Monday, September 08, 2014

Sights and Sounds: Genesis, Shuggie Otis, Saving Abel

Happy Monday everybody. Here is your roundup of rock 'n' roll-minded news to kick start the week...


EAGLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT TO RELEASE
GENESIS
THREE SIDES LIVE 
~First-ever release on Blu-ray, stand alone DVD coming November 4, 2014~
~FULLY RESTORED FROM ORIGINAL 16MM FILM~

New York, NY (September 8, 2014)—On November 4, 2014, Eagle Rock Entertainment will release Three Sides Live by Genesis.  This is a simultaneous release on DVD and Blu-ray. Eagle Rock is delighted to make this concert film available for the first time as a standalone DVD and for the first time ever on Blu-ray. Three Sides Live includes the hits “Turn It On Again,” “Misunderstanding,” “No Reply At All,” “Abacab,” “Man On The Corner,” and more.
Three Sides Live was filmed in November 1981 on the “Abacab” tour in North America and was originally released on VHS to coincide with the live album of the same name. It has only been released on DVD in the limited edition box set The Movie Box 1981-2007. Originally filmed in 16mm, the footage has now been fully restored and is being reissued as a standalone DVD and Blu-ray for the first time. The show focuses on tracks from the Duke and Abacab albums and the tracks are intercut with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the band members.
As always with Genesis, the show is visually stunning and it captures the band in their transition from their progressive days in the seventies through to the hugely successful pop/rock act they became from the mid-eighties onwards. The line-up on Three Sides Live features Tony Banks (keyboards, backing vocals); Phil Collins (drums, lead vocals); Mike Rutherford (guitar, bass, backing vocals) with Daryl Stuermer (guitar, bass) and Chester Thompson (drums).

Genesis have always been great live performers and Three Sides Live is a great addition to any fans collection.

Eagle Rock Entertainment is the largest producer and distributor of music programming for DVD, Blu-Ray, TV, Audio and Digital Media in the world.  Eagle works directly alongside talent to produce top quality, High Definition and 3D programs, both concerts and documentaries, including The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, The Who, Queen, The Doors, Jeff Beck, U2, Peter Gabriel, Paul McCartney and Ozzy Osbourne. Eagle is a Grammy Award winning company and has received over 30 multi-platinum, over 50 platinum and over 90 gold discs, worldwide.  Eagle Rock Entertainment has offices in London, New York, Toronto, Paris and Hamburg.

Follow Eagle Rock Entertainment at:

TRACK LISTING
1) Behind The Lines  
2) Duchess  
3) Misunderstanding 
4) Dodo / Lurker  
5) Abacab  
6) No Reply At All  
7) Who Dunnit?  
8) Medley: In The Cage / The Cinema Show  / The Colony Of Slippermen  
9) Afterglow  
10) Me & Sarah Jane  
11) Man On The Corner 
12) Turn It On Again


LEGENDARY GUITARIST SHUGGIE OTIS TO RELEASE
FIRST-EVER LIVE ALBUM

LIVE IN WILLIAMSBURG SET FOR RELEASE ON OCTOBER 14
FROM LOS ANGELES-BASED CLEOPATRA RECORDS

LIVE IN WILLIAMSBURG, the first live album from legendary guitarist Shuggie Otis, will be released by Los Angeles-based independent Cleopatra Records on October 14. Recorded at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, NY, the album features the most complete collection of Otis' extensive songwriting canon, including "Strawberry Letter 23" (one of the most sampled tracks in modern music history), "Inspiration Information," "Sparkle City," "Miss Pretty" and many other classic songs.  
For Otis, the album marks the opportunity to capture a live performance on his memorable comeback tour, with an audience he calls, "both peaceful and excited at the same time. It was the first time I ever played at the Music Hall, and the crowd was partially insane! The energy was amazing."

In addition, LIVE IN WILLIAMSBURG is a recorded testament to his band, which includes his son, Eric on guitar and his brother, Nick on drums (another son, Lucky, is a producer and has also played in his dad's band).

"It was a great feeling having my brother and my two sons playing with me in various parts of the globe last year," he said. "They have their own music as well, and I love them, and am also very proud of them. It's special to play with them, and it was really important to me to capture one of our performances on record."

A family connection to music is not new to Los Angeles native Shuggie Otis. The son of the legendary Johnny Otis, a pioneer of the LA R&B scene, Shuggie, born in 1953, honed his musical chops performing with his father's bands. He began playing guitar at age 11 and soon appeared in clubs and on recording sessions with Big Joe Turner, Louis Jordan and T-Bone Walker.  "Growing up musically in my father's band was a blessing," he says. "I was getting my second set of guitar lessons through having to perform on stage."  Shuggie was "discovered" as a solo artist by noted songwriter, musician and producer Al Kooper, and as a 15-year-old guitar prodigy, played on seven tracks on Kooper's second "Super Session" album, KOOPER SESSION: AL KOOPER WITH SHUGGIE OTIS.

