Omnivore Recordings and The International Pop Overthrow Music Festival present International Pop Overthrow: Volume 27, a three-disc compilation featuring 68 tracks by artists from all over the world who have played the International Pop Overthrow (IPO) festival, along with some who haven’t — at least, not yet! The IPO compilations go back as far as the festival, to 1998 when Volume 1 was a single disc. Since then, the collection expanded to two discs the following year, and then three discs in 2002 for Volume 5, and it has remained a three-disc set since. International Pop Overthrow: Volume 27 showcases artists from across the globe, doing just about every sub-genre of pop music, including power pop, pop/rock, folk/pop, psychedelic pop, garage,…
Tag Archive: Omnivore
For the new remastered edition, 5 bonus tracks have been added: Spampinato’s “Trouble in the Henhouse,” Donn Adams’ “Dry Up and Blow Away,” and Terry’s “Electric Train” are all derived from the ‘Workshop’ sessions. These are augmented by a lively alternate version of “RC Cola and a Moon Pie” plus an updated take of “Get That Gasoline Blues.”
Originally titled Age of Aquariums, Workshop was the last album from one of the pre-classic lineups of NRBQ. This incarnation incorporated the talents of bandleader Terry Adams (keyboard/coronet/trumpet), Joey Spampinato (bass/guitar/sax/vocals), Al Anderson (guitar/vocals), and, in his final studio appearance with the band, Tom Staley (drums). Although they had been performing with an evolving makeshift horn section…
The 1960s were exhilarating times for the music business. Independent labels across the United States were creating overnight sensations almost daily. Creative hubs like Detroit, Memphis, Chicago, and Los Angeles were shaping and defining the sounds of tomorrow—today.
Among these vibrant scenes was Baltimore, Maryland—home to Chariot Records, a label that delivered a deeply soulful strain of R&B unlike anything else in the country.
Omnivore Recordings, the award-winning reissue label, is proud to announce the acquisition of Chariot Records. Founded in the mid-1960s by four friends from Baltimore who were all working in the record business locally, the label enjoyed a brief but impactful run from 1966 to 1972…
…Omnivore Recordings reignite its longtime series of Knack collections with Knackology: The Zen Recordings, a 19-song collection from the archives of the label founded by the band’s main songwriter and lead singer, the late Doug Fieger. The set boasts demos, live recordings, and studio rarities from the band that’s so much more than just “My Sharona” and “Good Girls Don’t.”
Knackology rounds up demos from Fieger and Berton Averre – the pair began collaborating in 1973, six years before the release on Capitol Records of Get The Knack – of “That’s What the Little Girls Do” and “Rock & Roll Is Good for You,” as well as the band’s live performances from various venues of “My Sharona,” “Good Girls Don’t,” “Baby Talks Dirty,” “(She’s So) Selfish,”…
Contains all the single recordings of the group from 1966–1969 plus a non-LP B-side released posthumously in 1972.
In the 1960s, the American music landscape was powered by a vibrant network of independent record labels. Many—like Motown, Stax/Volt, and Elektra—began as small regional ventures before their success propelled them into national prominence and, ultimately, partnerships with major labels.
Baltimore, Maryland was one of the era’s creative hotbeds. Throughout the ’60s and ’70s, the city nurtured a distinctive musical identity, and local imprints such as Ru-Jac, Soultrain, and Pulse delivered radio favorites that defined the “Sound of Baltimore”—a gritty…
Lowell George may well be the most underrated and underappreciated figure in the history of rock ’n’ roll. As a writer, guitarist, singer, and producer, his influence spanned genres—rock, R&B, country, blues, and the adventurous rhythms of West Coast jazz—and seemed to know no bounds.
Born and raised in Hollywood, California, George mastered multiple instruments at an early age. His prodigious talent soon caught the attention of Frank Zappa, leading to a stint with The Mothers of Invention. In 1969, after parting ways with Zappa, George formed Little Feat. With Zappa’s support, the band secured a deal with Warner Bros. Records and quickly became a musicians’ band, revered for its originality and virtuosity. Alongside George were standout players…
Historic 4 hours of previously unissued 1959 live Art Pepper recorded at Vancouver, Canada’s legendary jazz club The Cellar.
The release of Art Pepper’s Everything Happens To Me: 1959 – Live at the Cellar is the stuff music archivists can only dream of finding. Recordings by an historic and important jazz artist, at a storied venue, at a time when the artist was making some of their most essential work. In this case, catching Pepper on tape at The Cellar in 1959 finds him in the midst of creating and straddling landmark releases like, Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section (1957), Modern Art (1957), Art Pepper + Eleven (1959) and Gettin’ Together (1960). Though Pepper was going through a down time, Vancouver, Canada’s jazz club, The Cellar was in full swing…
NRBQ’s 1983 classic and sole release on the Bearsville label returns! The album has been remastered, includes new liner notes and boasts seven bonus tracks making this edition the definitive version of Grooves In Orbit.
