July 30th, 2021, a very special day for me as a soul music historian and reissue producer!
Two phenomenal releases: first up, the UK release of the a wonderful 9-CD box set celebrating the recording legacy of the iconic PHYLLIS HYMAN, “Old Friend – The Deluxe Collection (1976-1998)” which I had the honour to co-produce with Glenda Gracia, the executrix of Phyllis’ estate. This superb first-of-its-kind project will be available from August 6th in the US.
Then…the US release of a 4-CD career retrospective on the legendary ARETHA FRANKLIN, simply entitled “Aretha” which I had the privilege of co-producing with Patrick Milligan for Rhino Records. Truly a labour of love, this project – for which I had the opportunity to contribute one of the two essays – includes a number of rarities (including demos, work tapes and more) released for the first time and traces ‘The Queen Of Soul”s recording career from 1956 (when she cut her first single as a gospel artist at the age of 14) to the audio of her showstopping perrformance of “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” at The Kennedy Center Honours in 2015.
Feeling deeply grateful for the opportunity to give respect and appreciation to two amazing musical pioneers…
David N
