Leon Russell was one of the most accomplished musicians in the annals of rock ‘n’ roll. As a session musician, he was a member of the legendary Wrecking Crew, and his honky tonk-inspired piano-pounding can be heard on albums by artists as diverse as the Beach Boys, the Ronettes, the Byrds, and Darlene Love, among many others. As a songwriter, his tunes like “Delta Lady,” “This Masquerade,” and “A Song For You” were hits for artists like Joe Cocker, the Carpenters, and George Benson. As a solo artist, Russell recorded better than 30 albums, scoring a number of hits in the mid-to-late ‘70s with works like Carney, Will O’ The Wisp, and Stop All That Jazz.
Even after he’d achieved rock stardom, Russell continued to lend his talents to recordings by friends like Bob Dylan, George Harrison, the Rolling Stones, and other heavyweights who would pick up the phone and give Leon a call when they wanted some rockin’ piano on their records. So, when time came for Russell to record his self-titled solo debut album in 1970, he simply opened up his address book and enlisted the help of talented folks like guitarists Eric Clapton and Delaney Bramlett, bassist Klaus Voorman, and drummer Buddy Harmon in the studio.
That wasn’t the end of the album’s all-star cast, though – there were guest appearances by 3/5 of the Rolling Stones (Mick Jagger, Bill Wyman & Charlie Watts) and 1/2 of the Beatles (George Harrison, Ringo Starr) as well as skilled musicians like saxophonist Jim Horn, drummer Jim Gordon, keyboardists Steve Winwood and Chris Stainton (Grease Band), and background singers like Joe Cocker, Bonnie Bramlett, and Merry Clayton. Aside from vocals, Russell also played piano and guitar as well co-producing the album with Denny Cordell for their independent Shelter Records label.
To justify the contributions of all the above-named talents, Russell also whipped up a stellar set of songs, and the track list of his debut LP includes such enduring tunes as “A Song For You,” “Shoot Out On the Plantation,” “Hummingbird,” “Delta Lady,” and “Give Peace A Chance” (co-written with Bonnie Bramlett). The album proved to be a modest hit, peaking at #60 on the Billboard chart and setting the stage for the following year’s Top 20 breakthrough album, Leon Russell and the Shelter People.
On April 28th, 2017 the fine folks at Audio Fidelity – best known for their swanky hybrid SACD archival releases – will reissue Leon Russell, the album, on deluxe 180g blue translucent vinyl with a gatefold sleeve. If you have any cash left over after Record Store Day, this is one you should really get a copy of; Leon Russell is a spectacular collection of performances by some of the biggest and brightest marquee names of 1960s-era rock and the artist’s first step towards his induction in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Buy the LP from Amazon.com: Leon Russell's Leon Russell
Leon Russell’s Leon Russell track list:
Side One
1. A Song For You
2. Dixie Lullaby
3. I Put A Spell On You
4. Shoot Out On the Plantation
5. Hummingbird
Side Two
1. Delta Lady
2. Price of Peace
3. Give Peace A Chance
4. Hurtsome Body
5. Pisces Apple Lady
6. Roll Away The Stone
Showing posts with label Audio Fidelity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Audio Fidelity. Show all posts
Friday, March 24, 2017
Friday, March 3, 2017
Audio Fidelity reissues Grand Funk’s All the Girls in the World Beware!!!
After 1973’s We’re An American Band album peaked at #2 on the Billboard chart on its way to eventual Platinum™ Record sales status, the band formerly known as Grand Funk Railroad wasted no time in getting back in the studio to record a follow-up. The following year’s Shinin’ On ‘only’ hit the Gold™ Record sales level (still, no mean feat in the mid-70s), but the band’s profile and touring income had never been better. By the end of 1974, the band had released their third full-length album in roughly a year and a half in All the Girls in the World Beware!!!
Recorded at singer/guitarist Mark Farner’s studio, The Swamp, located on his farm in Parshallville, Michigan All the Girls in the World Beware!!! was produced by Jimmy Ienner (best known for his work with Three Dog Night and the Raspberries) and represented the band’s ninth album. The album found Grand Funk venturing further out on the thin ice of mainstream pop/rock sounds but still offered some cheap rock ‘n’ roll thrills and soulful R&B; with eight of the album’s tracks written by the band, it’s definitely their most melodic effort. The striking cover artwork – created by taking photos of the band member’s faces and putting them on the bodies of then-famous body builders Arnold Schwarzenegger and Franco Columbo – is reprised on the interior by a Neal Adams illustration of the body builders surrounded by a bevy of young female fans.
Surprisingly, Capitol Records chose to pass on the band’s original songs to release a cover of the Soul Brothers Six’s “Some Kind of Wonderful” as the album’s first single. The move paid off, the song hitting #3 on the chart and propelling the album to #10 while scoring Gold™ Record sales; although less well known, Farner’s song “Bad Time” peaked at #4 when released as a single in June.
On March 10, 2017 All the Girls in the World Beware!!! will be reissued by Marshall Blonstein’s Audio Fidelity label as a limited edition hybrid SACD. The enhanced Super Audio CD format makes Ienner’s glossy production really pop out of the speakers. The album was the last under the band’s ‘Grand Funk’ moniker (they’d discarded the original “Railroad” with 1972’s Phoenix album and picked it back up with 1976’s Born To Die).
