Real Gone Music has just announced its slate for August, and the reissues are in a variety of genres and formats, all due on August 3^.

First up is a standalone release of the Blu-ray Audio edition of The Alan Parsons Project's 1982 hit album Eye in the Sky.  The Project's sixth album (and fifth on Arista Records) employed a variety of musical styles within a radio-friendly soft-rock framework to address typically lofty themes.  This Blu-ray reissue boasts a high-resolution stereo version of the album alongside a new 5.1 surround mix, done by Parsons himself in April of last year.  This Blu-Ray was released last November as part of the 35th anniversary Super Deluxe box reissue of the album.  Real Gone's release marks the first time the Blu-ray will be available separately.

Next up is a CD and limited vinyl reissue of saxophonist Monk Higgins' 1968 album Extra Soul Perception.  Born in Menifee, Arkansas, Higgins was best known as a sideman to artists such as Bobby Bland, The Chi-Lites, Barbara Acklin, Otis Clay, Muddy Waters and others.  He was also a mainstay as a studio musician for many Chess soul recordings in the mid-1960s.  He had a #30 R&B hit with "Who Dun It" in 1966 on the St. Lawrence label, and bounced around to several labels including Chess and Dunhill.

By late 1968, he was on Solid State, a United Artists jazz imprint.  It was there he released Extra Soul Perception, an album where he was backed by musicians including guitarist Arthur Adams and drummer John Guerin.  The repertoire included originals and covers like "Little Green Apples" and "Canadian Sunset."  The title song and a cover of Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man" were released on a single.  Four years later, Higgins would score another R&B hit with the #22 "Gotta Be Funky" for the main United Artists label.  Higgins passed away in 1986 at only 49, but his music has been sampled over 250 times in the years since. This reissue is a Real Gone/Dusty Groove release.  The CD reissue features liner notes by Skip Heller.  The vinyl version is limited to 1,000 copies and comes in translucent blue vinyl.  It also comes in a replica of the original "Unipak" jacket.  Both of these editions are the first ever reissues of the album in time for its 50th anniversary.

Continuing in a soulful direction comes Real Gone's limited vinyl reissue of Merry Clayton's self-titled 1971 album on Ode.  Clayton made her debut at the age of 14 in 1962 on a duet with TSD favorite Bobby Darin with the song "Who Can I Count On? (When I Can't Count On You)."  She was one of the original Raelettes (Ray Charles' backing group) and recorded with Neil Young.  But it was her volcanic duet with Mick Jagger on 1969's Rolling Stones landmark "Gimme Shelter" that propelled to a solo contract on Lou Adler's Ode label.  Her debut album for the label was 1970's Gimme Shelter (reissued on limted vinyl last year by Real Gone).

The following year, she released two albums, including Merry Clayton.  The LP was produced by Adler and featured arrangements by Billy Preston and labelmate Carole King.  The album features songs by Neil Young ("Southern Man"), Leon Russell ("A Song for You"), Bill Withers ("Grandma's Hands"), and James Taylor ("Steamroller").  Clayton would be rewarded with her highest R&B album chart placement at No. 36.  She would record one more album for Ode in 1975 and only two albums after that.  She had a song on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack in 1987 and rose to prominence again as a subject of the 2013 documentary 20 Feet from Stardom but suffered a severe injury the next year, resulting in the amputation of both of her legs.  Still, the powerful voice of a true survivor endures.  Real Gone's new vinyl reissue of Merry Clayton comes in maroon vinyl and is limited to 1,200 copies.

The final item is a limited vinyl release of the cult-classic album Music To Eat by Hampton Grease Band.  The group got their start in the late 1960s and performed with acts like Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers.  The quintet was made up of Jerry Fields (trombone, drums, percussion, vocals), Bruce Hampton (vocals, trumpet), Mike Holbrook (bass), Harold Kelling (guitar, vocals), and Glenn Phillips (guitar, saxophone).  They eventually gained enough notoriety to be signed to Columbia in 1971, producing the 2-LP Music To Eat.  Unfortunately, the offbeat mix of Dadaist vocals and jazz/prog/psych instrumentation did not prove a hit with audiences.  It is apocryphally said to be the second lowest-selling album in Columbia Records' history, after only a yoga-instructional album.  True or not, the band did not make another album for Columbia.  The group then signed with Frank Zappa's label, but broke up in 1973 without making a second album.  The album did gain a cult following and was released on CD in 1996 with some cut material.  Real Gone's edition is the first vinyl reissue of the album.  The package replicates the original gatefold art and comes in peach vinyl, limited to 1,000 copies.

If you would like to give any of these titles due August 3 a try, we've got the full tracklisting and preorder links below.

The Alan Parsons Project, Eye in the Sky (Blu-ray Audio Edition) (Originally issued as part of Eye in the Sky: 35th Anniversary Collector's Edition, 2017 - reissued Real Gone Music, 2018) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. Sirius
2. Eye in the Sky
3. Children of the Moon
4. Silence and I
5. You're Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned
6. Psychobabble
7. Mammagamma
8. Step by Step
9. Old and Wise

Tracks 1-9 featured in both high-definition stereo and 5.1 surround mixes.

Monk Higgins, Extra Soul Perception (Originally released on Solid State Records LP SS-18046, 1968 - reissued Real Gone Music/Dusty Groove, 2018)

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

1. Extra Soul Perception
2. The Look of Slim
3. A Good Thing
4. Watermelon Man
5. Straight Ahead
6. Canadian Sunset
7. Collision in Black
8. Just Around the Corner
9. Little Green Apples
10. Poker Chips
11. Sittin' Duck
12. Doing It To Deff

Monk Higgins, Extra Soul Perception (Limited Translucent Blue Vinyl Edition) (Originally released on Solid State Records LP SS-18046, 1968 - reissued Real Gone Music/Dusty Groove, 2018) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side One

1. Extra Soul Perception
2. The Look of Slim
3. A Good Thing
4. Watermelon Man
5. Straight Ahead
6. Canadian Sunset

Side Two

1. Collision in Black
2. Just Around the Corner
3. Little Green Apples
4. Poker Chips
5. Sittin' Duck
6. Doing It To Deff

Merry Clayton, Merry Clayton (Limited Maroon Vinyl Edition) (originally released on Ode Records LP SP 77012, 1971 - reissued Real Gone Music, 2018) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side One

1. Southern Man
2. Walk On In
3. After All This Time
4. Love Me or Let Me Be Lonely
5. A Song for You
6. Sho' Nuff

Side Two

1. Steamroller
2. Same Old Story
3. Light on the Hill
4. Grandma's Hands
5. Whatever

Hampton Grease Band, Music to Eat (Limited Peach Vinyl Edition) (Originally released on Columbia Records LP G 30555, 1971 - reissued Real Gone Music, 2018) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

LP 1

Side One

1. Halifax

Side Two

1. Maria
2. Six

LP 2

Side One

1. Evans
2. Egyptian Beaver
3. Evans
4. Lawton

Side Two

1. Hey Old Lady and Bert's Song
2. Hendon
3. Spray Paint
4. Major Bones
5. Sewell Park
6. Improvisation