The All

After the success of their Jimi Hendrix-produced debut album The Street Giveth…and the Street Taketh Away (also available from Real Gone) and its hit “Good Old Rock ‘N’ Roll,” the members of Cat Mother repaired to their Woodstock cabin (pictured in the album gatefold reproduced here) and started writing songs for Albion Doo-Wah. The record had much more pastoral, country feel to it, no doubt in part due to the replacement of Charlie Chin by multi-instrumentalist folkie Jay Ungar, who also brought several songs to the group. But there was definitely something in the air in the late’-60s/early ‘70s Woodstock scene; Albion Doo-Wah has several scoops of that timeless, Americana-laced Basement Tapes/Music from Big Pink fairy dust. CD debut, and one long, long requested by the band’s fans, with a gorgeous remastering job by Maria Triana at Battery Studios.

When first released in 1959, PERSUASIVE PERCUSSION was probably the first to put stereo discs on the map bringing to light the startling and innovative musical aspects of stereo sound on records. The music was brilliantly recorded and arranged with great imagination and infinite care to bring out the whole spectrum of sound on one's stereo equipment. Originated and produced by Enoch Light, the album presented an entirely new concept in the recording of percussion instruments performed by Terry Snyder and The All Stars which included talent such as Tony Mottola, Dick Hyman and Willie Rodriguez.

Released in 2019 (Motown’s 60th anniversary), this stellar reissue (produced by SoulMusic.com’s David Nathan) featuring the ‘70s studio recordings by R&B Foundation Pioneer Awardee and Soul Music Hall of Fame inductee Junior Walker (who passed away in 1995) and his All Stars includes informative liner notes by renowned Motown expert and author Sharon Davis, first class mastering by Nick Robbins (with digital transfers directly from Universal Music Group) and stellar artwork from Roger Williams.

This 40-song double CD includes virtually every Walker track of significance, and then some. Walker is a great player and hits a great groove, but that groove can get tiring over the course of several dozen tracks, especially the similar-sounding early instrumental cuts. Also, the post-'60s selections that take up much of disc two are hampered by material that is inferior to the best output of his '60s heyday. Excellent package and liner notes, but most listeners should be satisfied with the single-disc Greatest Hits, leaving this one for the collectors and specialists.

If ever an American band went through a more startling transformation than the Rascals did during the six years the original band recorded for Atlantic, let them show their colors. Here was a young east group who from the jump had complete creative control over their recordings, publishing, production, and packaging – something unheard of then – and issued over 15 Top 40 singles, three Top Ten albums, and two more that cracked the Top 40, most of which were issued without critical acclaim at the time. This six-CD retrospective of the band's entire tenure on Atlantic (there were two more recordings afterwards, issued on Columbia with a splintered version of the band), documents their complete studio output of eight albums over four and a half discs, and devotes a disc and a half to singles, A- and B-sides, alternates, and different versions of hits. For those familiar with the hits, it's difficult to imagine that the Rascals ever rocked as hard as they did on their first two albums, The Young Rascals and Collections.

The Columbia/RCA live package includes nearly 163 tracks of Pops' most popular songs along with many that are far less familiar; 75 tracks are being released for the first time. The set begins with 20 tracks from Armstrong's1947 concert at New York's Town Hall with his small group dubbed the All Stars: Jack Teagarden on trombone, clarinetist Peanuts Hucko, pianist Dick Cary, bassist Bob Haggart and two alternating drummers, George Wettling and "Big" Sid Catlett. Also included is Armstrong's 1947 Carnegie Hall concert, which sat improperly labeled in RCA's vaults for over half a century and is issued here for the very first time. Some 90 minutes of material was preserved—18 tracks, also featuring Teagarden, Cary and Catlett, but this time with Barney Bigard on clarinet, bassist Arvell Shaw and the vocalist Velma Middleton.