The Complete SAR Records Recordings

The world finally has the chance to hear what could have easily been considered a classic album in its day were it not for a set of tragic circumstances that buried the release for more than a half century. L.C. Cooke recorded what was to be his debut album (tracks 1-10 on this collection) during the first half of the 1960s for his older brother Sam’s SAR Records, notable for being one of the first artist-owned labels and having a roster that included Billy Preston, the latter-day Soul Stirrers (featuring Johnnie Taylor), and The Valentinos, the secular iteration of gospel’s Womack Brothers.

Sam Cooke not only acted as label boss, but also producer and principal songwriter for L.C.’s studio efforts. “Sam had that canny thing about him, where he could just look at you and say, ‘I’m going to write something that fits you,’” reminisces L.C., now age 80. However, “Put Me Down Easy,” possibly the crown jewel of L.C.’s recorded output, was a song Sam had originally written for himself. “I said, ‘That’s my song, Sam.’ So he laughed and said, ‘Oh, you’re going to take it just like that, huh?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’m taking it.’”

Shortly after Sam Cooke’s death in December of 1964, L.C.’s album was shelved. SAR did manage to release the bulk of these recordings on a series of singles between 1960 and 1964, which are all included on The Complete SAR Records Recordings. Along with the projected 10 track album, the release includes alternate takes and unreleased tracks. The set is augmented with two tracks L.C. Cooke recorded for Checker Records in 1959 (“If I Could Only Hear” and “I’m Falling”) as well as “Do You Wanna Dance (Yea Man),” recorded and released in 1965 on Destination Records, making it the only post-Sam Cooke track on the collection. Track 13 (“Gonna Have A Good Time (Session Chatter)” offers unique insight into the Cooke brothers’ studio interaction and cultural identity, wherein the elder Cooke instructs the younger to pronounce the lyric “before” as “’fore.” “Don’t forget our heritage,” admonishes a mirthful Sam Cooke to his brother from the control room.

L.C. Cooke was backed by numerous talented musicians on the SAR sessions, which variously included Wrecking Crew notables Rene Hall (guitar), Earl Palmer (drums) and Plas Johnson (tenor sax). Label mates occasionally joined in, with Billy Preston on organ, and brothers Cecil and Bobby Womack on guitar.

ABKCO, which stewards the SAR Records catalog, is releasing this 18-track package that includes liner notes from renowned music historian and Cooke biographer (Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke) Peter Guralnick who is also the author of Lost Highway: Journeys & Arrivals of American Musicians.

Portrait Of A Legend 1951-1964 (Vinyl)

Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964, a career-spanning 31 track collection of music pioneer Sam Cooke’s greatest works, is being released by ABKCO Records for the first time ever as a vinyl double album on June 24. Originally released in 2003 as a CD/Super Audio CD hybrid, Portrait of a Legend has never before been available on LP, the dominant format at the time of Cooke’s greatest success.

In Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964, ABKCO presents tracks from Cooke’s gospel and early R&B career as well as his pop/soul hits from the Specialty and RCA labels and has combined them with the cream of the masters that are part of his own company, Tracey Records. He was one of the first recording stars, black or white, to command this kind of artistic control, the most noteworthy other example at the time being Frank Sinatra.

The collection highlights Cooke’s astounding command of the gospel idiom where, at age 19, he joined the world renowned Soul Stirrers. With Cooke singing lead, the veteran group recorded “Jesus Gave Me Water,” on March 1, 1951 at a session for Specialty Records; Sam Cooke’s professional career had begun. More than a half century later, that same song closes this collection that starts with another Soul Stirrers song, “Touch The Hem Of His Garment,” written by Cooke.

After Cooke’s decision to sing secular music as a solo artist in the late 50s, until the time of his death, Cooke was one of the most popular vocalists in the world with a streak of Top 10 Billboard Pop Chart hits that began with “You Send Me” and continued through “Chain Gang,” “Twistin’ The Night Away,” “Another Saturday Night” and “Shake,” all of which are on Portrait of a Legend. Three of these hits were also #1 Billboard R&B Chart singles; two peaked at #2. Seven other songs in the collection were also Top 10 R&B hits including “I’ll Come Running Back To You,” “Win Your Love For Me,” “Everybody Likes To Cha Cha Cha,” “Wonderful World,” “Bring It On Home to Me,” “Having A Party,” “Nothing Can Change This Love,” and “A Change Is Gonna Come.”

