WagooMusic

Press Release Source: Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings on Wednesday February 16, 2011, 2:44 pm EST

In the news release, Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings Announce the first Wide Release of Bob Dylan in Concert – Brandeis University 1963 on Digital, CD & Vinyl Formats, issued 16-Feb-2011 by Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings over PR Newswire, we are advised by the company that the new second paragraph should read “Pre-sale information for Bob Dylan in Concert – Brandeis University 1963 may be found via BobDylan.com (the artist’s official website) and Facebook.” The complete, corrected release follows:

Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings Announce the first Wide Release of Bob Dylan in Concert – Brandeis University 1963 on Digital, CD & Vinyl Formats

- AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2011

Recently Uncovered Recordings Document Rare Early Dylan Performance at Brandeis University Folk Festival on May 10, 1963

NEW YORK, Feb. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings announce the first stand-alone release of Bob Dylan in Concert – Brandeis University 1963, available on digital, CD and vinyl formats everywhere on Tuesday, April 12, 2011.

Pre-sale information for Bob Dylan in Concert – Brandeis University 1963 may be found via BobDylan.com (the artist’s official website) and Facebook.

A previously unknown live recording of a 21-year-old Bob Dylan taped at the Brandeis first Annual Folk Festival in Waltham, Massachusetts on May 10, 1963, Bob Dylan in Concert – Brandeis University 1963 captures the rollicking wit, deadpan delivery and driving intensity of the young artist’s on-stage persona in an assortment of end-of-the-world songs — none of them commercially available at the time — performed in front of an appreciative audience two weeks prior to the release of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (May 27, 1963).  

The Bob Dylan in Concert – Brandeis University 1963 concert tape was discovered recently in the archives of the noted music writer and Rolling Stone co-founder Ralph Gleason, where it sat on a shelf for more than forty years.  ”It had been forgotten, until it was found last year in the clearing of the house after my mother died,” said Toby Gleason, Ralph’s son. “It’s a seven inch reel-to-reel that sounds like it was taped from the mixing disc.”

Drawn from two sets that spring night at the Brandeis Folk Festival, tracks on Bob Dylan in Concert – Brandeis University 1963 include “Honey, just allow Me on More Chance” (incomplete), “Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues,” “Ballad of Hollis Brown,” “Masters of War,” “Talkin’ World War III Blues,” “Bob Dylan’s Dream,” and “Talkin’ Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues.”

Previously available as a limited time offer, Bob Dylan in Concert – Brandeis University 1963 is being reissued in response to overwhelming popular demand for a wide release.  The new Columbia/Legacy edition features liner notes penned exclusively for this release by noted Bob Dylan scholar Michael Gray, author of The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia and the three-volume Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan, provided an explication of the album’s seven songs and historical/cultural context for the performances.

“It’s a small miracle this recording exists,” Gray writes in his essay.  ”Clearly a professional recording … (t)he Bob Dylan performance it captured, from way back when Kennedy was President and the Beatles hadn’t yet reached America, wasn’t even on fans’ radar … It reveals him not at any Big Moment but giving a performance like his folk club sets of the period: repertoire from an ordinary working day … Dylan has leapt a creative canyon with this material … This is the last live performance we have of Bob Dylan before he becomes a star…”

British singer knocks Justin Bieber from top spot, but Biebs still has two albums in top five.by Gil Kaufman

Adele’s <i>21</i>Photo: Columbia Records

We called it! As predicted on MTV News last week, Grammy-winning British soul sister Adele will nab the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart next week with her new album, 21, which sold 352,000 copies to easily take the crown.

According to figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan, that was more than enough to outpace last week’s #1, Justin Bieber’s Never say Never – The Remixes, which drops a spot to #2 as sales trailed off by 38 percent to 102,000. The 17-year-old pop sensation has nothing to worry about, though, as the remix effort was just one of two albums he has in the top five, the other being his nearly year-old My World 2.0, which lands at #5 on sales of 42,000.

