(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

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.”