In 1978, everybody was in a band. As a backlash against disco, the eclectic underground new wave movement exploded in all directions. From poetry to punk, hardcore to art rock, all were unified by energy, excess and a contempt for the ordinary. The Revelons were pivotal to this exciting time, their angst-ridden poetry set to melodious, hard-driving rhythms. Band leader Gregory Lee Pickard’s vocalizations have been described as “rival[ing] David Bowie or David Byrne,” his delivery characterized as “unhinged and intense,” and his use of abstract, poetic lyrics positioned as a link between Tom Verlaine and Patti Smith. Over a period of six years, the Revelons recorded and headlined at such infamous night spots as CBGB, Max’s Kansas City, The Mudd Club, Danceteria and Hurrah’s. Ever changing and exceeding limits, the band’s personnel often included Fred Smith of Television, Jay Dee Dougherty of Patti Smith Group, with guest appearances by Steve Bray of Madonna, the Uptown Horns and other renown players of the time. Herein are recordings compiled from numerous sources and incarnations that reflect the band’s evolution, including commercially released material, studio sessions, live performances and three newlyrecorded tracks especially written for this album. “The Revelons are enthralling onstage. Lead singer Gregory Pickard burns with an unhinged intensity that would rival a Bowie or Byrne.” —New Musical Express, 1980 “New York’s best underground band” —Playboy, 1981 • New York’s seminal new wave band featuring members of Television and the Patti Smith Group • Available on CD for the first time • Includes cuts...
CD $12.00
07/20/2004
Brute Force were a soul jazz group formed by brothers Richard and Ted Daniel, who invited childhood friend and free jazz guitarist Sonny Sharrock to join the band some time before the recording of their sole album which was released in the summer of 1970. The album, produced and originally released by Herbie Mann, credits Sharrock on three of the seven tracks [a mistake Sepia Tone replicated exactly despite better judgement], while the unmistakable Sharrock can actually be heard on six of the seven songs. The album is an amalgamation of “right on” personal politics-type songs with themes of both alienation and coming together. The band’s soul jazz moves toward the free style of Pharoah Sanders’ psychedelic classics Tauhid, Karma, Izipho-Zam, and Jewels of Thought — perhaps the real reason Sharrock was asked to join in the first place. Except there’s more groove with the tight eight-piece band. Two bass players and Richard Daniel’s Bitches Brew electric piano will fry your ass. An uncredited vocalist (perhaps Stanley Strickland) really lets it out against long hairs on “Some Kind of Approval,” and yodels away on the mind-blowing, 16-minute “Ye-Le-Wa.” Brute Force is an as-yet-undiscovered classic and a boon to Sharrock fans who probably only listened to the three songs the album credits him on.
CD $12.00
03/30/2004
In 1975 five Bostonians with a shared obsession for '60s rock'n'roll and the Detroit sounds of The Stooges and the MC5 deemed the current musical landscape so bleak that they had to form their own band, with the sole objective of "fusing the sound of the Chocolate Watchband and The Stooges," according to their outspoken frontman, and notoriously obsessive record collector Jeff "Mono Man" Conolly. DMZ developed a strong local following in Boston and, in New York, became fast friends with The Ramones (with whom they would eventually share many bills). The band released an EP on Bomp! in early '77 and soon caught the eye of Sire Records, who snapped them up for the label's growing roster of "new wave" bands (which included the Ramones, Dead Boys, Richard Hell, The Saints, and Radio Birdman, to name a few). Flo & Eddie were chosen to produce the group's debut full length; the two former members of The Turtles turned out to be an appropriate production team for DMZ's smoldering batch of originals along side very well chosen covers by The Sonics, The Wailers and The Troggs. The album's release was greeted with a deafening silence when it came out in 1978. Their long-haired appearance in the current "new wave" climate and the lack of a single live show outside of the East Coast did not help. They split up shortly thereafter, and Mono Man started The Lyres, who relied even more heavily on a retro '60s sound than DMZ.
