NOVEMBER /
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DAVID BOWIE |
TOM DOWD |
THE KINKS |
THE WHO |
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VARIOUS ARTISTS The Rolling Stones Rock And Roll Circus (Abkco) Back in December 1968, The Beatles had just released their historic white album and The Rolling Stones had just released what is still referred to as their greatest album ever, Beggars Banquet. With that celebratory vibe hanging in the air the Stones convened the high court of rock royalty for their Rolling Stones Rock And Roll Circus. Sort of a live carnival-like version of the Beatles Magical Mystery Tour, the Stones Rock And Roll Circus was originally planned as an hour long BBC-TV special, yet with the firing of the late, great Brian Jones from the band by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, this last gasp of the original Stones line-up lay dormant in the vaults till 1995 when Abkco finally released it on VHS. Nine years later in 2004, Abkco raises the flag again with the first ever DVD of Rock And Roll Circus remixed in 5.1 surround sound and transferred from the original 16mm negatives. On reflection, Mick and Keith were on the right track with their circus, enlisting live appearances from Jethro Tull, The Who, Taj Mahal and Marianne Faithful. In addition to the Stones performing key tracks from Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed and a rousing Jumpin Jack Flash, the other obvious highlight here remains the appearance of John Lennon & Yoko Ono, performing Yer Blues as The Dirty Macbacked up by Eric Clapton, Mitch Mitchell and Keith Richards on bass. Less than a year later, Brian Jones would be dead and The Beatles would soon take their final walk on the Abbey Road, yet for a shining moment in late 68, The Stones Rock And Roll Circus was truly the greatest show on earth. In addition to the excellent digital sound and vision, the DVD also features a recent, historic filmed interview with the great Pete Townshend, who, in his own unique way, reflects back on all the key events on that fateful day in December 68. www.abkco.com
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CREAM Disraeli Gears (Polydor / Chronicles) As
you can plainly hear on the 2004 Deluxe Edition: Disraeli Gears CD
release on Polydor/UMG, Jack Bruce taught Eric Clapton how
to sing. The second Cream album, following the incredibly fantastic
Fresh Cream, the 1968 release of Disraeli Gears cemented
the bands reputation as the first bona-fide rock supergroup. Perhaps
it was the unique combination of all three, including drummer Ginger
Baker, as songwriters and singers, or maybe the addition of producer
Felix Pappalardi and engineer Tom Dowd. Whatever it was
Disraeli Gears was a quantum leap over Fresh Cream and
remains one of the key musical milestones from the incipient days of
progressive rock music. The double CD is spread out with a stereo mix
(disc 1) and mono mix (disc 2) while both CDs are packed with meaty
bonus tracks, mono/stereo outtakes, rare mixes and BBC tracks from their
May 67-January 68 heyday. Accordingly, the set features
a 24 page booklet. Like Hendrix, the Cream phenomenon was over way too
soon, but like The Beatles and Jimi, Cream epitomized the classic 60s
sound and their music still sparks with tangible alacrity. Unlike Jack
Bruce and Ginger Bakerwho went on to incredible solo careers as
jazz-rock virtuososSlowhand Clapton joined the likes
of Delaney Bramlett for a shot at the back to the roots pop market.
Produced by the great Tom Dowd, Claptons 1974 solo album,
461 Ocean Blvd. was also reissued as a 30th anniversary,
double CD Deluxe Edition on Polydor. In addition to Clapton favorites
like I Shot The Sheriff, disc 2 culls tracks from Claptons
December 4-5, 1974 concerts at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. www.universalchronicles.com
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DAVID
BOWIE
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VARIOUS
ARTISTS Tom Dowd & The Language Of Music (Palm Pictures) Behind every great artist theres often a producer or engineer thats so in synch with the music that his contributions cant be understated. Case in pointThe Beatles and George Martin, Yes had Eddie Offord, and so on. In that light its well worth reexamining the audio contributions of the late great Tom Dowd, who passed away at the close of 2002. From the start, Dowd was an innovative figure at Atlantic Records and thanks to a new DVD he can take credit for helping to mastermind some of the labels greatest recorded achievements. A 2004 DVD on Palm Pictures, Tom Dowd & The Language Of Music takes a timely look back at Dowds 50+ year career, which began as Atlantic Records foremost engineer / producer. Whether working in the studio with greats like John Coltrane and Charles Mingus or times spent in Memphis with the Stax Records crew straight through to his ground breaking work with Cream and Derek And The Dominos, Dowd always had one hand on the studio console and another on the pulse of the greatest music of the 20th Century. Filled with new and vintage performance footage and interviews with Dowd and some of the greatest recording artists of all timeincluding Eric Clapton, Les Paul, The Allman Brothers and Ray CharlesPalm Picturess DVD provides an eye-opening look back at one of the most influential Americans ever to walk into a recording studio. The 90 minute DVD documentary is supported by fine liner notes and 90 more minutes of interviews and scenes with Les Paul, Clapton and many other musical giants. www.thelanguageofmusic.com / www.palmpictures.com
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THE
KINKS Preservation Act 2 (Koch / Konk)
Back
in the 60s The Kinks were signed to Pye in the U.K. and
Reprise Records here in the U.S. After recording some of the most innovative
rock music of the 60s, things fell into place for Ray Davies,
Dave Davies & company with Muswell Hillbillies,
released worldwide in 1971 on RCA Records. The Kinks albums on RCA
still stand out as some of their best. Muswell Hillbillies was
a brutally transformational Kinks album, single handedly dispelling
the myth of The Kinks as mere pop stars, much in the same way that David
Bowie changed his image with his 1971 Hunky Dory release.
