Starting today, May 14, amazon.com will make
The Mountain available for only $1.99
Be sure to take advantage of this great opportunity!
If you still prefer the physical CD or Vinyl,
we've got that too!
Buy now @ fatpossum.com!
13.5.09
Heartless Bastards - $1.99 on amazon today!
Starting today, May 14, amazon.com will make
The Mountain available for only $1.99
Be sure to take advantage of this great opportunity!
If you still prefer the physical CD or Vinyl,
we've got that too!
Buy now @ fatpossum.com!
17.4.09
Pitchfork reviews new Al Green releases!
8.7 / 9.4 / 9.7
not bad for the first 3 Al Green titles: Greatest Hits, Let's Stay Together, and I'm Still in Love With You.
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12927-lets-stay-together-im-still-in-love-with-you-greatest-hits/
The catalogue of Hi Records-- the magnificent Memphis label that cranked out hits from the 1950s to the 70s-- has been in and out of print for the last few decades, and now it's been licensed by Fat Possum. The first fruits of the unlikely deal are reissues of three of Hi's crown jewels: Al Green's fourth and fifth albums, and the magnificent greatest-hits collection that followed them a few years later.
Other soul singers may have had more raw power or a wider stylistic range (although not many of them), but nobody else had Green's virtuosity or interpretive gifts. He could articulate unbelievably delicate shades of feeling with his voice alone; he had an astonishing sense of timing, of pitch, of emphasis, of drama. And, while virtually every other soul marquee name of the era was recording with session dudes, he had a real band worthy of his gifts: guitarist Teenie Hodges, organist Charles Hodges, bassist Leroy Hodges, drummers Howard Grimes and Al Jackson, backup singers Rhodes, Chalmers and Rhodes, and producer Willie Mitchell, who'd had a string of instrumental hits of his own in the 60s and knew how to shape Green's expansive gifts into compact 210-second packages. (Callow youth may know the Hodges brothers as those dudes who backed up Cat Power circa The Greatest.)
The title track of Let's Stay Together is a karaoke standard and an "American Idol" joke. Surprise: it got there by being one of the best-sung hits of the 70s. Virtually everyone who's covered it has surrendered to the temptation to oversing it; the genius of Green's performance is that he's murmuring it to the person on the next pillow, not declaiming it for the neighbors to bear witness. Green wasn't yet firing on all cylinders as a songwriter, but even the album's lesser songs get spectacular performances. (As with his entire pre-gospel career, Jesus turns up unexpectedly-- this time in the middle of the otherwise secular groove "So You're Leaving".) The album's centerpiece is a six-minute-plus cover of the Bee Gees' ballad "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart", on which his vocal is so light and flexible it seems to be fluttering in the breeze coming off the drums.
I'm Still In Love With You recapitulates the successful Let's Stay Together formula, right down to the unlikely six-and-a-half-minute cover-- this time it's Kris Kristofferson's "For the Good Times". But that album had mostly been "I don't want to break up" songs; this one is solidly "I love you, sweetie" material, and it's even better. In part, that's because Green had learned to write to his voice's strengths, especially his superhuman falsetto. ("Simply Beautiful", close-miked and nearly whispered, is a shudder of ecstasy at the mere image of a lover's body.) The band's arrangements are a master class in getting out of the way of the groove-- "Love and Happiness" is all headroom and negative space, and the drum break at the top of "I'm Glad You're Mine" is as understated as funk gets.
The present incarnation of the double-platinum Greatest Hits is not quite the original version-- the track listing shifted a little in '77-- but it's the 10-song sequence a lot of babies got made to: three songs from Still In Love, the title track from Let's Stay Together, and six more impeccable classics from the 1970-73 period. The smartly sequenced track listing proceeds from "Tired of Being Alone" to "Let's Get Married", and the lyrical range encompasses I-want-you, I-want-you-back, and I've-got-you-and-I'm-happy-about-it songs. If there's such a thing as an underplayed song from it, it's probably "I Can't Get Next to You", the 1970 single that saved him from one-hit-wonder-dom. The Temptations had had a #1 hit with it the year before, and Green swoops in and steals the song anyway. He transforms the arrangement to a slow, fretful Southern 6/8 bump-and-grind, and sings every line as a message of total sexual desperation, fading out on a perfect high note at precisely the pitch that disintegrates panty elastic.
