It was late in 2015 when audiences across the country watched Aretha Franklin take the stage at The Kennedy Center Honors to salute honoree Carole King. The undisputed Queen of Soul tore into King, Gerry Goffin, and Jerry Wexler's "(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman" with blazing intensity and thrilling authenticity. She had not just sung these lyrics but lived them. Nearing the song's finale, she simply but defiantly dropped her fur coat to the floor, creating an instant viral moment
Can’t Forget You: Cherry Pop Collects Sonia’s SAW Singles on “Everybody Knows: The Singles Box Set”
Liverpool native Sonia - born Sonia Evans - became the first female artist in the U.K. to spin five hit singles off one album. The album was 1990's Everybody Knows, and the singles were "You'll Never Stop Me Loving You" (No. 1), "Can't Forget You" (No. 17), "Listen to Your Heart" (No. 10), "Counting Every Minute" (No. 16), and "End of the World" (No. 18). Now, Cherry Pop has put together a 6-CD box set based around those five singles, with a bonus disc featuring "You've Got a Friend," Sonia's
(Re-)Enter Sandman: Metallica Expands “The Black Album” to Epic Proportions, Releases All-Star Charity Tribute Album
Metallica's self-titled 1991 album - otherwise known as The Black Album - turns 30 this year, and the band isn't about to let that milestone go unnoticed. The Black Album gave the band its first chart-topping album in ten countries, including the U.S. where it spent four weeks atop the Billboard 200. It also yielded a string of singles led by "Enter Sandman," a No. 16 hit on the Hot 100. To date, Metallica remains the biggest-selling album in the history of Nielsen's SoundScan, a testament to
The Beat of Our Hearts: Bear Family Collects Definitive Survey of “R&B in D.C. 1940-1960” Featuring Early Recordings of Marvin Gaye, Don Covay, Billy Stewart
Washington, D.C. is associated with a great many things...but R&B? Leave it to German label Bear Family to take the emphasis off politics to uncover a lost chapter of the American capital's rich story. R&B in D.C. 1940-1960 is the name of the upcoming LP-size, 16-CD box set comprehensively surveying two decades of regional music as only Bear Family can - with 472 tracks (that's around 20 hours of music) and a 352-page hardcover book. This one-of-a-kind set is due on September 3 and
All I Want: Joni Mitchell Releases “Blue 50” EP with Unreleased Tracks, “Archives Vol. 2” Arrives in October
Fifty years ago tomorrow -June 22, 1971 - Joni Mitchell released Blue. The singer-songwriter's fourth studio album, Blue was raw, intense, emotional, beautiful, moving, and hugely influential. In short, it was the kind of album that only comes along once a generation - if that. Mitchell recently discussed its legacy with filmmaker-journalist Cameron Crowe for The Los Angeles Times. She observed, "The most feedback that I got was that I had gone too far and was exposing too much of myself. I
Get In The Swing: Waxwork Preps Soundtrack to Sparks Documentary “The Sparks Brothers”
Director Edgar Wright's new film The Sparks Brothers (in theatres now) rewrites the book on music documentaries. The film about cult band Sparks - a.k.a. brothers Ron and Russell Mael, long more popular in Europe than in the U.S. - doesn't have much in the way of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. As for what it does have of "rock and roll," it's something altogether more outré, not to mention endlessly inventive. The Sparks Brothers sheds little light on Ron and Russell Mael's personal lives and
The Weekend Stream: June 19, 2021
While The Second Disc prides itself on connecting people to reissues and box sets they can keep on their shelves, it's no secret that listening audiences are also digital - catalogue music lovers, too - and our passion is connecting people to music from the past that they might adore. So we've introduced a new Saturday feature: The Weekend Stream, which focuses on hidden gems that recently made it to digital channels that might make your playlists a little brighter! Henry Mancini, Condorman:
Do I Ever Cross Your Mind: Ray Charles’ Post-Atlantic Recordings Explored on “True Genius” Box Set
Ray Charles formed Tangerine Records in 1962 as part of the creative freedom he earned by jumping from Atlantic Records to ABC-Paramount. In addition to many of his Charles' own recordings, Tangerine issued music from Louis Jordan, Percy Mayfield, Jimmy Scott, Ike and Tina Turner, and other artists championed by The Genius. The label closed in 1973 when Charles departed the ABC roster, but the Ray Charles Foundation has recently reactivated it for a special 6-CD anthology celebrating its
Release Round-Up: Week of June 18
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Joe Jackson and Todd Rundgren featuring Ethel, State Theater, New Jersey 2005 (Purple Pyramid) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Todd Rundgren and Joe Jackson's 2005 international tour featuring post-classical string quartet Ethel is brought to a 2CD/DVD set from Purple Pyramid collecting all three artists' sets plus the encore which brought them together. Both Jackson and Rundgren performed solo for sets blending fan favorites with
