VIA PRESS RELEASE | BMG announces the release of the Aretha Franklin boxed set, A Portrait of the Queen, featuring five classic albums from the early ‘70s, plus bonus material of session alternates, outtakes, B-sides, and demos. The limited 6-LP/5-CD collection, out December 1, is now available for pre-order here.

The set features the Lady Soul’s five original studio albums from the first half of the ‘70s—This Girl’s In Love With You, Spirit In The Dark, Young, Gifted And Black, Hey Now Hey (The Other Side Of The Sky, and Let Me In Your Life—and tracks her evolution as a singer/songwriter, showcases the fearlessness of her craft freely exploring genres and sounds, experimenting with writing and arranging various types of songs. The CD set includes bonus material collecting session alternates, outtakes, B-sides, and demos compiled with their accompanying albums, while the LP set includes a sixth LP of highlights from the bonus material.

The albums in both the vinyl and CD sets are remastered from the original analog master tapes by GRAMMY Award-winning engineers Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering and Michael Graves at Osiris Studio, respectively. Produced by GRAMMY Award-winning Cheryl Pawelski, the sets boasts extensive liner notes from Billboard’s Gail Mitchell and the British Ambassador of Soul David Nathan.

By the time This Girl’s In Love With You was released on January 15, 1970, Aretha had completed over 80 recordings in just three years for Atlantic Records. Her 16th studio album, and eighth for Atlantic Records, reached Billboard’s Top 20 and includes her version of The Beatles’ “Let It Be,” which was the first recording of the song to be commercially issued—The Beatles release as a single came in March 1970. The album also includes The Beatles “Eleanor Rigby,” The Band’s “The Weight,” and Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man.”

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After a five year break, Barrence Whitfield and the Savages, Boston’s finest purveyors of stomp and shout, honk and holler, rockin’ soul with a garage punk edge are back with a new record, and it’s a ripsnorter. Recorded in May of 2023 in Valencia, Spain at the end of a lengthy European tour, time was not wasted in pressing and releasing the results. Glory is out now on vinyl and digipak CD through FOLC Records of Madrid, Spain.

Hitting record for the first time in 1984, Barrence Whitfield and the Savages was something of a throwback even then as they specialized in energetic no frills ’60s-style R&R with enough edge to appeal to Boston’s garage set; no surprise as there were connections to the Beantown band The Lyres, with that outfit’s guitarist Peter Greenberg a founding and current member of the Savages.

Two things helped the Savages to stand out. Foremost was the soulful belting of Whitfield (born Barry White) which added a legit roots component to a blend of originals and covers. The other aspect was saxophone playing (on their debut by Steve LaGrega) that tapped into the essence of pre-Beatle weekend dance party mania.

The Savages carried on into the mid-’90s with changes of personnel and a less aggressive sound, but after a long hiatus they came roaring back in 2011 with Savage Kings on the Munster label featuring Greenberg and original bassist Phil Lenker. For that album, Andy Jody joined on drums and Tom Quartulli on sax, and the lineup hasn’t changed since, though Glory does get a sustained injection of baritone sax from Spencer Evoy.

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I have seen the Van Buren in Phoenix sold out, and then I went to a Teddy Swims concert. Plenty of folks were in the building, but I am pretty sure you could have heard Teddy Swims four blocks away. The pure talent is remarkable, let alone the spirit he performs with. The “I’ve Tried Everything but Therapy” tour made its 14th stop in Phoenix with Teddy playing alongside Zinadelphia.

Despite the name of the tour, there were only two songs performed from I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy. From that album he played “Lose Control,” his number one song on Spotify, and “Goodbye’s Been Good to You.” Instead he uses his opportunity on the bigger stages to play from his entire discography.

He came out to “911,” a feature from his 2022 EP “Tough Love.” He followed “911” up by an unbelievable cover of “Don’t Stop Believing”—a tribute to Journey. Swims then got his groove on and performed “Til I Change Your Mind,” a soulful track from the 2021 EP “Unlearning.” A few songs later, he poured his heart out into—my personal favorite—”Devil in a Dress,” a feature from the 2022 EP “Sleep is Exhausting.”

If you’re sensing any themes from Teddy’s song names or albums, you can piece together that he has had some low points. He uses his platform to discuss real topics such as “you should love everyone despite the color of their skin,” and before performing “Evergreen” telling the audience it’s a tune about learning that you deserve to be loved.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | World-renowned rock band The Black Crowes have dropped a new mix of an unreleased recording of the Memphis soul classic song “99 Pounds,” originally recorded by Ann Peebles and written by Don Bryant. The track is just one of the 14 never-before-released recordings off the forthcoming box set of their chart-topping sophomore album, The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion, set for release on December 15 via American Recordings/UMe.

