LouieB Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 I was going to wait a bit on this one, but someone already st chimed in on the record store day thread so I guess I should not wait. Unfortunately if I do this on the fly I will forget a bunch of stuff, but let's get started. Reissues come from both the major labels and specialty labels. They also have tendency to come and go, although some have a fairly long history. Clearly there are some that everyone knows, such as Rhino, Sundazed, and 4MenwithBeards. These three labels primarily license albums and their cover art from larger or sometimes smaller labels and reissue them. Sometimes thay also do compilations. Rhino and Sundazed are particularly excellent. 4men often release material that may or may not be hard to find on the original labels, but seems to be catering to folks who want the original material on vinyl. tinnitus photography mentioned Shadoks which appears to do the same thing with primarily psychadelic material. Since many of the albums put out by these companies are hard to come by (or in some cases impossible), buying from them is a way to fix your jones for a particular artist, but sometimes those same artists albums are available used, so don't give up. It is actually fortunate that the major labels don't feel they have to reissue some of this stuff because it is great (Case in point, Rhino's "What It Is". tinnitus photography also mentions Legacy which is the Sony/Columbia reissue imprint. They have done a great job of repackaging some of their older blues material and also many of their more popular artists. I am fond of the blues material, but the reissues of the more popular artists include material not found on earlier LPs or CDs, so I think that is pretty cool. Dust to Digital is a label I am somewhat aquainted with. I looked over their catalogue and some of it is pretty appealing; Goodbye Babylon has always attracted me. Fonotone is an intersting box set they put out as well. I don't own either of these but I would like to. Revenant is also mentioned, which is certainly a label I have given some money. (I don't see that they are out of business, but they could be.) Their American Primative sets, Charley Patton, Albert Ayler,and Charlie Feathers are all personal favorites. If they are out of business, it is too bad, because their box sets are amazing. I hope they are not out of business, but if they are, snap up their relesses now while you can. We can't go to long without mentioning the obvious Wilco friendly Numero Group. Most folks here know about these guys so if you don't check them out today. Reissues of crazy good soul and other small local labels as well as small run albums that came and went. Very cool stuff. Nor can we go too far without mentioning Smithsonian Folkways, which takes the old Folkways catalogue of field records of blues, country and ethnic music and keeps it in print. The Anthology of American Folk Music is on this label, but there are hundreds of other titles as well. Form here the reissue labels go into older material. The premier label for many years has been Yazoo, which specializes in compilations of pre-war blues, country and other types of popular music. Some of these albums can still be found used, but the CDs have a wealth of interesting material on them. If you are new to pre-war blues, this is the place to start. Biograph records was bought out by Shout (so the internet tells me), but some of their LPs float around used record stores and they also covered early blues and jazz. It looks like they were bought out by Collectables (something I didn't know until now) which has reissued some of them material (their website is something of a mess though.) I nearly confused these guys with Collectors Choice, who reissues many of the old Elektra cataloge, mainly folk, but also rock albums as well. Looking at their website, they have a fairly scattershot approach too, mainly licensing albums that the major labels are no longer interested in, or compiling material from artits into box sets. It looks like they also distribute other labels. There are three labels that need special mention; JSP, Proper, and Document Records. All do similar things but to different effect. JSP is a budget label that releases box sets. If you need lots of material from a type of music or artist, you can usually pick up a pretty nice box set of four disks for about twenty bucks. I am fond of the Paramount Masters, but you can find plenty to listen to on this label. Proper does the same thing at a slightly higher (but not much) cost. Proper does a better job of annotating the material and their booklets are very informative. I love Proper alot. Document is THE label if you just have to have the complete works (or any work) by early jazz, blues, country, or gospel performers. Their catalogue is huge. Document is an amazing company that is always teetering on the brink of collapse or taking crap from critics who complain about the quality of the sound of their releases. I have not had a problem with the sound, but they are slightly pricey. But if you can't find an early recording artist anywhere else, Document will probably have it. Bear Family is similar to the labels above except they go for the deluxe box sets and are based out of Germany. Their product is top notch, but not cheap. They seem to dig stuff like old country and Sun material. Back at ground zero for American music is County Records out of Floyd, Virginia. They have a small but really nice line of old traditional American music, sometimes by artist and sometimes by region or type. Their mail order business is quite impressive. Old Hat records has a smallish, but interesting group of releases, as does Thompkins Square out of NYC. Arhoolie is not really a reissue label, but they cover similar ground and some of their material is reissue. Lots of jazz albums are reissued every year, but the one label that has cornered the market on quality and complete reissues is Mosaic. Mosaic has an interesting business model; its large box sets are issued in limited editions (usually 5000) and then go out of print for ever. Their LPs from years past are quite pricey on the collectables market, but their current offerings (mostly on CD) are very interesting. They also produce smaller, more budget minded sets that are pretty cool too and not so expensive. Lsst but not least is one of my personal favorites, Archeophone Records out of Champaign. These folks (a couple actually) have carved out pre-electric recordings as their specialty. The scope of their work as been astounding and their releases, though sometimes challanging sonically, are always interesting and their notation top notch. They have done a fanatisic job of making old disks and cylanders sound like they came out yesterday (well maybe this hyperpole). Definitely check out their material. As soon as I post this I will think of some other label I completely