LEGACY WOODSTOCK 40th ANNIVERSARY DOUBLE CDS BY JOHNNY WINTER, SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE, JANIS JOPLIN, JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, SANTANA

Legacy Launches the Woodstock Experience: 40th Anniversary Commemorations Begin

Five Classic 1969 Albums by Woodstock Headliners Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Santana, Sly & The Family Stone, And Johnny Winter Original Albums Coupled For First Time with Complete Festival Performances, Providing Perfect Snapshot of the Artist in the Pivotal Year 1969

Newly-designed eco-friendly 2-CD packages contain mini-LP sleeves with inner paper sleeves, inside slipcase jacket, plus two-sided 16×20-inch fold-out poster

Sony Music Entertainment teams with Woodstock Ventures to launch Woodstock.com, broad-based interactive social networking website

THE WOODSTOCK EXPERIENCE titles available at both physical and digital retail outlets starting June 30, 2009

The spirit of the Woodstock Music & Art Fair of 1969 resonates 40 summers later, as if it were just yesterday.

In 1969, five acts recorded albums for the Columbia, Epic, and RCA labels (divisions of SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT) and brought their music to Max Yasgur’s farm that summer. For the first time, THE WOODSTOCK EXPERIENCE couples those albums with music from the festival, providing a pocket portrait of what each artist and band was experiencing during 1969. Available at all physical and digital retail outlets starting June 30th – in newly-designed eco-friendly 2CD packages (see details below) – will be the following five titles:

JEFFERSON AIRPLANE – THE WOODSTOCK EXPERIENCE (RCA/Legacy)

Includes Volunteers, their sixth and final album with the original lineup before all the changes came in 1970, with “We Can Be Together,” “Good Shepherd,” “Wooden Ships,” “Eskimo Blue Day,” and the title tune; coupled with 13 songs from their Sunday wee-hours set at the festival, including six previously unissued live tracks.

JANIS JOPLIN – THE WOODSTOCK EXPERIENCE (Columbia/Legacy)

Includes I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama! , her first and only solo album released during her lifetime, with “Try (Just A Little Bit Harder),” the Bee Gees’ “To Love Somebody,” and Rodgers & Hart’s “Little Girl Blue”; coupled with her entire 10-song festival set, including three previously unissued live tracks.

SANTANA – THE WOODSTOCK EXPERIENCE (Columbia/Legacy) Includes the debut Santana LP, with “Evil Ways,” “Savor,” “Persuasion,” “Soul Sacrifice,” and Olatunji’s “Jingo”; coupled with their entire 8-song set, including one previously unissued live track;

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE – THE WOODSTOCK EXPERIENCE (Epic/Legacy)

Includes their breakthrough fourth album, Stand!, with “Everyday People,” “Sing A Simple Song,” “Stand!” and “I Want To Take You Higher”; coupled with their entire 8-song set, including seven previously unissued live tracks.

JOHNNY WINTER – THE WOODSTOCK EXPERIENCE (Columbia/Legacy)

Includes the debut Johnny Winter solo LP, with homages to Robert Johnson (“When You Got A Good Friend”), Sonny Boy Williamson (“Good Morning Little Schoolgirl”), Lightnin’ Hopkins (“Back Door Friend”) and B.B. King (“Be Careful With A Fool”); coupled with eight songs from his Sunday evening set at the festival, including seven previously unissued live tracks.

Each THE WOODSTOCK EXPERIENCE disc will be packaged inside a mini-LP cover with inner paper sleeves: CD-one replicating the front and back covers of the original LP, and CD-two featuring iconic photography of the artist performing at the festival. These mini-LPs will be housed in a paper-board slipcase sharing continuity of design recognition across all five packages. The slipcase will also contain a two-sided 16×20-inch fold-out poster, with one side displaying iconic photography of the artist performing at the festival, and the other side displaying a classic crowd shot of the audience.

