Upcoming and Recent Releases

StuckInLove_Banner+date

Stuck In Love: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Score by Mike Mogis and Nathaniel Walcott  

Release Date: 05/21/13

The Stuck In Love score was Composed, Arranged, Performed and Produced by Mike Mogis and Nathaniel Walcott (from Bright Eyes), the pop tracks on the soundtrack include three new songs: “At Your Door” by Mike Mogis and Nathaniel Walcott featuring Big Harp, “Somersaults In Spring by Friends of Gemini (Mike Mogis, Nathaniel Walcott and Corina Figueroa Escamilla) and “You Are Your Mother’s Child” by Conor Oberst.

Other artists featured include Bright Eyes, Elliott Smith, Nat & Alex Wolff, Wallpaper Airplanes, Like Pioneers, Rio Bravo and Bill Ricchini.

The CD includes two bonus tracks.

The soundtrack will be available on Vinyl, as well as two unique pop and score digital albums.

Track List:
1. Nosebleed (Score) (1:25)
2. At Your Door • Nathaniel Walcott and Mike Mogis featuring Big Harp (2:55)
Stefanie Drootin-Senseney, vocals • Chris Senseney, vocals Mike Mogis, guitars, bass, drum machine programming, toy piano Nathaniel Walcott, piano, organ, electric piano • Clark Baechle, drums, Produced, Engineered and Mixed by Mike Mogis at ARC, Omaha, Nebraska, spring, 2012
3. Peeping Tom (Score) (1:48)
4. You Are Your Mother’s Child • Conor Oberst (3:56)
A 2013 Recording
*5. American Man • Rio Bravo (4:00)
6. Polkadot • Like Pioneers (3:01)
A 2012 Recording
7. Rusty Tucks Kate In (Score) (1:25)
8. Will You Be By Me • Wallpaper Airplanes (5:45)
A 2009 Recording
9. Goodbye (Score) (2:05)
*10. I Won’t Love You Any Less • Nat & Alex Wolff (3:10)
A 2011 Recording
11. Between the Bars • Elliott Smith (2:21)
A 1997 Recording
12. Bill Gets Dressed (Score) (1:26)
13. The Calendar Hung Itself… • Bright Eyes (3:56)
A 2000 Recording
14. Bill Tells Sam the Truth (Score) (1:38)
15. A Mountain, A Peak • Bill Ricchini (4:12)
A 2002 Recording
16 Erica At The Door (Score) (1:08)
17. Somersaults In Spring • Friends of Gemini (4:47)
Friends of Gemini are Corina Figueroa Escamilla, lead vocals • Nik Freitas, vocals Mike Mogis, guitars, bass • Nathaniel Walcott, keyboards • Clark Baechle, drums • Engineered and Mixed by Mike Mogis at ARC, Omaha, Nebraska, Spring, 2012

* CD Bonus Track

___________________________________

ShankarTransmigration

Ravi Shankar
Transmigration Macabre

Music from the film Viola, Produced by Richard Davis

Available Now!

The late Ravi Shankar, the legendary sitarist and composer was India’s most esteemed musical Ambassador and a singular phenomenon in the music worlds of East and West.  As a performer, composer, teacher, and writer, he has done more for Indian music than any other musician

“Ravi Shankar is the Godfather of World Music”
- George Harrison

Transmigration Macabre is not your average Ravi Shankar album.  Overtly psychedelic, sometimes closer to Coltrane’s mystical free jazz than the world music Shankar is famous for, Transmigration is one of those records that gets revealed to you in multiple layers.

This album has been unavailable for many years and has never been released in the U.S.

Ravi Shankar composed Transmigration Macabre for the British art film Viola (1967), which tells of the growth and eventual victory of a possessed man’s belief that his dead wife has returned to life in the form of a cat that pursues him.  The music traces his emotional turmoil as the man, dominated by his wife during her lifetime, struggles against her baneful influence after her death.

Track List:
1  Madness
2  Fantasy
3  Anxiety
4  Torment
5  Submission
6  Death
7  Transmigration
8  Retribution
|9  Reflection

All songs were composed By Ravi Shankar

Ravi Shankar website:
http://www.ravishankar.org

___________________________________

SmallFaces_AlbumFront_red 2

Small Faces
There Are But Four Small Faces

Available Now!

The Small Faces’ first American album There Are but Four Small Faces will be available for the first time on CD. The album features the worldwide hits “Itchycoo Park” and “Tin Soldier.”

The music here is much more fully developed and experimental than their previous recordings, but still largely R&B-based, but with lots of unusual sounds and recording techniques being attempted.

The American version of this album has never been available on CD.  The album was unique because it was compiled from various UK hit single sides and strong album cuts.

The album features the original American album art.

All Tracks are stereo, including two new exclusive stereo mixes of “My Way of Giving” and “I’m Only Dreaming.”

1 Itchycoo Park
2 Talk To You
3 Up the Wooden Hills To Bedfordshire
4 My Way of Giving
5 I’m Only Dreaming
6 I Feel Much Better
7 Tin Soldier
8 Get Yourself Together
9 Show Me the Way
10 Here Come The Nice
11 Green Circles
12 (Tell Me) Have You Ever Seen Me

___________________________________

Three Fates Project The Keith Emerson Band 

Münchner Rundfunkorchester

Keith Emerson * Marc Bonilla  * Terje Mikkelsen

Available Now!

Three Fates Project is unlike any previous album by keyboard legend Keith Emerson and pre-eminent rock guitarist and composer Marc Bonilla. It is a unique and dynamic inseparable hybrid of orchestral and rock unlike any that’s ever been heard before.

Keith’s music has taken yet another step in a new direction with this album. Keith is truly a modern day composer, which is why Alberto Ginastera and Aaron Copland thought so highly of him – they recognized him as one of their kind.

The album contains both orchestral re-workings of ELP classics such as “Tarkus,” “The Endless Enigma,” “Abaddon’s Bolero,” as well as Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare For The Common Man,” Alberto Ginastera’s “Malambo” and “American Matador” from Marc Bonilla’s second solo album, as well as brand new compositions: Emerson’s “After All Of This” and Marc Bonilla’s “Walking Distance,” and “The Mourning Sun.”

Three Fates Project was recorded in Munich and Los Angeles over a nine- month period starting in the summer of 2011. It features the 70-piece Münchner Rundfunkorchester, conducted by world-reknown Maestro, Terje Mikkelsen, who has been often referred to as “of of the few conductors with a rock ‘n roll soul” and the Keith Emerson Band with veteran Emerson bassist, Travis Davis, and drummer, Troy Luccketta, from the multi-platinum band, Tesla.

Track List:
1 The Endless Enigma Suite (Pt.1)
2 The Endless Enigma Suite (Pt.2)
3 American Matador
4 After All Of This
5 Walking Distance
6 Tarkus (Concertante)
7 Malambo
8 The Morning Sun
9 Abaddon’s Bolero
10 Fanfare For The Common Man (PT.1)
11 Fanfare For The Common Man (PT.2)

Artist Website:
www.keithemerson.com
www.marcbonilla.com
www.terjemikkelsen.com

_________________________________

Samsara: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Music By Michael Stearns, Lisa Gerrard
and Marcello De Francisci

Available Now!

