Johnny Cash's Out Among The Stars Debuts At The Top of The Charts Around The World

Thirty Years After It Was Recorded, Out Among The Stars Debuts at #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart and #3 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart,

Out Among The Stars Receiving Rave Reviews from Critics and Fans

"…perhaps one of the most revealing Johnny Cash records ever made." -VILLAGE VOICE

NEW YORK, April 2, 2014 -- OUT AMONG THE STARS (Columbia/Legacy), the remarkable, lost Johnny Cash album recently discovered by John Carter Cash and comprised of 12 previously unreleased songs that were recorded thirty years ago, has debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart and #3 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart. Additionally, the album has debuted top 5 in multiple markets around the world.

Since its release on March 25 the album has earned great media acclaim and fans worldwide have demonstrated the enduring interest in the legacy of Johnny Cash.

Here's a sampling of what the critics are saying about OUT AMONG THE STARS:

""Stars" holds up among Cash's best work -- even if it took 30 years to officially complete it." –BILLBOARD

"Crucial for all Cash fans." - THE GUARDIAN

"Cash breezes through a well-selected series of songs, mixing the sentimental ("Tennessee") with the spiritual ("I Came To Believe") and the humorous ("If I Told You Who It Was"). "  - ASSOCIATED PRESS

"… the dozen previously unreleased recordings on Out Among The Stars show an iconic voice in fine and sober form…" –USA TODAY

"The idiosyncratic album ambles easily among genres, from bluegrass ("Don't You Think It's Come Our Time") and country hymns ("I Came To Believe") to classic Cash ("She Used To Love Me A Lot") creating a well-curated reminder for audiences reared on Cash's American Recordings work that he could sing anything and make it resonate." –TIME MAGAZINE

"Out Among the Stars stands firmly shoulder-to-shoulder with his finest recordings. No mere compilation cobbled together for sales, but a coherent, strong contribution to his catalog."  -ESQUIRE

"Cash's flawed humanity is one of the reasons why so very many people were drawn to him, and why we remember him still. This newest addition to his ever-expanding body of posthumous work, an album originally recorded 30 years ago but never released at the time, provides additional context for one of the strangest and most flawed periods of his career, and offers up a few damn good tunes in the bargain." -PITCHFORK

"A fantastic 'lost' album…reveals a performer at the top of his game…a momentous discovery." - THE SUN

"Heard in what would have been Cash's 82nd year, the songs find this icon embracing Music Row conventions without losing his soul." –NY DAILY NEWS

"Finding any previously unheard Johnny Cash material is cause for celebration – but an entire album's worth?" –ROLLING STONE

"…this new collection features the man in his relative splendor…" –YAHOO! MUSIC

"'She Used to Love Me a Lot' contains all the hallmark brilliance of Cash. The honest simplicity and deep conviction of his delivery shines through." –CMT.COM

"... it's laid-back and entertaining, a nice reminder of Cash's goofy good humor: "If I Told You Who It Was" and "Baby Ride Easy" (a duet with June Carter Cash) are high-spirited and jokey, offsetting serious stuff like "I Came To Believe" and "She Used To Love Me a Lot." Nostalgia for '80s Johnny — it's about time." –NY POST

The tracks on OUT AMONG THE STARS were originally recorded in Nashville, Tennessee at Columbia Studios in 1981 and 1111 Sound Studios in 1984 and produced by Billy Sherrill, the architect of the "countrypolitan" sound in Nashville at the time.  The collection includes duets with June Carter Cash and Waylon Jennings—Johnny also worked with an expanded ensemble featuring a young Marty Stuart on guitar and mandolin and Nashville A-Team members Jerry Kennedy (guitar), Pete Drake (steel guitar), Hargus "Pig" Robbins (piano) and Henry Strzelecki (bass).