The upcoming 40th anniversary celebration includes such highly-anticipated projects as Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock (which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, starring Demetri Martin, Liev Schreiber and Emile Hirsch, via Focus Features); and Woodstock co-founder Michael Lang’s The Road To Woodstock, written with Holly George-Warren (on HarperCollins’ Ecco imprint).

Announced in April, Sony Music Entertainment has teamed with Woodstock Ventures to launch Woodstock.com, a cutting edge live music social network for all concerts, including complete artist and event information, access to ticketing, concert reviews, music, blogs, and a forum to connect with other fan events throughout the world. There will be platforms for environmental initiatives, social issues, and other current topics. Visitors to the site can meet on a virtual village green, a platform for developing initiatives about global warming, carbon emissions, and responsible energy use.

The spirit of the Woodstock Generation continues to be a thriving and dynamic force in society because the communal ideas expressed in the music of those artists still resounds loud and clear. The social and political and cultural concerns that informed their lives and music in 1969 are still with us today. And there has never been any better way of experiencing the tumultuous events of 1969 than through the music.

Details of the five THE WOODSTOCK EXPERIENCE titles are as follows:

JEFFERSON AIRPLANE – THE WOODSTOCK EXPERIENCE (Volunteers, RCA/Legacy 88697 48240 2, originally issued April 1969, as RCA Victor 4238)
Disc One – Selections:

1. We Can Be Together
2. Good Shepherd
3. The Farm
4. Hey Frederick
5. Turn My Life Down
6. Wooden Ships
7. Eskimo Blue Day
8. A Song For All Seasons
9. Meadowlands
10. Volunteers
(Recorded Live at the Woodstock Music & Art Fair, Sunday, August 17, 1969: PART ONE) 11. Introduction (previously unissued)
12. The Other Side of This Life (previously unissued)
13. Somebody To Love
14. 3/15 Of A Mile In 10 Seconds (previously unissued)
15. Won’t You Try / Saturday Afternoon
16. Eskimo Blue Day.
Disc Two (Recorded live at the Woodstock Music & Art Fair, Sunday, August 17, 1969: PART TWO) – Selections:

1. Plastic Fantastic Lover
2. Wooden Ships (previously unissued)
3. Uncle Sam Blues
4. Volunteers
5. The Ballad of You & Me & Pooneil (previously unissued)
6. Come Back Baby (previously unissued)
7. White Rabbit
8. The House At Pooneil Corners (previously unissued).

JANIS JOPLIN – THE WOODSTOCK EXPERIENCE
(I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama!, Columbia/Legacy 88697 48243 2, originally issued October 1969, as Columbia 9913)
Disc One – Selections:

1. Try (Just A Little Bit Harder)
2. Maybe
3. One Good Man
4. As Good As You’ve Been To This World
5. To Love Somebody
6. Kozmic Blues
7. Little Girl Blue
8. Work Me, Lord.
Disc Two (Recorded live at the Woodstock Music & Art Fair, Saturday, August 16, 1969) – Selections:

1. Raise Your Hand (previously unissued)
2. As Good As You’ve Been To This World (previously unissued)
3. To Love Somebody
4. Summertime
5. Try (Just A Little Bit Harder)
6. Kozmic Blues
7. Can’t Turn You Loose (previously unissued)
8. Work Me, Lord
9. Piece Of My Heart
10. Ball & Chain.

SANTANA – THE WOODSTOCK EXPERIENCE
(Santana, Columbia/Legacy 88697 48242 2, originally issued August 1969, as Columbia 9781)
Disc One – Selections:

1. Waiting
2. Evil Ways
3. Shades Of Time
4. Savor
5. Jingo
6. Persuasion
7. Treat
8. You Just Don’t Care
9. Soul Sacrifice.
Disc Two (Recorded live at the Woodstock Music & Art Fair, Saturday, August 16, 1969) – Selections:

1. Waiting
2. Evil Ways (previously unissued)
3. You Just Don’t Care
4. Savor
5. Jingo
6. Persuasion
7. Soul Sacrifice
8. Fried Neckbones.