In a press release for the new, upgraded CD release the band’s Don Brewer says the album “was a bit of an experiment for Grand Funk. Disco had raised its ugly head in 1974, and if you wanted radio airplay you needed to go in that direction. Grand Funk, not being a ‘Disco Act,’ decided to do R&B which was really what GFR was all about…R&B pumped up on steroids.” Check out the album’s full track list below.
All the Girls in the World Beware!!! track list:
1. Responsibility
2. Runnin’
3. Life
4. Look at Granny Run Run
5. Memories
6. All the Girls in the World Beware
7. Wild
8. Good & Evil
9. Bad Time
10. Some Kind of Wonderful
Previously on That Devil Music:
Grand Funk’s Shinin’ On gets Audio Fidelity upgrade
Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Grand Funk’s All the Girls in the World Beware!!!
Recorded at singer/guitarist Mark Farner’s studio, The Swamp, located on his farm in Parshallville, Michigan All the Girls in the World Beware!!! was produced by Jimmy Ienner (best known for his work with Three Dog Night and the Raspberries) and represented the band’s ninth album. The album found Grand Funk venturing further out on the thin ice of mainstream pop/rock sounds but still offered some cheap rock ‘n’ roll thrills and soulful R&B; with eight of the album’s tracks written by the band, it’s definitely their most melodic effort. The striking cover artwork – created by taking photos of the band member’s faces and putting them on the bodies of then-famous body builders Arnold Schwarzenegger and Franco Columbo – is reprised on the interior by a Neal Adams illustration of the body builders surrounded by a bevy of young female fans.
Surprisingly, Capitol Records chose to pass on the band’s original songs to release a cover of the Soul Brothers Six’s “Some Kind of Wonderful” as the album’s first single. The move paid off, the song hitting #3 on the chart and propelling the album to #10 while scoring Gold™ Record sales; although less well known, Farner’s song “Bad Time” peaked at #4 when released as a single in June.
On March 10, 2017 All the Girls in the World Beware!!! will be reissued by Marshall Blonstein’s Audio Fidelity label as a limited edition hybrid SACD. The enhanced Super Audio CD format makes Ienner’s glossy production really pop out of the speakers. The album was the last under the band’s ‘Grand Funk’ moniker (they’d discarded the original “Railroad” with 1972’s Phoenix album and picked it back up with 1976’s Born To Die).
In a press release for the new, upgraded CD release the band’s Don Brewer says the album “was a bit of an experiment for Grand Funk. Disco had raised its ugly head in 1974, and if you wanted radio airplay you needed to go in that direction. Grand Funk, not being a ‘Disco Act,’ decided to do R&B which was really what GFR was all about…R&B pumped up on steroids.” Check out the album’s full track list below.
All the Girls in the World Beware!!! track list:
1. Responsibility
2. Runnin’
3. Life
4. Look at Granny Run Run
5. Memories
6. All the Girls in the World Beware
7. Wild
8. Good & Evil
9. Bad Time
10. Some Kind of Wonderful
Previously on That Devil Music:
Grand Funk’s Shinin’ On gets Audio Fidelity upgrade
Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Grand Funk’s All the Girls in the World Beware!!!
Friday, January 6, 2017
Grand Funk’s Shinin’ On gets Audio Fidelity upgrade
The first half of the ’70s was very good for classic rockers Grand Funk Railroad. From the release of the band’s 1969 debut LP On Time, Grand Funk (as they’d later become known) enjoyed a string of Top Ten Gold™ and Platinum™ selling albums that peaked with what many would consider the pinnacle of their creative and commercial success, 1973’s We’re An American Band. Working with producer and musician Todd Rundgren, the band scored a chart topping hit with the title track, the album peaking at #2 on the charts and quickly selling better than a million copies.
In the wake of the success of We’re An American Band, Grand Funk again enlisted Rundgren to fill the producer’s chair as the band recorded Shinin’ On, their eighth studio album. Mixing Rundgren’s melodic pop prowess with their traditional lumbering rock ‘n’ roll sound, Shinin’ On is often considered by critics as an inferior work – of course, many critics had dismissed Grand Funk altogether up ‘til We’re An American Band rocked their world. Shinin’ On was released in early 1974 and although it would end up selling half as many flapjacks as its predecessor, the album would still peak at #5 on the charts and score a number one single with the band’s cover of the Goffin/King classic “The Loco-Motion.”
On January 27, 2017 this oft-overlooked underdog of the Grand Funk catalog will be reissued by Marshall Blonstein’s Audio Fidelity label as a limited edition hybrid SACD. The enhanced Super Audio CD sound brings the best of the band to forefront of each song. The original vinyl album was packaged in a trippy psych-drenched 3-D sleeve with a pair of 3-D glasses embedded in the album front cover. The Audio Fidelity reissue reproduces the original 3-D sleeve and also includes a pair of 3-D glasses so that the listener can enjoy the songs and album artwork as originally intended.
