FEATURE:
From the Archives…
The Continuing Joy of Re-Releases, Boxsets and Remastered Classics
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WHILST there are few better things…
IN THIS PHOTO: PJ Harvey in 1991 (from the inner sleeve insert of the Dry - Demos album - which was released on 24th July)/PHOTO CREDIT: Maria Mochnacz
than a new album coming out that you have been waiting for and are about to dig into, I am always excited when a classic album is reissued, or there are rarer albums and tracks put out. This year, whilst there have been many remastered albums and boxsets released, I want to highlight a few – including an upcoming set of early recordings from the iconic Joni Mitchell. I am a big PJ Harvey fan, and I have talked about her reissues this year in a previous feature. Last week, the To Bring You My Love - Demos was released. I would urge you to buy a copy, as they sound incredible:
“10 track collection of previously unreleased demos of all songs from the third studio album by PJ Harvey – To Bring You My Love – from 1995. Includes demo versions of the singles Down By The Water, C’mon Billy and Send His Love To Me. Audio has been mastered by Jason Mitchell at Loud Mastering under the guidance of longtime PJ Harvey collaborator John Parish. Features brand new artwork with previously unseen photos by Maria Mochnacz”.
One would not expect an artist as big and popular as PJ Harvey to bring out an album of demos, but I am so glad she did! It is an essential purchase for those who love her work and new listeners alike. The Dry – Demos came out in July; 2020 is a great year for PJ Harvey fans!
I love all of her studios albums, but I think there is something extra-special about demos! There are other artists who I would like to see some demos from; those songs from classic albums in their embryonic form. I would also encourage people to buy the Dry – Demos album. Dry was released in 1992, and it is Harvey’s debut album – To Bring You My Love, her third studio album, was released in 1995. When Rolling Stone reviewed Dry - Demos, they had this to say:
“Even now, nearly three decades after the jerking rhythms of her debut single “Dress,” and its whimsical tale of trying to impress a man by putting on one particularly ill-fitting frock, catapulted her from her home village of Corscombe (population then: 600) onto the world stage, her earliest recordings still sound gloriously perverse. It’s a different hue of shock rock, one that feels more believable and human, like your own personal nervous breakdown, a strangely appealing elixir of whispers and screams.
Without drums or tight production, songs like “Victory,” “O Stella, and “Hair” have more in common with the blues artists who inspired Harvey growing up than the alternative scene she was lumped in with. Although she was a Pixies fan who played sax in local indie bands and had a brief moment of rebellion in the Eighties when Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet ruled her world (“Soft Cell singing ‘Tainted Love’ is probably one of my favorite songs of all time,” she once told Rolling Stone), Harvey was most interested in the records that belonged to her sculptor mother and stoneworker father than those on Top of the Pops.
Her heroes were the same bluesmen who inspired Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page: Howlin’ Wolf, Elmore James, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker. The rock artists she cited in interviews were fellow blues students: Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards, Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Captain Beefheart. When the BBC prodded her in ’92 to name some current artists that moved her, the only one she summoned was th’ Faith Healers, whose drummer, Joe Dilworth, was her boyfriend and, after their breakup, became the focus of her ire on 1993’s Rid of Me.
But for all the naked gore of her early demos, what’s to come may be even more fascinating. The “Down by the Water” demo is a portrait of a sea-change for her, when it seemed like she had moved on from her past after saying she wanted a career that was as varied like David Bowie’s and threatened to retire fan favorites like “Sheela-Na-Gig” and “Dress” (though she didn’t); they will provide a fuller picture of an artist who has always thrived in shadows. “I’ll never give the people what they want,” she told Rolling Stone in 1993. But at the same time, what she may not have realized is that she always has, simply by spilling her guts”.
I have also covered the reissues of Prince’s classic 1987 album, Sign ‘o’ the Times. This album arrived during a purple patch for The Purple One, and it followed Parade (1986) and came before Lovesexy (1988). Prince’s legendary Vault has so much unreleased material in it, and one can buy the remastered album, a Deluxe Edition, or a Super Deluxe Edition.
