I’ll take a CD with that latte, please

Most people would think Starbucks an odd choice to find great music. But Starbucks fans will tell you that music is a big part of the Starbucks “experience.” Indeed, the music division of Starbucks, known as Hear Music, has been issuing CDs (and recently, iTunes cards) for years. In fact, music icons including Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, John Mellencamp, Carly Simon, Elvis Costello, along with up-and-comers like James Hunter, are all signed to the Hear Music roster. Also, Ray Charles’ Grammy-winning Genius Loves Company was in no small way helped by being released through Hear Music. All these artists’ releases are available at traditional music outlets as well as Starbucks stores. But it’s the compilation CDs available exclusively at Starbucks that are well worth seeking out.

For me, music at Starbucks first came to my attention several years ago with the magnificent “Artist’s Choice” series. This series gave the artist the chance to assemble a personal playlist of songs of the “music that matters most to them.” Those who submitted lists of songs from their personal record collection included the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Yo-Yo Ma, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Sarah McLachlan, Elvis Costello, Joni Mitchell, Tony Bennett, and Sheryl Crow, just to name a few. 

Sadly, it appears this particular series has been discontinued, but Starbucks continues to regularly issue some of the best music compilation CDs on a monthly basis. Just a few recent sets that particularly stand out include:

John Coltrane, A Man Called Trane. Trying to get one’s arms around this jazz titan’s career on one CD may be virtually impossible, but this collection is arguably the best single CD retrospective on Coltrane ever. Licensing from various labels for their comps is no big deal for Starbucks. If they want that certain song, they’ll get it.

Vintage Country. Like the Coltrane disc, this is the best single disc introduction to great country music that’s ever crossed my path. The great stars (i.e., Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, etc.) and their great signature songs are all here.

Swing Swing Swing. This recent release does for big-band music what Vintage Country did for country music: It presents the best single-disc collection of swing music I’ve ever seen. Benny Goodman’s “Sing Sing Sing” (Parts 1 and 2!), Glenn Miller’s “In the Mood,” Artie Shaw’s “Begin the Beguine,” Lionel Hampton’s “Flying Home,” Gene Krupa’s “Drummin’ Man,” Les Brown’s “Leap Frog,” Count Basie’s “One O’Clock Jump,” Duke Ellington’s “Caravan” and “Take the ‘A’ Train,”…18 tracks total, all of them classics.

Jazz Signatures. This series recently reached a third volume, and the discs feature songs associated with great jazz names like Coltrane, Chet Baker, Bill Evans, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Wes Montgomery, Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, and scores more.

NOW HEAR THESE!

Simon and Garfunkel, Live 1969

Speaking of Starbucks exclusives, this gem was only available at Starbucks back in 2008 and totally sold out, with copies showing up on Amazon for big bucks. The good news is that Sony Legacy has just reissued the CD through regular music outlets, so don’t hesitate to grab it now. Recorded on the duo’s final tour during their ’60s heyday, S&G performed a number of songs that would be featured on their classic Bridge over Troubled Water album in January 1970. In other words, these audiences were hearing these songs for the very first time. In fact, the album’s high point is “Bridge over Troubled Water,” on which Art Garfunkel is accompanied solely by Larry (Bread) Knechtel’s gospel piano. The Carnegie Hall audience responds with a rapturous ovation, and the total effect of the song and response gives me goosebumps. Also, it marked the first time S&G worked with outside musicians onstage, including Hall of Fame sidemen Joe Osborn on bass, drummer Hal Blaine (both of whom appeared on Beach Boys hits and Phil Spector’s “Wall of Sound” classics), and guitar great Fred Carter Jr. (father of country star Deana Carter). A great moment of pop music history, superbly recorded by S&G’s longtime producer/engineer Roy Halee.

The Beatles Catalog Upgrade on CD

Beatles fans around the world got an early Easter present April 8 when Apple Corps announced that the long-awaited upgrade of the group’s albums on CD would arrive Sept. 9, the same date the Beatles’ Rock Band video game hits the stores. All of the Fab Four’s albums will be reissued simultaneously, so suffice to say the rollout will be massive. Since there is no sign when the Beatles’ music will be finally available online, this may well be the Last Hurrah of the CD era. I’ll have more details as the release date approaches. In the meantime, hold off on picking up any Beatles CDs.

WMSE Spring Membership Drive, April 27-May 8

The musical goldmine known as Frontier Radio WMSE is Milwaukee’s totally self-sufficient public radio station. In other words, no support from Milwaukee Public Schools or the UW System to keep things going. The station’s license holder, the Milwaukee School of Engineering, requires the station management to pay 100 percent of the freight. So, when they say WMSE is “community-powered,” they ain’t kidding. So tune in to 91.7 FM (or online at wmse.org) for the usual pledge drive hijinks and oodles of live-in-studio performances, along with the brand-new 10th volume of the Live at WMSE CD series. And help the station reach its goal of 4,000 “helpers.”

Various Artists, 101 Housework Songs

Yes, it’s spring cleaning time, so leave it to those clever Brits to find a way to musically exploit this annual ritual. This five-CD box may well be the craziest, yet coolest, compilation ever released anywhere. The cover art is straight off a detergent box, boasting “Feelgood Songs to Banish Those Cleaning Blues!” Yet, give props to compilation producer Ashley Abram for doing her homework. Not only does the music make great accompaniment to those mundane chores, but she has also assembled nothing less than a mini-encyclopedia of pop music of the past 50-plus years. The recordings span from a 1951 Dean Martin-Helen O’Connell duet (”How D’Ya Like Your Eggs in the Morning?”) to recent tracks from the likes of Lily Allen, Katy Perry, and Jem. Although music icons like the Beatles, Stones, ABBA, and Dylan were hands-off for this set (Wouldn’t “Subterranean Homesick Blues” have been great here?), you do get not one, but two, classics from the Chairman (”Come Fly with Me” and “Love and Marriage”) and a most appropriate track from Sir Paul & Wings (”Let ‘Em In”). It’s also the only place I know where Erasure’s version of “Take a Chance on Me” sits alongside Stars on 45’s “ABBA Medley,” and Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5″ appears with Sheena Easton’s “Morning Train (Nine to Five).” Although the collection is geared toward the UK market, with a chunk of the songs unfamiliar to American audiences, the tunes are generally upbeat, with the final tracks on disc 5 a “cool down” section featuring songs from the Seekers, along with Matt Monro, Louis Armstrong (both themes from James Bond movies!), and Nat King Cole (”Unforgettable”). If your musical tastes are as eclectic as mine, the extra effort required to find this collection will be well rewarded. It’s an absolute gem that’s endlessly fascinating. Now, get back to cleaning.

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