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE – THE WOODSTOCK EXPERIENCE
(Stand!, Epic/Legacy 88697 48241 2, originally issued April 1969, as Epic 26456) Disc One – Selections:

1. Stand!
2. Don’t Call Me Nigger, Whitey
3. I Want To Take You Higher
4. Somebody’s Watching You
5. Sing A Simple Song
6. Everyday People
7. Sex Machine
8. You Can Make It If You Try.
Disc Two (Recorded live at the Woodstock Music & Art Fair, Sunday, August 17, 1969) – Selections:

1. M’Lady (previously unissued)
2. Sing A Simple Song (previously unissued)
3. You Can Make It If You Try (previously unissued)
4. Everyday People (previously unissued)
5. Dance To The Music
6. MEDLEY: Music Lover / Higher
7. I Want To Take You Higher (previously unreleased)
8. Love City
9. Stand! (previously unissued)

JOHNNY WINTER – THE WOODSTOCK EXPERIENCE

(Johnny Winter, Columbia/Legacy 88697 48244 2, originally issued May 1969, as Columbia 9826)
Disc One – Selections:
1. I’m Yours And I’m Hers
2. Be Careful With A Fool
3. Dallas
4. Mean Mistreater
5. Leland Mississippi Blues
6. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
7. When You Got A Good Friend
8. I’ll Drown In My Own Tears
9. Back Door Friend.
Disc Two (Recorded live at the Woodstock Music & Art Fair, Sunday, August 17-Monday, August 18, 1969) – Selections:

1. Mama, Talk To Your Daughter (previously unissued)
2. Leland Mississippi Blues
3. Mean Town Blues
4. You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now (previously unissued)
5. I Can’t Stand It (with Edgar Winter) (previously unissued)
6. Tobacco Road (with Edgar Winter) (previously unissued)
7. Tell The Truth (with Edgar Winter) (previously unissued)
8. Johnny B. Goode (previously unissued).

Source Legacy

TODD RUNDGREN TO PLAY “A WIZARD, A TRUE STAR” IN ITS ENTIRETY IN LONDON

Rock’n'roll icon, guitar genius, interactive progenitor, consummate singer/songwriter and record producer Todd Rundgren, will perform his paradigm shifting 1973 album, A Wizard, a True Star (known to the cognoscenti as AWATS) in its entirety for the first time ever in Britain on Saturday February 6th 2010 at the London HMV Hammersmith Apollo, which will be Todd’s only UK performance of the seminal album which is hailed as an influential masterpiece by today’s new bands, including Hot Chip.

Tickets for this historic concert will go on sale at 9am on Wednesday May 27th. Tickets are priced£48.50, £45.00, £40.00, £32.00 (Agency and credit card bookings subject to a fee).

Date:Saturday 6th February 2010
Venue: London HMV Hammersmith Apollo
Tickets: £48.50, £45.00, £40.00, £32.00
Ticket Hotline: 08700 603 777
Online Booking: www.seetickets.com
Venue Box Office: 08448 44 47 48
Venue Website: www.hammersmithapollo.net
Venue Address: 45 Queen Caroline Street, London, W6 9QH

This rare British premiere will be Rundgren’s first and only UK concert since last year’s Arenaalbum tour. In addition to his being a multi-talented musician and singer/songwriter and performer, Rundgren is also regarded as one of the best record producers of all time (XTC, Meat Loaf, Patti Smith Group, XTC, Grand Funk Railroad). His most recent critically acclaimed album production, ‘Cause I Sez So, reunited him for the first time in 36 years with the legendary New York Dolls.
Although Rundgren’s breakthrough 1972 album, Something/Anything? is considered by many to be his masterpiece, the psychedelic impact and bordering-on-disturbing innovation of the follow-up, AWATS,is arguably Rundgren’s most experimental and influential album. Stand-out tracks include the International Feel, Rock & Roll Pussy, You Don’t Have To Camp Around, Sometimes I Don’t Know What To Feel, Zen Archer and Just Another Onionhead.

