Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up featuring our latest Second Disc Records title and much, much more!

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

Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music are proud to present, for the first time on CD, the ultra-rare, original mono mixes of Laura Nyro’s first two albums: More Than a New Discovery (Verve Folkways, 1967) and Eli and the Thirteenth Confession (Columbia, 1968), plus new-to-CD bonus tracks!  Both albums have been newly remastered from the original mono tapes by Vic Anesini, while TSD’s own Joe Marchese supplies the liner notes (based on fresh interviews with producers Charlie Calello and Bones Howe!) in a deluxe 24-page booklet.  Read more here!

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

Having already looked at Eddy Arnold’s Christmas recordings and his 1970 recordings with Lee Hazlewood in conjunction with Second Disc Records, Real Gone is now turning to some of the country legend’s gospel songs with When It’s Round-Up Time in Heaven – The Great Gospel Recordings.  This reissue brings together two of Arnold’s spiritual efforts: 1954’s 10-inch LP When It’s Round-Up Time in Heaven and 1963’s long-player 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.  Joe once again provides the liner notes!

Chris Bell, Looking Forward: The Roots of Big Star (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada )

This new 22-track collection gathers Big Star co-founder Chris Bell’s material from the late ’60s and early ’70s, before he recruited Alex Chilton, Andy Hummel and Jody Stephens to form the criminally overlooked power pop combo. This material, all of it issued long after Bell’s passing, was recorded in Memphis with local musicians like drummers Stephens and Steve Rhea, bassist Thomas Dean Eubanks and keyboardist Terry Manning, under such eye-catching names as Rock City, The Wallabys and Icewater. Six tracks, including original compositions and backing tracks, are previously unreleased.Liner notes by writer/compilation producer Alec Palao feature quotes from the aforementioned artists, plus Ardent Studios founder John Fry and local songwriter/musician Alan Palmore.  Read more here, and watch for our full review soon!

Delegation, In Love’s Time: The Delegation Story 1976-1983 (Big Break Records) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Oh, honey!  Delegation burst onto the U.K. scene in 1977 with the hit singles “Where Is the Love (We Used to Know)” and “You’ve Been Doing Me Wrong,” and then crossed the pond to score an American success with the top 10 R&B smash “Oh Honey.”  Further hits followed on both sides of the Atlantic, and 40 years later, Delegation is still touring and bringing its brand of soulful pop to the masses.  To celebrate this enduring legacy of both balladry and floor-filling dance anthems, Big Break Records has compiled the ultimate Delegation with this lavish new 2-CD compendium.  Featuring all of the group’s worldwide hits among its 34 tracks, In Love’s Time: The Delegation Story 1976-1983 features rare 12-inch mixes among its many gems, as well as the top-notch liner notes that BBR fans have come to expect.  Watch for a full review of this exciting anthology very soon!

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)

Real Gone has a pair of limited edition vinyl reissues 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 each come in two editions: an audiophile 180-gram black vinyl version limited to 400 copies and a colored vinyl limited to 300 copies (salmon pink for Sefronia and crimson for Look at the Fool.)

Keely Smith, Little Girl Blue/Little Girl New (Real Gone Music)  (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Keely Smith’s debut for Frank Sinatra’s Reprise label, this concept album was co-supervised by Smith and the Chairman of the Board himself.   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.

Various Artists, The Complete Loma Singles Vol. 1 (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Planned to last four volumes, Real Gone Music’s 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, annotated by Alec Palao, has been remastered by Mike Milchner at SonicVision, with all but one single taken from the original master tapes.

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)

Real Gone has the soundtrack to the 1993 cult film True Romance, written by Quentin Tarantino in a new vinyl edition.  This various artists LP featuring Robert Palmer, Chris Isaak, Charlie Sexton, Shelby Lynne, Soundgarden and more comes colored pillow feather white with blood red splatter and is limited to 2,000 copies.

Rosanne Cash, King’s Record Shop: 30th Anniversary Edition (Columbia/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Legacy celebrates the 30th anniversary of Rosanne Cash’s landmark King’s Record Shop with a newly-remastered 180-gram vinyl release. King’s Record Shop took the pop-country queen into a rootsy direction, as she traded the new wave sheen for a folk/pure country approach on original songs and covers by John Stewart, John Hiatt, her father Johnny, and more.  Four singles from King’s went straight to No. 1 on the Country chart.

Radiohead, OKNOTOK 1997 2017 (XL Recordings)

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Box Set: Amazon U.S.

OKNOTOK 1997-2017 celebrates Radiohead’s first U.K. No. 1 album, cited by many as one of the greatest albums of its era, with an all-new remaster from the original analog tapes and a bonus disc compiling eight remastered B-sides and three previously unreleased tracks from the album sessions: “I Promise,” “Man of War” and “Lift.” After a brief delay, the set is now available as a 2CD or 3LP set. A box set version takes the three LPs and adds a C90 cassette featuring demos and session takes compiled by the band, and three books!That box will ship on July 21, but digital downloads will be available on release date (with the cassette contents also included for download within the box).  Read full details here.

Charley Pride, Music in My Heart (Music City Records) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The country legend celebrates 50-plus years in music with an all-new album featuring songs by Merle Haggard, Ben Peters, Bill Anderson, and more!

Weather Report, Heavy Weather (Hybrid Stereo SACD) (Audio Fidelity) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Jazz fusion group Weather Report’s 1977 Heavy Weather, the band’s seventh album, was a No. 1 album and their most successful. Featuring Joe Zawinul, Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter, Alex Acuña and Manolo Badrena, Heavy Weather is presented in stereo on hybrid SACD, playable in all CD players.

Various Artists, Atlantic Rock & Roll (Rhino U.K./Stateside) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This new, budget-priced 6-CD box set brings together six classic compilation albums from the early Atlantic stars of rock and roll and R&B: Ray Charles, Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters, Ruth Brown, LaVern Baker, Joe Turner, and Ivory Joe Hunter!

Del Shannon, The Dublin Sessions (Rockbeat) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

It looks like today is the day for this delayed release.  Del Shannon recorded this previously unreleased album in 1977 with his U.K.-based touring band called Smackee at Ireland’s Dublin Sound Studios. Shannon originally mixed and then remixed the tracks at Cherokee Studios in California but opted to never release them.  This posthumous CD is the album’s first official release.