Monthly Archives: April 2020

VIA PRESS RELEASE | In conjunction with UMe/Capitol, the Peggy Lee Estate announces the digital release of Ultimate Peggy Lee, a new collection in celebration of Peggy Lee 100, a centennial celebration honoring one of the 20th century’s most important musical influences in the world of jazz and popular music.

The 22-track career retrospective set features her hits, five songs she co-wrote, as well as the previously unreleased “Try A Little Tenderness,” which makes its world debut 57 years after it was recorded. A full track listing is below. The CD and LP release will follow this summer and will include a track-by-track annotation by Peggy Lee discographer, Iván Santiago-Mercado and an intro by Peggy Lee’s granddaughter, Holly Foster Wells.

Also available is Peggy Lee Decca Rarities, a 31-song collection making its digital debut. Though long associated with Capitol Records, for five years (1952-1956), Peggy Lee had an artistically and commercially successful recording career with Decca Records. Eleven of the featured tracks were co-composed by Lee, among these are seven songs co-written by Lee and Sonny Burke for Disney’s Lady and the Tramp, some of which did not make the final film.

Throughout 2020, the 100th anniversary of Peggy Lee’s birth—May 26, 1920—will be commemorated around the globe with music releases, notable exhibitions, special events, programming and a host of tributes and concerts, including a just-announced Hollywood Bowl tribute concert on August 5, “Miss Peggy Lee at 100 with The Legendary Count Basie Orchestra.” Through May 31, SiriusXM’s Siriusly Sinatra Channel 71 will air a celebration of Peggy Lee’s Centennial with interview segments from Lee’s granddaughter, Holly Foster Wells.

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“Honestly, I think it’s only recently that I’ve begun to really appreciate vinyl. I certainly remember all the records I used to listen to—all my dad’s that started with The Beatles, The Stones, and Neil Young, and my mom’s Dionne Warwick and Supremes records. We used to listen to a lot of different kinds of music in the house when I was young. Those are such sweet memories. But I feel like maybe the true sonic appreciation I took for granted back then.”

“My friend Joe Purdy gave me and my partner a record player a few years back and we started collecting records from our parents and listening again. I think I love the process of listening to vinyl. In this digital music age, for me, something is missing in the listening experience. Going to the store to pick up this record you’ve been wanting and being super excited to get home, unwrap it and play it. There was something sacred about it. I guess a lot of people feel that way. It’s been fun to reconnect to that feeling in me.

I remember Cat’s Records in Memphis, where I would always go to get new music. When I was in high school, I went there to buy my first Joni Mitchell record, and the guy working told me to get Ladies Of the Canyon. Such a cool choice and has always been an all-time favorite of mine. It was a dream come true when my first record came out and the cover was plastered on a billboard on the side of the building. I’ll never forget those days in Memphis where it all started.”
—Garrison Starr

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Recorded with a single microphone and an 8-track recorder in the Butthole Surfers’ home studio in Austin, Texas, presumably with band dog Mark Farner in attendance, 1987’s Locust Abortion Technician remains a testimony to what a dedicated few can achieve in service of human depravity and bad taste. It’s always nice to run across a band that would appall John Waters.

A mutant metal masterpiece released at a time when the likes of U2, Sting, and Echo & the Bunnymen ruled the world, Locust Abortion Technician cemented the Butthole Surfers’ “acid on their morning cornflakes” reputation as a psychotic traveling three-ring circus. It’s all there on the LP’s John Wayne Gacy-inspired cover, which depicts a pair of laughing clowns and one decidedly nervous dog. The only thing more frightening than a clown is two clowns, and one can’t help but fear for the poor pooch’s safety.

The Butthole Surfers established their bona fides as post-hardcore’s most interesting case study of abnormal psychology thanks to one-time Trinity University Accounting Student of the Year Gibby Haynes’ deranged stage antics and such dada inspired classics as “The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey Oswald’s Grave” and “The Revenge of Anus Presley.” On Locust Abortion Technician they took a swan dive into full-blown dementia with their fusion of bad trip psychedelia and syphilitic bump and grind, defying the predictions of the mental health community that they would soon descend into incurable schizophrenia and have to be permanently institutionalized.

