Now comes a remarkable set, sure to be cherished by Ochs fans and followers, Phil Ochs, The Best Of the Rest: Rare and Unreleased Recordings, which comes out on CD on May 22nd. It consists of many demos he made for Warner-Chappell music which have not been heard by the public ever, some of songs that he recorded on his albums, but also many of songs never recorded and unknown.
PHIL SPECTOR PRESENTS THE PHILLES ALBUM COLLECTION, with its seven CDs and 87 tracks, now far supercedes the 20-year old 1991 box set, Back To Mono (1958-1969) (ABKCO). The latter housed three compilation CDs, and a reissue of 1963’s A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector. In October 2009, the Philles catalog came to Sony Music as the result of a licensing agreement with EMI Music Publishing. Not long after, a newly-remastered version of A Christmas Gift for You found a permanent home in the new Phil Spector Records/Legacy catalog.
oo Far To Whisper is the fifth studio album by new-age group Shadowfax, the third for Windham Hill Records. In this album Greenberg brings is Lyricon back to the soundbooth. Along with Charlie Bisharat on his electric violin for one cut, remaining original member, Phil Maggini on his bass, Stewart Nevitt and G.E. Stinson, Too Far to Whisper is more than a whisper of an album.
Mosaic's limited-edition, five-disc box Phil Woods Quartet/Quintet 20th Anniversary Set is a treasure trove for hardcore fans of the alto saxophonist. All the material on this set is previously unreleased; Woods has been saving this material for 20 years and decided to license the tapes to Mosaic to celebrate his band's 20th anniversary. Much of this music is dynamic and exciting, and it will certainly be a welcome addition to the collection of any serious Woods fan.
When Phil Sheeran burst onto the instrumental scene in 1990 with the Top 5 radio smash Breaking Through, his melodic, Brazilian-tinged strings seemed to perfectly capture the subtle intimacies and breezy boisterousness the acoustic guitar is noted for. After a several year layoff following the similar success of his follow-up Standing on Fishes, Sheeran is back for the long haul with the eclectic excitement of It's a Good Thing, a collection that also marks the debut release from the artist-friendly label Passage Records. One of the most identifiable strands running through his first two albums was Sheeran's great love for Brazilian music and rhythms, which were cultivated through years of studying the greats like Luiz Bonfa and Antonio Carlos Jobim, as well as a six-month stint living in the South American country.
Sort of a swan song for The Blasters, Phil Alvin's solo album went the direction that "Hard Line" was pointing him to. It was hard to see at the time, but in hindsight it's a bit more clear. Is Phil the Tom Waits of Elvis Presleys?