Pop & Rock News

A gritty bodacious masterpiece!
Johnny Cash With His Hot and Blue Guitar was not only Cash's debut album, it was also the first full-length LP released by Sun. The LP's twelve tracks include one side of his debut single, 'Cry, Cry, Cry,' along with two of his best-known recordings, 'Folsom Prison Blues' and 'I Walk the Line.' Backed by 'The Tennessee Two,' Luther Perkins on guitar and Marshall Grant on bass, the tracks are spare, direct and intense. Cash's distinctive 'boom-chicka' rhythm propels every song as his commanding voice captures and holds the listener.

Though Cash had been at Columbia for several years by the time this LP was originally released, he recorded and released such a tremendous amount of music between 1955 and 1958 at Sun Studios in Memphis, that Sun Records was releasing his work long after he had defected to a new label. Featuring 12 fantastic recordings with his Tennessee Two and others, including The Ballad Of A Teenage Queen', his wonderful take on Goodnight Irene', and the immortal Big River'. Repressed in a beautiful limited edition picture disc LP on DOXY.

El Toro Records is pleased to bring you an EP featuring the rarest recordings from the

legacy of Johnny Burnette. The three precious alternative cuts from the 1956

Rock 'n' Roll Trio and the first time on vinyl for the live and chaotic "Hound Dog".

Play them like they were meant to be played!

On paper, Michigan seems an unlikely candidate for a rockabilly hotbed, yet because of its plentiful jobs in the steel and automobile industries centred around.

Detroit, the state became a magnet for Southerners in the 1930s and 1940s and, consequently, a healthy market for country and blues music developed into one for rockabilly amongst the children of the migrants.

Boasting the longest freshwater coastline of any of the US states, there is nothing wet about the searing rock 'n' roll laid down by the likes of Johnny Powers nor the wealth of recordings made at the tiny Fortune Studio in Detroit and others dotted around the state long before Motown held sway.

A lovely, understated exercise in minimalism, Deep Dead Blue documents a set of otherwise unaccompanied guitar/vocal duets between Bill Frisell and Elvis Costello, recorded live at the Meltdown Festival in London's Queen Elizabeth Hall on June 25, 1995. Frisell co-wrote the title track, one of the five songs bearing a Costello credit; the others are underexposed items from Costello's mid- to late-'80s catalog, plus selections by Charles Mingus ('Weird Nightmare') and Lerner & Loewe ('Gigi').

Costello is once again the refined, mature vocal stylist of Painted From Memory, but Frisell expertly controls the dynamics of each piece, often stripping his part down to single-note lines, which lends surprising emotional impact when he allows full chords to wash over Costello's voice.

Producers:
Anesini, Vic; Barber, Colette; Cobbin, Peter; Cottle, Richard; Davidson, Gordon; Dirago, Mauro; Hanhart, Simon; Leonard, David; Parnell, Derek; Patrick, Nick; Presley, Priscilla; Reedman, Don; Schwier, Pete; Sidwell, Steve; Smith, Robin; Whalley, Kirsty
Musicians:
Barr, Nigel; Bishop, Dave; Blaine, Hal; Blossoms, The; Brown, Mark; Caine, Andy; Eddy, Duane; Ferris, Dominic; Greenwood, Andy; Grey, Miriam; Imperials, The; Jordanaires, The; Kearsey, Mike; Maclay, Ian; McGill, Howard; Mires, Trevor; Morris, Farrell; Murray, Pete; Parricelli, John; Patrick, Nick; Pierce, Steve; Presley, Elvis; Quigley, Ryan; Reedman, Don; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The; Salmins, Ralph; Spong, Paul; Walsh, Tom; Williams, Martin; Winchester, Shèna; Wood, Andy
Composers/Writers:
Brown, Walter Earl; Simon, Paul
Mixers:
Schwier, Pete

The very first rock and roll album to reach #1 on the charts and sell over a million copies, Elvis' debut LP is a classic piece of American music history, from the iconic cover to the unforgettable track listing. Recorded in Nashville, New York, and at the legendary Sun Studios in Memphis, this is THE KING's most famous moment, a debut LP that changed the course of music history.

