Ramona Vince Staples

In 2011, Mavis Staples stepped into Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, New York (better known as The Barn) for a Midnight Ramble performance that would end up being her last with Helm, who died the following year. That performance will become public with the release of ‘Carry Me Home,’ a recording of that performance that represents some of Helm’s final recordings before his death.

It's unsurprising that If the Jasmine Don't Get You the Bay Breeze Will, with its six extended folk-rock compositions, bears a strong resemblance to the late-'60s Capitol recordings by Neil himself, as Neil and Martin shared Nik Venet as a producer. The Neil parallels are even less unexpected given that Martin had sung with Neil as a duo in the mid-'60s (they recorded one LP for Elektra). The easygoing but emotional feel of the material and delivery is of a general piece with Neil's, but more laid-back and countrified. The loose, jazzy folk-rock feel of "Yonder Comes the Sun" bears some resemblance to late-'60s Tim Buckley as well. Martin's pleasant, high voice lacks the emotional depth of Neil's, but this remains a pleasant, if low-key, period folk-rock record. The Fred Neil similarity becomes especially prevalent on the concluding "Jasmine," a long, flowing folk-rock jam with hints of raga, much in the manner of some of the lengthier cuts on Neil's pair of Capitol studio albums.

Here is Vince Guaraldi's breakthrough album – musically, commercially, in every which way. After numerous records as a leader or sideman, for the first time a recognizable Guaraldi piano style emerges, with whimsical phrasing all his own, a madly swinging right hand and occasional boogie-influenced left hand, and a distinctive, throat-catching, melodic improvisational gift. The first half of the program is taken up by cover versions of tunes from the Antonio Carlos Jobim/Luiz Bonfa score for the film Black Orpheus, recorded just as bossa nova was taking hold in America. These are genuinely jazz-oriented impressions in a mainstream boppish manner, with only a breath of samba from Monty Budwig (bass) and Colin Bailey (drums) in the opening minute of "Samba de Orpheus"; an edited version of this haunting song was issued as a 45 rpm single. But DJs soon began flipping the single over to play the B-side, a wistful, unforgettably catchy Guaraldi tune called "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" that opens the North American half of the album.

We are proud to announce, for the first time ever, the release of the complete soundtrack to "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving." Just in time for the 50th anniversary of the celebrated animated holiday television special, written and created by Charles Schulz, directed by Bill Melendez and Phil Roman and produced by Melendez and Lee Mendelson, this is the complete Vince Guaraldi score along with never-before-heard bonus material.

Leaving Songs by Tindersticks frontman Stuart Staples is his second solo album; his first, Lucky Dog Recordings 03-04, wasn't released in the States until now, as it is included here, thankfully, as a bonus disc. Leaving Songs is a true departure for Staples. The vocals and backing tracks were recorded in Nashville by Mark Nevers with the overdubs recorded back at Lucky Dog in the U.K. After the first lines of "Goodbye to Old Friends," the opening cut, it's obvious that this record is different, in its way, from what Staples has done before, either with or without his band; the tempo, horn lines, the chorus of female backing vocalists.