SAMSARA reunites director Ron Fricke and producer Mark Magidson, whose award winning films BARAKA and CHRONOS were acclaimed for combining visual and musical artistry.  SAMSARA is a Sanskrit word that means “the ever turning wheel of life” and is the point of departure for the filmmakers as they search for the elusive current of interconnection that runs through our lives.  Filmed over a period of almost five years and in 25 countries, SAMSARA transports the viewer to sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial sites, and natural wonders.  By dispensing with dialogue and descriptive text, SAMSARA subverts our expectations of a traditional documentary, instead encouraging our own inner interpretations inspired by images and music that infuses the ancient with the modern.

Michael Stearns is a highly accomplished composer, musician, and sound engineer who combines a diverse range of skills to create music with a deeply resonant and spacious quality very conducive to work with film. He has created music used for James Cameron’s The Abyss, Titanic and Avatar, Disney Films, HBO, ABC, PBS, BBC, Discovery Channel, and the non-verbal films Chronos, Sacred Site and Baraka.

Lisa Gerrard has established herself as one of Australia’s most groundbreaking and in-demand artists. Over a career that takes in almost two decades with the group Dead Can Dance, as well as a number of award-winning movie soundtracks, including the Golden Globe Award winning score for Gladiator, with Hans Zimmer, and a series of acclaimed solo and collaborative albums.

Marcello De Francisci is a composer who has provided award-winning music for various films, television shows, and video games since the late 90s. Lisa Gerrard and Marcello De Francisci have collaborated on six consecutive films and an album titled Departum.

Track List:
1 Bali Girls • Michael Stearns, Bonnie Jo Hunt, Ron Sunsinger
2 Ladakh • Michael Stearns
3 Modern Life • Lisa Gerrard and Marcello De Francisci
4 Jerusalem • Lisa Gerrard and Marcello De Francisci
5 Villages and Freeways • Michael Stearns
6 Swimming and Skiing • Lisa Gerrard and Marcello De Francisci
7 Dubai • Lisa Gerrard and Marcello De Francisci
8 Food Chain • Lisa Gerrard and Marcello De Francisci
9 Dump/Igen • Lisa Gerrard, Marcello De Francisci, Michael Stearns
10 Manila • Lisa Gerrard and Marcello De Francisci
11 Sagazan • Michael Stearns
12 Pagan • Michael Stearns  (Vocal by Vidia Wesenlund)
13 Geisha • Lisa Gerrard and Marcello De Francisci
14 War Machine • Lisa Gerrard and Marcello De Francisci
15 Organics • Michael Stearns (Vocals by Vidia Wesenlund)
16 Katrina • Michael Stearns (Vocal by Vidia Wesenlund)
17 Cebu • Michael Stearns
18 St. Peters • Michael Stearns (Vocals by Vidia Wesenlund)
19 Thousand Hands • Michael Stearns, Bonnie Jo Hunt, Ron Sunsinger20 Organics Excerpt • Michael Stearns   

                

Samsara: The Movie: www.barakasamsara.com

_________________________________

The Very Best of Adrian Legg

Available Now!

Since the 1990 release of his first U.S. recording Guitars and Other Cathedrals, groundbreaking finger-style guitarist Adrian Legg has more than lived up to the expectations stirred by an ongoing avalanche of praise from critics, fans, top guitar magazines and peers alike. Joe Satriani once said, “He’s simply the best acoustic guitar player I’ve ever heard…he plays like he has hammers for fingers.”

All of the tracks for this first ever Adrian Legg Best Of collection come from his five critically acclaimed Relativity Records albums, including Guitars & Other Cathedrals (considered a modern guitar classic) and Wine, Women & Waltz, in which he received best overall guitar recording honors from Guitar Player in 1994. A category normally dominated by rock and blues artists.

Adrian Legg was voted “Guitarist of the Decade” by England’s Guitarist Magazine, and wasGuitar Player’s Reader’s Poll Winner for Best Acoustic Fingerstyle Guitarist in 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1996.

Described by Audio Magazine as a “kind of cross between Robert Fripp and Garrison Keillor,” Legg is a genuine entertainer who excels at not only painting pictures but frescoes; telling stories with music, and wittily regaling his audiences with tales from his life and travels. It’s all part of his dedication to making his performances a full-blooded emotional experience.

His Relativity albums have been long out of print and have been in high demand by his fans.

Track List:
1 Thump The Clouds
2 The Irish Girl
3 Tracy’s Big Moment
4 Chicken Licken’s Last Ride
5 Mrs. Jack’s Last Stand
6 Waltzing With Jesus
7 Mrs. Crowe’s Blue Waltz
8 Norah Handley’s Waltz
9 Lunch Time At Rosie’s
10 Kinvarra’s Child
11 St. Mary’s
12 Divorcee’s Waltz
13 The Crockett Waltz
14 Song For Di

Bonus Track:
15 Queenie’s Waltz (live)

www.adrianlegg.com

___________________________________

Roberta Flack
Christmas Songs

Available Now!

Internationally hailed as one of the greatest songstresses of our time, two-time Grammy Award winning artist, Roberta Flack, remains unparalleled in her ability to tell a story through her music. Her songs bring insight into our lives, loves, culture and politics, while effortlessly covering a broad musical landscape from pop to soul to folk to jazz.

Christmas Songs, features beautiful interpretations of holiday classics including “The Christmas Song,” “We Three Kings of Orient Are,” “Little Drummer Boy,” and “O Come All Ye Faithful,” as well as original tunes “There’s Still My Joy,” (written by Beth Nielsen Chapman and Melissa Manchester) and “25th of Last December” (written by Eugene McDaniels, who is also responsible for “Feel Like Makin’ Love”).

The album represents a true labor of love for Roberta Flack.  Her classic 1997 Christmas album has now been newly mixed, produced and packaged, plus an additional new song “Cherry Tree Carol,” has been added. It is a song that is very dear to her and was meant to be included on the original release of the album.

Track List:
1. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
2. There’s Still My Joy
3. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
4. 25th Of Last December
5. Because This Child Was Born
6. When There’s Love
7. The Little Drummer Boy
8. Oh Come All Ye Faithful

Bonus Track:
9. Cherry Tree Carol

www.RobertaFlack.com

___________________________________

Trevor Rabin  Jacaranda

Receiving fantastic reviews and crossing over to the Billboard Contemporary Jazz chart!

“Rabin’s new album demands your attention — confounding expectations, again and again. “

“Though he’s contributed some amazing guitar and keyboard work throughout his career never has this type of musicality been recorded from the virtuoso. Let me just say…wow. “

“Jacaranda is for music lovers of any genre. Period. It’s astonishing, haunting, passionate, powerful, and an experience that transcends any expectations, even for devotees of Rabin’s past work. After hearing Jacaranda, you’ll fully understand how difficult it is to dance about architecture. “

Available Now!

Jacaranda is Trevor Rabin’s first new solo project since his album Can’t Look Away. The extremely versatile Rabin covers a wide range of styles on the new album, including rock, jazz, and classical. Trevor plays all of the instruments himself, with the exception of drums on the tracks, for which he brought in noted jazz/rock drummer Vinnie Colaiuta (Sting, Frank Zappa), longtime Rabin drummer Lou Molino III, and Trevor’s son Ryan Rabin (Grouplove). He also brought in noted bass guitarist Tal Wilkenfeld (Jeff Beck, Herbie Hancock) who plays on the track “Anerley Road.” Vocalist Liz Constintine is featured on the track “Rescue,” inspired by the film The Guardian.

