Demolition (Music From The Motion Picture)

The music used in Demolition ranges from the familiar to the eclectic. Heart’s 1976 debut U.S. single “Crazy on You,” notable for its unusual combination of acoustic and electric guitar parts, was also the Seattle rock band’s breakthrough hit. Paul Rodgers-fronted English band Free is most known for the massive 1970 rocker “All Right Now” from their Fire and Water album. Skirting the obvious, however, Demolition instead utilizes “Mr. Big,” a live version (Sunderland, 1970) of a deep album cut from the aforementioned album. Further avoiding a track selection that is too “on the nose” is the inclusion of “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” a Bob Dylan original that proved massive upon its 1965 release. The ballad spawned popular cover versions by the Byrds and Them, but it’s San Jose garage outfit Chocolate Watchband’s intense rendition that features prominently in Demolition. “When I Was Young,” a 1967 intercontinental hit for Eric Burdon & The Animals, fits the film’s themes of disillusionment with the present, and longing for the re-connection with youth.

Balancing out these tracks on Demolition: Music From The Motion Picture is a slew of songs by heavy hitters in the current indie world. “Touch Me I’m Going To Scream (Pt. 2),” a 2008 single by Louisville, KY group My Morning Jacket, singer-songwriter Sufjan Steven’s “To Be Alone With You,” from his 2004 album Seven Swans, and critically acclaimed songwriter M. Ward’s “Watch The Show” from A Wasteland Companion (2008) represent the more established contingent. Lesser known, but equally integral to Demolition are “Bruises” by Canadian indie band Dusted, Chicago-based psychedelic drone quartet Cave’s “Sweaty Fingers,” and French model/actress/singer Lou Doillon’s “Where To Start,” a single released last year. Closing out the package is Half Moon Run, a newer band from Vallée’s native Montreal, with an extended version of “Warmest Regards,” which appeared in a more abridged form on their new album Sun Leads Me On.

Music From The Motion Picture JOY

Five-time Oscar nominee David O. Russell commented, “There are songs here I have been waiting almost 40 years to use in a movie, from ‘Aguas de Marzo’, Ella Fitzgerald’s ‘I Want to Be Happy’, Bee Gees ‘To Love Somebody’, to the rare Nat King Cole ‘A House With Love In It,’ with his singular spoken radio introduction to the song. Cream’s ‘I Feel Free,’ with the acapella harmonizing of Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton which at the film’s end, becomes the new recording made for the film by Brittney Howard of The Alabama Shakes, amazingly overdubbed with her incomparable voice. The privilege of making a simple quiet piano version of Springsteen’s soulful melody ‘Racing In the Street’, and the singing of collaborators Jennifer and Edgar, these are what make a movie magical to me, and why I love going to the movies and listening to their soundtracks. Our score by West, David, and Blake is at the heart of the picture, together with the choirs.”

In addition to an original score provided by West Dylan Thordson and David Campbell, with additional music by Blake Mills, Music From the Motion Picture JOY contains a swath of timeless songs, ranging stylistically from Latin jazz to hard bop to rock and roll. The collection is bookended by two versions of “I Feel Free” – the original, which was an early hit for power trio (Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker) Cream, and a brand new rendition performed by Alabama Shakes vocalist Brittany Howard.

Other significant tracks include “Stray Cat Blues,” from The Rolling Stones’ acclaimed 1968 album Beggars Banquet, and “Sleigh Ride” by the Ronettes, which originally appeared on Phil Spector’s A Christmas Gift for You, considered by many to be the quintessential Christmas album. The title track from Lee Morgan’s landmark 1964 album The Sidewinder is another JOY standout.

As is often the case with David O. Russell films, the track selection for JOY leans towards the less obvious. “To Love Somebody” is an early Bee Gees single that was only a minor hit in the U.S. and UK in 1967. “I Want to Be Happy,” an original composition for the 1925 musical No, No, Nanette, is performed by a the pre-superstar Ella Fitzgerald, when she was still with Chick Webb and his Orchestra. “A House With Love In It” is performed by Nat King Cole from his groundbreaking 1956-57 NBC television program The Nat King Cole Show. This rare version has not been generally available in the U.S.

