Omnivore Recordings to release The Motels 1981 lost album 'Apocalypso' on August 9, 2011
30th ANNIVERSARY ALBUM RELEASE TO BE ISSUED ON CD, LP (ORANGE VINYL), AND DIGITAL BUNDLE INCLUDING ORIGINAL 4-TRACK DEMO RECORDINGS
Los Angeles, CA - June 20, 2011 - Omnivore Recordings has announced they will officially release The Motels' 1981 legendary, lost album Apocalypso on August 9 in celebration of the 30th anniversary of its recording. Apocalypso will be released in its intended original form as a 10-track LP (on limited-edition orange vinyl). In addition, Omnivore Recordings will release Apocalypso as an expanded 17-track CD version that includes previously unissued original demos and outtakes. A digital EP of the five 4-track demo recordings will also be made available through all digital retailers (these tracks are included on the CD configuration). Martha Davis and The Motels will announce a set of live shows in support of the official release.
In 1981, Los Angeles band The Motels convened to record the follow-up to their 1980 release Careful. The band's lineup consisted of Davis (vocals/guitar), Marty Jourard (sax/keys), Michael Goodroe (bass), Brian Glascock (drums), and Davis' then boyfriend, Tim McGovern (guitar), who had recently replaced founding member Jeff Jourard.
"So it was" says Davis, "a band, on their third attempt to gain some commercial success in the U.S. A relationship quantified by music and qualified by its abusive nature-and of course there was the Art, that most magical place of expression-'tear down the walls,' 'piss in the face of tradition,' 'make something no one has ever heard before'-and in the '80s there were a lot of drugs, which might explain all of the above. We did as all bands do-locked ourselves away in a room with a tape machine and started making demos, a heady, wonderful experience, where we made up the rules. Tim's influence and command over the process is not to be overlooked."
"On the last day of March we met with producer Val Garay at his Record One studio in Sherman Oaks," recalls Marty Jourard. "After listening to a couple of the songs on the cassette, he immediately agreed to produce the album. He was coming off a huge success with 'Bette Davis Eyes' and was the hot producer of the month. In my recollection it was Tim making most of the production decisions and Val engineering, but opinions may vary. We recorded from April to August. On July 23rd the album cover was shot. It was fun watching Martha being photographed surrounded by fire. The final album session was August 9th from 1 p.m. to 7 a.m.-we drank a lot of coffee!-recording overdubs for 'Art Fails.' We were done."
"When we were convinced we had amassed the perfect collection of what were obvious hits or at least great album tracks, we went to the label," says Davis.
As Capitol A&R man Bruce Ravid recalls, "having cosigned the band, I was one of the A&R guys who thought that this album was 'too strange, too dark, and where's the single?' It was very much a Tim McGovern record that seemed like too great a departure for The Motels. This was a crucial release for the band, as we knew we needed to get them on radio in a big way. There was an unusual amount of love for The Motels at Capitol from the day we signed them, and we really needed consensus from the promotion, sales, and marketing people downstairs. It's true, our promotion execs didn't feel they had a shot with Apocalypso. We dreaded the thought of telling the band they needed to return to the well."
"When Capitol heard the album the reaction was something like, 'We'll release it if you really want us to, but the promotion department will not work it,' says Davis.
Davis sums up what happened next: "After the bruising of egos, and some time to reflect, it was apparent that this was actually a good thing. It was long past time for Tim and I to part ways and this was the opportunity to get out of a bad relationship. So Tim was gone and with him the album Capitol didn't want to release."
The resulting album All Four One was released in 1982 as The Motels' official third studio record and was the band's first commercial success, featuring the timeless "Only The Lonely," which would go Top 10 on the Billboard charts; the subsequent video would become a staple of rotation on the burgeoning music television network MTV.
"With the hindsight that only 30 years can bring, I hear Apocalypso a sort of wild sonic ride," says Jourard. "All Four One was our first real commercial success, but it was born of these sessions."
"All Four One came out, and we had our first real chart success in the U.S.-we were mainstream, baby...But something was lost with Apocalypso, the album that got away," says Davis. "I look at it as the last time The Motels were uninhibited, wild, and not worried about our place on the charts. In my heart, I think I've always liked Apocalypso more."