A diligent quality assurance program, coupled with painstaking research has resulted in the best sounding product possible. The vinyl was cut from high-resolution files mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering, and the master lacquers were cut by Carl Rowatti at Trutone Mastering. Both discs are pressed on high quality 200 gram vinyl; the result of these efforts is nothing less than extraordinarily authentic.

A bonus, hidden track entitled “Soul” is included in the collection, the full version of which had only been previously heard on the Super Audio layer of the 2003 SACD Portrait of a Legend.

The songs included in Portrait of a Legend collectively logged 273 weeks or five years and three months on Billboard’s Pop Chart and a mind boggling 508 weeks (nine years and nine months) on the Pop and R&B charts, combined.

Comprehensive liner notes by Cooke biographer (Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke) Peter Guralnick are provided in the Portrait of a Legend vinyl package, as are detailed musician credits.

Release date: June 24, 2014
Running time: 83 minutes

The Dance Of Reality (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Acclaimed filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky, the self-described “Cecil B. de Mille of the underground,” commissioned his son Adan Jodorowsky to compose the score for his latest film The Dance of Reality. The soundtrack album was made available digitally by ABKCO Records on Monday, May 19, four days before the film’s U.S. theatrical release.

Born and raised in France, Adan Jodorowsky, aka “Adanowsky,” also has a role in the film as “The Anarchist.” He is an established musician/composer and actor in his own right, having provided music for, and acted in, Julie Delpy’s 2007 film 2 Days in Paris. The haunting and reflective tone of The Dance of Reality’s score perfectly captures the mood of what The Guardian calls an “arresting spectacle,” that is “swathed in surreal mythology dream logic and instant day-glo legend, resembling Fellini, Tod Browning, Emir Kusturica, and many more.” The score took three months to compose, and 33 musicians were involved in the recording process, which was tracked in Paris and Macedonia.

Alejandro Jodorowsky first came to international prominence in 1970 when John Lennon championed his “acid western” film El Topo, which was screened on a regular basis at the Elgin Theatre in New York at midnight, birthing the “midnight movie” phenomenon. Many of his subsequent films such as The Holy Mountain and Santa Sangre, with their focus on psychedelic imagery and spiritual subject matter, have become cult favorites among generations of underground moviegoers. Autobiographical in nature, The Dance of Reality, Jodorowsky’s first film in 23 years, follows him as a child in the coastal town of Tocopilla, Chile, and his struggles as the offspring of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants.

Composing The Dance of Reality soundtrack was a transformative process for Adan Jodorowsky. He says of the experience, “Writing the score for the history of my family has healed my soul forever.”

Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) (UK) (CLEAR VINYL)

Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) was originally released in September 1969, and is the second compilation album of hits by the Rolling Stones, following Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass). Through the Past made a huge splash on both sides of the Atlantic, reaching #2 in both the U.S. and UK. The album includes numerous Stones’ classics including “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “Let’s Spend The Night Together” and “Honky Tonk Women.” The packaging stays true to the original layout, with its trademark octagonal-shaped album cover. The inside flap contains this poem written by Brian Jones, who died two months before the release:

When this you see, remember me,
and bear me in your mind.
Let all the world say what they may,
speak of me as you find.

12 x 5 (Clear Vinyl)

12 X 5 was the Stones’ second U.S. full-length release. Originally released in October of 1964, 12 X 5 combines the Five by Five EP (recorded at Chess Studios in Chicago) with the singles “It’s All Over Now” and “Time Is on My Side” and the B-sides of those singles. Also part of the 12 X 5 tune stack are three more tracks that were later included in the Stones’ second UK full-length The Rolling Stones No. 2. 12 X 5 is dominated by the Stones’ takes on R&B and blues songs. The way in which Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman and Brian Jones interpreted these songs shaped and informed the hard blues/R&B wing of the British Invasion in ensuing years. The Clearly Classic edition is based on the original mono mix.