Released in October 1956, a mere half-year after the immortal debut, Elvis is every bit as iconic as its predecessor. Recorded in early September in Hollywood, The King was in top form, mixing up tracks from Lieber & Stoller, to blues legend Arthur Crudup, to country heroes Red Foley, Chet Atkins, and Webb Pierce, as only Elvis could do. A true American hero back in print on Rumble.

A compilation of The King's mid-'50s classics, originally released in 1958, Elvis' Golden Records is perhaps the most recognizable track listing in the history of rock and roll, from 'Hound Dog' to 'Heartbreak Hotel' to 'Don't Be Cruel'. This compilation of game-changing rock and roll is as essential as it gets.

BOOKER T. & THE M.G.'s will be forever synonymous with the sound of Memphis Soul, as defined by Stax Records for whom they were the house band. In 1962 they made it to No.1 in the R&B Charts and peaked at No.3 in Billboards Hot 100 with 'Green Onions'. The classic 12-bar blues anthem features Steve Cropper on a Fender Telecaster and Booker T Jones' rippling Hammond M3 organ. The ultimate Funk/R&B/Soul instrumental. THE MAR-KETS (later The Marketts) were a California instrumental surf band best rememberd for their 1963 million-selling album Out Of Limits. 'Balboa Blue' features on their debut LP Surfer's Stomp and first appeared on the Northern Soul scene at Manchester's Twisted Wheel club.

John Lee Hooker, million-selling blues icon, cemented his place in the Northern Soul hall of fame with his legendary 1964 appearance at Manchester's Twisted Wheel, captured forever by blues archivist, photographer Brian Smith.
On that same UK tour Hooker played the hit TV show Ready Steady Go! performing his 1956 recording 'Dimples' propelling it into the UK charts, peaking at No. 23. Here we feature the best of Hooker's self-penned, uptempo 45s, recorded for the black owned Chicago label Vee-Jay.

Legendary recording artist Elvis Presley will release the new singles If I Can Dream & Bridge Over Troubled Water exclusively on 7 inch vinyl. The two sublime tracks are taken from the forthcoming album 'If I Can Dream' recorded with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Using the iconic RCA Victor packaging and artwork the 7 inch vinyl will be released as a special treat for Elvis Presley fans across the UK.
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More information on the album If I Can Dream below:

Sony Music Entertainment is proud to announce the release of 'If I Can Dream: Elvis Presley With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra', on 30 October 2015. The remarkable new album features classic Elvis vocal performances with brand-new orchestral accompaniment, along with a duet with Michael Bublé, and appearances by Il Volo and Duane Eddy.

If I Can Dream is an exciting revisit of Elvis' work, which focuses on the iconic artist's unmistakable voice, emphasising the pure power of The King of Rock and Roll. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London with acclaimed producers Don Reedman and Nick Patrick, the 14-track album features Elvis' most dramatic original performances augmented with lush new arrangements by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.  'This would be a dream come true for Elvis,' Priscilla Presley says of the project. 'He would have loved to play with such a prestigious symphony orchestra. The music...the force that you feel with his voice and the orchestra is exactly what he would have done.'  Don Reedman also commented, 'Abbey Road Studios and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra are as good as it gets and Elvis deserves as good as it gets."
 
The album features a scintillating duet with best-selling jazz-pop singer Michael Bublé on 'Fever.' The album also includes additional contributions by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist Duane Eddy adding his signature sound to 'An American Trilogy' and 'Bridge Over Troubled Water,' and Italian operatic pop trio Il Volo lending their outstanding vocals to 'It's Now or Never.'   As arranger Nick Patrick said, 'This is the record he would have loved to make.'  If I Can Dream also highlights Elvis Presley's diverse musical tastes and appreciation for great vocalists spanning a variety of genres from standards to opera.

If I Can Dream is part of the ongoing ELVIS 80th Birthday Celebration in 2015, which has been commemorated with a newly-redesigned website, www.ElvisTheMusic.com, the release of The Complete '60s Albums Collection Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 on iTunes (7 August), and the launch of 'Direct From Graceland: Elvis at the O2,' the largest Elvis retrospective ever mounted in Europe.

