Life happens... and there's usually a soundtrack to it if you look hard enough.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Now Downloading: New Releases 01.10.12 - Alex Chilton
Alex Chilton takes a smoke break during the legendary "1970" sessions recorded in 1969.
So far, 2012 has proven to be a slow starter on the music front, with no one wanting to jump in while folks are still debating each others' year end lists. One gem coming out in odd fashion is a reissue of Alex Chilton's "1970" Sessions that he recorded in 1969 (hence the "" -- explained below). This release from Ominivore Recordings is odd in that it skipped out on the big box set/reissue gift giving season of late November / early December. But we'll just have to look past the mouth of this gift horse from the new Omnivore Records.
Joining Light in the Attic Records in the music reissues for music fans, relative newcomers Omnivore Recordings have had a impressive start to their catalog, launching the business with a limited edition original pressing of Big Star's Third on clear vinyl for Record Store Day 2011. They've since scored with reissues of Richard Thompson, Leon Russell and The Motels and now the famous 1969 session recordings of Alex Chilton while he was under contract while with The Box Tops. Because he was locked up with The Box Tops, the recordings have always had the "1970" title, the year that he would be "Free Again" from the suffocating contract. While with the Box Tops, Chilton had no outlet for his songs, as Dan Penn pretty much controlled what songs the group recorded and performed, so Chilton started sneaking off and recording stuff that interested him in his spare time, and Free Again collects the best of those. Originally released in 1996 by Ardent, this reissue adds several previously unreleased tracks with the CD version. While the material predates Chilton's best work (with Big Star), it's a fascinating road map for what's to come.
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