I just got this message from the Soul Train Group on Yahoo.

Singer, songwriter and musician O'Bryan, who started his career under the direction of "Soul Train" creator and host Don Cornelius, has announced the release of an anthology of his Capitol Records music.

"You And I: The Very Best Of O'Bryan" is a two-disc collection that will feature 26 songs from his four 1980s albums "Doin' Alright," "You And I," "Be My Lover" and "Surrender," in addition to two previously unreleased songs. The album will feature full-length album or extended versions of O'Bryan's most notable songs, such as "The Gigolo," "You And I," "I'm Freaky," "Soul Train's A Comin'" and "Lovelite."

O'Bryan McCoy Burnette II was discovered by his friend Melanee Kersey, who referred him to her husband, producer Ron "Have Mercy" Kersey. A former keyboardist for The Trammps and a veteran of the '70s Philadelphia music scene, Kersey introduced O'Bryan to Cornelius, with whom Kersey formed Friendship Producers Company. Cornelius took the young artist to Capitol Records, where O'Bryan released four albums that charted on the Billboard R&B charts.

"You And I: The Very Best Of O'Bryan" will be dedicated to Cornelius, who died February 1, and Kersey, who died in 2005.

The anthology, which will be distributed on O'Bryan's independent label Headstorm, has a tentative release date for April 24. Tour dates are planned in support of the anthology, scheduled to start later this spring.

For further information, promo requests or to set up an interview, please contact A Touch Of Omari at (704) 484-3508 or at omaridesign@ att.net

Hmmm am I wrong for saying I didn't know he had the 1st one! Weird so many other artists dont even get that and he does. No offense, I'm just confused yet interested in why.

Hopefully,this time he will include the full-length version of "I'm Freaky".The previous compilation featured a single edit,which was really lame.

BitetheBeat said:

Hmmm am I wrong for saying I didn't know he had the 1st one! Weird so many other artists dont even get that and he does. No offense, I'm just confused yet interested in why.

In all honestly,I can't see the point of a 2-CD anthology.He only had 3 or 4 hits.I guess they're gonna fill up the rest of the discs with album tracks?

SoulAlive said:

BitetheBeat said:

Hmmm am I wrong for saying I didn't know he had the 1st one! Weird so many other artists dont even get that and he does. No offense, I'm just confused yet interested in why.

In all honestly,I can't see the point of a 2-CD anthology.He only had 3 or 4 hits.I guess they're gonna fill up the rest of the discs with album tracks?

He had few more than 3 or 4 hits.

With him only releasing 4 albums for Capitol, maybe the 2 discs will contain all 4 albums with may a few of the 12in singles.

daPrettyman said:

SoulAlive said:

In all honestly,I can't see the point of a 2-CD anthology.He only had 3 or 4 hits.I guess they're gonna fill up the rest of the discs with album tracks?

He had few more than 3 or 4 hits.

With him only releasing 4 albums for Capitol, maybe the 2 discs will contain all 4 albums with may a few of the 12in singles.

That would be a good idea....releasing the entire 4 albums on those two discs It makes more sense.

Coming from Capitol as well, its just kinda shocking. IDK,I just think its lofty. Sorry.

Actually, Capitol Records is not releasing the anthology -- O'Bryan is releasing it on his own label, Headstorm.

And yes, it will have the full album version of "I'm Freaky." In fact, all of the songs will be the full album versions, save for several that will be extended or remix versions.

Hmmm......

SoulAlive said:

daPrettyman said:

He had few more than 3 or 4 hits.

With him only releasing 4 albums for Capitol, maybe the 2 discs will contain all 4 albums with may a few of the 12in singles.

That would be a good idea....releasing the entire 4 albums on those two discs It makes more sense.

I would rather have them seperately

It's not the entire four albums being released on two discs, though. As stated, 26 of the 32 songs from O'Bryan's Capitol catalog will be on "You And I: The Very Best Of O'Bryan" -- meaning six songs are not on the anthology.