Short Takes: The Beatles Confirm Release Date of “Get Back” Film, Diana Ross Releases First Single from Upcoming Album
Director Peter Jackson's long-awaited documentary The Beatles: Get Back finally has a confirmed home and release date. Today, Walt Disney Studios, Apple Corps, and WingNut Films Productions revealed that Get Back will not be released as a traditional theatrical film but rather will take the form of a three-part series, with each part clocking in at roughly two hours. Part One of the Academy Award-winning filmmaker's in-depth examination of the Let It Be period will debut on November 25 on
Good Grief! “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” Returns on Pumpkin-Shaped Vinyl
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! The Emmy-nominated 1966 television special was the third overall for Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts series and the second to be holiday-themed, after A Charlie Brown Christmas. It earned a whopping 49 share in the ratings and was so successful that CBS re-aired it every year through 2000, with ABC picking up the tradition after that. Yet despite a beloved score by Vince Guaraldi (who else?), a soundtrack album to Great Pumpkin had never been released in any
Wrong Side of the Tracks: Run Out Groove Reissues Biohazard’s “Urban Discipline,” Votes Open for Next Release with Monkees, More
The votes are in, and the next title to be released by Run Out Groove will be a 2-LP, 30th anniversary deluxe vinyl edition of metal band Biohazard's 1992 sophomore album Urban Discipline. Pre-orders are open now for this set which will feature bonus tracks making their debut on vinyl as well as an exclusive fold-out poster. The Brooklyn-formed band came together in 1987 and is now recognized as one of the earliest groups to fuse hardcore metal, punk, and rap/hip-hop. The four-piece line-up
Shine It on Me: Cherry Red Celebrates Guitarist Ray Fenwick on New Anthology
In a career spanning eight decades, guitarist Ray Fenwick has played pop, prog, hard rock, rhythm and blues, rock-and-roll, and just about every genre conceivable. He's curated a new 3-CD compendium for Cherry Red's Lemon imprint appropriately entitled Playing Through the Changes: Anthology 1964-2020, bringing together 61 tracks (some previously unreleased and new to CD) on which his guitar is heard alongside The Spencer Davis Group, Roger Glover, Ronnie James Dio, David Coverdale, Bo Diddley,
Tenor Madness: John Coltrane’s Sideman Work with Davis, Rollins, Monk, More Explored on “Another Side of John Coltrane”
Before recording his first solo session as a leader in May 1957, John Coltrane had already established his mastery of the saxophone as an in-demand sideman. He'd previously appeared on albums by Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Bostic, Johnny Hodges, Sonny Rollins, and Miles Davis; even after "graduating" to leader status, he continued to appear on albums by his many friends. Now, Craft Recordings is collecting the best of Coltrane the sideman on a new collection. Another Side of John Coltrane, due on
Bohemian Rhapsodies: A Closer Look at Vinyl Me Please’s Reissues of Queen’s “A Night at the Opera” and Al Green’s “Call Me”
In April, record club Vinyl Me Please announced that it would be restoring some previously out-of-print titles to the catalogue to celebrate 100 releases in the club's Essentials series. (See the list of all ten titles here.) We've given a spin to the re-presses of Queen's A Night at the Opera and Al Green's Call Me. For Queen, too much was never enough. That attitude is perhaps best embodied by the band's fourth album, 1975's A Night at the Opera. While the title was derived from the Marx
Who Would Have Dreamed: Kritzerland Reissues More Cole Porter, Maltby and Shire Musical “The Sap of Life”
Today we're looking at two upcoming releases from the Kritzerland label. Kritzerland is continuing its series of Ben Bagley's Revisited titles with the third entry dedicated to the music and lyrics of Cole Porter. The Peru, Indiana native was among the most sophisticated tunesmiths of an era brimming with them. The master of wordplay also overflowed with melody, and Ben Bagley dedicated numerous releases to exploring the lesser-known side of his song catalogue from the cast recording of his
The Weekend Stream: June 12, 2021
Janis Joplin, Janis (Columbia/Legacy) (iTunes / Spotify / Amazon) A surprise digital vault drop from the late blues singer, this is the double album from 1974 that offered a soundtrack to the film of the same name. You get some of her most famous singles, with Big Brother and The Holding Company and on her own, plus live cuts, interview snippets, and - for the entirety of the set's second disc - more than a dozen early performances cut between 1963 and 1965. Part greatest hits, part, archival
The Second Disc Guide to Record Store Day Drop 1 TOMORROW!
