Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up!

Debby Boone, You Light Up My Life: 40th Anniversary Expanded Edition (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Finally, the platinum LP containing the biggest hit of the 1970s arrives on CD!  Real Gone’s new edition expands Debby Boone’s original You Light Up My Life album by a whopping thirteen tracks, tracing Debby’s career back to her earliest recordings with her sisters as The Boone Girls.  You’ll hear their effervescent covers, originally released on labels including Motown and Warner Bros./Curb, of songs by John Denver, The Marvelettes, The Supremes, Mary Wells and ABBA, and more.  Six previously unreleased outtakes are also among the bonus tracks, including songs by Paul Anka, Lesley Gore, and The Murmaids.  The CD has been remastered by Ted Carfrae.  My new liner notes join numerous never-before-seen photos in the deluxe booklet, and feature quotes from producer/arranger Fred Werner, producer Michael Lloyd and Debby Boone!  Read more here!

Johnny Mathis, The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection (Columbia/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This lavish 68-CD box reflects on the entirety of Johnny Mathis’ incredible 60+-year career at Columbia Records with:

• 62 original Columbia albums that have been remastered (13 of which are available on CD for the very first time – and many more of which have never appeared on CD in the United States) plus Mathis’ newest album;
• Two previously unreleased albums: the hotly–anticipated I Love My Lady, produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of CHIC in 1981; and The Island, helmed by Sergio Mendes in 1989);
• A new collection featuring previously unreleased songs;
• A numbered certificate HAND-SIGNED by Mr. Mathis; and
• A 200-page booklet with liner notes and rare photographs.

The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection is housed in a sturdy box with a lift-off lid, with each album packaged in an individual mini-LP replica jacket!  Read more here, and watch this space for a comprehensive review very soon!

Jimmy Webb, Angel Heart: 35th Anniversary Expanded Edition (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Jimmy Webb’s 1982 Lorimar album Angel Heart gets the deluxe treatment from Real Gone Music, expanding the original album’s 10 tracks to 16 with six previously unreleased bonus tracks, including three additional songs from the album sessions and three demos.  The original engineer of the album, Mark Linett, has done the remastering, co-producer Fred Mollin has written the liner notes (with photos from the album recording sessions), and Jimmy has penned a new introduction to this underrated pop-rock classic.  Read more here!

Bing Crosby, Among My Souvenirs: More Treasures from the Crosby Archive (Bing Crosby Enterprises/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Among My Souvenirs: More Treasures from the Crosby Archive follows the 2010 release of So Rare: Treasures from the Crosby Archive.  Compiled by historian and archivist Robert S. Bader, this collection spans the period of 1932 to 1977 for a full portrait of the man and his art.  Outtakes, live recordings, and radio and television performances all feature on this anthology, including many songs not previously released in any format by Crosby.  The word “treasures” is most apt here, as this release features some recently-discovered concert recordings from 1956, a track from Crosby’s final American concert in 1977, and a lively 1968 medley with Diana Ross and The Supremes of four songs from Lerner and Loewe’s Paint Your Wagon.

Bing Crosby, New Tricks: 60th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Bing Crosby Enterprises/UMe)   (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1957’s New Tricks, originally released on Decca, featured Bing Crosby accompanied by Buddy Cole and His Trio.  The original 12-song program featured a host of familiar standards including “You’re Driving Me Crazy,” “Georgia on My Mind,” “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea,” and “When I Take My Sugar to Tea.”  For this reissue, an additional twelve tracks have been added, nine of which are previously unreleased.  Among the bonus cuts are renditions of film classics “Gigi” and “Tammy,” and two duets with Bing’s son Lindsay Crosby (1938-1989), including one on Frank Loesser’s “Big D” from his score to The Most Happy Fella.  New Tricks has been newly remastered from the original tapes.  Read more details about both Bing titles right here!

The Searchers, Another Night: The Sire Recordings 1979-1981 (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

British Invasion favorites The Searchers had an artistic renaissance when they were signed in 1979 to Seymour Stein’s Sire Records for a pair of LPs combining their trademark sound with an edgier, power-pop style.  Now, all of the band’s Sire recordings (including songs and alternate mixes only released in international territories, B-sides, and a previously unreleased outtake) have been remastered and collected on two CDs in a deluxe edition!  Get the full scoop here!

Various Artists, BANG! The Bert Berns Story: Official Soundtrack (Bang/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This 2-LP soundtrack to Brett Berns and Bob Sarles’ documentary about legendary songwriter/producer/BANG Records head Bert Berns captures the late Berns’ artistry through classic recordings by The Isley Brothers, Janis Joplin, Van Morrison, Freddie Scott, and many others!  Get the full track listing and more here!

