We're close to that most wonderful time of the year, folks! No, not Christmas, but - well, yeah, I guess Christmas is closer than we'd all wish it would be. But ANYWAY, the wonderful time I was alluding to is Record Store Day's Black Friday event. The day after Thanksgiving, our beloved local independent record stores join forces with major and independent labels alike to release special exclusive treats as a way of thanking us for patronizing their businesses.
While a full list of RSD exclusives has yet to materialize, at least one of our favorite reissue labels has announced their release slate for that November weekend: Omnivore Recordings is planning four very special 10" vinyl EPs and a double-disc set of familiar works by a power-pop artist in a very unfamiliar way.
Let's have a look after the jump, shall we?
Omnivore's vinyl offerings for November are a quartet of 10" EPs by four noted Capitol country artists: Merle Haggard, Wanda Jackson, George Jones and Buck Owens. We've seen some cool releases from Owens on Omnivore this year, including a pair of vintage live sets on CD and even a coloring book, but these are the first releases from Haggard, Jackson and Jones on the label. However, they will not be the last; next spring, Omnivore plans to release CD compilations of Haggard's complete '60s Capitol singles and Jones' complete '60s United Artists singles, as well as a best-of for Jackson's Capitol singles from the same decade. (Owens is also getting another double-disc release on Omnivore next year, with Honky Tonk Man: Buck Sings Country Classics, culled from performances on Hee Haw!)
In the meantime, the EPs will feature rare and unreleased gems from the Capitol and United Artists vaults for each artist. (Some have appeared on disc before, be it through Bear Family box sets or other catalogue projects, but all the tracks on these EPs are coming to vinyl for the first time.) Haggard's Capitol Rarities is a six-track affair, half of which were recorded in Nashville's Columbia Recording Studio in March 1966 and half laid down at Capitol Studios in Hollywood three months later. Jackson's Capitol Rarities likewise sees the Queen of Rockabilly on alternate takes of some of her most famous songs from 1956 to 1962, including "In the Middle of a Heartache."
Jones' United Artists Rarities follows the same tack, collating six more alternate tracks from his venerated discography (including two duets with Melba Montgomery). Owens' EP breaks that theme; in advance of the Hee Haw recordings (live-in-studio passes heard on the famed variety show combined with unreleased guide vocals that were replaced on-air with live performances), four performances from that show, all covers of hits by the Eagles, will be released on the fittingly-titled Buck Sings Eagles.
But is there anything for the CD enthusiast out there on Black Friday? Happily, yes! Omnivore follows their vinyl reissues of both albums by '90s power-pop icons Jellyfish (and a previously-unreleased live show) with an intriguing set: Stack-a-Tracks. This two-disc package includes alternate, mostly instrumental mixes of the band's studio albums Bellybutton and Spilt Milk - not new multitrack mixes, but "reimagined" versions prepared by the band and their producers in the studio, transferred to CD from the original 1/4" master tapes. ("Some background vocals appear," the label promises, hopefully reassuring fans for whom the band's perfect vocal harmonies were the main attraction.) Featuring new artwork in a limited edition digipak, Stack-a-Tracks will be limited to 2,500 copies.
Below, you'll find the track lists for all of Omnivore's new Black Friday releases. Happy hunting!
Merle Haggard, Capitol Rarities (Omnivore, 2012)
Side 1
- I Threw Away the Rose (Nashville Version)
- I’m a Lonesome Fugitive (Nashville Version)
- Loneliness is Eating Me Alive (Nashville Version)
Side 2
- Someone Told My Story (Early Version)
- I Threw Away the Rose (Early Hollywood Version)
- Hang Up My
All tracks on Side 1 recorded Columbia Recording Studios, Nashville - 3/2/1966
All tracks on Side 2 recorded Capitol Recording Studios, Hollywood - 6/2/1966
Wanda Jackson, Capitol Rarities (Omnivore, 2012)
Side 1
- Step by Step (Originally Unissued Outtake - recorded 6/8/1956)
- In the Middle of a Heartache (Originally Unissued Version - recorded 1/6/1960)
- The Wrong Kind of Girl (Originally Unissued Outtake - recorded 1/6/1960)
Side 2
- I Cried Again (Originally Unissued Version - recorded 4/18/1961)
- Before I Lose My Mind (Originally Unissued Outtake - recorded 10/31/1961)
- To Tell You the Truth (Originally Unissued Take 14 - recorded 4/26/1962)
George Jones, United Artists Rarities (Omnivore, 2012)
Side 1
- Let's Go Home (Originally Unissued Outtake - recorded 1/16/1964)
- I Saw Me (Originally Unissued Version - recorded 3/13/1962)
- Will There Ever Be Another (with Melba Montgomery) (Originally Unissued Take - recorded 1/14/1964)
Side 2
- Is This How a Broken Heart Dies (Originally Unissued Outtake - recorded 1/16/1964)
- Wouldn't It Be Something (Originally Unissued Outtake - recorded 1/16/1964)
- Alabama (with Melba Montgomery) (Originally Unissued Outtake - recorded 5/24/1963)
Buck Owens, Buck Sings Eagles (Omnivore, 2012)
Side 1
- Take It Easy
- Peaceful, Easy Feeling
Side 2
- Lyin' Eyes
- Tequila Sunrise
Jellyfish, Stack-a-Tracks (Omnivore, 2012)
Disc 1: Bellybutton
- The Man I Used to Be
- That is Why
- The King is Half-Undressed
- I Wanna Stay Home
- She Still Loves Him
- All I Want is Everything
- Now She Knows She's Wrong
- Bedspring Kiss
- Baby's Coming Back
- Calling Sarah
Disc 2: Spilt Milk
- Hush
- Joining a Fan Club
- Sebrina, Paste, and Plato
- New Mistake
- Glutton of Sympathy
- The Ghost at Number One
- Bye, Bye, Bye
- All is Forgiven
- Russian Hill
- He's My Best Friend
- Too Much, Too Little, Too Late
- Brighter Day
Release Round-Up: Week of March 28
My Heart Skips a Beat: Omnivore Premieres Long-Lost Buck Owens Concert
The Weekend Stream: February 11, 2023
Release Round-Up: Week of October 7
Mike Duquette wrote: "our beloved local independent record stores join forces with major and independent labels alike to release special exclusive treats as a way of thanking us for patronizing their businesses."
