In March of 1958 producer and Prestige Records owner Bob Weinstock organized a session with two up-and-comers in a very fertile scene. Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane was the result, pairing one of the most consistent guitarists in Modern Jazz with the now long renowned tenor saxophonist. It took over five years for those recordings to hit the retail racks via the Prestige subsidiary New Jazz, but the contents have been reissued numerous times since, reinforcing the high level of play. The latest edition is set to arrive June 7 on 180 gram vinyl in a tip-on jacket mastered form the original tapes as part of Craft Recordings’ ongoing Original Jazz Classics series.

Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane is certainly a notable album. While Coltrane had played with guitarists before, this set is the only studio album to feature him leading (in this instance, co-leading) a band with that instrument (Wes Montgomery did join Coltrane’s sextet featuring Eric Dolphy for some West Coat live dates in 1961, even playing the Monterey Jazz Festival, but any tapes of those performances have yet to surface).

That this album sat in the vaults for half a decade will understandably lead some to assume it’s a lesser recording, but Weinstock had amassed quite a bit of Coltrane studio material while he had him under contract, sessions methodically issued as the saxophonist’s star continued to rise, often with Coltrane posthumously designated as leader.

To expand a bit, Coltrane and Burrell do play together in a sextet for three tracks on The Cats, a 1957 recording released in ’59. Issued as a leaderless date (sometimes credited to the Prestige All Stars), it sure sounds like it was conceived as a Tommy Flanagan session; the other two tracks feature the pianist in trio with bassist Doug Watkins and drummer Louis Hayes (trumpeter Idrees Sulieman completes the sextet).

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Celebrating Bruce Cockburn on his 80th birthday. —Ed.

For some, Bruce Cockburn needs no introduction. However, just as many (maybe more) are unfamiliar with the persevering Canadian singer-songwriter’s talents, a reality Tompkins Square’s Josh Rosenthal fully understands. Rather than leave this deficiency unaddressed, James Toth Presents… Imaginational Anthem Vol. XIII – Songs of Bruce Cockburn arrived on LP, CD, and digital. Featuring nine readings of Cockburn songs by an impressive cohort of contemporary indie artists including Jerry David DeCicca with Bill Callahan, Powers Rolin Duo, Wet Tuna, and the set’s curator in the duo Armory Schafer, the album is poised to enlighten newbies while satisfying longtime Cockburn fans.

In the notes to this worthwhile set, Josh Rosenthal lays out his reasons for following up Imaginational Anthem Vol. XII, a multi-artist tribute to the late guitarist Michael Chapman, with a similar goodwill gesture. In short, it pertained to a nagging disrespect to Cockburn through oversight from a listenership that’s clued into a younger, more indie-aligned scene.

It bears mentioning that Cockburn is a certifiably huge deal in Canada, as knowledge of his artistry has also spread elsewhere. While never as big in the USA as he was at home, Cockburn’s songs were once heard on stateside commercial rock radio. But as the decades have passed, the guy’s stature has seemed to diminish even as he’s remained active.

Rosenthal puts the blame in part on the lack of championing from tastemaker musicians. It’s an assertion that resonates as accurate. I’ll add that Cockburn’s never been a darling of critics the way that some purely instrumental fingerpickers and folky singer-songwriters were and are. And unlike the recordings of those more celebrated names (say, Fahey, Jansch, Hardin, Cooder), Cockburn’s stuff pre-Dancing in the Dragon’s Jaws was pretty scarce in the bins new or used, at least in more suburban areas of the USA.

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We’ve closed TVD’s HQ for the Memorial Day 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 Tuesday, 5/28.

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Before they achieved stardom the world over with “It’s Raining Men,” Weather Girls Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes Armstead made waves in the thriving San Francisco music scene as Two Tons o’ Fun (and, later, The Two Tons). The powerhouse duo began working with gender- and genre-defying artist Sylvester at Fantasy Records, singing background and lead vocals on many of his most memorable recordings.

In 1980, they struck out on their own and teamed with legendary Motown veteran Harvey Fuqua (who had also helmed Sylvester’s beloved albums) for two remarkable LPs on his Honey Records imprint. Fusing disco, dance, soul, funk, and R&B with roof-raising, gospel-tinged vocals, both Two Tons o’ Fun and Backatcha put the extraordinary voices of “Queen of Clubland” Wash and Armstead out front. Now, Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records are thrilled to celebrate the Two Tons with a complete 2-CD anthology that serves as a companion to last year’s acclaimed Sylvester release, Disco Heat: The Fantasy Years 1977-1981.

Two Tons o’ Fun’s Get the Feeling: The Complete Fantasy/Honey Recordings brings together, on 2 CDs, both of the Two Tons’ albums—the first of which features Sylvester himself in the band—plus a host of rare single versions, remixes, and extended versions. Among the highlights are the top five Dance smashes “Earth Can Be Just Like Heaven” and “I Got the Feeling” as well as such R&B and Dance hits as “I Depend on You” and “Never Like This.” Both albums have long been overlooked; their last CD reissue was more than thirty years ago in the UK; this collection marks both albums’ US CD debut, while most of the bonus tracks are also new to worldwide CD.

