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Urban Renewal (Album of the Day)
Tower of Power is rightfully revered for its horn section, which has graced sessions for performers including Santana, Aerosmith and Elton John. But the Bay Area band has cut many albums of its own, and 1975's URBAN RENEWAL is one of its best. Recorded near the peak of group's commercial success, the Warner Bros. collection would be the last with lead vocalist Lenny Williams before his departure for a solo career. The instrumental work is also stellar, and not just the horns; keyboardist Chester Thompson and bassist Francis "Rocco" Prestia will dazzle you as well. Except for a Johnny "Guitar" Watson cover, the material is all original and ranges from topical tracks (“Only So Much Oil in the Ground”) to soulful balladry (“Willing to Learn”) to hard funk (“Maybe It'll Rub Off”), an appealing mix that lifted the set to #22 on the Billboard Album chart. Released 45 years ago this month, URBAN RENEWAL is sure to please any fan of '70s R&B.
... But Seriously (Deluxe Edition) (Album of the Day)
Originally released in December 1989, ...BUT SERIOUSLY features many of Phil Collins' biggest hits and was one of its era's biggest selling albums, spending four weeks atop the Billboard 200 and scoring #1 chart positions all over the globe. In the performer's native UK, it spent a total of 15 weeks at #1 during an extended run of almost a year in the Top 10, en route to becoming the biggest-selling album of 1990. The album campaign culminated with his fourth and fifth BRIT Awards for British Single ("Another Day in Paradise") and British Male. The 2-CD version of the multi-platinum set includes a bonus disc of demos, live recordings and related B-sides compiled by Collins himself to show how his songs have evolved over time. We'll give ...BUT SERIOUSLY (DELUXE EDITION) a spin now to wish Phil a happy birthday.
End of the Century (Album of the Day)
The Ramones always had one foot in the future and one in the past. Even as the Queens quartet was rewriting the rock rulebook with its blitzkrieg bop, the band regularly revisited such golden oldies as “Let's Dance” and “Needles And Pins.” For the album END OF THE CENTURY – released twenty years ahead of the new millennium – the Ramones tapped the legendary Phil Spector to produce, and the collection includes a cover of the '60s hitmaker's “Baby I Love You,” as well as the propulsive “Do You Remember Rock 'N' Roll Radio?” and a version of “Rock 'N' Roll High School.” The highest-charting album of the band's career, END OF THE CENTURY celebrates its 40th anniversary this week and captures Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee and Marky in top form.
Patches (Album of the Day)
Few artists carried the torch for '60s soul into the following decade more effectively than Clarence Carter. The Alabama-born singer had his biggest hit in 1970 with “Patches,” a tale of perseverance through poverty that earned a Best R&B Song Grammy and still resonates a half-century later. Carter's fourth album drew its name from the track, and though that Top 10 single may be the most recognizable thing on the Atlantic collection, it's far from the only highlight. Minor hit “It's All in Your Mind,” a gospel-tinged version of The Beatles' “Let It Be” and original “C.C. Blues” speak to the performer's versatility, and Carter's guitar work is as appealing as his vocals. With outstanding examples of several R&B styles, PATCHES is a great way to kick off Black History Month.
Sweet Baby James (Album of the Day)
The rise of singer-songwriters in the early 1970s produced some of that decade's greatest music, and among the movement's defining albums is James Taylor's SWEET BABY JAMES. The 1970 Warner Bros. collection may not have been the performer's first, but it arrived as a breath of fresh air to listeners eager for something simple, intimate and honest. Except for a take on Stephen Foster's “Oh, Susanna,” all 11 songs are originals, and over the years several have attained classic status including “Sunny Skies,” “Country Road,” the title track and the hit “Fire And Rain,” which reached #3 on the chart (as did the album). Taylor's resonant lyrics are paired with sympathetic backing from the likes of Carole King, guitarist Danny Kortchmar and future Eagle Randy Meisner, ensuring that the Grammy-nominated SWEET BABY JAMES still sounds sweet 50 years after its release.
