Posts Tagged ‘Whitey’

2012 Light In The Attic Subscription Package!

Friday, November 18th, 2011

For rates and to purchase, click here.

The days have grown short and it is once again time to look back on the last year and begin to anticipate the next. 2011 was the year of the rollercoaster. After much internal debate, we decided to not purchase the Dodgers or EMI and turned down Universal’s multi-trillion dollar buyout. And somehow won the NBA Finals in November of all months – just to satisfy the shareholders. Most importantly, we managed to survive another year operating in this strange landscape called the music business. We’re confident that while 2011 was mighty fine, 2012 will be our finest. So without further adieu we’d like to present the 2012 Light In The Attic Subscription Package

For newbies, we’ve been doing this for a number of years. Like your subscription to Boy’s Life, you’ll receive our first 8 releases of 2012 as they become available – often before they hit shops, and at a much cheaper price.  Later in the year, we will be offering a subscription for the second part of 2012. Along the way you’ll receive various downloads, sweet surprises, and an official membership card (distinctly not available in the back of Boy’s Life). We’re still fanatically hunting down some long lost musicians in Kiribati, so we can’t spill the beans on the full release schedule just yet, but there are a few things that we’d like to reveal as part of your 2012 Subscription Package -

Lee Hazlewood

Lee Hazlewood – I Just Learned To Run (Unreleased Studio Outtake) by LightInTheAtticRecords

For the past 7 years we’ve been begging, pleading, and praying to re-release some of Lee’s greatest solo recordings and production work, including material from LHI, Lee’s own label from ‘66 to ’71. We are ecstatic to announce that we will launch a detailed Lee Hazlewood Series this spring all gloriously re-mastered from the original analog master tapes. The series will include scores of unreleased sides and unseen photos. As I write this, we’re digging through hundreds of tapes that have been untouched for over forty years, meticulously transferring the reels, and drooling in anticipation for the months ahead.

Wendy Rene – After Laughter Comes Tears: Complete Stax & Volt Singles + Rarities 1964-65
(LITA 080 CD, 2xLP, Digital)

Wendy Rene – The Same Guy by LightInTheAtticRecords

This will be the first ever anthology of the mysterious Southern soul queen who cut some of the most achingly gorgeous 45s on Stax and Volt back in the day. While she’s been sampled to death by everyone from Wu Tang Clan to Alicia Keys and covered by Lykke Li, little is known about the singer’s short but brilliant career until now. Betty Davis excluded, she’s about as reclusive as they come. After deciding to retire to raise a family, Wendy agreed to do one more concert with Otis Redding and the Bar-Kays in December ‘67, but at the last minute changed her mind. As we know, that plane crashed in Lake Monona, killing everyone on board other than trumpeter Ben Cauley. After 45 years spent decidely out of the spotlight, we’re grateful to have Wendy involved in putting together this special anthology, which includes all of her singles and close to a dozen rarities. Memphis native Andria Lisle contributes stellar liner notes.

Michael Chapman – Rainmaker
(LITA 079 CD, LP)

Michael Chapman – You Say by LightInTheAtticRecords

In 2011, British folk legend Michael Chapman conquered the world. The man celebrated his 70th birthday, toured the States and Europe countless times, played Daytrotter, and pretty much melted our minds opening for Bill Callahan on the West Coast. During those same 12 months, Michael released 6 albums: among them an insane noise record for Ecstatic Peace and our reissue of his sophomore album, Fully Qualified Survivor. We’d like to re-release Michael’s entire oeuvre, but that’s going to take us some time. So next up we’ll be reissuing his landmark debut, Rainmaker, originally released on the Harvest label in 1969. Rainmaker is another superb psych-folk offering from one of the true living greats. Writer Byron Coley sat down with Michael to bring us some incredibly insightful liner notes.

V/A Listen, Whitey: The Sounds of Black Power 1967-74
(LITA 081 CD, 2xLP, Digital)

Amiri Baraka – Who Will Survive America by LightInTheAtticRecords

This one has been a beast. Through inhuman perseverance, our friend and fine Light In The Attic A&R man Pat Thomas brings us this phenomenal comp. Befriending key leaders of the seminal Black Power Movement, digging through Huey Newton’s archives at Stanford University, and spending his life’s fortune on eBay, Pat may have only nearly averted death by A&R, but he has skillfully painted a complicated time period when revolutionaries like Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver, and Angela Davis were seen as pop culture icons and musicians like Gil Scott-Heron, The Last Poets, and Bob Dylan were seen as revolutionaries. The disc presents a unique cross-cultural overview where Dylan’s 1971 single “George Jackson” sits alongside insanely rare private press 45s and the almighty Gil Scott. Interspersed are selections from the Black Forum label, Motown’s early ‘70s Black Power militant imprint featuring SNCC spokesman Stokely Carmichael, poet Amiri Baraka, and Black Panther Party singer/songwriter Elaine Brown. It’s safe to say that this is the definitive Black Power aural document. The comp will play as a soundtrack to Pat Thomas’s 70,000-word hardcover book of the same name to be released by Fantagraphics in early 2012.

