Release Round-Up: Week of December 15

December 15, 2017 By Joe Marchese — 2 Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up!

The Beatles, The Christmas Records (Capitol/Apple/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Happy Christmas, Beatle people! The Christmas Records, a seven-disc vinyl box set from the Fab Four, features colored 45 RPM recreations of the Beatles’ original Christmas fan club flexi-discs (all single-sided except for the last two in 1968 and 1969). The original sleeve artwork has been recreated for each title, and an enclosed 16-page booklet offers recording notes plus reproductions of the newsletters sent with each disc!

The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Vinyl Editions) (Capitol/Apple/UMe)

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – 2017 Remix LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – 2017 Remix Picture Disc: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Fans fell in love with Sgt. Pepper all over again this year with a stunning new stereo remix overseen by Beatle producer George Martin’s son Giles. It was, of course, part of a deluxe 50th anniversary box set packed with unreleased session outtakes and video footage that will undoubtedly make a great holiday gift if you haven’t treated yourself already! But if you’re looking for a little something different with the material, a high-definition audio edition of the box set will be available at all digital retailers. A standalone vinyl edition of the remix will also be available in time for Christmas, on either 180-gram black vinyl or a limited picture disc featuring the album cover image on one side and the iconic Sgt. Pepper drum head on the other. You can pre-order both vinyl editions above. Read more about both Beatles releases here!

Otis Redding, The Definitive Studio Album Collection (Atlantic/Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This slipcased collection brings together Otis Redding’s seminal seven original mono studio albums in recreated replica sleeves.

The Guess Who, American Woman [Deluxe Expanded 2-CD Edition] (Iconoclassic) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Iconoclassic is continuing its longtime Guess Who reissue series with its most extravagant release yet: a 2-CD reappraisal of American Woman, featuring single edits, outtakes, and alternates alongside Vic Anesini’s newly remastered album. The second disc has seven tracks featuring Randy Bachman intended for a follow-up album; these were released in 1976 as The Way They Were.

Billie Holiday, Classic Lady Day (Verve/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Verve brings together a selection of five of Billie Holiday’s Clef and Verve albums including Solitude, Velvet Mood, Lady Sings the Blues, All or Nothing at All, and A Recital by Billie Holiday in one CD box set. Also available on vinyl.

Dinah Washington, The Divine Miss Dinah Washington (Verve/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

A similar set arrives for Dinah Washington’s EmArcy and Mercury platters. This 5-CD box includes her albums After Hours with Miss D, Dinah Jams, For Those in Love, The Swingin’ Miss D, and What a Diff’rence a Day Makes! Also available on vinyl.

Stan Getz, Bossa Nova Years (Verve/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This 5-CD set has the classic Verve albums with which Stan Getz helped introduce the U.S. to the breezy Brazilian sounds of bossa nova, including Jazz Samba (with Charlie Byrd), Jazz Samba Encore! (with Luis Bonfa), Big Band Bossa Nova, Getz/Gilberto (with Joao and Astrud Gilberto) and Stan Getz with Guest Artist Laurindo Almeida. Also available on vinyl.

Gladiators, Full Time (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Omnivore’s acquisition of the Nighthawk Records catalogue begins this week with two titles from the venerable reggae label! Full Time was released by The Gladiators in 1992; Omnivore’s reissue has been newly remastered by Michael Graves, and features new liner notes by original producer Leroy Jodie Pierson.

Ethiopian & His All-Stars, The Return of Jack Sparrow (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This treasure from the Nighthawk vaults is a previously unissued album from Ethiopian, a.k.a. Leonard Dillion, who had recorded in the 1960s under the name Jack Sparrow. His Return reunited the veteran session band that played on classic records by artists including The Maytals and Desmond Dekker for 20 new tracks – getting released here for the first time!

Herbie Hancock, River: The Joni Letters – Expanded Edition (Verve/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The jazz pianist’s 2007 album, a Grammy Award winner for Album of the Year, is expanded with a bonus disc of four tracks that were previously digital and store exclusives.

Categories:

Release Round-Up

Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Vinyl

Genres:

Classic Rock, Holiday, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, Reggae

Tags:

Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Ethiopian and His All-Stars, Gladiators, Herbie Hancock, Joni Mitchell, Otis Redding, Stan Getz, The Beatles, The Guess Who

Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song and beyond, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with labels including Real Gone Music and Cherry Red Records, has released newly-curated collections produced and annotated by Joe from iconic artists such as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Spinners, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Meat Loaf, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Darlene Love, Al Stewart, Michael Nesmith, and many others.

Joe has written liner notes, produced, or contributed to over 200 reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them America, JD Souther, Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, BJ Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, and Andy Williams.

Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray.

Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

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2 thoughts on “Release Round-Up: Week of December 15”

John Foster
December 15, 2017 at 12:13 am

My Beatles’ Christmas set should be here Friday! Amazon sent me a notice today. I’m undecided whether or not to open the thing up & enjoy it, or leave it sealed, as a collector’s item. Kind of depends on the condition of the set after UPS has had its hands on it.

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Reply
1. Sean Anaglum
  December 19, 2017 at 5:03 pm
  
  Mine arrived over the weekend and I immediately handed it off to my wife to wrap and stick under the Christmas tree. I definitely plan on unwrapping and opening the set on Christmas morning. Some Beatle Christmases never change! I own the original fan club releases (I only had to purchase the British initial release from a collector…the rest were mailed to me as a fan club member in the subsequent 60s’ years. I also have the gray market release of the picture discs in the white plastic folder. #360 of 1000! Always a conversation piece for collector friends. Now I look forward to playing the legit remastered colored vinyl platters and going back in time, one more time. Thanks, Boys!
  
  Reply