We’ve closed TVD’s HQ for the Thanksgiving holiday. While we’re away, why not fire up our Record Store Locator app and visit one of your local indie record stores?
Perhaps there’s an interview, review, or feature you might have missed? Catch up and we’ll see you back here on Monday, 11/28.
Greetings from Laurel Canyon!
You’re heard enough / Of the blues and stuff / You’re pretty swell now / ‘Cause you’re pretty tough / But I don’t have to tell you / How hard it can be to get by
You never bothered / About anyone else / You’re well educated / With no common sense / But love, that’s one thing / You really need to get by
All your troubles / Come from yourself / Nobody hurts you / They don’t care / Just as long as you show them / A really good time
There is no greater day than the day your album comes out. Not that I’ve released many albums as an artist. Two actually, but being in the music business I’ve had the good fortune to share the joy of many album releases. Today is one of those days. In fact two artists I work with, Paper Idol and Jacklen Ro, released albums this week. Most of of the the week has been celebrating in the creative achievements of these fine artists.
In this day and age the process of releasing an album is so different—such a long digital “hike, climb, or march.” Maybe it’s why having a physical product, vinyl or cassette, becomes something to covet. I’m gonna hold onto the one cassette of my band I have and shake it and toast to the sky with joy.
Celebrating Graham Parker on his 72nd birthday. —Ed.
Some guys just can’t catch a break. Especially if their name is Graham Parker, who released four stellar albums from 1975 to 1979 and never came close to making the big time. Just how good was he in his prime? The English rocker’s first two LPs (1975’s Howlin’ Wind and 1976’s Heat Treatment) made the top five of The Village Voice’s annual Pazz and Jop poll. But has your average music fan heard his music? Not so much. The guy might as well be invisible.
Parker had his own suspicions about his failure to reach the big time, and it was Mercury Records, who in his opinion did nothing to promote his music. He laid out his argument in the scathing “Mercury Poisoning” with its lines, “I got Mercury poisoning/It’s fatal and it don’t get better/I got, Mercury poisoning/The best kept secret in the west, hey the west.” It’s a great song. It never made its way on to an LP. Parker’s new label, Arista Records, planned to release it as a single in 1979, but ultimately relegated it to a B-Side. Too risky to release–Parker could turn on you next.
Parker’s voice bears a distinct resemblance to that of Elvis Costello, but he doesn’t go in for Costello’s witty wordplay. Parker’s songs address everyday concerns in everyday language that Costello’s clever songs never do. Just check out “Local Girls” (don’t bother with ‘em) and “Saturday Nite Is Dead” (“I used to know a good place to go/But now it’s nothing like it was then”).
Parker had a crack backing band in the Rumour, who would go on to release three albums in their own right. Furthermore, ace guitarist Brinsley Schwarz has gone on to record six well-received solo albums, while rhythm guitarist Martin Belmont has released a neat dozen. Keyboard player Bob Andrews, drummer Steve Goulding, and bass player Andrew Bobnar rounded out the quintet, providing more than enough coloring and backbone to fuel the hard rockers and ample subtlety to add nuances the slow ones.
Bob Dylan contains multitudes, as articulated in his song riffing on Walt Whitman’s concept, on the 2020 album release Rough and Rowdy Ways. And this is evident once again in Dylan’s new book, The Philosophy of Modern Song.
Throughout his complex and regenerative career, all of his different sides, and the characters within him, are tangible. The best writer is often the most empathic, able to inhabit the world and emotional memory of a character who exists universes away or who does not exist in real life at all. He is a changer, a shifter, malleable, and belonging to the world and all of its individuals and their probable and potential selves, beyond his own assigned self.
Dylan’s career has been defined by so many self-reinventions, in sound and performance persona. It is this core belief in self-reinvention, and the awareness of innumerable possibilities that lie in creative story-songwriting, that have defined Dylan as a writer and major creative force. His only loyalty has been to his everchanging ideas.
The less that one is attached to the self, the more they can become many selves, sometimes several in one hour or in one day. The less that one is aware of the self through the lens of ego, the more they are free to absorb as a sponge that which is around them, that which has come before them, and that which they would like to be. Taking all of this into account, Dylan’s new book is not surprising at all. It fits and suits him most authentically, paying homage to pop music history that he himself is so much a part of and will be remembered so as such too.