IN THIS PHOTO: Prince/PHOTO CREDIT: Jeff Katz Photography
I do hope that other Prince albums are subjects to the Super Deluxe treatment, as I would love to hear demos and unreleased cuts. Like PJ Harvey putting out demos, it is fascinating hearing an expansion on one of Prince’s best albums. One of Prince’s finest collaborators and friends, Sheila E, has said that she and Prince have worked on hundreds of songs, and I think they will be released one day. If you are a big Prince fan, then the Super Deluxe Edition of Sign ‘o’ the Times is an absolute must!
“Overflowing with musical ideas and topical lyrics that sound just as relevant today as they did when they were initially released, Prince’s iconic double album Sign O’ The Times captured the artist in a period of complete reinvention. The final 16-track album included just some of the countless songs Prince recorded in the prolific period of 1985-1987, which saw the dissolution of his band The Revolution, the construction of his innovative recording complex, Paisley Park, and the creation (and ultimate abandonment) of the albums Dream Factory, Camille, and Crystal Ball.
The Prince Estate, in partnership with Warner Records / Rhino UK, reissue Sign O’ The Times. The Super Deluxe Edition features the classic album remastered for the very first time, 63 previously unreleased tracks, and a previously unreleased 2+ hour video concert performance from Prince’s legendary vault that illuminates his wide-ranging and prolific creativity in this era.
8CD / DVD Contents - 92 audio tracks, of which 63 are previously unreleased, including 45 studio tracks from Prince’s Vault. Opens with Prince’s iconic album, Sign O’ The Times, dazzlingly remastered for the very first time by Prince’s original mastering engineer Bernie Grundman. Includes an entire previously unreleased audio recording of Prince’s Sign O’ The Times tour performance in Utrecht, Netherlands, on June 20, 1987. DVD features a complete previously unreleased recording of Prince’s benefit performance at Paisley Park, December 31st, 1987. The show includes Prince’s only on-stage collaboration with Miles Davis. Housed in a 12” box, and accompanied by a 12” 120-page hardback book featuring: Brand new liner notes by: Prince’s creative peers and friends Dave Chappelle (in conversation with photographer Mathieu Bitton) and Lenny Kravitz; Prince’s longtime engineer Susan Rogers; Daphne A. Brooks, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of African American Studies, American Studies and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Yale University; Minneapolis radio host and author Andrea Swensson, host of the Official Prince Podcast; and Prince scholar Duane Tudahl. Rare and previously unseen photography by Jeff Katz Prince’s handwritten lyrics.
13LP contents - 92 audio tracks, of which 63 are previously unreleased, including 45 studio tracks from Prince’s Vault. Opens with Prince’s iconic album, Sign O’ The Times, dazzlingly remastered for the very first time by Prince’s original mastering engineer Bernie Grundman. Includes an entire previously unreleased audio recording of Prince’s Sign O’ The Times tour performance in Utrecht, Netherlands, on June 20, 1987. DVD features a complete previously unreleased recording of Prince’s benefit performance at Paisley Park, December 31st, 1987.
The show includes Prince’s only on-stage collaboration with Miles Davis. Housed in a 12” box, and accompanied by a 12” 120-page hardback book featuring: Brand new liner notes by: Prince’s creative peers and friends Dave Chappelle (in conversation with photographer Mathieu Bitton) and Lenny Kravitz; Prince’s longtime engineer Susan Rogers; Daphne A. Brooks, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of African American Studies, American Studies and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Yale University; Minneapolis radio host and author Andrea Swensson, host of the Official Prince Podcast; and Prince scolar Duane Tudahl. Rare and previously unseen photography by Jeff Katz Prince’s handwritten lyrics”.
