Satisfaction

The Best Days features on 8 compact discs legendary radio live recordings from the 60s, 70s and 80s plus one unplugged show.

The King Of Soul coincides with the 50th anniversary of Redding s debut album, Pain In My Heart, which helped define the sound of Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee. This set features 92 songs and retraces the singer s career from his meteoric rise to his untimely death in a 1967 plane crash.

The Rolling Stones Charlie is my Darling – Ireland 1965 Super Deluxe Box Set includes both DVD and Blu-ray discs that incorporate the new, official 2012 version of the film as well as the director’s cut and producer’s cut, plus significant unseen additional performance and other footage shot in Dublin and Belfast in September of 1965, bonus content, two audio CDs, one of which is the film’s soundtrack album and the other a compilation of 13 live recordings the band made over the course of their 1965 UK tour. A 10” vinyl record of the live material is also part of the package, as well as a replica poster heralding the September 4, 1965 date they played in Belfast. The Super Deluxe box is housed in an ingeniously designed luxurious “soft touch” package, each featuring one of over 200 Limited Edition numbered and enlarged cells randomly inserted from the film. There is also a stunning 42 page Collector’s Edition hardcover book that includes 14 never before seen, and painstakingly restored exclusive, photographs, including the key art, of the band from the Irish Photo Archive/Lensmen Photo Archive as well as colour photos taken by Marc Sharatt, the Stones’ tour photographer.

Otis Redding's third album presents his talent unfettered, his direction clear and his confidence emboldened, with fully half the songs representing a reach that extended his musical grasp. More than a quarter of this album is given over to Redding's version of songs by Sam Cooke, his idol, who had died the previous December. Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul is considered by many critics to be Redding's first great album. Recorded in April and July of 1965, it was released September 15th of that same year. The styles of Cooke and Redding couldn't have been more different; Cooke smooth and sure, Redding raw and pleading. But Redding's versions of "Shake" and "A Change Is Gonna Come" show how Cooke's sound and message helped shape Redding's Southern soul sound. Redding's singing reaches a new level of expressiveness with this as well as with covers of B.B. King's "Rock Me Baby" and the Motown hit "My Girl." This great album receives the full Analogue Productions reissue treatment here, starting with Kevin Gray's remaster from the original analogue tapes.

Westbound's remarkable catalog reissue campaign continues apace with yet another long-lost gem from the label's forgotten corners. Album was the sole full-length release by Detroit quintet Assemblage, and although the 1971 set kicks off with a cover of the Stones' "Satisfaction"—a seemingly obligatory move for bands during this time—this record is nonetheless full of surprises. While '70s Detroit was legendary for an incredibly fertile scene that blurred the lines between soul, funk, rock, and proto-punk and was home to a disproportionate number of iconic musicians, Assemblage were among quite a few acts and players that completely slipped under the radar. Featuring just one "notable" member in the form of future Bob Seger keyboardist Robyn Robins, the other four musicians hit their career peaks with Assemblage, which, considering that Album has been out of print and not reissued since its original release, indicates exactly how high that peak was.