Music News & Nootes

Apple Records to release remasted albums from back catalog

Apple Corps Ltd. and EMI Music have announced they will release 15 remastered albums from Apple Records’ back catalog, an outlet originally started by the Beatles in 1968 for their own recordings as well as other artists of their choosing. The fact that the majority of the artists brought to Apple Records were hand picked by the Beatles, who at the time had worldwide fame, subsequently launched each of their careers.

Many of the releases after the label formed in 1968 included appearances by The Beatles such as James Taylor’s “Carolina on my Mind,” which features Paul McCartney and George Harrison. McCartney also produced Welsh singer Mary Hopkin’s debut single “Those Were the Days” and Badfinger’s “Come and Get It.”

All of the albums being re-released were digitally remastered at EMI’s Abbey Road Studios in London by the same crew that recently engineered The Beatles’ remastered catalog released last year. All 15 albums will be released October 26 on both CD and digital download, a first for Apple Records recordings.

James Taylor (1968)

Badfinger – Magic Christian Music (1970)

Badfinger – No Dice (1970)

Badfinger – Straight Up (1972)

Ass (1974)

Mary Hopkin – Post Card (1969)

Mary Hopkin – Earth Song, Ocean Song (1971)

Billy Preston – That’s The Way God Planned It (1969)

Doris Troy (1970)

Jackie Lomax – Is This What You Want? (1968)

Modern Jazz Quartet – Under The Jasmin Tree (1968) & Space (1969)

John Tavener – The Whale (1970) & Celtic Requiem (1971)

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IMMOLATION 'Unholy Cult' Vinyl Picture Disc Exclusive

For the first time ever, Immolation's 'Unholy Cult' is be available on picture disc vinyl this 17th July. The double-sided picture disc features the classic tracklisting and is a worldwide release limited to 500 pieces only with an exclusive cover art.

'Unholy Cult' is truly a masterpiece. Once again Immolation has reinvented itself to create a darker, heavier and even more menacing atmosphere, with intensity and feeling like no other! From militant and twisted rhythmic marches to all-out monstrous assaults, this album will sink into your very foundation! The emotion and passion are strong in the lyrics and the vocal delivery, as they thunder massively through the heavens!

A must-have for any death metal fan.

Immolation performing the song "Unholy Cult" live at Stonhenge Festival 2009



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NEUROSIS To Release 'Live At Roadburn 2007' In August

NEUROSIS, which is cited as one of the most influential bands of heavy music's experimental underworld, will release a new live album, "Live At Roadburn 2007", on August 30 via Neurot Recordings.

The first release from NEUROSIS since 2007's "Given to the Rising", this new live CD was recorded that same year in Tilburg, Holland, at the annual Roadburn festival where NEUROSIS headlined to a diehard audience. The album expertly captures as much of the band's live experience as one possibly could on a physical recording, harnessing the monolithic flow and power of the band's well-known sonically devastating live performances.

"Live At Roadburn" will be made available on August 30 alongside the reissue of NEUROSIS' groundbreaking 1993 release "Enemy Of The Sun". The "Roadburn" album features the iconic artwork/layout skills of visionary artist/NEUROSIS live visual master Josh Graham, also responsible for the redesigned "Enemy Of The Sun" layout. Both albums will be released on CD as part of this year's celebration of the 25th anniversary of the legendary act.

Already have my vote for album cover of the year (so far)

South Hillside record shop specializes in good ol' vinyl

BY JOE STUMPE
Eagle correspondent


Ed Swarts remembers his first record — a 45 rpm of Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World."

"I played it every day," he said.

Swarts is now in the business of peddling similar memories through his used-records store, Spin It Again Records on South Hillside.

Spin It Again specializes in the vinyl albums that dominated the music market until CDs came along, along with smaller selections of 8-track tapes, singles and VHS versions of music videos.

The rock/pop section features artists from Abba to ZZ Top. Country, jazz, classical and "various" — think "Gold Fever Sounds" by the '70s-era Wichita State Shocker band — get their own bins as well.

Music posters adorn the walls. Record players stand ready to let customers listen before they buy.

Although Swarts is a lifelong music fan, he says the inspiration to open the store came from the knowledge that he was about to be laid off from his job of 20-plus years at the Skyline manufactured-home plant in Halstead, which closed last year. He said he knows of only one other such business in the area, Rewound Sounds in Delano.

