originally published: 04/17/2024
With a great deal of “satisfaction” Marty Scott, President of Jem Records announced the 5th in the series, JEM Records Celebrates Jagger & Richards to be released on May 31, 2024. Coincidentally, The Rolling Stones 2024 North American Spring/Summer Tour overlaps with the album release date. (Time is on Jem’s side, yes it is!)
John M. Borack, Contributing Editor of Goldmine Magazine wrote liner notes that describe Jagger and Richards as “the faces of –the World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band.” Further, Borack pegs the duo as “one hell of a songwriting team.”
Marty “The Grand Poobah” came up with the concept of the “Celebrates” series when thinking of a way to salute John Lennon on the 80th anniversary of his birth in 2020.
“I have to consider the songwriter’s style as well as their catalog of songs,” Marty said. “After four years of releases, (Lennon, Wilson, Townshend, and Davies), I thought a great choice would be Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. They have a tremendous catalog of remarkable songs over 60 years.”
Traditionally, the artists come up with suggestions and discuss the choices, but this time, he pitched songs to a few of the bands--tracks he felt would stand out and work well for them.
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For example, Marty picked “We Love You” for The Grip Weeds and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” For The High Frequencies (Lisa Mychols’ new band with her husband Tom Richards.) The songs aren’t the typical Rolling Stones 3 minute singles, but the JEM artists created their own sound as Marty had envisioned. Other artists knew right away what they wanted to record, such as The Cynz’s version of “Star Star” and Paul Collins’ “Tell Me.” The Anderson Council’s Peter Horvath did a unique version of “Connection” making it their own.
“Celebrates” salutes a rock icon, and it is a way to introduce new and established JEM artists to fans of a particular band. For example, when a Weeklings fan gets a copy at one of their shows, they are now exposed to the talented Johnathan Pushkar and The Airport 77s, two artists with whom they might not be acquainted. They also get new tracks by The Grip Weeds, Anderson Council and Nick Piunti, established bands they might also like.
Jem Celebrates John Lennon, the first release in the series came out in 2020. The Midnight Callers were one of the stars of that album- but they were relatively unknown on that date. Their debut album came out on Jem two weeks later. Thus they had a "head start" on radio, reviews and retail.
JEM artists are very much behind the series, and Marty is already talking to some of them about tracks for the 2025 edition. He won’t reveal any details, par for the course.
“Don't ask me who it's going to honor. The debut of each album is a treat for all,” Marty said.
TRACK LIST
1. Jumpin’ Jack Flash / The Midnight Callers
2. Citadel / The Anderson Council
3. Dandelion / The Grip Weeds
4. Tell Me / Paul Collins
5. Too Tight / The Airport 77s
6. Ruby Tuesday / Nick Piunti
7. Star Star / The Cynz
8. We Love You / The Grip Weeds
9. Rocks O / The Weeklings
10. Connection / The Anderson Council
11. Don’t Stop / Johnathan Pushkar
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12. Let’s Spend The Night Together / The Gold Needles
13. You Can’t Always Get What You Want / The High Frequencies.
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