CD $12.00
02/03/2004
Political activist and sex symbol, downhome bluesman and urbane stylist, Josh White’s credentials as a genuine representative of Southern blues and gospel traditions were undeniable. Empty Bed Blues was his final record for Elektra, and this reissue should help reestablish a place in music history for this remarkable musician who has received relatively scant attention in blues circles over the past decades. With Elektra White rode the wave of the ’60s folk revival, subsequently becoming one of the most popular performers on college campuses. With hundreds of amateurs jumping on the folk music bandwagon, White stood out with his brilliant guitar work, radiant stage presence, and seasoned professionalism. White relied on his past repertoire — songs that were unfamiliar to his new audience and beloved by his old fans. All of the songs on Empty Bed Blues (except the Bessie Smith-associated title track) had been recorded by White during the ’30s and ’40s, and despite the sexy cover, only half dealt with secular themes: “Mother On That Train” was originally recorded by White’s mentor Blind Joe Taggart, while the other four religious songs were popular in the jubilee tradition; a 1935 single by White had paired “Home In That Rock” and “Paul and Silas”; on the blues side, “Backwater Blues” is another classic from the Bessie Smith songbook, while the standard “Bottle Up And Go” is associated with the Memphis Jug Band and Tommy McClennan; the White composition “Baby Baby Blues” was initially recorded by the white stage...
CD $12.00
06/24/2003
***The compositions of R&B and soul songwriting great Don Covay have been recorded by everyone from the Rolling Stones to Jimi Hendrix, Gladys Knight to Wilson Pickett, and many others. Mick Jagger has even cited Covay as his all time favorite singer! Covay was born in Orangeburg, South Carolina, and grew up in Washington, DC, the son of a Baptist preacher. As a youngster he sang in his family's gospel group, the Cherry-Keys, and joined The Rainbows alongside Marvin Gaye, John Berry, and Billy Stewart in the '50s. He also performed as a solo singer with Little Richard (who recorded Covay as Pretty Boy on the Atlantic release "Bip Bop Bip"). Covay had moderate success with the single "Pony Time," which he co-wrote with Berry, for the Arnold label in 1960. He began to hit his stride in 1964. Besides fronting Don Covay and the Goodtimers, he wrote "Mercy Mercy," "Sookie Sookie," and "See Saw," and had tunes recorded by Gene Chandler and Aretha Franklin. Covay did both blues and soul numbers for various labels in the late '60s and '70s. His biggest hit as a performer was "See Saw," which made it to number five on the R&B charts in 1965. Covay was also part of the short-lived Soul Clan, with Solomon Burke, Arthur Conley, Ben E. King, and Joe Tex in 1968. During his period at Atlantic in the late '60s and early '70s, Covay's tunes were continually cut by other artists (most notably "See Saw"...
CD $12.00
09/03/2002
***During their lifespan, The Incredible String Band contained several wives, children and pets, and were a five-piece when they disbanded in November 1974. Basically, everyone else acted as a supporting cast to the songwriting nucleus of Robin Williamson and Mike Heron. Liquid Acrobat As Regards The Air marks the halfway point, more or less, of the Incredible String Band. This 1971 release was their first for Island Records, following Joe Boyd (formerly Elektra UK's director of A&R) to the label. ISB had been riding the huge critical acclaim of their third album The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter and a string of beautiful releases in its wake (Wee Tam, The Big Huge, I Looked Up, and the ambitious, sprawling medieval road show U). In fact, The Incredible String Band were a quartet for this recording, adding Malcolm Le Maistre from the U touring group, and retaining ex-wife Licorice as an additional vocalist. The "Incredibles" (as fans may know them) mined the successful formula of past releases on Liquid Acrobat, a sprawling, epic, and fanciful collection of folk musics from around the world, complete with Williamson's soulful brogue or Heron's bluesy warmth. Somehow, the ISB managed to combine numerous styles and add their own magic to the brew in order to make the sound uniquely their own. Along with Fairport Convention, ISB continued to lead the merging of the lines between folk music and electric rock, and is in fine form here, especially on songs like "Talking of the End,"...