Shinin' On track list:
1. Shinin’ On
2. To Get Back In
3. The Loco-Motion
4. Carry Me Through
5. Please Me
6. Mr. Pretty Boy
7. Getting’ Over You
8. Little Johnny Hooker
Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Grand Funk's Shinin' On
In the wake of the success of We’re An American Band, Grand Funk again enlisted Rundgren to fill the producer’s chair as the band recorded Shinin’ On, their eighth studio album. Mixing Rundgren’s melodic pop prowess with their traditional lumbering rock ‘n’ roll sound, Shinin’ On is often considered by critics as an inferior work – of course, many critics had dismissed Grand Funk altogether up ‘til We’re An American Band rocked their world. Shinin’ On was released in early 1974 and although it would end up selling half as many flapjacks as its predecessor, the album would still peak at #5 on the charts and score a number one single with the band’s cover of the Goffin/King classic “The Loco-Motion.”
On January 27, 2017 this oft-overlooked underdog of the Grand Funk catalog will be reissued by Marshall Blonstein’s Audio Fidelity label as a limited edition hybrid SACD. The enhanced Super Audio CD sound brings the best of the band to forefront of each song. The original vinyl album was packaged in a trippy psych-drenched 3-D sleeve with a pair of 3-D glasses embedded in the album front cover. The Audio Fidelity reissue reproduces the original 3-D sleeve and also includes a pair of 3-D glasses so that the listener can enjoy the songs and album artwork as originally intended.
Shinin' On track list:
1. Shinin’ On
2. To Get Back In
3. The Loco-Motion
4. Carry Me Through
5. Please Me
6. Mr. Pretty Boy
7. Getting’ Over You
8. Little Johnny Hooker
Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Grand Funk's Shinin' On
Friday, November 4, 2016
Santana’s “Lost” LP Lotus Gets Audio Fidelity Release
Don’t know how this one slipped passed me, but it did – evidently the pioneering classic rock band Santana released a very cool triple vinyl live set titled Lotus in 1974. Recorded at the Osaka Koseinenkin Hall in Osaka, Japan in 1973, the album was available exclusively in Japan until it was finally released on CD stateside in 1991 to little notice, and it’s languished in relative obscurity ever since, overshadowed by similar period studio albums like Caravanserai, Borboletta, and Welcome.
On November 25th, 2016 Santana’s Lotus will get the full Audio Fidelity treatment when it’s released by the noted audiophile label as a two-disc limited edition hybrid SACD. Touring in support of the band’s fifth album, Welcome, which itself featured the “New Santana Band” of guitarist Carlos Santana, bassist Doug Rauch, drummer Michael Shrieve, keyboardists Tom Coster and Richard Kermode, and percussionists Armando Peraza and Chepito Areas, Lotus documented the new line-up’s move towards a jazz-rock fusion sound that was influenced by artists like John Coltrane and John McLaughlin as well as Carlos’s then-new spiritual influences.
Featuring sparkling SACD sound, Lotus features performances of some of the band’s big hits like “Black Magic Woman” and “Oy Como Va” alongside extended instrumentals like “Incident at Neshabur” and “Toussaint L’Overture” that displayed the band’s immense virtuoso musical talents. Check out the complete Lotus track list below and then get over to Amazon.com to order your copy of this overlooked but otherwise excellent album.
Santana’s Lotus track list:
Disc One
Going Home
A-1 Funk
Every Step of the Way
Black Magic Woman
Gypsy Queen
Oye Como Va
Yours Is the Light
Batuka
Xibaba (She-Ba-Ba)
Stone Flower (Introduction)
Waiting
Castillos de Arena Part 1 (Sand Castle)
Free Angela
Samba de Sausalito
Disc Two
Mantra
Kyoto (Drum Solo)
Castillos de Arena Part 2 (Sand Castle)
Incident at Neshabur
Se a Cabo
Samba Pa Ti
Mr. Udo
Toussaint L'Overture
On November 25th, 2016 Santana’s Lotus will get the full Audio Fidelity treatment when it’s released by the noted audiophile label as a two-disc limited edition hybrid SACD. Touring in support of the band’s fifth album, Welcome, which itself featured the “New Santana Band” of guitarist Carlos Santana, bassist Doug Rauch, drummer Michael Shrieve, keyboardists Tom Coster and Richard Kermode, and percussionists Armando Peraza and Chepito Areas, Lotus documented the new line-up’s move towards a jazz-rock fusion sound that was influenced by artists like John Coltrane and John McLaughlin as well as Carlos’s then-new spiritual influences.
Featuring sparkling SACD sound, Lotus features performances of some of the band’s big hits like “Black Magic Woman” and “Oy Como Va” alongside extended instrumentals like “Incident at Neshabur” and “Toussaint L’Overture” that displayed the band’s immense virtuoso musical talents. Check out the complete Lotus track list below and then get over to Amazon.com to order your copy of this overlooked but otherwise excellent album.
