January 2003
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CHUBBY CHECKER |
FANNY |
BOB DYLAN |
JETHRO TULL |
ROD STEWART |
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THE JOHN ENTWISTLE BAND Left For Live Deluxe (Koch) Looking back on the last recorded live work with The John Entwistle Band, Left For Live: Deluxe - The Complete Live Performance further fleshes out the sessions from the original 99 release of Left For Live, and is now expanded to a double disc CD re-release on Koch Entertainment. For those still down over the loss of the late great Who bassist John Alec Entwistle, the double disc shines the spotlight on just how great he was as a singer-songwriter as well. In the fast paced world of rock super stardom, Entwistles solo career was often overlooked in all the hoopla (no pun intended). That said, the double CD set captures some spectacular group performances from the entire Entwistle band including his cohort, drummer Steve Luongo, guitarist Godfrey Townsend and keyboardist Gordon Cotten, who all share the vocal spotlight with Entwistle. Entwistles death on 6/27/02 (Who fans should factor in the death of Speedy Keene, who died a few months before Entwistle) was a real blow for those waiting to see the group reclaim their honor as one of rocks great studio groups. Long time Entwistle fans will appreciate the line-up of tracks here including Darker Side Of Night (from his fabulous 2001 comeback CD Vampires), My Size (the lead of track from his 1971 solo debut Smash Your Head Against The Wall), Success Story (from Who By Numbers), Heaven & Hell (possibly Entwistles best Who track), Whiskey Man (from the second Who album in early 66) and of course his anthem, Boris The Spider. Reflecting on the tragic loss of his bass great buddy, Steve Luongo adds, John Entwistle was a gift in my life the likes of which I will never know again, further adding When it thunders, think of John Entwistle. Recorded live in concert on the groups 98-99 Left For Dead tour, the 24-track CD set features a round of rare and classic Entwistle tracks and an assortment of acclaimed Entwistle-composed Who tracks. Well recorded and remastered, the sound quality (with obtrusive audience noise turned way down) is crisp and tight. Topped with eye-catching red, white and blue packaging, 6 panel photo montage and ironic liner notes by Luongo, the double CD is a fitting testament to Entwistles musical might. In related news, The Whos keyboardist John Rabbit Bundrick released his own tribute to John Entwistle called The Quite One - Music For The Other Side. The 9 track keyboard-based instrumental CD was recorded by Rabbit during October 2002. Rabbits pensive and reflective solo keyboard soundscapes honor Entwistles spirit and the prominent album artwork is quite effective. www.thewho-rabbit.com / www.kochent.com
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CHUBBY CHECKER The Very Best Of The K-Tel Recordings (Collectables) Music fans who grew up in the late 50s / early 60s can attest to the magic of rock and roll pioneer Chubby Checker. Breaking on the scene with his really rockin Summer 1960 cover of Hank Ballards The Twist, Chubbywhos real name is Ernest Evanshit the chart with several other huge dance smash 45s including Lets Twist Again, Popeye, Limbo Rock and The Fly originally released on the Philly-based Parkway Records. Released on CD by PA.-based Collectables, Chubby Checker - The Very Best Of The K-Tel Recordings is actually 20 rerecordings of those huge hits and more which were made in for K-Tel Records in 71 and 75. Rivaling the sonic greatness of the original versions Checker recorded in that pivotal 1959-60 period, The Very Best Of The K-Tel Recordings will do fine until Parkway gets it act together and gets out the originals, and until his 69 recordings on Buddah and his early 80s sides with MCA come out. Having never really got just acclaim for his unique blend of rock and roll, pop and calypso sounds, Chubby is thankfully still out there pitchin his goal of recognition in the Rock and Roll hall of fame adding, These songs are timeless. They represent all that we do in music today. Let the young people know who I am. Play it, share it, enjoy it. www.chubbychecker.com
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FANNY Signed
to Reprise Records in 1969, the girl group Fanny featured
two Philippines-born, California-bred sisters, June Millington
(guitar), her sister Jean Millington (bass) along with Alice
de Buhr (drums) and Nicky Barclay (keyboards). Earning their
reputation opening for rock pioneers like The Doors down on Sunset Strip,
Fanny were roundly influenced by The Beatles, Cream and Little Feat.
