It’s not even Memorial Day yet, but we’re already looking ahead to the heart of summer for upcoming reissues and now we’ve got Real Gone’s slate due just after Independence Day on July 7.  As is usually the case with this label, it’s an eclectic group of releases.

You’ve already heard the news about Second Disc Records and Real Gone’s A Little Magic, A Little Kindness from Laura Nyro, with notes by our very own Joe Marchese, but Joe’s notes are also featured in two other Real Gone releases in July.  The first is The Complete Philadelphia Sessions – A Brand New Me from Dusty Springfield.  Real Gone has previously collected Dusty’s U.K. recordings and her unreleased album with Jeff Barry from this same period.  This new CD is an expansion of Springfield’s 1970 A Brand New Me LP which was her follow-up Atlantic effort to the landmark Dusty in Memphis.  For this record, Dusty traveled to Sigma Sound in Philadelphia to work with Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff and Thom Bell, architects of the orchestrated soul known as “The Philadelphia Sound.”  Springfield would have a #3 AC hit with the title song.  This new edition includes seven bonus tracks: the single “I Wanna Be a Free Girl,” five outtakes which were previously featured on various Springfield reissues over the years and the previously unreleased outtake “Sweet Charlie.”  The entire album has been resequenced, and newly remixed from the original multi-tracks by Ted Carfrae.  Joe’s liner notes feature new quotes from Thom Bell.

Also including Joe’s notes is a spiritual CD from The Tennessee Plowboy: Eddy Arnold.  Having already looked at Arnold’s Christmas recordings and his 1970 recordings with Lee Hazlewood, Real Gone is now turning to some of Eddy’s gospel songs with When It’s Round-Up Time in Heaven – The Great Gospel Recordings.  This reissue brings together two of Arnold’s gospel efforts: 1954’s 10-inch LP When It’s Round-Up Time in Heaven and 1963’s Faithfully Yours for a total of 20 tracks.  The two albums highlight the shift in Arnold’s sound.  The first is in the traditional country vein and the second is from after he became one of the biggest stars of Chet Atkins’ pop-oriented Nashville Sound.

Next up is a 2-CD set kicking off a new series from Real Gone.  Planned to last four volumes, The Complete Loma Singles will gather up the nearly 100 singles from the short-lived 1960s R & B label.  Founded in 1964 as a sublabel to Warner Bros., Loma was run by Bob Krasnow.  It only existed until 1968 and was primarily a singles label, releasing only a handful of LPs.  Despite this, the label has intrigued soul music collectors over the years.  Producers and arrangers for the label included James Brown, Jerry Ragovoy and Gene Page.  Arguably the biggest stars on the label were Ike and Tina Turner.  They are featured on this 50-track first volume alongside artists like The Apollas, The Olympics, Smiley Lewis and Little Jerry Williams.  The collection has been remastered by Mike Milchner at SonicVision, with all but one single taken from the original master tapes.  The set is co-produced and annotated by Alec Palao.

Back in October, Real Gone released a reissue of 1964’s The Intimate Keely Smith, Keely Smith’s second album for Reprise Records.  Now the label is jumping back to her first album for that venerable label: 1963’s Little Girl Blue/Little Girl New.  This concept album was co-supervised by Smith and the Chairman of the Board himself: Frank Sinatra.  It was arranged and conducted by the legendary Nelson Riddle.  The first side of the album featured lovelorn songs such as “Here’s That Rainy Day,” while the flipside contained more upbeat fare such as “Blue Skies.”  The album also featured two distinct covers reflecting the mood of each side.  This new edition is expanded by Smith’s first Reprise single, “When You Cry” b/w “Going Through The Motions” mixed to stereo for the first time.  It has also been remastered by Mike Milchner at SonicVision.

Real Gone also has a quartet of vinyl reissues due in July.  The first two are from Tim Buckley: 1973’s Sefronia and 1974’s Look at the Fool.  These were the singer-songwriter’s last two studio albums and marked a stylistic shift to a more R&B-focused sound.  These two new vinyl releases have been newly remastered by Bill Inglot and come in two editions: an audiophile 180-gram version limited to 400 copies and a colored vinyl limited to 300 copies (salmon pink for Sefronia and crimson for Look at the Fool.)

Next is a new edition of the self-titled debut of Tom Tom Club.  This new reissue of the 1982 LP from two members of the Talking Heads comes in a blue and yellow starburst colored vinyl limited to 700 copies.  The final vinyl reissue is the soundtrack to the 1993 cult film True Romance, written by Quentin Tarantino.  This various artists LP comes colored pillow feather white with blood red splatter and is limited to 2,000 copies.

We’ve got preorder links below if you’d like to give any of these brand new titles a try!

JULY 7, 2017 RELEASES FROM REAL GONE MUSIC

Dusty Springfield, The Complete Philadelphia Sessions – A Brand New Me (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada TBD)

Eddy Arnold, When It’s Round-Up Time in Heaven – The Great Gospel Recordings (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada TBD)

Various Artists, The Complete Loma Singles Volume 1 (2-CD Set) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada TBD)

Keely Smith, Little Girl Blue/Little Girl New (Expanded Edition) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada TBD)

Tim Buckley, Sefronia (Limited Salmon Pink Vinyl Edition)  (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada TBD) and (Limited 180-gram Audiophile Vinyl Edition) (LP) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada TBD)

Tim Buckley, Look at the Fool (Crimson Vinyl Edition)  (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada TBD) and (Limited 180-gram Audiophile Vinyl Edition) (LP) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada TBD)

Tom Tom Club, Tom Tom Club (Limited Blue and Yellow Starburst Vinyl Edition) (LP) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada TBD)

Various Artists, True Romance–Motion Picture Soundtrack (Limited Pillow Feather White with Blood Red Splatter Vinyl Edition) (LP) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada TBD)

Laura Nyro, A Little Magic, A Little Kindness: The Complete Mono Albums Collection (Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music, 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)