Trevor has long been regarded as one of the finest guitarists in the world.  During his 15 years as the lead guitarist/singer of the group YES,  Trevor wrote many of their hits, including “Owner of a Lonely Heart.”  His collaborations include working with Seal, Michael Jackson, Manfred Mann, Tina Turner, Bob Dylan and Paul Rodgers to name a few.

Trevor Rabin is also one of the most sought-after film composers in the business. He has created music that crosses barriers and genres that have made him one of the premier composers of contemporary music. As a guitarist, keyboardist, singer, songwriter, producer or recording engineer, Trevor has established himself as a leader in the contemporary music field. Some of his most noted soundtracks include: Armageddon, Remember the Titans, National Treasure, Race to Witch Mountain, Get Smart, The Guardian and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

He has received numerous awards including 11 BMI Film and TV Awards, a Grammy (Best Rock Instrumental Performance for “Cinema,” from the album 90125 by Yes), a Lifetime Achievement Award (Los Angeles Music Awards), a Career Achievement Award (Temecula International Film Festival), and Gold Medal for Excellence in Film Music Award (Park City Film Festival).

Track List:
1 Spider Boogie
2 Market Street
3 Anerley Road
4 Through The Tunnel
5 The Branch Office
6 Rescue
7 Killarney 1 & 2
8 Storks Bill Geranium Waltz
9 Me And My Boy
10 Freethought
11 Zoo Lake
12 Gazania

http://trevorrabin.net/

 ___________________________________

The Chorus (Les Choristes)
Original Music From The Motion Picture Composed and Orchestrated by Bruno Coulais

A Film Directed by Christophe Barratier

Available Now!

Bruno Coulais is a French born film and television soundtrack composer. In 1997 he won the César Award for his work on the documentary Microcosmos. Great prominence was given to the music in the film, which was a huge success and made Coulais one of the most sought after composers of French film music. His reputation was again confirmed by the soundtracks to Himalaya (1999) and the worldwide hit, Winged Migration (2001).

In  2002 he wrote the soundtrack to one of his biggest and most celebrated films The Chorus (Les Choristes), which subsequently became an international smash and was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film, and also won Coulais his third César Award.  In addition the song “Vois sur ton Chemin (Look to Your Path),” was nominated for an Oscar.

This reissue of the Chorus features five bonus tracks not available on the previously issued version on Nonesuch Records.

Track List:
1. Les Choristes (The Chorus)
2. In Memoriam
3. L’Arrivée à l’École (Arrival at School)
4. Pépinot
5. Vois sur ton Chemin (Look to Your Path)
6. Les Partitions (The Scores)
7. Caresse sur l’Océan (Caress on the Ocean)
8. Lueur d’Été (Glimmer of Summer)
9. Cerf-Volant (Kite)
10. Sous la Pluie (In the Rain)
11. Compère Guilleri (Good Ol’ Guilleri)
12. La Désillusion (Disillusion)
13. La Nuit (Night)
14. L’Incendie (Fire)
15. L’Évocation (Evocation)
16. Les Avions en Papier (Paper Airplanes)
17. Action Réaction (Action Reaction)
18. Seuls (Alone)
19. Morhange
20. In Memoriam A Cappella
21. Nous sommes de Fond de l’Étang (We Are from Fond de l’Étang)

Bonus Tracks:
22 Vois Sur Ton Chemin
23 In Memoriam
24 Caresse Sur l’Ocean
25 Lueur D’eté
26 Cerf-Volant

__________________________________

Jacques Perrin Presents Winged Migration
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Music Composed by Bruno Coulais

Available Now!

Winged Migration (Le Peuple Migrateur) is the 2001 Oscar nominated worldwide hit documentary film directed by Jacques Cluzaud, Michel Debats and Jacques Perrin. The film showcases the immense journeys routinely made by birds during their migrations.

Bruno Coulais has won an Annie Award for music (Coraline), and three César awards (the national film award of France).  In addition, he has been nominated for an Oscar for original song (“Look to Your Path” from The Chorus), a BAFTA Award (The British Academy of Film and Television Arts), an Emmy and three César awards.

The film’s soundtrack features vocals in English: “To Be By Your Side” by Nick Cave (of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds), and four vocals by Robert Wyatt (of Soft Machine), including “The Red Forest“ and “Master Of The Field.”  The soundtrack also features “Like A Breath Of Air” performed by the group A Filetta, and “The Wounded Dove” performed by Gabriel Yacoub.

Track List
1 To Be By Your Side — Nick Cave
2 Masters Of The Field — Robert Wyatt
3 Northern Bound — A Filetta
4 The Crossing
5 The Highest Gander — Robert Wyatt
6 Beating Drums — A Filetta
7 Return Of The Cranes
8 The Blue Thread
9 The Red Forest — Robert Wyatt
10 Like A Breath Of Air — A Filetta
11 The Takeoff
12 Amidst The Factory Smoke
13 The Glider
14 After The Hunt
15 The Paper Parrot
16 The Swans Flight
17 Feathers And Stripes
18 The Wounded Dove — Gabriel Yacoub
19 Off Camera — Robert Wyatt

_________________________________

Microcosmos

Microcosmos
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack  Music by Bruno Coulais
Available Now!

French composer Bruno Coulais (Winged Migration and The Chorus) is without a doubt, a musical genius, and Microcosmos is one of the best examples of his work. The music is very mysterious, a bit eerie and yet very sweet. The film Microcosmos, is a documentary of detailed insect interactions in meadows and ponds all set to his score.

The title track Microcosmos sounds like a cross between a typical English or Welsh choir song, something along the lines of the surreal musical tunes created by Danny Elfman for Nightmare Before Christmas and The Corpse Bride.

Track List:
1 Microcosmos
2 The Bee and The Flowers (L’abeille & les fleurs)
3 The Ladybird (La coccinelle)
4 Snail-Love (L’amour des escargots)
5 The Warm Hour  (L’heure chaude)
6 The Sacred Beetle and The Pheasant (Le scarabée sacré & le faisan)
7 Skidding (Les patineuses)
8 Under a Veil of Water (Sous le voile de l’eau)
9 Thunderstorm (L’orage)
10 Carnivorous Plant (La plante carnivore)
11 The Fight of Stag-Beetles (Le combat des lucanes)
12 Night (La nuit)
13 The Metamorphosis (La métamorphose)
14 Dream’s end (La fin du rêve)
__________________________________

Music from The Adventurers
The Music of Antonio Carlos Jobim
Quincy Jones and The Ray Brown Orchestra

Available Now!

Music from The Adventurers is Quincy Jones and The Ray Brown Orchestra’s re-working of the Antonio Carlos Jobim soundtrack to the trashy 1970 Howard Robbins film The Adventures.  This very rare classic funk album was also recorded in 1970, and features Tom Scott and Deodato, who lay down some great funk backing in a larger-than-life big band style. The album swings between big band jazz, out-and-out funk and easy listening.

