Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up!

James Taylor, The Warner Bros. Albums 1970-1976 (Warner/Rhino)

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

Rhino has a newly remastered box, supervised by Peter Asher, of James Taylor’s six studio albums for the label including Sweet Baby James (1970), Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon (1971), One Man Dog (1972), Walking Man (1974), Gorilla (1975); and In the Pocket (1976).  Available on CD, 180-gram LP, or digital.  Read more here!

Judy Collins, The Elektra Albums Volume One [1961-1968] (Edsel) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Edsel celebrates the remarkable career of Judy Collins with The Elektra Albums Volume One (1961-1968), collecting the eight albums she recorded in the 1960s for Holzman’s label.  The first volume of this series includes the albums which made Collins a voice of a generation and on which she established herself as not only an eloquent voice of traditional folk but a champion of such songwriters as Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, and Randy Newman: A Maid of Constant Sorrow (1961), Golden Apples of the Sun (1962), Judy Collins 3 (1964), The Judy Collins Concert (1964), Fifth Album (1965), In My Life (1966), Wildflowers (1967); and Who Knows Where the Time Goes (1968).  The set has each album in an LP-style paper sleeve facsimile of the original sleeve and also contains a 36-page booklet with original album liner notes and credits plus a new essay by Elektra historian Mick Houghton.  Read more here!

Mike McGear, McGear [Various Formats] (Cherry Red/Esoteric)

2CD/DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Cherry Red Online Store
LP:  Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Cherry Red Online Store 

Mike McCartney (a.k.a. Mike McGear)’s 1974 album McGear was produced by his brother Paul McCartney who also wrote or co-wrote the majority of the tracks.  Linda McCartney, Denny Laine, Jimmy McCulloch, and Denny Seiwell also appear on McGear, which has been dubbed by some fans as a “lost Wings album.”  Now, McGear has now been newly remastered from the original master tapes in a compact but lavish box set and expanded with 21 bonus tracks, including 13 that have never been released, plus rare single edits that make their CD debut here.  Among those is the non-album single “Dance the Do” featuring Vivian Stanshall. The set also includes a DVD featuring interviews with Mike McCartney recorded at Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre and the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, as well as the 1974 promotional film for “Leave It.”  A 32-page booklet and foldout poster are also included.  The LP reissue is just the original album.  Available today in the U.K. and next Friday in North America.  Read more here, and watch this space for a full feature on McGear!

Shalamar, Gold [Various Formats] (Crimson/Demon)

3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
1LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

2019 marks the 40th anniversary of the formation of the classic Shalamar lineup of Jody Watley, Howard Hewett, and Jeffrey Daniel.  Demon Music Group’s Crimson label is celebrating with a stellar new entry in Demon’s budget-priced Gold series.  This definitive anthology boasts all 24 of Shalamar’s U.S. and U.K. top 40 singles as well as rare disco mixes and more – for a total of 41 songs on 3 CDs for less than £6 GBP or 12 bucks U.S.!  And that’s not all.  A vinyl edition will also be available with 9 killer tracks pressed on 180-gram gold vinyl!  This set has been produced by Big Break/Groove Line Records’ Wayne A. Dickson, and features liner notes from Malcolm McKenzie.  Watch this space for full coverage of this title!

Lesley Duncan, Lesley Step Lightly: The GM Recordings Plus 1974-1982 (Cherry Red/RPM) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

British singer-songwriter and prolific backing vocalist Lesley Duncan (“Love Song”)’s three albums and seven singles for the GM label are collected on RPM’s new 3-CD set with copious bonus material including her 1974 BBC In Concert recording, a live track from the 1973 Reading Festival, and post-GM material including the charity single “Sing Children Sing” (with Kate Bush, Pete Townshend, Madeline Bell, and others) and tracks recorded with her producer-arranger husband Tony Cox in the 1980s.

Steve Goodman, Affordable Art / Artistic Hair (Omnivore)

Affordable Art: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Artistic Hair: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Omnivore begins a series dedicated to late singer-songwriter Steve Goodman with a pair of albums originally issued in 1983 on Red Pajamas Records.  Artistic Hair adds 10 bonus tracks originally released on 1994’s No Big Surprise: The Steve Goodman Anthology while Affordable Art boasts seven previously unreleased acoustic demos plus “Go Cubs Go,” WGN’s theme for the Chicago Cubs written and performed by Goodman.  Michael Graves has remastered both titles; Lee Zimmerman has penned the new liner notes for each title.

Live, Throwing Copper: 25th Anniversary Edition [Various Formats] (Radioactive/UMe)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2CD/2LP: Live Online Store

The band’s 1994 album is remastered and expanded on CD with four bonus tracks (one original “hidden track” and three previously unreleased cuts “Hold Me Up,” “We Deal in Dreams,” and “Susquehanna”) and on a 2LP/2CD Super Deluxe box adding the previously unreleased Live at Woodstock ’94 set.  The box set is available directly from Live in various bundles.

Grover Washington, Jr., Sacred Kind of Love: The Columbia Albums (Cherry Red/SoulMusic) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Cherry Red’s SoulMusic imprints collects late sax man Grover Washington Jr.’s six core Columbia albums in a clamshell 5CD box set.  (Washington’s three Columbia “concept” albums – A House Full of Love: Music from The Cosby Show, Breath of Heaven: A Holiday Collection, and Aria – are not included.)  The set boasts a 24-page booklet with new liner notes by Charles Waring and David Nathan, and four bonus tracks including Stephen Sondheim’s “Every Day a Little Death,” the B-side “Protect the Dream,” and a pair of songs from Washington’s Prime Cuts compilation.

Mike Love, 12 Sides of Summer (BMG) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The Beach Boys’ frontman returns with a fun new studio album celebrating his favorite season (what else?), summer.  Highlights include a cover of Ramones’ “Rockaway Beach,” renditions of “Here Comes the Sun” and “The Girl from Ipanema,” and revivals of The Beach Boys’ “It’s OK” (with Hanson), “Surfin’,” “Surfin’ Safari,” and “Keepin’ the Summer Alive.”  Available on CD and digital.