Santana’s Lotus track list:
Disc One
Going Home
A-1 Funk
Every Step of the Way
Black Magic Woman
Gypsy Queen
Oye Como Va
Yours Is the Light
Batuka
Xibaba (She-Ba-Ba)
Stone Flower (Introduction)
Waiting
Castillos de Arena Part 1 (Sand Castle)
Free Angela
Samba de Sausalito
Disc Two
Mantra
Kyoto (Drum Solo)
Castillos de Arena Part 2 (Sand Castle)
Incident at Neshabur
Se a Cabo
Samba Pa Ti
Mr. Udo
Toussaint L'Overture
Friday, September 9, 2016
Get You Some O' This: Rock ‘N’ Rolla™ Portable Turntables
Yeah, a lot of ink and pixels have been spilled yammering on about the “return of vinyl” as if the beloved format actually went anywhere. The Reverend predicted this trend almost a decade ago with a pithy rant titled “Back To Mono,” so it’s no surprise to ‘moi’ that a new generation of music-lovin’ droogs has discovered the sound and tactile enjoyment of a vinyl record album and accompanying (large) color artwork.
As somebody who’s been buying vinyl for nearly a half-century now, I can attest to the need for a quality turntable to play one’s precious records on. I’ve owned several ‘tables through the years, with plans to add a Pro-Ject spinner from my buddy Mark at the Hi-Fi Lounge (gratuitous commercial plug!) when finances allow. I gotta admit, though, that these Rock ‘N’ Rolla™ Portable Briefcase Turntables seem like they’d be a heck of a lot of fun!
Rock ‘N’ Rolla™ turntables come in three distinct flavors (and price points), and are brought to you by a partnership between Marshall Bronstein, President of the Audio Fidelity record label that provides audio fanatics with high-quality vinyl and CD reissues, and Jonathan Kendrick, Chairman of the ROK Group, which includes U.S. wireless pioneer Rok Mobile – two wealthy guys trying to capitalize on the increased popularity of vinyl with some nifty lil’ boxes. I got no problems with that...
The turntables will be available in October, and include the Rock ‘N’ Rolla™ Jr, the Rock ‘N’ Rolla™ Premium, and the Rock ‘N’ Rolla™ XL models. The Jr. is the starter kit with two full-range dynamic speakers built into the unit; headphone and external speaker outputs; three-speed playback (33/45/78); three digital inputs including USB; and you can back up vinyl directly from the turntable to an SD memory card. The Jr. includes an AC power cord, is iOS and Android compatible, and comes in four colors – red, black, white, and teal blue – and sells for a staggeringly cheap-o $69.99 MSRP.
The Rock ‘N’ Rolla™ Premium includes all the aforementioned features of the Jr. as well as a rechargeable lithium battery pack, four digital inputs instead of three, Bluetooth, and will be available in several fashionable hues, including white with red straps and handle or with white straps and handle in hot pink, teal, or black with a suggested price of $99.99. The King Kong(™) of the Rock ‘N’ Rolla™ line is the XL model, which includes all of the above features plus a CD player tucked away in some hidey place. It includes an LCD display, and comes in basic black, white, cream, or red and can be yours for the low, LOW price of $149.99.
Retail being what it is, you can probably find one of these wax spinners for a good $10 - $15 below MSRP, and all models come with a twelve-month warranty. The Rock ‘N’ Rolla website isn’t up and running as of this writing, but you’ll eventually be able to grab one of these portable beauties from them, and probably a few other online retailers. The Rock ‘N’ Rolla™ isn’t meant to replace whatever medium-to-high end shaker box you have hooked up to your stereo, but as a portable option for spinning your 45s and a cool gadget to boot, it could be cool to add one to your musical arsenal.
Friday, June 3, 2016
Rage Against the Machine Debut gets Audio Fidelity release!
Depending on your age and musical perspective, rockers Rage Against the Machine are either to blame for the inexplicable commercial success of the rap-metal genre during the 1990s, with all that entails – Tool, the Deftones, Limp Bizkit (*shudder*) – or they were merely pioneers of a new hybrid style that rapidly went in the wrong direction.
No matter, ‘cause Rage’s self-titled 1992 debut album hit the ears of American rock ‘n’ rollas like a mortar blast. Featuring bombastic tracks like “Killing In The Name,” “Bullet In The Head,” “Bombtrack,” and “Freedom,” which offered frontman Zack de la Rocha’s machinegun vox, guitarist Tom Morello’s flamethrower fretwork, and a truly explosive rhythm section in bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk that re-defined the meaning of ‘heavy,’ the album quickly achieved triple Platinum™ sales status with over 3m flapjacks sold.
The Reverend remembers his first hearing of Rage Against the Machine – on a cross-country repo job, I was driving a fire-red pickup truck with dodgy provenance from Oakland to Nashville. I picked up a copy of the Rage Against the Machine album on cassette tape from a truckstop in Nevada, and blasted it full-tilted through that state, across Utah’s Salt Lake Desert, over the mountains of Colorado, and over the badlands of Kansas. On June 24th, 2016 Rage Against the Machine will receive a long-overdue (IMHO) upgrade when our esteemed friends at Marshall Blonstein’s Audio Fidelity reissues the album as a limited-edition, hybrid SACD.
The band’s energetic mix of punk furor and heavy metal thunder mixed with free-flowing, politically-charged, left-leaning rapped vocals was fresh, exciting, inciting, and seemingly laboratory-created to blast loudly from a car radio or shoulder-held boom box. Rage Against the Machine also included guest appearances by Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan and Jane’s Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins on the song “Know Your Enemy.” The album only rose as high as #45 on the Billboard magazine chart but would follow its critical acclaim with worldwide success, charting in the UK, Australia, Sweden, and Germany. The angry dynamics of Rage Against the Machine can only be enhanced with re-mastering and reissue in a high-resolution Super-Audio CD format.