VIA PRESS RELEASE | Led by the scintillating songwriting team of Chris Collingwood and the late, great Adam Schlesinger, power pop maestros Fountains of Wayne put out a number of absolutely brilliant albums, of which we at Real Gone Music have been fortunate so far to reissue two, Welcome Interstate Managers and Traffic and Weather.
But of all the great records released by this New York-area band, this one, the 2005 odds ‘n’ ends 2-CD set Out-of-State Plates, remained reportedly among the closest to the heart of Schlesinger, who died tragically of COVID in 2020. A mixture of demos, B-sides, live performances, and unreleased tracks (the great “Maureen” and “The Girl I Can’t Forget”), it’s an always entertaining, often hilarious, and (of course!) never less than tuneful romp through about a decade’s worth of recordings, all wittily annotated by Collingwood and Schlesinger.
Covers both heartfelt and tongue-in- cheek (Jackson Browne’s “These Days” and Britney Spears’ “Baby One More Time”) and holiday fare (“I Want an Alien for Christmas,” “Chanukah Under the Stars”) lie alongside such B-side gems as “Baby I’ve Changed” and “I’ll Do the Driving” and a live “She’s Got a Problem.”
For its vinyl debut, we’ve created a fetching gatefold jacket featuring the duo’s commentary inside, and pressed this 2-LP set in “Junkyard Swirl” vinyl to match the cover photo. Rummage around the collective psyche of one of the greatest indie rock acts of the last 30 years!
We got to the Orpheum Theatre in Boston early. Of course we did! We wanted the best seats in the house! And who wouldn’t, because the greatest duo in rock history, Loggins & Messina, were about to lay their groovy sounds on us and we didn’t want to miss a single note. It was March 4, 1973 (how could I forget?) and we knew we were in for the experience of twenty lifetimes.
I would introduce “the guys” but they need no introduction—everyone knows who they are. Kenny does most of the singing and has the beard and sleeveless sweaters; Jimmy concentrates more on the lead guitar but does some singing of his own, Recently I turned on “House on Pooh Corner” in the record nook of the living room and my five-year-old son Kenny barged in to say “Pooh corner? Seriously? The word’s shit. And speaking of shit, this music blows like a sousaphone filled with dingo excrement.” To which I chuckled and said to myself, “He’s just funnin’. Another L&M fan in the making.”
But anyway, there we were, my pal Joe and I in our matching Loggins and Messina t-shirts screaming “Play ‘Vahevala’!” And the house lights hadn’t even gone down yet. Then the curtain went up and Kenny broke into (speak of the devil) “House on Pooh Corner,” that delightful song about Pooh Bear and Christopher Robin that is beloved by everyone because it’s the most heart-warming song ever.
Unfortunately the moment was ruined when the girl next to me lifted her t-shirt to reveal a pair of perky American breasts and shouted, “Kenny! Jimmy! I want the both of you to fuck me RIGHT IN THE FACE!” Naturally my face blushed scarlet and I said, “Language, young lady.” To which she replied, “Shut it, loser. You’re just bitter I don’t want you and your gawky twitch of a friend to fuck me right in the face.” It was a mortifying moment, to say the least.
Chicago, IL | Dave’s Records Closing After More Than 20 Years In Lincoln Park: The vinyl-only record store opened on Clark Street in 2002. The building that houses is the store is slated to be demolished, the owner told the Reader. Vinyl-only record store Dave’s Records is closing. The store’s last day will be in December, but an exact date is still being worked out, according to the Reader’s J.R. Nelson and Leor Galil. Owner David Crain did not immediately return a request for comment but the store launched a massive closing sale Nov. 8, according to a Facebook post. “No more sad faces … you’re gonna make Dave cry,” the owner wrote on Facebook in response to the closing sale. “Only happy thoughts as we wind things down.” Crain opened the store, 2604 N. Clark St., in a former 2nd Hand Tunes location in 2002, according to the Reader. The building was sold about a year and a half ago, and its owners have said they plan to knock down and replace the building.
New York, NY | Getting the band back together: Tower Records opens new creative hub, Tower Labs, in Williamsburg: Sixteen years after Tower Records was forced to close all of their physical stores, the once-giant music retailer is making a comeback in Williamsburg — and taking a new approach. Tower Labs, a cozy, warmly-lit “creative hub” where artists and fans can mix and mingle at a variety of events, opened on Kent Avenue on Nov. 4. Rather than just selling music, Tower Labs will work with independent music venues across Brooklyn to connect with artists and allow them to host intimate events and gatherings before and after their shows. To stay true to the company’s roots, Tower Labs will also host pop-up sales of merchandise, physical music and collectibles from time to time. “The music business has changed dramatically over the past two decades. Vinyl and merch will always be sold at Tower Records, but at our core, we believe we’re a space where artists can feel at home and connect with fans searching for new music.”
Cincinnati, OH | The Gift Guide: Cincinnati’s Favorite Boutiques Where You Can Shop Local This Holiday Season: Shop local this holiday season with CityBeat’s Gift Guide. Everybody’s Records: With an expansive collection of new and used records, the independent Everybody’s Records has impressed music fans in the Cincinnati area for more than 40 years. Peruse the wide selection of vinyl covering genres from rock, pop and reggae to jazz, rap and country, plus find albums by local acts. Leave time to browse the CDs and cassettes to reveal long-lost favorite tunes you grew up listening to. Not only is this shop jam-packed with music, but you’ll also find band T-shirts and custom Everybody’s pieces. 6106 Montgomery Road, Pleasant Ridge
Lytham, UK | There’s A Record Resurgence & A Vinyl Revival As A Dedicated Store Hits Lytham: …Despite the incredible growth of online streaming platforms like Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music and Tidal over the past 15 years, vinyl has also seen a resurgence in interest and sales in the music industry. Statistics show that one in five of all albums purchased in the UK is now vinyl. According to the BPI, people bought almost 5 million vinyl records in 2021. And, as a consequence of this trend, Lytham is crying out for a record store, so if you have any old records in the attic then simply bring them in to Hollywood Exports and they will buy them! Resident expert Matt has been dealing vinyl records for 25 years and has a vast knowledge. He’s even one of the dealers on Dickinson’s Real Deal, specialising in vintage toys and vinyl records. Fair prices will be paid or customers can exchange old records for credit in Hollywood Exports.
VIA PRESS RELEASE | The music of Marvin Gaye transcends time in ways that can’t be described. From relatable songs about romance and heartbreak like “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” to socially conscious meditations “What’s Going On” and “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler),” his music continues to resonate across generations.
One of the most soulful, celebrated voices and songwriters in music history, Marvin Gaye cemented a legacy as a trailblazer in R&B and beyond. His lush arrangements, irresistible grooves, and silky smooth yet emotive vocal delivery earned him 12 Grammy nominations, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame. However, the true magic of Gaye’s music was his ability to weave emotion or deep socio-political commentary into melodies and harmonics that, sonically, left the listener feeling good, no matter what the sentiment behind the lyrics—a rare feat that is truly difficult to achieve.
Captured on Marvin Gaye: Greatest Hits Live In ‘76, these songs, which were originally released on DVD in 2007, are now available as a standalone audio release for the first time. The set will be released on vinyl and CD on January 27, 2023 by Mercury Studios.
Marvin Gaye: Greatest Hits Live In ‘76 was recorded in the midst of his 1976 European tour, during a live performance at the Edenhalle Concert Hall in Amsterdam. The 20+ song set features an abundance of Marvin Gaye’s beloved hit songs, spanning his entire career up until that point. These powerful songs are a wonder to experience live and are beautifully presented on Marvin Gaye: Greatest Hits Live In ‘76.
VIA PRESS RELEASE | Los Angeles based Cambodian and American rock band Dengue Fever today confirmed the first-ever, limited edition of 1,000, 2xLP transparent colored vinyl release for their 2009 documentary soundtrack Sleepwalking Through the Mekong on Black Friday, November 25 on Minky Records/M80 Music.
Additionally, Dengue Fever is set to play two live shows in January 2023 in celebration of both the Sleepwalking Through The Mekong release as well as their recently released reissues of their first three albums on vinyl: S/T, Escape from Dragon House, Venus on Earth. All tour information including set times, ticket prices, venue information and more can be found at http://denguefevermusic.com/tour/. Dates are 1/15/23 at Lincoln Center (as part of GlobalFest), New York, NY and 1/21/23 at The Lodge, Los Angeles, CA (w/ Low Hum, Presented by KCRW).
The seventeen tracks on Sleepwalking Through The Mekong soundtrack, feature Dengue Fever rarities, live tracks recorded in Cambodia, reworkings of earlier songs, instrumental rarities unavailable elsewhere, and collaborations, with Cambodian master musicians Tep Mary and Kong Nai. A DVD/CD Soundtrack is also available.
