Lost Little Willie John album released

David Axelrod has described it as 'one of the best albums that I ever did'. Circumstance may have prevented it from being released back in the day, but now we can all appreciate Little Willie John's lost Capitol recordings.

The fine people at Kent Records have seen fit to release Nineteen Sixty Six, featuring John’s complete Capitol sessions. The twelve selections move forward his sound from the tough R&B sides he recorded at King, towards a more contemporary mid-60s soulful groove. On arrangement duties is HB Barnum, making Lou Rawls an obvious sonic comparison, with some James Brown balladry thrown in the mix for good measure. Those West Coast session men were worked hard and, as this album proves, it certainly paid off. The sad tale is that the album could never be released in 1967, for John returned to prison for an earlier crime he had committed. The album was consigned to stay in the can in 1968 when John died in Wall Walla Prison in Washington State from pneumonia. However the master tapes survived and have been remastered for us to hear.

Nineteen Sixty Six is out now on Kent and available from Amazon here.

Skatalites UK tour this December

Ska legends The Skatalites are to tour the UK and Ireland this winter.

The original Jamaican nine-piece band released 27 albums and countless hit singles, and frequently played on records by Prince Buster, Desmond Dekker, Delroy Wilson, The Wailers, and Lee Perry. The current line-up features Doreen Shaffer, Lloyd Brevett, Lester Sterling, Cedric Brooks, Vin Gordon, Devon James, Ken Stewart, and Kevin Bachelor.

The tour dates are:

London The Albany (5th December)
Cambridge The Junction (7th)
Bath Komedia (8th)
Leeds University (9th)
Edinburgh Liquid Room (11th)
Aberdeen The Lemon Tree (12th)
Glasgow The Arches (13th)
Dublin The Pod (15th)
Belfast The Black Box (16th)
Cork Pavillion (17th)

Contact the individual venues for tickets. The official Skatalites website can be found here.

Island Records 50th year celebrations

2009 is the 50th anniversary of the founding of Island Records, and label founder Chris Blackwell is to arrange the Island 50 Festival.

Blackwell founded Island in Kingston, Jamaica in 1959. Relocating to London in 1962, Blackwell built a diverse and substantial back catalogue of artists and it became the biggest independent record label in history. From the early Jamaican roots in ska and the cutting edge of rock and pop in the late 60s, Island has been responsible for the careers of Bob Marley, Traffic, Toots & The Maytals, Marianne Faithful, and even Paul Weller (among many more). They also licensed the music of mod label favourite Sue Records to be released in the UK under the guidance of Guy Stevens.

Blackwell has agreed to oversee a festival planned for May 2009 of live music, cinema, photography and memorabilia involving Island artists past and present. Of the various events that will happen throughout the year expect to see Island 50 Live (a week-long festival of live shows by Island artists past and present at The Shepherds Bush Empire), a TV/Radio documentary by the BBC, an Island 50 book, an exhibition of photos, artwork, and memorabilia, the Island 50 Film Festival (screenings of The Harder They Come, Bob Marley Live At The Lyceum, Rockers, Countryman), as well as album re-issues and new compilations.

Retro TV W/C 31st October 2008

Barry Murphy returns once more trawl the TV and radio guides (so you don't have to) to find anything worth tuning into this week. All listings are for UK terrestrial TV, Freeview and national radio, with the shows running from Friday 31st October to Thursday 6th November 2008.

Highlights of the week

The last part of the BBC's series exploring what makes British fashion and style distinctive British Style Genius (Tuesday 4th. BBC 2, 9pm) concludes with a look at how many of Britain's most iconic fashions have evolved from the street rather than the catwalk. Original Mods show how they patched together influences from American jazz, French arthouse cinema and Italian cafe culture to create a sharper look and there's a look at the hidden subtleties behind the 1970s skinhead style, with its militaristic, boots-meets-Ben Sherman look. There's also a look at how the European sportswear-influenced 1980s street style took its inspiration from the tennis courts and sowed the seeds of a label obsession that still dominates the street look today.

In this weeks radio highlight Neneh Cherry tells the story Fela Anikulapo Kuti and highlights the relevance of his influence today on the music scene of Nigeria and across the world in The Afrobeat Revolutionary - Fela Kuti (Tuesday 4th. BBC Radio 2. 10.30pm).

New band: Pony Taylor

If you remember the 60s-inspired French band Strawberry Smell, you might be interested to know that ex-members of the group have regrouped under the name Pony Taylor.

A new band and a new sound, described as a mix of pop and northern soul, but perhaps you need to check them out to appreciate what really means. And you can check them out via the band's MySpace site. Not sure about a song title of Married To Wigan though...

Pony Taylor MySpace site