By Larry Nager
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Hidden Treasures won't be hidden much longer.

Tuesday, the tribute to Cincinnati's King Records that features classic R&B, rock, blues and country songs redone by well-known Cincinnati musicians will be released nationally through Ryko Distributing.

Produced as a benefit album for the Inclusion Network, Hidden Treasures received rave reviews from local media when it was released in October. In March, it won the Enquirer 2003 Cammy Award for recording of the year.

Hidden Treasures has sold 8,000 copies in the Tristate, a phenomenal number for a local compilation CD. Performers include Bootsy Collins, Peter Frampton, Over The Rhine, the Ass Ponys and Blessid Union of Souls.

"We basically sold out in five months," says Neal Mayerson, the CD's executive producer and chairman of the board of the Inclusion Network, which works to bring disabled Cincinnatians into the mainstream.

Mayerson said the remaining 2,000 copies of the first printing of 10,000 were held back to satisfy preorders for the initial national release. "Ryko will get us into all the major chains and the independent stores," he said.

Operating from the mid-40s through the late '60s, King was one of the first integrated record labels and a pioneer in the development of R&B, bluegrass, country and rock 'n' roll.

Such classics as "Good Rocking Tonight," "Fever," "Hide Away," "The Twist" and "The Train Kept A-Rolling" were first heard on King and its subsidiary labels. All are covered on Hidden Treasures.

E-mail lnager@enquirer.com

Read Larry Nager's review of the CD