march 2011
news

Soul Rarities Are Focus of New Capitol Digital Collection--In honor of Black Music Month in June, Capitol/EMI released a new digital-only compilation of overlooked soul music gems from some of the genre’s finest artists, some who achieved varying degrees of success and others who made consistently strong records but failed to break through on a national level. Titled The Soul Of Capitol Records: Rare & Well-Done (Vol. 1), the collection, available for download purchase from iTunes, features 20 songs that are noteworthy not only for their quality, but also for their rarity. It’s a paperless, plastic-less essential item. In addition to the new Rare & Well-Done compilation, several classic albums and collections by legendary soul artists have recently been made available for download purchase for the first time by Capitol/EMI.

bill-monroe

A BILL MONROE CENTENNIAL MOMENT
Fathers and Sons

Seeing former Bluegrass Boys thriving in groups outside of bluegrass gave Bill Monroe a new pride in the legacy he had passed along to them. “If you’ve played music all your life, when you get on up in years you see the things that you’ve done for people and you want to do more for them as you get older,” said Mr. Bill.

dixie

DIXIE HUMMINGBIRDS (AND FRIENDS) FLY AGAIN
By Bob Marovich

In his last years, gospel giant Ira Tucker Sr. of the Dixie Hummingbirds was working on plans for an album of new renditions of classic gospel quartet songs from the music’s golden era. Following his father’s death in 2008, Ira Tucker Jr. took charge of the project and now it has come to pass in the form of Gospel Praise Songs—Powered by Quartets, by the current Dixie Hummingbirds lineup supplemented by a few special guests. In an exclusive interview with Bob Marovich, Tucker Jr. explains how it all came to pass.

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THE BLUEGRASS SPECIAL
Founder/Publisher/Editor: David McGee
Contributing Editors: Billy Altman, Laura Fissinger, Christopher Hill, Derk Richardson
Logo Design: John Mendelsohn (www.johnmendelsohn.com)
Website Design: Kieran McGee (www.kieranmcgee.com)
Staff Photographers: Audrey Harrod (Louisville, KY; www.flickr.com/audreyharrod), Alicia Zappier (New York)
E-mail: thebluegrassspecial@gmail.com
Mailing Address: David McGee, 201 W. 85 St.—5B, New York, NY 10024