Jazz, rocknroll, blues, music hall, guitar instrumentals, tin pan alley, rockabilly, dance band, soul, bolero, skiffle, trad, R&B, country, old-time, Broadway, doo-wop, folk, high school pop, Motown - the Beatles early influences are so wide-ranging that this series of discs could quite easily pass for an introduction to the history of twentieth century popular music…
Absolutely one of the finest funk albums of the early '70s, and one of the most unfairly neglected, 1971's Awakening is as important and exciting as any of Funkadelic's early albums from the same period. It doesn't have the mordant humor of George Clinton's best work, but these seven lengthy tracks are as powerful as early funk gets. A Chicago-based 11-piece ensemble (many members of which would go on to found Earth, Wind & Fire with Maurice White), the Pharaohs were led by their five-man-strong drum section, which included future world jazz pioneer Derf Reklaw and two percussionists specializing in African drumming.
This special edition of the 1976 album will contain new Steven Wilson stereo remixes on CD 1, although this is of the version of the album re-recorded for a TV Special. Only five multi-track master tapes for the actual album could be located and new stereo remixes of those tracks are also appended on the first disc. The second CD consists of a complete flat transfer of the original stereo mix, and eight bonus tracks (seven of which are 2015 remixes). This bonus material includes two unheard songs: Salamander’s Ragtime (not related to album track Salamander), and Commercial Traveller. A third outtake Advertising Man was planned to be included but was not sufficiently complete to merit inclusion.
The fifties and sixties were such a wonderful time to grow up and fall in love. It was the first time teenagers had their own music and their own love songs. Time Life is proud to offer The Teen Years, a new 10-CD, 150-song collection filled with teen idols, doo-wop groups, girl groups and more. It's the only rock 'n' roll collection devoted to the most romantic teen hits of the first (pre-Beatles) rock 'n' roll era.
The fifties and sixties were such a wonderful time to grow up and fall in love. It was the first time teenagers had their own music and their own love songs. Time Life is proud to offer The Teen Years, a new 10-CD, 150-song collection filled with teen idols, doo-wop groups, girl groups and more. It's the only rock 'n' roll collection devoted to the most romantic teen hits of the first (pre-Beatles) rock 'n' roll era.
Here's the bad news: A lot of worthwhile soul-jazz albums that were recorded for small, obscure labels in the '60s are likely to remain out of print. If the rare organ/tenor date that you're longing to hear came out on a tiny label that someone was operating out of his/her two-bedroom rowhouse in South Philadelphia, you had best do a lot of searching at your favorite vinyl gathering. Now, here's the good news: A lot of great soul-jazz was recorded for Prestige in the '60s, and Fantasy (which owns the Prestige catalog) is quite good about reissuing Prestige titles. In 2002, Fantasy reissued two more Willis "Gator" Jackson titles (1963's More Gravy and 1964's Boss Shoutin') back to back on the 67-minute CD Nuther'n Like Thuther'n. Neither album is unique or revolutionary, but both are excellent, highly rewarding examples of the type of groove-oriented soul-jazz/hard bop that Jackson was recording for Prestige in the early '60s…
This is a historic release, the first official appearance of recordings by Hollywood Rose, the band that would later mutate into Guns N' Roses. These were cut in 1984, when the band was led by Axl Rose and guitarists Izzy Stradlin and Chris Weber, with Johnny Kreis on drums, and these are the recordings that initially got Hollywood Rose playing the L.A. club circuit; Tracii Guns, the guitarist who later split to form L.A. Guns, would come along later, along with bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Steven Adler. Hearing this original five-song demo, it's easy to see why Vicky Hamilton, the group's first manager, took them under her wing – they were harder, tougher, rawer, and meaner than any of the metal coming out of Los Angeles during 1984.