SOURCE Legacy Recordings

Columbia/Legacy Recordings Celebrates Janis Joplin with the Release of Essential New Additions to Her Catalog:

"JANIS JOPLIN - THE PEARL SESSIONS" (NEW TWO-DISC EDITION PREMIERING NINE PREVIOUSLY UNAVAILABLE TRACKS & NEWLY DISCOVERED STUDIO RECORDINGS)

THE FIRST OF BEAR'S "SONIC JOURNALS": "BIG BROTHER AND THE HOLDING COMPANY FEATURING JANIS JOPLIN - LIVE AT THE CAROUSEL BALLROOM 1968" RECORDED & PRODUCED BY OWSLEY STANLEY ("BEAR")

"Highlights From The Pearl Sessions," Limited Edition Double 10" Vinyl Release, Struck for Record Store Day 2012

NEW YORK, Feb. 24, 2012 -- Columbia/Legacy Recordings celebrates Janis Joplin with the release of two essential new titles in the catalog of the American blues-rock-country-soul singer: Janis Joplin - The Pearl Sessions , a two-disc set premiering newly discovered studio recordings produced by Paul Rothchild (available Tuesday, April 17) and Big Brother and the Holding Company Featuring Janis Joplin - Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968 , an electrifying full-length concert recorded and produced for release by the legendary soundman Owsley ("Bear") Stanley (available Tuesday, March 13).

 

The Pearl Sessions is an historic expansion of Joplin's final studio album, providing fascinating new insight into Janis' creative process through a range of rare and previously unreleased material.

Newly available bonus material on The Pearl Sessions includes the original master mono mixes of the album's singles ("Cry Baby," "Me and Bobby McGee," "Half Moon," "Get It While You Can," "Move Over," "A Woman Left Lonely") and a full-length second disc showcasing Joplin live in the studio performing never-before-heard takes of Pearl classics. From behind-the-scenes banter to full finished takes, The Pearl Sessions shows the complexity of Joplin's genius, the tough and vulnerable aspects of her personality, her lightning sense of humor, and her razor-sharp attention to the details of her craft. Offering fresh perspectives on the more familiar "official" versions of the songs, alternate takes of "Get It While You Can," the Janis Joplin-composed "Move Over," and others open up unexpected new dimensions in the material and in the sublime nuances of Joplin's delivery.

The Pearl Sessions offers an unprecedented opportunity to be in the room with Janis, her producer, Paul Rothchild, and the members of the Full Tilt Boogie Band (guitarist John Till, pianist Richard Bell, bassist Brad Campbell, drummer Clark Pierson, organist Ken Pearson) as they create one of the enduring masterpieces of rock 'n' roll.

Originally released on January 11, 1971 (three months after her passing on October 4, 1970), Pearl debuted Joplin's final finished studio recordings. The only album Joplin ever recorded with the Full Tilt Boogie Band, the touring ensemble that had backed her on the Festival Express (a mythic 1970 concert tour by railroad across Canada with the Grateful Dead, the Band and others), Pearl included canonical studio recordings of songs that had been introduced to audiences on tour. A live version of "Tell Me Mama" (a song not included on the original Pearl ), recorded during the legendary Toronto Festival Express date, is included as a bonus track on The Pearl Sessions .

Also included as a bonus is Janis' scorching live version of "Half Moon," recorded for her appearance on "The Dick Cavett Show" on August 3, 1970.

Peaking at #1 on the Billboard 200, a position it held for nine weeks, Pearl included some of Janis's most familiar and best-loved performances including her cover of Kris Kristofferson's "Me and Bobby McGee" and her off-the-cuff a cappella "Mercedes Benz." A never released alternate take and the original "Me and Bobby McGee" demo are both included on The Pearl Sessions .

When putting together material for a 40th anniversary edition of Pearl , researchers discovered a treasure-trove of previously uncatalogued audio tapes from the album's sessions, produced by Paul Rothchild. An industry legend, perhaps best-known for producing the first five Doors albums, Rothchild further solidified his position in music history with his work on Pearl .

The Pearl Sessions brings together the original mono versions of the album's 45s and the original LP tracks alongside a revelatory cavalcade of newly-discovered alternate versions, outtakes and vocal takes that put you in the studio with Janis Joplin.

A limited edition double 10" high fidelity vinyl gatefold release, Highlights from The Pearl Sessions will be available exclusively for Record Store Day (April 21, 2012). A companion to the newly curated two CD edition of Joplin's farewell masterpiece, Pearl, this vinyl release presents previously unreleased and seldom heard takes and early versions of classic songs, culled from the recently discovered tapes used to create The Pearl Sessions .