Is THAT what they are doing? It seems to me that all they do is irriatate those who just want to purchase and listen to music by putting out very limited quantities of desireable titles and limiting those who can get them..Many people have no access to an independent reciord store. The closest ones to me are over 100 miles away. I have yet to ever be able to get a title I wanted on Record Store Day. Three times I have been at (different) stores when they opened and I have never seen an item I was looking for.Last time I wanted the Dave Brubeck Octet title. All the stores I went to said they never received a copy. I believe them because I don't think they would sell out when they still have copies of Beatles singles boxes on the shelves. Dave Brubeck just ain't that big a seller. It's frustrating and irritating. Not a treat for me. It excludes those who don't have a local store that they can frequent often enough to create a relationship with so the staff will put away the items you want (assuming the record label deigns to send them a copy or two). I will never waste time going to another Record Store Day, even though this time there are at least 5 titles I would love to get.
Sorry to vent about this here but this "event" is a real sore spot for me.
I agree. I understand the idea of collectibles, and I can see why they'd want to make the Jellyfish discs limited, but on Black Friday? That's not going to happen. It's a pity Omnivore went this route.
Looking at the Omnivore site, they do mention it's a "limited first edition", so perhaps that means they'll give it a general release after November.
Yeah, I really wanna get the Jellyfish set and I hope that you're right that the "limited first edition" applies only to the packaging and that the music will be available (on CD of course) generally as well. Otherwise, I know this is a cult band but considering how in-demand the colored vinyl was, it's inevitable that previously unreleased material is going to sell out fast and go for huge amounts secondhand.
I completely agree. These seem to really be designed for the inflated after-market deals on EBay and on the "behind-the-counter" jacked up pricing in some of those independent stores.
The whole thing stinks so bad that I rarely even bother to learn about the details.
The independent store in my town is run by a thief anyway.
I sympathize with the folks who don't live near a participating store. For those who do, the cavalcade of releases every time RSD has an event is increasingly full of unwieldly nonsense and fleeting novelties. The parade of 10" vinyl has become an RSD trademark and many of these platters are designed in nonsensical ways: for example, why two separate 10" EPs of Pete Townshend's Quadrophenia Demos issued six months apart when a double LP would be so much nicer and practical? Don't get me started on the endless unnecessary 7" reissues or, worse, the phony "collector's" 45s that cobble together a modern artist's cover and the original. RSD is neat in some respects and I've gotten numerous cool things from it. It also helps record stores get into the black, which is no small feat. The collector, though, is forced to either forego the goodies he wants because he doesn't live near a store, or forced to decide whether or not to spend hundreds on what really amount, in a great many cases, to pre-fabricated collectables. Go to a store that got everything its staff ordered and look at the backlog of Mick Rock Tins or other junk no one wants. My local has boxes and boxes of Beatles 7" sets and Pink Floyd 7" sets and so on, and they can't give 'em away. eBay is clogged with hundreds of such items; do a search for "completed listings" and you'll see endless auctions of these items that ended with no bids. RSD, for all its positive points, has turned its biannual day of excitement into something little better than hawking Pez dispensers.
The analogy with Pez dispensers is good. Something that just ejects junk candy that rots your teeth.
Any idea of how much this Jellyfish set will go for? I looked on the Omnivore website and it's unclear to me...
To me RSD stuff is too overpriced and you have to drive two time zones to go a decent music store to have them. The Foo Fighters rarites LP probably only thing worth getting was sold out when I went to local music store but in going to a AZ music store, they still quite a bit RSD stuff that didn't sell. Some of the Sundazed 45s are fine but to me they're a luxury and a luxury that I can live without. Just a thought.
Good luck to the ebayers who are fortunate enough to live in the right city, in the right country, and be available at the right time at the right day (namely, Record Shop Day or whatever it is),to be able to purchase the Jellyfish stuff. I won't be paying your inflated prices for them. But as an English man living nowhere near a decent record shop I'd like to ask Omnivore if they'll please release them for me to buy from them or Amazon at any point soon. Please?
Looks like the Stack-A-Tracks release will be on Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009PSG6LK/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_2?ie=UTF8&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER