Her Little Majesty

In the first half of the 1960s, Colpix and Dimension were record-label offshoots of Columbia Pictures; Colpix tended toward teen idols, while Dimension was mainly an outlet for the compositions of the Gerry Goffin/Carole King songwriting team. This 40-song double CD includes all the major hits on the labels by the Marcels, James Darren, Shelley Fabares, Paul Petersen, Little Eva, the Cookies, and Carole King herself, as well as quite a few rarities. Although the compilers have done a thorough job, the jumble of disparate styles – sappy teen-idol pop, rhythm and blues, girl groups, soul, even a garage band – makes for tough end-to-end listening. Several of the sides by Darren and Petersen are unbearably cloying; the ones by Fabares, Teddy Randazzo, and Sandy Stewart are barely any better. The hits by Little Eva and the Cookies, on the other hand, are great dynamic girl-group performances. And some of the rarities are pretty cool – Carole King's odd, almost folk-rockish flop single "He's a Bad Boy," Earl-Jean's original version of "I'm Into Something Good" (covered for a hit by Herman's Hermits), the Girlfriends' "My One and Only, Jimmy Boy" (the best Wall of Sound girl-group record not produced by Phil Spector), the little-anthologized Top Ten soul hit "Hey Girl" by Freddie Scott, rare sides by Lou Christie and Duane Eddy, a silly Beatle parody by Sonny Curtis, and extremely rare (if not terribly good) singles by David Jones and Michael Nesmith before they joined the Monkees.

Chelsea Wolfe’s highly anticipated 7th full length. Chelsea Wolfe has always been a conduit for a powerful energy, and while she has demonstrated a capacity to channel that somber beauty into a variety of forms, her gift as a songwriter is never more apparent than when she strips her songs down to a few key components. As a result, her solemn majesty and ominous elegance are more potent than ever on Birth of Violence.

This astounding digitally remastered 3-CD, 74-track set is entirely devoted to music written by the 17-to-20-year-old Carole King of 1959-1962, who along with her husband and lyricist, Gerry Goffin were hitting the charts with a new record almost every three weeks by the year 1962. Known as the Queen of the Brill Building, King wrote hit songs for Bobby Vee, The Shirelles, The Drifters, Bobby Rydell, Tony Orlando, The Everly Brothers, Connie Stevens, and many more. They’re all here including #1 hits like “The Loco-Motion” by Little Eva, “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” by the Shirelles, “Go Away Little Girl” by Steve Lawrence, and “Take Good Care of My Baby” by Bobby Vee. Recommend you grab this collection while you can!

There is a core element to Chelsea Wolfes musica kind of urgent spin on Americas desolation blues thats existed throughout the entirety of her career. Wolfe has always been a conduit for a powerful energy, and while she has demonstrated a capacity to channel that somber beauty into a variety of forms, her gift as a songwriter is never more apparent than when she strips her songs down to a few key components.