Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up!
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, The Best of Everything (Geffen/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
On the heels of the release of the acclaimed rarities box set An American Treasure, a new career-spanning anthology arrives from the late Tom Petty. The Best of Everything is subtitled The Definitive Career-Spanning Hits Collection 1976-2016 and features 38 tracks from the soulful rock-and-roller, including two previously unreleased cuts (an alternate of "The Best of Everything" and the outtake "For Real.") Petty's solo work is heard alongside his recordings with both The Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch. (Alas, Petty's time in The Traveling Wilburys isn't addressed.) This marks the first time that material from all of Petty's label affiliations has been collected under one roof. The Best of Everything will be issued as a 2-CD or 4-LP set, with the latter available in black and clear vinyl versions, as well as on all digital platforms. Read more here!
Gordon Lightfoot, The Complete Singles 1970-1980 (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Real Gone surveys a decade of hits and fan favorites from Gordon Lightfoot, all presented in their original single versions. This 34-track anthology features "Sundown," "If You Could Read My Mind," "Carefree Highway," "Beautiful," "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," and other certified classics from the Canadian troubadour. Mike Milchner at SonicVision has remastered all tracks. Richie Unterberger provides the comprehensive liner notes in a package beautifully designed by John Sellards. Read more here!
John Hartford, Backroads, Rivers and Memories: The Rare and Unreleased John Hartford (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
When he wasn't playing sidekick to Glen Campbell on TV's Good Time Hour or appearing on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, "Gentle On My Mind" songwriter John Hartford was also an in-demand, banjo-picking sideman. He appeared for acts like James Taylor, Delaney & Bonnie, Seals & Crofts, and The Byrds. His unique, Flatt and Scruggs-inspired style started him on his music sojourn that found him embracing conventional country, classic bluegrass stylings, and Dylan-inspired introspection. Blend all these influences and you get Newgrass-the style he singlehandedly created with the 1971 album Aero Plain. Skip Heller has annotated this collection of rare demos, singles, and live tracks, while John Sellards has designed and Kevin Chubirka has mastered. Read more here!
Dennis Coffey, Live at Baker's (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Recorded live in Detroit in 2006, Live at Baker's features The Funk Brothers' legendary guitarist Dennis Coffey and his band (two-time Detroit Music Award winner Demetrius Nabors on keys, Grammy-nominated Gaelynn McKinney on drums and bassist Damon Warmack) performing nine songs, including the standard "Moonlight in Vermont" and well-chosen covers of Miles Davis ("All Blues"), Freddie Hubbard (the bossa-flecked "Little Sunflower"), and The Temptations (the beautiful "Just My Imagination," the original recording of which featured Coffey). The set also includes an incendiary version of Coffey's Top 10 hit from 1971, "Scorpio," a song which has been sampled countless times over the years. Bill Kopp provides the new liner notes based on an interview with Coffey. Read more here!
The Gun, Gun [Red Vinyl] (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
The Gun's 1968 hard rock classic Gun returns to vinyl for the first time in thirty years. Gun was an album of firsts: not only was it the group's inaugural LP, but it was also the starting point for Adrian and Paul Gurvitz (or Curtis, as they're named here), who would later found Three Man Army with Tony Newman and Buddy Miles, and The Baker-Gurvitz Army with Ginger Baker. It was also the first album to feature cover art by celebrated artist Roger Dean, who later forged a decades-long creative partnership with Yes. Real Gone has a limited-edition "red devil" color vinyl version of the album that perfectly complements the eye-catching original artwork which adorns the new pressing. The run is limited to just 1,000 copies. Read more here!
The Undisputed Truth, Cosmic Truth / Higher Than High (Ace) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Ace brings together two classic albums from Mk. II of Norman Whitfield's psych-funk-soul group, neither of which have ever been on CD before. Cosmic Truth and Higher Than High are filled with way-out Motown grooves, and this deluxe 2-CD set celebrates the Truth's legacy with copious liner notes, illustrations, and more. Available today in the U.K., and next Friday in North America!
Tommy Hunt, The Complete Man: '60s New York Soul Songs (Ace) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Ace rounds up rarities from soul great Tommy Hunt including five previously unreleased Scepter sides, alternate takes, rare LP tracks, and recordings from his tenure at Dynamo, Capitol, and Atlantic Records - with almost every track appearing on CD for the first time! Available today in the U.K. and next Friday in North America.
Various Artists, Where the Girls Are: Vol. 10 (Ace) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Here's the tenth and final volume in Ace's long-running series collecting impossibly rare girl group nuggets! This one spotlights 1962-1968 and such groups as The Bronzettes, The Beas, The Darlenes, The Delicates, The Carolines, and even the considerably more well-known Shirelles, as well as solo girls including Kelly Garrett, Donna Loren, and Saundra Franklin. Available today in the U.K. and next Friday in North America.
Chaka Khan, Hello Happiness [Standard and Indie LPs] (Diary/Island) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Chaka Khan is set to return with her first album in 12 years. Hello Happiness is the long-awaited follow-up to Funk This. The LP will be released through Diary Records in conjunction with Island Records on March 1. The 7-track LP features songs of empowerment and appreciation that remain contemporary but include strains of late-'70s disco and funk. There is also an indie-exclusive edition that is pressed on orange vinyl and housed in alternative cover art. It will include a 24″ x 36″ poster and a download card, as well.
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