Originally from the catalogue of Memphis soul singer-songwriter Ann Peebles “99 Pounds” was originally released on Peebles’ 1972 album Straight From the Heart. The Black Crowes’ cover of the admired track is a classic Rock & Roll take on a Southern Soul ballad. Listen to Chris Robinson talk about the recording of the song HERE. Listen to Chris and Rich Robinson alongside producer George Drakoulias discuss the making of The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion in an exclusive conversation HERE.

The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion entered the US Billboard album chart at No. 1 upon release in 1992, was named after a post-Civil War southern hymnal, and is home to some of the band’s biggest hits, including “Remedy,” “Sting Me,” and “Thorn in My Pride” which were #1 on the Billboard Main Stream Rock Airplay chart for a combined total of 21 weeks.

Rich and Chris Robinson, alongside producer George Drakoulias, revisited the archives for the instant classic album and created a special super deluxe edition featuring unreleased studio recordings, rare B-sides, a live performance from Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston, TX, on February 6, 1993, and a newly remastered album from the original 1/4″ production master. Highlights for the forthcoming boxset include 14 unreleased recordings, including “99 Pounds” and a previously unreleased studio recording of “Miserable.”

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File under: Music to Hurt Things To. These guys make me think of that line from Fight Club. You know, the one that goes, “I felt like destroying something beautiful.”

I was never much of a Big Black fan for a couple of reasons. For one, they never made me chuckle the way their noise rock brethren in Cows and Killdozer did. For another, I had the hardest time working up any enthusiasm for their drum machine-driven proto-industrial sound.

But time has softened me up to the very unlovable Steve Albini and Company. Sure he’s an awful snot with a jaundiced worldview and a mean word for just about everybody, but you can’t deny he lacks vision. He wanted to make a horrible pummeling caterwaul and accompany it with lots of transgressive lyrics based on stories he read in the newspaper or vomited up from his revolting imagination, and the results can be heard to nauseating effect on Big Black’s 1986 debut LP Atomizer.

The LP credits Albini (guitar, vocals, drum machine programming), Santiago Durango (guitar), Dave Riley (bass) and Roland, who happens to be the drum machine and who I can only presume didn’t get paid. And this despite the fact that on some songs Roland should get top billing.

But on other cuts it’s easy to forget poor Roland because the boys make such an ungodly noise with their guitars, thanks to their use of metal guitar picks notched with sheet metal clips. They achieve a variety of startling and discordant effects via this simple trick; the tinny Chinese din of “Passing Complexion” (think world music as played by guys who never got out of Evanston, Illinois) will give you a good idea of the sonic possibilities. Sonic Youth have nothing on this bunch.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Featuring Carole King, James Taylor, Linda Rondstadt, Keith Richards, Don Henley, David Crosby, Jackson Browne, Lyle Lovett, Phil Collins.

Immediate Family tracks the rise and collaborations of a group of legendary session musicians Danny Kortchmar, Leland Sklar, Russ Kunkel, and Waddy Wachtel through the 1970s and onward, chronicling their illustrious partnerships and their formidable record of hit-making. Directed by Denny Tedesco, whose documentary The Wrecking Crew followed the first wave of studio musicians in the ’60s, the film reveals the machinery behind the booming era of the singer-songwriter, when the talents of these four musicians were in furious demand.

The foundations of their enduring friendship, formed on the road and in studios, is recalled with dynamite clarity—reminisced with fondness through intimate interviews with the guys themselves, as well as the memories of some of rock’s most iconic voices including Carole King, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Keith Richards, Don Henley, Stevie Nicks, David Crosby, Jackson Browne, Lyle Lovett, Phil Collins, and more. Immediate Family is a backstage tour spanning multiple eras of musical history.

Remembering Tom Petty, born on this day in 1950. —Ed.

The death of Tom Petty was a seismic event. People were in tears; my girlfriend called to break the sad news and she was, and there’s no other way to say it, heartbroken. I was heartbroken. Death is not a competition or a game, but offhand I can only think of a few other rock’n’rollers whose deaths might be more traumatic for all of us, and they answer to the names Dylan, Springsteen, Jagger, and Richards.