[Edited 2/17/12 7:46am]

Artists are allowed to do this? It reminds me of this off-label collection I have of Michael Henderson. It has all of the hits but it's some cheap/random label I've never heard of.

MidniteMagnet said:

Artists are allowed to do this? It reminds me of this off-label collection I have of Michael Henderson. It has all of the hits but it's some cheap/random label I've never heard of.

Capitol is giving O'Bryan the master license approval for the songs, so the masters are coming from the music company. Record labels sign off on master licenses to third-party issuers to release its music all the time (of course, in this case this is a two-party negotiation because the party releasing the music is the original artist). Cherry Red Records and Big Break Records are but two examples of this.

In other words, this is no bootleg or under-the-table release. This project is being signed off by Capitol. I'm not familiar with the Michael Henderson release you mentioned, but just because it wasn't released by a "name" label does not mean it is of inferior quality.

[Edited 2/17/12 8:49am]

Wonder how much that cost him.

BitetheBeat said:

Wonder how much that cost him.

Not nearly as much as you may think. A lot of the cost for issuing a master license goes to paying advances to the performer and the songwriters for the use of the songs, and since the music issuer requesting the license is both the performer and primary songwriter that eliminates that cost.

[Edited 2/17/12 9:06am]

^Pretty cool info! Love to know about stuff like that! Wonder if there is like a base/general price for both singer/songwriters and just singers.

BitetheBeat said:

^Pretty cool info! Love to know about stuff like that! Wonder if there is like a base/general price for both singer/songwriters and just singers.

The negotiation process depends on a lot of factors, including when the artists' music has been released for distribution and how many editions have been printed over the years. Also, it helps that O'Bryan only was with one recording label so it is a lot easier to negotiate such rights for an anthology of his music.

In O'Bryan's case, Capitol also does not have the advantage of saying it has been releasing O'Bryan's music, citing that such an approval would mean it would forfeit revenue. Keep in mind, O'Bryan's last album "Surrender" was released 25 years ago, so for more than two decades Capitol had every opportunity to release his albums on CD and MP3 and chose not to do it.

On the flip side, O'Bryan has not made much of any royalties on his music the past 20-plus years because his music largely has not been in print. Save for The Right Stuff anthology released in 1996 and some various artists compilations that may feature one of his songs, O'Bryan's music has been out of circulation. So it would be a difficult argument for Capitol to ask for certain things or concessions from saying it paid O'Bryan a certain amount of money for his music over the years -- in this case, advantage: O'Bryan.

[Edited 2/17/12 9:41am]

Thanks! Does anyone know whats he's been up to? How he's able to afford this.

BitetheBeat said:

Thanks! Does anyone know whats he's been up to? How he's able to afford this.

For the past year, O'Bryan has been planning a comeback to the music scene. He is planning to do a national performance tour starting in late spring to early summer, in coordination of the release of "You And I: The Very Best Of O'Bryan." The timing of Don Cornelius' death has thrown back some of the timeline, of course.

From there, there are talks of other projects -- including the re-release of "F1RST" (currently only available in a digital version) and a new album.

[Edited 2/17/12 9:19am]

^Thanks,I assume he doesn't live in the US.

BitetheBeat said:

^Thanks,I assume he doesn't live in the US.

O'Bryan still lives in the United States, though he moved from California years ago.

Really I'm surprised b/c I never hear him or of him. I just had this notion that he was overseas just touring or had some semi-recent recordings elsewhere in the world.

BitetheBeat said:

Really I'm surprised b/c I never hear him or of him. I just had this notion that he was overseas just touring or had some semi-recent recordings elsewhere in the world.

O'Bryan left the recording industry to raise his family. With the changes in the music industry and his children more grown, he released "F1RST" in 2007. But only in the past year or so with a recent interest in '80s R&B artists (and talking with Karyn White, who started her career as a backup singer in O'Bryan's touring band) has he felt the need to get back out there.

I addressed some of these things in the Don Cornelius thread that popped up when Cornelius died, so feel free to reference it.

[Edited 2/17/12 9:36am]

Okay thanks for the info. I was away and missed that thread...although I wouldn't have made the connection of him and Don anyway. Its just weird I hear of & have seen Karyn after she walked away just not him.