On Black Sabbath parody “Sweet Loaf” Paul Leary goes back and forth between a monstrous earache my eye riff and some pretty guitar blandishments while Haynes–the son of Dallas-based children’s TV host “Mr. Peppermint”–comes on like a straight-jacketed berserker in a padded echo chamber. On the two count ‘em two versions of “Graveyard,” Leary goes full distortion over the ominous drumming of King Coffey and Teresa Nervosa while Haynes does a perfect picture impersonation of the Lord of the Flies growling through a broken megaphone from the ninth circle of Hell.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Supertonic is a special kind of Diana Ross magic. Absolutely authentic, it’s her voice, her electrifying sound. This music has no boundaries, blending the past and the now in this new collection.

On May 29, the digital release of Supertonic, featuring new remixes of nine classics, will be released by Motown/UMe. Supertonic also will be available June 26 on CD and crystal-clear vinyl. Supertonic is produced by Diana Ross with remixes by producer Eric Kupper. Executive Remix Production & Marketing By Brad LaBeau Co + Peter Nelson for Pro-Motion. All remixes are created from the original multi-tracks of the masters taken from the Motown vaults.

Diana Ross rewrote history earlier this year when “Love Hangover 2020,” the first single from Supertonic topped Billboard magazine’s Dance Club Songs Chart her fourth consecutive No. 1 remix with a song that had previously been No. 1 in its original release.

This unprecedented accomplishment followed her history-making chart success in 2019 when “The Boss 2019” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs Chart during the 40th anniversary of the original version topping the same chart, her then third consecutive No. 1 Dance Club Songs Chart hit. Written by Pam Sawyer and Marilyn McLeod, “Love Hangover 2020” reached top 5 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs Chart in just two months and peaked at No. 1. The song’s original version, produced by Hal Davis, was a simultaneous No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop, R&B and Dance Club Play charts the week ending May 15, 1976.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | On April 26, music fans – and, in particular, Joe Cocker fans – across the globe will gather together for the Cocker Power Spectacular, a live streaming, multimedia celebration to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the legendary Joe Cocker: Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour.

The event will be hosted by renowned rock ‘n’ roll photographer Linda Wolf, whose remarkable new book, TRIBUTE: Cocker Power (Insight Editions), chronicles both the sensational period in music history through hundreds of stunning photos (many never before seen) and intimate, behind-the-scenes stories, plus photos and stories from the 2015 Tribute Concert. TRIBUTE: Cocker Power will be released on Tuesday, April 28. In addition to offering her own personal stories from the Joe Cocker: Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour, Wolf will interview a host of original MD&E band members, along with artists who participated in the Lockn’ Festival tribute concert. The live streamed event will be broadcast Sunday, April 26, at 1pm PST/ 4pm EST on the Cocker Power Book website as well as on YouTube and Facebook.

“We were a musical traveling circus, and my role was to document it,” recalls Wolf, who traveled with the band and assorted girlfriends, children, tech crew and a dog (aboard a private jet that featured “Cocker Power” painted on its side) and captured the onstage/offstage exploits of the revue during their two-month trek across America. “It felt like unrestrained freedom; everyone giving 100 percent of themselves. The musicianship, communal feeling and excitement were over the top, and there was a total feeling of ‘we’re in this together.’ Of course, there were the two great leaders—Joe Cocker, who was the major voice and star, and Leon Russell, who was the brilliant conductor and musician. Both of them gave everything they had to the show, and brought us all along with them. Everyone was so incredibly talented and in it.”

Beyond the musicianship, Wolf remembers the experience as feeling like a grand summation of the values of the 1960s. “We had all gone through the last decade as a tribe of people who were involved in many of the social movements, from civil rights, to anti-war and anti-nuclear movements to women’s liberation, meditation and yoga. We were the be-here-now, spiritual, sexual and chemical explorers so classic of those times. In many ways, the people on the tour expressed the culmination of immense transformation of the era. The ‘70s were just beginning, and we didn’t know what lay ahead.”

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | The special 40th anniversary edition of the “Red Cross” EP, which includes the band’s six-song eponymous debut and adds five contemporaneous extra tracks, is the most comprehensive document to date of the extraordinary birth of Redd Kross. “Red Cross” is out June 26; pre-order on 12-inch EP and CD in the Merge store, or wherever records are sold, including the independent record shop near you.

In a single 12-month period, Jeff and Steven McDonald, two adolescent brothers from Hawthorne, CA, went from posing with cheap guitars and singing into hairbrushes in front of their bedroom mirror to recording in world-class studios and performing live at punk shows/riots that are still being pondered and written about for their pioneering cultural relevance within the Southern California punk landscape.

