Nothing on my Oracle Alexandria for the past week! My daughter's dog is visiting and guess where the beloved, but shedding beast sleeps. So I've been confined to CDs.
I want to encourage any and all rock and R&B fans to buy INTRODUCING DARLENE LOVE, a 2015 release on Columbia produced by Steve Van Zandt. This album (CD) is truly a labor of love and respect for one of the great ladies of pop music who was basically screwed out of her royalties and recognition. Her first solo single was released as a Crystals song without her knowledge or consent, for example. Her music was an inspiration for the overall sound of Bruce Springsteen's Born To Run album. There is original music written for her by Springsteen, Van Zandt, Elvis Costello, Jimmy Webb, Linda Perry, and - get this! - Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil. There are performances by Costello, Van Zandt, Jake Clemons, Paul Schaffer, and Bill Medley among others.
Even if you've bought all of Darlene's oldies and best of collections; the odds are that she never got a dime of your money. This one is different. It is available from Amazon in CD, Vinyl, and MP3 download. There is also a DVD/Blu-ray of the Oscar winning documentary, "20 Feet From Stardom" featuring Ms. Love and some of her peers that I Think I must get. And by the way, that's Darlene doing back-up on U2's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)".
