Johnny Mathis, You Light Up My Life/Mathis Magic and The Best Days of My Life (Funky Town Grooves)

You Light Up My Life/Mathis Magic: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
The Best Days of My Life: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Funky Town Grooves has not one, but two, releases from the legendary Johnny Mathis!  You Light Up My Life (1978) joins the never-before-on-CD Mathis Magic (1979) on one disc, while FTG's The Best Days of My Life expands the 1979 album with five bonus tracks, two of which are previously unreleased.  The label also has titles this week from Billy Ocean, Hues Corporation and Wynd Chymes - see our release calendar for more details and visit here for track listings and more info on both Mathis titles.

Ron Nagle, Bad Rice: Expanded Edition (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Omnivore takes the 1970 cult classic Warner Bros. LP, co-produced by Jack Nitzsche, and adds bonus tracks to its first-ever CD reissue including an entire disc of demo recordings and more!

The Soul Stirrers, Joy in My Soul: The Complete SAR Recordings / The Valentinos, Lookin' for a Love: The Complete SAR Recordings (ABKCO)

The Soul Stirrers: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
The Valentinos: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

ABKCO continues its program drawn from Sam Cooke's SAR Records label with a 2-CD anthology for The Soul Stirrers and The Valentinos; the latter group featured the five Womack brothers including Bobby and Cecil.  These deluxe anthologies have new liner notes and bonus material!

The Standells, Live on Tour - 1966! / The Shadows of Knight, Live 1966 (Sundazed)

The Standells: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
The Shadows of Knight: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Sundazed turns back the clock to 1966 for a pair of garage rock bands in scorching live concerts!

Rush, Fly by Night: Blu-ray Pure Audio Edition (Mercury/Universal) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

This Blu-ray Pure Audio edition of Rush's 1975 sophomore LP features the original album in high-resolution stereo and surround mixes previously only available on DVD-A as part of the Sector 1 box set.

Johnny Winter, Gangster of Love: The Essential Early Years (Airline/Fuel 2000) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Airline Records/Fuel 2000 collects two discs and 36 tracks of late bluesman Johnny Winter in his pre-Columbia years, recorded for such labels as KRCO, Frolic, Jin and Todd.  Bill Dahl supplies seven pages of detailed liner notes, but the booklet lacks any discographical annotation.

Anthony Newley, Sings the Good Old Bad Old Days (Stage Door) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. )

Stage Door presents an entire disc of Anthony Newley's previously unreleased demo recordings for his 1973 musical The Good Old Bad Old Days, co-written with Leslie Bricusse!

Tyrannosaurus Rex, My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair / Prophets, Seers and Sages: The Angels of the Ages / Unicorn (Universal U.K. )

My People Were Fair: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Prophets, Seers and Sages: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Unicorn: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Universal U.K. gives the 2-CD Deluxe Edition treatment to the first three albums by Marc Bolan and Steve Peregrin Took's pre-glam duo Tyrannosaurus Rex, all boasting copious amounts of previously unissued music and more!

Rainbow, A Light in the Black (Universal U.K.) (Amazon U.S. Link TBD / Amazon U.K.)

This 5-CD/1-DVD retrospective box set anthologizes the Polydor years of Ritchie Blackmore's hard rock band Rainbow.  Previously unreleased live recordings, outtakes, rehearsals and alternate mixes populate this set along with hits and album cuts for a total of 58 tracks on CD.  The DVD features the band's famed 1980  "Monsters of Rock" performance as aired on BBC-TV.  As compiled by Blackmore expert Andy Francis, the label promises that this set "presents the story of the band though words, pictures and music."  The booklet features many rare photos by Ross Halfin as well as memorabilia, picture covers and the story of the band.

Paul Glass, Ethan: Music from the Motion Picture (Kritzerland)

Available for pre-order now from Kritzerland: the score by Paul Glass (Lady in a Cage, Bunny Lake is Missing) to the 1964 film Ethan, paired with Glass' music for the 1960 short George Grosz's Interregnum.  Both scores are presented complete and in stereo from the composer's own tapes!  This release will ship by the last week of February, but pre-orders placed directly through Kritzerland at the link above typically arrive two to four weeks early!