CD $12.00
09/03/2002
***The Incredible String band formed in late 1965 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Before that, founding members Robin Wiliamson , Clive Palmer and Mike Heron had played around the Edinburgh and Glasgow clubs. Originally known as Robin & Clive, the duo added Heron who bought just the bluesy feel that was needed. The initial sound was Scots old-timey with a bit of bluegrass and the blues. In 1966, a new eclecticism arrived in the folk and traditional circles, changing the three young men forever. The new wave of British folk had "arrived" with Donovan, Bert Jansch, John Renbourne, Shirley Collins, The Watersons, and the Incredible String Band as the most genre-defying leaders. Almost immediately after The Incredible String band had finished recording their debut album for Elektra Records in 1966, virtuoso banjo player and third guitarist Palmer left the group to travel to Kashmir (and eventually to form C.O.B.). The first Incredible String Band album is the only one to feature this original trio lineup. It stands alone in the ISB catalogue, for its unique charm that precipitated the more hippie-laden records to follow. At this point, the trio still had a strong link (via Palmer) to traditional Scots old-timey balladry and ragtime and bluegrass, not to mention the traditional folk method. Yet, even in the beginning, traces of the Balkans, North Africa, and the Middle East come through clearly. * A landmark release from one of the world's finest folk (rock) bands * This most magical debut...
CD $12.00
09/03/2002
***As jazz tried to crossover to pop during the mid-'70s—sometimes succeeding, sometimes sounding death knells for jazz careers—ALICE COLTRANE headed in a different direction, although where is still a subject of debate. On the reissue of her wildly eclectic Eternity, which originally brought her from Impulse! to Warner Bros in 1975, two tunes are lush horn-and-string-orchestra settings; two are meditative, Eastern-sounding pieces; the album is rounded off by her first use of vocals (on "Om Supreme"), and the percussion-heavy, rumba-esque "Los Caballos." As is customary all the tracks feature spiritual annotation and explanation. The legendary Charlie Hayden plays bass.
CD $12.00
05/07/2002
***Transcendence is ALICE COLTRANE's most successful vocal album. Side two is especially mind-twisting for its use of surprisingly funky Hindu chants accompanied by Alice's organ and the Indian percussion of the singers. Purists might balk at calling Hare Krishna filtered through a gospel sensibility "jazz," but they're too busy arguing about Ken Burns' documentary to worry about Alice Coltrane reissues anyway. This is probably the most "swinging" Alice Coltrane material since Ptah The El Daoud. Music runs in Alice Coltrane's family; her older brother, bassist Ernie Farrow, played in the '50s and '60s bands of Barry Harris, Stan Getz, Terry Gibbs and, most notably, Yusef Lateef. Alice McLeod began studying classical music at the age of seven. She attended Detroit's Cass Technical High School with pianist Hugh Lawson and drummer Earl Williams. As a young woman she played in church, and in Lateef's and Kenny Burrell's bands, eventually traveling to Paris in 1959 to study with Bud Powell. She met John Coltrane while touring and recording with Gibbs in the early '60s, married the saxophonist in 1965, and joined his band - replacing McCoy Tyner - a year later. She stayed with John's band until his death in 1967, and subsequently formed her own bands with players such as Pharoah Sanders, Joe Henderson, Frank Lowe, Carlos Ward, Rashied Ali and Jimmy Garrison. Coltrane moved to California in 1972. She became increasingly concerned with spiritual matters, founding a center for the study of Eastern religions in 1975. Following the recently...
