Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up!

B.J. Thomas, New Looks from an Old Lover-The Complete Columbia Singles (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

New Looks from an Old Lover – The Complete Columbia Singles from B.J. Thomas gathers up all of the A and B sides the singer recorded for that label during his tenure there in the 1980s including the No. 3 Country hit “Two Car Garage” and two No. 1s: “Whatever Happened To Old-Fashioned Love” and “New Looks from an Old Lover.”  It’s all been newly remastered by Sean Brennan at Battery Studios, and features liner notes from TSD’s Joe Marchese!

Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim (UMe)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Standard Vinyl LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Exclusive Blue Vinyl LP: uDiscoverMusic.com

Sinatra and Jobim’s sublime 1966 Reprise album gets a remastered anniversary reissue with two bonus tracks: a medley of “Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars/Change Partners/I Concentrate on You/The Girl from Ipanema” medley from the A Man and His Music + Ella + Jobim television special; and a previously unreleased alternate take of “The Girl from Ipanema” from the session of January 31, 1966.  Available on CD, DD and LP.  Read the full details here!

David Allan Coe, The Complete Hits (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Controversial country outlaw David Allan Coe signed with Columbia Records in 1974 and would remain there through 1987.  During his tenure, he notched 31 hits on the Country chart including 1983’s No. 4 “The Ride” and the No. 2 “Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile” from 1984.  These 31 hits comprise the tracklisting of Real Gone’s new 2-CD compilation, which features notes from Chris Morris and remastering from Chris LeMonde.

Allen Ginsberg, Reads Kaddish-A 20^th Century American Ecstatic Narrative Poem (Limited Red Vinyl Edition) (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

One of Beat Generation legend Allen Ginsberg’s early projects was the only release on Atlantic Records’ spoken-word Verbum series.  Released in 1966, Allen Ginsberg Reads Kaddish – A 20th Century Estatic Narrative Poem, features the author reciting his epic autobiographical poem Kaddish, which was first published in 1961.  This new red vinyl edition – the album’s first vinyl reissue – is limited to 1,700 copies.

Jack Kerouac and Steve Allen, Poetry for the Beat Generation (Limited Black & White “Beatnik Smoke” Vinyl Edition) (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Poetry For The Beat Generation features Beat Generation hero Jack Kerouac reciting poetry over television host and composer-pianist Steve Allen’s musical accompaniment.  Real Gone’s new vinyl edition of this 1959 classic is colored “beatnik smoke” black-and-white and is limited to 900 copies.

Brinsley Schwarz, It’s All Over Now [Vinyl LP] (Mega Dodo)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.

More than 40 years after it was recorded, legendary pub rock outfit Brinsley Schwarz’s final studio album It’s All Over Now is finally hitting record stores!  Recorded in 1974, the album sat unreleased as the band’s members went their separate ways.  But now, U.K. label Mega Dodo, which released a live collection from the band in 2015, will release an official version of It’s All Over Now with ten previously unreleased tracks plus the original band version of “Cruel to Be Kind,” first issued as  B-side by Nick Lowe in 1978.  The vinyl edition is due today, with the CD to follow on May 12.  Read more here!

Allan Holdsworth, Eidolon: The Allan Holdsworth Collection and The Man Who Changed Guitar Forever: The Allan Holdsworth Album Collection (Manifesto)

The Man Who Changed Guitar Forever box set: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Eidolon: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Manifesto has a 12-CD box set and a 2-CD anthology celebrating the underrated guitar hero (Soft Machine, Gong).  Holdsworth has inspired a generation of players of rock, jazz, prog, and even metal; the box has all of his solo albums from 1982-2003 plus a 40-page booklet putting his career in perspective.  Eidolon distills the box to 28 key tracks from that same solo era, with an unreleased Jack Bruce vocal version of “Road Games” plus “Eidolon,” “City Nights,” “Sphere of Innocence,” “Funnels,” “Mental Fatigue,” “Tokyo Dream,” “Against the Clock” and more favorite selections from his albums, all hand-picked by Allan himself!  Both titles are available on CD and DD.

Various Artists, Easter Bunny Hop (Bear Family) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The crate-diggers at Germany’s Bear Family label are celebrating Easter with a selection of “28 hot tracks for your basket!”  Easter Bunny Hop has such seasonal treats as Rosemary Clooney’s “Eggbert the Easter Egg” and My Choc’late Rabbit,” Johnny Horton’s “Egg Money,” Tommy Sands’ “The Chicken and the Hawk,” Fats Domino’s “Easter Parade,” and Sam Butera’s “Up Jumped a Rabbit.”  These pop, rock and roll, country and R&B treats are bound to leave you hoppin’!

Various Artists, Outlaw: Celebrating the Music of Waylon Jennings (Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Legacy has the soundtrack to a television special preserving the July 6, 2015 concert in Austin, Texas saluting the late Waylon Jennings.  Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Bobby Bare, Kasey Musgraves, Lee Ann Womack, and more lent their voices to this special concert event.