Music From the Motion Picture JOY contains three musical performances by cast members that are featured in the film itself. Edgar Ramirez sings the Randy Newman-penned “Mama Told Me Not To Come,” most well known as a 1970 hit for Three Dog Night. He is backed by Latin jazz mainstays Ray de la Paz and The Pedrito Martinez Group. Ramirez, as the character Tony Miranne, also sings Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Aguas De Marzo,” while his duet with Jennifer Lawrence underscores their characters’ relationship. The two actors sing “Something Stupid,” a duet that was a massive number one hit for Frank and daughter Nancy Sinatra in 1967.

Story and song are intertwined throughout JOY, and having all of the crucial tracks featured in the film represented in one package is an uncommon gift. Music supervisor Susan Jacobs, who also worked with Mr. David O. Russell on American Hustle and Silver Linings Playbook, meticulously chose a collection of songs used to carry forth the themes that serve as threads throughout the film.

Digital release date: December 18
Physical release date: January 8

People Places Things

ABKCO Records will release the official soundtrack to Jim Strouse’s heartfelt comedy, People, Places and Things on August 14, concurrent with The Film Arcade’s release of the film in theaters, On Demand and iTunes. The film premiered at The Sundance Film Festival this year and stars Jemaine Clement as a single father navigating parenting and relationships in New York City. Writer director Jim Strouse made his directorial debut on the John Cusack- film Grace Is Gone, which won the Audience Award at 2007 Sundance. People, Places and Things features an original score by composer/multi-instrumentalist, Mark Orton.

“James’ main directive for the film’s music was that it represent the full range of both the characters and the narrative, and while the film is a comedy, there is real melancholy as well. The music also had to follow the inner life of the main character, Will (Jemaine Clement). He plays the part of a graphic novelist and is working on his drawings throughout the film. These moments are without dialogue and so allowed me a certain freedom musically – and the drawings themselves provided inspiration for my music too,” explains Orton of his inspiration for the musical landscape of the film.

Mark Orton is active as an award winning film composer. A recipient of a Sundance composer fellowship, he was nominated Best New Composer by The International Film Music Critics Association. He has written scores for, or contributed music to films including The Good Girl, Buck and Alexander Payne’s Academy Award nominated Nebraska. When not composing for films, Orton records with the San Francisco-based composer collective Tin Hat Trio and has worked as an arranger and producer for such artists as Tom Waits, Madeline Peyroux, and Willie Nelson.

The official soundtrack for People, Places and Things features 23 original tracks and will be distributed globally.

(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction 50th Anniversary Edition

ABKCO Records is celebrating the golden anniversary of “Satisfaction” achieving #1 status by releasing a limited edition, numbered 12-inch version of the single on 180-gram vinyl. While the smash hit comprises the entire A-side, the B-side consists of both original U.S. and UK “Satisfaction” flip sides: “The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man” and “The Spider and the Fly,” respectively. The record is housed in a sleeve featuring award-winning photographer David Bailey’s shot of the group, recreating the original 7-inch single artwork. Mastered by Carl Rowatti at Trutone Mastering Labs and cut from the original mono master tapes, the 45-rpm 12-inch format makes this a true audiophile pressing, allowing for wider grooves that yield louder levels, broader range, deeper bass and better high frequency response.

Pressed by Quality Record Pressings in Salina, KS, and limited to 10,000 numbered copies in North America, ABKCO’s “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” 12-inch single is released a half-century to the day after the landmark song dominated U.S. charts and helped transform the course of pop music history.

ROLLING STONES’ “(I Can’t Get No) SATISFACTION” 12-inch

The Animals No. 2 (EP) – RSD 2015 Exclusive

Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2015, this is the Animals’ third British Extended-Play record. Never before released in the U.S., it is being reissued as a 45 rpm 10 inch (the original was a 45 rpm 7 inch) for optimum audio fidelity. The Animals No. 2 is part of a series of EP reissues for ABKCO, which earlier released 10 inch vinyl editions of The Animals (RSD 2014), The Animals Is Here and The Animals Are Back (RSD 2013).

