Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up!

Elvis Presley, Live 1969 (RCA/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

RCA and Legacy celebrate Elvis Presley’s triumphant return to live performing at Las Vegas’ International Hotel with a new 11-CD box set.  All of The King’s exhilarating performances from August 21 to August 26, 1969 will be presented on Legacy’s new box . Some of the concerts have been previously issued in the last decade on various BMG and Follow That Dream collections and box sets (not to mention the August 23rd dinner show, which saw a limited Record Store Day vinyl issue). But Live 1969 also features never-before-released complete performances, including the Midnight Shows on August 22 and 24, 1969, as well as the Dinner Show from August 25. Every performance has been newly remixed and remastered for the all-encompassing box.  A 52-page book rounds out the lavish presentation.  Read more, including the full track listing, here!

Elvis Presley, Live at the International Hotel, Las Vegas NV – August 26, 1969 (RCA/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Legacy also has Live at the International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV August 26, 1969, featuring The King’s complete August 26 Midnight show. The standard 180-gram black vinyl pressing will be joined by a limited edition bundle of the album, an exclusive T-shirt, and replica International Hotel room key over at ShopElvis.com. An exclusive hot pink and yellow color vinyl variant will be available from Shop Graceland and fans who pre-order there will receive a special Elvis TCB keychain while supplies last.​

Various Artists, Blinded by the Light: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Columbia/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Barnes and Noble Exclusive Orange Vinyl)

Opening next Friday, the film by director Gurdiner Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham) is a feature-length love letter to the music and philosophy of Bruce Springsteen as seen through the eyes of a Pakistani teen in Thatcher-era Great Britain struggling to find himself and his place in the world.  Inspired by Sarfraz Manzoor’s Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock ‘N’ Roll, the sweet and touching motion picture strikes a universal chord with its clever use of the New Jersey living legend’s finest moments.  The accompanying soundtrack from Columbia/Legacy will not only remind listeners of the movie’s joyful and tender moments but also boasts classics and rare tracks from the Boss’ vault. “I’ll Stand By You” was written in 2001 for Springsteen’s oldest son and originally submitted for consideration for the big-screen adaptation of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.  Also, for the first time on a “proper” pressed CD album, the soundtrack presents two live rarities: the debut live performance of “The River” (from No Nukes ’79, Madison Square Garden, NYC, September 21, 1979) and a recent solo acoustic performance of “The Promised Land” (Concert for Valor, The National Mall, Washington DC, November 11, 2014).  Blinded by the Light is a must-see for anyone ever affected by the power of music; the soundtrack is a souvenir and an enjoyable listen in its own right.  Read more here!

Janie Fricke, It Ain’t Easy: The Complete Hits (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Real Gone Music presents a 41-track, 2-CD compilation of Janie Fricke’s most successful country classics with It Ain’t Easy: The Complete Hits (1979-1988).  Fricke had paid her dues before making it big in Nashville as a jingle singer.  Once she relocated, she got gigs with the likes of Dolly Parton, Conway Twitty, Crystal Gayle, and Tanya Tucker.  Eventually she went out on her own and signed to Columbia in 1977.  In just two years, she scored six No. 1 Country hits and won two consecutive CMA Awards for Female Vocalist of the Year.  All 38 of her charting tracks are accounted for on this definitive set, including duets with Charlie Rich, Johnny Duncan, Larry Gatlin, and Merle Haggard, alongside her later hits as Janie Frickie.  Fricke herself has penned the liner notes for the collection, which are supplemented with previously unseen photographs in the extensive booklet.  Get more details here!

The Strangeloves, I Want Candy [Candy Apple Red Vinyl] (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Real Gone Music brings The Strangeloves’ 1965 Bang Records garage-pop classic back to vinyl – candy apple red vinyl, to be precise.  This pressing is limited to 1,000 copies.  Read more here!

Jefferson Airplane, Woodstock – Sunday, August 17, 1969 (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Just in time for the festival’s 50th anniversary, Real Gone Music brings Jefferson Airplane’s complete Woodstock performance (issued on CD in 2009) to vinyl for the very first time.  The 3-LP set will be pressed on “new dawn” blue vinyl, and decked out with Henry Diltz’s photographs and Richie Unterberger’s liner notes.  Read more here!

Steve Goodman, Santa Ana Winds / Unfinished Business (Omnivore)

Santa Ana Winds: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Unfinished Business: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Omnivore has another two albums from the late, great Steve Goodman on CD.  1984’s Santa Ana Winds was the troubadour’s final completed LP; its original ten tracks have been bolstered by another ten (six of which are previously unreleased).  The aptly-titled Unfinished Business arrived in 1987 with outtakes, demos, and unreleased recordings; again, its ten songs have become 19 – almost a second full album’s worth – with eight never-before-heard Goodman cuts.  It’s a feast of folk-pop, newly remastered by Michael Graves and annotated by Lee Zimmermann.  Both titles are attractively housed in digipaks with 12-page booklets.

Nina Simone, The Complete RCA Albums Collection (Music on CD) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Did you miss out on this 2011 RCA/Legacy box set?  U.K. label Music on CD has come to the rescue with a re-press of this indispensable box.  All of the late Nina Simone’s intense, fascinating nine albums for the RCA label are collected on this set, from 1967’s Nina Simone Sings the Blues through 1974’s appropriately-titled It’s Finished.  Each album contains bonus tracks, for a total of 35 rare Simone performances as remastered in 2011 by Mark Wilder at Sony’s Battery Studios.

Various Artists, Too Many Girls: Studio Cast Recording (Kritzerland)

Kritzerland has another title from the Ben Bagley library: the producer’s studio cast album of Rodgers and Hart’s Too Many Girls.  Bagley enlisted an A-list cast including Anthony Perkins, Estelle Parsons, Nancy Andrews, and Johnny Desmond to perform such classics  as “I Like to Recognize the Tune” and “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was.”  Kritzerland has spruced up the sound and packaging for this release featuring Harvey Schmidt’s original cover artwork.  It’s limited to 500 copies, and is available now for pre-order.  It will ship by the end of September, but pre-orders directly from the label typically arrive early.

Filter, Title of Record: 20th Anniversary Edition (Craft Recordings) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This 20th anniversary edition of Filter’s double platinum second album adds four bonus tracks.  Available on both CD and vinyl (the latter marking its first appearance in the format).