Rhino Handmade
Memphis native Bell was a part-time engineer and session guitarist at that city’s now-famed Ardent Studios, spawning ground of Big Star, the quintessential power-pop group he started with former Box Tops singer Alex Chilton and some other high school buddies.
UnrefinedSugarBeats
The Toronto-based and “nearly instrumental” Henrys, founded in 1990 by last original member Don Rooke (reunited here on four tracks with bassist Paul Pasmore of the original duo), previously dabbled in mostly wordless vocals by elusive chanteuse Mary Margaret O’Hara.
RCA/Legacy
The King finally has a box set fit for a king. After years of such multidisc compilations as “I Believe — The Gospel Masters,” “The Complete ’68 Comeback Special,” “The Music of Elvis Presley — The 1950s,” “Elvis at the Movies” and “The Country Side of Elvis,” Legacy Recordings commemmorates what would have been the Mississippi Tupelo Flash’s 75th birthday with a career-spanning chronological sampler of 100 songs (incorporating the entire “30 #1 Hits” release) that keeps the singer’s forays in proportion to his artistic success.
Disney Sound
There’s no shortage of single- and various-artist Disney tributes: “Dave Digs Disney” (Dave Brubeck), “Let’s Fly With Mary Poppins” (Louis Prima), “Disney Songs the Satchmo Way” (Louis Armstrong), “Stay Awake,” “Heigh-Ho! Mozart,” “Bossa Disney Nova” and “Got No Strings” (Michelle Shocked) are but a few over a half-century.
429 Records
In 1994 the Subdudes were one of the brightest spots on “adult album alternative” radio. They and the Iguanas, also from New Orleans, were among the cream of that era’s Americana crop. The Subdudes’ “Annunciation” and the Iguanas’ “Nuevo Boogaloo” peaked that year at Nos. 19 and 34, respectively, on Billboard’s Heatseekers album chart.