Apocalypso CD track list:
1) Art Fails *
2) Tragic Surf
3) Only The Lonely
4) Schneekin'
5) So L.A.
6) Apocalypso *
7) Mission Of Mercy
8) Lost But Not Forgotten
9) Who Could Resist That Face *
10) Sweet Destiny *
Bonus Tracks
11) Art Fails (alternate version) *
12) Don't You Remember (4-track demo) *
13) Tragic Surf (4-track demo) *
14) Fiasco (4-track demo) *
15) Obvioso (4-track demo) *
16) Only The Lonely (4-track demo) *
17) Only The Lonely (TV Mix - hidden track) *
(*) previously unissued track
Apocalypso LP track list:
Side One:
1) Art Fails *
2) Tragic Surf
3) Only The Lonely
4) Schneekin'
5) So L.A.
Side Two:
1) Apocalypso * 2) Mission Of Mercy
3) Lost But Not Forgotten
4) Who Could Resist That Face *
5) Sweet Destiny *
(*) previously unissued track
About Omnivore Recordings:
Founded in 2010 by longtime, highly respected industry veterans Cheryl Pawelski, Greg Allen, and Brad Rosenberger, Omnivore Recordings' vision is to preserve the legacies and music created by historical, heritage, and catalog artists while also releasing previously unissued, newly found "lost" recordings and making them available for music-loving audiences to discover. Omnivore Recordings is distributed by EMI in North America and Ace Records UK in Europe. The label's first releases early this year on "Record Store Day" included the limited LP release of the test pressing edition of the Big Star album Third and a limited-edition Buck Owens 7" of previously unreleased material - both editions sold out immediately.
Omnivore Recordings official website: http://omnivorerecordings.com/
Become a fan on Facebook: www.facebook.com/omnivorerecordings
OMNIVORE RECORDINGS TO RELEASE LEON RUSSELL'S 1974 LIVE IN JAPAN FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE U.S.-AUGUST 9, 2011
BONUS TRACKS INCLUDE A PREVIOUSLY UNISSUED
1971 LIVE SET RECORDED AT SAM HOUSTON COLISEUM, HOUSTON, TX
Los Angeles, CA - June 20, 2011 - Omnivore Recordings has announced the release of Leon Russell Live In Japan. This will mark the historic album's first release outside of Japan and its first time on CD anywhere. The original album was recorded live on November 8, 1973, at the historic Nippon Bukokan Hall and will see its nine tracks complemented by a bonus set of an additional seven previously unissued live performances recorded at the Sam Houston Coliseum on April 22, 1971. Liner notes for this package were penned by Leon Russell historian Steve Todoroff-author of the upcoming book Longhair Music: The Songs And Sessions Of Leon Russell-and by Rev. Patrick Henderson-a member of the touring band for the 1973 Japan tour.
In 1973, Shelter Records released the triple album Leon Live, which reached #9 on the charts in the U.S. and earned Russell a gold record. Unbeknownst to all but the most diehard Russell fans was the fact that in 1974, Shelter released a completely different live album that was available only in Japan and appropriately titled Live In Japan. This recording was drawn from the first of two back-to-back dates recorded in 1973 at the Budokan, at a time when Leon was at the top of his game as a rock performer.
Opening with the Rev. Patrick Henderson composition "Heaven," featuring Henderson's driving piano, the backup vocals of the group Black Grass, and Russell's super-tight Shelter People band, Russell saunters out on the stage partway through the song (listen for the applause), grabs his Les Paul guitar, then jumps atop Henderson's piano, and joins in with his distinctive guitar licks. Tutored by legendary guitarist James Burton in the early '60s, and perhaps inspired by the work of Jimmy Page, Russell's guitar style has always sounded unique.
The mood shifts with the next song, a medley that begins with the familiar Harburg/Arlen standard "Over The Rainbow," performed by the Black Grass background singers, which then transitions into the obscure Russell composition "God Put A Rainbow," with Russell finally joining in on an occasional vocal.