The album includes the heavy-breathing funk classic “Coming And Going,” notable for the female orgasm shrieks over the top of some funky grooves.

Everything about this record is sensual, as you should expect from music inspired by Harold Robbins. Ray Brown, as bass player and orchestra leader, is incredible.

This is the first time this very rare classic funk album has ever appeared on CD.

Track List:
1. Polo Pony
2. Go Down Dying
3. El Lobo’s March
4. Wishful Thinking
5. Gentle Lover
6. Coming And Going
7. Fat Cat Strut
8. Children’s Games
9. Love Theme From “The Adventurers”

Produced by Quincy Jones
Conducted by Ray Brown

__________________________________


It’s Your Night
James Ingram

Available Now!

Produced by Quincy Jones, It’s Your Night is multi Grammy award-winner and back-to-back Oscar nominee James Ingram’s first album, featuring an all-star cast, including Luther Vandross, Howard Hewett, Larry Carlton, Tom Scott, David Foster, David Paich, Steve Porcaro and Rod Temperton, it includes “Yah Mo B There,” which won the 1984 Grammy for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal.

The album is a virtual greatest hits collection. It features “Yah Mo B There”(with Michael McDonald) plus four other hit singles, including “Party Animal,” “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?” (A duet with Patti Austin), “There’s No Easy Way” and “She Loves Me (The Best That I Can Be).”

Also added is the bonus track “Yah Mo B There” (The UK hit version, the Jellybean remix, single edit).  It is a completely different mix than the version already on the album.  The track is previously unavailable on CD in the U.S.

Track List:
1 Party Animal
2 Yah Mo B There • James Ingram with Michael McDonald)
3 She Loves Me (The Best That I Can Be)
4 Try Your Love Again
5 Whatever We Imagine
6 One More Rhythm
7 There’s No Easy Way
8 It’s Your Night
9 How Do You Keep the Music Playing? (Theme from film Best Friends)
James Ingram with Patti Austin

Bonus Track:
10 Yah Mo B There (Jellybean Remix, Single Edit) • James Ingram
with Michael McDonald 

Produced by Quincy Jones

__________________________________

The Quincy Jones – Sammy Nestico Orchestra
Basie & Beyond

Available Now!

Quincy Jones’ career has encompassed the roles of composer, record producer, artist, film producer, arranger, conductor, instrumentalist, TV producer, record company executive, magazine founder and multi-media entrepreneur. As a master inventor of musical hybrids, he has shuffled pop, soul, hip-hop, jazz, Big Band, classical, African and Brazilian music into many dazzling fusions, crisscrossing virtually every medium, including records, live performance, movies and television.

Basie & Beyond was Quincy Jones return to his jazz roots. It is an album of new and old arrangements of several of Quincy Jones classic tracks, including “Quintessence,” “Hard Sock Dance” and “For Lena and Lennie.” In addition he has added new versions of “The Witching Hour” and “Belly Roll” and uses an orchestration of “Grace” from his album, Q’s Juke Joint, all played in the style of Count Basie’s New Testament Band

The 27-piece big band is an all-star date, mostly featuring West Coast jazzers and session men, including flautist Hubert Laws, percussionist Paulinho da Costa, tenor saxophonist Ernie Watts and Charlie Christian-like electric guitarist Paul Jackson, Jr.

Track List:
1 Ya Gotta Try…Harder!
2 Belly Roll
3 Grace
4 The Joy Of Cookin’
5 Quintessence
6 How Sweet It Is
7 Hard Sock Dance
8 The Witching Hour
9 For Lena And Lennie
10 No Time like The Present
11 Lisette
12 Out Of The Night

Produced by Quincy Jones for Quincy Jones Productions
With Sammy Nestico & Jerry Hey

___________________________________

BARAKA: The Deluxe Edition
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Music by Michael Stearns

Available Now!

This deluxe soundtrack reissue to the award winning 1992 classic docudrama, BARAKA, features an original score by renowned composer Michael Stearns. He accents the film’s theme with an array of world music influences and new age ambience. In addition, the soundtrack features music by Dead Can Dance, L. Subramaniam, Ciro Hurtado, Inkuyo, Brother and David Hykes. Ron Fricke directed BARAKA and it was produced by Mark Magidson.

BARAKA, the epic non-verbal film, tells the story of the earth’s evolution, man’s diversity and interconnection, and his impact on the planet. The film takes the listener on a world tour of cultural (and natural) experience. Displaying the cyclical nature of life, BARAKA moves through the mystery and fascination of natural phenomena to the serenity of Third World culture and, ultimately, the ferocity of industrialization. The film was shot in 70mm in 24 countries on six continents, in such diverse locales as Brazil, Nepal, Cambodia, Kuwait, India, Tanzania and Iran.

BARAKA was one of the most acclaimed international releases of its time. The film won the International Film Critics Jury Award for “Best Picture” at its world premier at the Montreal Film Festival in 1992.

Features “Host of Seraphim,” performed by Dead Can Dance.

Unlike the previous editions of the soundtrack this deluxe reissue features the full-length versions of many of the key tracks featured in the film.

Track List:
1 Opening/Nepal Morning
 Composed by Kōhachiro Miyata)
with original music by Michael Stearns

2 Mantra
Excerpted from Mantra/Stabat Mater by Somei Satoh
2b Organics
3 Wipala
 Composed by Gonzalo Vargas, performed by Inkuyo
4 The Host of Seraphim
 Composed and performed by Dead Can Dance
5 Village Dance
6 Varanasi Sunrise
 Wandering Saint Performed and composed by L. Subramaniam
7 African Journey
 Composed and performed by Anugama & Sebastiano
8 Rainbow
 Voice By David Hykes/The Harmonic Choir
9 Monk with Bell
10 Broken Vow
A Prayer of Kala Rupa
Performed by The Monks of the Dip Tse Chok Ling Monastery, Dharamsala An Daorach Bheac
Performed by Brother, Hamish Richardson, Angus Richardson, Fergus Richardson
11 Finale
12 End Credits

Baraka: www.barakasamsara.com

___________________________________

Dwight Twilley
Green Blimp

Available Now!

Dwight Twilley is one of the godfathers of power pop, influencing a generation of artists that includes Paul Collins, Peter Case, and Matthew Sweet.

Green Blimp was recorded in 2010 at Dwight Twilley’s Big Oak Studio in Tulsa, Ok.  The album features 14 pop gems, including “Speed of Light,” “Let It Rain” and “Ten Times.” Special guests on the album, include Bill Pitcock IV (of the original Twilley Band), Rocky Burnette and Susan Cowsill.

The album features full keyboards, strings, big distorted guitars, accordions, Latin percussion, and other musical seasonings. The scale of Green Blimp suggests some harder-rocking variant on the classic bigger-is-better production styles of Phil Spector or Brian Wilson, though Twilley’s melodic structures still sound quite familiar to a longtime listener.

Since the release last October of Dwight Twilley’s critically acclaimed album Soundtrack there has been a demand to re-release his celebrated album Green Blimp, so it can reach a much wider audience.

2010′s independently distributed album Green Blimp was Dwight Twilley’s first album of new material in five years. This reissue of features two previously unreleased bonus tracks. In addition the cover art has been updated and revised.

