New music and reissues

The Byrds: Sweetheart Of The Rodeo-Legacy Edition, Columbia Legacy Records

Columbia’s Legacy reissue division continues to mine their limitless cache of vintage music with new ways to package and promote a product.

The Byrds’ “Sweetheart Of The Rodeo,” a classic, groundbreaking country/rock release from 1968, with added remixed, re-mastered, previously unreleased and alternate tracks, expands the original single album release into a double CD package that will more than satisfy serious Byrds collectors. Included are songs with Gram Parsons’ lead vocals, now making their debut 35 years later. If you want to know where most of today’s country/rock came from, look no farther. All of Columbia’s Legacy Editions are lavishly packaged and notated, another plus for the collector.

Willie King and The Liberators: Living In The New World, Rooster Blues

Mississippi blues guitarist and singer/songwriter Willie King is the real deal. King and his rough and funky band lay down raw electric blues, but with a social conscience.

King is a civil rights activist of the Martin Luther King variety and his songs deal with the realities of life as an African-American in the deep south. At 60, he has toiled in menial jobs, with music as salvation. This is no slick, overproduced blues disc; this is no “I lost my baby” gloom session. Willie King plays for dancers in juke joints and living room house parties and makes them feel and think at the same time. This is remarkable music. Check it out. Visit roosterblues.com.

Renee Austin: Sweet Talk, Blind Pig Records

I am not easily impressed these days, especially when a record company trumpets the virtues of an artist. Such was the case upon receipt of the debut disc by Renee Austin, a Texas blues chanteuse.

OK, there was Lou Ann Barton, Angela Strehli, Marcia Ball, Sue Foley and more, so what’s so special about Renee Austin? I’ll tell you what’s so special…this chick can sing. No, wait a minute…Renee Austin can sing with a five octave range that can growl, testify, demand and purr softly in one fell swoop. Austin’s original tunes are high quality; her band is sympathetic and tight; and Delbert McClinton makes a cameo appearance on “Pretend We Never Met,” a tour de force for both singers. Renee Austin’s debut is a must-hear for all blues enthusiasts.

Bobby Sutliff: Perfect Dream, Not Lame Records

Bobby Sutliff was a member of The Windbreakers, a band that recorded and released several independent discs from the eighties until recently. Sutliff’s new solo disc features the artist playing all instruments and handling the vocals, and quite well. The material is 60s-inspired power pop rock that bears a strong debt to The Byrds, Beatles, Kinks, Love, Who and others, and it’s uniformly excellent.

Sutliff’s electric 12-string work alone hooked me, but then, I’m a sucker for that sound. Visit notlame.com for more information.

Radney Foster: Another Way To Go, Dualtone Records

Texan Radney Foster has carved a nice niche for himself in country music; he’s had commercial success and has still managed to avoid the pitfalls and nonsense of Nashville’s star-maker machinery.

Twangy rockers and country weeper ballads, all with a poetic sensibility, highlight his latest collection. Foster is one of those consistent songwriters whose well never seems to run dry of quality material. If you’re tired of the shallowness of today’s so-called “hot country,” try out Radney Foster’s new disc for size. For more information visit radneyfoster.com or dualtone.com.