2003

The U.S. Congress has declared 2003 “the year of the blues,” and Sony Legacy and Universal Music Enterprises (UME) are rolling out a flood of releases tied to the fall PBS series “Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues — A Musical Journey,” executive produced by director Scorsese.
The alliance between Sony and Universal marks the second time the companies have joined together for a PBS-related project. Two years ago, their mammoth effort for “Ken Burns Jazz” ignited new interest — and sales — in the genre. Executives hope the upcoming releases do the same for the blues, which has made up a very small percentage of overall sales in recent years.
A television documentary, five CD set and a seven DVD set, are amongst the projects that will be released, chronincling the blues.
For more information on the blues artists, making up the various projects and more details, visit Billboard.com.

Jack White of the White Stripes is teaming up with “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” Loretta Lynn, reports the Detroit Free Press. Lynn has already performed live with the band and now Jack will be producing tracks on Loretta’s upcoming album. The odd collaboration began after Loretta’s daughter, Patsy, told her mom the group had dedicated their album, White Blood Cells, to her and a curious Lynn invited them to her home.
Source etonline.com .

Hip-O/Universal Music Enterprises (UME) will mark the 30th anniversary of the U.S. release of the landmark reggae album “The Harder They Come” with a remastered, two-disc “Deluxe Edition,” due Aug. 5. The first disc is a remastered version of the soundtrack to the 1973 film starring reggae great Jimmy Cliff as Ivan, an aspiring musician turned gangster. Both the film and the 12-song soundtrack, half of which was comprised of his songs, went on to make Cliff an international star.
The second disc collects some of reggae’s most commercially successful singles to predate the April 1973 release of Bob Marley & the Wailers’ Island debut, “Catch a Fire.” Included are a number of additional tracks from the same artists on the original disc — Cliff (“Vietnam”), Desmond Dekker (“Israelites”) and the Maytals (” 54-46 (That’s My Number)”).
Source Billboard.com.