ABOUT DENGUE FEVER | Dengue Fever is Cambodian songstress Chhom Nimol, Zac Holtzman (guitar/vocals), Ethan Holtzman (keyboards), Senon Williams (bass), Paul Smith (drums), and David Ralicke (horns). They have released five albums, Dengue Fever, Escape From Dragon House, Venus On Earth, Cannibal Courtship, In The Ley Lines, the DVD/CD soundtrack to the band’s documentary, Sleepwalking Through The Mekong, a collection of lost Cambodian classics and Dengue Fever Presents: Electric Cambodia and The Deepest Lake. They are based in Los Angeles. Currently, Dengue Fever is finishing up a new album, their first since The Deepest Lake (2015). More details will be announced in 2023.
Celebrating Gordon Lightfoot on his 84th birthday. —Ed.
Robbie Robertson has called Canadian folk rock singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot “a national treasure,” and so he is. Canadians don’t just love their Orillia, Ontario native son, they worship him in temples that can only be entered by pilgrims clad in the holy sandals Gord wore on the cover of his 1974 LP Sundown.
And their devotion is understandable–Lightfoot has contributed many a timeless song to the world, and none other than Bob Dylan has gone on record saying that when he hears a Lightfoot song he wishes “it would last forever.”
Lightfoot wrote many a great song from 1965 to 1970 with United Artists, including “Early Morning Rain,” “Ribbon of Darkness,” and “Canadian Railroad Trilogy,” to name just a few. But he recorded his best known work for Warner/Reprise Records, with whom he signed in 1970. And it’s this work you’ll hear on 2018’s aptly titled compilation An Introduction to Gordon Lightfoot.
There are other Lightfoot compilations out there, but they either include music only your hardcore fans will want to own (see 1999’s Songbook or 2019’s The Complete Singles 1970–1980). 1975’s Gord’s Gold is arguably the best comp out there, including as it does material from both his United Artists and Warner Brothers years, but it omits “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” (inexcusable!) and (even more inexcusable!) includes re-recordings of the songs from Lightfoot’s years with United Artists.
All ten of the tracks on An Introduction to Gordon Lightfoot provide indisputable proof that Lightfoot is the best singer-songwriter to stand his ground in Canada (Neil and Joni and Robbie defected and never looked back), and if you’re inclined to argue this fact with the peace-loving Canucks of the Great White North they might just crown you with a hockey stick and toss you into Lake Ontario.
VIA PRESS RELEASE | Craft Recordings celebrates the 60th anniversary of John Lee Hooker’s electrifying blues album, Burnin’, with several special reissues. Set for release on February 24th and available for pre-order today, the album includes the original recording of Hooker’s highly-influential signature hit, “Boom Boom,” and features members of the legendary Funk Brothers (Motown Records’ celebrated house band).
Newly remastered from the original analog tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, Burnin’ will be available in several formats. A 180-gram vinyl LP features a stereo mix of the album, as it was first released in 1962, while a tip-on jacket, which replicates Vee-Jay Records’ original designs, rounds out the package. In addition to a wide release on classic black vinyl, fans can also find the album in a variety of limited edition color pressings, including Flame Orange vinyl (via Barnes and Noble), Translucent Red vinyl (via Independent Record Stores), and Fuego Blend vinyl (available exclusively via JohnLeeHooker.com, along with a brand new official T-shirt featuring the iconic album artwork).
Expanded CD and digital editions offer both mono and stereo mixes of the album, plus a previously-unreleased alternate take of the song “Thelma,” captured during Hooker’s November 1961 session. The CD also includes new liner notes by the GRAMMY®-nominated journalist and music historian, Bill Dahl. Digital configurations include standard and hi-res, 192/24 and 96/24. Fans can preview the new Mono mixes with the advance two-track single “Boom Boom (Mono and Stereo)” which is available to stream or download today.
Known fondly as “King of the Boogie,” John Lee Hooker (1917-2001) was one of the most important blues artists of all time, whose work had a significant impact on modern music. Born in Mississippi to a family of sharecroppers, Hooker learned how to play the guitar at a young age, picking up his distinctive technique from his stepfather. In his 20s, he relocated to Detroit, where he spent his days as a janitor in an auto factory and his nights pursuing a career as a musician. He scored his first No.1 R&B hit with one of his earliest recordings, 1948’s “Boogie Chillen,” followed by singles like “Hobo Blues,” “Crawlin’ King Snake,” and “I’m in the Mood,” all of which landed in the R&B Top Ten.
