Category Archives: Music

Nov 19 2013
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Music, Pop Culture

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!

New release reveals more early Beatles BBC treasures

Beatles BBC Vol2_CD

The Beatles

On Air—Live At The BBC Volume 2

CD $19.88 (Capitol/Universal Music Group)

An all-new companion to the Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum-selling 1994 Live At The BBC, this treasure trove features 63 live tracks recorded by the Fab Four for a variety of radio programs on the BBC in the early to mid 1960s. The eclectic mix includes 37 previously unreleased musical performances and more than 20 snippets of never released studio banter, revealing the band’s youthful high spirits and also the great breadth of their early musical influences, with covers of Chuck Berry’s “I’m Talking About You,” Little Richard’s “Lucille,” Ray Charles’ “I’ve Got a Woman,” and Chan Romero’s “The Hippy Hippy Shake.” And, of course, there are spunky run-throughs of 30 now-familiar Beatles classics, including “I Saw Her Standing There,” “Twist And Shout,” “Please Mister Postman” and “Money,” plus a 48-page booklet.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Nov 13 2013
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Music, Uncategorized

Bursting With Pride

Country hitmaker Neal McCoy salutes his musical mentor

Pride_NealMcCoy

Neal McCoy

Pride (CD, $10.97 / Slate Creek Records)

McCoy, whose early singing stardom was forged under the guidance, tutelage and example of Country Music Hall of Famer-to-be Charley Pride in the 1980s, salutes his musical mentor with this tribute album of his songs, including the Pride standards “Is Anybody Going To San Antone,” “Kiss An Angel Good Mornin’,” “Kaw-Liga,” and “Mountain Of Love,” plus “Roll On Mississippi,” “You’re My Jamaica” and five other tunes. Fellow hit-makers Raul Malo of The Mavericks, Trace Adkins and Darius Rucker also lend their voices on this heartfelt project to assist McCoy in “paying honor to not only a wonderful man, but a wonderful family that gave another family a chance to make their mark.”

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Nov 05 2013
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Books, Music, Pop Culture

Gallery of Greatness

Robbie Robertson salutes musical movers & shakers

Legends Icons & Rebels

Legends, Icons & Rebels

By Robbie Robertson, Jim Guerinot, Jared Levine & Sebastian Robertson

Hardcover, 128 pages ($35, Tundra Books)

Robertson, one of the founders of the seminal music group The Band, collaborated with his adult son, Sebastian, and fellow music-biz veterans (and fathers) Guerinot and Levine, on this collection of tributes honoring 27 singers, songwriters and other performers across the spectrum of popular music “who changed with world” with their talent—and their tenacity. Featuring designs from numerous illustrators and including a CD with handpicked songs from each of the artists (including Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry, The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Ella Fitzgerald, Bob Marley and Carole King), it’s clearly geared for younger readers. But it’s a true multimedia treat for eyes and ears of any age.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Oct 10 2013
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Music, Pop Culture

Strike Up The Band

Sumptuous collector’s edition repackages famed 1971 concert event

TheBand_Live_productThe Band ‘Live At The Academy of Music 1971’

CD + DVD, $75.74 (Capitol / Universal Music Enterprises)

The legendary band with a capital B, the pioneering Canadian-American ensemble led by Robbie Robertson and Levon Helm that went on to influence countless other roots-rockers, performed four legendary concerts at the top of their fame during the final week of 1971 at New York’s Academy of Music. The shows, originally edited down for the group’s classic 1972 double LP Rock of Ages, have now been re-packaged for this sumptuous collector’s edition, with all the original recordings (including “The Shape I’m In,” “Don’t Do It,” “Stage Fright,” “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” and “The Weight”) enhanced with 19 previously unreleased tracks, plus an in-concert DVD and a 48-page book.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Oct 04 2013
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Music, Pop Culture

Willie & The Women

A ride around the singing corral with a bevy of female partners

WillieNelson_ToAllTheGirlsWillie Nelson: To All the Girls…

CD $11.98 (Legacy)

He’s 80 years old, but still churning out the tunes—and roping in the ladies. Taking the name for his latest CD from half of the title of his 1984 duet with Julio Iglesias (the missing part is “…I’ve Loved Before”), the venerable crooning cowboy saddles up with a bevy of female singing partners, including Dolly Parton, Carrie Underwood, Sheryl Crow, Loretta Lynn, Brandi Carlile, Miranda Lambert, Mavis Staples and Norah Jones, for this jaunt around the musical corral. The 18 tunes include a wide-ranging selection of Nelson originals, standards from the American songbook, and other gems from Bruce Springsteen, Waylon Jennings, Bill Withers and Merle Haggard.