From his eponymous 1976 debut until now Tom Petty (both with and without his backing band the Heartbreakers) produced enough great songs to fill a small jukebox, and their genius lies in their simplicity. Petty was a no-frills hit maker with an unerring ability to set a timeless sentiment to a great hook, and this lack of overweening ambition—Petty was never restlessly experimental or conceptual in the way Pete Townshend or Neil Young can be—often led people to underrate his unique skill set. He was dedicated to the production of great rock songs, not cosmic statements, and in this respect he was just as old school as Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Gene Vincent, and Creedence Clearwater Revival. And he continued to produce great songs for a longer period of time than any of them and almost anybody period, Bruce Springsteen excepted.

Petty was that rarest of rarities, a truly likeable rock star—and I think this is why we all feel so bereft—because he spoke to us from the heart. There was nothing aloof or coldly intellectual or calculating about his music. He was an incurable romantic—sometimes cynical, sure, and sometimes angry, but often tender—and his subject was universal: Love. He knew the heart is a fragile vessel and on most of the songs on 2000’s Anthology: Through the Years—and I’m not just thinking of such well-known tunes as “American Girl” and “Free Fallin’” but also of less-played songs like “The Best of Everything” and the stoical “It’ll All Work Out”—he wore it on his sleeve. Like Roy Orbison, he was a kind of patron saint of the brokenhearted. And no one but Orbison could so effortlessly evoke the pain of love gone wrong.

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We grapple a lot with genre here on Radar, and this week’s episode is no different.

Genre is a funny thing when it’s applied to nearly any field. On one hand, there’s nothing wrong with an artist being aligned with—or, being seen as representative of a certain genre—even if it’s a point of frustration for the artist. On the other hand, music listeners should allow artists the latitude to adjust their compass to explore other styles of music without untoward rebuke, but sometimes it’s not easy to persuade an audience to follow an artist’s whims and dalliances. It is what it is.

While much of Danny Lee Blackwell’s output can be tidily summarized as living in the psychedelic world, there’s a lot more to him, and to his numerous musical projects. Today, we’re here to talk about Danny’s group Night Beats and his new album, Rajan (Suicide Squeeze / Fuzz Club), but he’s got other irons in the fire, as well. This year, Danny also released an album with another project he’s working with, the name of that group is Abraxas and the album was titled, Monte Carlo. Danny’s involved in many other musical productions as well.

On Rajan, Danny explores garage rock, soul, and R&B. Of course, one can also find some funk, jazz, and elements of hip-hop in his work as well. We discuss all of that, plus more—the familial ties that are connected to this album and life on the road. No matter what genre Danny is exploring, he’s got one simple rule for determining if what he’s created makes it to the final cut: whatever it is, it’s got to give him goosebumps. Hopefully, you get the same feeling listening to our chat.

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.

Bad Company played meat and potatoes hard rock for the masses—they stripped things down to the fundamentals in a way that few other rock bands ever have, and the kids in the arenas loved them for it.

Austerity was their calling card; they made America’s Lynyrd Skynyrd—whose Ronnie Van Zant cited Rodgers as his biggest influence—sound like progressive rockers. They were a math problem every bit as simple as the Ramones, but without the zip. Bad Company steamrolled their way to the big time. They were every bit as remorseless as Killdozer, who paid them homage with their cover of “Good Lovin’ Gone Bad.”

Bad Company were formed in 1973 by former members of Free (vocalist Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke), Mott the Hoople (guitarist Mick Ralphs), and King Crimson (bassist Boz Burrell), which made them a supergroup I suppose, albeit a low-rent one. Or perhaps I say that simply because Bad Company never scored very high in the charisma department—they weren’t flamboyant, had zero flash, wit or lyrical ideas, and weren’t the types you’d find at Rodney Bingenheimer’s English Disco in Los Angeles. They may have called themselves Bad Company—and I could be dead wrong about this—but in my mind’s eye I see them going back to their hotel rooms after a show and brushing their teeth. Vigorously.

Their debut LP, 1974’s Bad Company, was their strongest. It boasted five classic cuts, and only one dead carp. Their next one, 1975’s Straight Shooter, had a killer A Side but a B side that kills the album’s forward momentum stone dead—the steamroller runs out of gas. It’s a primo example of the sophomore album curse, and also, I suspect, of a common guarantor of debut album follow-up failure—rushing into the studio too soon after recording the first one. Rodgers and Ralphs, the band’s primary songwriters, obviously lacked sufficient material to fill out the album, leaving them to serve up a clunker or two. Worse, they handed the ball off to Kirke—nobody’s idea of a songwriter—who contributed two tracks. They’re tepid tap water at best.

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