Founded in 1966 in Louisville, Kentucky, NRBQ has given their dedicated fan base decades of great recordings and exceptional live shows in countless festivals, clubs, colleges, and concert halls. No style of music is safe around NRBQ—their first Columbia album, for example, ranged from Eddie Cochran to Sun Ra and their own diverse compositions have been covered by artists including Bonnie Raitt, Dave Edmunds, She And Him, Steve Earle, Los Lobos, and Widespread Panic. There are very few bands that have lasted for half a century, and the list…
The Necessaries came together in 1978 and in the too-brief lifespan of the band counted among their members, Ed Tomney (Rage to Live, Luka Bloom), Jesse Chamberlain (Red Crayola), Ernie Brooks (Modern Lovers), Arthur Russell (The Flying Hearts), Randy Gun (Love of Life Orchestra).
First championed by John Cale on the strength of Tomney’s songs, Cale produced their first single for Spy Records (under the I.R.S. umbrella) which was released in 1979. With the forward momentum brought about by the single, the band set about tracking demos intended for Warner Bros., but The Necessaries ultimately would sign to Seymour Stein’s Sire Records. These rough demo basic tracks lacked overdubs, mixes and any finishing touches that would have made them…
Omnivore Recordings and The International Pop Overthrow Music Festival are proud to present International Pop Overthrow: Vol. 26, a three-disc compilation featuring 66 tracks by artists from all over the world who have played the International Pop Overthrow (IPO) festival, along with some who haven’t — at least, not yet! The IPO compilations go back as far as the festival, to 1998 when Vol. 1 was a single disc. Since then, the collection expanded to two discs the following year, and then three discs in 2002 for Vol. 5, and it has remained a three-a set since. International Pop Overthrow: Vol. 26 showcases artists from across the globe, doing just about every sub-genre of pop music, including power pop, pop/rock, folk/pop, psychedelic pop, garage, indie-rock, modern…
Back in 2018, Omnivore Recordings collected The Complete Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Recordings of jazz pianist-composer-Peanuts legend Vince Guaraldi. Now, the label is breaking out one of the albums contained in that set for CD and vinyl reissue. 1968’s Oh, Good Grief! was built around his familiar compositions for Charles M. Schulz’s legendary characters, but those tunes were subtly updated as Guaraldi added electric guitar and electric harpsichord to his trio (piano/bass/drums) format. Kevin Gray has remastered these vibrant new editions.
In his first album for Warner Bros., Vince Guaraldi serves up another delightful, though pitifully short (28 minutes) helping of his themes for the Peanuts TV specials. By this time, like…
It takes a lot of time, money, and dedication, to restore anything of historical importance. And the Plaza Theatre in Palm Springs, California was just the type of venue that required these three key ingredients. Opened to the public for the first time in 1936, this classic Art Deco building was the site of many grand events over the past 100 years.
And so it was on November 11, 2022, spearheaded by Brian Ray (Sir Paul McCartney’s guitar gunslinger for the past 20+ years), a gala fundraiser was held to restore one of Palm Springs’ most treasured landmarks, the historic Plaza Theatre.
Ray and his co-musical director Spike Edney (Queen, Clapton, Elton, Aretha) put together an all-star band to back the four headliners for the evening’s show. And what headliners…
Ronnie D’Addario spent years as a professional musician, playing guitar with Tommy Makem for decades among other gigs writing jingles and working in various other bands. Along with all of his other accomplishments, D’Addario consistently wrote and recorded solo material, beginning with a string of three exceptionally good but under-distributed solo albums in the late ’70s and early ’80s which showcased his rich sense of arrangement and gift for Beatles-inspired, motivational power pop.
Somewhere along the way, D’Addario’s sons Brian and Michael also went down a musical path with their band the Lemon Twigs, and with Written By, they’ve curated a selection of their father’s songs to rework, bringing in guest artists…
Available on vinyl, digital and compact disc formats for successive late 2025 Record Store Days, Warren Zevon’s final live performance, recorded Live at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival, joins 1980’s Stand in the Fire (issued in expanded form twice) and 1993’s Learning to Flinch, as sterling examples of how the late singer/songwriter so artfully transposed the unique traits of his original material to the concert stage.
Epilogue is a clear, if not exactly resplendent, depiction of the man’s persona. Hearing the slight but tangible gusto Zevon injects into “I Was in the House When the House Burned Down” makes the comparatively muted opening of “Lawyers, Guns and Money” seem like a deceptively ingratiating opening to this roughly…
Nina Simone burst into the world with 1959’s Little Girl Blue, and music would never be the same. For over five decades, Nina entertained, enthralled, and educated listeners across her extraordinary recording and performance career.
After a triumphant concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall in 1992, Nina was approached by Elektra A&R executive Michael Alago (whose previous work at the label included Tracy Chapman and Metallica). When asked if Nina was ready to record again, she replied, “Get me the money… then we can talk!” Modeled around two of Simone’s favorites, Frank Sinatra’s A Man Alone (The Words and Music of Rod McKuen) and Billie Holidays’ Lady in Satin — with the common element that both were recorded with full orchestral accompaniment,…
The Cowsills’ story is now one of legend. From their beginnings as a pop-vocal group (and the inspiration for The Partridge Family), to their emergence as Alt-rock/Americana heroes, there’s always a surprise in there. The “Cocaine Drain” Album is no exception.
From their acclaimed 2022 release Rhythm Of The World, to the reissue of 1998’s Global in 2024, it has become obvious that the group is more than “The Rain, The Park, And Other Things.” And, how so much music was “lost” when it should have been in everyone’s ears all this time.
In 1978, the band began recording demos with Chuck Plotkin, after an introduction from Jackson Browne, and eventually moved into studios to record a full album.