Smith & Co

This isn't perhaps the most original of concepts, in fact we've previously released a similar compilation that sold extremely well.  And we expect this to do the same.  Here we re-present three of the past masters in the art of taking the seasonal opportunity to add a bit of tinsel to their careers by singing some of the most mellifluous (or in the case of Dean Martin, occasionally wacky) homages to 'that special time of year'.

 

You couldn’t invent such a man as Jerry Lee Lewis:  such a character, such a firebrand talent.  Recently remarried for the seventh time (to the ex-wife of the brother of his third wife!), despite 60+ years of boozing and hell-raising he is truly The Last Man Standing from the original Memphis Sun rise of 50s rock ‘n’ roll.  His rapscallion reputation sometimes obscures the fact that along with being an astonishing piano-pumper, for most of his career - if perhaps not so evident today - Jerry Lee excelled vocally as a masterful interpreter of others’ songs into the Lewis style, the Lewis way, often with spontaneous one-take studio workouts.  This 67-track power pack of his vibrating younger years reveals the truth of the matter.

One of our distributing companies has pointed out that many rock ‘n’ roll fans, young and old, are not best pleased having to get their music kicks via CDs or I-pods, much preferring the solid certainty and (it is argued) superior acoustic balls of good old-fashioned vinyl.  Ever-ready to oblige, we are testing that proposition with this deluxe double-album in gatefold sleeve featuring 32 tracks from our first CD volume of Great Rockabilly.  If it’s a commercial mistake we might not risk it again.  If it proves to be a winner you better start re-organising your stock space, there’ll be more to come.  How’s the supply of turntables and styli in your territory?

The pressings are 180 gram heavy black vinyl and will be packaged a gatefold sleeve of 350 gsm white-white board with a gloss finish.

TITO PUENTE LIVE IN BRUSSELS
THE TITO PUENTE BIG BAND & CELIA CRUZ LIVE IN AMSTERDAM
MONGO SANTAMARIA LIVE IN THE NETHERLANDS

From Cuban and Puerto Rican roots, the signature rhythms of what is now generally termed Afro-Cuban music pulsed out of New York City's 'Spanish Harlem' in the late 1940s/early '50s:  an inspiration for innovative jazz musicians of the era, soon becoming an essential repertoire ingredient of international dance bands and a pervading influence on composers, arrangers and producers in the pop mainstream.

 

It's unlikely that many Brits of the 1950s ever picked a bale of cotton, lay their burden down by the riverside or rode a train that was 24 coaches long.  Nonetheless, when a motley crew of renegade UK jazzers began celebrating that imagery of Americana with a mix of respectful and playful gusto, soon inspiring a younger generation of would-be rockers to strum along, a rowdy revolution swept the country.  They called it Skiffle.

 

After the Oscars and the Golden Globes, the most prestigious film festival in the world would have to be the Cannes Film Festival, held every year in Cannes, France. It certainly produces the most media interest, after the Academy Awards, with daily television shows being broadcast in masses of countries to keep the viewers up to date and informed about the films on show as well all the latest gossip. However, due to the nature of the films, loosely described often as “Art House” mainly because they are shot in languages other than English!

During his long career Ennio Morricone has taken the art of writing soundtrack music to new heights; in some cases creating the success of the film! In order to celebrate the great man, the Jazz Workshop Orchestra under the direction of Marco Gotti and with Enrico Intra guesting on piano, decided to re-work Morricone's most famous film themes as Jazz works and to perform them live before the great man himself when he attended the opening concert of the 11th.

It's that time of they year again. Who are going to win the Oscars in 2011. All will be decided on Sunday, 27th. of February and interest will be re-kindled in all the successful films as well as those also nominated.

One thing is certain, The Academy Awards generate masses of interest and the films that are nominated invariably produce great soundtrack music with memorable main themes.

Some reviewers were suspicious when we released Great British Rock ‘n’ Roll #1 (SCCD1124) in 2007.  Did the UK produce any great rock ‘n’ roll in the 1950s?  Or was this just a play on words, alluding to the efforts of homage to the USA by young upstarts in a North Atlantic monarchy that still then called itself Great Britain?  After three successive volumes and now into #5 the judges rumble on amongst themselves while we continue to prove that along with the big three - Cliff Richard, Marty Wilde and Billy Fury - there was a lot more cooking in Britain at the time than is generally remembered.  Some of it is ham, much of it is beef, mostly prime cuts.  Exotic vegetables and wavy gravy served on the side.

The brash 1950s music of young white rural America, principally from the southern states of the USA, Rockabilly defied the dictates of Tin Pan Alley, it was the punk music of its day.  With notable exceptions it was a regional phenomenon with a supposedly short shelf-life. In the wake of Elvis a few other performers became stars; many were never even One Hit Wonders in the first place.  But they all left a legacy, re-ignited by a Rockabilly revival in the UK and Continental Europe in the 1970s that reverberates in clubs and at rave weekenders to the present day.

