The greatest UK female pop singer ever,
Dusty Springfield was a student of American sounds. As a member of The Springfields (“Silver Threads and Golden Needles”), she performed Peter, Paul & Mary-style folk, while terrific early solo hits like “Stay Awhile” and “I Only Want to Be with You” showcased her gift for exuberant girl-group epics. Presenting a subsequent string of 45 releases in the original mono versions,
The Complete Atlantic Singles 1968-1971 testifies to Springfield’s stunning versatility.
Her tenure at the fabled r’n’b label Atlantic resulted in the classic album
Dusty in Memphis, a masterpiece of down-home Southern soul, and its steamy hit single, “Son-of-a Preacher Man.” The A-list production team of Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd and Arif Mardin took full advantage of Springfield’s magnificent voice, which could be sultry and intimate or soaring and expansive, sometimes in the same song. Her
Richard Hell only made two albums in his brief recording career, 1977’s confrontational landmark
Blank Generation and 1982’s
Destiny Street. In the informative and entertaining new liner notes for
Destiny Street Complete, Hell describes the final mix of this less-successful sequel as a “morass of trebly multi-guitar blare.”
Today, he’s seized the opportunity for a do-over, and then some. The two-disc
Destiny Street Complete features four different takes on the album: the original version, demos from 1978 to 1980, a stripped-down edition from 2009 and a contemporary remix. If that sounds like overkill, it turns out to be a fascinating exercise. Hell’s reservations about the sound of the original release aside, the various incarnations of
Through endless ups and downs, personal and creative, over the course of more than a half-century (!),
Iggy Pop has resolutely remained his same compelling self. Since the very beginning, the former James Osterberg has embodied the noble beast searching for meaning in the modern world, portraying a combustible mixture of probing intellect and burning animal appetite.
Taking a cue from the title of his 1997 memoir, “I Need More,”
From KO to Chaos gathers up enough Iggy (with and without
Stooges) to satisfy the hungriest of the hardcore, collecting seven CDs and a DVD issued by the great indie French label Skydog.
A leading musical voice of the Civil Rights Movement in the ‘60s, the long-running family gospel group
The Staple Singers became secular stars after joining Stax Records at the end of the decade. On funky but still uplifting hits like “Respect Yourself,” “I’ll Take You There” and “If You’re Ready (Come Go with Me),” Roebuck “Pops” Staples and his daughters Mavis, Cleotha and Yvonne spread an exuberant message of hope, underscoring soul music’s deep roots in the church.
Compiling their six albums for the label along with a separate disc of extras,
Come Go with Me: The Stax Collection is a joyous experience from start to finish. From arresting covers of The Band’s “The Weight” and Joe South’s “Games People Play,” to the rollicking obscurity “Walking in Water Over Your Head,” to the group’s memorable live performance at the Wattstax Festival, and so much more, the Staples display an overflowing generosity of spirit that’s impossible to re
Jimi Hendrix, arguably the greatest rock guitarist ever, was also sadly short on savvy when it came to business matters, making commitments that only complicated his life. Still, the byproduct of these missteps was sometimes noteworthy music, despite its dodgy origins.
Live in Maui, capturing a pair of shows from July 30, 1970 – less than two months before Hendrix’s death – mixes early favorites like “Purple Haze” and “Red House” with newer material such as “Freedom” and “Straight Ahead,” which indicated he was heading a less-theatrical, more socially conscious direction. Ably abetted by Mitch Mitchell (drums) and Billy Cox (bass), Hendrix was fiery and focused, unspooling blistering solos that never feel formulaic, no matter how familiar the songs.