New Music Monthly: June 2018 Releases

May was a pretty good month for new releases, but it pales in comparison to the slate of new tunes we have in store for June. Plus, the month has five release Fridays, which means more music for all of us! You'll find new albums from British rock legends Roger Daltrey (The Who) and Wilko Johnson (Dr. Feelgood) on the shelves this month, as well as new music by blues legend Buddy Guy, Pete Yorn (with actress/singer Scarlett Johansson), Ray Davies, Jim James, Howlin' Rain, and Arthur Buck (a collaboration between singer/songwriter Joseph Arthur and former R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck.

And for those of us with a "classic" orientation, how about archival releases from Mick Ronson, Junior Byles, Dennis Coffey, the Posies, and Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention or vinyl reissues of classic LPs from Liz Phair, Buddy Guy, and Junior Wells?

If we wrote about it here on the site, there will be a link to it in the album title; if you want an album, hit the 'Buy!' link to get it from Amazon.com...it's just that damn easy! Your purchase puts money in the Reverend's pocket that he'll use to buy more music to write about in a never-ending loop of rock 'n' roll ecstasy!

JUNE 1
Neko Case - Hell-On   BUY!
Roger Daltrey - As Long As I Have You   BUY!
Father John Misty - God's Favorite Customer   BUY!
Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson - Apart   BUY!

JUNE 8
Eric Clapton - Life In 12 Bars OST   BUY!
Dennis Coffey - One Night at Morey's, 1968   BUY!
Howlin Rain - The Alligator Bride   BUY!
Liz Phair - Liz Phair [vinyl reissue]   BUY!
Liz Phair - Whip-Smart [vinyl reissue]   BUY!
Liz Phair - Whitechocolatespaceegg [vinyl reissue]   BUY!
Gruff Rhys - Bablesberg   BUY!
Mick Ronson - Beside Bowie: The Mick Ronson Story OST   BUY!
Various Artists - Ska & Reggae Classics (Trojan Records)   BUY!

JUNE 15
Arthur Buck - Arthur Buck [Joseph Arthur & Peter Buck]   BUY!
Junior Byles - Rasta No Pickpocket   BUY!
Gene Clark - Gene Clark Sings For You   BUY!
English Beat - Here We Go Love   BUY!
Ethiopian & Gladiators - Dread Prophecy   BUY!
Buddy Guy - The Blues Is Alive and Well   BUY!
Wilko Johnson - Blow Your Mind   BUY!
Johnny Marr - Call the Comet   BUY!
The Posies - Dear 23   BUY!
The Rose Garden - A Trip Through the Garden (w/Gene Clark)   BUY!
Mark Wenner's Blues Warrriors - Mark Wenner's Blues Warriors   BUY!

JUNE 22
Nine Inch Nails - Bad Witch   BUY!
Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention - Burnt Weeny Sandwich [vinyl reissue]   BUY!
Various Artists - This Is Trojan Roots (Trojan Records)   BUY! 

JUNE 29
Ray Davies - Out Country: Americana Act II   BUY!
Florence + the Machine - High As Hope   BUY!
Buddy Guy - A Man and the Blues [vinyl reissue]  BUY!
Jim James - Uniform Distortion   BUY!
Junior Wells - Coming At You [vinyl reissue]   BUY!

Album of the Month: It may be a controversial pick in a month that includes new LPs from Roger Daltrey, Neko Case, and Ray Davies, but Wilko Johnson's Blow Your Mind is the British rock legend's first studio album in 30 years, and the follow-up to his Daltrey collaboration Going Back Home. Read more about it here... 

More Classic Reggae from Omnivore: Junior Byles, Ethiopian & Gladiators

Omnivore Recordings has been crushing it since buying the catalog of the legendary reggae label Nighthawk Records a year or so ago. The first pair of Nighthawk titles, released at the end of 2017, were the Gladiators’ Full Time and a very cool, previously-unreleased Ethiopian & His Allstars’ album titled The Return of Jack Sparrow.

