The Ladies of Reprise Records :r

OK, Reprise is probably not the first record label that anyone thinks of when you hear "rock and soul" but Reprise did have it's fair offerings of at least rock and a bit of roll - and a whole lot of ladies! Started by Frank Sinatra in 1960, Sinatra saw Reprise as the answer to his and his friends dilemma of feeling like being held creatively hostage by a record label - in his case Capitol Records. Frank wanted the artists on his label, many of them friends and family to own their own masters and have some creative control over their music, if they so chose. It's not a surprise that much of the label's talent were rat packers, Los Angels night club hold overs, Palm Springs seasonal dwellers and Las Vegas attractions. But Frank wanted to create a label that offered something for everyone, and records that play and play again - so he began assembling a broader array of talent, including his own fantastically gifted daughter Nancy Sinatra, who brought youth and style to a label that soon began adding more teenage talent. It kept afloat for 5 years, but the label began to become financially difficult due to pressures from Capitol Records, who had created discounted version of Sinatra's own records on their label forcing Sinatra to sell Reprise titles at a lower price point. In 1965 it became an arm of Warner Records, and slowly began adding more rock acts to it's roster. Today on Crayons to Perfume! we'll hear the ladies of Reprise - solo artists like on of my all-time favorites, Nancy Sinatra, one time Ikette Pat Powdrill, loungy ladies who lay on great renditions of unsuspecting tunes like Jill Jackson and Lola Falana, and girl groups such as the Blossoms, the Rev-Lons & The Paris Sisters - turning it over at the end of the show to Reprises later 60's female fronted rock and psych outfits like Sweetwater, Pentangle and the Mojo Men. Join djgirlgroupgirl as she presents the Ladies of Reprise, Wednesday at 7pm right here on Rock'n'Soul Ichiban


Didn't have time to get this great tune 1967 in from the Spike Drivers out of Detroit, featuring vocalist Marycarol Brown - so check it out now, shala la la la la