Redd Kross incubated alongside such SoCal luminaries as Black Flag, Descendents, and the Minutemen, and this new 11-song collection—which includes a live track recorded in 1979 at “The Church,” the infamous Black Flag birthplace in Hermosa Beach, CA—puts in proper perspective the McDonald brothers’ contribution, at the ridiculously precocious ages of 12 and 16, to that area’s punk scene.

Redd Kross will return to their natural habitat this fall, bringing The Party to stages all across Europe for the first time since the release of last year’s Beyond the Door and their first extensive tour of the continent in over two decades. They will also celebrate their 40th anniversary with a hometown show at the Regent Theater on July 26. Get your tickets and reserve your copy of “Red Cross” today!

On their much delayed 1987 sophomore LP, The Sisters of Mercy–or to be more accurate, front guy and Andrew “Leave Me Alone I’m Playing Everything” Eldritch–proved themselves the Gothest of the Goth, Gother even than Professor Emeritus of Reanimation Studies at Transylvania University in Sibiu Dr. Viktor Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights, a convocation of gargoyles, and the Phantom of the Opera. And everybody’s favorite deformed organist conceded as much in a 1988 interview, saying, “I consider myself a damn good dark wave musician, but no way can I compete with a drum machine.”

The story of the dissolution of The Sisters of Misery Mach I and Eldritch’s decision to resurrect the band as a de facto solo project is boring beyond words–the only interesting thing about it was Eldritch’s decision to keep on drum machine Doktor Avalanche, who was willing to play for minimum wage and wise enough to keep his qualms about Eldritch’s despotic tendencies to himself.

While Eldritch of the haunted cheekbones and tinted vampire fang glasses has never been the official face of Goth–that title belongs to Robert Smith–his music is its official soundtrack. Eldritch trucks in pitch black romanticism and his formula is deceptively simple. First imagine Eldritch doing his best imitation of Count Dracula doing his best impersonation of David Bowie. Then set said vocals over the good Doktor’s beats, which stomp through these songs like Mr. Hyde on a spree through London’s East End in search of someone to cudgel. It all sounds very ghoulish, but lest you think Eldritch takes any of it seriously, bear in mind he’s the guy who once said, “Apparently, I have a totally different sense of humour.”

And taken in that spirit, Floodland is a whole lot of fun. Composed in the World Capitol of Gloom, Hamburg Germany, Floodland’s songs vary from the gussied up (the New York Choral Society pitches in on two tracks) and the unadorned (on “1959″ Eldritch is accompanied only by a piano which, if I understand correctly, was never touched by human hands–which means Eldritch must have played it with his feet!).

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | On Saturday, April 18, Jesse Malin will be livestreaming two separate events to help raise money for the staff of four bars he co-owns in the East Village—Niagara, Bowery Electric, Berlin, and Dream Baby. All proceeds will go directly to the nightclub workers.

Named “one of the best streamed performances for the stay-at-home-era” by Rolling Stone, Malin’s Saturday livestream series The Fine Art of Self Distancing will continue April 18 at 4:00pm ET via YouTube, free or donation. Later that night, catch a revival of the Greendoor Dance Party at 9pm ET on Zoom. The first of its kind, Greendoor is the underground NYC rock n roll dance party founded in the early ‘90s by Jesse, Holly Ramos, and Howie Pyro. The first party was in Giorgio Gomelsky’s loft on 24th Street, and traveled to various spaces around the city. Greendoor tickets are available here by making a donation.

Malin recently shared “Backstabbers,” the first song from his upcoming album Lust for Love, planned for early 2021. Recorded during the Sunset Kids sessions, the song is produced Lucinda Williams and Tom Overby. On April 24, “Backstabbers” and the B-side “Crawling Back to You” (Tom Petty) will be available everywhere digitally and as a limited 7” on Little Steven’s Wicked Cool Records. The 7” is available now for preorder.

“Look at the what the Italians are doing,” says Jesse. “Sing from your window, your fire escape, your balcony, or your roof. Even from afar, the power of love is stronger than you think. Use this time to reflect on what really matters most. A slower tempo can help you feel the real deal inside. Be brave, open, and stay smart. Keep a positive mental attitude and we will back together before you know it.”
PHOTO: OLIVIA JAFFE

Today we remember Jazz saxophonist Lee Konitz who passed away on April 15 due to complications from COVID-19 with a look back from our archives. —Ed.