Two more titles, both critically-acclaimed albums by Gladiators, were released in April 2018. Now Omnivore has announced another pair of acclaimed reggae albums, which will be released on CD and as digital downloads on June 22, 2018 – Ethiopian & Gladiators’ Dread Prophecy and Junior Byles’ Rasta No Pickpocket.

Leonard Dillon, a/k/a Ethiopian a/k/a Jack Sparrow first met Albert Griffiths of the Gladiators back in the mid-1960s. Dillion had already formed the Ethiopians and had been working in the studio with legendary reggae producer Coxsone Dodd for his Channel One label. The sessions inspired a musical collaboration between Dillon and Griffiths, who would later form the Gladiators, the pair recording the classic “Train To Skaville” single.

The Ethiopians were one of the most popular bands in Jamaica during the late 1960s and into the early ‘70s while the Gladiators hit their creative and commercial peak during the late 1970s and the early ‘80s. A recording session in 1986 for Nighthawk Records reunited Dillon with Griffiths and the Gladiators, which resulted in the classic roots-reggae album Dread Prophecy.

Meanwhile, reggae singer Junior Byles formed the vocal group the Versatiles in 1967, recording with noted producers Lee “Scratch” Perry and Joe Gibbs, resulting in the hit single “Children Get Ready.” When the Versatiles split up in 1970, Byles continued to record as a solo artist for Perry, garnering a minor hit with the song “What’s The World Coming To,” released as ‘King Chubby,’ Byles’ nickname. Byles continued to record numerous singles for Perry, including classics like “Cutting Razor,” “Place Called Africa,” and “Rasta No Pickpocket” which made Byles a major star in Jamaica.

Byles suffered from mental illness, however, and moved in and out of sanitariums during the late 1970s and early ‘80s. The artist scored a final hit with the Joe Gibbs-produced “Heart & Soul.” His session for Nighthawk Records was arranged by Byles’ longtime friend Niney the Observer, which resulted in his final album, 1986’s Rasta No Pickpocket. He released a handful of singles during the rest of the decade and would end up homeless, begging in the streets.

Byles would return to performing in the late ‘90s, though, and would travel to the U.K. for a short tour in 2004. The Omnivore release of Rasta No Pickpocket is the first time the album has appeared on CD, remastered from the original tapes and including bonus tracks.

Buy the CDs from Amazon.com:
Ethiopian & Gladiators’ Dread Prophecy
Junior Byles’ Rasta No Pickpocket

New Music Monthly: April 2018 Releases

April showers bring May flowers and all that hogwash...here in the frozen tundra of WNY, we'd be satisfied if the temperature would get above freezing for more than a day or two at a time. Oh well, maybe in July...but while we're waiting for our tulips to bloom, April brings another bounty of great music, including the long-anticipated CD release of King Gizard & the Lizard Wizard's Gumboot Soup album, as well as new music from King Tuff, John Prine, bluesman Ian Siegal, King Crimson, and the Melvins as well as reissues and archive releases by Doug Sahm, Steve Wynn, reggae legends the Gladiators, and the magnificent Webb Wilder!

If we wrote about it here on the site, there'll be a link to it in the album title; if you want an album, hit the 'Buy!' link to get it from Amazon.com...it's just that damn easy! Your purchase puts money in the Reverend's pocket that he'll use to buy more music to write about in a never-ending loop of rock 'n' roll ecstasy!

APRIL 6
Eels - The Deconstruction   BUY!
King Crimson - Live In Vienna, December 1st, 2016   BUY!
Manic Street Preachers - Resistance Is Futile   BUY!
Ian Siegal - All the Rage   BUY!
Wye Oak - The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs   BUY!

APRIL 13
Sandy Bull - Steel Tears   BUY!
The Damned - Evil Spirits  BUY!
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Gumboot Soup   BUY!
King Tuff - The Other   BUY!
John Prine - The Tree of Forgiveness   BUY!
Doug Sahm - Live From Austin, TX [vinyl reissue]   BUY!
Sir Douglas Quintet - Live From Austin, TX [vinyl reissue]   BUY!