As with the other reissues, the new Greatest Hits trims off the additional material that's turned up on the last few editions: no bonus tracks, no liner notes or historical context, just the album. Doesn't matter, as long as Fat Possum can get this stuff in print and keep it there.
— Douglas Wolk, April 17, 200
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12927-lets-stay-together-im-still-in-love-with-you-greatest-hits/
not bad for the first 3 Al Green titles: Greatest Hits, Let's Stay Together, and I'm Still in Love With You.
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12927-lets-stay-together-im-still-in-love-with-you-greatest-hits/
The catalogue of Hi Records-- the magnificent Memphis label that cranked out hits from the 1950s to the 70s-- has been in and out of print for the last few decades, and now it's been licensed by Fat Possum. The first fruits of the unlikely deal are reissues of three of Hi's crown jewels: Al Green's fourth and fifth albums, and the magnificent greatest-hits collection that followed them a few years later.
Other soul singers may have had more raw power or a wider stylistic range (although not many of them), but nobody else had Green's virtuosity or interpretive gifts. He could articulate unbelievably delicate shades of feeling with his voice alone; he had an astonishing sense of timing, of pitch, of emphasis, of drama. And, while virtually every other soul marquee name of the era was recording with session dudes, he had a real band worthy of his gifts: guitarist Teenie Hodges, organist Charles Hodges, bassist Leroy Hodges, drummers Howard Grimes and Al Jackson, backup singers Rhodes, Chalmers and Rhodes, and producer Willie Mitchell, who'd had a string of instrumental hits of his own in the 60s and knew how to shape Green's expansive gifts into compact 210-second packages. (Callow youth may know the Hodges brothers as those dudes who backed up Cat Power circa The Greatest.)
The title track of Let's Stay Together is a karaoke standard and an "American Idol" joke. Surprise: it got there by being one of the best-sung hits of the 70s. Virtually everyone who's covered it has surrendered to the temptation to oversing it; the genius of Green's performance is that he's murmuring it to the person on the next pillow, not declaiming it for the neighbors to bear witness. Green wasn't yet firing on all cylinders as a songwriter, but even the album's lesser songs get spectacular performances. (As with his entire pre-gospel career, Jesus turns up unexpectedly-- this time in the middle of the otherwise secular groove "So You're Leaving".) The album's centerpiece is a six-minute-plus cover of the Bee Gees' ballad "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart", on which his vocal is so light and flexible it seems to be fluttering in the breeze coming off the drums.
I'm Still In Love With You recapitulates the successful Let's Stay Together formula, right down to the unlikely six-and-a-half-minute cover-- this time it's Kris Kristofferson's "For the Good Times". But that album had mostly been "I don't want to break up" songs; this one is solidly "I love you, sweetie" material, and it's even better. In part, that's because Green had learned to write to his voice's strengths, especially his superhuman falsetto. ("Simply Beautiful", close-miked and nearly whispered, is a shudder of ecstasy at the mere image of a lover's body.) The band's arrangements are a master class in getting out of the way of the groove-- "Love and Happiness" is all headroom and negative space, and the drum break at the top of "I'm Glad You're Mine" is as understated as funk gets.
The present incarnation of the double-platinum Greatest Hits is not quite the original version-- the track listing shifted a little in '77-- but it's the 10-song sequence a lot of babies got made to: three songs from Still In Love, the title track from Let's Stay Together, and six more impeccable classics from the 1970-73 period. The smartly sequenced track listing proceeds from "Tired of Being Alone" to "Let's Get Married", and the lyrical range encompasses I-want-you, I-want-you-back, and I've-got-you-and-I'm-happy-about-it songs. If there's such a thing as an underplayed song from it, it's probably "I Can't Get Next to You", the 1970 single that saved him from one-hit-wonder-dom. The Temptations had had a #1 hit with it the year before, and Green swoops in and steals the song anyway. He transforms the arrangement to a slow, fretful Southern 6/8 bump-and-grind, and sings every line as a message of total sexual desperation, fading out on a perfect high note at precisely the pitch that disintegrates panty elastic.
