Margaret’s first album for London — remastered from the original stereo master tapes — incorporated contemporary and country influences (to which she was no stranger, having charted with all those Jimmy Wakely duets in the ‘40s and ‘50s) into her sound and scored a Top 40 hit with the title track in 1966. Real Gone Music has added a full 13 rare single sides including her German-language version of “Wheel of Hurt” for a total of 25 tracks, all on CD for the first time! Includes notes by Will Friedwald and photos from the Whiting family’s private archive. ~ realgonemusic.com
Totally obscure, utterly beguiling and shockingly relevant to today’s music scene, this 1971 pairing of guitarist Ernie Calabria and soul singer Barbara Massey is a good example of why reissue labels exist. Prior to this recording, Calabria had played on sessions for Harry Belafonte, Nina Simone and Anita Carter, while Massey had sung backup for Jimi Hendrix, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock and Cat Stevens among others. With those influences, the duo made exactly the kind of album you might expect—a funky, folky (!), psychedelic soul gem graced with a stellar list of sidemen (e.g. Joe Beck and Keith Jarrett) that vanished without a trace in the more stratified world of early ‘70s music retail. Nowadays, of course, the record’s mix-and-match blend of styles sounds amazingly current—thanks in part to disco pioneer Eumir Deodato’s orchestrations—and its oft-sampled sound has won devotees from the jazz, soul, psych and funk factions of crate diggers worldwide. Nevertheless, this Real Gone release marks its first legitimate release on CD, with added liner notes by Pat Thomas. For starters, check out the slow-burning version of Jefferson Airplane’s “Somebody to Love”—you’re gonna fall instantly in love with this album. ~ realgonemusic.com
Great work from John Lee and Gerry Brown – a pair of fusion stalwarts who added key help to a number of classic 70s sessions for other artists – and got to make a rare few albums like this on their own! Lee's on bass and Brown's on drums, and the pair are in perfect time throughout – working with Skip Drinkwater production, which helps them find even more focus than before, and shake off some of the more jamming aspects of their rock-fusion performances with others – a move that helps them come up with a wonderfully soulful sound in the process – very much in the best Drinkwater soul jazz style of the time! Some cuts have vocals that get nice and soulful – from Donald Smith, CP Alexander, and Tawatha Agee – and titles include the brilliant "Love The Way You Make Me Feel" – plus "Freeze It Up", "Breakin", "Rise On", "Funky Now", "Strut N Get Up", and "Down The Way". ~ Dusty Groove
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