News
July 31, 2007
THE "FOTHERINGAY 2" UPDATE
It's not all quiet with the "Fotheringay 2" project. The work's firmly afoot, and Jerry Donahue has just sent in some news. Read it here.
HITTING IT OFF, AGAIN
It's been thirty long years since BABE RUTH danced their last fandango but now - hola! - a new album, "Que Pasa", is out on the band's online label. Recorded in Nashville and London during the last year, the album features original members: singer Janita Haan, bassist Dave Hewitt, keyboard player Dave Punshon, drummer Ed Spevock and guitarist Alan Shacklock. An unmissable adidtion to what's begun with "First Base" and surely not the "Kid's Stuff"!
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1. 4 Dear Life |
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THE LORDS OF THE RINGS
Bored of the rings? Not so was with THE BEATLES when their fan who served the goddess called Kali. The story, for those who forgot, is the subject of the "Help! movie - and it was easy to forget with the title never properly issued on DVD. On October 22nd, though, the matter's to be rectified with the release of two double-disc sets, the standard, digi-packed with a book, and the super deluxe one, in a slipcase with a hard-cover book, lobby cards, movie poster and original film manuscript. The second format will have a very limited edition, so it's better to pre-order it just now.
But what about the long-overdue "Let It Be" DVD? That's the question. (Interestingly, nobody asks this question with regard to "Magical Mystery Tour"...
DEAD RINGER FOR LOVE
The Kali priestess whose gift caused so much troubles to The Fab Four was especially enamored with Ringo Starr - but who isn't? The most likable Beatle will see his 'best of' collection released under the title of "Photograph" on August 28th, the first-ever career-spanning compilation of his solo works. It's only 20 tracks but all of them are good:
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1. Photograph |
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11. The No-No Song |
And that's just the regular edition, while there will be a special collectors thingy with a DVD containing 7 videos, housed in a deluxe fold-out digipak:
1. Sentimental Journey
2. It Don’t Come Easy
3. Back Off Boogaloo
4. You’re Sixteen (You’re Beautiful And You’re Mine)
5. Only You (And You Alone)
6. Act Naturally (with Buck Owens)
7. Goodnight Vienna
On the same day Ringo's four EMI albums - "Sentimental Journey", "Beaucoups Of Blues", "Ringo" and "Goodnight Vienna" - will make their digital release debut and will be made available from the world's major digital sales providers.
As for the new album, "Liverpool 8", Starr's next album, is to be out in January 2008.
THE DARKENED DELIVER
This quite may be the tour of the year - in the dark and heavy area it undoubtedly is! The Dio-era BLACK SABBATH line-up called HEAVEN AND HELL are still on the road, but those of us who's unfortunate to not be able to attend one of the quartet's shows will have an opportunity to experience it from their home, both aurally and visually. "Live From Radio City Music Hall", recorded in New York on March 30th, 2007, is out on CD and DVD on August 28th. The fans - who will have to come to terms with Ronnie's voice, not on the best form that evening - are advised to save some more money to spend the dough not on the separate releases but on a deluxe three disc set with two CDs, a DVD and tour memorabilia including a tour program - yet this will be available exclusively from the Rhino Records site.
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1. E5150 / After All (The Dead) |
WHEN YOUR REAL SELF SINGS THE SONG
One by one, the "Live At Montreux" the string of releases from different artists and from the different eras of famous music festival grows longer, and on August 21st the 2003 JETHRO TULL set will see the light of day as DVD and 2CD. Quite a nice performance from Ian Anderson and the lads with the fair balance of material old and new.
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1. Some Day The Sun |
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10. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen |
THE PIPERS CALLING YOU TO JOIN THEM
EMI are to grab some good money on August 28th. What with Ringo Starr digital releases, there will be the PINK FLOYD's debut, "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" re-issued (in Europe that's September 3rd). The album's 40th anniversary is to be marked with a special edition of 3 discs with a 12-page reproduction Syd Barrett notebook packed into a Storm Thorgerson-designed packaging.