Twilley is best known for his iconic hits through the decades like “I’m on Fire” (1975) “Girls” (1984) and the classic ballad “Why You Wanna Break My Heart” featured in the motion picture Wayne’s World (1992)

Track List:
1. Get Up
2. Speed Of Light
3. Me And Melanie
4. Let It Rain
5. Doctor
6. Green Blimp
7. You Were Always There
8. It’s Never Coming Back
9. Stop
10. Ten Times
11. Witches In The Sky
12. It Ends

Bonus Tracks:
13. I’m On A Dream
14. What Is The Time

www.dwighttwilley.com/

___________________________________

The Demolition String Band
featuring Elena Skye and Boo Reiners
Gracious Days

Available Now!

Eminent mainstays of New York’s bluegrass and country-rock scene, Elena Skye and Boo Reiners bring their singular Demolition String Band back to their roots in their latest album Gracious Days. The set showcases traditional-styled originals like Skye’s “Misfortune” and Reiners’ “Under The Weather,” along with meaningful covers from Woody Guthrie, Appalachian old-timey singer-songwriter Ola Belle Reed, legendary outsider Blaze Foley and even The Ramones. But whatever the sources, Skye and Reiners–and their gathering of stellar guest musicians–stamp them with their own indelible and instantly recognizable signature.

Comprised of members Elena Skye (vocals) and Boo Reiners (guitar), this Hoboken quartet has strong musical roots in bluegrass traditions, but those roots are shot through with plenty of rock ‘n’ roll electricity. Correlations could be drawn to towering roots/punk bands like Lone Justice and X.

Track List:
1 Jethro’s Lullaby intro
2 Misfortune
3 Under The Weather
4 Questioningly
5 Why You Been Gone So Long
6 Dress of Roses
7 Boojo Breakdown
8 Hard Ain’t It Hard
9 Alibis
10 Williamsville Ramble
11 Old Blue
12 Where The Wild Wild Flowers Grow
13 Jethro’s Lullaby reprise

www.elenaandboo.com

___________________________________

Classic Billy Cobham Albums

Billy Cobham is acclaimed as fusion’s greatest drummer.  His explosive technique powered some of the genre’s most important early recordings — including groundbreaking recordings by Miles Davis and The Mahavishnu Orchestra — before he became an accomplished bandleader in his own right.

Warning

Available Now!

The music on Warning is dynamic and masterful. It was the first recording he made for GRP (1985). The album is a keyboard-dominated session, and definitely has a commercial sound to it. There are, however, enough drumming calisthenics by Billy to satisfy his fans.

Track List:
1. Mozaik
2. Red and Yellow Cabriolet
3. Slow Body Poppin’
4. Unknown Jeromes
5. The Dancer
6. Stratus
7. Come Join Me
8. Go for It!

Picture This

Available Now!

In this third album for GRP Picture This  (1987), Billy Cobham embraced the era incorporating the new digital sound with his old style of music. The result is a nice mixture of traditional jazz.

Track List:
1 Two For Juan
2 Same Ole Love
3 Taurian Matador
4 You Within Me Within You
5 Coming Attractions
6 This One’s For Armando
7 Sign ‘O’ The Times
8 The Juggler
9 Danse For Noh Masque

Power Play


Available Now!

Power Play (1986), was Billy’s second album recorded for the acclaimed jazz label GRP Records, and was the follow-up to the hit album Warning.

Track List:
1. Times Of My Life
2. Zanzibar Breeze
3. Radioactive
4. A Light Shines In Your Eyes
5. Summit Afrique (Excerpts from…)
5. A. The Foundation (“Isisekelo Zulu”)
6.B. Dance Of The Blue Men/The Nomads
7. C. The Debate (“Indaba”)
8. D. The Conflict (“Ingxabano”)
9. E. The Little One (“Omncane”)
10. F. The Promise…Unity (‘Isithembiso…Umanyano”)
11 Desiccated Coconuts
12 Tinseltown13 Schmagofatz

www.billycobham.com

___________________________________

Dale Evans
Reflections of Life

Available Now!

Reflections Of Life features songs of hope, promise and praise, including original songs written by Dale Evans reflecting her deep reglious faith.

On October 31, 2012  Dale’s celebrated her 100th birthday.

Beautifully Mixed by Tom Moulton, in the mix room.

Track List:
1 Let Us Love/Faith, Hope & Charity
2 Time To Renew
3 The Ole’ House/The World Is Not My Home
4 In His Arms
5 Here I Am Lord
6 Jesus Is My Closest Friend
7 Little Girl Lost
8 Start Smilin’ Again
9 Where Are You
10 Grace Greater Than Our Sin/Amazing Grace

 ___________________________________

Roger Williams
Golden Inspirational Hymns

Available Now!

Roger Williams is undeniably one of the greatest pianists of the 20th Century. His illustrious career in music is unparalleled. His sparkling arpeggios, showy technique, and gentle easy listening arrangements made him one of the most popular pop instrumentalists of the ’60s.

Before his passing in 2011, Roger handpicked these well-known inspirational songs for this collection, which he performed during his long career.

 Track List:
1 Vesper Hymn
2 Amazing Grace
3 Beautiful Savior
4 Morning Has Broken/Ode To Joy
5 In The Garden/Up From The Grave /Christ The Lord Has Risen Today
6 Sweet Hour Of Prayer
7 Clair DeLune/Dominique
8 Abide With Me
9 Reach Out and Touch/It’s A Small World
10 A Mighty Fortress

___________________________________

Dwight Twilley
Soundtrack


12 all-new astonishing Dwight Twilley songs

Available Now!
Dwight Twilley’s new studio album Soundtrack is unique and perhaps the most powerful recording of Twilley’s career. Mr. Twilley signed on to write and produce the disc to accompany a film documentary about his life now in production. “Creating this album was a real challenge for me. Something I’ve never attempted. It’s completely autobiographical. For me these songs are like musical photographs of the people, places and events that tell my story.”

Soundtrack is not an album with all the best cuts jammed at the beginning. The album is a masterful production that plays like a book that urges you to read from start to finish.

The new album marks a bittersweet milestone of the end of a more than 30-year collaboration between Twilley and legendary guitarist Bill Pitcock IV, who made a significant contribution to the album. Pitcock passed away near the completion of the recording.

Special guests on the album include Susan Cowsill (The Cowsills) who contributed her typically amazing harmonies on “Bus Ticket,” “God Didn’t Do It” and “The Cards Will Fall,” and fellow Tulsan Taylor Hanson (Hanson) who adds organ and magical keyboard sprinkles to “The Cards Will Fall” and “The Last Time Around.”

Track List:
1. “You Close Your Eyes”
2. “Bus Ticket”
3. “Tulsa Town”
4. “Skeleton Man”
5. “My Life”
6. “God Didn’t Do It”
7. “Out in the Rain”
8. “Soundtrack”
9. “The Lonely One”
10. “The Cards Will Fall”
11. “Good Things Come Hard”
12. “The Last Time Around”

Words and Music by Dwight Twilley
www.dwighttwilley.com/

______________________________

Lost Weekend: The Best of Wall Of Voodoo
(The I.R.S Years)

Available Now!