A limited edition 12" vinyl edition of Pearl will also be available on Tuesday, April 17. A breakout from the Classic LP Collection box, the album is pressed at RTI on 180-gram audiophile vinyl.

KNEW YOU WERE WAITING: THE BEST OF ARETHA FRANKLIN 1980-1998

QUEEN OF SOUL'S 70th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATED WITH 16-SONG COLLECTION SPOTLIGHTING HER FIRST 18 YEARS AS AN ARISTA ARTIST

FROM 1980'S "UNITED TOGETHER" TO 1998'S "ROSE IS STILL A ROSE" - INCLUDING #1 HITS "JUMP TO IT," "GET IT RIGHT," AND GRAMMY AWARD®-WINNING "FREEWAY OF LOVE" (WITH CLARENCE CLEMONS)

Star-powered collaborations with Keith Richards ("Jumpin' Jack Flash"), the Eurythmics ("Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves"), George Benson ("Love All The Hurt Away"), Whitney Houston ("It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be"), George Michael (Grammy Award®-winning "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)") - and more!

Previously unreleased mix of "Ever Changing Times" duet with Michael McDonald, written and produced by Burt Bacharach & Carol Bayer Sager

Available everywhere through Arista/Legacy starting January 31, 2012

Release coincides with observance of Black History Month in February, and Aretha's return to Radio City Music Hall in New York for concerts on February 17 & 18th

NEW YORK, Dec. 19, 2011 -- The 70th birthday of Queen Of Soul Aretha Franklin , winner of 15 Grammy Awards® and the first female ever to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, will be celebrated on March 25, 2012. In honor of this momentous occasion, and also in advance of Black History Month in February, KNEW YOU WERE WAITING: THE BEST OF ARETHA FRANKLIN 1980-1998 will be available at all physical and digital retail outlets starting January 31, 2012, through Arista/Legacy, a division of SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT.

KNEW YOU WERE WAITING puts the spotlight on Aretha's hitmaking years as an Arista Records artist, working closely with Arista founder and president Clive Davis. Davis served as executive producer of KNEW YOU WERE WAITING , which was compiled and produced by Leo Sacks, known for his work on last year's definitive box set, Take A Look: Aretha Franklin Complete on Columbia , as well as scores of historic Soul and R&B projects for Legacy Recordings over the past two decades.

The new chronologically-sequenced, 16-song collection is the first major U.S. release to focus on the nearly two-decades string of hits that marked Aretha's tenure at Arista. These range from her label debut, 1980's #3 comeback R&B smash "United Together" (her first Top 5 hit in over three and a half years), to 1998's iconic #5 R&B entry, "A Rose Is Still A Rose," written, produced and arranged by Lauryn Hill of the Fugees.

"When Aretha Franklin signed to Arista Records in 1980," writes Ernest Hardy in his liner notes to KNEW YOU WERE WAITING , "she had nothing left to prove… She had redefined the terms and reset the boundaries of both R&B and pop. She had sung jazz, gospel and blues, and erased the lines between them. She embodied the beauty that was Blackness while providing a soundtrack to the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. She had worked with the very best songwriters, musicians, producers, arrangers and visionaries, and proved herself to be one of the best singers, songwriters, musicians and visionaries the music industry had ever seen." Hardy is an award-winning cultural critic and essayist based in Los Angeles.

Underscoring Hardy's point, Aretha's Arista years were indeed marked by a steady flow of successful collaborations with contemporary music's "very best songwriters, musicians, producers, arrangers and visionaries." Virtually every track on KNEW YOU WERE WAITING supports this, starting with "United Together," which was written and produced by Chuck Jackson (known for his career-making hits with Natalie Cole), and features Aretha's beloved Sweet Inspirations on backing vocals (the 'original' lineup of Cissy Houston, Myrna Smith, Sylvia Shenwell and Estelle Brown). Likewise, "Love All The Hurt Away," a duet with George Benson, was written by Sam Dees, and produced by the late Arif Mardin, the legendary producer who worked on so many of Aretha's early breakthrough '60s and '70s Atlantic LPs.

Lauryn Hill, Arif Mardin and Chuck Jackson are just three of the important producers with whom Aretha worked at Arista. In addition to tracks produced by Luther Vandross (with arrangements by Marcus Miller), Narada Michael Walden, and Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds, KNEW YOU WERE WAITING also includes tracks produced by Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones and Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics.