forgot. Needless to say this is hardly and exhaustive list, but if all one does is check out Proper, JSP, Yazoo, County, Revenat and Old Hat, you will have years of stuff ot listen to. Many of these labels overlap on the artists they have compiled. Early recordings such as Paramount and Gennett are in the public domain, so they can put this stuff out without having to license it. As mentioned, sound quality can vary, with some labels being really careful and others not so much. And of course, the major labels will reissue material at their convenience or because of a particular event (Duke Ellington's 100 birthday was celebrated by RCA with a large box set of all his Victor material.) New material comes out daily. Just buying Numero's cataloge will set you back a few paychecks and they have some exciting stuff on tap. If you like truly historical material check out Archeophone. Jazz, blues, country, or older vocalists, try Proper. Need an old blues fix, go Yazoo or Document. So if the recent Radiohead or Drive By Truckers just isn't doing it for you, try one of these other labels and a dead musican or two to cheer you up. Okay.....that's it until I remember what I tried to remember before and clearly forgot to not forget. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Analogman Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 I sometimes feel Rhino does a great job on the artwork/booklet, but the sound of their re-issues suffers. Sundazed does a great job all the way around. I have several Legacy releases - but their tendency to put out the same stuff over and over again, with some slightly added stuff is tiresome. I suppose that is about all I know. Except for various other labels re-issuing cds. I don't really listen to anything but old rock music, so that is mostly what I know about. I have looked at the websites of some of those other labels. Like the folks at Sundazed, I'd say they do what they do as a labor of love. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted February 26, 2011 Author Share Posted February 26, 2011 I have looked at the websites of some of those other labels. Like the folks at Sundazed, I'd say they do what they do as a labor of love.For sure. I just can't imagine how many copies of some of the albums that Sundazed or 4men sell can keep their catalogues that large, but I guess it is good that they do. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Analogman Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 One of the amazing things to me about Sundazed, is that they often get their hands on the master tapes. I know this, as not only do they state it, but they post photos of the tape boxes. I think that is one of the things that makes a difference - the source tape. Of course, with some of the stuff you have talked about, the record album is the only source. But sometimes, you can really tell that the label had nothing to work with except digital files from who knows when, or copies of copies of master tapes. Whenever we have this sort of discussion, I am reminded of a old Rolling Stone article where Bob Irwin talks about seeing people digitizing tapes in the late 1980s, and then trashing the tapes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moss Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Wow, thanks LouieB, I think you have just killed most of my weekend, but in a good way. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
froggie Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 in Australia, there's a company called Liberation Blue. what they do is release semi-acoustic albums from older artists, but with new recordings of their songs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_Blue Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted February 27, 2011 Author Share Posted February 27, 2011 Wow, thanks LouieB, I think you have just killed most of my weekend, but in a good way. And because someone else suggested additional reissue labels, I will probably spend more money. This is dangerous and deep water to wade in. When I visit these sites and look through their catalogues I always find stuff I know nothing about and would like to investigate. Like everyone else I get emails from different companies and this last week two popped up and I ordered Allison's Sacred Harp Singers 1927-28 from County Records. The sound on it is pretty amazing really. (I don't know why but when I listen to this stuff I think of Sufjan Stevens...this material is harmonically complex in some ways, but relentlessly on the beat.) But more to the point Mosaic sent out its monthly notice and they cut prices on some of their sets so I popped for the set I have wanted for about 10 years (yea, its like getting free shipping only, but I am cheap) The Compete Dean Benedetti Recordings of Charlie Parker. This is the one major set that as a condition of publishing this music can not go out of print so I never felt that I had an obligation to get it before it disappeared. This set is six CDs of the long lost and perhaps non-existant tapes that music fan Benedettti made of some of Bird's solos at California gigs. Benedetti was sort of a proto-type of the tapers who stalk all our shows these days and te story is an interesting one, which has been shrouded in myth. I won't go into the details of the story, since they are fairly well known, but it is still a thrill to have this material, although it is primarily only the solos by Bird, and not entire numbers. Also the sound quality is quite variable depending on the date. There as been extensive restoration on most of it because of the type of recorders and media it was recorded on. So that is my current foray into reissue land, LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Analogman Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 I've read about that guy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Synthesizer Patel Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 a couple i like: sunbeamlight in the attic i'm a bit pissed off with rhino at the moment for seemingly giving up on their bee gees releases, and rhino homemade (whilst being amazing in terms of quality) are just way too expensive a lot of the time. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Analogman Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 a couple i like: sunbeamlight in the attic i'm a bit pissed off with rhino at the moment for seemingly giving up on their bee gees releases, and rhino homemade (whilst being amazing in terms of quality) are just way too expensive a lot of the time. Those Handmade releases almost use to be a secret, but now they are advertising them all over the place. They seem to really be cranking them out these days. I think that may be what keeps them in business though, all of these expensive box sets, and special cd sets. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GtrPlyr Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 i'm a bit pissed off with rhino at the moment for seemingly giving up on their bee gees releases.I'm with you, after Odessa there's nothing. Maybe they'll reissue some more soon [crosses fingers]. Some great reissue labels mentioned already. Some other favourites of mine are: Repertoire Records - Great for hard to find 60s-70s psych, folk, rock...Ace Records (Kent Soul, BGP, Southbound, Westbound... are all under the Ace banner.) - Lots of great funk, soul and rock 'n' roll reissues from these labels. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Analogman Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Those albums after Odessa after don't do much for me. There are some great songs in there from time to time though. It seems like some of that stuff comes out in the UK, and then here by way of Rhino some time later. I am still waiting for them to put out all of the T.Rex albums someday. As far as I know, Electric Warrior is the only one they have released. 1967 Bee Gees 1st 1968 Horizontal 1968 Idea 1969 Odessa Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Synthesizer Patel Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 i really like everything the bee gees did up until main course, myself. all their albums have some questionable material (which i still like anyway - just out of the fact that they were adventurous enough to try different things), but they are too good to be out of print like they are. i was deseperately waiting for cucumber castle to come out with bonus material etc... maybe even the film included, as it's my favourite album, and that's the exact point at which they seemed to have thrown in the towel on reissue series. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PopTodd Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 I have a couple of things from Bear Family that I am really digging: a couple of Jim Ford comps and a Ronnie Self comp. Really, really good stuff, with pretty good sound and nice liner notes that give me a lot of info without overkill. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted February 28, 2011 Author Share Posted February 28, 2011 Of course....Light in the Attic is a pretty cool reissue group that is sort of new. I spoke to those guys for awhile at Pitchfork last year and got the last first pressing of a vinyl copy of some early Kris Kristopherson they had just released. Nice guys and putting out some interesting stuff. Not sure why anyone would want to pay for reissued Bee Gees albums when most of them are still out there in the resale market. But then again maybe they are for those who don't have used record stores around. Good call on Ace. I have a few things by them. As usual the Brits really dig American music. So many of these companies are European and they lovingly reissue our material. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Synthesizer Patel Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Not sure why anyone would want to pay for reissued Bee Gees albums when most of them are still out there in the resale market. But then again maybe they are for those who don't have used record stores around. they're probably available on record, i've never checked to be honest (although they could just as easily be worth a small fortune) i know the cd copies are out of production and vary in price from about £20 to £50 or so. it's more about what an amazing job rhino did with the first 4 albums - with all the bonus tracks and mono & stereo versions of the albums (which is really important if you, like me, think the mono versions are better because that's how all these 60s bands thought about when building the sound of their albums), and they promised to do the whole series, and now it's all gone quiet - whilst they keep repackaging "best of" albums for the band. it's just annoying. a bit like how the van morrison reissues series just stopped half way through their reissue program just because van got 'umpty about something or other and nixed the project. all it makes me want is for van & the gibb brothers to die so the labels can put stuff out without them screwing with things - which isn't a nice thing to think, after all. sublime frequencies is another good reissues label, specialising in weird world music like this: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GtrPlyr Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 RPM Records is another one that does a great job with their reissues. I like what they did with the Jackie DeShannon reissues. I have a few others of theirs that are pretty great: Jacques Dutron, Johnny Hallyday, Twinkle... I'm glad someone mentioned Light in the Attic. They really go the extra distance with their releases, especially with the liner notes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tinnitus photography Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 sublime frequencies is another good reissues label, specialising in weird world music like this: another thumbs up for Sublime Frequencies. Alan and Hisham do a great job. Add Mississippi Records to the list too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted March 12, 2011 Author Share Posted March 12, 2011 Bumping this a touch... I got a hankering for some new old blues, etc. the last couple weeks and orderd some material from a variety of reissue labels including Sleepy John Estes on Yazoo, Ed Bell on Document, Lightin Hopkins on EMi-Capital, Allison's Sacred Harp Singers on County, Skip James on Vangard; as well as a Newport Blues comp on Vangard and White Country Blues on Blues and Roots (Sony/Columbia.) LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tinnitus photography Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 this is a solid label:http://www.guerssen.com/empresa.html?idioma=eng Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted March 22, 2011 Author Share Posted March 22, 2011 this is a solid label:http://www.guerssen.com/empresa.html?idioma=engYikes...I simply don't have enough money to keep looking at this stuff. Very very cool. Thanks. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tinnitus photography Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 the Bob Theil LP is excellent, kinda dreamy folk/prog/psych stuff. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted March 22, 2011 Author Share Posted March 22, 2011 Feel free to send me a copy.... just kidding... LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PopTodd Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 BGO records released the Brinsley Schwarz twofers, and the remastering job on those is outstanding. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Analogman Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 Sundazed is having a big sale. There is a lot of great stuff there - plus, you can grab those Moby Grape LPs/CDs for 9 bucks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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