CD $12.00
05/07/2002
***After howling his way out of the swamplands of Louisiana into the national spotlight with his classics such as "Polk Salad Annie" and "Rainy Night In Georgia" in the late '60s, TONY JOE WHITE toured throughout the '70s with some of the biggest artists of the decade. Dubbed "the godfather of swamp rock,'" White has a laid-back, misty, sensual charm and a voice to match. The way he tells a story, his southern drawl at times sounds almost like another language. It should also be noted that Tony Joe White had some of the coolest sideburns in rock'n'roll history and he actually made leather pants work. The Train I'm On marks the fifth album in Tony Joe White's career, his second recorded for Warner Bros. Produced by JERRY WEXLER and recorded at the legendary Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama, The Train I'm On delivers more of his classic, swampy, soul-infused rock 'n' roll. This is the first time it has been available domestically on CD. * Available on CD domestically for the first time * Sepia-Tone's second second reissue by "the godfather of swamp rock" * Recorded at legendary Muscle Shoals Studios
CD $12.00
05/07/2002
***The Great Gaylord is absolutely correct: Darrell Banks' "Open the Door to Your Heart" is exemplary, significant soul music. "It is," says the WFMU deejay, "two-and-a-half minutes of flawlessness [that] cuts directly to the essence of soul." It's got the beat, it's got the sound, but what's more, it's got the expressive, pleading voice of Darrell Banks. He doesn't overdo it - he does it just enough, and wham! hits the listener with a wallop of rhythm & blues at its finest. The song debuted on the Cashbox Black Contemporary Chart at Number 45 on July 2, 1966. Six weeks later it was Number One for two weeks, knocked off by a Stevie Wonder record for a week before returning to the top spot again. This time The Supremes' "You Can't Hurry Love" brought it down for good. Late in 1967, Atco originally issued Darrell Banks Is Here! LP, consisting of Banks' four singles, their B-sides, and two new tracks. The album is one of soul music's best, though it never achieved the cult status of Howard Tate's Get It While You Can or Edwin Starr's Soul Master, but collectors of Detroit soul music have long treasured this obscure gem. The album starts with a fine ballad, "Here Come the Tears," written by Chicago songwriter Gerald Simms, who worked at such labels as Chess, Brunswick and OKeh as an arranger and producer. The second song, "I've Got That Feelin'," another tough Detroit production with punchy horns and a...
CD $12.00
04/02/2002
The self-titled third LP by Tony Joe White - newly remastered for Sepia-Tone - was originally released by Warner Bros. in 1971, a collection of soul-flavored, blues-drenched swamp rock with a few reflective, soul-tinged ballads about life and love thrown in. Recorded in Memphis, this is classic Tony Joe White: an influential mixture of rugged country and powerful rock songs garnished with gritty vocals, fuzzed-out wah-wah, and the brilliant sounds of the Memphis Horns. White has long occupied a revered place in the pantheon of completely laid-back Southern white-guy recordmakers (along with J.J. Cale, Don Williams, and Dan Penn). His style has been described by Jackson Griffith of Pulse as the "ideal soundtrack to watching the world fall apart from your front porch." Born in 1943, White was the youngest of seven children in a part-Cherokee family raised on a cotton farm near Oak Grove, Louisiana, and first showed an interest in music at the age of 16 when he heard an album by Lightning Hopkins. He later began performing at school dances and night clubs, first as Tony and the Mojos and then as Tony and the Twilights. "The Swamp Fox," as he came to be known, found himself in the national spotlight in the late '60s with his classic "Polk Salad Annie," a Top 10 hit later covered by Elvis Presley; other of White's songs were also covered by Elvis, by Dusty Springfield ("Willie and Laura Mae Jones"), by Hank Williams Jr., Brook Benton, and over a hundred...
CD $12.00
03/19/2002
***An immaculate reissue of the groundbreaking This Is Our Music album, beautifully remastered, and available domestically on CD for the first time. Originally released by Atlantic in 1961, This Is Our Music shows the legendary quartet—ORNETTE COLEMAN, DONALD CHERRY, ED BLACKWELL, and CHARLIE HADEN in top form, simultaneously creating some of the most radical and beautiful music the jazz world has ever known.
CD $12.00
02/05/2002
***A first-time-on-CD reissue of the incredible final official album from one of jazz's most spiritual composers ALICE COLTRANE. Originally released by Warner Bros. in 1978 as a double-LP, Transfiguration is a performance recorded live at UCLA, April 16th the same year. A deeply spiritual, but definitely jazz performance that hearkens back to her earliest work, featuring Coltane on piano and organ, REGGIE WORKMAN on bass and ROY HAYNES on drums. Includes several of her own compositions as well as her late husband JOHN COLTRANE's "Leo," and the tune "Prema" which features an overdubbed string section comprised of NOEL POINTER, MURRAY ADLER, SHERWYN HIRBOD, MICHELLE SITA COLTRANE, and JAY ROSEN (violins), PAMELA GOLDSMITH and JANICE FORD (violas), and RAY KELLY and CHRISTINA KING (cellos).
2XCD $13.00
02/05/2002