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JULY - AUGUST 2005
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 GENTLE GIANT |
 THE EVERLY BROTHERS |
 BILL BRUFORD |
 SANDIE SHAW |
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VARIOUS ARTISTS Cameo Parkway 1957-1967 (ABKCO)
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ELVIS PRESLEY Elvis By The Presleys (RCA BMG SONY)
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GENTLE
GIANT
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THE
EVERLY BROTHERS Two Yanks In England (Collector's Choice)
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BILL
BRUFORD Feels Good To Me (Winterfold)
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SANDIE
SHAW Hello Angel (EMI)
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Impresario
Allen B. Klein has got to be one of the shrewdest music biz guys
of all time. In addition to his legendary representation at one point
of The Beatles, Klein over the years has picked up the back catalog
rights to incredible classics from Phil Spector, The Rolling Stones,
Sam Cooke, Herman’s Hermits, The Animals and more for release on
his record label. His love of the key music of the ‘50s and ‘60s
is no doubt behind the 2005 ABKCO four CD box set, Cameo
Parkway 1957-1967. One of the few independent companies
to amass huge pop smashes from the R&B, doo-wop, pop, rock and soul
music worlds, the Philly based Cameo Parkway were bonafide hit makers.
Just their early ‘60s 45rpm releases of the original hit of “The
Twist” by Chubby Checker and The Orlons incredible
single “South Street” at the dawn of the ‘60s seals the
deal making their catalog a key part of American pop music history.
The labels roster is fully explored on ABKCO’s four CD set with
an assortment of timeless pop hits by Chubby Checker, The
Orlons, Bobby Rydell, Don Covay, The Dovells,
The Temptations, pop wunderkind Terry Knight, chanteuse
Evie Sands and tons more. Other oddities here include early releases
The Kinks (pre-Reprise years), a parody ditty of the song “Wild
Thing” from the RKF years group called Senator Bobby and
there’s even a cut from NYC FM radio shock-jock Zacherlie and
his “Dinner With The Drac.” Also here is possibly the most
incredible Cameo Parkway release during the teenybopper mid ‘60s
days, a huge hit called “96 Tears” featuring the very mysterious
Tex-Mex pop beat of ? And The Mysterians. A vital slice of the
greatness of American pop culture, Cameo Parkway 1957-1967 is
amazing stuff to say the least and it’s all put into historical
perspective with 115 cuts over four CDs and a 44 page booklet. 
Although
it aired as a television special on May 13, 2005, Elvis By The
Presleys was also released in 2005 on DVD and accompanying CD
on BMG/Sony. Possibly the most fascinating story of Elvis Presley
ever told, the DVD Elvis By The Presleys features the unexpurgated
Elvis story as primarily told by the two people closest in his short
life—his wife Priscilla Presley and his daughter Lisa
Marie Presley. Along with greats like Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly,
Elvis paved the way for the brave new world of rock and roll. Yet sadly
he died tragically in 1977, a bloated figure of a once great musical
icon, destroyed by the legal pharmaceuticals which he had abused for
years. Even though, as the DVD points out, possibly the greatest loss
to Elvis was the divorce of his wife Priscilla, who he’d met while
in the army in Germany, back when she was just fifteen years old. The
double DVD Elvis By The Presleys runs over four hours and in
addition to an abundance of rarely seen home videos of Elvis the family
man and rare interviews with his first cousin, Patsy Presley Geranen,
and Priscilla's parents, Ann and Paul Beaulieu, the DVD also keys in
on newsreels, interviews, film, TV appearances and a range of beautiful
b&w and color archival footage of vintage musical moments that made
Elvis the musical icon so much larger than life.An accompanying double
CD set, also called Elvis By The Presleys, features 24 Elvis
classics plus an 8 song bonus disc of rare outtakes and unreleased versions
of Elvis hits. All told, the DVD, Elvis By The Presleys should
go a long distance towards informing music fans of all ages all about
the magic Elvis Presley brought to the world wide music scene. 
