Fania Fans, holleur.
mannybolone
Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
So this is a personal plug but I also thought it'd be of interest to folks here. I'm the editor for Fania's new (and hopefully improved) newsletter that goes out every two weeks. Each issue includes:*A feature story on Fania-related releases*A short CD highlight*A DJ playlist (Issue #1 has DJ Cucumber Slice, aka Bobbito)*A free download out of Fania's catalogGiven that Fania/Emusica are making a major push to really tap into the label's insanely huge catalog holdings (which also includes Tico, Alegre, etc.) there's going to be a ton of material coming through. You can read Issue 1 here: http://news.fania.com/newsletter/fania1/index.htmlAnd you can sign up for the newsletter via email here: http://news.fania.com/?p=41Cheers
Comments
Yes.
However, am I the only one who's annoyed by the current owners of the catalogs' inability or unwillingness to distinguish amongst the various labels?
They consistently refer to anything released on a label that Fania ever distributed or bought up as a Fania release, when several of those labels actually have distinct identities.
I think maybe two of Bobbito's supposed top ten Fania releases are actual Fania releases.
It may seem like nitpicking but it makes it hard for me to be optimistic about much real history coming to light through their stewardship of the catalog.
You are not the only one, its really annoying, and it diminishes the importance of the other labels. They are doing it as a brand building marketing thing, but its utter bullshit. I mean, why can't we hear the story of Inca records?
Also, I have to sign up for the email to get the free download?
Then, this from the masterworks article:
"For example, staff discovered rehearsal tapes between Ray Barretto and the new band he auditioned after his former players left to form T??pica ???73. Those rehearsal recordings would eventually evolve into Barretto???s groundbreaking, ???comeback??? album, Indestuctible and the Masterworks release of that album will include these early experiments, revealing the hidden processes of creation and refinement. Says project producer Dean Rudland, ???the listener can see how the band was building up to what they were doing.???"
While this maybe sounds good, does is strike anybody else of Beatles outtakes wankery? I don't want to hear Ray talking to the band, like McCartney and Lennon talking about chord changes. I don't really care for demos and outtakes unless they sound completely different. I want to hear unreleased material.
I know this isn't on you Odub, and congrats on the gig, just venting and giving some feedback on the endeavour.
I'm willing to bet they're doing it this was because it's worked for Blue Note, which has been rereleasing non-BN records/songs w/the BN logo for like 15 years now.
Yes, anything released on Capitol, UA or Liberty is fair game to be repackaged as a "Blue Note Rare Groove"!
Garcia:
1) The extras on the Barretto album are basically, earlier rehearsal tapings of songs that eventually evolved into final material on "Indestructible." I don't believe it's actual studio chatter or anything along those lines. That may simply be a failure in my writing to accurately describe what's on there without confusing the reader.
And from what I understand, the Masterworks series is ALL ABOUT bonus music, though the kind of bonus material depends on the album and what was found on the master tapes. I know for the Masterworks release of "Acid," they didn't find extra songs that were left off but they are going to include TV tracks from that session for those who prefer their boogaloo joints sans singing.
2) And yes, you have to sign up for the email to get the free download. Ain't nothing for free, son! (And look, it helps me if the newsletter gets more people signed up for it. You can always spam filter it later if you want, ha).
3) As for you and Faux's concern: I hear what you're saying. At best, I think what you're likely to see are basically both things happening. In other words, there may very well be sub-label speciality anthologies on one hand, but Emusica is still going to treat the Fania's entire holdings as open game for the Fania brand, even if that means a Fania album features music from Alegre, Tico, Inca, Vaya, etc. It's a privilege of ownership and I don't know very many major labels that have NOT done the same thing with their subsidiary labels, esp. in an era of CD anthologies (i.e. Atlantic, Blue Note and others do this all the time).
In all seriousness though, if you really want to see a label-specific project and you can make a case for its market-viability, gimme a holler and I'll pass it down the line. My sense - and I'm only speaking for me here - is that it'd be hard to sell something like an Inca-only album, to the greater public at this point. I can't say this definitively but something like the upcoming Cheo Feliciano Masterworks release of "Cheo" won't really matter to most consumers if it appears on Fania vs. Vaya.
I don't really know though - I have zero head for business decisions like this and thankfully, my job isn't to figure that shit out. It could be in an era of supposed long-tail specialization and consumer habits, it actually does make sense to be more specialized.
All I know is that I'm really hoping someone puts out a Speed anthology!
Personally, I think they've done a pretty good job with actual Fania material (i.e. stuff that was always on Fania to begin with). Especially when you compare how out in the weeds the label was prior to Emusica's purchase, they've done a much stronger job of releasing Fania catalog material in terms of packaging, liners, the whole nine.
In regards to acquired labels, those are a different story but it depends on the release. I'm most familiar with the Latin soul comps that have come out and most of those are very careful to actually talk about the original labels those albums came out on and give some background on them. I've found most of the Dean Rudland-curated comps to have excellent liners in that regard.
Whether or not we'll ever see a box-set about "The Alegre Story" (which personally, I'd be into), is something I can't answer.
Its only a double disc, but it looks like Fania put this out last year:
Get familiar w/the catalog you're promoting, O!
Anyway, I signed up for the newsletter, and passed it on to friends hoping they sign up for it too.
OH SNAP.
b/w
Well, at least that addresses the concern that Fania isn't plugging their acquisition labels enough!
Seriously though, the volume of what Fania's been putting out since the Emusica acquisition is damn near impossible to keep up with. That's part of the reason why they green-lit the newsletter - just as a way to help direct some focus on specific projects out of the dozens that seem to roll out every month.
GV: I hear you. And I think projects like that may very well be in the pipeline. Right now - the Masterworks series focuses specifically on pretty major albums in the overall Fania catalog since that makes good consumer sense.
However, there are going to be dozens, if not hundreds, of discovered songs from albums that may not necessarily make sense to reissue as its own Masterworks release but would, as you suggest, make excellent material for something along the lines of Motown's excellent "Cellarful of Motown" series. I have no doubt in my mind that Emusica staff are likely plotting stuff like this but I think the priority, business-wise, is to put the marketing force behind the big album reissues first.
Either that, or they could also license bonus tracks of that nature to other labels. I'm pretty sure that's what BGP did when they released that recent "Soul of Spanish Harlem" comp of Latin soul tracks. (That comp is excellent and features several 45-only Speed titles, for example).
Personally, I'd love to see Numero Group and Fania joining forces, for example on some kind of "small Latin label" comp. Can you imagine how sick that would be?
Yes, a restored print would be incredible. Also one of the film Salsa.
I keep almost copping the OOP Vampi Soul one, and then I think how annoyed I'll be that the last scene is cut (according to peeps here) and hold back. The above might explain why they used a messed up copy. If Emusica has no plans to release these, though, I might cop anyway...
I've always wondered if there's a documentary on latin music from before the 70s. Anyone heard of one?