APRIL 20
A Perfect Circle - Eat the Elephant  BUY!
Marcia Ball - Shine Bright   BUY!
Black Stone Cherry - Family Tree   BUY!
Gladiators - Serious Thing [reissue]   BUY!
Gladiators - Symbol of Reality [reissue]   BUY!
Lord Huron - Vide Noir   BUY!
Melvins - Pinkus Abortion Technician   BUY!
Tangerine Dream - Quantum Gate/Quantum Key   BUY!

APRIL 27
Humble Pie - Office Bootleg Box Set, Vol. 2   BUY!
Okkervil River - In the Rainbow Rain   BUY!
Tom Rush - Voices   BUY!
Chris Squire - Fish Out of Water [deluxe box set]   BUY!
Webb Wilder & the Beatnecks - Powerful Stuff!   BUY!
Steve Wynn - Dazzling Display [reissue]   BUY!
Steve Wynn - Kerosene Man [reissue]   BUY!

 

Album of the Month: Webb Wilder and the Beatnecks' Powerful Stuff! Nashville's favorite son (and an old pal of the Reverend's) gets a long overdue odds 'n' sods collection of studio and live tracks dating from 1985 through 1993 and featuring special guests like Al Kooper. Check it out!

Two Classic Reggae Reissues from the Gladiators

Late last year, the esteemed archival label Omnivore Recordings announced that it had acquired the back catalog of the Nighthawk Records label, which was good news indeed for hardcore reggae fans. Among the bands recording for the long-gone but revered Nighthawk imprint was the Gladiators, a legendary Jamaican outfit founded by talented singer and guitarist Albert Griffiths way back in the 1960s (long before any of us had heard of Bob Marley and the Wailers). Throughout the 1970s and ‘80s, the Gladiators released a string of acclaimed albums for various labels, including several late ‘70s discs for the British Virgin Records imprint.

Nighthawk Records was formed in St. Louis in 1976 and originally released a handful of post-WWII blues compilations before re-focusing on reggae by 1980. Before closing the doors in the ‘90s, Nighthawk had released classic reggae albums by the Itals, Justin Hinds, the Morwells and, yes, the Gladiators as well as a number of vinyl collections that compiled rare reggae singles seldom heard outside of Jamaica.

The band’s association with Nighthawk Records was a fruitful one, the Gladiators releasing a pair of classic LPs for the label in 1982’s Symbol of Reality and 1984’s Serious Thing. On April 20th, 2018 Omnivore Recordings will reissue both albums on CD, remastered and with expanded track lists. This is the second wave of Nighthawk reissues from Omnivore, the first including the Gladiators’ 1995 compilation LP Full Time and the previously-unreleased Ethiopian & His All Stars’ album The Return of Jack Sparrow. Both the Gladiators’ Symbol of Reality and Serious Thing are being reissued with previously-unreleased bonus tracks.

With Symbol of Reality, the band’s Nighthawk Records label debut, the Gladiators revisited their own back catalog, re-recording songs like “Dreadlocks the Time Is Now” (as “Streets of Gold”) and “Big Boo Boo Deh” (renamed “Cheater”). They also recorded a pair of Bob Marley tunes in “Small Axe” and “Stand Alone.” The Omnivore reissue includes the original ten-song LP as well as the two bonus tracks that appeared on the previous 1997 CD reissue, as well as four unissued tracks. For Serious Thing, the band added more social commentary to their material, including topical original songs like “Freedom Train” and “My Thoughts” along with re-recordings of vintage tunes like “Rearrange” and “Fling It Gimme.” This reissue also includes six previously-unreleased bonus tracks, including dub versions like “My Thoughts Instrumental Dub” and “Good Foundation Dub.”

According to Griffiths, quoted in a press release for the new reissues, “Dread is me culture, know wha’ I mean? Me could not a sing reggae music and really be a man that trim. Ha fe be a dread. When I say dread, a Rastaman, know wha’ I mean? I ha fe dread because every song that I sing is dread. The way I sing it is dread. Yeah, the music itself dread . . . A real reggae singer ha fe be forceful. A forceful reggae singer will always survive. Reggae music, man – it might look simple, but it naw so simple, you know. You ha fe ready and you ha fe ready with the punch. You ha fe ready to attack and very swift. You see a karate man punch a man, you know, and move again. Well it’s just same way reggae. You ha fe tense your body to sing reggae.”