Featuring brilliant packaging and artwork, Rhino Handmade has
done right on their four CD Fanny box set First Time In A Long
Time - The Reprise Recordings. In addition to featuring the
first four Fanny albums, 1970s Fanny, 1971s
Charity Ball, 1972s Fanny Hill (recorded
at Abbey Road with Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick) and 1973s
Mothers Pride (produced by Todd Rundgren),
the 5+ hour four disc set adds in dozens of studio outtakes, unreleased
tracks, demos, eleven live tracks and an amazing CD booklet. The bands
importance is best summed up by Fanny buff David Bowie, who (from
a 99 Rolling Stone interview quoted in the booklet) adds One
of the most important female bands in American rock has been buried
without a trace. And that is Fanny. They were extraordinary. They wrote
everything, they played like motherfuckers, they were just colossal
and wonderful. Revivify Fanny. And I feel that my work is done.
I think Bowie will approve. www.rhinohandmade.com
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BOB
DYLAN Live 1975 (Columbia / Legacy)
The first ever 'legit' CD release of
Dylans Rolling Thunder Review tour of late 1975 was released
as Bootleg Series Volume 5 by Legacy at the tale end of
2002. At the time, Dylan had just released his 75 classic Blood
On The Tracks and was about to release Desire and fittingly
The Rolling Thunder Review was Dylans platform for live tracks
like Tangled Up In Blue, One More Cup Of Coffee,
Isis and Hurricane in addition to classic Dylan
standards such as Its All Over Now Baby Blue and Knockin
On Heavens Door. Taken from concerts recorded in Boston
and Montreal in late November, early December 75, the nicely restored
concert retrospective finds Dylan in quite an upbeat mood supported
by guitarists Bobby Neuwirth, T-Bone Burnett, Steven
Soles, and the late, great Mick Ronson to name a few of the
great players on hand. Also appearing with Dylan are his folk-poet confidant
Joan Baez and Byrds guitar legend Roger McGuinn.
Legacys Rolling Thunder mini box features 22 tracks and
just over 100 minutes of music along with a 56 page CD booklet filled
with rare photos and liner notes by the tour chronicler Larry Ratso
Sloman. In addition to the two CDs, the initial pressing also comes
with a DVD featuring tracks from the Rolling Thunder tour documentary
Renaldo & Clara. Look for Legacy to continue
their Bob Dylan bootleg series with the coming 2003 release of Dylans
1964 NYC concert at Philharmonic Hall. www.bobdylan.com
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JETHRO
TULL Warchild (Chrysalis / Capitol) War Child unravels the musical mystery that is Jethro Tull and preserves the image of a band in the throes of mass acclaim, shamelessly plugging the virtues of 70s FM rock radio. Following in the wake of Tulls most ambitious albums everThick As A Brick and Passion PlayWar Child, espousing huge FM hits like Bungle In The Jungle, Queen And Country and of course the anthemic title track literally woke the masses to the Tull phenomenon that started in 68. That pivotal 1974 period saw an explosion in popularity of British progressive rock in the U.S. and Tulldespite not exactly topping those ultimate rock moments on Benefit and Stand Upwere knowingly paving the way for a whole new musical movement with their ever inventive composite of folk, classical and hard rock sounds. Following War Child, Tull made a valiant return to their progressive folk/rock and jazz roots with 1975s Minstrel In The Gallery, while the momentum changed again in '76 with Too Old To Rock And Roll, To Young To Die, an unusual and comic, cryptic concept album. Theres no denying the musical charms and staying power of each of these three albumsall of which really benefit with new for 2002 reissue CDs on Chrysalis / Capitol Records. Each features insightful new liner notes by Ian Anderson, while other key points are the detailed booklets and generous bonus tracks on all three albums (especially the instrumentals among the seven revealing rarities on War Child), and further sets the record straight regarding the wealth of albums, singles and eps Tull were releasing during those heady, heavy golden days of the mid 70s. www.j-tull.com
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ROD
STEWART Reason To Believe (Mercury / UMG) As
huge as he became during the 80s and 90s, Rod Stewarts
early solo albums on Mercury Records are still considered the
ones that shaped his musical intellect and propelled his career. Universal
Chronicles compiles every track Rod recorded for Mercury with the
2002 triple CD set Reason To Believe - The Complete Mercury Studio
Recordings. The Rod Stewart Album (1969) and the
May 1970 release of Gasoline Alley (two incipient pop
classics featuring guitarists Ronnie Wood and Ronnie Lane)
didnt really prepare anyone for the major success that followed
with Stewarts all time classic, 1971s Every Picture
Tells A Story. Stewarts remaining Mercury Records
releasesNever A Dull Moment (1972) and Smiler
(1973) were further milestones on the road to rock superstardom. All
five of Stewarts solo albums are here in their entirety while
the triple disc set also adds in various singles, unreleased tracks
and a nifty booklet filled with liner notes by Amy Linden and
detailed musical credits on all the fine players participating. www.universalchronicles.com
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