Release Round-Up: Week of May 27

May 27, 2016 By Joe Marchese — 1 Comment

Hey! Hey! Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up!

The Monkees, Good Times (Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Good Times sure lives up to its name, and then some! Here’s a new Monkees album featuring Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, Mike Nesmith and the late Davy Jones, produced by Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger and featuring a slew of exciting new songs by Schlesinger, Noel Gallagher, Rivers Cuomo, Ben Gibbard, and Andy Partridge alongside newly-completed recordings of tunes by Neil Diamond, Carole King, Jeff Barry and the late Harry Nilsson (who duets with Dolenz on the title track). What’s not to like? It all adds up to one of the most eagerly-anticipated albums of 2016! Note that several retailer-exclusive bonus tracks are available via FYE, HDTracks/iTunes, and Barnes and Noble (the latter in conjunction with the upcoming vinyl release). Watch for our review later today!

Frank Zappa, Lumpy Money (Zappa Records/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

UMe/Zappa Records returns 2008’s Lumpy Money “Project/Object” deluxe edition – celebrating and expanding musical iconoclast (and Monkee pal) Frank Zappa’s seminal albums Lumpy Gravy and We’re Only In It for the Money – to print in a wide-release edition. The set features 72 tracks on 3 CDs (including the 1967 Capitol version of Lumpy Gravy, the original mono mix of Money, Zappa’s 1984 remixed versions, and more), as well as liner notes by David Fricke and the late Gail Zappa. Note to U.K. readers that the Amazon U.K. price is currently astronomical; do check out the U.S. link as well!

Frank Zappa, Road Tapes Venues 1-3 (Zappa Records/UMe)

Venue 1: Kerrisdale Arena, Vancouver, BC – August 25, 1968 (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Venue 2: Finlandia Hall, Helsinki, Finland – August 23-24, 1973 (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Venue 3: Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis, Minnesota – July 5, 1970 (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This web-exclusive release series comes to wide release from Zappa/UMe. Volume 1’s 1968 concert is derived from a mono reel-to-reel tape. Volume 2, featuring George Duke, Jean Luc Ponty and Ruth Underwood, was recorded by engineer Kerry McNabb. The third volume, with Flo & Eddie, George Duke, Ian Underwood, Aynsley Dunbar & Jeff Simmons among the line-up, was recorded on stereo reel-to-reel but “not without problems,” per Zappa Records. Still, these two complete rare shows have become fan favorites.

The Muffs, Blonder and Blonder (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The Muffs’ 1995 Blonder and Blonder featured 14 Kim Shattuck-penned originals, including the hit single “Sad Tomorrow.” With Shattuck, Ronnie Barnett and new drummer Roy McDonald comprising the line-up, the Rob Cavallo-produced Blonder became the band’s biggest selling album. Omnivore adds seven bonus tracks (2 U.K. B-sides, and 5 previously unissued Shattuck demos) on CD and also presents the original LP on vinyl for the first time in over two decades (first pressing on baby blue vinyl, with black to follow). The reissue includes photos, drawings, memorabilia, and essays from Barnett and McDonald, as well as track-by-track notes from Shattuck.

Miles Davis and Robert Glasper, Everything’s Beautiful (Columbia/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Spearheaded by pianist-producer Robert Glasper, Everything’s Beautiful incorporates original recordings by the late Miles Davis into new “collaborative soundscapes” by guest artists including Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu, Ledisi and John Scofield. For these genre-bending journeys incorporating jazz, R&B, hip-hop, rap and soul, Davis tracks including “Blue in Green,” “In a Silent Way,” “The Ghetto Walk” and “Right Off” were sampled, isolating elements from the original session multitracks and weaving them into wholly new compositions. Also available on vinyl.

The Wailers, The Wailing Wailers (Studio One) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Studio One has restored the original cover artwork of The Wailers’ 1965 LP debut for this remastered edition. Bob Marley’s reggae classics are joined by covers of songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David and William Bell.

Original 2015 New York Cast Recording, Paint Your Wagon (Masterworks Broadway) (Amazon U.S.)

Sony’s Masterworks Broadway has the cast recording of last year’s NYC Encores! production of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s Paint Your Wagon, starring Keith Carradine, Jenni Barber, Alexandra Socha, Justin Guarini and Robert Creighton!

1962 Studio Cast Recording, Carousel (Stage Door Records) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Stage Door brings this 1962 studio recording produced by Enoch Light to CD. Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel has Alfred Drake as Billy Bigelow, joined by Roberta Peters, Claramae Turner (reprising her on-screen role of Nettie Fowler), Lee Venora, Norman Treigle and Jon Cain. Jay Blackton conducts. The disc is rounded out by highlights from Drake and Peters’ follow-up album produced by Enoch Light, celebrating the songbook of Leonard Bernstein. Both recordings make their debut on CD and have been remastered from stereo reel to reel tape. The release is made possible via current U.K. public domain laws. Stage Door’s Collector’s Series titles are limited to 500 units and are housed in mini-LP sleeves.

Original Broadway Cast Recording, Bright Star (Ghostlight) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Ghostlight Records has the Original Cast Recording of Steve Martin and Edie Brickell’s new, Tony-nominated Broadway musical starring Carmen Cusack on CD and DD.

Categories:

Release Round-Up

Formats:

CD, Digital Download, Vinyl

Genres:

Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Jazz, Pop, Rock

Tags:

Bob Marley, Edie Brickell, Frank Zappa, Lerner and Loewe, Miles Davis, Robert Glasper, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Steve Martin, The Monkees, The Muffs, The Wailers

Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song and beyond, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with labels including Real Gone Music and Cherry Red Records, has released newly-curated collections produced and annotated by Joe from iconic artists such as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Spinners, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Meat Loaf, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Darlene Love, Al Stewart, Michael Nesmith, and many others.

Joe has written liner notes, produced, or contributed to over 200 reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them America, JD Souther, Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, BJ Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, and Andy Williams.

Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray.

Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.