This is the first complete CD overview of Wall Of Voodoo, the popular Los Angeles artrock- alternative band whose musical legacy extends far beyond their ’80s heyday. The release is the first anthology to showcase both incarnations of the group, featuring both the original “classic” line-up helmed by band founder/singer- songwriter Stan Ridgway (1977-1983), as well as the revamped “2.0” edition fronted by songwriter-pianist Andy Prieboy (1983-1988)

Studio and live tracks from Each of the group’s IRS albums is well represented.

The album features the original single mix of the Rock of the ’80s classic, “Mexican Radio.”

Track List:
1 Red Light
2 Tsetse Fly
3 Crack The Bell
4 Back In Flesh
5 Lost Weekend
6 Factory
7 Mexican Radio (single version)
8 On Interstate 15
9 Call Of The West
10 Far Side Of Crazy
11 Big City
12 Dark As A Dungeon
13 Do It Again
14 Country Of Man
15 Elvis Bought Dora A Cadillac
16 The Heart Can Never Tell (live)
17 Ring Of Fire (live)

______________________________

Paul McCartney
The Family Way
original soundtrack

Music Composed by Paul McCartney
The George Martin Orchestra
Arranged and Produced by George Martin

Available Now!

The Family Way is the 1967 soundtrack composed by Paul McCartney, and performed by The George Martin Orchestra. This recording is sometimes considered to be the first Beatles solo album. The Family Way is a 1966 British comedy-drama film staring John Mills and Hayley Mills.

The original 1967 soundtrack recording to The Family Way begins with McCartney’s theme, “Love in the Open Air,” and contains twelve more (untitled) score cues suited to the onscreen action.  For his composition, McCartney was initially inspired by the sound of brass bands, familiar to his childhood in the North of England.

The very rare original recording of Paul McCartney’s first solo venture, The Family Way sound track was composed in 1966 and performed by The George Martin Orchestra.

 The soundtrack is mastered from the original first generation stereo master tapes, and features a special bonus track “Theme From The Family Way,” in stereo for the first time ever! It was issued as a single under the name The Tudor Minstrels.

Under George Martin’s direction, the score was recorded at CTS Studios in November 1966.

This is the first time this Paul McCartney soundtrack will be officially released on CD.

Track List:
Includes all 13 tracks from the original album release plus a bonus track, the previously unreleased stereo mix of Theme From The Family Way credited to The Tudor Minstrels. Originally issued as London [US] single 45-1012, Decca [UK] single F.12536, 1967

______________________________

Dickey Lee
The Classic Songs Of Dickey Lee

Available Now!

Dickey Lee started his career in the ’60s with pop hits such as the million sellers “Patches” and “I Saw Linda Yesterday,” followed by “Laurie (Strange Things Happen).” Later, he devoted his efforts to country music. As a singer, his ’70s country hits included “Never Ending Song of Love,” “Rocky,” “Angels, Roses, and Rain,” and “9,999,999 Tears.” As a songwriter, he has written or co-written #1 hits for a number of other prominent country artists, including Elvis Presley, George Strait, Charlie Pride, George Jones and Reba McEntire.

This collection contains new recordings of Dickey Lee’s greatest pop and country hits, including “Patches,” “I Saw Linda Yesterday,” “9,999,999 Tears,” and songs he wrote that were #1 hits for other artists, including “She Thinks I Still Care” for Elvis Presley, George Jones and for Anne Murray. “You’re The First Time I’ve Thought About Leaving,” for Reba McEntire. “Let’s Fall To Pieces Together,” for George Strait, “I’ll Be Leaving Alone,” for Charlie Pride, and “The Door Is Always Open,” for Dave And Sugar.

Recently his song “Memphis Beat,” as recorded by Keb Mo, has been heard as the theme to the hit TNT TV series Memphis Beat staring Jason Lee.

This collection features a new 2011 recording of “Memphis Beat.”

Track List:
1  Patches
2  She Thinks I Still Care
3  I Saw Linda Yesterday
4  Laurie (Strange Things Happen)
5  Never Ending Song Of Love
6  Ashes Of Love
7  Rocky
8  9,999,999 Tears
9 Angels, Roses And Rain
10  The Door Is Always Open
11  You’re The First Time I’ve Thought About Leaving
12  Let’s Fall To Pieces Together
13  I’ve Been Around Enough To Know
14  Everybody’s Reaching Out For Someone
15  I’ll Be Leaving Alone

Special Bonus Track:
16 Memphis Beat (new 2011 recording)
www.dickeyleemusic.com/

______________________________


Let’s Have A Party The Very Best Of Wanda Jackson


Available Now!

Wanda Jackson is known as the Queen of Rockabilly, and is one of the founding figures of rock and roll. This is the first new Wanda Jackson hits collection in over a decade, and features her classic recordings of “Fujiyama Mama,” “Mean Mean Man,” and “I Gotta Know,”along with her original recording of “Let’s Have A Party,“ which is a virtual rock and roll anthem. From her classic rock and roll sides to her country hits “Right Or Wrong” and “In The Middle Of A Heartache,” this collection superbly showcases one of the legendary stars of rock and roll and country.

Track List:
1  I Gotta Know
2  Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad
3  Don’a Wan’a
4  Cool Love
5  Fujiyama Mama
6  Mean Mean Man
7  Rock Your Baby
8  Hard Headed Woman
9  Let’s Have a Party
10  Riot in Cell Block #9
11  Funnel of Love
12  Rip It Up
13  Whole Lot of Shakin’ Goin’ On
14  Right or Wrong
15  Blue Yodel #6
16  In The Middle Of A Heartache

______________________________

The Very Best Of Susan Raye and Buck Owens

Available Now!

This is the first ever CD collection of the Very Best Of Buck Owens and Susan Raye. Most of these tracks have never appeared on CD, and have been unavailable for years.

Susan Raye first recorded with Buck Owens in 1970, they charted with “We’re Gonna Get Together,” and “Togetherness” (both Top 15). The duo scored their biggest hit in the summer of that year with the Top 10 hit “The Great White Horse.”

In 1972, Susan teamed up again with Buck for the Top 15 success “Looking Back to See,” and the Top 20 duet with Buck, “Love is Strange” (1975).

Track List:
1  We’re Gonna Get Together
2  Togetherness
3  Together Again
4  Cryin’ Time
5  Love Is Strange
6  The Great White Horse
7  Today I Started Loving You Again
8  I Don’t Care (Just As Long As Long As You Love Me)
9 Think Of Me When You’re Lonely
10  Your Tender Loving Care
11  Looking Back to See
12  The Good Ol’ Days (Are Here Again)
13  Sweethearts In Heaven
14  Love Makes The World Go Around

______________________________

The Very Best of Dan Seals


Available Now!

Spanning the mid-80s to the early 90s, this is the first Dan Seals hits collection to include all 11 of his number one country songs, including “Bop,” “Meet Me In Montana” (with Marie Osmond), “Everything That Glitters (Is Not Gold),” and “Love On Arrival,” in the sequence of their original release.

Sadly Dan Seals passed away March 25, 2009, at the age of 61, leaving behind a legacy of country chart toppers (25 chart hits, including 11 number ones) and lyric-centric recordings that spanned a little under a decade with Liberty Records and Capitol-EMI Nashville.

