August 4, 2005

Blues singer, songwriter and guitarist “Little” Milton Campbell, whose gritty vocals and songwriting recalled B.B. King’s rough-edged style, died today (Aug. 4) from a stroke, his record company said.

The 71-year-old Grammy-nominated guitarist and singer known for writing and recording the blues anthem “The Blues Is Alright” never awoke from a coma following a stroke he suffered on July 27 in Memphis, said Valarie Kashimura of The Malaco Music Group.

Born to sharecropping farmers near the Mississippi Delta town of Inverness — his father, “Big” Milton Campbell, was a local blues musician — “Little” Milton picked up a guitar at age 12 and recorded his first hit for Sam Phillips’ Sun Records at age 18.

Discovered by blues-rock pioneer Ike Turner, Campbell went on to score dozens of rhythm and blues hits and was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1988.

Though acclaimed in blues circles, Campbell never achieved the fame of King and some other American bluesmen. Nevertheless, his nearly constant touring took him all over the world.

After signing with Bobbin Records in East St. Louis, Illinois, Campbell recorded “I’m a Lonely Man” and “That Will Never Do.” A long association with Chicago’s Chess Records produced the 1965 hit “We’re Gonna Make It,” which coincided with the civil rights movement. Other hits included “Baby I Love You,” “If Walls Could Talk,” “Feel So Bad,” “Who’s Cheating Who?” and “Grits Ain’t Groceries.”

“Annie Mae’s Cafe” and “Little Bluebird” were hits he recorded with Memphis’ Stax Records, which he joined in 1971 before the label’s demise.

Source billboard.com.

You can expect more horns and more Canadians on Broken Social Scene’s highly anticipated new album, which was originally dubbed “Windsurfing Nation” but will now be a self-titled affair. The set is due Oct. 4 via the group’s own Toronto-based label Arts & Crafts.

It’s the follow-up to 2002’s breakthrough “You Forgot It in People,” which has sold more than 77,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The set also won a Juno Award for best alternative album.

Despite Broken Social Scene’s success, no one is quite sure just how many people make up the group. Fellow Arts & Crafts labelmates like Apostle Of Hustle’s Andrew Whitemen, Stars members Amy Milan and Evan Cranley and songstress Leslie Feist are revolving members. The new self-titled effort also features rapper K-OS, the Weakerthans’ Jason Tate and the Dears’ Murray Lightburn.

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The Pixies’ triumphant 2004 reunion tour will be chronicled on a DVD due Oct. 4 via Rhino. The bulk of “Pixies Sell Out” is drawn from a July 3, 2004, show in Belfort, France, featuring such favorites as “Gigantic,” “Bone Machine,” “Monkey Gone to Heaven” and “Here Comes Your Man.”

Sixteen additional songs will be included as bonus tracks, including “Caribou,” “Gigantic” and “Into the White” from the Pixies’ 2004 appearance at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival. Other cuts were shot at such festivals as Austin City Limits, Fuji Rock, Voodoo, Move and T in the Park.

The Pixies have continued to draw big box-office numbers during their 2005 tour, which plays Albany, N.Y., tonight (Aug. 4) and will find the group playing its first full-length acoustic set Saturday at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island.

Afterward, 12 international dates are on tap, beginning Aug. 17 in Porto, Portugal. As previously reported, the Pixies will then join Beck, Oasis and the Killers at the inaugural Across the Pond Festival, which will be held Oct. 1-2 simultaneously at Brooklyn’s Key Span Park and Staten Island

Here is the track list for “Pixies Sell Out”:

“Bone Machine”
“Wave of Mutilation”
“In Heaven”
“Something Against You”
“River Euphrates”
“U-Mass”
“Bone Machine”
“Cactus”
“Ed Is Dead”
“I Bleed”
“Monkey Gone to Heaven”
“Hey”
“Levitate Me”
“Subbacultcha”
“Dead”
“Gouge Away”
“Velouria”
“Mr. Grieves”
“Crackity Jones”
“Broken Face”
“Isla De Encanta”
“Tame”
“Here Comes Your Man”
“The Holiday Song”
“Where Is My Mind?”
“Vamos”
“Wave of Mutilation”
“Gigantic”

Bonus performances:

“Caribou” (Coachella)
“Here Comes Your Man” (Move)
“Debaser” (T in the Park)
“Gigantic” (Coachella)
“U-Mass” (Lowell, Mass.)
“Crackity Jones” (Fuji Rock)
“Nimrod’s Son” (Fuji Rock)
“The Holiday Song” (Fuji Rock)
“Subbacultcha” (Austin, Texas)
“Vamos” (Austin, Texas)
“No. 13 Baby” (Lowell, Mass.)
“Planet of Sound” (Voodoo Music Experience)
“Is She Weird?” (Lowell, Mass.)
“Into the White” (Coachella)
“Where Is My Mind?” (Move)
“Monkey Gone to Heaven” (Move)

Source billboard.com .