Buy the CDs from Amazon.com:
The Gladiators’ Symbol of Reality
The Gladiators’ Serious Thing

Short Rounds: Ethiopian & His All Stars, Gladiators, Moloch & Phil Seymour (2018)

New album releases in 150 words or less…

Ethiopian & His All Stars – The Return of Jack Sparrow (Omnivore Recordings)
Singer Leonard Dillon (“Jack Sparrow”) was frontman of 1960s-era reggae group the Ethiopians, which experienced some success in Jamaica. By the late ‘70s, tho’, Dillon was a solo artist then known as the Ethiopian and 1987’s The Return of Jack Sparrow (the title a callback to his original nickname) was recorded with the cream of the island’s instrumentalists, but never released when the label ran out of cash. Omnivore Recordings recently grabbed up the Nighthawk Records catalog and promptly released the LP for the first time. A hearty blend of traditional reggae, ska, and dub remixes – including remakes of several Ethiopian tracks –Dillon’s voice is in fine form here, whether revisiting his foot-shuffling hit “Train To Skaville” or trying out new material like the mesmerizing “Straight On Rastafari” or the R&B-tinged “Slender Thread.” The intermittent dub versions of songs provide a welcome shot of adrenaline to a pleasingly laid-back collection. Grade: A   BUY IT!

Gladiators – Full Time (Omnivore Recordings)
As part of their restoration of the Nighthawk Records catalog, Omnivore has rescued the Gladiators’ 1995 Full Time LP from obscurity and making it available to a larger audience. A compilation of sorts culled from the band’s trio of ‘80s-era albums for the defunct reggae label, Full Time is nevertheless a solid collection of mesmerizing, dub-tinged reggae. Fronted by singer/guitarist Albert Griffiths, whose pipes remind of Peter Tosh from that other reggae outfit, Gladiators’ performances often feature vocal harmonies provided by bassist Clinton Fearon and guitarist Gallimore Sutherland. With Clinton Rufus providing subtle albeit innovative lead guitar and with a solid rhythm section, Gladiators prove with tunes like “Ship Without A Captain,” the transcendent “One Love,” or the gorgeous “I’m Not Crying” that they were a self-contained, creative, cutting-edge reggae harmony band on par with the Mighty Diamonds or the pre-stardom Wailers.  Grade: A   BUY IT!

Moloch – Moloch (Stax Records)
Like Motown attempted with their Rare Earth imprint, so too did Memphis soul giants Stax Records try to grab some of that sweet rock ‘n’ roll cash with recordings from Big Star and UK progsters Skin Alley released on their Enterprise subsidiary. Local lads Moloch, featuring phenomenal guitarist Lee Baker, released a single self-titled 1969 album for Enterprise that went nowhere, disappearing until this über-cool 2016 vinyl reissue. A hard-rockin’ blues band, Moloch transcended the Clapton/Cream blueprint by incorporating Fred Nicholson’s uranium-weight keyboards into songs years before Deep Purple or Uriah Heep. Baker cranks molten riffs while singer Gene Wilkins does his best Jack Bruce impersonation on a rock-solid collection of bluesy jams penned by producer Don Nix, a Memphis legend. Moloch’s performance of Nix’s “Going Down” offers an incendiary, exotic reading that stands proud among a thousand covers. Period blues-rock fans will dig this overlooked relic of the era. Grade: A   BUY IT!

Phil Seymour – Prince of Power Pop (Big Beat Records)
Phil Seymour was an integral part of power-pop legends the Dwight Twilley Band, singing and co-writing with longtime friend Twilley. Breaking up after Shelter Records crashed and burned after just two albums, Seymour launched a modestly successful solo career mining much the same ‘60s-influenced pop-rock musical territory as his former band. Seymour scored a Top 30 hit with the lovely “Precious To Me” from his 1980 solo debut, faring less well when his 1982 sophomore effort fell victim to Boardwalk Records falling apart. Prince of Power Pop is a fine tho’ incomplete career retrospective that includes just six songs from Seymour’s debut and only two from his second LP. The selling point here is eleven previously-unreleased tracks recorded in 1980 with Seymour’s touring band, all of ‘em red-hot and ready to rock; covers of Bobby Fuller’s “Let Her Dance” and Twilley’s “Looking For The Magic” should-have-been monster radio hits. Grade: B+   BUY IT!