Born on June 26, 1903, William Lee Conley Broonzy, aka Big Bill Broonzy, was a giant of the blues. Cutting his first sides for Paramount in 1927, an extensive stretch of recordings followed across the next two decades. After a break in the late 1940s, he experienced a career resurrection that lasted until his untimely death in 1958, a sustained second wind that carried him to Europe, where he cut records for the Vogue label in France and was captured in performances of astonishingly high fidelity in the Netherlands. Grooving into vinyl a substantial portion of Broonzy’s shows in the titular city, Liberation Hall’s Live in Amsterdam 1953 is available November 25 for Record Store Day Black Friday.
To appropriately comprehend the level of Big Bill Broonzy’s popularity, please consider his prolific output across the decade of the Great Depression. The brutal 1930s economic downturn decimated the young record industry, which had been thriving before the crash, and snuffed out recording opportunities for dozens of bluesmen, with a handful of those musicians later “rediscovered” in connection with the folk music boom of the 1950s-’60s. Broonzy was an early catalyst-beneficiary of that boom, and would’ve surely experienced further success had he not died in ’58.
Broonzy’s late ’40s sabbatical from touring (reportedly through doctor’s orders) found him working as a janitor at Iowa State University. It didn’t take him long to return to activity, and when he did there was a comfortable shift into folk blues mode as he kept company with Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee and Pete Seeger.
That Big Bill choose to hang around with ol’ Pete and Studs Terkel as he pivoted into a somewhat easygoing style no doubt ruffled the feathers of many a subsequent blues purist, particularly as the two Yazoo volumes of his early stuff, The Young Big Bill Broonzy 1928-1936 and Do That Guitar Rag: 1928-1935 are loaded with hokum smokers, wicked rags, and uncut bluesy oomph. Columbia’s Roots N’ Blues comp Good Time Tonight is also an excellent survey of his more urban 1930s motions that benefit from the cleaned up sound that was the Roots N’ Blues series specialty.
The Smile, Mitski, Jack White, Rina Sawayama, and More Releasing Rough Trade Exclusive Vinyl Records: Angel Olsen, Black Midi, Weyes Blood, Yeule, and others are also issuing special-edition records. …“We want to thank Rough Trade (NYC) for considering us for Vinyl Album of the Year, it means a lot,” the Smile said in a statement. “Independent record stores and labels remain islands under threat, but are absolutely essential to finding new music, music that exists away from homogenous clean universe of infinite repeat that we are subjected to without being asked. We rely on independent music stores as much as others to find inspiration, to be challenged and to remain excited and surprised by music. Music will be nothing without such independence – rendered meaningless fodder, cheap disposable furniture in a store that nobody notices and nobody cares about.”
Chicago, IL | Dave’s Records goes out in a blaze of glory: Last week, beloved Lincoln Park vinyl shop Dave’s Records announced some sad news: after 20 years, it’s closing for good. Store owner Dave Crain tells Gossip Wolf the last day will be in December, but he hasn’t confirmed an exact date. Crain opened Dave’s Records in 2002 in a former 2nd Hand Tunes location, and about a year and a half ago the whole building was sold. The new owners have told Crain they intend to knock down and replace the building, so even though he renewed the shop’s lease last year, he knows that the writing is on the wall. “Selling it didn’t seem like an option to me,” Crain says. “Starting at a new location, I thought about—but I’ve seen people move, and it takes a while till people figure out that you didn’t just close up. And then there was option three, which is the option I’m taking—which is to go out in a blaze of glory and get the records in the hands of all our fans.”
Portland, OR | Shopping mall fills empty stores with indie shops and pop-ups: On a recent Saturday afternoon, a mall in Portland, Oregon, hosted a bustling pop-up art market from inside a vacant storeroom with dozens of participating vendors. Lloyd Center mall was near foreclosure last year and is now renting to small businesses and shops. “I’ve heard from a lot of customers coming in and just saying, ‘Thanks, I haven’t been here in years, and this is a great excuse to check it out again,’” said Tony Remple, who runs record store Musique Plastique inside a former Spencer’s. As the pandemic turned the economy on its head, retail took a hit. Consumers went online and dozens of retail companies filed for bankruptcy. Shopping malls that were already hurting before the pandemic started emptying out. But Lloyd Center is pivoting. The mall has new leases with a gallery, a hand-printed clothing company and a tattoo parlor. Jason Leivian, who owns comic book store Floating World Comics, is hoping more will come.