Album Review by Richie Unterberger, AllMusic.com:
The evolution from blues to rock accelerated with The Rolling Stones‘ second American LP. They turned soul into guitar rock for the hits “It’s All Over Now” and “Time Is on My Side” (the latter of which was their first American Top Ten single). “2120 South Michigan Avenue” is a great instrumental blues-rock jam; “Around and Around” is one of their best Chuck Berry covers; and “If You Need Me” reflects an increasing contemporary soul influence. On the other hand, the group originals (except for the propulsive “Empty Heart”) are weak and derivative, indicating that the band still had a way to go before it could truly challenge the Beatles’ throne.

Beg, Borrow & Steal

The tangled history of the Ohio Express is difficult to unwind, but the one constant in the band’s chronology are the guiding hands of legendary bubblegum/garage producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffrey Katz, whose Super K Productions were behind hits by everybody from the Shadows of Knight to the 1910 Fruitgum Company to the Music Explosion. With regard to the Ohio Express, their first hit (“Beg, Borrow and Steal”) was actually a song recorded by another band: the Rare Breed, who recorded it for Attack Records in 1966. The Cameo label then re-mixed and released the song, which went to #29 on the 1967 charts—but they had no band to promote it, as the Rare Breed had left Super K Productions, never to record again! So, a Springfield, Ohio band named Sir Timothy & the Royals was hired to tour and to lay down more tracks under the Ohio Express name, some with them and some with a house band fronted by Royals/Express vocalist Dale Powers, with two songs (“I Find I Think of You” and the unreleased “Life Is a Mystery”) written/co-written by none other than a young Joe Walsh! Now, for the first time, ABKCO and Real Gone Music have assembled ALL the tracks recorded by this legendary bubblegum band for the Cameo label, including the entire Beg, Borrow and Steal album, four single sides and two unreleased tracks. ABKCO’s Grammy-winning engineer Teri Landi has lovingly compiled all 17 songs from the original analog tapes; Jim Allen provides the liner notes. A must for ‘60s bubblegum and garage fans!

The Grand Budapest Hotel (Original Soundtrack)

‘The Grand Budapest Hotel (Original Soundtrack),’ the musical accompaniment to Wes Anderson’s latest film, is out on ABKCO Records on March 4, 2014. Produced by Anderson and long-time collaborator Randall Poster, the soundtrack features music from Academy Award®-nominated composer Alexandre Desplat and performances by the Osipov State Russian Folk Orchestra. To help create the film’s musical character, the team chose a combination of Desplat’s original compositions, traditional Russian folk songs and an exquisite Vivaldi piece to set the scene for a chase through the snowy tundra in this gripping tale of intrigue.

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL recounts the adventures of Gustave H, a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars, and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend. The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting and the battle for an enormous family fortune — all against the back-drop of a suddenly and dramatically changing Continent. THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL will see a February 6, 2014 premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival, and will be released in the U.S. on March 7, 2014 by Fox Searchlight Pictures.

“THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL takes place 100 years ago in an invented country that might be described as part Czech, part Hungarian, part Polish, part Russian, part German — and a little bit 1930’s movie-studio in Culver City,” Wes Anderson commented. “The music, however, comes from Paris, where gifted French composer Alexandre Desplat incorporated a variety of regional sounds and musical forms to make what we call “Zubrowkian” music: something vaguely familiar — but, nevertheless, not quite like anything else.”

Alexandre Desplat previously composed the original score for Wes Anderson’s 2012 release ‘Moonrise Kingdom,’ in addition to ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ for which he received his 3rd Oscar nomination in 2010. Other Oscar nominations were received for ‘The King’s Speech’ in 2011, ‘Argo’ in 2012 and in 2014 for Stephen Frears’ ‘Philomena.’ Desplat has received several GRAMMY® nominations, the latest in 2014 for ‘Argo’ and ‘Zero Dark Thirty.’ He also won a GRAMMY® in 2012 for ‘The King’s Speech.’ Desplat has composed the music for over 70 European films, earning multiple César (France’s equivalent of the Oscar) Award nominations and winning the César for scoring Roman Polanski’s ‘The Ghost Writer’ in 2011 and in 2013 for Jacques Audiard’s ‘Rust and Bone.’

GRAMMY®-winning music supervisor Randall Poster is one of the most active music supervisors working in film and television today. Well-known as the long-time music collaborator of director Wes Anderson, Poster also works regularly with renowned directors Harmony Korine, Todd Haynes, Richard Linklater, Todd Phillips, Martin Scorsese, Sam Mendes, and Jason Reitman, among others.