About the album A Wizard, A True Star -

The album’s closer, Just One Victory, has been included as an encore favorite in both Rundgren’s and Utopia’s live sets over the decades, but this will be the first time in Britain that he will perform the whole record live onstage, from start to finish. The first half of the concert will feature a selection of Rundgren’s songs throughout his career, while the second half of the show will consist of the entirety of A Wizard, a True Star.

A Wizard, A True Star is hailed as one of the most influential and pioneering progressive rock album recordings of all time. Originally released in 1973 (the longest running album on vinyl, clocking in at nearly one hour of running time: 55:56), much of the album is an extended medley after the fashion of The Beatles’ late recordings. The effect of the songs merging one into another was immediate, infectious and dazzling; the lyrical content was often at once both tongue in cheek and hallucinogenic.

Side One of the album includes a cover version of Never Never Land from the Broadway version of Peter Pan. Side Two features a legendary medley of covers of doo-wop and pop soul hits, including I’m So Proud, Ooh Baby, Baby, La La Means I Love You and Cool Jerk. Arthur Wood illustrated the psychedelic cover painting that graced the original packaging.

First editions of the vinyl LP were die-cut and included a “band aid” poem written by the punk poet Pattie Smith, and a short bio about the album, as well as a postcard encouraging purchasers to send their name to be included on a poster in Rundgren’s next album; the eponymous Todd.
Todd Rundgren – Biography

A Wizard, A True Star. The title of Todd Rundgren’s 1973 solo album aptly sums up the contributions of this multi-faceted artist to state-of-the-art music. As a songwriter, video pioneer, producer, recording artist, computer software developer, conceptualist, and, most recently, interactive artist (re-designated TR-i), Rundgren has made a lasting impact on both the form and content of popular music.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Rundgren began playing guitar as a teenager, going on to found and front The Nazz, the quintessential ’60′s cult group. In 1969, he left the band to pursue a solo career, recording his debut offering, the legendary Runt. But it was 1972′s seminal Something/Anything?, on which he played all the instruments, sang all the vocal parts, and acted as his own producer, that catapulted Todd into the superstar limelight, prompting the press to unanimously dub him ‘Rock’s New Wunderkind’.

It was followed by such landmark LPs as The Hermit of Mink Hollow A Wizard, A True Star, and the hit singles as I Saw The Light, Hello It’s Me, Can We Still Be Friends, and Bang The Drum.

In 1974, Todd formed Utopia, an entirely new approach to the concept of interactive musicianship, and embarked on an extensive round of touring and recording. Standout Utopia offerings included Oops! Wrong Planet, Adventures in Utopia, and Oblivion. Along the way, Utopia combined technical virtuosity and creative passion to create music that, for millions, defined the term “progressive rock.”

Rundgren’s myriad production projects include albums by Patti Smith, Cheap Trick, Psychedelic Furs, Meatloaf, XTC, Grand Funk Railroad, and Hall and Oates. Rounding out his reputation as rock’s Renaissance Man, Rundgren composed all the music and lyrics for Joe Papp’s 1989 Off-Broadway production of Joe Orton’s Up Against It (the screenplay commissioned by The Beatles for what was meant to have been their third motion picture). He also has composed the music for a number of television series, including Pee Wee’s Playhouse and Crime Story.

His first studio CD of all new music in more than 10 years, Liars, was released in 2004, followed by last year’s universally acclaimed Arena.

In 1998 Todd debuted his new PatroNet technology which for the first time allows fans of a musical artist to subscribe directly to the artist’s musical output via the Internet. This caps a long history of groundbreaking early multimedia “firsts”, including:

• 1978: The first interactive television concert, broadcast live over the Warner/QUBE system in Columbus, Ohio (the home audience chose each song in real time during the concert by voting via QUBE’s 2-way operating system).

• 1978: The first live nationally broadcast stereo radio concert (by microwave), linking 40 cities across North America.