It is no surprise that there is so much anticipation for great re-releases and editions from artists such as PJ Harvey and Prince. Not only are fans being given new stuff and fresh depths, but vinyl itself is always popular. In fact, vinyl sales have outsold C.D.s for the first time in decades. Whilst it is pretty pricey grabbing something like the Sign ‘o’ the Times - Super Deluxe Edition, I think it is worth spending that money, and it is a real musical treat! Another album that I want to look at is Oasis’ (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? The album is twenty-five next month, and a great new edition is coming out.
Again, there are other classic albums that are having an anniversary releaser this year – or have had one already -, so do not stop at this feature, as I am only covering a few! I wanted to highlight a few choice releases that show that established artists are putting some of their great older work to new audiences. In the case of Oasis, their stunning second album was beloved by people of my age who remember it fondly when it came out, yet the album sounds fresh and great today, and it will find itself in the hands of younger listeners. In lovely silver vinyl, it is another great reissue you will want to own:
“With October 2nd, 2020 marking 25 years since Oasis released their iconic second album (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?, Big Brother Recordings release a limited edition silver coloured LP with remastered audio to celebrate this milestone.
Following only 14 months after Oasis’s classic 1994 album Definitely Maybe, widely regarded one of the greatest debuts of all time, (What’s The Story) Morning Glory is the UK’s 5th best- selling album of all time and best-selling album of the nineties. The album entered the UK Official Charts at No.1 with 269,000 sales, with a total of 10 weeks at the summit since release and almost eight and a half years in the UK Official Album Chart cumulatively.
Worldwide, it went Top 10 in every major market in the world and became the band’s breakthrough album in the US, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 with over 5 million sales, and a global total now in excess of 22 million.
Produced by Noel Gallagher and Owen Morris, (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? was recorded at the fabled Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, Wales, completed in a staggeringly brief two-week period during May and June 1995.
An undeniably superlative rock record, it includes several of Oasis’ biggest selling UK singles – the legendary, universally loved anthem Wonderwall, Don’t Look Back In Anger, Roll With It, Some Might Say together with tracks like She’s Electric, Morning Glory and Champagne Supernova, which are timeless anthems and radio staples known to every generation of music fan.
(What’s The Story) Morning Glory established Oasis as a national and international phenomenon, the most universally popular British guitar band since the glory days of The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, and the album’s enduring and omnipresent appeal was demonstrated when it was awarded Best British Album of 30 Years at The BRIT Awards 2010. In the years since it’s release, the album has inspired thousands of young guns to pick up guitars and form bands, and is counted by dozens of successful bands and songwriters as a major influence on their careers”.
One artist who I am hugely excited about is Joni Mitchell. She has opened her archives for the first time, and it is a fascinating insight into her early work. As Rolling Stone report, it is a rare opportunity to hear these early recordings:
“Joni Mitchell has dug deep into the vaults for a massive archive series. She’ll kick it off with Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963-1967), out October 30th.
The five-disc Early Years box set contains six hours of unreleased home, live and radio recordings and features 29 unreleased songs. They span from 1963-1967, just before the singer-songwriter released her 1968 debut Song to a Seagull produced by David Crosby.
To accompany the announcement, Mitchell released a 1963 performance of “House of the Rising Sun,” her earliest-known recording as a 19-year-old at the CFQC AM radio station in her hometown of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
In addition to a 40-page booklet, the liner notes feature Mitchell in conversation with Cameron Crowe, who wrote the Rolling Stone 1979 cover story on the singer. They recently spent Sunday afternoons together discussing the archives.
The two performances included in the box set — live at CFQX AM radio station in 1963 and at Canterbury House in 1967 — will also be released separately. All forms are available for preorder on Mitchell’s website.
“The early stuff, I shouldn’t be such a snob against it,” she said in a statement. “A lot of these songs, I just lost them. They fell away. They only exist in these recordings. For so long I rebelled against the term, ‘I was never a folksinger.’ I would get pissed off if they put that label on me. I didn’t think it was a good description of what I was. And then I listened and…it was beautiful. It made me forgive my beginnings. And I had this realization…I was a folksinger!”