 At 16, Shuggie recorded his first official album under his own name, HERE COMES SHUGGIE OTIS, produced by Johnny Otis on Epic Records. Subsequently, Shuggie himself produced his second solo Epic LP, FREEDOM FLIGHT, featuring "Strawberry Letter 23." It was his biggest commercial success. At 21, he produced his seminal album, INSPIRATION INFORMATION, also for Epic, which was released in 1974. UK-based writer Chris Campion ranks the LP alongside such late-'60s/early-'70s breakthroughs by black artists as Love's Forever Changes, the Jimi Hendrix Experience's Axis Bold As Love, Sly & the Family Stone's There's A Riot Going On, and Stevie Wonder's Innervisions.  

A "musician's musician," Shuggie is acclaimed and admired by artists such as Raphael Saadiq, QuestLove, Lenny Kravitz, Prince, David Byrne and B.B. King, who upon hearing his debut album called the then-teenage Otis, "his favorite blues guitarist."  According to Shuggie, "this is the biggest compliment that I have EVER received!"

 Following the release of INSPIRATION INFORMATION, Otis was approached by Billy Preston to take the place of the departing guitarist Mick Taylor for The Rolling Stones' world tour.   He decided against it, wanting to make his own music and not be a sideman.  Around that time, Quincy Jones produced a version of Shuggie's "Strawberry Letter 23" with the Brothers Johnson, and it became a pop hit that reached #1 on the R&B charts.

After that, Shuggie seemingly disappeared, although he never stopped making music. He wrote, played and recorded. That material recorded at his home studio over several years make up the bulk of his "lost" album, WINGS OF LOVE, which Sony/Legacy issued in tandem with the re-release of INSPIRATION INFORMATION in 2013. He and his band played extensively in support of that album release on what he called the Never Ending World Domination Tour, the show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on April 19, 2013 among the many stops along the way.

A DVD of the LIVE IN WILLIAMSBURG concert will be released by Cleopatra Records in the near future, and Shuggie is currently recording new material for a forthcoming studio album. He plans to tour in support of these projects and will announce tour dates shortly.
Track List for Shuggie Otis--Live in Williamsburg:

1. Inspiration Information
2. Tryin' To Get Close To You
3. Aht Uh Mi Hed
4. Island Letter
5. Me And My Woman
6. Sparkle City - Miss Pretty
7. Sweetest Thang
8. Picture Of Love
9. Wings Of Love
10. Doin' What's Right
11. Shuggie's Boogie
12. Strawberry Letter 23


SAVING ABEL RETURN
ON VETERAN’S DAY WITH NEW ALBUM
BLOOD STAINED REVOLUTION
OUT NOVEMBER 11th

We are excited to announce that you can stream the first single "Blood Stained Revolution" from our new Saving Abel album Blood Stained Revolution at:
http://loudwire.com/saving-abel-blood-stained-revolution-exclusive-song-premiere/

You can also stream another single "All Fall Down" AND pre-order the record (you'll receive a free download as well) at:
http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/savingabel

Please check out our full line of new merchandise at:
savingabel.rokbiz.com

Below is a note from the band:

What’s up everybody!

HUGE things are happening in the Saving Abel world. We’re recording a new album titled "Blood Stained Revolution” that we are releasing on Veteran’s Day 11/11/14 and can’t wait for you to hear it. The new single is done and available to listen to on our Facebook page right now at www.facebook.com/savingabel but you can get a free download of it here just by pre-ordering our album here at PledgeMusic!

This time we are recording and releasing the album ourselves on our own label Tennessippi Whiskey Records label and the whole process has been redesigned. We are raising money to tour and promote our record without the help of a an established record company and as a thank you to those who can help us we spent a lot of time coming up with cool ideas so that you can get as close to the band as you want or enjoy really unique experiences with us. We spend most of our time on the road and would love to have you guys join us to make OUR lives cooler! These are all super cool and personal items that we’ve never been able to offer you before. No matter what you order you will also get a digital copy of the download on release date.

Also, by pre-ordering the album via PledgeMusic, you’ll also have access to a special part of the site called the Updates section. In here you’ll get bits of bonus content leading up to the album release. This will be things like streaming and download new music, pics and videos from the studio, the venues, the bus, and backstage plus handwritten lyrics, album artwork ideas and variations and much, much more. It’ll be like you’re travelling and working right beside us!

To get things started you can immediately download “All Fall Down” and the exclusive wallpaper/screensaver of “Thanks” from us. Head to the top of the page to the Updates page to find them and much more still to come!

A percentage of the proceeds from this project will also go to Autism Speaks. Our singer’s Scotty’s son has Autism and this is very important to us! So don’t miss out on this incredible way to be involved!

-Saving Abel

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