As with the other reissues, the new Greatest Hits trims off the additional material that's turned up on the last few editions: no bonus tracks, no liner notes or historical context, just the album. Doesn't matter, as long as Fat Possum can get this stuff in print and keep it there.
— Douglas Wolk, April 17, 200
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12927-lets-stay-together-im-still-in-love-with-you-greatest-hits/
16.3.09
Beaten Awake and Willem Maker Available Now!
Beaten Awake - Coming Home 7" Now Available!
We are proud to announce that Beaten Awake's new 7", Coming Home, is now available from Fat Possum Records. It will be in stores May 12.
Buy the 7" now at fatpossum.com
Visit their myspace for more information!
Willem Maker - New Moon Hand Available Now! (3/17/09)
9.3.09
Wavves - "best new music" on pitchfork.com
Wavves new album, "Wavvves", was given a glowing review with an 8.1 rating.
go see it now on pitchfork.com where they have labeled it "Best New Music"
read the full review! here
buy the record! here
4.3.09
Fat Possum SXSW Day Party
Fat Possum is hosting a day party this year at SxSW
March 18 @ Emo's Outdoor
1:00 - Willem Maker
1:30 - Old Blood
2:00 - Turbo Fruits
2:30 - Crocodiles
3:15 - Wavves
4:00 - The Strange Boys
4:45 - Thomas Function
5:30 - The King Khan & BBQ Show
Free !!!!!!!
19.2.09
Fat Possum To Distribute Hi Records
Includes: Al Green, Ann Peebles, O.V. Wright, Ace Cannon and Otis Clay
Click the covers to buy them today from iTunes.
We're putting the catalog up digitally now and we will have digipack cds hitting the markets as soon as March 31. Go to iTunes now to purchase your favorite Al Green record!
Click the covers to buy them today from iTunes.
We're putting the catalog up digitally now and we will have digipack cds hitting the markets as soon as March 31. Go to iTunes now to purchase your favorite Al Green record!
18.2.09
Andrew Bird on Jay Leno! New Fat Possum releases!
Be sure to check out Andrew Bird on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno tonight (02/17/09) on NBC
Catch Andrew Bird on tour:
February 18 - Los Angeles, CA - The Orpheum Theater
February 19 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
February 20 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
February 21 - Portland, OR - The Roseland Theater
February 23 - Seattle, WA - The Moore Theater
February 24 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory
February 25 - Murray, UT - The Murray Theater
February 26 - Denver, CO - The Ogden Theater
February 27 - Omaha, NE - Slowdown
February 28 - Des Moines, IA - Hoyt Sherman Place
March 15 - St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
March 16 - Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall
March 17 - Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom
March 21 - Houston, TX - House of Blues
March 22 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
March 23 - Oxford, MS - The Lyric Oxford
April 2 - Cleveland, OH - Allen Theatre
April 3 - Toronto, ONT - Queen Elizabeth Theatre
April 4 - Montreal, QC - Le National
April 5 - South Burlington, VT - Higher Ground
April 7 - Pittsburgh, PA - Carnegie Music Hall
April 8 - Ann Arbor, MI - Michigan Theater
April 9 - Chicago, IL - Civic Opera House
April 10 - Chicago, IL - Civic Opera House
April 11 - Minneapolis, MN - The State Theater
April 27 - Paris, FR - La Cigale
Also! Be sure to look in your local record store
for these new releases in stores today! (02/17)
Vermillion Sands - In The Wood
Click the album cover to buy a copy of Vermillion Sands new 7", In The Wood.
Wheels on Fire - Get Famous!
Click the album cover to buy a copy of Wheels on Fire's new album, Get Famous!
