Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up!

Various Artists, Concert for George [Various Formats] (Craft Recordings)

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2CD/2DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2CD/2BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
4LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2CD/2DVD/2BD/4LP Limited Online Exclusive Box Set: George Harrison Shop

The star-studded 2002 concert celebration of the life of George Harrison – featuring Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, and other luminaries – returns in a variety of formats (with some previously unreleased music and bonus features) from Craft Recordings.  Read all about it here!

Rupert Holmes, Songs That Sound Like Movies: The Complete Epic Recordings (Cherry Red)  (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This new 3-CD collection from Cherry Red Records presents the first three albums created by  nonpareil musical storyteller Rupert Holmes, all of which pushed the boundaries of what was expected from pop music.  The reissue of these long out-of-print treasures might be cause enough to celebrate, but to sweeten the deal, the label has added a number of rare and previously unreleased bonus tracks as well as a deluxe booklet featuring fresh insights from Rupert.  It’s a Widescreen package perfect for discovering, or re-discovering, one of pop’s true auteurs.  Read our review here!

Todd Rundgren, All Sides of the Roxy: May 1978 (Cherry Red/Esoteric Recordings) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Cherry Red’s Esoteric imprint is going Back to the Bars with this new 3-CD box from Todd Rundgren.  That 1978 live album drew on the artist’s concert tour of intimate venues in Cleveland, New York, and Los Angeles; this set greatly expands the L.A. material by presenting, on two discs, the complete final concert from his Roxy residency on May 23, 1978 (as simulcast to a then-record-breaking radio audience).  The third disc reissues the 2011 archival collection Another Side of the Roxy, compiling songs from earlier evenings.  (Rundgren and his band performed two shows a night for seven nights at the Sunset Strip hotspot.)  Read our review here!

The Doors, Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 (Eagle Rock)

CD/BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. TBD / Amazon Canada
CD/DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. TBD / Amazon Canada

The final Doors concert ever filmed, from August 1970, arrives as a CD/Blu-ray (or DVD) package comprising video and audio presentations of the band’s seven-song set, plus a new bonus featurette featuring interviews conducted by the original director Murray Lerner plus archival footage of the late Ray Manzarek. Also available as a standalone Blu-ray or DVD.

Nina Simone, The Colpix Singles ($tateside/Rhino)

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Nina Simone’s 1959-1964 time at the Colpix label  is collected on the 2-CD, 27-track The Colpix Singles (also available in a 14-track highlights edition on vinyl).  At Colpix, Simone recorded some of the most sly, sultry, and incendiary music of her career, touching on folk, blues, jazz, and soul – all of which are reflected on this compendium of original single versions.  Get the full track listing and more here!

Isaac Hayes, Hot Buttered Soul / Shaft: Music from the Soundtrack / Black Moses remastered vinyl reissues (Stax/Craft Recordings)

Hot Buttered Soul:  Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Shaft: Music from the Soundtrack: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Black Moses: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Craft Recordings has three classic titles from soul titan Isaac Hayes on lavishly-packaged, remastered replica edition vinyl LPs.  Read more here, and watch this space for our reviews!

24 Carat Black, Ghetto: Misfortune’s Wealth (Stax/Craft Recordings) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Craft Recordings reissues an oft-sampled Stax cult classic on 180-gram vinyl with Ghetto: Misfortune’s Wealth, a concept album from the band 24 Carat Black produced and arranged by Dale Warren (nephew of Berry Gordy’s second wife Raynoma and a key architect of Isaac Hayes’ sound).  Their only album, Ghetto examines the poverty crisis with rare power.

David Bowie, Low / Heroes / Stage / Lodger / Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) remastered vinyl reissues (Parlophone) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The remastered albums as heard on last year’s Bowie box set A New Career in a New Town 1977-1982 are individually released on heavyweight vinyl.  Click on the links above to order all titles!

Glen Campbell, Amazing Grace: 14 Hymns and Gospel Favorites (Gaither Music Group) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Gaither Music Group celebrates the spiritual side of the late, great Glen Campbell with this 14-track collection.  It’s, in effect, a highlights disc from the 2004 Universal release Love is the Answer: 24 Songs of Faith, Hope and Love, as all songs are derived from that double album.  Features “The Old Rugged Cross,” “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” “Mary Did You Know,” and more.

Belinda Carlisle, The Vinyl Collection 1987-1993 (Edsel) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This slipcased vinyl collection packages Belinda’s 1987-1993 Virgin Records albums (Heaven on Earth, Runaway Horses, Live Your Life Be Free and Real) together in one set, all pressed on 180-gram heavyweight vinyl with printed inner sleeves and lyrics.  Due today in the U.K., and next week (March 2) in North America!

Neil Young, Harvest Moon [vinyl] (Reprise) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

To mark its 25th anniversary, Neil Young brings Harvest Moon – the spiritual successor to his country-flecked, commercial breakthrough Harvest – to heavyweight vinyl in this 2-LP set.

Edgar Winter, Tell Me in a Whisper: The Solo Albums 1970-1981 / I’ve Got News for You featuring The Edgar Winter Group & Edgar Winter’s White Trash 1971-1977  (Cherry Red/Hear No Evil)

Tell Me in a Whisper: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
I’ve Got News for You: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Cherry Red showcases two sides of Edgar Winter with a pair of new box sets chronicling his solo work (4 CDs) and his bands and collaborations (6 CDs).  Both sets feature copious amounts of bonus material including new-to-CD single versions and edits.  Watch for full coverage of both box sets soon!

Hawkwind, The Emergency Broadcast Years 1994-1997 (Cherry Red/Atomhenge) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The Hawkwind story continues on this latest box set from Cherry Red’s Atomhenge imprint.  Over 5 CDs, it presents the prog legends’ albums The Business Trip Live, Alien 4, Love in Space (a double album), and Distant Horizons.  Each album is packaged in a mini-LP sleeve, and a poster is included in the clamshell box.

Precious Wilson, On the Race Track: Expanded Edition (Cherry Red/Hot Shot) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Eruption alumna Precious Wilson’s 1980 album On the Race Track, produced by Frank Farian, gets the expanded treatment from Hot Shot Records. This remastered edition appends three bonus tracks: the single version of “Hold On, I’m Coming,” the 12-inch disco mix of “One Way Ticket [To the Blues],” and the 12-inch long version of “I Can’t Stand the Rain.”