While we are now in the height of the summer heat, Real Gone is looking ahead to the fall.  The label has announced the first part of its release slate for September of this year and it is another eclectic mix of titles.

First up is a title from the artist most people consider to be the greatest rock-instrumentalist of all time: Duane Eddy.  Guitar Star: The Complete RCA Singles A's and B's collects all 22 single sides Eddy recorded for RCA Victor in the early to mid-1960s on CD, and is due to be released on September 8.  Guitarist Eddy got his start in 1955 when he met disc jockey Lee Hazlewood in Phoenix.  Hazlewood began to produce Eddy's recordings, and, by 1957, Eddy had developed his signature "twangy" sound.  Eddy signed a contract with Hazlewood in 1958, who leased his recordings to Jamie Records.  That same year, Eddy got his breakout song with "Rebel Rouser," which shot to No. 6 on the Billboard chart.  More hits would follow over the next few years including "Forty Miles of Bad Road" and "Because They're Young."  A contract dispute in 1960 caused a rift of several years between Eddy and Hazlewood.

In 1962, Eddy would sign a three year deal with Paul Anka's production company, Camy, and his recordings would then switch to the RCA Victor label.  From 1962-1965, Eddy would release 11 singles for RCA (and also reunite with Hazlewood early in his tenure).  Over half of the songs would be non-LP tracks, indicating how prolific Eddy was during this period as he also released 9 albums for RCA (most with some form of the word "twang" in the tile).  Eddy wrote or co-wrote the majority of the songs (sometimes with Hazlewood), charting seven songs from the singles, with the biggest being the No. 12 "(Dance With the) Guitar Man" from September 1962.  In 1965, he would leave RCA and move to Colpix for a short time before going to Reprise and other labels including Uni and Elektra.  In 1986, he teamed with Art of Noise to re-record a version of Henry Mancini's "Peter Gunn" (he had covered it in the 1960s) and it went top 10.  He then signed with Capitol and produced an album featuring Paul McCartney, Jeff Lynne and Ry Cooder.  His most recent album is from 2011.  This new CD compilation has been remastered from the original tapes by Vic Anesini and compared to the original 45s to ensure fidelity to the original sound.  The booklet contains liner notes by Ed Osborne, featuring exclusive quotes from Duane Eddy himself.

Next comes the vinyl debut to a classic 1980s movie score from Alan Silvestri: Predator.  The 1987 action film was directed John McTiernan and starred Arnold Schwarzenegger.  It told the tale of a special forces unit who are stalked by an alien hunter in a Central American jungle.  The film was hit and spawned an entire franchise with two sequels (and a third scheduled for 2018), two crossover films with the Alien franchise, books, comic books, video games and a lot of merchandise.  When he scored Predator, the prolific Silvestri was just two years removed from what might be his most iconic score with 1985's Back To the Future (although one could even debate that, when he has written over a hundred film and television scores in his long career).  Silvestri's score matches the hard-hitting tone of the film and features electronic touches and driving percussion.  Surprisingly, given Silvestri's popularity and the success of the film, no album for the Predator score was released at the time.  Fans would have to wait 16 years for Varese Sarabande to finally release the music on CD in 2003.  This was followed by a limited edition by Intrada in 2010 which was remastered and featured some re-editing of the cues.  That edition sold out in one day.  Intrada released a second edition in 2012 with some other minor tweaks.  This new vinyl edition from Real Gone is based upon the last Intrada version.  The colored vinyl comes in green and brown "Camo" and is limited to 1,300 copies.  The 2-LP gatefold package due September 1 also features new cover artwork from Rafal Wechterowicaz and includes production stills.

Real Gone has been releasing the Grateful Dead's concerts for several years.  Having gotten through the Dick's Picks series, they started on Road Trips back in June.  This series of CDs has never been available at general retail previously, having only been offered through the band's website.  Real Gone is going from last to first and so now they are presenting the second to last entry in the series:  Vol. 4 No.4 Spectrum 4-6-82.  This concert fell in a period when the Dead were on a hiatus from recording studio album.  Keyboardist Brent Mydland had joined the band in 1979 and been a part of the Go To Heaven album, released in April 1980.  It would be the band's last studio album until 1987's In the Dark.  In the interim, two live albums were released, on in 1981 and one 1982.  This concert at the Spectrum in Philadelphia comes about 9 months after the release of the second live album, Dead Set.  It is one of only three concerts to be officially released from the touring year of 1982.  It features the complete concert of April 6, 1982 and includes 23 songs over three discs.  Seven songs are also included from the previous night's concert, including the rarely performed "Dead Elem Blues".  Among the highlights from the main show are the renditions of "Cold Rain and Snow," "Big Railroad Blues," "Truckin'," "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" and "Jack-A-Roe."  As with Real Gone's first release from the series, the original designer Steve Vance has converted the original wallet packaging into a jewel case.  A 12-page booklet is also included.  Look for it on September 1.

Real Gone is also releasing on September 1 a limited edition vinyl edition of the punk band Fifteen's third album Buzz.  Fifteen was founded by Jack Curran and Jeff Ott in 1988.  It spun out of the band Crimpshrine, of which Curran and Ott were members.  They recorded their first EP for Lookout! Records in 1990 and had two more albums on the label by 1992.  1994's Buzz came out on the Grass Records label.  Fifteen's songs often were in a first-person storyteller mode which made them standout from some other punk groups.  They mixed songs about politics with love songs.  Ott often drew on his difficult childhood for songs concerning drug addiction and homelessness.  Buzz was released on CD and LP at the time, but the LP went quickly out of print.  The band featured many members over existence, with Ott being the only constant.  They would break up for good in 2000.  Ott continued with a solo career until 2007.  Real Gone's new limited colored vinyl edition comes in maroon and is limited to 1,000 copies.

If you would like to give any of these titles a try, we've got the pre-order links below.

SEPTEMBER 1, 2017 RELEASES FROM REAL GONE MUSIC

Alan Silvestri, Predator Original Soundtrack Album (Limited Green and Brown Camo Vinyl Edition) (2-LP) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The Grateful Dead, Road Trips Vol. 4 No. 4: Spectrum 4-6-82 (3-CD) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Fifteen, Buzz (Limited Maroon Vinyl Edition) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

SEPTEMBER 8, 2017 RELEASES FROM REAL GONE MUSIC

Duane Eddy, Guitar Star: The Complete RCA Singles A's and B's (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)