Montreal, CA | 8 Of Montreal’s Most-Loved Record Stores & Where To Find Them: If we left out your favourite, let us know! Spotify and Tidal plays simply don’t hit the same as a crisp vinyl according to many, especially Montreal hipsters (and legitimately cool people). Montreal’s thriving music scene includes a network of local record stores responsible for hosting, amplifying and spreading indie music throughout the city. Many of these stores have also served as community hubs for musically interested Montrealers, and eight of them can be found right here for your viewing — and then, listening — pleasure. If your favourite spot isn’t on this list, then a) feel cool, go ahead, and b) let us know!
Judas Priest has been riding the wind since 1969 and have been screaming for vengeance (and breaking the law) ever since. The metal god Rob Halford broke out the major firepower on Monday night in front of a near-capacity crowd in Ontario, crushing an 18-song set that would make any Priest fan drool. The thousands in attendance were hell bent for leather from the very first note, and were living after midnight when the dust finally settled. This was metal mayhem at its finest, and one of the finest live metal performances I have seen in 2022!
Fresh off their induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Judas Priest graced the stage of the Toyota Arena on Monday for what ended up being one kick ass rock and roll show for the ages. Joined by the legendary Queensrÿche, fans from all over southern California rocked out to nearly 3 full hours of jaw dropping, in your face metal that transported fans back to a time where all that mattered was the music. It was horns up, barricade crushing insanity in the IE, and a show that had been circled on my calendar for nearly a year. Let’s dig in.
Up first was one of my favorite bands of all-time, Queensrÿche. While I have seen this band well over 30 times, I go into each performance knowing that the set I am about to catch will somehow be unique or different. Monday’s show was no exception. The boys kicked things off with their very first single, 1981’s “Queen of the Ryche.” While classic for sure, it never gets old and is always a fan favorite. Next up was the “Warning,” and I’m here to say Todd La Torre nailed the vocals on it with precision and accuracy. Good lord, this man has some pipes.
It was also great seeing Michael Wilton (guitar) and Eddie Jackson (bass) ripping it up on stage with smiles ear to ear for the entire set. Their musicianship is simply incredible and are best in class in my opinion. And let’s not forget about Mike Stone (guitar) and Casey Grillo (drums). These cats are sonically amazing and are such an integral part of the current lineup. Queensrÿche wrapped up their set with “Screaming in Digital” and “Eyes of a Stranger,” and they crushed em’ both. While it was a limited set—8 songs in all—it hit on all cylinders and was a perfect segue to Monday’s headliner, the mighty Judas Priest.
VIA PRESS RELEASE | Craft Recordings celebrates the centennial of Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis with a brand-new, four-album collection, featuring the tenor saxophonist’s incendiary 1958 Cookbook albums with organist Shirley Scott. Set for release on February 3rd in 180-gram vinyl 4-LP, 4-CD, and digital configurations, Cookin’ with Jaws and the Queen: The Legendary Prestige Cookbook Albums compiles four classic soul-jazz albums: Cookbook, Vol. 1, Cookbook, Vol. 2, Cookbook, Vol. 3, and Smokin’, all of which were recorded in stereo by the celebrated engineer, Rudy Van Gelder.
Available for pre-order, Cookin’ with Jaws and the Queen has been newly remastered from the original analog tapes by the GRAMMY®-winning engineer, Bernie Grundman. Produced by Nick Phillips, the all-analog 4-LP edition (limited to 5,000 copies worldwide) is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI, while each LP is individually housed in a tip-on jacket, featuring the original Prestige Records album artwork.
The 4-CD and digital editions feature three bonus tracks that were recorded in the 1958 sessions but didn’t appear on the original LP releases: “Avalon,” “Willow Weep For Me,” and an alternate take of “But Beautiful.” Rounding out the vinyl and CD packages is a deluxe booklet featuring recording session photos and offering new, in-depth liner notes by jazz journalist Willard Jenkins, who serves as the artistic director for the DC Jazzfest.
When tenor saxophonist Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis and Hammond B-3 organist Shirley Scott entered Rudy Van Gelder’s hallowed Hackensack, NJ studio in 1958, it was clear that something special was about to take place. For roughly three years, Scott and Davis had been at the forefront of the soul-jazz sound, setting the gold standard for the tenor sax/organ combo. At 36, “Lockjaw” (also known as “Jaws”), was already a veteran of the New York City jazz scene, having spent much of the 1940s playing in the bands of Lucky Millinder, Andy Kirk, and Cootie Williams. But the horn player was also a stylistic chameleon, who straddled the line between the classic big band era and the emerging sounds of hard bop.