Bing Crosby and Julie Andrews, High Tor: Original Television Cast Recording (Stage Door U.K.) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Bing Crosby, Julie Andrews, and Everett Sloane starred in the 1955 made-for-television musical fantasy High Tor, from songwriters Arthur Schwartz and Maxwell Anderson, based on Anderson’s 1936 play of the same name. Decca’s original “songs and story” album comes to CD for the first time from Stage Door, along with two bonus tracks of the score’s “When You’re in Love,” performed by The Lancers and The Leroy Holmes Orchestra.  Released in accordance with current U.K. public domain laws, and limited to 500 units.  Available today in the U.K., and next week in the U.S. (though Amazon U.S. isn’t currently accepting orders).

William Tabbert, Younger Than Springtime and Other Rarities (Stage Door U.K.) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Stage Door’s Collectors’ Series expands with this title from William Tabbert, the original Lt. Cable in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific.  Younger Than Springtime and Other Rarities features his original solo album recorded in Rome, plus selections from the 1959 album An Evening with Jerome Kern; both sides of a 1951 Christmas single; and tracks from a 1945 V-disc recording of Up in Central Park.  Released in accordance with current U.K. public domain laws, and limited to 500 units.  Available today in the U.K., and next week in the U.S.!

Various Artists, Sleepless in Seattle: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Limited Blue Vinyl Edition (Real Gone Music)  (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The soundtrack to Nora Ephron’s beloved 1993 romantic comedy Sleepless in Seattle comes to vinyl from Real Gone Music.  The score was composed by Marc Shaiman, and the soundtrack album featured classic standards from artists such as Louis Armstrong, Nat “King” Cole, Gene Autry, and Jimmy Durante.  Also on the album were standards performed by contemporary artists like Carly Simon, Dr. John, Joe Cocker, Harry Connick, Jr. and the pair of Celine Dion and Clive Griffin.  Dion and Griffin’s version of “When I Fall in Love” would hit No. 6 on the Billboard AC chart.  Real Gone’s LP debut is limited to 1,000 copies and pressed on blue vinyl.

Henry Mancini, Mommie Dearest: Music from the Motion Picture: Limited White Vinyl Edition (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Mommie Dearest, featuring a score by the legendary Henry Mancini, arrives on vinyl for the first time.  The controversial 1981 film was based upon the book by Christina Crawford, recounting the abuse that her mother Joan Crawford allegedly inflicted upon her.  Faye Dunaway starred as Crawford, and her over-the-top performance turned the film into a cult classic despite the lukewarm critical reception it received at the time.  The prolific Mancini tailored his score to reflect the time period reflected in the film, harkening back to the sound of classic film scores by Alex North, Bernard Herrmann, and Elmer Bernstein.  Mancini’s fourteen original cues are presented on “Spotless White” vinyl.  The gatefold LP jacket features production stills and is limited to 1,200 copies.  Read more about Mommie Dearest and Sleepless in Seattle here!

Jeff Beck, Truth (Hybrid Stereo SACD) (Audio Fidelity) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Guitar hero Jeff Beck’s hard-rocking 1968 debut album, featuring Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood, comes to hybrid SACD – playable on all CD players – from Audio Fidelity.

John Fogerty, Premonition (BMG Rights Management) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CCR leader John Fogerty’s first live album, recorded in 1997 and released in 1998, returns to CD in a remastered edition as part of BMG’s new series dedicated to the artist.

Chip Taylor, Last Chance: The Warner Bros. Years (Train Wreck Records) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

“Wild Thing” and “Angel in the Morning” tunesmith Chip Taylor looks back on his 1970s period with Warner Bros. Records on this set collecting his three albums for the label released between 1973 and 1975 (on 2 CDs) plus a DVD of a previously unreleased concert performance from the era.  A 28-page booklet with Taylor’s reminiscences rounds out the package!

Various Artists, That’ll Flat…Git It! Vol. 28 (Bear Family) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Bear Family’s long-running series gets a new installment, drawing on the vaults of Warner Bros. and Reprise for another disc’s worth of rockabilly and early rock & roll – this time from Charlie Gracie, Bill Haley, Don Ralke, and more!  Bill Dahl provides the liner notes.

Barbra Streisand, The Music…The Mem’ries…The Magic! (Columbia) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Barbra Streisand has commemorated her most recent tour with this new 2-CD, 27-track live set featuring concert highlights including Rupert Holmes’ “Everything,” Carole King’s “Being at War with Each Other,” Stephen Sondheim’s “Being Alive,” “Losing My Mind,” and “Children Will Listen,” and even her famous “Jingle Bells?” (but alas, no “Stoney End” which was dropped early in the tour from the setlist).