www.musicweek.com
23.11.12 Music Week 41
INCOMING REISSUES / CATALOGUE ALBUMS
MICHAEL CRAWFORD • The Ultimate Collection (Union Square Music USMTVCD 003)
The third in Union Square’s series of TV-advertised albums, this is the first high-profile
compilation of material by Michael Crawford since a less extensive 2004 EMI compilation sold 66,000 copies. This comprehensively trumps that, with 28 familiar selections from throughout Crawford’s glittering musical career on a two-CD set, with a combined playing time of more than two hours. It includes reprises of his Phantom Of The Opera triumphs All I Ask Of You and The Music Of The Night as well as I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables, Any Dream Will Do from Joseph & The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat and a smattering of covers not from musicals, like When I Fall In Love, Stormy Weather and The Power Of Love (Jennifer Rush).
CHICAGO • The Studio Albums 1969-1978 (Rhino/Warner Music 8122796958)
Offering superb value for money, with a selling price of less than £30, this box set
includes the remastered and expanded editions of the first 10 studio albums by Chicago - namely Chicago I, II, III, V, VI, VII, VIII, X, XI and...Hot Streets. (Chicago IV was a live album and IX a compilation.) The first three albums and Chicago VII were double-disc sets, which, with bonus tracks, mean there are more than 150 songs here. Following the eclectic band from its jazz fusion and prog origins to a more commercial, melodic AOR sound, it is a set studded with great songs, from the propulsive breakthrough hit 25 Or 6 To 4 to the atmospheric harmony hit Wishing You Were Here, the formidable ballad If You Leave Me Now and Little Miss Lovin’.
JACKIE DeSHANNON • Keep Me In Mind: The Complete Imperial And Liberty Singles Volume 3 (Ace CDCHD 1350)
Volume one of this series (You Won’t Forget Me), and volume two (Come And Get Me) were
critically acclaimed 2009 and 2011 releases collecting together in chronological order DeShannon’s earlier singles. Spanning 1967 to 1970, Keep Me In Mind adds a further 27 sides, these being the A and B-sides of the final batch of singles from DeShannon’s 10-year tenure with Liberty. It was a period of artistic growth but chart inconsistency for De Shannon, who fell short of the mark with most of her records, excellent as they were, but also scored her all-time biggest hit with the uplifting Put A Little Love In Your Heart, a No.4 single in her native US. It was an intriguing part of her career, which saw her adopt a number of different styles.
DeShannon shines most brightly on her own songs like Changin’ My Mind, which seems to channel The Beach Boys; the effortlessly breezy Effervescent Blue; and Laurel Canyon before Joni Mitchell made it fashionable in her own tribute. Of songs written by others, the ones that work best are Trust Me and What Is This, both enjoyable light R&B styled songs penned and produced by Bobby Womack, and the seasonal delight Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown, a John Barry/Hal David song written for the James Bond film, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
NANCY WILSON • Keep You Satisfied/Forbidden Lover (SoulMusic SMCR 5075D)
R&B historian and writer David Nathan’s SoulMusic label has performed a
sterling service not just for soul but also for R&B, funk and jazz since
its inception in 2008, thus far releasing nearly 80 albums. Although generating a substantial amount of crossover action, Wilson falls into the jazz category and this, her third SoulMusic twofer, makes available Keep You Satisfied (1985) and Forbidden Lover (1986). Wilson was nearly 50 at the time the albums were first released, and her more commercial years were behind her, but these are among her most satisfying recordings, with her voice displaying a new maturity and depth. Recorded in Japan with local musicians, Keep You Satisfied is a delight, with the breezy Just To Keep You In My Life and a sultry reading of Marvin Gaye’s Just To Keep You Satisfied just trumped by Wilson’s take on George Michael’s Careless Whisper. Wilson’s Japanese producer and arranged followed her to Los Angeles for Forbidden Lover, another glittering collection, with the stunning title track performed as a duet with Carl Anderson.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48