[Edited 2/17/12 9:44am]

BitetheBeat said:

Okay thanks for the info. I was away and missed that thread...although I wouldn't have made the connection of him and Don anyway. Its just weird I hear of & have seen Karyn after she walked away just not him.

A lot of what we have seen from Karyn White since her last album in the mid-1990s has been her association with her ex-husband, producer Terry Lewis. She also became an interior designer and home decorator for some upscale Beverly Hills houses before she decided to get back into the recording industry.

In any event, I hope that answered your questions about what is going on with O'Bryan's anthology and upcoming plans.

[Edited 2/17/12 10:05am]

MusickMan said:

MidniteMagnet said:

Artists are allowed to do this? It reminds me of this off-label collection I have of Michael Henderson. It has all of the hits but it's some cheap/random label I've never heard of.

Capitol is giving O'Bryan the master license approval for the songs, so the masters are coming from the music company. Record labels sign off on master licenses to third-party issuers to release its music all the time (of course, in this case this is a two-party negotiation because the party releasing the music is the original artist). Cherry Red Records and Big Break Records are but two examples of this.

In other words, this is no bootleg or under-the-table release. This project is being signed off by Capitol. I'm not familiar with the Michael Henderson release you mentioned, but just because it wasn't released by a "name" label does not mean it is of inferior quality.

[Edited 2/17/12 8:49am]

So, I take it that Capitol will still own the master recordings and O'Bryan is just releasing them on his own (like an imprint label)?

daPrettyman said:

MusickMan said:

Capitol is giving O'Bryan the master license approval for the songs, so the masters are coming from the music company. Record labels sign off on master licenses to third-party issuers to release its music all the time (of course, in this case this is a two-party negotiation because the party releasing the music is the original artist). Cherry Red Records and Big Break Records are but two examples of this.

In other words, this is no bootleg or under-the-table release. This project is being signed off by Capitol. I'm not familiar with the Michael Henderson release you mentioned, but just because it wasn't released by a "name" label does not mean it is of inferior quality.

[Edited 2/17/12 8:49am]

So, I take it that Capitol will still own the master recordings and O'Bryan is just releasing them on his own (like an imprint label)?

Yes. Current copyright laws state that O'Bryan has to wait 35 years from the original recording dates before he can file the request to revert ownership to him. Until then, he has to file for the license for approval. As it is, "Doin' Alright" was released 30 years ago come April. Until then, he's going to have the license and will keep renewing it to prevent some third-party issuer from trying to capitalize off his music.

[Edited 2/17/12 11:44am]

HuMpThAnG said:

SoulAlive said:

That would be a good idea....releasing the entire 4 albums on those two discs It makes more sense.

I would rather have them seperately

I agree.

Except this is an anthology, not a package of all four of O'Bryan's albums put onto two CDs (which would make it a complete collection). Someone made that assumption that this was a complete collection and another person or two ran with it.

The release states that 26 songs from O'Bryan's albums will be included. All four of O'Bryan's albums had eight songs each, meaning his albums had a total of 32 songs. So you can do the math and see not all of his songs will be on this set.

Also, there are two previously unreleased tracks on "You And I: The Very Best Of O'Bryan," meaning there are a total of 28 tracks on this collection.

[Edited 2/17/12 12:52pm]

SoulAlive said:

Hopefully,this time he will include the full-length version of "I'm Freaky".The previous compilation featured a single edit,which was really lame.

In all fairness to O'Bryan, "he" didn't have much say-so in the creation of 1996's "The Best Of O'Bryan." He basically did the interview for the liner notes, but the anthology was largely put together by The Right Stuff and disc jockey Kevin James. It's fair to say O'Bryan would not supervise the decision to add edited versions of three of his biggest hit songs, "I'm Freaky," "You And I" and "Lovelite."

In contrast, O'Bryan is co-leading the development of "You And I: The Very Best Of O'Bryan," as well as the mass production, marketing and distribution. This will be a much better presentation of his Captiol Records collection.