Lookin’ For A Love: The Complete SAR Recordings

The Soul Stirrers ignited a revolution in gospel music and were great influences on The Womack Brothers, the children of the Reverend Friendly Womack, a respected Cleveland Baptist minister. The five siblings — Friendly Jr., Curtis, guitarists Bobby, Harry and Cecil – were clearly inspired by gospel groups like the Soul Stirrers but after releasing two singles on SAR, were encouraged by Sam Cooke to add secular soul music to their repertoire. At that point he transformed them into The Valentinos. ABKCO’s Lookin’ For A Love: The Complete SAR Recordings consists of every track recorded between June 1961 and September 1964, including the collection’s namesake and “It’s All Over Now” (a hit for both The Valentinos and The Rolling Stones).

Following the loss this year of Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bobby Womack and the earlier passings of Harry and Cecil, Friendly Jr. and Curtis are the last two surviving Womack brothers. Friendly noted, “Curtis and I are, of course, very excited about the release of this album. We recall Sam Cooke not only as a great record producer but also as a wonderful mentor. His aim for us was to achieve perfection and he didn’t just tell us how, he showed us how. He was our teacher; he realized we were just kids so he did everything he could to show us the ropes.”

All tracks produced by Sam Cooke
*Previously unreleased

Joy In My Soul: The Complete SAR Recordings

Founded in 1926 by Roy Crain, The Soul Stirrers were one of the preeminent gospel vocal acts in the U.S. over the next several decades. After many line up changes, a then-unknown Sam Cooke joined the group in 1951, a stint that lasted until his entry into the secular pop world as a solo artist in 1957. Cooke was replaced by Johnnie Taylor (later of “Who’s Making Love” fame), and by 1959 the Soul Stirrers found themselves without a label. Cooke and Crain, along with manager/songwriting partner J.W. Alexander reacted by founding SAR Records, whose first order of business was releasing Taylor-fronted Soul Stirrers recordings as well as selections on which Jimmie Outler took the lead.

ABKCO’s Joy In My Soul: The Complete SAR Recordings double CD package contains the group’s entire recorded output from September 1959 to July 1964, including the LPs Jesus Be A Fence Around Me and Encore!! With The Soul Stirrers as well as non-LP singles and unreleased tracks. The album includes the song “Times Bring About A Change,” featured in the soundtrack to Selma, the upcoming film from Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions and Brad Pitt’s Plan B Productions that chronicles the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights march led by Martin Luther King. Selma opens in New York and Los Angeles on Christmas Day.

Joy In My Soul: The Complete SAR Recordings was annotated by internationally recognized R&B authority Bill Dahl who calls The Soul Stirrers “the cornerstone of SAR’s roster.”

*Previously unreleased. CD 1: Tracks 1-17 produced by Sam Cooke. CD 2: Tracks 1-10 produced by J.W. Alexander. Tracks 11-12 produced by Sam Cooke. Tracks 13-16 produced by Sam Cooke and J.W. Alexander

The Holy Mountain: Original Soundtrack (Vinyl)

When Jodorowsky wanted, in his words, “another kind of music—something that wasn’t entertainment, something that wasn’t a show, something that went to the soul, something profound,” for the soundtrack to The Holy Mountain, jazz legend Don Cherry and crack studio musician (and one-time member of the Archies) Ron Frangipane came forward to share composing and, along with Jodorowsky, conducting duties. The result was a score that is every bit as hallucinatory as the fantastic visual imagery in the film itself. A cornucopia of musical styles that range from deep, primordial chants, to sitar folk melodies, to blaring orchestral riffs and romantic string arrangements provide the perfect aural accompaniment to a film that follows the philosophical and spiritual journey of its protagonist.

ABKCO and Real Gone Music have spared no expense in the creation of the gatefold double LP and CD of The Holy Mountain soundtrack. Both editions feature liner notes by New York Times contributor Eric Benson that include exclusive quotes from Jodorowsky himself, accompanied by a copious number of production stills. Produced for release by Grammy-winning producer Teri Landi and Mick Gochanour, and mastered from the original tapes by Joe Yannece (with lacquer cutting on the LP by Carl Rowatti at Trutone Mastering), this long-awaited release of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s The Holy Mountain: Original Soundtrack offers a major addition to the soundtrack canon and a completely unique listening experience.