Our JUST ABOUT AS GOOD AS IT GETS! series is now an established guarantee of great value, authoritative compilations, expert re-mastering, consistently recognisable presentation, positive reviews and persistent sales in the Formula One reissue market.  So no further introduction required?  Well perhaps a few more words about this particular 2CD set…

 

Our JUST ABOUT AS GOOD AS IT GETS! series is now an established guarantee of great value, authoritative compilations, expert re-mastering, consistently recognisable presentation, positive reviews and persistent sales in the Formula One reissue market.  So no further introduction required?  Well perhaps a few more words about this particular 2CD set…

First of all we wish you the very best for the new year! We have some good news for the fans of the just about as good as it gets series! This month Smith & Co will release some new albums. Coming soon is the new single artist compilation: Duane Eddy - The Rockin Guitar Man

Good news for the fans of the just about as good as it gets series! In January 2011 Smith & Co will release new albums. First to announce is a new single artist compilation:
Cliff Richard - The Rocking Years - volume 2

The Academy Studio Orchestra - Twilight, New Moon, Love & Vampires: With the release of "Eclipse" Vampires are once again stirring the hearts of young girls around the world and creating some very good soundtrack music in the process. Time therefore, to release a compilation of the very best music from Vampire Films from the last two decades or so.

 

After the successful re-working of the Elvis and Frank Sinatra classics, Alex "Latino" Zullo and Stefano Colombo have gone back into the studio with their crew to remix and add overdubs to the magical recordings of Dean Martin. This naturally chilled out singer has been brought right up to date and this album will introduce the most relaxed singer of all time to a new generation. The 14 superb ballads includes one club mix of "Georgia on my Mind".

21st. Century Frank Sinatra ! Producers Stefano Colombo and Elio Baldi Cantu have taken some of the ’Voice’s’ greatest songs and brought them completely up to date. Tasteful overdubs and remixes have enhanced these fine recordings giving them a total sound that is from Now!

 

This CD highlights the best music featured in 15 of this years Movies which have been nominated as Best Film, or feature in the categories Best Actor, Best Female Actor or Best Director. On one CD we give the consumer a chance to enjoy all the best music from the 2010 Academy Awards at a time when the Oscars are still current.

 

A new approach to Elvis! Alex “Latino” Zullo and Paolo Bolio have gone back into the studio with their crew to remix and add overdubs, bringing the King right up to date! The result is 13 superb rockers and ballads as well as 2 remixes of the remixes giving us a couple of 2 tracks that would grace any cutting edge dance club.

Although nearly all of us instantly recognise songs such as "Days of Pearly Spencer" and "Can I get there by Candlelight" few can put a name to the man who wrote and recorded these tracks. A prodigious and vastly underrated talent, David McWilliams wrote many successful songs for others as well as his own recordings, but more than this, he left an indelible mark on all who had the good fortune to know him. So much so that his best known fellow Irish musicians, put their energies together to record an album of his songs as a lasting tribute to the man.

New Lounge Release: Niji

Take a collection of iconic songs from the 80's and re-work them into a moody, sultry homage to that time of your life. That is exactly what the Italian trio Niji (it means 'Rainbow" in Japanese) have chosen to do.

At first glance you probably think, oh yeah, he was that guy who did that really gutsy version of "Red River Valley" and not realise that he did in fact have a series of hits in the US, the UK and the continent. This double CD collection includes all the best recordings from Johnny with his very recognisable sax sound. He was probably the most successful sax artist outside the jazz world who had a string of hits in the late 50's and on into the 60's.

Again, you might be tempted to think, the five thousand and first Elvis Presley PD release and you’d be right, because there are literally thousands of cheap Elvis releases out there. The difference, in this case is that we are looking at a very specific period early on in his career, before he was corrupted by commerciality.

 

Following up the success of the "Kings of Swing" what better than to release a "Kings of Christmas" CD to celebrate the Christmas period. The United States have produced many great artists and a great many of them have recorded Christmas repertoire, but few of them have enjoyed the success in this area of music than Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra.

 

A fabulous combination of the Sellers International Brass Band, one of Great Britain's most acclaimed brass band under the leadership of Philip McCann, the Huddersfield Choral Society and the Huddersfield Choral Society Youth Choir, both of whom are considered amongst England's finest choirs in their field, have come together to produce a beautiful Christmas album. A delightful mix of tried and trusted Christmas traditional favourites and some lesser known material in popular and semi classical style gels perfectly to create a wonderful Christmas atmosphere.

Building on the success of this series, 3 new titles are to be added featuring the music of ABBA, U2 and a second volume of Michael Jackson classics. As we have seen from earlier releases legendary acts such as Pink Floyd and Santana have been extremely successful, which is the reason why we feel that it was time to include U2. ABBA seem to be timeless in their sales potential and of course, for all the wrong reasons a second volume of Michael Jackson’s classic hits demanded consideration.

Although there have been very many jazz packages released featuring the Legends in this series, surprisingly they have rarely been presented as the Kings of the free form music they created. Relatively little attention or marketing has been directed at the fact that people such as Thelonius Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Clifford Brown and Dizzy Gillespie truly were the Kings of BeBop!

Rock 'n Roll Roots is a series of 4 CD's: The first recordings, the R&B influence, The Country Influence and The Blues influence. The influence of Blues, R&B and Country on the development of Rock ‘n’ Roll cannot be ignored.  Many of what might be termed the ‘first generation’ of rock musicians, including Elvis, were influenced heavily by these genres.