Before the overly-polite Japanese audience has much time to applaud, Russell jumps right into "Queen Of The Roller Derby," one of the more popular songs from the original Leon Live release, and the show starts to rock "Leon style," transitioning into the familiar "Proud Mary" intro to the Russell/Greg Dempsey composition "Roll Away The Stone."
Next comes a rare live version of Russell's classic rock anthem, "Tight Rope." "Sweet Emily" is next, followed by the driving "Alcatraz," which features some blistering guitar licks by guitarist Wayne Perkins. A Jimmy Reed composition follows, "You Don't Have To Go," a personal favorite of Russell's that he began performing publicly early on in his solo career.
For the show's encore, Russell performs another medley, beginning with a portion of his classic composition "A Song For You," before breaking into his "Of Thee I Sing," and finishing up with the Lester Flatt standard, "Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms," which incidentally was the opening track from Russell's 1973 album featuring his country persona, Hank Wilson's Back Vol. 1, and a song he still performs in concert to this day.
"The concert was amazing. The concertgoers were with us from the start. Leon had earned his reputation as a great bandleader; yet to me, he was more-he was a great Pentecostal preacher in the black tradition," said Rev. Patrick Henderson. "His cadence was impeccable, his voice rising and dropping, flowing with full power, seducing and commanding, his leadership undeniable, taking no prisoners. The concert quickly became a revival of sorts; the usually staid Japanese youth were dancing in the aisles."
"I am excited to hear the Live In Japan album myself, having not heard these tapes in so many years," said Russell. "The band on the show was very inspiring to me, and I think this is the kind of Leon Russell show that fans remember best. Japan is one of my favorite places on Earth."
The historic Sam Houston Coliseum, up until its demolition in 1998, hosted some of the biggest acts in the history of rock 'n' roll. The Beatles had their only Houston appearance at the Coliseum. Jimi Hendrix played the Coliseum three months before he died. Cream played the Coliseum on their Farewell Tour. Elvis Presley's 1956 concert at the Coliseum ended abruptly, as he and his band were taken away by police escort just before the end of the show, after which a mob of about a 1,000 teenagers rushed the stage and destroyed the band's instruments. And singer Johnny Ace shot himself playing Russian roulette backstage at the Coliseum on Christmas Eve, 1954.
When Leon Russell performed at the Sam Houston Coliseum on April 22, 1971, it was the first show of his 1971 U.S. tour, after he and the newly formed Shelter People band had honed their road-performing skills in late 1970 at venues up and down the West Coast, including an occasional show with fledgling singer/pianist Elton John.
These bonus tracks are extraordinary in many respects. They show a raw, gritty singer and his band just as they are taking off, making great, original music, while loving every minute of it. They also show why Russell was considered one of the greatest live acts in the annals of rock music. The bonus tracks are a great addition to an already great album, and the fact that they are of such a high quality for the era is nothing short of remarkable. The combination of Live In Japan and the Live in Houston '71 tracks make this is a must-have for any Leon Russell fan.
LEON RUSSELL - LIVE IN JAPAN
Live In Japan - Original Album
Recorded in 1973, released on LP in Japan, 1974
[Previously unissued in the U.S. and never-before on CD]
1) Heaven
2) Over The Rainbow/God Put A Rainbow (medley)
3) Queen Of The Roller Derby
4) Roll Away The Stone
5) Tight Rope
6) Sweet Emily
7) Alcatraz
8) You Don't Have To Go
9) A Song For You/Of Thee I Sing/Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms (medley)
Bonus Tracks: Live In Houston
Recorded in 1971
[Previously unissued]
10) Alcatraz
11) Stranger In A Strange Land
12) Groupie (Superstar)
13) Roll Over Beethoven
14) Blues Power/Shoot Out On The Plantation/As The Years Go By/The Woman I Love (medley)
15) Jumpin' Jack Flash
16) Of Thee I Sing/Yes I Am (medley)
About Omnivore Recordings:
Founded in 2010 by longtime, highly respected industry veterans Cheryl Pawelski, Greg Allen, and Brad Rosenberger, Omnivore Recordings' vision is to preserve the legacies and music created by historical, heritage, and catalog artists while also releasing previously unissued, newly found "lost" recordings and making them available for music-loving audiences to discover. Omnivore Recordings is distributed by EMI in North America and Ace Records UK in Europe. The label's first releases early this year on "Record Store Day" included the limited LP release of the test pressing edition of the Big Star album Third and a limited-edition Buck Owens 7" of previously unreleased material - both editions sold out immediately.