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Oct 01 2013
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DVDs, Music, Pop Culture

Stamp of Approval

Coming soon to a mailbox near you: Ray Charles!

Ray_Charles_Forever_Cover2Ray Charles Forever

CD/DVD ($18.98, Concord Records)

Why does this new Ray Charles CD/DVD combo look like a postage stamp? Because it’s part of the celebration around the recent release of the U.S. Postal Service Icons Forever Stamp honoring the enduring rhythm and blues singer. With 12 re-mastered studio tracks (including “Song For You,” “Ring Of Fire,” “Till There Was You,” “Imagine” and “America The Beautiful”), a DVD of live performances and interview segments, it’s a multimedia reminder of a performer whose decade-spanning career has generated more than 100 albums, made him one of the original inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, spawned an Academy Award-winning movie—and now put him in the mailbox! (It’s on sale at major Post Office locations, an online at usps.com.)

 —Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Oct 01 2013
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Music, Pop Culture

Last Stand in Memphis

SONY DSCRe-released recordings show Elvis at final creative peak

Elvis At Stax

CD $24.89 (RCA/Legacy)

In a 12-day burst of creative steam, Presley hit the Stax studios in his hometown of Memphis, Tenn., for two sessions in 1973, yielding his final string of Top 40 singles (including “Promised Land,” “I’ve Got a Thing About You Baby” and “If You Talk In Your Sleep”) and more than two dozen other tunes that let him stretch his style across the a spectrum of rock, country and gospel. This affordably priced, 40th anniversary 3-CD commemorative set includes them all, and also 27 outtake tracks, plus and a photo-packed booklet with extensive notes about the songs and the sessions.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Aug 29 2013
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Music

Pickin’ Partners

Skaggs & Hornsby pick and sing on live album collaboration

Cluck Ol Hen_Cover_FINAL_300DPIRicky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby

Cluck Ol’ Hen

CD ($11.99 / Skaggs Family Records)

Skaggs, the award-winning country-bluegrass picker, and Hornsby, the pop singing-and-songwriting pianist of “The Way It Is,” “Mandolin Rain” and “Every Little Kiss” fame, were touring together when they got the idea to record some of the tunes they tossed around every night on stage. This lively collection of live recordings is an exhilarating blend of their two distinctive styles on a 12-song stroll through a shared songbook of Bill Monroe classics, mountain music gems, instrumental improvisation and high-lonesome harmonies.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

Aug 27 2013
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Music

Flying High With Wings

RockshowCaptures tour of 1976 at its zesty zenith

Rockshow

Paul McCartney

(Blu-ray $34.98, DVD $29.98 / Eagle Rock Entertainment)

McCartney and his post-Beatles band, Wings, took their show on the road in a massive 1976 tour that resulted back then in the double album “Wings Over America,” which generated the hit live version of “Maybe I’m Amazed” and also included performances of “Lady Madonna,” “Live and Let Die,” “My Love,” “Silly Love Songs,” “Band On The Run,” “Yesterday.” This documentary, originally released theatrically in 1980 as a pared-down version of the show, chronicles the tour during its stop at the Kingdome in Seattle. Now restored with additional footage to include the whole concert with remastered, remixed and restored video and sound, it’s a tune-filled time capsule of ’70s McCartney mania at its zesty zenith.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

Aug 27 2013
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Music

Gloria Goes International

Latin-pop superstar gives American songbook international spin

Gloria Estefan: The SImagetandards

CD, $14.13 / Sony Masterworks

The Latin-pop crossover superstar covers tunes from the great American songbook, plus some international favorites, in this smooth, sexy, romantic spin around the musical globe. Singing in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and French, the former Miami Sound Machine lead singer respectfully reworks Dinah Washington’s “What a Difference a Day Makes,” Billie Holliday’s “Good Morning Heartache,” Fred Astaire’s “The Way You Look Tonight,” Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” and Frank Sinatra’s “Young At Heart,” duets with Italian pop star Laura Pausini on silent-movie pioneer Charlie Chaplin’s iconic theme song “Smile,” and dusts off an Argentinean tune to which she and her husband danced at their wedding 22 years ago.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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