• 1979: The opening of Utopia Video Studios, a multi-million dollar state-of-the-art facility. The first project produced by Todd there is Gustav Holst’s The Planet, commissioned by RCA SelectaVision as the first demonstration software for their new videodisc format.

• 1980: Creation of the first color graphics tablet, which was licensed to Apple and released as The Utopia Graphics Tablet.

• 1981: Time Heals, the first music video to utilize state-of-the-art compositing of live action and computer graphics (produced and directed by Todd), becomes the second video to be played on MTV (after Video Killed the Radio Star).

• 1982: The first live national North American cablecast of a rock concert (on the USA Network), simulcast in stereo to over 120 radio stations.

• 1982: The first two commercially released music videos, one of which was nominated for the first-ever Grammy awarded for “Best Short Form Video” in 1983.

• 1992: The release of “No World Order”, the world’s first interactive record album on CD-i. Also the first commercially available music downloads via CompuServe.

• 1994: The release of “The Individualist”, the world’s first full-length Enhanced CD.

• 1995: The world’s first interactive concert tour. The London Forum shows were filmed and released on DVD.

• 1998: Launches PatroNet, the world’s first direct artist subscription service

TODD RUNDGREN – ALBUM PRODUCTION DISCOGRAPHY

ARTIST ALBUM TITLEYEAR

The American Dream”The American Dream” 1969
Great Speckled Bird “Great Speckled Bird” 1969
The Band “Stage Fright” 1970
The Butterfield Blues Band “Live” 1970
The Butterfield Blues Band “Sometimes I Feel Like Smiling” 1971
Jericho “Jericho” 1971
Half Nelson “Half Nelson” 1971
James Cotton Blues Band “Taking Care of Business” 1971
Jesse Winchester “Third Down, 110 To Go” 1972
Mark Moogy Klingman “Moogy” 1972
Badfinger “Straight Up” 1972
New York Dolls “New York Dolls” 1973
Grand Funk “We’re An American Band” 1973
Fanny “Mother’s Pride” 1973
Grand Funk “Shinin’ On” 1974
Felix Cavaliere “Felix Cavaliere” 1974
Daryl Hall & John Oates “War Babies” 1974
Hello People “The Handsome Devils” 1974
Hello People “Brick” 1975
Steve Hillage “L” 1976
Meat Loaf “Bat Out Of Hell” 1977
Mark “Moogy” Klingman “Moogy II” 1978
Tom Robinson Band “TRB2″ 1979
Rick Derringer “Guitars and Women” 1979
The Tubes “Remote Control” 1979
Patti Smith Group “Wave” 1979
Shaun Cassidy “Wasp” 1980
New England “Walking Wild” 1981
Jim Steinman “Bad For Good” 1981
Psychedelic Furs “Forever Now” 1982
The Rubinoos “Party of Two” 1983
Cheap Trick “Next Position Please” 1983
Jules Shear “Watch Dog” 1983
Will Powers “Dancing For Mental Health” 1983
The Lords of the New Church “Live For Today” 1983
Zerra “Zerra I” 1984
The Tubes “Love Bomb” 1985
What Is This “What Is This” 1985
XTC “Skylarking” 1986
Hunter “Dreams Of Ordinary Men” 1987
Bourgeois Tagg “Yoyo” 1987
The Pursuit of Happiness “Love Junk” 1988
La Ppisch “Karakuri House” 1989
Jill Sobule “Things Here Are Different” 1990
Hiroshi Takano “Cue” 1990
The Pursuit of Happiness “One Sided Story” 1990
Hiroshi Takano “Awakening” 1992
Paul Shaffer “The World’s Most Dangerous Party” 1993
Splender “Splender” 1998
12 Rods “Separation Anxiety” 2000
Bad Religion “The New America” 2000
New York Dolls “Cause I Sez So” 2009

Todd Rundgren – Official MySpace Page

http://www.myspace.com/toddrundgrenmusic

Todd Rundgren Official Site

http://www.tr-i.com/

KING CURTIS CD DEBUT FOR ‘GET READY’ FEATURES ERIC CLAPTON

Wounded Bird’s previous King Curtis CD, Instant Groove, was a smash hit, due partly to the guest appearance by Duane Allman. Without a doubt, Get Ready should do just as well due to a guest appearance by Eric Clapton on the Delaney Bramlett produced track “Teasin’”. This album is making its worldwide CD debut on 9 June in the US.