For the occasion, all audio has been newly remastered by Mike Milchner, and we are remastering the two albums straight from the original tapes, so this collection will offer a big sonic upgrade. The collection also contains a deluxe booklet featuring liner notes by The Second Disc’s Joe Marchese and unseen photos. With the return of Two Tons o’ Fun, only one exclamation is appropriate: Hallelujah!

Celebrating Albert Bouchard on his 77th birthday. —Ed.

When it comes to 1970s faux evil rock bands that didn’t have a bone of true evil in their bodies, Blue Öyster Cult comes in right behind Alice Cooper and Black Sabbath.

BÖC flirted shamelessly, tongues planted firmly in cheek, with the iconography of the dark side (they sang about S&M, made references to Martin Bormann and put Nazi jet fighters on their album covers, and let’s not forget the Patti Smith-penned “Career of Evil”) and people bought it until, like the previously mentioned bands, the boys from Long Island took it right over the top, and it became obvious that it was all a big joke and they were about as evil as Debbie Gibson.

But if it was all a shuck—and it was: even the rock critic Richard Meltzer, who wrote some of the band’s songs including “Burnin’ for You,” noted, “This is really hard rock comedy”—it led to some pretty great music, culminating Agents of Fortune, which was so wildly successful Robert Christgau dubbed BÖC “the Fleetwood Mac of heavy metal.”

Formed in 1967 as The Soft White Underbelly, the band subsequently changed its name to Oaxaca, then the Stalk-Forrest Group, then and the Santos Sisters before finally settling on Blue Öyster Cult in 1971. They were the first band to employ an umlaut in its name and came up with the most instantly recognizable band logo this side of Black Flag, and were guided step by step by manager Sandy Pearlman, who got them signed, wrote a lot of the band’s lyrics, helped produce their LPs, gave them their name, etc.

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PHOTO: LOUIS BOO | It’s miraculous, really, that great new music is revealed to us each passing week; we need only to be open to exploring it to enjoy it. There’s nothing wrong with reveling in your favorite songs, artists and albums that are deemed classics by some listening community, but it’s continuing to explore new releases that really gets us thinking about music: both where it’s been and where it’s going and how new sounds might enrich our busy lives.

That’s when it’s fun to discover an artist like Liam Bailey who offers a slice of many of your favorite records on his newest release, Zero Grace, yet he maintains a voice that is all his own. Liam is not really a “new” artist, but his latest album is a bit of a rebirth. His first full release dates back to 2014 and jointly came out on the Sony Masterworks and Flying Buddah labels. But his latest album on the Big Crown label feels like a return to Bailey’s roots; a true representation of who he is rather than someone else’s idea of who he should be.

And Liam wouldn’t have things that way anyway. As you’ll find in our chat, he’s his own man and he resists any temptation to avoid the truth; he approaches things head-on and makes no excuses. And for someone who is a music lover, and who appreciates a steadfast creator making music on their own terms, it can be an exciting experience to discover Liam Bailey. So, let’s do it!

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

Well here it is, the “lost” album—or part of it—The Velvet Underground recorded after 1969’s The Velvet Underground, their first and only album with MGM Records. The songs on VU were intended as their second MGM release. But in the meantime the druggy-hating Mike Curb (leader of the totally Squaresville Mike Curb Congregation) was brought in to save the struggling label, which he accomplished by engaging in a Stalinesque purge of the label’s less popular and more controversial acts. The Velvets fell into both categories. As a result what would have been the VU’s fourth album ended up on a shelf and didn’t see the light of day until the release of 1985’s VU and 1986’s Another View.

But it’s not that simple, because both VU and Another View include songs that wouldn’t have been on the lost album. They’re five in number, and they date back to 1967–68, when John Cale was still the band’s Welshman in residence. And “lost” is a relative term—it wasn’t as if most of these songs had never been heard before the releases of VU and Another View.

Many had been bouncing around for eons. Some were part of The Velvet Underground’s live set; two of the songs on VU appear on 1969: The Velvet Underground Live, released in 1974, while two others can be heard on 2001’s Bootleg Series Volume 1: The Quine Tapes. And six appear, in reworked fashion, on Lou Reed’s solo albums. Only three of the songs on VU came out of the blue, and one of them dates back to Cale’s tenure in the band.

None of which diminishes the power of VU. These may not have been “finished” tracks, but the engineering remixes vary from good to excellent, making VU an exquisite listen as well as a historical marker of where the band stood, in terms of sound and style, between The Velvet Underground (the least of the band’s studio releases unless you count 1973’s Squeeze, which no sane person does) and their sublime parting shot, 1970’s Loaded.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | In 1971, Atlantic Records released a pair of Dusty Springfield singles produced by the legendary songwriter/producer Jeff Barry (one-time songwriting and romantic partner of Ellie Greenwich, and author of too many hits to name): “Haunted”/”Nothing Is Forever” and “I Believe In You”/”Someone Who Cares.”