Rage Against the Machine’s career was short, but groundbreaking in both influence and creativity. The band only released a total of four studio albums in eight years, with both their sophomore effort (1996’s Evil Empire) and third album (1999’s The Battle of Los Angeles) hitting number one in the US on their way to multi-Platinum™ sales. Even the band’s swansong, the covers album Renegades, rose to #14 on the charts and was subsequently awarded a Platinum™ Record.
Rage broke up in 2000, but has reunited sporadically for single shows and short tours; Morello is currently pursuing a solo career as ‘The Nighwatchman’ and has toured with Springsteen’s E Street Band while Wilk has been playing with Black Sabbath. It all began with that self-titled debut, a blockbuster album that was a true game-changer for rock ‘n’ roll!
Buy the SACD from Amazon.com: Rage Against the Machine's Rage Against the Machine
No matter, ‘cause Rage’s self-titled 1992 debut album hit the ears of American rock ‘n’ rollas like a mortar blast. Featuring bombastic tracks like “Killing In The Name,” “Bullet In The Head,” “Bombtrack,” and “Freedom,” which offered frontman Zack de la Rocha’s machinegun vox, guitarist Tom Morello’s flamethrower fretwork, and a truly explosive rhythm section in bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk that re-defined the meaning of ‘heavy,’ the album quickly achieved triple Platinum™ sales status with over 3m flapjacks sold.
The Reverend remembers his first hearing of Rage Against the Machine – on a cross-country repo job, I was driving a fire-red pickup truck with dodgy provenance from Oakland to Nashville. I picked up a copy of the Rage Against the Machine album on cassette tape from a truckstop in Nevada, and blasted it full-tilted through that state, across Utah’s Salt Lake Desert, over the mountains of Colorado, and over the badlands of Kansas. On June 24th, 2016 Rage Against the Machine will receive a long-overdue (IMHO) upgrade when our esteemed friends at Marshall Blonstein’s Audio Fidelity reissues the album as a limited-edition, hybrid SACD.
The band’s energetic mix of punk furor and heavy metal thunder mixed with free-flowing, politically-charged, left-leaning rapped vocals was fresh, exciting, inciting, and seemingly laboratory-created to blast loudly from a car radio or shoulder-held boom box. Rage Against the Machine also included guest appearances by Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan and Jane’s Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins on the song “Know Your Enemy.” The album only rose as high as #45 on the Billboard magazine chart but would follow its critical acclaim with worldwide success, charting in the UK, Australia, Sweden, and Germany. The angry dynamics of Rage Against the Machine can only be enhanced with re-mastering and reissue in a high-resolution Super-Audio CD format.
Rage Against the Machine’s career was short, but groundbreaking in both influence and creativity. The band only released a total of four studio albums in eight years, with both their sophomore effort (1996’s Evil Empire) and third album (1999’s The Battle of Los Angeles) hitting number one in the US on their way to multi-Platinum™ sales. Even the band’s swansong, the covers album Renegades, rose to #14 on the charts and was subsequently awarded a Platinum™ Record.
Rage broke up in 2000, but has reunited sporadically for single shows and short tours; Morello is currently pursuing a solo career as ‘The Nighwatchman’ and has toured with Springsteen’s E Street Band while Wilk has been playing with Black Sabbath. It all began with that self-titled debut, a blockbuster album that was a true game-changer for rock ‘n’ roll!
Buy the SACD from Amazon.com: Rage Against the Machine's Rage Against the Machine
Friday, July 24, 2015
Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Bird of Fire Gets Audio Fidelity Treatment
Along with Return to Forever and Weather Report, guitarist John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra were one of the creators and innovators of what we rockcrit types called – back in the 1970s – “jazz-rock fusion,” the combining of the two genres providing musicians with both the artistic innovation of improvisational jazz and the exploding freedom of rock ‘n’ roll music.
British-born McLaughlin was a veteran of both England’s R&B scene and the tumultuous U.S. jazz world of the ‘60s, making his bones playing with trailblazers like Graham Bond and Brian Auger before moving to the states and playing with Tony Williams’ Lifetime and Miles Davis. Forming the Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1971, McLaughlin enlisted a group of below-the-radar jazz and rock talents, the band including violinist Jerry Goodman (from The Flock), keyboardist Jan Hammer (who would later play with Jeff Beck), bassist Rick Laird, and drummer Billy Cobham (whose 1973 album Spectrum is itself a classic of jazz-rock fusion).
It was this talented musical roster that recorded Mahavishnu’s classic sophomore album, Birds of Fire. Released in early 1973, it was sadly the final studio album by this group (a live album with the original band members, Between Nothingness & Eternity, was released in late ’73). The follow-up to the band’s 1971 debut, The Inner Mounting Flame, Mahavishnu’s sophomore effort incorporated the primal rock ‘n’ roll energy of its predecessor with an ambitious, more experimental jazz edge that found an unlikely but adventure-seeking audience. Birds of Fire would peak at #15 on the Billboard albums chart (a feat no other Mahavishnu album would repeat, although subsequent releases would graze the Top 40.)
