Reissues Edition Volume 1 - Elton John, The Black Crowes and More
Labels continue to scour their vaults for great titles to reissue on vinyl or release on vinyl for the first time ever. We spin some of this wax from Elton John, Sonny Rollins, Carl Perkins and The Black Crowes.
Elton John - Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy 50th Anniversary Edition - (2-LP, multicolor vinyl)
Wow, this concept album that's ostensibly about Elton and his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin has hit the 50-year mark. And in honor of the record being half a century old and going strong, the record label has gone all out to give fans and collectors a really great vinyl collectible. The album was an undeniable smash that entered the charts at #1 the day it came out with the hit single "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" also being very successful and peaking at #22. The effort also contains favorites like "Tell Me When the Whistle Blows," "Tower of Babel," dramatic closing cut "Curtains" and of course the album's title track. Beyond the fabulous original album this edition also includes a second disc filled with previously-unreleased material including half a dozen demos that show how cuts like "Writing," "Bitter Fingers," "Tell Me When the Whistle Blows" and "We All Fall in Love Sometimes" developed in the studio; also included here are two takes on "Captain Fantastic." To top it all off there are four cuts recorded live in 2005 with the Voice of Atlanta Choir: "Someone Saved My Life Tonight," "(Gotta Get a) Meal Ticket," "Better Off Dead" and "We All Fall in Love Sometimes/Curtains." Packaged in a gatefold jacket with the trippy original album art and photos of Elton, Bernie and the band inside, this collectible also includes "Story," a lavish, 12" x 12" scrapbook-style booklet with Elton's 1974 diary entries, photos and illustrations and credits. The (swirled) colored vinyl is the icing on the already delicious cake.
Carl Perkins - Dance Album of Carl Perkins - (LP, Mono, 45 RPM)
One of the fathers of rock 'n' roll, the music of Carl Perkins had an especially strong pull on the music of the Beatles, who recorded many of the songs included here and otherwise performed the rest of the song selection during rehearsals and studio warm-ups. This album from 1957 begins with one of the most-beloved of all of Perkins' songs, the oft-covered (including by Elvis) "Blue Suede Shoes," a cut that Carl used to save for the last song in his live performances. Side One also holds "Movie Magg," a little country crooning in the slow dance of "Sure to Fall," the hiccupping rockabilly of "Gone, Gone, Gone," the twangy rocker "Honey Don't" and the understated love song "Only You." The flip side begins with the swinging "Tennesee" before moving into the fast dance with the funny lyrics that is "Wrong Yo Yo," the self-worshipping of "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" ("15 women knocking at my door..."), another much covered favorite in "Matchbox" and album closers "Your True Love" and the self-explanatory "Boppin' the Blues." Cut to vinyl from the master tapes for the first time in decades, the album is pressed on modern 180 gram vinyl and packaged in a retro old style jacket. The included insert features a new essay from Colin Escott.
Sonny Rollins - "Alfie" Original Music from the Score - (Gatefold jacket)
Recorded in early 1966, this album features the beloved tenor sax player presenting about 35-minutes of music across six songs, all of which he composed. The centerpiece of the album is the gently swinging album opener, "Alfie's Theme" where many in his large band get to solo; drummer Frankie Dunlop is the first player to be heard with guitarist Kenny Burrell and pianist Roger Kellaway taking solos between blasts of all the horns (two trombonists and three additional sax players) and lengthy, mesmerizing Rollins solos. Running a little over 10-minutes, "Alfie's Theme" is about a third of the entire program. While the opening theme is a buoyant mover, Side 1 wraps with the understated "He's Younger Than You Are," a showcase for Rollins where the band is backed by an orchestra conducted by Oliver Nelson and where Kellaway again has a solo, this time much more sedate. Rollins begins Side 2 by taking listeners to the jazz nightclub where he blows up a storm on "Street Runner With Child" but tunes into a mellower mood for "Transition Theme for Minor Blues or Little Malcolm Loves His Dad," again featuring Burrell on guitar and Kellaway on piano. "On Impulse" is perhaps the most sublime groove on the album and Side 2 closes with "Alfie's Theme Differently," a shorter and slightly punchier version of the song that began the album. Other sidemen here include Jimmy Cleveland, J.J. Johnson, Phil Woods, Bob Ashton, Danny Bank and Walter Booker.
The Black Crowes - Amorica. - (2-LP, 180 gram clear vinyl, gatefold jacket)
The Black Crowes were flying high when
Amorica. was released, coming off their smash debut
Shake Your Money Maker and its follow-up, the #1 hit album
The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion. Not quite as successful as their first two albums,
Amorica. still charted at #11 even though three singles failed to chart. The whole album has been remastered for this release and those singles, the sassy "A Conspiracy," the funky mash-up of War, Hendrix and Creedence Clearwater Revival that is "High Head Blues" and the sweet Southern rock of "Wiser Time" all sound great here. Fans will be over the moon with the bonus material included here: three cuts that were previously-released only as B-sides. "Chevrolet" is a very strong cut that probably should have been promoted as an A-side; the cut is easy to sing and bop along to and it rocks like crazy too. The other two bonus songs are 2025 remixes of the Allman Brothers-referencing "Song of the Flesh" and the instrumental "Sunday Night Buttermilk Waltz" which features some fancy acoustic guitar picking.
