For this week’s Free Basin’ Fridays, we’re very pleased to share with you Annette Peacock‘s I’m The One(FDR 601). Reissued here for the first time on vinyl and the first CD reissue outside of Annette’s own limited pressing from a few years back, I’m The One is a landmark record from this pop avant-garde icon. Out now on CD and LP, the vinyl pressing is a limited edition and sports 180-gram wax, liner notes insert with never-before-seen photos (also included in the CD version), and an oversized 18″ x 24″ folded poster. This thing is slammin’…just check out the “What’s Inside?” video for the CD below.
For your chance to win, tell us why YOU are THE ONE. Let us know in a comment below (don’t forget to include your name and email address). Winner will be selected at random next Friday, June 15th at 12PM pst.
“I’m the one, you don’t have to look any further. I’m the one. I’m here, right here for you,” oozes jazz, rock, and electronic music pioneer Annette Peacock on the leadoff title track of her solo debut LP. The album’s wide range of vocal emotions and diverse sonic palette (featuring Robert Moog’s early modular synthesizers, which the singer actually transmitted her voice through to wild effect) places it firmly at the forefront of the pop avant-garde. Originally released by RCA Victor in 1972 to widespread critical acclaim, I’m The One found itself amongst good company. Both Lou Reed and David Bowie had recently signed to the label—Bowie in particular was enamored with Annette—and artists ranging from ex-husband and jazz great Paul Bley, along with notable Brazilian percussionists Airto Moreira and Dom Um Romao, guested on the album itself. Writing and arranging I’m The One’s nine passionate tracks—bar a unique cover of Elvis Presley’s “Love Me Tender”—the disc grooves easily from free jazz freak-outs and rough and rugged blues-funk to gently pulsing synthesized bliss.
An extension of Annette’s late 1960s work with her Bley-Peacock Synthesizer Show combo, I’m The One is filled with strength and power, as well as a tender, sensual, and seductive side, born of a life surrounded with music and culture. Composing by age four, Peacock’s mother was a professional violinist. By the early 1960s, Annette had also collaborated with first husband, jazz bassist Gary Peacock and toured with legendary saxophone player Albert Ayler. Studying under Zen macrobiotics educator Michio Kushi and a confidant to Timothy Leary at the Millbrook psychedelic center, Peacock later worked, post-I’m The One, with rock stalwarts like guitarists Mick Ronson and Chris Spedding, Yes/King Crimson drummer Bill Bruford, as well as surrealist artist Salvador Dali.
The second release on our Future Days Recordings imprint, I’m The One will be available on CD and LP, re-mastered from the original tapes with a booklet containing beautiful unseen photos from the vaults of Sony Music and extensive liner notes from NYC-based writer and musician, Mikey ‘IQ’ Jones. The LP is limited to 1,000 hand-numbered copies and sports a deluxe Stoughton “Tip-On” jacket with a unique spot UV gloss and includes the same booklet as the CD plus a folded 18″ x 24″ poster of a never-before-seen photo of Annette. Indeed, she’s the one! Available for pre-order now!
Seems like only yesterday we welcomed Modern Classics Recordings into the world. It was just a shame to see lil’ MCR out in the yard playing all by himself, so we thought we’d give him another sibling. World, please meet Future Days Recordings. She’s a tad shy right now so we’ll do the talking. Future Days (lovingly named after Can’s 1973 album) will focus on records largely from the 60′s and 70′s, specializing in CD and LP reissues with the same level of detail and care, not to mention stellar sound and packaging, that makes Light In The Attic what we are. We hope you enjoy!
First up we’d like to present: Bo Diddley The Black Gladiator (FDR 600 | CD). As a key player in bridging the gap between blues and rock and roll, Bo Diddley released his debut single in 1955 on Chess Records’ Checker subsidiary, the self-mythologizing “Bo Diddley” (b/w “I’m A Man”). The tune was an instant smash on the R&B charts and eventually covered by no less than Buddy Holly, Bob Seger, and The Grateful Dead. Countless hits followed, but by the mid-60s, a new breed of rock and roll rebels from the UK and US had taken over the charts, artists ironically raised on the blues/R&B/rock and roll sounds of Diddley and his pioneering peers of the 1950s.
While the sixties came to a close, Diddley may have been working at a less prolific pace than during his earlier heyday, but the man was certainly charged up and ready to drop a full-blown musical bomb. In an attempt to fit in with the current youth oriented scene (Sly and the Family Stone, Rare Earth, The Rolling Stones) and recent acid rock audience targeted albums by label mates Muddy Waters (Electric Mud) and Howlin’ Wolf (The Howlin’ Wolf Album), Bo would further push the boundaries with the release of The Black Gladiator. The album would modernize his blues-rock sound with a rugged funk edge, while retaining the spirit and humor of his finest work, and feature an album cover of the man donning a bodacious leather belt/pseudo S&M get up that would put Isaac Hayes’ chain link vestments to shame. Across ten wild child tracks, the future rock and roll hall of fame inductee hits hard on every note. There are raw gospel shouts, ripping guitar, fatback drums, gritty Hammond organ, and even a round of the dozens with Cookie Vee (Cornelia Redmond).
Originally lost amidst a new decade and changing soundscapes, The Black Gladiator never really registered upon its release in June 1970. Still, its tough grooves and bold, black, and beautiful sleeve design has been a soulful secret in many a record collection. Replete with extensive liner notes by Scott Schinder and re-mastering from the original tapes by engineer Dave Cooley (Elysian Masters), the re-release makes The Black Gladiator finally ready for battle again. Check out the “What’s Inside?” video below for the full scoop!
For audio samples, more info and to order Bo Diddley The Black Gladiator click here!
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