TORONTO and LONDON – Canadian specialist archive curator MajikBus Entertainment is helping to bring rare and unreleased musical gems from the CBC’s vaults to light.
In the late 1960s, CBC augmented its commitment to Canadian artists by producing original albums by home-grown talent and distributing them on vinyl solely to broadcast affiliates in Canada and North America in runs of just 250 copies. Known as the Transcription Records Series, these discs and are now being remastered from the original tapes where available, or carefully restored from vinyl originals with the original artwork.
LPs by Canadian artists Judy Singh, the Emile Normand Sextet and Perth County Conspiracy are receiving their first-ever commercial release in the Transcription Records Series and are available now at the MajikBus store on PledgeMusic. Future releases will include vinyl and box set releases from legendary artists such as Muddy Waters, Johnny Cash, The Doors and Jefferson Airplane.
"It's a beautiful story about the vinyl, and CBC's decision to support independent artists that weren't getting the attention of the mainstream labels," said MajikBus CEO Mark Holden, in the news release. "They did pick artists they thought were worthy of the investment and that had something to offer Canada and the world."
MajikBus has also secured access to the historic CBC photographic archive, featuring images from artists such as Pete Seeger, Duke Ellington, Nat 'King' Cole, Sammy Davis Jr., Muddy Waters, Johnny Cash, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Doors, and Jefferson Airplane. The company is working with publishing partner Off Beat Lounge to showcase these rare images in the exhibition STILL – Music In Revolution, which starts its worldwide tour in the UK in June.