One can make a list of the artists whose archives they would love to see opened, and I am glad that Mitchell is doing so, as it will give other artists a push. Owning these rare and revealing recordings is going to be so moving for fans and, again, those not overly-familiar with Joni Mitchell will have these stunning performances that will give them a great taste – and, from there, they can discover her studio albums. Before I move on, there is one more boxset that I want to mention: Jewel Box from Elton John. I would encourage everyone to order this wonderful collection. Variety describe the package thus:
“On Nov. 13, Elton John will release “Elton: Jewel Box,” a career-spanning 148-song boxed set containing some 60 previously unreleased songs.
The set — the full tracklist appears below — is focused on lesser-known material from Elton’s 50-plus year career. According to the announcement, the set covers “deep cuts, rarities from the earliest stages of his and Bernie Taupin’s musical journey, B-side spanning 30 years, and songs discussed in his best-selling, critically acclaimed 2019 memoir ‘Me,’” along with a hardcover book containing extensive notes and a track-by-track commentary by Elton.
The collection is preceded by the previously unreleased 1969 song “Sing Me No Sad Songs,” which mentions two future Elton John-Bernie Taupin compositions in its lyrics: 1984’s “Sad Songs (Say So Much)” and “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” from 1976.
Elton said, “To delve back through every period of my career in such detail for ‘Jewel Box’ has been an absolute pleasure. Hearing these long lost tracks again, I find it hard to comprehend just how prolific Bernie and I were during the early days. The songs just poured out of us, and the band were just unbelievable in the studio. I always want to push forward with everything I do and look to the future, but having time during lockdown to take stock and pull these moments from my memory from each era has been a joy. As a devout record collector myself, this project has really excited me, and I couldn’t be happier with the level of craft involved in such a carefully curated, lovingly constructed boxset. I’m sure my fans will enjoy it as much as I have.”
Per the announcement, “Elton: Jewel Box” compromises of the below formats:
Discs 1 & 2: Deep Cuts – A selection of personal favorites, curated by Elton. The box set book includes a track-by-track commentary by Elton.
Discs 3, 4, and 5: Rarities 1965 -1971 – Elton’s 1960s and early 1970s demos and music that cemented the foundations of the iconic Elton John / Bernie Taupin writing partnership. The compelling, previously unreleased, missing piece in his illustrious career. Daryl Easlea narrates this story with contributions from those who were there at the time. These discs encompass 65 songs, all but a few of which have been stored in the vaults for more than 50 years. Most of these demos were recorded during sessions before Elton was signed to a recording contract or released his first album. Also included are the first song ever written by Elton and his debut appearance on a record (both “Come Back Baby” – 1965), Elton and Bernie’s first composition (“Scarecrow” – 1967), and newly-unearthed piano/vocal demos of some of Elton’s most acclaimed songs from his early albums. The packaging appropriately contains rare archival artwork and select original lyric sheets.
Discs 6 & 7: B-Sides 1976-2005 – Non-LP tracks and flipsides, never before compiled together. 36 gems that are now given another chance to sparkle – 17 previously only available on vinyl, resulting in all of Elton’s studio B-sides now being offered digitally for the first time in his career.
Disc 8: And This Is Me . . . – To coincide with the release of the updated paperback edition of Me, the final collection celebrates the songs mentioned by name by Elton in his acclaimed autobiography, closing Jewel Box with the 2020 Academy Award-winning duet with Taron Egerton, “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again”.
I think we will see some more recordings, boxsets and reissues before the year ends! In fact, over the past week or so, there are releases from Brian Eno, and The Style Council. As vinyl sales boom, there is going to demand aplenty for plenty more boxsets and reissues! Great releases from the likes of Oasis, PJ Harvey, Joni Mitchell, Elton John, and Prince provide us all with…
A treat in a bad year!