Following the 1972 release of Everybodys In Showbiz, The
Kinks retooled again for their fabled two part Preservation
series. Both the 1973 release of Preservation Act 1 and
the 1974 double album, Preservation Act 2 were groundbreaking
rock efforts, combining the catchy pop The Kinks were renowned for with
a new socially conscientious approach to music making. Preservation
Act 2, in particular made for quite a live spectacular during the
fabled Kinks concert tours of the mid 70s. As part one of their
2004 Kinks SACD reissue series, Koch Records have reissued Muswell
Hillbillies, both Preservation Act 1 & 2, in addition
to the bands final original RCA release, Schoolboys In Disgrace.
Containing the same detailed booklets and bonus material as the
prior Koch remasters from 1998, these 2004 hybrid Super Audio SACDs
now boast the finest sound quality yet for these timeless musical masterpieces.
In addition to the bands early RCA remasters, Koch have also begun
reissuing hybrid stereo / SACD remasters of Kinks titles released by
Arista following the RCA years. First off are the second Kinks album
on Arista, Misfits (1978), Give The People What
They Want (1981), One For The Road (1980), Word
Of Mouth (1981) and State Of Confusion (1983).
A sound improvement over the original 1998 CD remasters, these late
Summer 2004 SACDs will be appreciated by audiophiles and long
time Kinks fans, who can also look forward to early 2005, when Koch
reissues more Kinks titles on hybrid SACD. www.kochrecords.com
/ www.kinks.it.rit.edu
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THE
WHO Live At The Isle Of Wight Festival 1970 (Eagle Vision) They
were a smash at the 2004 Isle Of Wight festival, but it was their 1970
show that is still remembered one of the most memorable Who shows ever.
Performing a number of Who classicsincluding a near complete version
of Tommy and rarities like I Dont Even Know Myself,
Water and Heaven And Hellbefore a crowd of 600,000
people, The Who took the stage at the Isle Of Wight festival on August
30, 1970. The entire festival was filmed by director Murry Lerner,
and now 34 years later, the filmed negative of entire 85 minute Who
performance has been reproduced with amazing clarity on a 2004 DVD.
For this special 2 hour DVD, the entire soundtrack of the Whos
performance has been personally remixed by Pete Townsend from
original 8 track masters resulting in a new 24 bit stereo / surround
sound mix. Topping off the DVD is a detailed, filmed interview with
Pete Townshend, reflecting back on the magical 1970 Isle Of Wight festival.
Also on Eagle Vision is a 2004 DVD from blues-rock legend John
Mayall entitled The Godfather Of British Blues / The Turning
Point. The 2 part DVD pairs The Turning Pointa
25 minute documentary on Mayalls fabled 1969 album Turning
Point with an hour long biography on Mayall entitled The Godfather
Of British Blues. Extensive liner notes by Chris Welch seals
the deal on this definitive look at Mayalls prolific and prestigious
past. Pop icons, The BeeGees are the subject of a 2003 2 disc
Eagle DVD entitled The Hits And The History Of The Bee Gees.
Disc one, The Official Story Of...tells the story of the
Gibb brothers rise to fame with key interviews from George Martin,
Robert Stigwood, Timothy White and more, while disc 2,
One Night Only features a complete BeeGees performance culled
from their one and only 1997 concert at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Special features on this nearly 4 hour DVD includes bonus interviews,
photo gallery and a video for their late period smash, This Is
Where I Came In. Fans of the late great Janis Joplin will
enjoy a 2004 Eagle DVD by Big Brother And The Holding Co. With Janis
Joplin entitled Nine Hundred Nights. Janis
died way too soon, yet she lives again on D.A. Pennebakers
impeccably filmed footage of Janis with Big Brother performing classics
like Piece Of My Heart, live videos from Monterey Pop and
more. Narrated by Rip Torn, the two and half hour DVD pairs classic
live performance footage with interviews from Janis, Big Brother guitarists
Sam Andrew and David Getz, Nick Gravenites, James
Gurly, rock scribe Lenny Kaye and more along with
a rare audio recording of Big Brother doing Hall Of The Mountain
King, interview outtakes and other psychedelic treats. www.eaglerockent.com
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