Omnivore Recordings continues their welcome repackaging of six early ‘80s Art Pepper LPs with “West Coast Sessions” Volume 3: Lee Konitz and Volume 4: Bill Watrous. Originally issued only in jazz-loving Japan with the crucial California alto strategically positioned in the sideman role for contractual reasons, their reemergence puts Pepper’s name back on the marquee alongside due credit for the initial leaders. While one objective of the series was to capture an informal atmosphere on standards, blues, and well-known tunes, the overall mood of these two installments contrasts markedly. With bonus takes and swell liners by Art’s widow Laurie Pepper, they’re available on CD.

With the arrival of these discs, Omnivore’s release strategy for this string of late-career studio dates by the long-struggling but ultimately triumphant West Coast saxophonist comes into sharp focus: divide the contents into thirds and pair a high-profile guest with a lesser-known but skilled participant for simultaneous release.

Earlier this year, Volume 1 offered Pepper’s fellow alto giant Sonny Stitt while Volume 2 spotlighted the comparatively unknown Cali pianist Pete Jolly; the upcoming editions will present a session featuring West Coast drum mainstay Shelly Manne and a set ripe with the trumpet of the far from forgotten (through sheer diversity of credits) but less celebrated Jack Sheldon.

Over three decades later, Omnivore’s teaming of figures firmly remaining on the musical radar screen with those familiar primarily to aficionados is smart, but the objective of Japanese label Atlas was simply to put some wax into the hands of jazz fiends; the original vinyl releases were titled High Jingo by Lee Konitz and his West Coast Friends and Funk’n Fun by the Bill Watrous Quintet.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | The Bluegrass Situation, along with its co-founder, actor/comedian/musician Ed Helms, have just announced Whiskey Sour Happy Hour, a 21st-century online variety show to benefit MusiCares’ COVID-19 Relief Fund and Direct Relief, debuting on April 22nd at 5 pm Pacific, 8 pm Eastern.

With Helms serving as host of the series, Whiskey Sour Happy Hour will draw on his long-running Whiskey Sour Radio Hour shows at LA’s Largo to bring world-class music, comedy, and interviews directly into homes across the country and world. April 22nd’s edition of Whiskey Sour Happy Hour will feature music from Lee Ann Womack, Aubrie Sellers, Billy Strings, and Madison Cunningham—plus more surprise guests. Whiskey Sour Happy Hour can be streamed at thebluegrasssituation.com, YouTube, and Facebook.

After Whiskey Sour Happy Hour premieres on April 22nd, new shows will be broadcast every Wednesday for the following three weeks—April 29, May 6, and May 13. Confirmed guests for the series include Chris Thile, Yola, Sarah Jarosz, Rhiannon Giddens & Francesco Turrisi, Rodney Crowell, Aoife O’Donovan, Robert Ellis, and Watkins Family Hour, to name a few. Additional guests will be announced in the coming weeks.

“As soon as we realized the severity of the current crisis, Ed and I both knew we had to do something to support both our musical and medical community—and not just a one-time thing, but something that could promote more sustained giving through multiple shows,” says BGS Co-Founder and Executive Director, Amy Reitnouer Jacobs. “In a short amount of time, our BGS family of artists have come together in such a big way to make this happen. It makes us feel like even though we’re all separated right now, we’re closer than ever before.” Fans will be able to donate to MusiCares and Direct Relief via DonorBox during the live stream.

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Today we remember Jazz saxophonist Lee Konitz who passed away on April 15 due to complications from COVID-19 with a look back from our archives. —Ed.

We’re not quite halfway through 2019, but Blue Note / UMe’s 2LP gatefold edition of Miles Davis’ The Complete Birth of the Cool is one of the sweeter reissues of the year, in part because it’s the first time the live recordings from 1948 and the renowned dozen studio tracks from ’49-’50 have been released together on vinyl. For some, this may seem a fact difficult to reconcile with the music’s masterpiece status, but rest assured it is true.

To begin, the music on this truly gorgeous edition’s first LP, material recorded in January and April of 1949 and in March of the following year, was initially released under the group designation Miles Davis and His Orchestra as a series of four 78rpm discs across the same time period, issuing eight tracks and leaving four in the can. It’s more accurately a nonet, which is how the band has been often subsequently described; on this release’s second LP of live performances at the Royal Roost, radio announcer Symphony Sid calls the assemblage Miles Davis’ Organization.

There was no album title for these studio tracks, they were just sides, and as said they didn’t sell well enough to see the entirety grooved into shellac. Still, a whole lot of people paid attention; as Ashley Khan points out in his excellent notes for this set (presented in a booklet secured inside the gatefold with striking full-page photographs), other than guest appearances and all-star affairs, every Davis studio session from this point forward was made as a leader.

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