Tracklisting:

Get Ready/Sugar Foot/Floatin’/Bridge Over Troubled Water/

Soulin’/Teasin’/Something/Promenade/Let It Be/

Someday We’ll Be Together

STATUS QUO EXPANDED REISSUES

Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo is the 1968 debut album by the British psychedelic rock group, Status Quo. The album covers a number of songs, including “Green Tambourine” by The Lemon Pipers

The album was released on 27 September 1968, and reached #12 in the UK album charts.
The lead single was originally intended to be “Gentleman Joe’s Sidewalk Café”, with the original Francis Rossi composition “Pictures of Matchstick Men” as the b-side, but these songs were eventually swapped round. It reached #7 in the UK, and remains the band’s only major hit single in the United States where it reached #12. It also reached #8 in Canada.A second single, Rossi’s “Black Veils of Melancholy” (with organist Roy Lynes’ non-album track “To Be Free” as the b-side), flopped and has even been called “a carbon copy of “Pictures of Matchstick Men”".The third single, “Ice in the Sun”, written for the band by Marty Wilde and Ronnie Scott (with the Francis Rossi/Rick Parfitt composition “When My Mind Is Not Live” as the b-side) reached #8 in the UK Singles Chart, and #29 in Canada.

The band released a fourth single from the album – “Technicolour Dreams” by Anthony King backed with the Wilde/Scott composition “Paradise Flat” – but this was withdrawn after a few days in favour of a non-album single release early the following year.

This deluxe 2-cd edition comes re-mastered with a bonus disc of unreleased material, new notes by David Wells and a booklet full of rare photos and memorbilia.

