with certain music fans announcing how much they hate CDs (and refuse to buy them). That’s just silly: CDs tend to have superb sound (especially from specialist labels who take great care in the remastering/compiling), are very functional (a 65 song compilation, as reviewed here on double CD, would likely need at least 4 LPs if on vinyl – its not – which would be a huge waste of resources and very bulky + expensive).
On a personal level, a CD also means my lazy ass has to get up less to flip sides. I may religiously dig in dusty crates for old records, but I love my CDs! Final note: labels/artists earn so little from streaming I always advocate for purchasing the music that you enjoy most (not everything you listen to – just the stuff you want to hear again and again).
Right, I hope something here helps light up your January!
MIAMI SOUND 2 – MORE FUNK & SOUL FROM MIAMI 1967-74 (Soul Jazz)
I love the “Miami sound” of the 1970s – think Florida soul/funk/disco hits – yet its odd how little attention has been given to Black music from the Sunshine state (compared to R&B scenes in New Orleans, Memphis, Detroit, even Chicago). Perhaps because the Miami sound produced so many huge pop hits (KC & the Sunshine Band, George McCrae, Anita Ward etc on TK Records) it gets ignored by the gatekeepers of soul/funk fandom. Then again, Motown produced even more chart toppers – there’s no explanation for fan boy enthusiasms!
This noted, interest has grown in recent years and London’s Soul Jazz Records may have kicked things off with their initial Miami Sound compilation back in 2003. 21 years later they are back with Volume 2 and, again, its packed with top tunes. Here they mix a handful of huge hits - Clean Up Woman, Why Can’t We Live Together, All This Love That I’m Giving, Do What You Wanna Do – alongside many overlooked gems; some by such highly regarded Miami artists as Little Beaver and Clarence Reid, alongside the likes of Paulette Reaves, Charles Allen and other artists I must confess ignorance of. For winter sun music Miami Sound 2 is a treat: excellent sleeve notes - including an interview with TK label co-founder Steve Alaimo (who died in early December) - and sound mastering. Available as 2 LPs or single CD.
JOHN BARRY – SOMETHING’S UP: FILM, TV & STUDIO WORK 1964 –1967 (Ace)
John Barry (1933 – 2011) enjoyed huge success as a composer of music for TV and film: the Yorkshire born trumpeter scored 14 James Bond films, won 5 Academy Awards, married Jane Birkin and helped shape London’s “swinging 60s” with his aloof glamour and often inspired theme tunes. This compilation gathers 25 Barry recordings from the era when he was at his zenith – there’s Born Free’s title track, You Only Live Twice, Goldfinger and Thunderball (from the Bond movies), and a generous selection of scores to films/TV that are now largely forgotten.
Barry worked fast, was open to developments in pop and rock, soul and jazz, and understood how to create moody theme music full of atmosphere. Listening, I found myself noting Barry’s debt to Bernard Herrmann’s magnificent soundtracks (on certain selections); this is understandable, Herrmann was the most radical soundtrack composer in post-WW2 US cinema. And Barry’s music still manages to possess a gloomy British hue. This is a delicious slice of London noir from a time when the UK’s creative industries were full of energy and excitement. Single CD only.
VARIOUS ARTISTS - DEARLY BELOVED: A PRINCE SONGBOOK (Cherry Red Records)
A 3 CD set featuring 52 Prince songs as sung by other artists – what more could you want? Be warned, Sinead and Chaka aren’t here – their big hits being surely too expensive to license (although The Bangles are with Manic Monday) – and neither are Cyndi Lauper or Mitch Ryder (both of whom cut smoking versions of When You Were Mine – instead, Lambchop’s version is here, and its so-so). The recordings gathered here are drawn largely from the 1980s/90s when Prince was rapidly rising from his “promising” 1978 debut album to the most flamboyant and fascinating superstar musician of that era, one who wrote so many songs he regularly passed then to artists he produced (The Time, Shelia E, Vanity 6 – nothing here from these three) or to female singers he took a fancy to (Sheena Easton, Patti Labelle, Mica Paris). Mavis Staples – who Prince produced a solid album on – is not here. But Kenny Rogers (!) and Paula Abdul (!!) are.
All of which is, I guess, part of the puzzle that is Prince, a musician so wilfully difficult yet capable of knocking off songs by the dozen, so many that sometimes a monumentally good tune would pass unnoticed until another artist covered it – Nothing Compares To U was originally released in 1985 on the sole album by The Family (a band Prince produced), which sold poorly, so leaving the song undiscovered under Sinead and her producers saw its potential. O’Conner’s brilliant reimagining shows how Prince could write songs without seemingly any idea of their potential (no version of Nothing Compares features here - the absence of any artists produced by Prince likely reflects on how intensely the estate are guarding his catalogue).
One of Prince’s sweeter songs. The Bangles give it max’ harmonies + jangly guitars and achieved pop stardom thanks to the Minneapolis imp.
The real pleasure of this epic compilation is hearing Prince tunes I never knew existed – Sexy Dancer by 2 Hurtz Feat Peaches & Bitch Lap Lap is a riot, while Sharon Jones delivers a heartfelt rendition of Take Me With U (as does Dayna Kurtz with Joy In Repetition). Some of the songs are so slight you wonder why anyone bothered recording them, while I find it hard to believe anyone needs to hear Hue & Cry’s histrionic Sign O’ The Times (possibly worse than Simple Minds’ version) or Dead Or Alive’s flat take on Pop Life.
No matter, the gathering of so many different interpretations of Prince songs reminds what a unique talent he was, how witty and sexy (and banal and obnoxious) his songs could be. At one point many popular acts recorded Prince tunes in the hope that a hit (or some of his sexy mystique) would rub off on them. Oh, Tom Jones’ stomping take on Kiss is also absent – it looks like another compilation of Prince songs could easily find enough tunes to succeed. Triple CD only.
VARIOUS ARTISTS - WALKING TO NEW ORLEANS: AN AURAL ACCOMPANIMENT (Jasmine)
In 1974 John Broven, a bank manager in a small town in Kent whose great passion was American R&B, published Walking To New Orleans, a book detailing the history of R&B record making in New Orleans (specifically focusing on the golden age from late-1940s to mid-1960s). Back then, while there were many books on New Orleans jazz, no one in the US (or elsewhere) had tackled the city’s contemporary R&B music scene (one that had produced many hit singles and notable artists).
Broven’s book stayed in print for years, with the author regularly updating it while serving as an essential tome for fans of NO R&B. Now, some 50 years on, he has compiled this double CD as soundtrack of sorts. Beyond Fats Domino’s title track, Roy Brown’s original recording of Good Rockin’ Tonight, the Hawkettes’ Mardi Gras Mambo and a handful of other famous tunes, most of the songs gathered here are not the celebrated gems we regularly find on New Orleans R&B hits albums. Instead, Broven’s detailed knowledge finds him digging through his record collection to choose all manner of gems – and, get this, there are 65 tunes here!