Boardwalk Empire Volume 3: Music From The HBO Original Series

Boardwalk Empire Volume 3: Music From The HBO® Original Series encompasses the music heard in seasons 4 and 5 (the final season). Remaining consistent with both previous soundtrack volumes, it is the collaborative work of series music producer Stewart Lerman, music supervisor Randall Poster and bandleader Vince Giordano – the musical backbone of the project. The idea of having contemporary musicians record both popular and obscure Prohibition-era songs worked so brilliantly that Volume 1 received the GRAMMY® for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media.

Many of the artists who participated in Volumes 1 and/or 2 have returned, including Loudon Wainwright III, Regina Spektor, Elvis Costello, and cast members Margot Bingham (Daughter Maitland) and Stephen DeRosa (Eddie Cantor).

Brainchild of producer/writer Terence Winter, the Golden Globe winning series begins in 1920 and concludes in 1931, tracing the course of American popular music over this period as well as the growing impact of radio. Boardwalk Empire Volume 3 is heavily influenced by the emergence of Bing Crosby as a bona fide superstar by the beginning of the 30s. The soundtrack opens with Crosby’s first solo hit “I Surrender Dear,” performed by Elvis Costello, and also includes Marshall Crenshaw singing “Out of Nowhere,” a landmark #1 song for Crosby.

Parts of season 5 find characters in Havana, which provided an opportunity to include Latin/Cuban rhythms in some of the tracks, including “The Peanut Vendor,” sung by Pedrito Martinez, and David Oquendo’s rendition of “Son Que Quita Las Penas.”

Randall Poster, who has also worked with such notable directors as Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson and Sam Mendes, commented, “Over the years, the Boardwalk Empire music experience has been a very auspicious collaboration that Stewart Lerman and I have had with the brilliant Vince Giordano. Vince navigated us through the project with great instinct and passion and summed up the period reflected in the series in a wonderfully credible way.”

*Accompaniment by Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks

The Best Of The Animals (Clear Vinyl)

In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the British Invasion, ABKCO Records will release clear vinyl edition of The Best Of The Animals on August 12. This title is now added to ABKCO’s Clearly Classic series, which saw the release of six clear vinyl Rolling Stones titles over the last few years. It will be pressed on 180 gram vinyl with original art. Lacquers were cut by Carl Rowatti at Trutone Mastering from high resolution audio sources mastered at Gateway Mastering.

Fronted by charismatic lead singer Eric Burdon, The Animals exploded onto the world stage in 1964 with their transatlantic No. 1 hit “House of the Rising Sun.” Straddling the line between hard-edged blues and Brill Building pop, the group from Newcastle enjoyed a swath of top 20 singles under the guidance of producer Mickie Most, including “I’m Crying,” “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” and “We Gotta Get Out Of This Place.” Recorded entirely within a scant 20-month period ending in September of 1965, The Best of The Animals includes all the aforementioned hits as well as timeless gems such as “It’s My Life,” and “Boom Boom”, renditions of Chuck Berry’s “Around And Around” and Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home To Me.” All of The Best of The Animals tracks were also produced by Mickie Most.

“For me the release of The Best of The Animals on vinyl is a journey back to a working world that doesn’t exist anymore,” said Eric Burdon, who is ecstatic about the upcoming release. “This is the way that all of those songs were originally intended to be heard. I am happy to see more and more young people discover the joy of putting on a record – and the elders rediscovering the thrill of the needle setting down into those grooves.” Burdon then vividly described the organic nature of the recording process in the 60s. “The Animals were a live, living band, coming off of the road and completing an album in two days and then going back on the road again. The moment was captured on quarter inch tape and now it’s returned to you in its original form, 50 years later. Enjoy the trip down memory lane!”

All tracks produced by Mickie Most, 1964-1965
The Best of The Animals was originally released in 1987
Mastered by Adam Ayan, Gateway Mastering
Lacquer cutting by Carl Rowatti, Trutone Mastering