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Mavis Staples, Other R&B Vets Signed To New Label
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Tuesday, 20 September 2005
 Veteran R&B acts such as Mavis Staples, Billy Preston and more will finally enjoy the level of label attention regularly given to contemporary performers, thanks to a new label dedicated to releasing their new work.
Launched by the producer of Solomon Burke's Grammy-winning 2002 set Don't Give Up on Me, Joe Henry, the label, called Work Song, is an imprint in partnership with Rhino Records and Starbucks Entertainment's Hear Music.
The label's first release, I Believe to My Soul, drops October 4 and features new stuff by Staples, Preston, Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas and Ann Peebles. It will be available at Starbucks and conventional music retailers.
Because of Toussaint and Thomas' history in the New Orleans music community, Work Song, Rhino and Starbucks a significant portion of the album's purchase price will go to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
Thomas, who was in Austin when Katrina hit, said: "This is a project I would be on board with, even if I wasn't on the record and even if I wasn't one of the evacuees. ... When you're blessed, you're supposed to pass it on."
Henry sees it as a good opportunity to give performers their own forum as opposed to trying to fit them into "what's hot" or banishing them to obscurity.
"I thought most of the great soul artists were either relegated to the oldies circuit or being stuffed into what R&B has become," Henry said. "I had in mind this idea of a long, continuing series of records."
Robin Hurley, Rhino senior vp A&R, said: "It fits perfectly with what we're doing at Rhino. ... We're always looking to flesh out what we're doing with the catalog here."
The release date for I Believe... was already set for October release when Katrina hit. $10 of the Starbucks purchase price ($15.95 in the U.S., $19.95 in Canada) will go to the relief effort, while $3 of every copy purchased at music retail stores ($18.98 sticker price) will be donated to the American and Canadian Red Cross for the lifetime of the album.
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| Last Updated (
Tuesday, 20 September 2005 ) |
