The Staples Singers Box Set Announced by Stax

Stax/Concord Music Group will release the first-ever comprehensive, career-spanning overview of the Staple Singers, one of the most important American musical acts of the 20th century.  Due out November 13, this limited edition 4-CD box set—titled Faith and Grace: A Family Journey 1953-1976—also includes a very special bonus: the earliest known recording of the gospel, soul and R&B group, housed on a 7" vinyl record, marking the first time that this track has been available in any format since the Staples' self-released edition of 500.

Housed in a deluxe, old-school "45-folio" package, the accompanying book features new liner notes by Mavis Staples, James Miller, Opal Louis Nations and compilation producer Joe McEwen, as well as rarely seen photos of the family band taken over the course of their career.

The long-lost recordings embodied on the 7" record, "Faith and Grace" and "These Are They," are the earliest known recordings of the Staple Singers and were made in a friend of Pops Staples' basement in Chicago in 1953. These have never before been commercially available in any format except the 500 or so copies the Staples pressed themselves on 78-RPM records. The box set also contains the live recording "Medley: Too Close/I'm On My Way Home/I'm Coming Home/He's Alright [Live]." This live performance from 1960 Clarksdale, Mississippi has never before been available in its entirety.

THE WEEKND Announces "Beauty Behind the Madness" Release for August 28

Grammy Award-nominated multi-platinum alternative R&B trailblazer THE WEEKND has announced that he will release his anxiously awaited third full-length offering, “Beauty Behind The Madness” via XO/Republic Records on Friday, August 28, 2015.  The album has been one of the most anticipated albums of 2015.

 

2015 has already been a breakout year for THE WEEKND with three tracks currently in the Top 25 of the Billboard Hot 100. The album’s first official single “Can’t Feel My Face” currently sits at #6 while previously released tracks “Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey)” and “The Hills” sit at #16 and #23, respectively. “Can’t Feel My Face” continues to remain a fixture in the Top 5 of iTunes Overall Top Songs Chart and it has hit #1 on the iTunes R&B/Soul chart as well as #1 on Shazam USA and Spotify USA chart. “Can’t Feel My Face” is also seeing huge global success with the track debuting Top 5 in over 33 markets including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Denmark and Poland. Written by THE WEEKND and co-produced by pop powerhouse Max Martin, it’s no surprise that the track is already being hailed as the best song of 2015 by outlets like USA Today and Radio.com. The official music video to the track will also debut in the coming weeks. Listen to the tune below, from Baker & Taylor.