Since he'd lost his own stash of albums in a theft years before, his first step was to start combing the area for collections that were in good shape and reasonably priced.

"Usually it's a wife telling her husband, 'You're got to get rid of all those records,' " he said.

Swarts, who had installed and tested various mobile home parts for Skyline, has put that background to work. He built the shelves for the shop and repaired a jukebox that spins records in one corner. Rather than spend $600 on a machine designed to clean records, he rigged his own system out of a turntable and a vacuum cleaner. He also replaces parts in most 8-track tapes before reselling them.

Most albums are priced in the $6-to-$10 range. A few, like a 1960 George Jones salute to Hank Williams in near-perfect condition, cost up to $100.

Swarts said he prices albums according to a trade industry guide called Goldmine. So far, the average customer has been leaving with about $40 to $50 in albums, he said.

His record and 8-track players are also for sale, along with accessories like record cleaners, the plastic "spiders" that fit inside 45s and an old device that allows cassettes to play in 8-track players. He's made a few clocks and ashtrays out of albums and may sell those in the future as well.

People collect vinyl records for a number of reasons, Swarts said. Some albums contain music that hasn't found its way onto CDs. Older customers may be trying to fill out a portion of a collection they started years before; younger customers buy "because their father listened to it and they like it." Then there are the album covers, considered works of art themselves.

Most of all, Swarts says, is the "warmer, purer" sound that vinyl records offer.

"I don't have anything against CDs, but to get the real sound of somebody like Grand Funk Railroad, you've got to play it on a record," he said.

SOURCE: http://www.kansas.com/

Vinyl Gets Groovy

By Suanshu Khurana

Before Blu-Rays, iPods and iTunes, there was gramophone, and you grooved to the black vinyl. In the long-playing (LP) records, you chanced upon the manic genius of Pink Floyd, moved with four Liverpudlians with bangs and traced the sadness in the lower octaves of KL Saigal. If you have missed those times when there was an entire tactile ritual associated with music — flipping through your stack of records, finding the One, admiring its artwork briefly, slipping the cover off, feeling the record under your fingertips, placing it on the gramophone and then moving away a little further and waiting for the music — then here is news: the LP is back in India.

EMI has brought out the first LPs in south India, with other music companies expected to follow suit. Later this month, 78 rpms of Pink Floyd, the Eagles, the Beatles and Led Zeppelin will be stacked in Delhi’s music stores.

Anand Srinivasan, label manager with EMI, says vinyl records have a future in India.

“Customers always respond well to LPs. Over the past couple of years, the West proved to be a really good market for LPs. Now people are buying our LPs in cities like Hyderabad and Bangalore. We think they will work well here.”

The company shut down its only LP manufacturing unit in Kolkata in 1988.

“But it is not just the market. There is also much nostalgia associated with bringing LPs back,” says Srinivasan. EMI will be importing LPs from the US.

Apart from Pink Floyd and Zeppelin who are associated with the golden age of LPs, there will be vinyls of the iTunes generation that includes Norah Jones, Arctic Monkeys and Animal Collective.

“Unlike a CD where music is digitised, an LP delivers you pure analog,” says Atul Marwah, a Delhi-based private collector. Another good thing about these LPs is that they come with a host of merchandise like posters, stickers and artist cards. But they come with a price tag. The LPs are priced between Rs 495 and Rs 5,000. A box set of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon with four LPs will cost Rs 4,000. “The prices are high because of import duties,” says Srinivasan.

SOURCE:   http://www.indianexpress.com/

This Date In Music History - July 8

Birthdays:

Jerry Vale (1932)

Steve Lawrence (1935)

Jaimoe Johanson - Allman Brothers Band (1944)

Ricky Wolf - The Flowerpot Men (1945)

Andy Fletcher - Depeche Mode (1960)

Graham Jones - Haircut 100 (1961)

Toby Keith (1961)

Joan Osborne (1963)

Beck David Campbell (Beck) (1970)

Neil Mavers - The La's (1971)

Tavis Werts - Reel Big Fish (1977)

Jamie Cook - Arctic Monkeys (1985)

They Are Missed:

none today!

