Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up!

Elvis Presley, The Best of the ’68 Comeback Special (RCA/Legacy)

Standard CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Walmart Exclusive CD/DVD: Walmart.com

The celebration of Elvis Presley’s legendary 1968 NBC television special continues.  The Best of the ’68 Comeback Special features highlights from Legacy’s recent ’68 Comeback Special box set with performances culled from both of the “stand-up” and “sit-down” shows recorded in June, 1968 for the special.  This new, single-disc release also includes the single versions of “Memories,” “Suspicious Minds,” and “Burning Love.”  While only “Memories” was included in the original program, all three songs will be performed on NBC’s upcoming special, Elvis: All-Star Tribute.  It’s rounded out by a posthumous duet version of “If I Can Dream” on which The King is joined by stars of the NBC broadcast including Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Shawn Mendes, Post Malone, and Darius Rucker.  A Walmart exclusive edition has the CD plus a DVD of the original Comeback Special.  Read more here!

Jewel, Pieces of You [Various Formats] (Craft Recordings)

2-LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Limited-Edition Blue 2-LP:  Barnes and Noble
CD:   Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Craft Recordings celebrates Jewel’s landmark debut with a new 2-LP reissue.  Keeping with the long-out-of-print original pressing, the new version will include five bonus tracks that were originally released as single B-sides.  The lacquers for this edition were cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering and the discs were pressed at Memphis Record Pressing.  Wile the standard black vinyl version will be available wherever records are sold, Barnes and Noble will carry an exclusive, limited-edition blue vinyl edition.  Meanwhile, there’s also a CD version that was released on January 18 that excludes the bonus tracks.  You’ll find links to all editions above!  Read more here.

Gladys Knight & The Pips, On & On: The Buddah/Columbia Anthology (SoulMusic/Cherry Red) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

On And On is a hit-packed 2-CD set featuring Gladys Knight and The Pips’ post-Motown work on Buddah (on Disc One) and Columbia (on Disc Two).  With a whopping 37 tracks, the set is a definitive look at over a decade of great music.  The first disc features the timeless classic “Midnight Train To Georgia,” and 19 other Buddah-era tracks, including over a dozen charted singles and an alternate version of “Make Yours A Happy Home” from the soundtrack for Claudine.  Disc Two showcases the group’s five-year tenure at Columbia, which found them reuniting with Ashford and Simpson on hits like “Landlord” and “Taste of Bitter Love.”  The set also includes their version of the pop classic “Wind Beneath My Wings,” as well as “You’re Number One (In My Book)” and “Save The Overtime (For Me).”  With all their U.S. hits from that 12-year period, plus new liner notes by Kevin Goins and new remastering by Nick Robbins, this set is sure to please any fan of Gladys Knight and The Pips.  Available today in the U.K. and next Friday in the U.S.!

Regina Belle, Show Me the Way: The Columbia Anthology (SoulMusic/Cherry Red)  (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This 2-CD collection brings together 29 tracks drawn from four albums that the soulful songstress recorded between 1987 and 1995.  Among them are classic tracks like “So Many Tears,” “Show Me The Way,” and “If I Could,” as well as the #1 R&B hits “Baby Come To Me and “Make It Like It Was.  Rounding out the set are duets with James “J.T.” Taylor (“All I Want Is Forever”), Johnny Mathis (“Better Together”), and Peabo Bryson (“I Can’t Imagine”), plus the 1987 “Cool Mix” version of “So Many Tears.”  Together, these tracks showcase Belle’s vocal talents and her versatility as an interpreter of popular song.  The collection includes new liner notes by Kevin Goins with quotations from producers and collaborators such as Nick Martinelli, Narada Michael Walden and Barry Eastmond.  Available today in the U.K. and next Friday in the U.S.!

Chaka Khan, Hello Happiness (Island/Diary) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Chaka Khan, fresh off her appearances at the Rose Bowl and the Joni 75 concert, returns with her first album in 12 years. Hello Happiness is the long-awaited follow-up to Funk This.  It will be released through Diary Records in conjunction with Island Records on February 15.  The 7-track LP features songs of empowerment and appreciation that remain contemporary but include strains of late-’70s disco and funk.