Track List:
1  Everybody’s Dream Girl
2  After You
3  God Must Be A Cowboy
4  (You Bring Out) The Wild Side Of Me
5  My Baby’s Got Good Timing
6  My Old Yellow Car
7  Meet Me In Montana • Dan Seals with Marie Osmond
8  Bop
9  Everything That Glitters (Is Not Gold)
10  You Still Move Me
11  I Will Be There
12  Three Time Loser
13  One Friend
14  Addicted
15  Big Wheels In The Moonlight
16  They Rage On
17  Love On Arrival
18  Good Times

______________________________

The Keith Emerson Band featuring Marc Bonilla Moscow

Available Now!

The Keith Emerson Band Featuring Marc Bonilla. This CD release is the companion to the DVD Moscow issued last year.

Highlights include re-workings of several classic ELP tracks such as a full version of Tarkus, Karn Evil 9, Lucky Man, Bitches Crystal and The Barbarian. What distinguishes these new arrangements has been the addition of wizard, Marc Bonilla, both as singer and co-arranger. When interviewed recently Keith confessed that these new re-constructions with guitar reflected more accurately the way he had originally envisioned them. The CD features two studio bonus tracks.

Track List:
CD One:

1. Karn Evil 9  (5:21)
2. Piano Concerto  (9:01)
3. Bitches Crystal  (5:48)
4. Malambo  (7:46)
5. Touch And Go  (5:13)
6. Lucky Man  (9:26)
7. Miles Away Pt 1  (1:56)
8. Miles Away Pt 2  (2:13)
9. Crusaders Cross  (1:15)
10. Fugue  (0:46)
11. Marche Train  (6:45)
12. Finale  (5:52)

CD Two:
1. The Barbarian  (6:19)
2. Tarkus  (35:40)
3. Nutrocker Suite  (5:15)

Bonus Studio Tracks:
4. Moscow Fantasia  (1:42)
5. Malambo (Orchestral Version)  (4:11)

______________________________

The Very Best Of Earl Klugh

the blue note years

Available Now!

The Very Best of Earl Klugh is the ultimate overview of his acclaimed Blue Note years, where he earned six Grammy nominations.  Tracks from each of the nominated albums are represented in this collection.

Highlights of the compilation include the tracks “Living Inside your Love,” “Wishful Thinking,” “Night Drive,” and two duets with Keyboardist Bob James, “Wes” and “Sandstorm” from their album Two Of A Kind.
Track List:
1 Waltz For Debby
2 Captain Caribe
3 Living Inside Your Love
4 Magic In Your Eyes
5 I’ll See You Again
6 Doc  7 Mona Lisa   8 Balladina
9 Sandstorm • Bob James and Earl Klugh
10 Wes • Bob James and Earl Klugh
11 If You’re Still In Love With Me
12 Night Drive
13 Wishful Thinking
14 All The Time
15 The Look Of Love

The Official Earl Klugh Website:
www.earlklugh.com

Posted in Upcoming Releases | Leave a comment

Add Varèse Vintage as a Facebook friend

Stay up-to-date with album reviews, music industry happenings and more on Varèse Facebook!

Posted in Facebook | 5 Comments

Shell Shocked: My Life with the Turtles, Flo and Eddie, and Frank Zappa, etc.

 

Shell Shocked cover

If Howard Kaylan had sung only one song, the Turtles’ 1967 No. 1 smash hit “Happy Together,” his place in rock-and-roll history would still be secure. But that recording, named in 1999 by BMI as one of the top 50 songs of the 20th century, with over five million radio plays, is only the tip of a rather eye-opening iceberg. For nearly five decades, Howard Kaylan has been a player in the rock-and-roll revolution. In addition to his years with the Turtles, Kaylan was a core member of Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention and the dynamic duo Flo and Eddie, and part of glam rock history with Marc Bolan and T. Rex. He’s also given street cred and harmonies to everyone from John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen and Alice Cooper to the Ramones and Duran Duran, to name just a few. Howard Kaylan’s life has been a dangerous ride that he is only too happy to report on, naming names and shedding shocking tales of sex, drugs, and creative excess. Shell Shocked will stand alone as not only one of the best-told music-biz memoirs, but one with a truly candid and unmatchable story of rock-and-roll insanity and success from a man who glories in it all.

Posted in Books We Like | Leave a comment

WHN: When New York City Went Country

WHN

 In 1973, conventional industry wisdom was that a country music station could not be sucessful in the New York market. WHN ignored that wisdom and announced that it was switching from a middle-of-the-road format to country, billing itself as “Easy Lovin’ Country”. The actual changeover took place at 5:45 am on February 26th when Jack Spector, calling himself “The Kosher Cowboy From Coney Island,” introduced the George Jones classic “The Race Is On”. And the rest is history.

Here’s a link to the book’s Facebook page, which contains vintage pix plus pix from the WHN reunion.

Posted in Books We Like | Leave a comment

THE WRECKING CREW The Inside Story of Rock and Roll’s Best-Kept Secret

A Mind-Blowing Tribute to the Unsung Studio Musicians Who

Recorded the Soundtrack of a Generation                                  

THE WRECKING CREW

The Inside Story of Rock and Roll’s Best-Kept Secret

Kent Hartman

… A commendable, long-overdue tribute to the legendary Wrecking Crew—the ridiculously talented, go-to guys behind so many hits. This book will make your head spin.”

—Shirley Manson, lead singer, Garbage

Posted in Books We Like | Leave a comment

Paul McCartney The Family Way soundtrack

Paul McCartney The Family Way soundtrack

Music Composed by Paul McCartney
The George Martin Orchestra
Arranged and Produced by George Martin

Release Date: 7/26/11

The Family Way is the 1967 soundtrack composed by Paul McCartney, and performed by The George Martin Orchestra. This recording is sometimes considered to be the first Beatles solo album. The Family Way is a 1966 British comedy-drama film staring John Mills and Hayley Mills.

The original 1967 soundtrack recording to The Family Way begins with McCartney’s theme, “Love in the Open Air,” and contains twelve more (untitled) score cues suited to the onscreen action.  For his composition, McCartney was initially inspired by the sound of brass bands, familiar to his childhood in the North of England.

The very rare original recording of Paul McCartney’s first solo venture, The Family Way sound track was composed in 1966 and performed by The George Martin Orchestra.

 The soundtrack is mastered from the original first generation stereo master tapes, and features a special bonus track “Theme From The Family Way,” in stereo for the first time ever! It was issued as a single under the name The Tudor Minstrels.

Under George Martin’s direction, the score was recorded at CTS Studios in November 1966.

This is the first time this Paul McCartney soundtrack will be officially released on CD.

Track List:
Includes all 13 tracks from the original album release plus a bonus track, the previously unreleased stereo mix of Theme From The Family Way credited to The Tudor Minstrels. Originally issued as London [US] single 45-1012, Decca [UK] single F.12536, 1967

The Complete liner notes by Chip Madinger

A dry and dramatic comedy of errors, The Family Way is the saga of a young couple (newlyweds Jenny Piper {Hayley Mills} and Arthur Fitton {Hywell Bennett} seemingly unable to formally accomplish their marital duties.  Directed by Roy Boulting and produced by his twin brother John, production began in 1966 under the possible working titles, “Wedlocked” and “All In Good Time,” the name of Bill Naughton’s play on which the film was based.

