R and B/Soul

In honor of the 25th anniversary of the iconic film The Bodyguard, Legacy Recordings, is celebrating its legacy with the release of a brand new collection of Whitney Houston live and studio recordings entitled “I Wish You Love: More From The Bodyguard”. “I Wish You Love: More From The Bodyguard” is an essential new Whitney Houston collection bringing together a variety of live and studio recordings from The Bodyguard (many previously unreleased or unavailable), including an alternate mix of “I Will Always Love You,” which features a spoken word intro of Whitney as Rachel Marron, an A Capella version of “Jesus Loves Me,” which has never been heard before and a live recording from The Bodyguard World Tour 1993-1995 of “Run To You,” which Whitney rarely performed. Also included are film and live versions of “I Will Always Love” You,” “I Have Nothing,” “Queen of The Night” and more.

CURTIS HARDING could best be described as a student of the gritty, sweat-dripping, hip-swinging blues that wafted through the air of the American sixties. The offspring of a mother who sang gospel, and a retired veteran, he traveled all over the country as a child, singing alongside his parents, learning that music was in fact the great communicator, and that the key was not just in how pretty the notes were, but how if you were honest in what you were singing, you could stir a person on the inside. This is what Otis Redding knew. What Sam Cooke, and Bo Diddley, and B. B. King knew. That somehow there was a way to take your experiences, your pain and joy, and give them melody, cause them to live and breathe and massage the hearts and minds of all those who hear. 

“Mavis has done it all and worked with just about everybody from Bob Dylan to Prince to Jeff Tweedy… She still is singing for justice and equality and influencing a new generation of musicians and fans.” -PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

MAVIS STAPLES is an American Music legend. She was at the forefront of the civil rights movement in the 1960’s, as singer for the legendary gospel group, The Staples Singers. Mavis, along with her father, Pops, and siblings marched and worked alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr on the fight for equality in this country.

In December 2016, Mavis went to Washington, DC to receive the coveted Kennedy Center Honors from President Obama, with whom she has had a long standing friendship. Mavis invited Wilco frontman and dear friend, Jeff Tweedy as her guest for the weekend’s festivities. The two spent hours discussing the current events and how today’s fight for equality is very similar to those in the 60’s. Inspired by these events, Mavis and Jeff got together and wrote Mavis’ new album, If All I Was Was Black, produced by Jeff Tweedy. The new album is a perfect message for our time and is by far Mavis’ best work to date.

With great anticipation, Kelela's debut album emerges as an epic portrait of an artist spanning the past and future of R&B. In her hands, however, the genre knows no boundaries and so Take Me Apart exists as an absolutely singular and fearless addition to a canon of recent classics. From her very earliest work, honesty and vulnerability have been cornerstones of Kelela's art - even when clad in the armor of the avant-garde electronics she so deftly inhabits - and Take Me Apart sees her double down on both the emotional intensity and resonance of her message as well as the sonic seeking she is renowned for. Single vinyl with printed inner and outer sleeves includes download code.

A BRAND NEW ME: ARETHA FRANKLIN WITH THE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA pairs classic vocals from some of the most iconic songs that the Queen of Soul recorded for Atlantic Records with new arrangements performed by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Son Little, the singer and songwriter born Aaron Livingston, is the easygoing musical alchemist of our time. He is a conjurer, and much like those of his heroes Stevie Wonder and Jimi Hendrix, his songs are deconstructions of the diaspora of American R&B. Deftly he weaves different eras of the sound—blues, soul, gospel, rock and roll—through his own unique vision, never forced, always smooth, each note a tributary on the flowing river of rhythm and blues. And now, with his second full-length album, New Magic, he has delivered a profound statement, a cohesive creation that captures the diverse spirit of American music in a fresh and modern way. The song that serves as the album’s true centerpiece is “Blue Magic,” a Philly Soul inspired number deconstructed almost like a rap song or the best of production savants like J Dilla or Madlib, complete with chiming glockenspiel bells and old school female backing vocals. The song has the appeal of an instant classic. On the heels of his 2015 self-titled debut and the 5-song EP, Songs I Forgot, that came before it, Son Little found his reach steadily growing. His song “Lay Down” had been streamed over seven million times, he had toured the world with artists as diverse as Leon Bridges, Kelis, Mumford & Sons, Portual. The Man and Shakey Graves in addition to his own headlining runs, and also became a Grammy Award winning producer, earning a 2016 Best Roots Performance award for his work on Mavis Staples.

Tracks on B.B. King Remastered from the Archives include Everyday I Have The Blues from a 1958 Los Angeles gig with The Count Basie Orchestra and Walkin And Cryin from a Memphis performance in 1950 with Nelson on keys, joined by James Walker on bass and E.A. Kemp on drums. Remastered by multiple Grammy Award winning Mastering Engineer, Vlado Meller, whose credits stretch back over four decades and include releases Paul McCartney, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Johnny Cash, Michael Jackson, and many more.

The album features newly-remastered recordings of the Blues Hall of Famer from 1950 through 1960, taken from performances in Memphis and Los Angeles along with an all-star cast of sidemen, including drummer Jesse Sailes, saxophonists Richard Sanders and Solomon Hardy, pianists Lloyd Glenn and Ford Nelson, and The Count Basie Orchestra.

King first came to the attention of the wider public when he opened for The Rolling Stones on their 1969 tour of America. Inducted in the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, King left behind a deep and intricate legacy of classic recordings. Since his passing in 2015, collectors and blues enthusiasts have been avidly searching for remastered performances with alternate takes and improvisations.

The platter is the flagship release for new label Red Bank Records, in Red Bank, NJ, home of the Count Basie Theater. The label is dedicated to remastering and restoring classic recordings from the early days of popular music. For distribution and label services, Red Bank Records has teamed up with Monostereo to bring its albums to market. In turn, Monostereo connected Red Bank to its mastering partner, Vlado Meller Mastering of Charleston, SC, to remaster these classic recordings for this special vinyl release.