Poster remarked, “THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL soundtrack will take you into uncharted musical territory as Anderson and Desplat do a cultural mash up like no other. The tenth collection of music Wes and I have done together, this may be the most original yet. Balalaika players beware; here’s your new jam.”

*Music Composed by Alexandre Desplat
Produced by Wes Anderson & Randall Poster

Live 1965: Music From Charlie Is My Darling

The thirteen song set dates back to the breakthrough period of the Rolling Stones original lineup — Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Brian Jones and Bill Wyman — as chronicled in the critically acclaimed film Charlie is my Darling- Ireland 1965 — and is in contention for Grammy recognition later this month.

A Super Deluxe edition of the film was released in 2012 that included companion audio CDs which resulted in a Grammy® nomination in the Best Historical Album category for Teri Landi, Andrew Loog Oldham and Steve Rosenthal, the compilation producers, along with mastering engineer Bob Ludwig. In honor of the nomination, ABKCO is offering a digital version of this limited CD release to fans everywhere.

The performances, as captured on Live 1965, provide fierce, elemental testimony to the Rolling Stones coming into their own as interpreters of blues-rooted material as well as to the emerging songwriting acumen of the Jagger/Richards team.

The thirteen tracks include “Everybody Needs Somebody To Love,” which Mick Jagger sang in tribute to the late Solomon Burke on the 2011 Grammy telecast, as well as Bobby Troup’s “Route 66,” Willie Dixon’s “Little Red Rooster” and “Pain In My Heart” written by Allan Toussaint and covered by Otis Redding. Other tracks include Don Ray’s boogie-woogie classic “Down The Road Apiece,” “Time Is On My Side,” the Jerry Ragovoy-penned standard that Irma Franklin first recorded and Hank Snow’s country burner “I’m Moving On.” Original material on The Rolling Stones: Live 1965 includes the rave up “I’m Alright,” collaboratively written by all five members of the band, Jagger/Richards’ “Off The Hook,” the studio version of which is on The Rolling Stones Now! and “The Last Time,” the band’s first British single to carry the Jagger/Richards credit line.

Raw In Holland ’13

On the heels of his 2013 solo release, ‘Til Your River Runs Dry, Eric Burdon returns with Raw in Holland ’13. The album showcases Burdon’s trademark howling vocals, backed by his immensely talented live band! It includes Animals essentials “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” “House Of The Rising Sun,” sprinkled among other Burdon classics and selections from his solo effort.

The Animals: The Mickie Most Years And More

It’s been more than 50 years in the making but well worth the wait: the first ever Animals boxed set, The Animals: The Mickie Most Years And More, is set for release by ABKCO Records through Real Gone Music on November 26th. Comprised of five CDs and many extras, the set offers a total of 61 tracks from one of the British Invasion’s most successful bands, fronted by the ever-enduring Eric Burdon.
A set of multiple “firsts,” The Animals: The Mickie Most Years And More offers the group’s first four US albums — The Animals, The Animals on Tour, Animal Tracks and Animalization — on CD for the very first time, each offered with bonus material. The first three of these were produced by the legendary Mickie Most, who went on to work with such notable artists as Herman’s Hermits, the Yardbirds, Donovan, Hot Chocolate, Suzi Quatro and other hit makers.
All of the discs that comprise The Animals: The Mickie Most Years And More have been newly re-mastered by Adam Ayan at Gateway Mastering who used transfers from original first generation, mono master tapes as his source. The set features a plethora of bonus tracks — a total of 16 — including the very first Animals release, a 4 track EP entitled I Just Wanna Make Love To You that was issued in 1963 on the Graphic Sound label, later re-released by (British) Decca as In The Beginning There Was Early Animals. Other bonus track highlights include four tracks never before released in the U.S., three non-LP/single-only versions including “We Gotta Get Out of This Place,” “Don’t Bring Me Down” and “I’m Gonna Change The World,” as well as “Roadrunner, “a UK-only track.
The lavishly packaged set includes extensive liner notes for each of the CDs by Rolling Stone Senior Editor David Fricke and each copy of The Animals: The Mickie Most Years And More comes with a 100% cotton Animals t-shirt.
Well worth the wait, indeed.