Live (Album of the Day)
A singer, songwriter, keyboardist and arranger, Donny Hathaway was among the most gifted figures in 1970s R&B, even if he was sometimes overshadowed by Roberta Flack, a fellow Howard University alumnus and frequent duet partner. With one side recorded at L.A.'s Troubadour club and the other at New York's The Bitter End, LIVE is the ideal showcase for Hathaway's many talents. The 1972 Atlantic collection shows him with a top-flight soul-jazz band working the crowds masterfully on original songs (“The Ghetto,” “We're Still Friends”) and revelatory covers (Marvin Gaye's “What's Going On,” John Lennon's “Jealous Guy”). Donny Hathaway was just 33 when he died, but the inviting performances on LIVE are enough to ensure that he'll be remembered for decades to come.
By the Way (Deluxe Edition) (Album of the Day)
“Writing BY THE WAY ... was a whole different experience from CALIFORNICATION. John was back to himself and brimming with confidence,” noted Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis of the band's first album of the new millennium. Guitarist John Frusciante helps take the group in a new direction on the Warner Bros. set, with melodic writing and playing that drew from The Beach Boy, doo wop and ELP, among other influences. And while the Julian Schnabel cover design further underlines the 2002 collection's artistic ambitions, this is still a Chili Peppers album, with Rick Rubin's focused production, Kiedis' candid reflections on love and substance abuse and the bedrock rhythms of bassist Flea and drummer Chad Smith. With such singles as “The Zephyr Song,” “Can't Stop” and the title track, BY THE WAY reached Billboard's Top 10, and the Deluxe Edition of the double-platinum album adds bonus tracks “Runaway” and “Bicycle Song.”
Dixie Fried (Album of the Day)
As a sideman and a producer, Memphis music great James Luther Dickinson left his fingerprints on seminal recordings by the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Big Star, the Replacements and many others. After his group, the Dixie Flyers, replaced the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section as Atlantic Records' backing band of choice, Dickinson got the chance to cut a solo album for the label in 1972. DIXIE FRIED is as eccentric, soulful and masterfully played as you'd expect, distilling a potent brew from rockabilly, blues, country and New Orleans R&B (Dr. John is a prominently featured guest). Covers predominate - Carl Perkin's title track and Bob Dylan's “John Brown” are a couple of the highlights - but these songs have been reimagined from the ground up, and the results are wonderful. This year, try your Thanksgiving DIXIE FRIED.
Do I Speak For the World (Album of the Day)
Son of The O'Jays' Eddie Levert, Gerald Levert was second-generation soul royalty and a hitmaker in his own right with trio LeVert in the 1980s and a solo career that began in 1991. DO I SPEAK FOR THE WORLD came late in that career – it was the final studio album released during the singer's lifetime – but it captured Gerald at the top of his game. A Top 10 R&B hit, the Atlantic collection offers polished production and consistently engaging grooves well beyond the singles “Lay You Down,” “One Million Times” and “So What (If You Got A Baby).” Acclaimed as a strong return to form, DO I SPEAK FOR THE WORLD was released 15 years ago, and through its romantic balladry and socially aware songs, Gerald Levert still speaks passionately to the world.
Gold - Best of (Album of the Day)
U.K. quintet Spandau Ballet made their live debut 40 years ago, and soon thereafter were standard bearers for the New Romantic movement with a Chrysalis Records contract to their name. Though successful from the outset in England, the band really took off when it added blue-eyed soul to its sound on such hits as “True,” which topped the British singles chart. GOLD: THE BEST OF includes all the group's U.K. charting singles for Chrysalis (plus a couple for their next label, Epic), among them “Communication,” “Only When You Leave” and the title song. As the 17-track collection covers the evolution of Spandau Ballet, you get so much more than Tony Hadley's achingly romantic croon – GOLD is the definitive look at the band's early- to mid-1980s heyday.