On August 21st, 2015 Marshall Blonstein’s Audio Fidelity label will provide Birds of Fire the deluxe sonic treatment it deserves when the label releases the album as a limited-edition Hybrid 4.0 Quad SACD. Mastering for the stereo CD and SACD was done by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, while Gus Skinas oversaw the 4.0 analog to hi-def DSD digital transfer. Audio Fidelity’s Hybrid Super Audio CDs offer three layers on the same disc – a single layer of two-channel stereo sound, a dual layer SACD, and a 4.0 Quadraphonic Surround Sound layer; the Audio Fidelity Hybrid SACDs are compatible with all standard CD players. Provided this sonic upgrade, Birds of Fire promises to sound better than ever, the album a classic gem of jazz-rock fusion.
Buy the SACD from Amazon.com: Mahavishnu Orchestra's Birds of Fire
Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Birds of Fire tracklist:
1. Birds of Fire
2. Miles Beyond (dedicated to Miles Davis)
3. Celestial Terrestrial Commuters
4. Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love
5. Thousand Island Park
6. Hope
7. One Word
8. Sanctuary
9. Open Country Joy
10. Resolution
British-born McLaughlin was a veteran of both England’s R&B scene and the tumultuous U.S. jazz world of the ‘60s, making his bones playing with trailblazers like Graham Bond and Brian Auger before moving to the states and playing with Tony Williams’ Lifetime and Miles Davis. Forming the Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1971, McLaughlin enlisted a group of below-the-radar jazz and rock talents, the band including violinist Jerry Goodman (from The Flock), keyboardist Jan Hammer (who would later play with Jeff Beck), bassist Rick Laird, and drummer Billy Cobham (whose 1973 album Spectrum is itself a classic of jazz-rock fusion).
It was this talented musical roster that recorded Mahavishnu’s classic sophomore album, Birds of Fire. Released in early 1973, it was sadly the final studio album by this group (a live album with the original band members, Between Nothingness & Eternity, was released in late ’73). The follow-up to the band’s 1971 debut, The Inner Mounting Flame, Mahavishnu’s sophomore effort incorporated the primal rock ‘n’ roll energy of its predecessor with an ambitious, more experimental jazz edge that found an unlikely but adventure-seeking audience. Birds of Fire would peak at #15 on the Billboard albums chart (a feat no other Mahavishnu album would repeat, although subsequent releases would graze the Top 40.)
On August 21st, 2015 Marshall Blonstein’s Audio Fidelity label will provide Birds of Fire the deluxe sonic treatment it deserves when the label releases the album as a limited-edition Hybrid 4.0 Quad SACD. Mastering for the stereo CD and SACD was done by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, while Gus Skinas oversaw the 4.0 analog to hi-def DSD digital transfer. Audio Fidelity’s Hybrid Super Audio CDs offer three layers on the same disc – a single layer of two-channel stereo sound, a dual layer SACD, and a 4.0 Quadraphonic Surround Sound layer; the Audio Fidelity Hybrid SACDs are compatible with all standard CD players. Provided this sonic upgrade, Birds of Fire promises to sound better than ever, the album a classic gem of jazz-rock fusion.
Buy the SACD from Amazon.com: Mahavishnu Orchestra's Birds of Fire
Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Birds of Fire tracklist:
1. Birds of Fire
2. Miles Beyond (dedicated to Miles Davis)
3. Celestial Terrestrial Commuters
4. Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love
5. Thousand Island Park
6. Hope
7. One Word
8. Sanctuary
9. Open Country Joy
10. Resolution
Sunday, April 19, 2015
Classic LPs by Joe Cocker & the Doors on SACD
Audio Fidelity main man Marshall Blonstein has been on a helluva roll lately, licensing all sorts of classic rock and blues discs for re-release as Super Audio CDs on his label. With this latest announcement, however, I think that Mr. Blonstein may have outdone himself. On June 2nd, 2015 Audio Fidelity will release The Best of the Doors and Joe Cocker’s With A Little Help From My Friends on hybrid SACD discs.
There have been numerous “hits” compilations released on legendary L.A. rockers the Doors, both before and after the mysterious death of band frontman Jim Morrison. The Best of the Doors LP that was released in 1973 is considered the best collection by far, a potent single-disc effort that features eleven tracks total, including seven of the band’s eight Top 40 hits. Audio Fidelity is reissuing The Best of the Doors as a limited edition, numbered Quadraphonic 4.0 multichannel hybrid SACD. The two-channel stereo and DSD layers of the SACD were re-mastered from the original two-track tapes, which became available for the first time since 1970.
The 4.0 Quad layer of The Best of the Doors mirrors the earlier CD-4 QuadraDisc format, and the original Quadraphonic eight-track and reel-to-reel tapes. Rather than use the 1973 master as their source for these songs, Audio Fidelity preferred to use the original two-track master tapes of the band’s eight studio albums released between 1967 and 1971, providing the listener with the cleanest and most honest sound possible. The material deserves such white glove treatment, too, with songs like “Hello, I Love You,” “Soul Kitchen,” “Riders On The Storm,” “Love Her Madly,” and “Light My Fire” (all on The Best of the Doors) rightfully considered bona fide rock classics.
