ACE RECORDS HITS 50! BUT WHAT’S TOM WAITS GOT TO DO WITH IT?
“The whole concept was really not to release shit.”
TED CARROLL
WHEN MOJO readers contemplate their record collections, it’s a safe bet there’ll be releases from the Ace label, long trusted as purveyors of the finest R&B, rock’n’roll, blues, country, soul, funk, punk, rockabilly and beyond.
This year the label marks 50 years with a slew of celebratory releases: these include compilations selected by Paul Weller and Richard Hawley, themed collections by Bob Stanley and Jon Savage, an expanded version of The Damned’s Machine Gun Etiquette and more tasty releases from Millie Jackson, George Clinton and the Motown vaults. There will also be a week of Ace-friendly gigs in summer, plus other events. Another enticing artefact is the Tom Waits Songbook, where covers of Waits by Springsteen, Willie Nelson and Marianne Faithfull, among others, have been personally selected by the reclusive auteur himself.