Disc 1

1. Black Veils Of Melancholy Mono Version

2. When My Mind Is Not Live Mono Version

3. Ice In The Sun Mono Version

4. Elizabeth Dreams

5. Gentleman Joe’s Sidewalk Cafe

6. Paradise Flat

7. Technicolor Dreams

8. Sheila

9. Spicks And Specks

10. Sunny Cellophane Skies

11. Green Tambourine

12. Pictures Of Matchstick Men

13. To Be Free B-Side Version

14. Make Me Stay A Little Bit Longer

15. Auntie Nellie

16. Interview With Brian Matthew BBC Sessions – Saturday Club 17/2/68

17. Pictures Of Matchstick Men BBC Sessions – Saturday Club 17/2/68

18. Things Get Better BBC Sessions – Saturday Club 17/2/68

19. Spicks And Specks BBC Sessions – Saturday Club 24/6/67

20. Judy In Disguise BBC Sessions – Saturday Club 17/2/68

21. Interview With Status Quo BBC Sessions – Saturday Club 17/2/68

22. Make Me Stay A Bit Longer BBC Sessions – Saturday Club 17/2/68

Disc 2

1. Black Veils Of Melancholy Stereo LP Remixed ‘Proper’

2. When My Mind Is Not Live Stereo LP Remixed ‘Proper’

3. Ice In The Sun

4. Elizabeth Dreams Stereo LP Remixed ‘Proper’

5. Gentleman Joe’s Sidewalk Cafe

6. Paradise Flat Stereo LP Remixed ‘Proper’

7. Technicolor Dreams Stereo LP Remixed ‘Proper’

8. Sheila Stereo LP Remixed ‘Proper’

9. Spicks And Specks Stereo LP Remixed ‘Proper’

10. Sunny Cellophane Skies Stereo LP Remixed ‘Proper’

11. Green Tambourine Stereo LP Remixed ‘Proper’

12. Pictures Of Matchstick Men Stereo LP Remixed ‘Proper’

13. Auntie Nellie Stereo

14. Gloria BBC Sessions – Saturday Club 10/9/66

15. Interview with Francis Rossi

16. I (Who Have Nothing) BBC Sessions – Saturday Club 10/9/66

17. Neighbour Neighbour BBC Sessions – Saturday Club 10/9/66

18. I Don’t Want You BBC Sessions – Saturday Club 24/6/67

19. Almost But Not Quite There BBC Sessions – Saturday Club 24/6/67

20. Spicks And Specks BBC Sessions – Saturday Club 24/6/67

21. Gloria BBC Sessions – David Symonds Show April 1968

22. Interview with Alan Lancaster The David Symonds Show April 1968

23. Black Veils Of Melancholy BBC Sessions – David Symonds Show April 1968

24. Bloodhound BBC Sessions – David Symonds Show April 1968

ROD STEWART’S CLASSIC ‘ATLANTIC CROSSING’ AND ‘A NIGHT ON THE TOWN’ EXPANDED, REMASTERED FOR A LIMITED PERIOD

Warner Bros/Rhino are reissuing Rod Stewart’s classic ATLANTIC CROSSING And A NIGHT ON THE TOWN cds as limited-edition two-disc sets with remastered original album, plus unreleased versions of each album track and outtakes.

It is important to note that these Collector’s Editions are only available this summer.

LOS ANGELES — For Rod Stewart, 1975 was a year of profound personal and professional change. Because of Britain’s high tax rate, he moved from London to Los Angeles, where he signed with Warner Bros. Records, and left his longtime mates in the Faces to finally commit himself as a solo artist. His first two “American” albums–ATLANTIC CROSSING and A NIGHT ON THE TOWN–went gold and double platinum respectively, charting with signature hits like “I Don’t Want To Talk About It” and “Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright).” For a limited time, Warner Bros. will reissue both albums as two-disc Collector’s Editions that contain the original album remastered with abonus track and a second disc that contains unreleased takes of every album track, plus unreleased outtakes.

ATLANTIC CROSSING and A NIGHT ON THE TOWNwill be available June 30 at all retail outlets, including www.rhino.com. The two-disc versionis only available this summer and will be replaced by a single-disc collection with fewer bonus tracks. Along with Stewart’s new home came a new producer, Tom Dowd, a man whose gifted ears led him to run sessions for some of Stewart’s soul idols,including Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Ray Charles. It was Dowd’s idea to record Stewart with many of soul music’s legendary musicians: guitaristSteve Cropper, bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn, and drummer Al Jackson Jr., known as the MGs (minus Booker T.); and the Swampers, the renowned studio band from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, who played on many of Aretha Franklin’s best. This fresh beginning marks the point where Stewart left behind his frequently rustic, folk-inflected sound and replaced it with the glossy stadium anthems that would become his new imprimatur. Stewart’s sixth album, ATLANTIC CROSSING became a hit in Britian and theU.S., where it was certified gold. It contains two of Stewart’s signature hits: “I Don’t Want To Talk About It” and “Sailing.” The latter became a #1hit in the U.K. and a popular soccer anthem, a gratifying twist for Stewart, a rabid fan of the sport. Along with an alternate version of the album, the bonus disc also contains an eclectic trio of outtakes: the BeeGees’ “To Love Somebody,” Lee Dorsey’s “Holy Cow,” and Elvis Presley’s “Return To Sender.” In 1976, Stewart returned with A NIGHT ON THE TOWN, a double-platinum success thanks to the #1 smash “Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright),”the definitive cover of Cat Stevens’ “The First Cut Is The Deepest,” and “The Killing Of Georgie” (Part I and II), a heartfelt tribute to Stewart’s friend, who was mugged and killed in NewYork. Stewart cut the majority of A NIGHT ON THE TOWN in Los Angeles withmusicians who are credited as “The Garage Band,” a tongue-in-cheek reference to the caliber of players assembled for the album: the MGs once again as well as guitarists Joe Walsh, Jesse Ed Davis, David Lindley, and Fred Tackett. The second disc features a preliminary treatment of Lennon/McCartney’s “Get Back” for the film All This And World War II, and two outtakes written by Stewart. The first, “Rosie,” was used as the B-side of “Killing Of Georgie.” The second, “Share,” features a gorgeous, understated guitar arrangement from an unidentified source that sounds suspiciously like Cropper. ATLANTIC CROSSING and A NIGHT ON THE TOWN are both so similar conceptually,structurally, and musically that they are virtually of a piece. Each is a mix of covers and originals, split between fast and slow sides, produced by Tom Dowd, and recorded in Muscle Shoals and Los Angeles. Together the music captures an important evolution in Stewart’s iconic career.