The other June release from Audio Fidelity is equally impressive. In honor of legendary British vocalist Joe Cocker’s death last December, the label is releasing the singer’s 1969 debut album, With A Little Help From My Friends, as a hybrid SACD. Backed by longtime stalwarts the Grease Band – which featured the talented guitarist Henry McCullough and keyboardist Chris Stainton – Cocker also had a few famous “friends” drop by the studio to help with the record, including guitarists Jimmy Page and Albert Lee, keyboardists Steve Winwood and Matthew Fischer (Procol Harum), and a heavenly choir that included backing singers Merry Clayton and Madeline Bell.
Cocker had already enjoyed a number one hit in the U.K. with his 1968 cover of the Beatles’ “With A Little Help From My Friends,” but the critically-acclaimed mix of rock, blues, and soul found on his full-length debut yielded a Top 40 hit in a cover of Dave Mason’s “Feeling Alright” while the album peaked at #35 on the U.S. charts and #29 in the U.K. Aside from the two hits, With A Little Help From My Friends features an inspired mix of covers like Dylan’s “Just Like A Woman” and “I Shall Be Released” and the Animals’ hit “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” as well as underrated originals written by Cocker and Stainton like “Marjorine” and “Sandpaper Cadillac.” If you haven’t heard Cocker’s soulful wail, this is the album to start with!
Buy the CDs from Amazon.com:
The Doors' The Best of the Doors SACD
Joe Cocker's With a Little Help From My Friends SACD
There have been numerous “hits” compilations released on legendary L.A. rockers the Doors, both before and after the mysterious death of band frontman Jim Morrison. The Best of the Doors LP that was released in 1973 is considered the best collection by far, a potent single-disc effort that features eleven tracks total, including seven of the band’s eight Top 40 hits. Audio Fidelity is reissuing The Best of the Doors as a limited edition, numbered Quadraphonic 4.0 multichannel hybrid SACD. The two-channel stereo and DSD layers of the SACD were re-mastered from the original two-track tapes, which became available for the first time since 1970.
The 4.0 Quad layer of The Best of the Doors mirrors the earlier CD-4 QuadraDisc format, and the original Quadraphonic eight-track and reel-to-reel tapes. Rather than use the 1973 master as their source for these songs, Audio Fidelity preferred to use the original two-track master tapes of the band’s eight studio albums released between 1967 and 1971, providing the listener with the cleanest and most honest sound possible. The material deserves such white glove treatment, too, with songs like “Hello, I Love You,” “Soul Kitchen,” “Riders On The Storm,” “Love Her Madly,” and “Light My Fire” (all on The Best of the Doors) rightfully considered bona fide rock classics.
The other June release from Audio Fidelity is equally impressive. In honor of legendary British vocalist Joe Cocker’s death last December, the label is releasing the singer’s 1969 debut album, With A Little Help From My Friends, as a hybrid SACD. Backed by longtime stalwarts the Grease Band – which featured the talented guitarist Henry McCullough and keyboardist Chris Stainton – Cocker also had a few famous “friends” drop by the studio to help with the record, including guitarists Jimmy Page and Albert Lee, keyboardists Steve Winwood and Matthew Fischer (Procol Harum), and a heavenly choir that included backing singers Merry Clayton and Madeline Bell. Cocker had already enjoyed a number one hit in the U.K. with his 1968 cover of the Beatles’ “With A Little Help From My Friends,” but the critically-acclaimed mix of rock, blues, and soul found on his full-length debut yielded a Top 40 hit in a cover of Dave Mason’s “Feeling Alright” while the album peaked at #35 on the U.S. charts and #29 in the U.K. Aside from the two hits, With A Little Help From My Friends features an inspired mix of covers like Dylan’s “Just Like A Woman” and “I Shall Be Released” and the Animals’ hit “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” as well as underrated originals written by Cocker and Stainton like “Marjorine” and “Sandpaper Cadillac.” If you haven’t heard Cocker’s soulful wail, this is the album to start with!
Buy the CDs from Amazon.com:
The Doors' The Best of the Doors SACD
Joe Cocker's With a Little Help From My Friends SACD
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Audio Fidelity’s Legends – The Ultimate Rock Collection
Audio Fidelity has earned a reputation for the company’s carefully-crafted 24k gold compact discs, which precisely and perfectly capture the original sound of the music. Yeah, they cost twice that of a normal CD, but what you’re getting is a defect-free 24 karat gold-plated disc mastered from the original analog master tapes and pressed from a laser-etched glass master. It’s a high-tech process, Bunkie, and an Audio Fidelity 24k disc offers up the music the way that it was supposed to be heard.
On June 3rd, 2014 Audio Fidelity will make the move into compilation albums with the release of two Legends volumes as hybrid SACDs. The Legends series is based on the old Time Life album series, but fancied up as only Audio Fidelity can do. The first two titles – Crank It Up! and Get It On! – are both seventeen-song collections of some of the best classic rock tunes, re-mastered for the first time for these special hybrid SACD releases. While most compilation albums of this sort are put together using the highly-compressed radio edits of songs, Audio Fidelity took the time to dig up the best available individual master recordings of each song for the Legends series.