Once again, Record Store Day here in the U.S. looks a little - make that a lot - different this year. The usual offerings have been split among two dates in 2021 with Drop 1 taking place tomorrow, June 12, at your local independent record retailer. Drop 2 then takes place on July 17. Every retailer is handling the Drop a bit differently thanks to the necessary accommodations for social distancing, smaller crowds, and better safety precautions. So please check in with your favorite store to
Release Round-Up: Week of June 11
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Black Sabbath, Sabotage: Super Deluxe Edition (Warner/Rhino) 4CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Rhino.com 4LP/7″: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Rhino.com Rhino is expanding Black Sabbath's 1975 album Sabotage to 4CD and 4LP/7″ proportions. The upcoming Super Deluxe Edition boasts a remastered version of the original album plus a complete live show from Sabbath's 1975 tour. The vinyl version only includes a bonus
I’d Have You Anytime: George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass” Celebrates 50 Years with Deluxe Box, More
When George Harrison's All Things Must Pass was released in November 1970, The Beatles seemed to be in the rearview mirror. The Fab Four had last recorded together in August 1969. John Lennon privately announced his intentions to leave the group in September of that year; in April 1970, Paul McCartney formalized the breakup with a press release announcing he was no longer working with the band. All Things Must Pass was titled after Harrison's majestic, elegiac composition which was written
Better Get It Together: Real Gone Preps 50th Anniversary Edition of Eugene McDaniels’ “Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse”
We've already told you about the vinyl edition of the Olivia Newton-John-led Toomorrow soundtrack coming in July from Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records, but Real Gone has even more on their slate for next month. First up is 50th anniversary vinyl reissue of an album that is still as timely as when it was written: Eugene McDaniels' Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse. Born in Kansas in 1935, Eugene "Gene" McDaniels was performing at jazz clubs in California when he came to the attention
After Midnight: Eric Clapton’s Solo Debut Expanded to 4 CDs on Upcoming Box Set
Following incendiary stints with The Yardbirds, John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers, Cream, and Blind Faith, Eric Clapton struck out on his own in late 1969. By March 1970, he'd amassed enough material to comprise his solo debut for Polydor (in the U.K.) and Atco (in the U.S.). Released in August of that year, Eric Clapton reintroduced the guitar god. It still showcased his fiery blues riffs but in service of a more laid-back blend of pop, soul, gospel, and country. On August 20, UMe and
Oooh-Oooh-Oooh: Craft Recordings Marks 75 Years of Specialty Records with New Compilation
Like so many others, Art Rupe came to California to find fame and fortune. But in doing so, Rupe broke new ground. The Pennsylvania native had grown up listening to the music coming from the local, primarily African-American Baptist church. He'd fallen in love with gospel and studied the adjacent sounds of rhythm and blues which were growing in popularity. Rather than water down the music in a supposed attempt to reach white audiences, he was determined to release it with all its raw power.
Honky Tonk Stardust Cowboy: Cherry Red, Morello Reissue Three Columbia Albums from Lefty Frizzell
Cherry Red's Morello imprint is opening up the honky-tonks. The label has remembered late country legend Lefty Frizzell with an expanded three-for-one release drawn from Frizzell's mid-sixties recordings for Columbia Records (where his recording career began in 1950). Saginaw, Michigan/The Sad Side of Love/Puttin' On + 16 Bonus Tracks offers a total of 51 tracks including three complete albums and a selection of singles spanning 1964-1971. William Orville "Lefty" Frizzell (1928-1975) was
The Weekend Stream: June 5, 2021
While The Second Disc prides itself on connecting people to reissues and box sets they can keep on their shelves, it's no secret that listening audiences are also digital - catalogue music lovers, too - and our passion is connecting people to music from the past that they might adore. So we've introduced a new Saturday feature: The Weekend Stream, which focuses on hidden gems that recently made it to digital channels that might make your playlists a little brighter! Nelly Furtado, Loose
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