In an otherwise slow week with few new releases, most of the rest of the top 20 saw double-digit declines, as the Grammy effect started to wear off on a number of artists. The rest of the top 10: Mumford & Sons, Sigh no More (#3, 71,000, down 46 percent), NOW 37 (#4, 58,000, down 37 percent), Bruno Mars, Doo-Wops & Hooligans (#6, 37,000, down 40 percent), Eminem, Recovery (#7, 34,000, down 44 percent), Rihanna, Loud (#8, 33,000, down 26 percent), Nicki Minaj, Pink Friday (#9, 32,000, down 30 percent) and Lady Antebellum, Need you Now (#10, down 67 percent).

Though she couldn’t pull off the Bieber top five double-play, Adele’s 2008 debut, 19, continues its march back up the charts, jumping 34 spots to #16 on sales of 18,000. meanwhile, the short-lived Grammy bump for Arcade Fire seems to be over, as the disc slips five spots to #17 as sales plummeted by 59 percent to 17,000. And after coming in at #13 last week, Bright Eyes‘ The People’s Key dives 28 slots to #41 as sales trailed off by 72 percent to 11,000.

Former Fall Out Boy singer Patrick Stump has a modest debut at #67 with his first EP, Truant Wave (7,000).

Things were much the same on the iTunes charts, where Adele tops the album tally, followed by Mumford, Bieber’s My World 2.0 and his remix album, then Adele’s 19, Rihanna, Lupe Fiasco‘s Lasers, Stump, Florence and the Machine‘s Lungs and Eminem.

Lady Gaga continues to lord over the iTunes singles chart with “Born This Way,” edging out Cee Lo Green‘s “Forget you.” Jennifer Lopez‘s “On the Floor” comes in at #3, followed by Rihanna’s “S&M,” Katy Perry‘s “E.T.” and Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.” Rounding out the list are Dr. Dre and Eminem with “I need a Doctor” (#7), Pink‘s “F—in’ Perfect,” Ke$ha‘s “Blow”and Bruno Mars’ “Grenade.”

Things should be pretty static at the top next week, with the only new releases coming from former Floetry member Marsha Ambrosius, as well as new albums from Lucinda Williams and Harry Connick Jr. and the debut from former Oasis singer Liam Gallagher’s new band, Beady Eye.

Related Artists

• Adele
• Justin Bieber

Read more Justin Bieber’s News from: at

1. Justin Bieber Gets Billboard Boost After ‘Never say Never’ Opening
2. Justin Bieber’s Never say Never – The Remixes Tops Billboard Chart
3. Eminem back On top Of Billboard Chart with Recovery
4. Justin Bieber Lands Two Albums In Billboard top five – MTV.com
5. Jack Johnson’s To The Sea Floats to top Of Billboard

Due for release in March through Columbia Records, Something Big is the sixth studio album from three time Grammy Award-winning Gospel sister duo Mary Mary, entirely produced by longtime collaborator Warryn Campbell. Often considered as some of the pioneers of urban contemporary gospel, the Campbell (formerly Atkins) sisters Erica and Tina are back with the follow-up album to the critically acclaimed and hugely successful 2008 album the Sound, which debuted at number 7 on the US billboard album charts and birthed two Grammy Awards.

Whilst any kind of success and acclaim that Something Big receives in the same vein as its predecessor will suit Mary Mary and their record label just fine I am sure, the sisters are however clear to stress that the overriding “guiding light” for their music and this album is to connect with people and offer them real hope that “ultimately changes lives”.

Something Big attempts to kick off with a big bang from the word go with two up-tempo numbers starting with the album’s title track – the bass heavy guitar-driven, drums-supported praise song, ‘Something Big,’ which does nothing for me for the most part – and secondly with the catchy ‘Something Bigger’ backed by fast-paced and light drum patterns, faring much better than the album’s opener.

The song ‘Blind’ is when I start getting interested in this album as their vocal abilities begin to take centre stage and the musical backdrop retreats to a more supporting role on yhid slow (to mid) tempo number about the blind love of God towards the singing Campbell sisters, backed by sharp thumping drums, trailing keyboard lines and complementary synth sounds.

Their gorgeous vocal abilities are taken up a level on the next song, titled ‘It is Well,’ despite the unnecessary auto-tuned backing vocals on what is otherwise a perfect acappella rendition of a worship song. without knocking the use of auto-tune as the singular musical backdrop on the entire song, it does do less good than it does harm and a more natural vocal harmony would have sufficed rather beautifully. nonetheless, the Campbell sisters are undeniable in their vocal roles to make ‘It is Well’ one of my early favourites of this album.