Although the hardcore collector most likely has their favorite among the songs on these two Legends albums, for the casual fan or young fanatic looking to get some classic rock into their life, this is the way to hear these tracks. The two volumes include classic tunes from the Grateful Dead, the Rascals, Little Feat, Buffalo Springfield, Deep Purple, The Doors, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and many others. Full track listing for each album below.
Crank It Up! Tracklist:
1. Chicago – “Does Anybody Really Know”
2. The Doobie Brothers – “Listen To the Music”
3. The Rascals – “Good Lovin'”
4. Rod Stewart – “Tonight's the Night”
5. Jackson Browne – “Running On Empty”
6. Phil Collins – “In the Air Tonight”
7. The Zombies – “Time of the Season”
8. Ace – “How Long”
9. Little Feat – “Dixie Chicken”
10. Grateful Dead – “Truckin'”
11. Stephen Stills – “Love the One You're With”
12. Buffalo Springfield – “For What It's Worth”
13. America – “Sister Golden Hair”
14. The Pretenders – “Back On the Chain Gang”
15. Foreigner – “Feels Like the First Time”
16. Elton John – “Daniel”
17. The Moody Blues – “Nights In White Satin”
Get It On! Tracklist:
1. The Troggs – “Wild Thing”
2. Deep Purple – “Smoke On the Water”
3. Norman Greenboum – “Spirit In the Sky”
4. T. Rex – “Bang A Gong (Get It On)”
5. Fleetwood Mac – “Go Your Own Way”
6. Manfred Mann's Earth Band – “Blinded By the Light”
7. Eric Burdon and War – “Spill the Wine”
8. The Kinks – “Lola” (live)
9. The Doors – “Light My Fire”
10. Foghat – “Slow Ride”
11. Alice Cooper – “School's Out”
12. Brownsville Station – “Smokin' In the Boy's Room”
13. The Doobie Brothers – “China Grove”
14. Foreigner – “Hot Blooded”
15. Bad Company – “Can't Get Enough”
16. Lynyrd Skynyrd – “Free Bird”
17. Greatful Dead – “Casey Jones”
The company offers its 24k CDs, hybrid SACDs, and 180 gram virgin vinyl reissues through the Audio Fidelity website and also offers subscriptions so that members can buy at a discount.
Buy the CDs from Amazon.com:
Legends: Crank It Up
Legends: Get It on
On June 3rd, 2014 Audio Fidelity will make the move into compilation albums with the release of two Legends volumes as hybrid SACDs. The Legends series is based on the old Time Life album series, but fancied up as only Audio Fidelity can do. The first two titles – Crank It Up! and Get It On! – are both seventeen-song collections of some of the best classic rock tunes, re-mastered for the first time for these special hybrid SACD releases. While most compilation albums of this sort are put together using the highly-compressed radio edits of songs, Audio Fidelity took the time to dig up the best available individual master recordings of each song for the Legends series.
Although the hardcore collector most likely has their favorite among the songs on these two Legends albums, for the casual fan or young fanatic looking to get some classic rock into their life, this is the way to hear these tracks. The two volumes include classic tunes from the Grateful Dead, the Rascals, Little Feat, Buffalo Springfield, Deep Purple, The Doors, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and many others. Full track listing for each album below.
Crank It Up! Tracklist:
1. Chicago – “Does Anybody Really Know”
2. The Doobie Brothers – “Listen To the Music”
3. The Rascals – “Good Lovin'”
4. Rod Stewart – “Tonight's the Night”
5. Jackson Browne – “Running On Empty”
6. Phil Collins – “In the Air Tonight”
7. The Zombies – “Time of the Season”
8. Ace – “How Long”
9. Little Feat – “Dixie Chicken”
10. Grateful Dead – “Truckin'”
11. Stephen Stills – “Love the One You're With”
12. Buffalo Springfield – “For What It's Worth”
13. America – “Sister Golden Hair”
14. The Pretenders – “Back On the Chain Gang”
15. Foreigner – “Feels Like the First Time”
16. Elton John – “Daniel”
17. The Moody Blues – “Nights In White Satin”
Get It On! Tracklist:
1. The Troggs – “Wild Thing”
2. Deep Purple – “Smoke On the Water”
3. Norman Greenboum – “Spirit In the Sky”
4. T. Rex – “Bang A Gong (Get It On)”
5. Fleetwood Mac – “Go Your Own Way”
6. Manfred Mann's Earth Band – “Blinded By the Light”
7. Eric Burdon and War – “Spill the Wine”
8. The Kinks – “Lola” (live)
9. The Doors – “Light My Fire”
10. Foghat – “Slow Ride”
11. Alice Cooper – “School's Out”
12. Brownsville Station – “Smokin' In the Boy's Room”
13. The Doobie Brothers – “China Grove”
14. Foreigner – “Hot Blooded”
15. Bad Company – “Can't Get Enough”
16. Lynyrd Skynyrd – “Free Bird”
17. Greatful Dead – “Casey Jones”
The company offers its 24k CDs, hybrid SACDs, and 180 gram virgin vinyl reissues through the Audio Fidelity website and also offers subscriptions so that members can buy at a discount.
Buy the CDs from Amazon.com:
Legends: Crank It Up
Legends: Get It on
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