Mining Our Collectible Past

The Story of Hip-O Select
By David Bassin

I’m going to encourage you to go online and buy some great music. Since Rasputin’s publishes this magazine, you might be wondering whether I’m a little crazy, but maybe not when I tell you that you can’t purchase this music at any of our stores. Interested? Here’s the story.

You might be familiar with Rhino Handmade – a boutique label that produces limited-edition copies of rare, out-of-print and unreleased titles from the Warner-Elektra-Atlantic vaults, but have you heard of Hip-O Select? Now nearly a year old, the “tiniest indie inside the largest record company in the world” (Universal) has released nearly 100 albums that are available only via the Web.

Some are straight reissues of records and CDs that are now out of print (such as four titles from the Pointer Sisters catalog), while others have never been commercially available before, like Peter Frampton’s 1975 live radio broadcast for KSAN. Recorded at the Record Plant in Sausalito, Frampton performed a stripped-down set consisting of material from his four solo albums that were staples of the station’s format. He would return to the Bay area a few months later for a series of shows at the Oakland Coliseum that would make musical history when the recordings became the album Frampton Comes Alive.

I spoke with Thane Tierney, Senior Director of Hip-O select about the label’s philosophy, current releases and future plans. He’s the man responsible for the final word on what albums to release, but suggestions come from all over – label execs, A&R reps and even the label’s fan base, who maintain an active dialogue on the message boards. After working for years in WEA’s creative department, he was laid off during the company’s consolidation and relocation to New York. He approached several labels with the notion of expanding their catalog divisions to delve deeper into the vaults for rarities, but they passed and he believed his career in the music biz had come to an end. Thanks to a mutual friend, Tierney eventually met with Hip-O / Universal’s Senior VP, Pat Lawrence who green-lighted the project and Select became a reality.

Hip-O Select opened for business on April 1, 2004 and pumped out a whopping 64 CDs (and a few import LPs) during their first eight months. Placing ads in collectors’ magazines such as Goldmine, Discoveries and ICE helped to get the word out and build a growing base of aficionados. A broad range of music was selected for the catalog in order to appeal to a wide cross-section of listeners and ran the gamut from soul, blues and jazz, to rock, pop, reggae and folk. Tierney has nothing but the highest praise for the ‘dream team’ at Universal – industry veterans like Bill Levenson and Andy McKaie who bring years of knowledge and experience to the table and who help to facilitate the necessary bits and bytes that go into each and every release.

Nicely designed digipaks add to the collectability of each title and most come with multi-page booklets containing extensive liner notes and rare photos. CDs in the Select Direct series are perfect, miniature reproductions of the original record sleeves with nice attention to detail like intricate die-cuts, inner sleeves and paper glued onto board, rather than just printing directly onto the cover. The original tapes are 20-bit remastered by some of the best in the business, giving the new discs plenty of warmth and detail.

As for the music, there’s something for everyone. I listened to a diverse sampling that included a double-disc package containing Stomu Yamashta’s Go and Go Live From Paris – two rock classics featuring Steve Winwood, Michael Shrieve, Al Di Meola, Klaus Schultze and a host of others. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Joey Heatherton’s self-titled solo album for her choice of material and the unexpected quality of her voice. It could have been just another 1960’s throwaway puff piece, but her renditions of “God Only Knows,” “I’m Sorry” and “Crazy” are tight and I suppose the R-rated cover shot didn’t hurt either. Former Temptations’ singer David Ruffin recorded an album in 1969 (on the eve of leaving the group) that Motown chose not to release for some unknown reason. Simply titled David, Ruffin did some of the best singing of his career, yet the tapes languished in the vaults for 33 years before seeing the light of day. The original album is supplemented by 7 additional bonus tracks and three single mono mixes, plus a booklet detailing the story behind the disc. This is a real find for any fan of the Motown sound.

Richie Havens’ first three albums for Verve Forecast are collected on High Flyin’ Bird, another two-disc set and reaffirms why he was (and is) so highly regarded in the folk community. With his gravely, toothless baritone, Havens gave new life to songs like the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby,” Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm” and the Fugs’ “Morning, Morning.” As he grew more confident as a writer, his instrumentation grew to include electric sitar, congas and flute, giving the music a more international flavor. Some of this material has been available on disc before, but never Richard P. Havens, 1983 – his third and most ambitions album. It was a treat to hear Expressway To Your Skull from the Buddy Miles Express after so many years. Miles formed this rock & soul big band out of the ashes of the Electric Flag and continued to shout and wail the blues behind his drum kit, while guitar and horns responded in kind. A couple of years later he would back up his friend Jimi Hendrix in the Band Of Gypsys, but Expressway captured him at his peak and as a true bandleader.

Other crucial reissues on the label include reggae from Jimmy Cliff, Dillinger and Black Uhuru, Syreeta Wright’s first two albums produced by Stevie Wonder, the Rufus catalog, a five-disc retrospective of the Sir Douglas Quintet and an ambitious project to unearth classic Motown recordings. In January, the first box of 12 in a series of Motown singles was issued, containing 155 tunes recorded between 1959-1961 on six discs. It’s an awesome collection and will most likely be scooped up quickly. Tierney didn’t count out the possibility of one day making items from the catalog available through other online retailers (such as Amazon), but for the foreseeable future, you’ll have to order from their site.

As the music business continues to morph towards a more digital future, labels are looking for new ways sell music, while remaining profitable. Hip-O Select’s (and Rhino Handmade’s) policy of limited-edition releases, allows them to keep costs down and give their customers something special at the same time. In the end however, it all comes down to the music and no amount of special packaging will ultimately sell an album. Hip-O Select has the luxury of one of the largest catalogs in the industry and I’m certain we can expect a steady stream of gems emerging from their vaults in the years to come.

For a complete catalog and online store, visit www.hip-oselect.com.