The first two discs are the the stereo and mono versions of the masterpiece newly remastered by James Guthrie: they, of course, could be crammed onto a single CD - but why not expand it to make a quick buck? The third disc isn't something to complain, though, as it contains all the FLOYD singles from 1967 with their B-sides and a couple of rarities:
1. Arnold Layne
2. See Emily Play
3. Apples And Oranges
4, Candy And A Current Bun
5. Paintbox
6. Interstellar Overdrive (take 2))
7. Apples And Oranges (1967 stereo version)
There will be other activities surrounding the 40th anniversary celebrations, but there's no word on it at the moment - as well as on the possible release of the DVD from the Syd Barrett Memorial Show which saw The Piper contemporaries such as Kevin Ayers and Vashti Bunyan paying tribute to the falling hero plus Messrs Gilmour, Wright and Mason playing separately from Roger Waters who made a surprise appearance at the London's Barbican.
THE HEAVY FALL
His real name was Harry Levy and he was as genial as another Jewish entrepreneurs such as Brian Epstein - but everybody knew the great man under pseudonim, Don Arden. A heavy and rather aggressive man not unlike Peter Grant, Arden led THE SMALL FACES, THE MOVE and ELO to the global fame before saving the gloomy day for BLACK SABBATH. Don's daughter, Sharon, inherited her father's business grip but they became estranged when she took over Ozzy Osbourne's management from the big man and eventually married her wild charge. The reconciliation came in the last years of Arden's life. Don died on July 21st and will always be remembered for his larger-than-life character.
FLYING HIGH AGAIN
Who needs another LED ZEPPELIN compilation? Well, it's been some time since "Remasters" and "Early Days" and "Latter Days" came out, and on November 13th out will be a new collection, a two-disc, 24-track "Mothership". There's no need to reproduce the track list, as there'll be nothing new on the CD and on the bonus DVD that accompanies the deluxe and collector's editions featuring selections from the "Led Zeppelin DVD". The sounchasers will also have the opportunity to grab the audio content on the 4LP box.
More teasing is "The Song Remains the Same" movie and its soundtrack re-issue to be released a week later, on November 20th. The CD will be augmented with six songs excluded from the original album: "Black Dog", "Over The Hills And Far Away", "Misty Mountain Hop", "Since I've Been Loving You", "The Ocean" and "Heartbreaker". The DVD now boasts the previously unreleased takes on "Over The Hills And Far Away", "Celebration Day", "The Ocean" and "Misty Mountain Hop" as well as the 1976 BBC interview with Robert Plant and Peter Grant and contemporary footage from the robbery at NY's Drake Hotel. The DVD is to be out in standard, HD and Blu-ray formats, and there will be a limited collector's edition that includes the soundtrack, a T-shirt with the original album art and reproductions of memorabilia from the era. That makes the show recording more than simply reinstated as it was there and then.
Not that there'll be any reunion tour to celebrate this; Percy denied the rumors - yet there's a tribute to ZEP ready for the September 18th release. Called simply "24/7/365 - The Tribute To Led Zeppelin", it's attributed to Frankie Banali & Friends and sees Tony Franklin on bass perform on all the tracks alongside the mastermind drummer and a great line-up of guests. It looks like this:
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1. The Wanton Song - Alex Ligertwood/, Doug Aldrich |
AIN'T SEEN NOTHING LIKE MIGHTY MANN
There was once the band called in the name of their leader. Yes, MANFRED MANN was led by Manfred Mann, but it's the band the subject of the 4CD box "Down The Road Apiece (Their EMI Recordings 1963-1966)" that is scheduled for the July 30th release. With many of the tracks newly remastered, the package's great points are 7 previously unreleased recordings and some rarities including the group's first session done as a commercial test, plus sessionography and illustrated discography and the sleevenotes written by the ensemble's original bass player, Tom McGuiness.