History:

Today in 1957, the song "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear" by Elvis Presley topped the charts and stayed there for 7 weeks.

In 1958 - The first gold record album was presented by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The award went to the soundtrack "Oklahoma!"

Freddie & the Dreamers recorded "I'm Telling You Now" in 1963.



In 1965, the Dave Clark Five had their movie, 'Catch Us If You Can,' premiere in London. The film was renamed to 'Having a Wild Weekend' for its US release. Songs featured by the group in the movie included "Catch Us If You Can," "Having a Wild Weekend" and "I Can’t Stand It."

The Beatles released the ‘Nowhere Man’ 4 track EP in the UK in 1966, which included: "Drive My Car," "Michelle" and "You Won't See Me."

In 1967, the Monkees began a 29-date tour with The Jimi Hendrix Experience as the supporting act. Hendrix was dropped after eight shows after being told his act was not suitable for their teenybopper audience. Ya think?

Pink Floyd kicked off their first 20-date North American tour at the Kinetic Playground in Chicago in 1968.

Just as the Byrds are about to embark on a South African tour in 1968, multi-instrumentalist Gram Parsons quits stating he does not want to perform in the racially segregated country.

In 1969, Marianne Faithfull collapsed on the set of 'Ned Kelly' after taking a drug overdose. She was admitted to a Sydney Hospital, (she was later dropped from the movie).

The Everly Brothers Show', started an eleven-week prime time slot on ABC- TV in the US in 1970.

Bill Withers started a three week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1972 with "Lean On Me," his only #1 hit.



The Concert 10 Festival was held at Pocono International Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania in 1972. Quite the eclectic array of music, for sure. Acts performing included: Claire Hamill, The Groundhogs, Edgar Winter, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Faces with Rod Stewart, Humble Pie, The J. Geils Band and Three Dog Night. (Black Sabbath and Badfinger were scheduled to appear, but canceled)

Gerry Rafferty's album 'City To City' went to #1 on the US chart in 1978, knocking off 'Saturday Night Fever,' which had been at the top of the charts for almost six months.

Exile's "Kiss You All Over" was released in 1978.

The B-52's made their UK live debut at London's Lyceum Ballroom in 1979.

In 1985, "Playboy" and "Penthouse" magazines went on sale with nude pictures of Madonna.

In 1988, Stevie Wonder announced his intention to run for mayor of Detroit (he never does).

The Fine Young Cannibals scored their second US #1 hit in 1989 with "Good Thing."



TLC started a seven week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1995 with "Waterfalls," the group's second US #1 hit.

The Spice Girls debut single "Wannabe" was released in Great Britain in 1996. The music world was thrilled!

Alicia Keys went to #1 on the US chart in 2001 with her debut album 'Songs In A Minor.'

In 2002, Michael Jackson spoke out against the music industry's treatment of artists, alleging that the business was rife with racism. Speaking at a civil rights meeting in New York, Jackson claimed there was a 'conspiracy' among record companies, especially towards black artists. A spokesman for Jackson's record label said the remarks were 'ludicrous, spiteful and hurtful.'

In 2004, Mark Purseglove known as the world’s ‘biggest bootlegger’ was sentenced to 3 years 6 months jail by Blackfriars Crown Court. Purseglove had built up a £15 million pirate CD empire by bootlegging live concerts of some of the world's biggest stars including The Beatles, David Bowie and Pink Floyd. Should have gotten more time.......

Nelly Furtado was at #1 on the US album chart in 2006 with ‘Loose,’ the Canadian singers third album.

In 2007, Prince was forced off stage by police halfway through his set at the First Avenue nightclub during a late-night gig in his home town of Minneapolis. The club was only allowed to stay open until 3.am but Prince took to the stage at 2:45 am. Prince had already played two concerts in Minneapolis before his late-night club appearance; His first performance was at a department store, where he promoted his new cologne with a nine-song, 45-minute set.

“Bon Scott -- The Early Years,” with pre-AC/DC material, rolled out in 2008.

Also in 2008 - Billy Joel's “The Stranger” gets a 30th anniversary reissue. The album is packaged with a previously unreleased concert CD, “Live At Carnegie Hall 1977.” A DVD also contains videos and other performances.