LOS ANGELES (Baby New Year Music/ www.bnymusic.com) - Baby New Year
Music has announced the acquisition of
Black Top Records music publishing catalog. The stellar catalog contains songs from the New Orleans based label that produced some of the best zydeco, blues, R&B, and jazz created in the South in the 1990's.
Key placements have occurred across major film and television shows as well as hundreds of compilations. The song "Go Girl" from the Tri-Saxual Soul Champs was used in the American Express commercial starring Jerry Seinfeld for Ogilvy & Mather. Lynn August's "Hippi Ty O" and Clarence Holliman's "Blues For Carol" were used in the Warner Brother's film John Grisham's "The Pelican Brief." The Tri-Saxual Soul Champs "She Said" was used in Grisham's "The Client." Buckwheat Zydeco's song "Buck's Nouvelle Jole Blon" was used in NBC's "Northern Exposure" as well as "The Big Easy" film soundtrack and movie. Over fifty songs from the catalog were used in USA television's adaptation of "The Big Easy" across its two seasons. Black Top songs have been featured in almost 300 blues and zydeco compilations from Alligator Records, BMG Music, Hip-O/MCA, Island, K-tel, Putumayo, Rhino, Rounder, Sony and Universal among others.
Key artists from the label include zydeco releases from Buckwheat Zydeco. Buckwheat (aka Stanley Durel) nicknamed as an homage to the Our Gang character infused his propulsive party music with strains of rock and R&B and remains a hugely popular live attraction. Touring as a piano prodigy from the age of 4, Buckwheat learned from the master himself Clifton Chenier. He has 3 Grammy nominated albums and appeared in the hit film "The Big Easy."
Anson Funderburgh has graduated to the Festival stages with his style of Texas jump blues and Delta blues. 2004 saw Funderburgh log another 300 date touring schedule in addition to winning the WC Handy award for "Traditional Blues Album of the Year." Last year his music was heard in the critically acclaimed Sean Penn, Benecio Del Toro film "21 Grams." He recorded 9 albums for Black Top.
In the late 70's, he played with Lightnin' Hopkins and in the early 90's recorded with The Fabulous Thunderbirds on their hit album "Butt Rockin'" before going solo and signing with Black Top.
Grady Gaines got his start playing tenor saxophone for Little Richard as part of his backing band the Upsetters as seen in the classic photo of him wailing away while standing on Little Richard's grand piano. That's Grady in those show stopping appearances in the films "Don't Knock the Rock," "The Girl Can't Help It," and "Mr. Rock and Roll." Prior to Little Richard, he was playing for Gatemouth Brown. When Little Richard found God in 1957, Grady and the Upsetters went and backed up Sam Cooke, James Brown and and Jackie Wilson and later Curtis Mayfield. Full Gain and Horn of Plenty his two great Black Top recordings are a blues motherlode.
Early soul pioneer Solomon Burke recorded for the label in the late 90's. On his early 60's recordings for Atlantic he brought a gospel and country influence into R&B with emotional phrasing and melodic ballads with hits such as "Cry to Me," "Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye)" "Got to Get You Out of My Mind." Preaching at his family's Philly church and hosting a gospel radio show before he was a teen, he continues to tour and record today. In 2002, Joe Henry produced his Grammy winning "Don't Give Up on Me" which featured great songwriters such as Tom Waits, Brian Wilson and Van Morrison.
Baby New Year Music is a music publishing and film music supervision company that has evolved from a base of copyrights from the Mammoth Records label previously owned by BNYM principal Jay Faires. In addition to hundreds of copyrights from Mammoth acts, including the works of the multi platinum neo swing act the Squirrel Nut Zippers, Baby New Year has acquired copyrights from recent David Bowie recordings. In the last year the company has placed music in Fox's smash "The O.C." and the CBS hit drama "Without a Trace" along with NBC's "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" among many others. BNYM is currently music supervising the upcoming Ed Norton, Evan Rachel Wood film "Down in the Valley."