CD 1:
1. Why Should We Not (2007 remaster) CD 2:
1. Can't Believe It |
CD 3:
1. The Way You Do The Things You Do (2002 remaster) CD 4:
1. I Got You Babe (2007 remaster) |
WE SALUTE YOU
This album might be their last, but that was said already with regard to COLOSSEUM. The veterans have just released "Live05". There are two sets, the first one featuring recordings from Stuttgart and Worpswede, and the second from Innsbruck. And that's a special - and somewhat sad - CD, as it's the first band's release without the great late Dick Heckstall-Smith playing alongside John Hiseman, Clem Clempson, Dave Greenslade and Mark Clarke: the sax supremo's replacement is his old friend - and Hiseman's wife - Barbara Thompson, MBE, a fantastic jazz experimentalist. Which doesn't make the show less blistering.
First Set:
1. Showtime |
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Second Set:
9. Those About To Die |
GAZING WITH TRANQUILLITY
When it comes to the great guitarists, Steve Hillage rarely makes the ratings - which is a pity and a blatant injustice, as the man's fantastic. Yet he's too humble to let his brilliance shine through off-the-record and off-stage and, thus, adored only by the GONG fans (and there's not a plenty of these), the Canterbury scene connoisseurs and some strange folks who, like this scribe, savor the Khanster's solo albums. And it is people like us that Steve's "Germany 1977" DVD is released for. Sold through the dedicated website, it features the meister's Rockpalast performance. The initial edition - 1,000 copies - comes as a double pack with a bonus CD of the same show alongside the DVD; the first 300 copies of this, now surely sold out. are signed by Hillage and his long-time partner, the keyboard player Miquette Giraudy. The two's interview filmed at their studio in January 2007 is a bonus feature here.
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1. Salmon Song |
WHISTLING THE SIMPLEST OF TUNES
As it was reported before, the FAIRPORT CONVENTION's line-up behind the immense "Liege & Lief" LP, out in 1970, will re-unite for one-off show at the Cropredy Convention on August 10th to play the album its entirety, with Chris While standing in for the late Sandy Denny alongside Richard Thompson, Ashley Hutchings, Dave Swarbrick, Dave Mattacks and Simon Nicol. And it's obviously to coincide with this occasion that the album is re-released as a deluxe edition, on August 13th, with the classic recordings on one disc, previously issued in remastered form, and more rare recordings on disc two.
Disc 1:
1. Come All Ye |
Disc 2:
1. Sir Patrick Spens (Sandy Denny vocal) |
OH HOW THEY DANCED
It's been more than two years since Jim Capaldi has left this world. But what remained is the music the singing drummer recorded both with TRAFFIC and solo. And it was the focus of the memorial evening which took place at London's Roundhouse on January 21st this year. Now, the show is to be released on 2CD, on August 20th, and the DVD, on September 17th. "Dear Mr Fantasy" features musicians who knew and loved Jim and worked with him, including his partner in crime, Steve Winwood. A sounboard recording's been in criculaton since early February but now there's a chance to have it offiicially, properly mixed - and with the visuals!
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1. Paper Sun - Paul Weller |
11. Evil Love - Gary Moore |
THE EXPLOSION TO BE HEARD
It was the trick that worked well four years ago with the "Four Flicks" DVD box set, and now THE ROLLING STONES are to document the best selling tour of all time, "A Bigger Bang", in the same fashion. "The Biggest Bang", again relased initially through the Best Buy network only, is a four-DVD set featuring seven hours of content including two concerts in full, from Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach and from Austin, two behind-the-scenes documentaries and a bonus bonanza including performances from Argentina, Japan and China. It's available since June, 12 for $29.99 only at all Best Buy stores and at www.BestBuy.com and will be released worldwide in the nearest future. That's what it packs - with a bang:
Disc 1:
Zilker Park, Austin, Texas Disc 2:
Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
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Disc 3 - Rest Of The World:
Saitama, Japan Disc 4:
Salt Of The Earth - |
More so, September 21st will see the release of Martin Scorsese's "Shine A Light", a STONES documetary on par with the work the legendary director did on Dylan's "No Direction Home"..
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