Catch Andrew Bird on tour:
February 18 - Los Angeles, CA - The Orpheum Theater
February 19 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
February 20 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
February 21 - Portland, OR - The Roseland Theater
February 23 - Seattle, WA - The Moore Theater
February 24 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory
February 25 - Murray, UT - The Murray Theater
February 26 - Denver, CO - The Ogden Theater
February 27 - Omaha, NE - Slowdown
February 28 - Des Moines, IA - Hoyt Sherman Place
March 15 - St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
March 16 - Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall
March 17 - Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom
March 21 - Houston, TX - House of Blues
March 22 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
March 23 - Oxford, MS - The Lyric Oxford
April 2 - Cleveland, OH - Allen Theatre
April 3 - Toronto, ONT - Queen Elizabeth Theatre
April 4 - Montreal, QC - Le National
April 5 - South Burlington, VT - Higher Ground
April 7 - Pittsburgh, PA - Carnegie Music Hall
April 8 - Ann Arbor, MI - Michigan Theater
April 9 - Chicago, IL - Civic Opera House
April 10 - Chicago, IL - Civic Opera House
April 11 - Minneapolis, MN - The State Theater
April 27 - Paris, FR - La Cigale
Also! Be sure to look in your local record store
for these new releases in stores today! (02/17)
Vermillion Sands - In The Wood
Click the album cover to buy a copy of Vermillion Sands new 7", In The Wood.
Wheels on Fire - Get Famous!
Click the album cover to buy a copy of Wheels on Fire's new album, Get Famous!
11.2.09
Fat Possum Licenses Hi Records Catalog
from Billboard.com:
Fat Possum Licenses Hi Records Catalog
Al Green
February 11, 2009 12:00 PM ET
Cortney Harding, N.Y.
Fat Possum Records has licensed the entire Hi Records catalog, including Al Green's 1972 album "Let's Stay Together" and several of his greatest hits compilations, Billboard can reveal.
The catalog also features albums by O.V. Wright, Ace Cannon, and Otis Clay. Fat Possum will have rights in the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
Head over to Billboard to read the rest of the story ...
Fat Possum Licenses Hi Records Catalog
Al Green
February 11, 2009 12:00 PM ET
Cortney Harding, N.Y.
Fat Possum Records has licensed the entire Hi Records catalog, including Al Green's 1972 album "Let's Stay Together" and several of his greatest hits compilations, Billboard can reveal.
The catalog also features albums by O.V. Wright, Ace Cannon, and Otis Clay. Fat Possum will have rights in the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
Head over to Billboard to read the rest of the story ...
Heartless Bastards on Letterman
Catch the Bastards on tour:
February 11 - Charlottesville, VA - Gravity Lounge
February 12 - Birmingham, AL - Bottletree
February 13 - Ocean Springs, MS - Government Street Grocery Club
February 14 - Houston, TX - The Last Concert Cafe
February 26 - San Antonio, TX - Sam's Burger Joint
February 27 - Fort Worth, TX - Longhorn Saloon
February 28 - Denton, TX - Hailey's
March 15 - St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
March 16 - Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall
March 17 - Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom
March 21 - Houston, TX - House of Blues
March 23 - Oxford, MS - The Lyric
March 25 - Covington, KY - Madison Theater (CD Release Party)
March 27 - New York, NY - Webster Hall*
March 28 - Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero*
March 29 - Pittsburgh, PA - Mr. Smalls*
March 30 - Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall*
April 1 - Detroit, MI - St. Andrews Hall*
April 2 - Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall*
April 3 - Chicago, IL - The Bottom Lounge*
April 4 - Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theater*
April 7 - Calgary, ALB - The Warehouse*
April 8 - Edmonton, ALB - The Starlight Room*
April 10 - Vancouver, BC - Plaza Club*
April 11 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile Cafe
April 13 - Portland, OR - Berbati's Pan*
April 15 - Orangevale, CA - The Boardwalk*
April 16 - San Francisco, CA - Slims*
April 21 - Tempe, AZ - The Clubhouse*
April 22 - Albuquerque, NM - Launchpad*
April 23 - Colorado Springs, CO - Black Sheep*
April 24 - Englewood, CO - Gothic Theater*
April 25 - Kansas City, MO - Beaumont Club*
April 28 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theatre*
April 29 - Austin, TX - Antones*
May 2 - Saint Petersburg, FL - State Theatre*
May 3 - Orlando, FL - The Social*
* - with Gaslight Anthem
10.2.09
Wavvves now available digitally
Fat Possum is proud to announce the recent signing of San Diego's WAVVES. The new album, WAVVVES, is available digitally, exclusively on iTunes and our website. The first 300 orders on the Fat Possum website will receive a free colored-vinyl Wavves 7": California Goths b/w Here's To The Sun.
WAVVVES will be available on CD/LP March 17.
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