So that’s a little taste of 2012.

YOUR 2012 SUBSCRIPTION PACKAGE INCLUDES:

  • The first 8 CDs, 8 LPs, or 5 Digital* releases from Light In The Attic in 2012, excluding box sets
  • 15% off ALL online orders for the entire year, excluding subscriptions
  • First dibs on various rarities and exclusives throughout the year
  • Our first Light In The Attic Family T-Shirt. Yes, we’ve been slow to get off our asses and make a damn shirt. We are fortunate to have talented Seattle illustrator Drew Christie do the honors. The shirt is free as part of your subscription.***
  • And to make it feel official: a fancy 2012 Membership Card
  • Free shipping within the USA**

To purchase, visit the Subscription page HERE. We look forward to seeing you in 2012!

* Due to licensing restrictions, unfortunately not everything will be available digitally.
** Please email for international shipping rates: subscriptions@lightintheattic.net
*** T-shirt available for LP and CD subscriptions only.


“Listen, Whitey! The Sounds of Black Power 1967 – 1974″ – CD/2xLP PRE-ORDER

Friday, February 17th, 2012

Over a five year period in Oakland, CA – archivist Pat Thomas befriended key leaders of the seminal Black Power Movement, dug through Huey Newton’s archives at Stanford University, spent countless hours and thousands of dollars on eBay, and talked to rank and file Black Panther Party members, uncovering dozens of obscure albums, singles, and stray tapes. Along the way, he began to piece together a time period (1967-1974) when revolutionaries were seen as pop culture icons: Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver, Angela Davis, Stokely Carmichael – and musicians were seen as revolutionaries; Gil Scott-Heron, The Last Poets, Bob Dylan, John Lennon and others. As a result, Thomas wrote a 70,000-word hardcover book entitled Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965 – 1975 (published by Fantagraphics) which also includes some 200 full color images of obscure recordings that encompass rock, soul, jazz, comedy, poetry, and even religious sermons blended with Black Nationalism.

We’re very excited to present the companion ‘soundtrack’ to the book, Listen, Whitey! The Sounds of Black Power 1967 – 1974 (CD | 2xLP | Digital). For the time first ever, Black and White artists share space on a definitive anthology of the Black Power era. A cross-cultural overview that sees Bob Dylan’s out of print 1971 single “George Jackson” reissued for the first time along with several selections from Motown’s long forgotten ‘Black Forum’ label – Motown’s early 70’s Black Power militant imprint that has never been documented until now with provocative recordings from SNCC spokesman Stokely Carmichael, outspoken African-American poet Amiri Baraka, and Black Panther Party singer/songwriter Elaine Brown.

Intensive hours of research led to a 16-track anthology that not only brings together Dylan and Lennon on the same compilation for the first time (via John & Yoko’s 1972 song about Angela Davis), but presents the diversity of the Black Power Movement like never before. Despite their common goal of freedom and respect, many of these activists didn’t necessarily speak for or to each other. Eldridge Cleaver was living in exile in Algiers in 1970 when LSD guru Timothy Leary showed up seeking asylum. Weeks later, Leary was placed under ‘house arrest’ by Cleaver and that moment is presented here. The Last Poets quickly splintered into several factions not long after their debut and several recordings capture that tumultuous period. Comedian Dick Gregory was as into mocking the establishment as he was trying to make people laugh and his monologue reflects a time when ‘entertainment’ needed to be political to be relevant. There were regional private press 7 inch singles from the likes of the Shahid Quintet, and the Black Panther’s own band The Lumpen. Gene McDaniels’ Outlaw album has long been a cult favorite, and is represented by a 1970 live version of “Silent Majority.” No Black Power anthology would be complete without Gil Scott-Heron featured on a rare 1970’s solo piano take of “Winter in America.” The international significance of the times is reflected with a live 1969 recording of English folk singer Roy Harper’s “I Hate The White Man.”

For more audio samples and to pre-order (out 2/28) your copy of Listen, Whitey! The Sounds of Black Power 1967 – 1974 (LITA 081) click here.