One
of the greatest concerts I ever witnessed took place back during the
Autumn of 1974 in Los Angeles. British prog-rock sensations Gentle Giant
were due to make an appearance at the fabled club, Whiskey A Go Go on
Sunset Strip. Being a die hard prog-rock fan I was there in spades early
in the night and even leapt at the chance to help the roadies set up
the speaker monitors at the foot of the stage—all this behind closed
doors yet only feet from the sidewalks of Sunset Blvd. At the time,
Giant, as their fans refer to them, had just released their album The
Power And The Glory. A masterful record with a classic Lp artwork
to match, the album was their sixth and second for UK’s WEA label
and, although without a label in the U.S. at the time, the band was
easily among the top five bands in the prog-rock arena. When Gentle
Giant took the stage at the Whiskey that night they blew more than a
few minds. Instead of playing anything from The Power And The Glory,
or previous American releases on Columbia, the band burst
on stage and played their ‘73 album, In A Glass House from
start to finish, the complete album! An amazing show if there ever was
one. All of this comes to light again as Gentle Giant celebrate the
35th anniversary of their first album back in 1970. To witness the occasion,
the band are issuing 35th Anniversary editions of both their 1975 album
Free Hand (with a bonus cut from a July 3, 1976 show in
Hempstead Long Island) and a 35th Anniversary reissue of their fabled
1973 album In A Glass House, the latter being an album
long considered to be among their finest albums and one of the finest
prog-rock albums ever made. According to the band's co-founder and lead
vocalist Derek Shulman, “I am proud to have the opportunity
to release the music of Gentle Giant through my own company DRT Entertainment.
Together we composed music that still holds up with old and new fans
alike.” Long time Giant watchers should keep an eye out for future
remasters on Shulmans, DRT imprint including late 2005 CD reissues of
The Power And The Glory (1974), Interview (1976) and more
including a Gentle Giant anthology and a DVD of concert footage from
a 1974 European tour. 
With
their 2005 CD reissue of the entire ‘60s catalog of The Everly
Brothers—consisting of fifteen different CDs—Collector’s
Choice sets the record straight and brings to light the vastly underrated
sound the Everlys brought to the pop world during the ‘60s. Following
immense success during the ‘50s, Don and Phil signed to Warner
Brothers for the 1960 release of It’s Everly Time.
During the Beatlemania years, The Everly Brothers beefed up their
sound and released Beat & Soul, their 1965 collection
of covers with a killer band that included Glen Campbell, James Burton,
Leon Russell and Billy Preston. Another gem brought to light with these
15 Everlys reissues is a fine 1966 album the Brothers made in London
with English pop icons, The Hollies entitled Two Yanks In England.
Eight unheralded Hollies classics (under their pseudonym L. Ransford)
expertly reinterpreted and capped off by one Everlys original, covers
of 1965 number one hits “Pretty Flamingo”, “Somebody
Help Me” and another Sonny Curtis classic “The Collector”
make it one of the best Merseybeat style pop albums ever recorded by
an American group during the ‘60s. The final Warners album reissue
here is single disc of their double-LP extravaganza taped at the Grand
Hotel Anaheim in 1970, Check out the Collector’s Choice catalog
for a complete description of their essential Everly Brothers reissue
program.
Created
by musical icon and founding Yes drummer Bill Bruford to chronicle
his prodigious output of recorded material, Winterfold reissued his
first two solo albums in early 2005. Bruford’s 1977 solo album,
Feels Good To Me was the finest solo album to be recorded
by any member in or out of Yes, at that time. Joined by incredibly gifted
people including keyboardist Dave Stewart (of National Health),
jazz-rock guitarist Allan Holdsworth and American jazz singer
Annette Peacock, Feels Good To Me transcended the borders
of jazz and rock with impeccable grace and ease. All told, the album
has aged well and this 2005 remaster on Bruford’s label is definitive.
Also out on Winterfold is a 2005 CD remaster of Bruford’s second
solo album, the 1978 jazz-rock instrumental classic One Of A Kind,
which featured the same lineup minus the vocals of Ms. Peacock.
Both are essential listening and can be considered among the finest
rock fusion albums ever made, then or now. Bruford also promises late
2005 remasters of his other rock fusion outings, Gradually Going
Tornado (1979) and The Bruford Tapes,
(1980) while his other label Summerfold reissued remasters
of his ‘jazzier’ solo albums including Dig?
(1989) All Heaven Broke Loose (1991) and
Stamping Ground Live (1993). 
One
of the great U.K. pop albums of the late ‘80s, Hello Angel by
singer-songwriter Sandie Shaw was reissued by EMI over in England. Historic
as it is, Shaw’s ‘60s pop sheen was the perfect foil for singer
Morrissey, fresh from his Smith’s heyday and they hit it
off on a couple tracks here. The album contained a spectrum of her pop
vocal finesse imbued with both ‘60s sizzle and ‘80s meltdown.
Also featuring contributions from both The Smiths and her original partner
Chris Andrews, the album has aged well and this 2005 reissue
features super remastered sound, bonus tracks, a great booklet and lyrics.
