This Friday, July 26th Rhino is unveiling the next collection of high-quality quadraphonic releases. Unavailable for nearly half a century, four legendary titles have been digitized from their original analog four-track Quad mixes - Bette Midler’s The Divine Miss M (1972), Bread’s Baby I’m-A Want You (1972), Duke Ellington’s New Orleans Suite (1970), and Graham Central Station’s Self-Titled (1974).
The collection will be announced and available for purchase as Blu-ray discs with a quadraphonic and 192/24 stereo mix on Friday exclusive to Rhino.com and select Warner Music Group stores worldwide, each title will retail for $24.98, with a bundle of all four available for $79.98. Upon Friday listeners will be able to order HERE.
Bette Midler’s platinum-certified debut studio album, The Divine Miss M, was an instant hit, peaking at No. 9 on the Billboard 200. Named after Midler’s stage persona, the album was co-produced by Barry Manilow and went on to win Midler a GRAMMY® Award for Best New Artist and nominations for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female.
Baby I’m-A Want You, Bread’s fourth studio release, was their first record to feature new keyboardist Larry Knechtel. The lead single, “Baby I’m-A-Want You,” debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard Top 100 and “Everything I Own” at No. 5, with the album becoming gold-certified.
Duke Ellington was commissioned to create the New Orleans Suite for the 1970 New Orleans Jazz Festival, marking his final recording with saxophonist Johnny Hodges. The record is regarded as one of Ellington’s greatest works, incorporating Creole influences. He won the 1970 GRAMMY® Award for Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band and received a nomination for Best Instrumental Composition.
Started by Larry Graham, bassist for Sly and the Family Stone, Graham Central Station released their Self-Titled debut in 1974. An exuberant hybrid of soul, funk, and pop, the album reached No. 20 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums, and their lead single, “Can You Handle It?” hit No. 9 on the Soul Singles.
Quadraphonic sound, or 4.0 surround sound as I'm sure you know, utilizes four audio channels connected to four speakers positioned at the corners of a listening space. The multi-tracked audio is mixed dimensional, immersing the listener in an expansive soundscape.