If I Can Dream: Elvis Presley With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will also be available as deluxe box set featuring 3 additional tracks on Cd, 2 heavyweight LP cut at half speed and poster
Fans in the UK will also be in for an additional treat this Autumn as ITV have commissioned an unique new documentary, 'Joanna Lumley: Elvis and Me' where actress Joanna Lumley will embark on a very personal journey for an intimate insight into Elvis Presley, the man behind the myth.

'Joanna Lumley: Elvis and Me' on ITV is an hour-long programme which will see Joanna Lumley travel to Graceland and meet some of Elvis' closest surviving friends and family, for an honest portrait of what 'The King' was really like. Joanna exclusively joins Priscilla Presley at Abbey Road Studio during the recording of If I Can Dream.

Long overdue repro status is this Rockin' (probably) early 60's Texas dance floor fave.

The flip is a stunning originally unissued Acetate Rockabilly cut that sees it's first ever outing on a 7'

When Hank Ballard released 'The Twist' as the flip side to "Teardrops on Your Letter" in 1959, he could never have imagined how popular this new 'dance craze' would become. American Bandstand's Dick Clark, instantly saw the song's potential, when he heard Hank Ballard & The Midnighter's version, however he felt Hank Ballard far too raunchy for American Bandstand, having released risqué songs like - "Work with Me, Annie", "Annie Had a Baby" and "Annie's Aunt Fannie". Clark suggested to Philadelphia's Cameo/Parkway record label that they re-record the song, using the clean-cut, and more publicly acceptable Chubby Checker. Checker's version was released in 1960, and reached number one in the States, and then again in 1962 (the only record of the Rock'n'Roll era to reach number 1 in two separate years).





The Twistin' Train EP (VTREP301), is a truly international tribute to the dance that is 'The Twist'. It features four very different recordings from Britain, The United States and France. Our powerhouse opener, 'The Twistin' Train' literally moves along like a train possessed, under the supervision of the very capable 'Station Master', Cyril Stapleton... his band honk 'n' hollar their way through to their final destination! The fast paced 'Double Twist' is another killer cut, from Liverpool's very own 'Howie Casey And The Seniors', Casey's sax playing is just out of this world, as are Derry Wilkie and Freddie Fowell's vocals. Our B Side opens with French Rocker Johnny Hallyday, and one of his many Twist songs from the early '60s - 'Wap-Dou-Wap (Tu Aimes Le Twist)' is a fine rockin' floor filler. Our Trans-Atlantic offering, comes from Alabama blues man, Jerry 'Boogie' McCain, this little gem from '62 is sure to turn up the heat on the dance floor, and is very different sounding to his earlier releases








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This limited edition extended play 45 (500 worldwide), is a must have addition to any Rock n Roll / Rhythm & Blues vinyl collection. These early Dee Clark gems from 1956 - 1958 showcase his amazing vocal versatility, with his ability to switch from out and out Rock 'n' Roll screamers, to beautiful R&B Vocal Group ballads. '24 Boyfriends (Falcon 1005)' is a frantic Little Richard styled rocker, complete with screaming vocals, and wailing sax. 'Kangaroo Hop (Falcon 1002)' is another up-tempo Kool Gents 'dance craze' recording, hailing from their last recording session of February 1957, surprisingly the 45 credits only Dee Clark. 'Oh Little Girl (Falcon 1009)' is another fine Little Richard styled rocker, backed by the superb Upsetters (Little Richard's band). Our closing track, is the stunning R&B Vocal Group ballad, 'I Just Can't Help Myself (Vee Jay VJ 207)', another Kool Gents cut featuring Dee Clark on fine lead vocals (sounding exceedingly Clyde McPhatter'ish... and why the hell not). If you've enjoyed this EP, check out our second instalment titled: Dee Clark Rhythm & Blues EP VTREP303, taking us into the early 1960s, his most commercially successful, all be it brief period.