A restless Dusty, freshly relocating to America from her native England, then departed the label and left an additional 9 songs recorded with Barry in the can, where they stayed until Rhino issued one track, “Faithful” (in mono), as a bonus track on the 1990s CD release of Dusty’s 1970 Atlantic album A Brand New Me.

The other tracks didn’t surface until a subsequent deluxe reissue of Dusty’s landmark 1969 album Dusty in Memphis included them as bonus cuts. Then, reissue producer Jim Pierson—who tracked down the missing masters after being lost for over two decades —assembled Dusty’s Barry-produced masters and put them together in a single package for the first time to create the third Dusty Springfield Atlantic Records album as planned in 1971.

Real Gone Music’s release of Faithful on LP presents these historic Barry-Springfield collaborations exactly as they were originally intended to be heard, with the 12 tracks meant for the album release out on vinyl over 50 years later.

All tracks are in stereo, while the liner notes on the new gatefold spread, penned by The Second Disc’s Joe Marchese, feature a number of rarely-seen photos of the legendary singer. These stunning pop, soul and gospel flavored selections showcase the iconic singer at the height of her vocal magic. A missing/ jumbled part of Dusty’s august recorded legacy, finally set right and available in its intended format. Out on metallic gold and purple “royalty” vinyl as befitting The Queen of Blue-Eyed Soul…limited to 1,500 copies.

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Verve Records is proud to announce Louis in London, the last great performance by the most influential American musician of all time, Louis Armstrong.

Recorded live at the BBC on July 2, 1968—just weeks after the groundbreaking GRAMMY® Award-winning artist hit the #1 spot on the UK charts with “What A Wonderful World”—the 13-track collection will be released on standard black and exclusive blue vinyl, CD, and digital, accompanied by extensive liner notes by Armstrong’s biographer and Director of Research Collections for the Louis Armstrong House Museum, Ricky Riccardi, on Friday, July 12. Pre-orders are available now.

From redefining jazz with his revolutionary trumpet playing to singlehandedly inventing popular singing, Louis Armstrong made a greater impact on American popular music than any other single artist before or since. In July 1968, Armstrong and his renowned band, The All-Stars, traveled to England and entered the BBC’s London studios to record a performance, full of vitality and joy, that manifested some of the most inspired singing and trumpet playing of his remarkable career.

Captured in high fidelity audio and video, Louis in London presents Armstrong delivering everything from the first composition he’s known to have played in public—W.C. Handy’s “Ole Miss”—to the chart-topping “What A Wonderful World” and classic versions of such worldwide hits as “Mack The Knife” and “Hello, Dolly!,” the latter of which premieres today alongside a high definition official performance video streaming now at YouTube.

First broadcast on September 22, 1968 as BBC TV’s “Show Of The Week–Louis Armstrong,” the session poignantly proved to be Armstrong’s last great performance. From the moment Armstrong received a copy of the 1968 London recording, he became determined for the world to hear this music, affixing a note to the outside of the tape box on which he wrote, “For The Fans.”

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Today details are announced of new album formats to celebrate Oasis’ 1994 iconic debut three decades after its original release.

Available on 30th August 2024, Definitely Maybe (30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) formats feature tracks from the discarded original recording session at Monnow Valley Studios, along with outtakes from the definitive album recorded at Sawmills Studios in Cornwall, newly mixed for the first time by Noel Gallagher and Callum Marinho. The album also includes an unreleased demo version of “Sad Song.” Originally released as a bonus track on the LP, this alternative version features Liam Gallagher’s vocals.

The package also features brand new artwork by the original art designer Brian Cannon for Microdot and original sleeve photographer Michael Spencer Jones, plus new sleeve notes from Creation Records boss Alan McGee and journalist Hamish MacBain.

The Definitely Maybe (30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) album is available to pre-order now on Limited-Edition Deluxe 4LP and Deluxe 2CD formats plus exclusive coloured vinyl – ‘Up In The Sky’ “Learning to fly” lyric inspired blue and white marble 2LP, and ‘Digsy’s Dinner’ “Strawberries and cream” lyric inspired pink and white marble 2LP. It will also be available on Limited-Edition blue cassette and digital formats. All formats include the 2014 remastered version of the album.

In August of 1994, Definitely Maybe’s release marked a critical moment in British youth culture, with Noel Gallagher’s songwriting and Oasis’ assured cacophony of sound heralding a new beginning. It embodied an entirely new mood of rock and pop—hedonistic, guitar-driven, and optimistic. The UK, soon to be unshackled from 18 years of Conservative rule, had a growing sense of change and hope in the air, and Oasis captured that mood.

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