Sony has belatedly realized that Columbia Records' photo archive could be used for more than just box set filler. The monolith, which is suffering from "hard times," has founded
Icon Collectibles, which is selling a 11"x12" photo of Johnny Cash for $300. "His eyes shine with the light of deep secret knowledge and the gravitas of an artist who's born to carry the truth in his music." For that much money, they damn well better! Lovely one-to-two feet long photos of Billy Joel, Johnny Mathis, Muhammad Ali (who did a spoken-word album for Columbia — score, Sony!), Ella Fitzgerald, Glenn Gould, Bob Dylan, and several others are also available to those with a grand to kill.
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Idolator
I've been curious about the I Love My Lady, the unreleased album Chic's Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers produced in 1981 for Johnny Mathis, since reading about it in Daryl Easlea's Chic and the Politics of Disco a few years ago, so the news of a leak of the title track—not to mention the possibility that more of these tracks will make it onto a Chic box said to be in the works for late 2009 (finally!)—is more than welcome. Especially given the heavy Brazilian tinge of the song, which is ripped from British radio (there's announcing at the beginning and end), and which will remind Chic fans of some of their great acoustic work from the same period. [Disco Delivery; HT Andy Kellman]