Previously on That Devil Music:
Short Rounds, December 2017 - Flat Duo Jets, Focus, The Original Blues Brothers Band, Uriah Heep & John Wetton
Short Rounds, November 2017 - Tommy Castro, NRBQ, Radio Moscow & the Replacements
Short Rounds, October 2017 - Action Skulls, Arthur Adams, the Nighthawks & UFO 

Omnivore Acquires Soul & Reggae Labels

Take a gander at the Omnivore Recordings website and you’ll find plenty of examples of how the archival label has spun gold out of long-lost recordings by rockers like Big Star, Bash & Pop, and Game Theory as well as singer-songwriters like Peter Case, Linda Perhacs, and Tim Buckley, among many others. So it would seem that Omnivore’s recent acquisition of the back catalogs of soul label Ru-Jac Records and reggae imprint Nighthawk Records is a bit out of their comfort zone. Given the past commitment to excellence shown by the label for its archive releases, I’m willing to provide Omnivore with the benefit of the doubt.

The initial releases from Omnivore’s acquisition of Nighthawk Records will include the Gladiators’ 1995 album Full Time and the previously-unreleased The Return of Jack Sparrow by Ethiopian & His All Stars. Both albums will be released on December 15, 2017. Nighthawk Records was founded in St. Louis in 1976 and originally released several acclaimed post-WWII blues compilations. The label changed gears to focus on reggae by 1980 and would release albums by reggae legends like the Itals, Gladiators (and their singer Albert Griffiths), Justin Hinds, and others, before closing up shop in the ‘90s.

Gladiators’ Full Time is an excellent twelve-song compilation of session outtakes from the band’s handful of albums for Nighthawk, remastered from the original master tapes. We can only hope that Omnivore chooses to reissue Nighthawk’s 1980 compilation album Wiser Dread, an incredible sampler of some of Jamaica’s best music. The Nighthawk catalog releases will be co-produced by Omnivore’s Grammy® Award-winning producer Cheryl Pawelski and Nighthawk co-founder Leroy Jodie Pierson, who will also provide updated liner notes and rare photos for the reissues.

On January 19, 2018 Omnivore will release Something Got a Hold on Me: The Ru-Jac Records Story Vol. 1, 1963-1964 and Get Right: The Ru-Jac Records Story Volume 2, 1964-1966. The former album features 28 tracks, 10 of them previously-unreleased, including performances by Winfield Parker, Flattop Bobby & the Soul Twisters, Brenda Jones, Jolly Jax, and Jessie Crawford while the latter album offers 22 tracks, eight of them unreleased, including singles by Brenda Jones, Shirley of the Soul Sisters & Brother, Harold Holt, The Mask Man & The Cap-Tans, and Bobby Sax & His House Keepers, as well as newly-discovered demos by soul giant Arthur Conley. Subsequent volumes of the Ru-Jac Records story will be released on February 2, 2018.

Founded in 1963 by Baltimore promoter Rufus Mitchell and his partner Jack Bennett, Ru-Jac Records primarily released regional soul and R&B singles from ’63 through the mid-‘70s. Omnivore has already enjoyed success with previous releases by two of Ru-Jac’s brightest stars, Winfield Parker and the duo of Gene & Eddie. Parker will help oversee production of the Ru-Jac albums, which are co-produced by Pawelski and soul music historian Kevin Coombe, who also provides liner note for the releases, which will also feature rare photos.

In a press release for the new releases, Omnivore co-founder Cheryl Pawelski says, “we are so pleased to be the custodians of these wonderful recordings and songs. It is deeply meaningful to all at Omnivore to be entrusted with the preservation of these labels so we may introduce new audiences to the music they hold.”

Buy the CDs from Amazon.com:
Gladiators’ Full Time
Ethiopian & His All Stars’ The Return of Jack Sparrow