Omnivore Recordings official website: http://omnivorerecordings.com/
Become a fan on Facebook: www.facebook.com/omnivorerecordings
AUDIO FIDELITY GOES FOR THE GOLD WITH 24 KARAT REISSUES OF TWO CLASSIC '70S ALBUMS
Carly Simon's 'No Secrets' and Bad Company's 'Straight Shooter' get deluxe treatment in Limited-Edition Gold CDs from the Premier Audiophile Imprint
In its ongoing program of reissuing classic rock and pop albums, Audio Fidelity will release 24 Karat Gold CD versions of Carly Simon's 1972 NO SECRETS and Bad Company's 1975 STRAIGHT SHOOTER on June 21. The discs will be issued as numbered, limited editions that will be retired after their initial runs have sold out, and will be available from both online and brick-and-mortar retail outlets.
First issued in November of 1972, NO SECRETS was Simon's breakthrough LP and remains her best-selling recording to date, having held the No. 1 position on Billboard's album chart for five weeks and ultimately gone Platinum five times over. Her third long-player, NO SECRETS contains Simon's signature single, the chart-topping "You're So Vain," which features Mick Jagger on backing vocals, as well as its follow-up, "The Right Thing to Do." The album introduced eight new Simon originals, as well as a cover of James Taylor's "Night Owl," and enlisted an all-star cast of support players. Taylor joins Simon on vocals for "Waited So Long," which also boasts contributions from Little Feat's Lowell George (slide guitar) and Bill Payne (organ), while Paul McCartney, Bonnie Bramlett and Doris Troy (of "Just One Look" fame) lend vocal assists on "Night Owl." Richard Perry (Ray Charles, Rod Stewart, Ringo, Tiny Tim) produced NO SECRETS, and Paul Buckmaster, best known for his work with Elton John, provided string and woodwind arrangements on "When You Close Your Eyes" and the choral arrangement on "Embrace Me, You Child."
STRAIGHT SHOOTER was the sophomore album by British hard-rockers Bad Company. Released in April of 1975, it earned the quartet of Paul Rodgers, Mick Ralphs, Simon Kirke and Boz Burrell its third and fourth hit singles: "Good Lovin' Gone Bad" (penned by guitarist Ralphs) and "Feel Like Makin' Love" (a Ralphs co-write with vocalist/guitarist Rodgers). The latter track was a Top 10 hit and has enjoyed a storied pop-culture legacy, having been covered by, among others, Kid Rock, ska-punkers Goldfinger and country singer Philip Claypool, and used on episodes of The Simpsons and South Park. In addition to the singles, the album contained the FM-rock-radio staples "Deal with the Preacher" and "Shooting Star" (which Simon Kirke and Mick Ralphs have explained was inspired by the deaths of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison). STRAIGHT SHOOTER climbed to No. 3 on both the U.S. and U.K. charts and was subsequently certified for triple-Platinum status. Bad Company produced the album, which was engineered and mixed by Ron Nevison, whose credits include The Who's Quadrophenia and the Rolling Stones' It's Only Rock 'N Roll.
Audio Fidelity, founded in 2002 by entertainment-industry executive Marshall Blonstein, specializes in deluxe reissues of classic popular-music recordings for the audiophile and collector markets. Blonstein created Audio Fidelity after departing the pioneering DCC Compact Classics audiophile label that he started in 1986, and it has since assumed a similarly prestigious perch among imprints serving the audiophile and music-collecting communities. Based in Camarillo, California-based, Audio Fidelity is best known for its 24 Karat Gold CDs and its 180-gram virgin-vinyl album editions, though it also releases compilation CDs, a variety of reissues and DVDs, such as Soupy Sales, Elvis Presley, Tim Allen and Hugh Hefner's legendary series Playboy After Dark.
For more information, visit Audio Fidelity's official Web site at: www.audiofidelity.net
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