COLLECTOR’S EDITION: ATLANTIC CROSSING

Track Listing

Disc 1

FAST HALF
1. “Three Time Loser”
2. “Alright For An Hour”
3. “All In The Name Of Rock ‘N’ Roll”
4. “Drift Away”
5. “Stone Cold Sober”

SLOW HALF
6. “I Don’t Want To Talk About It”
7. “It’s Not The Spotlight”
8. “This Old Heart Of Mine”
9. “Still Love You”
10. “Sailing”

BONUS TRACK
11. “Skye Boat Song” The Atlantic Crossing Drum & Pipe Band 

Disc 2

ALL PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
1. “To Love Somebody” (Studio Outtake) with The MG’s
2. “Holy Cow” (Studio Outtake) with The MG’s
3. “Return To Sender” (Studio Outtake) with The MG’sTHE ALTERNATE ATLANTIC CROSSING
4. “Three Time Loser” (Alternate Version)
5. “Alright For An Hour” (Alternate Version)
6. “All In The Name Of Rock ‘N’ Roll” (Alternate Version)7. “Drift Away” (Alternate Version)
8. “Too Much Noise” (Early Version of “Stone Cold Sober”)9. “I Don’t Want To Talk About It” (Alternate Version)10. “It’s Not The Spotlight” (Alternate Version)
11. “This Old Heart Of Mine” (Alternate Version with The MG’s)
12. “Still Love You” (Alternate Version)
13. “Sailing” (Alternate Version)
14. “Skye Boat Song” (Alternate Version) The Atlantic Crossing Drum &Pipe Band
HIDDEN TRACK 15. Radio Spot

Buy your copy here if you live in Europe.
Buy your copy here if you live in the USA.

COLLECTOR’S EDITION: A NIGHT ON THE TOWN Disc 1

SLOW SIDE
1. “Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright)”
2. “The First Cut Is The Deepest”
3. “Fool For You”
4. “The Killing Of Georgie” (Part I And II)

FAST HALF
5. “The Balltrap”
6. “Pretty Flamingo”
7. “Big Bayou”
8. “The Wild Side Of Life”
9. “Trade Winds”BONUS TRACK
10. “Rosie” (Bonus Track) 
Disc 2 ALL PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
1. “Share” (Studio Outtake)

THE ALTERNATE NIGHT ON THE TOWN
2. “Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright)” (Early Version)3. “The First Cut Is The Deepest” (Early Version)
4. “Fool For You” (Early Version)
5. “The Killing Of Georgie” (Part I And II) (Early Version)6. “The Balltrap” (Early Version)
7. “Pretty Flamingo” (Early Version)
8. “Big Bayou” (Early Version)
9. “The Wild Side Of Life” (Early Version)
10. “Trade Winds” (Early Version)
11. “Rosie” (Early Version)
12. “Get Back” (Alternate Version)

HIDDEN TRACKS
13. “The Killing Of Georgie” (Part II) Alternate Vocals
14. “Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright)” (Spoken Excerpt) 

Buy your copy here if you live in Europe.
Buy your copy here if you live in the USA.

source: Warner Brothers/Rhino

Rod Stewart Official Store