In addition to the collaborations above, KNEW YOU WERE WAITING contains many more A-list collaborations that have become cornerstones in the Aretha canon:

• "Freeway Of Love" (1985), featuring the late Clarence Clemons of the E Street Band on tenor saxophone, Randy Jackson on bass, and percussion by the Santana rhythm section, was a #1 R&B hit for 5 weeks, and went on to win the Grammy Award® for Best R&B Female Vocal;
• "Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves" (1985), a Top 20 pop hit with the Eurythmics' Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart (who produced), also features [Tom Petty] Heartbreakers band members Benmont Tench (organ), Stan Lynch (drums), and Mike Campbell (lead guitar);
• "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (1986), a Top 20 R&B and pop crossover smash duet with Keith Richards (who produced and played lead guitar, along with fellow Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood), was the title song from the movie Jumpin' Jack Flash starring Whoopi Goldberg;
• "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (1986), a duet with George Michael, was another mega-hit, #1 pop for a fortnight and #5 R&B, and winner of the Grammy Award® for Best R&B Vocal Duo;
• "Through The Storm" (1989), a Top 20 R&B and pop crossover hit vocal duet with Elton John, is one of two Albert Hammond/Diane Warren compositions (among many!) that were brought to Aretha by Clive Davis;
• "It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be" (1989), a #5 R&B hit duet with Whitney Houston, is the other Hammond/Warren composition here, from the same album ( Through The Storm ); and
• "Ever Changing Times" (1991), a Top 20 R&B hit vocal duet with Michael McDonald, written and produced by the hitmaking duo of Burt Bacharach and Carol Bayer Sager, in a mix previously unreleased on CD.

KNEW YOU WERE WAITING as Hardy concludes, "makes clear that Aretha Franklin was a vibrant, soulful, stretching, creative, forceful artist at Arista Records. She kept her fingers on the pulse of the world around her while sating old fans and scoring new ones. Her music at the label was about a place that exists behind and beyond mere words... No one expresses joy the way she does. No one conveys grief or loss with anywhere near her force or heartbreaking precision. She burns right through the words she sings, taking you straight to the core. That is her unmatched genius."

KNEW YOU WERE WAITING: THE BEST OF ARETHA FRANKLIN 1980 -1998(Arista/Legacy 88697 99780 2 7)
Title	Chart(s)	From album	Year
1. United Together	#3 R&B, Hot 100 #56	Aretha	1980
2. Love All The Hurt Away	#6 R&B, Hot 100 #46	Love All The Hurt Away	1981
(Duet with George Benson)
3. Jump To It	#1 R&B, Hot 100 #24	Jump To It	1982
4. Get It Right	#1 R&B, Hot 100 #61	Get It Right	1983
5. Freeway Of Love	#1 R&B, Hot 100 #3	Who's Zoomin' Who?	1985
6. Who's Zoomin' Who	#2 R&B, Hot 100 #7	Who's Zoomin' Who?	1985
7. Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves	#66 R&B, Hot 100 #18	Who's Zoomin' Who?	1985
(Duet with the Eurythmics)
8. Another Night	#9 R&B, Hot 100 #22	Who's Zoomin' Who?	1985
9. Jumpin' Jack Flash	#20 R&B, Hot 100 #21	Aretha	1986
10. Jimmy Lee	#2 R&B, Hot 100 #28	Aretha	1986
11. I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)	#5 R&B, Hot 100 #1	Aretha	1986
(Duet with George Michael)
12. Through The Storm	#17 R&B, Hot 100 #16	Through The Storm	1989
(Duet with Elton John)
13. It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be	#5 R&B, Hot 100 #41	Through The Storm	1989
(Duet with Whitney Houston)
14. Ever Changing Times	#19 R&B	What You See Is What You Sweat	1991
(Duet with Michael McDonald)
15. Willing To Forgive	#5 R&B, Hot 100 #26	Greatest Hits (1980-1994)	1994
16. A Rose Is Still A Rose	#5 R&B, Hot 100 #26	A Rose Is Still A Rose	1998

http://www.legacyrecordings.com/

SOURCE Legacy Recordings