In the U.K., the film earned an X-certificate (intended for those over 16 years of age) from the British Board of Film Censors, for a combination of the film’s subject matter, heavily-cloaked innuendo and extended views of a former Disney child-star’s fundament.  However, viewers of the film not only witnessed Hayley Mills’ cinematic coming of age, but also heard the first tangible evidence of Paul McCartney’s independence from The Beatles.

Paul spoke of his initial foray into composing for film to the NME: “It was most unglamorous really.  I rang our NEMS office and said I would like to write a film theme, not a score, just a theme.  John was away filming [How I Won The War] so I had time to do it.”  The Beatles’ producer, George Martin, was key to the project and assumed a familiar role, as Paul told the Sunday Times: “He is the interpreter I play themes and chords on piano or guitar, he gets it down on paper.  I talk about the idea I have for instrumentation.  Then he works out the arrangement.  I tried to learn music once with a fellow who’s a great teacher.  But it got too much like homework.  I have some block about seeing it in little black dots on paper.  It’s like Braille to me.”  To begin, Paul composed 15 seconds of the opening theme and played it on piano to Martin, who transcribed the notes and arranged the melody, merging a church organ, brass band, string quartet and percussion.

It was more than a fortnight later (with Martin back from a cruise to New York aboard the Queen Mary, and McCartney having returned from an extended holiday through France, Spain and Africa) that the duo regrouped to complete the requisite love theme for the film, as Martin recounted for the NME: “I told Paul, and he said he’d compose something.  I waited but nothing materialized, and finally I had to go round to Paul’s house and literally stand there until he’d composed something.  John was visiting and advised a bit, but Paul created the tune and played it to me on guitar.”  Again, Martin took away the melody, this time arranging it for woodwind and strings.  Five sessions at CTS Studios followed, spread over the course of three days and nights, all in the midst of recording The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever.”  In the end, the music was completed only two weeks before the film’s Sunday night premiere in London’s Warner Theatre on December 18th, leaving the editors little time to complete the soundtrack.  The Daily Mirror reported Martin as having told the Boulting brothers: “If it sounds as if it was done in a hurry, it’s because it was done in a hurry.”

Decca Records (U.K.) purchased the musical rights to the film, and although George Martin had been led to believe that only a soundtrack album would be issued, a single by “The Tudor Minstrels” (the soundtrack’s session musicians, so named after the Boulting brothers’ production company, Tudor Films) was scheduled for release on December 15th to tie in with the film’s premiere.  This would seem to have been of little consequence, except that Martin had plans to issue his own single on the E.M.I.-affiliated United Artists label.

In order to level the playing field, Decca’s release was put back for a week, while Martin prepared his recording.  And so on December 6th, before a Beatles’ session for another McCartney original, “When I’m Sixty-Four” (which Martin had also scored), George made tape copies of a handful of cues from the just-finished film soundtrack to assist in preparing the arrangements for his own orchestra.  In between Beatles’ sessions for “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “When I’m Sixty-Four,” Martin found time to prepare his score, and in a three-hour session at E.M.I. on the morning of December 15th, recorded, mixed and mastered both sides of the single.  Both discs (each coupling “Love In The Open Air” with “Theme From The Family Way”) were released on December 23rd, and failed to make any impression on the charts in the weeks that followed.

Having witnessed Britain’s lack of response to George Martin’s wistful treatment of “Love In The Open Air,” United Artists in America requested a more up-tempo, beat group sound for their forthcoming single.  Martin dutifully re-arranged the theme, and recorded the re-make at E.M.I. over three days in early February 1967.  Coupled with a new B-Side, “Bahama Sound” (a Martin composition unrelated to the film), the American United Artists single also went unnoticed.  Meanwhile, Decca’s U.S. counterpart, London Records (the American Decca Records having established itself as an independent label in 1942), left The Tudor Minstrels’ disc unchanged, with their efforts mirrored by its lack of chart success.

As for the soundtrack album, Decca issued the disc (in both mono and stereo) on January 6th, 1967, but, despite the prominent position of Paul’s name on the cover, sales of the album fell short, and the disc failed to make an appearance in the British album charts.  When issued in the States by London on June 12th (with revised artwork), the American release followed suit and did not chart.

All 24 of the McCartney/Martin musical cues appearing in the film were bundled into 13 tracks on the soundtrack album, with six of the tracks banding together a number of shorter musical cues.  There is reason behind the cryptic cue IDs, as they roughly correlate to the film reel on which each cue appears, and the sequence of the cue on that reel.  (For those keeping track, there are a few gaps in the sequencing: there is no Cue 2M2 or 2M3, film reels 3 and 9 contained no musical cues, and Cue 6M1 is the brief appearance of the theme music from the television drama, Coronation Street.)

And so, nearly 45 years after the soundtrack was recorded, this is the first compact disc release to feature the original 1/4″ stereo master tapes.  Also included is a previously unreleased stereo mix of ‘Theme From The Family Way,‘ the B-Side to both the British and American singles by The Tudor Minstrels.

Chip Madinger June 2011

Chip Madinger is the co-author of Eight Arms To Hold You, the authoritative guide to the Beatles work as solo artists.  He is also the author of Lennonology, a forthcoming reference series that will extensively detail the life and artistry of John Lennon and Yoko Ono.  For more information regarding these books, please visit www.lennonology.com.

 


Posted in Paul McCartney | Tagged | Leave a comment

Varèse Masters Licensing Catalog

The Varèse Sarabande Records’ licensing catalog features full red book standard digital recordings of the complete scores from some of the most important films of all time.  In addition, our catalog includes recent releases, original pop and country hits, classical recordings, and original Broadway cast recordings.

Our masters have been licensed for use in a wide variety of trailers, advertisements, television shows and major motion pictures such as “Daddy Day Care,” “Horton Hears A Who”  and “Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium,” as well as nationally broadcast  television commercials for Nike, Mercedes Benz and Visa Card.

All of the titles in the licensing catalog are available for review in their entirety in the Naxos Music Library at www.naxosmusiclibrary.com. Upon request, we will provide you with a password to access the library.

__________________________________________________________

Posted in Varese Masters LIcensing Catalog | Leave a comment

The Paris Sisters: The Complete Phil Spector Sessions

The Paris Sisters
The Complete Phil Spector Sessions

The Paris Sisters were the first girl group to have a major hit Produced by Phil Spector.  Their ballad, “I Love How You Love Me,” was a top five pop smash during the fall of 1961 and marked the beginning of the girl group era. This CD features the A & B sides of all five singles produced by Phil Spector, and is the first time these songs have appeared together on CD, most for the first time ever.

Track List:
1  Be My Boy
2  I’ll Be Crying Tomorrow
3  I Love How You Love Me
4  All Through The Night
5  He Knows I Love Him Too Much
6  A Lonely Girl’s Prayer
7  Let Me Be The One
8  What Am I to Do?
9  Yes-I Love You
10 Once Upon A While Ago
Bonus Track:
11  I Love How You Love Me
(stereo mix by Tom Moulton)

_________________________________________________________

Posted in Cool Releases You Might Have Missed | Leave a comment