‘Never Wave My Flag’ is a mid-tempo piano-driven fiery number laced with lush drum patterns which see Mary Mary in defiant mood as they sing about never giving up in the face of adversity and tribulations. the chorus seems to be quite repetitive at first but the drum solo in the middle of the chorus [and also at the bridge] adds some spark to the hook and to the entire song overall.

The album’s lead single ‘Walking’ is a smooth R&B/Hip Hop production laced with pronounced keyboard lines, corroborated by drum kicks, the lightest of DJ scratches and infectious hand claps, upon which Mary Mary give another enjoyable vocal performance with the customary message of walking with God and taking it one day at a time while refusing to rush through life.

The album’s following song, titled ‘Slow Walk’ is simply a stripped down reprise of the preceding ‘Walking’ single and works beautifully in gently gliding you into the next song on the album; the infectiously catchy and rather inspiring ‘Survive’ which is another of my favorite on the 12-track album.

The final third of the album begins ‘Are you Ready’; three odd minutes of life-affirming lyrics, uplifting music, catchy hooks laced with a cordial message about being ready to change one’s life. It does make for easy listening but I reckon to expect anything else from a ‘Mary Mary’ album would be somewhat misguided.

The next two songs on the album, ‘Catch Me’ and ‘Sitting With Me,’ are two very beautifully written and rendered songs with the first one (‘Catch Me’) a heart warming show of appreciation to God for his mercy, grace and essentially for catching Erica and Tina Campbell when they fall, and the second one (my personal favourite; ‘Sitting With Me’) a triumphant and powerful declaration and proclamation of exactly whose side these sisters are on in case we may have been unsure thus far.

The last song on the album, ‘Homecoming Glory,’ feels like a very personal song that Eric and Tina want to share with you as they sing this with a relaxed and assured passion that not only commands your attention but leaves you in a warm and tranquil place at the same time, in what is a really fitting end to the Something Big album.

The album seldom moves me or touches me in the way that I envision or expect a gospel album would or should except for one or two songs every time and while that might seem an unfair assessment to make [or more so, speaks volumes about how far I am spiritually from my God], I think the power of a gospel album is lost if it cannot touch it’s listener in some measure.

Having said that – and without trying to compare this album to a preacher’s sermon, even though their purposes are somewhat intertwined – the truth and beauty of this album is that you can and should certainly go back to it at different intervals and songs which didn’t register with you in the first place will begin to speak to you.

It’s not groundbreaking and it doesn’t ultimately change my life but it does connect with me on a few occasions and parts of the album are undeniably life-inspiring;Something Big is definitely worth the listen.

Something BIG is out on March 29th, 2011 through Columbia Records.

Pre-Order: Mary Mary – Something BIG

• Mary Mary – “Walking” | Official Music Video Grammy Award-winning Gospel sister duo, Mary Mary have just premiered the video for their lead single – the Warryn Campbell pr…
• Mary Mary to release Something Big LP in Spring 2011 Gospel soulstresses Mary Mary (comprised of sisters Erica and Tina) have announced a spring release for Something Big, the  fo…
• SC Daily Digest 24.1.11: Bruno Mars, Adele, Diddy-Dirty Money & Wretch 32 lead new releases I know it can be pretty time consuming trying to keep on top of all the new music, mixtapes, videos and events announced each da…
• Midweek Mixtape: TY – Something Big (Mixed by DJ Bounce)An official [free] mixtape to tide you over until the official release of lyrical London storyteller TY’s new album, Special Kind …
• Interview: Mary Mary on Grammy wins & an Entrepreneurial 2010 Twelve years ago if you were to tell sisters Tina and Erica Campbell that they would be three time Grammy winners, have a platin…

About Ayodele Adepoju in addition to writing for Soul Culture, Ayodele Adepoju is the creative director for We Plug GOOD Music; a World Music Blog aimed at promoting the very best in Emerging Music as well as a contributing writer for MTV UK’s urban website – MTV Wrap Up.