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Remembering R&B/Funk legend Rick James (born James Ambrose Johnson, Jr): February 1, 1948 - August 6, 2004.


On this day in music history: August 6, 1965 - Help!, the fifth UK and tenth US album by The Beatles is released in the UK (US release date is on August 13th). Produced by George Martin, it is recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London from February - June 1965. Serving as the soundtrack to the bands' second film, the first side of the album features all seven songs included in the film, while the second side features seven additional songs including the classics "Yesterday," "It's Only Love," and "I've Just Seen a Face." The US version of the album will differ significantly from its British counterpart. Besides having different cover art, it contains only 12 tracks, which include the seven film songs and five tracks of orchestral score by composer Ken Thorne. The other songs will be parceled out on singles ("Yesterday" and "Act Naturally"), while the rest ("It's Only Love," "You Like Me Too Much," "Tell Me What You See," and "Dizzy Miss Lizzy") will turn up on the US compilation Beatles VI and the US version of Rubber Soul ("I've Just Seen A Face"). The album will spin off two singles including "Ticket To Ride" (#1 Pop) and the title track (#1 Pop). Help! will spend nine weeks at #1 on the Billboard Top 200.

In the spirit of giving for the Christmas season, Amoeba Music is offering some free music to download. As seen on the Amoeba homepage and on the Amoeba.com Free MP3 Downloads page, there are currently a variety of cool Christmas tracks that you can download for absolutely no cost. These include three holiday recordings by vocalist Brandi Shearer ("Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas," "Auld Lang Syne," & the previously unreleased version of "Christmas Time Is Here" by the longtime Amoeba Music friend), the funky funky soulful (a la James Brown) and "Every Day Is Christmas" by Daptone Records recording artist Charles Bradley, whose anticipated debut full length, No Time For Dreaming, arrives in Amoeba on January 25th.

Also on offer for free, care of Amoeba.com, is the brand new Christmas track by Paul Simon, "Getting Ready For Christmas Day" -- a song the famed artist performed live last Thursday onThe Colbert Report on Comedy Central when host Stephan Colbert was teasing Simon over his rhyming in the song. The new holiday themed track is taken from the artist's forthcoming Spring 2011 album So Beautiful Or So What (Hear Music/Concord Music Group) that will also feature such new Simon compositions as "The Afterlife," "Love and Blessings," and "Love Is Eternal Sacred Light." The other Christmas season tracks up for free download include Sub Pop artist Beach House's "I Do Not Care for the Winter Sun," The Superions'  B52's-like "Fruitcake," and White Widow's "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." Obviously, this is a limited time offer, so go snag those free holidays songs for yourself right now at Amoeba.com!

Jackson C. Frank has one of the more sad stories in music history.


The good news is the music he created is fantastic.

He was a part of the folk music scene in the early/mid 60s.  He only released one full length album in 1965, which is self titled and beautiful.  It's a melancholy collection of songs, but it's one of my favorite records.  Frank's voice is strong and deep.  I feel like it brings a lot of emotion to the songs he sings.  I like the fact also that the songs sound a little faraway, like the equipment they were recorded on was old and on the brink of death.  Oh yeah, and it was produced with said eloquence by Paul Simon-- yeah, the Paul Simon.

Although he was American, Frank was thick in the scene of musicians in London in the mid 60s, and that's also where Paul Simon happened to be.  Frank was also friends with Sandy Denny, even dated her for a while, Bert Jansch, who covered "Blues Run the Game," Al Stewart and more.  Nick Drake also covered several of his songs and Roy Harper is said to have written a song about him.