CD CORNER : 3 Shelter Albums Released in Joint Venture

Albums by Leon Russell, Freddie King and the Dwight Twilley Band have been released by DCC Compact Classics as part of the Northridge firm’s new joint venture with Shelter Records.

Marshall Blonstein, president of DCC Compact Classics, said the first three albums from Shelter--Russell’s 1970 solo debut, King’s 1971 “Getting Ready . . . “ and Twilley’s 1976 “Sincerely”--are the first in a series of releases that will include additional albums by Russell, who formed Shelter Records in the late ‘60s with record producer Denny Cordell.

Steve Hoffman, who digitally remastered the albums from Shelter’s master tapes, said Russell’s “Leon Russell and the Shelter People” (1971) and “Carney” (1972) are due in CD next month, along with Phoebe Snow’s 1974 debut album, which contained “Poetry Man.”

Meanwhile, Reprise Records has finally released in this country “Street Life,” a retrospective of the best-known material by Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music. The album, which has been available in England for more than two years, contains 20 songs and runs 74 minutes.

A two-record vinyl set that is being released on a single disc, “Street Life” is especially welcome because there has been so little Roxy Music material available on CD in this country.

The new releases, rated on a scale of one star (poor) to five (classic):

**** Bryan Ferry/Roxy Music’s “Street Life” (Reprise)--Ferry’s solo material is stylish, but his work with Roxy Music is even more involving because the best selections (including “Love Is the Drug” and “More Than This”) combine Ferry’s sentimental romanticism and the somewhat stark, sophisticated textures supplied by his band mates.

** 1/2 Freddie King’s “Getting Ready . . .” (DCC/Shelter)--The late blues singer-guitarist’s most prized work was for King Records in the ‘60s, but these 12-tracks, produced by Russell and Don Nix, provide a respectable showcase of King’s feel for both rock and blues.

*** Leon Russell’s “Leon Russell” (DCC/Shelter)--This album documented Russell’s great instincts for rock’s country, blues and gospel roots and his songwriting skills (“Delta Lady,” “A Song for You”), but his music was served up with even more intensity and spice in the later “Shelter People” and “Leon Live.”

*** 1/2 Dwight Twilley Band’s “Sincerely” (DCC/Shelter)-- Twilley, whose band included singer-drummer Phil Seymour and lead guitarist Bill Pitcock IV, injected this album (and occasional later works) with a marvelously seductive blend of Beatles-style pop-rock and sensual rockabilly. The best tracks here--including “I’m on Fire” and four bonus tracks--reflect youthful rock ‘n’ roll desire as wonderfully as the equally underrated early Box Tops recordings.