Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up!

Who, WHO [Various Formats] (Polydor)

Standard CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / The Who Online Store
Deluxe CD: Target U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / The Who Online Store
Standard LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / The Who Online Store
Indie record shop 2LP edition: Bull Moose / HMV
Deluxe 45rpm 2LP/EP: The Who Online Store
Cassette: The Who Online Store
Format Bundles: The Who Online Store
Japan SHM-CD: CD Japan

The Who return with their first new studio album in 13 years, and it’s available on CD, deluxe CD, digital, cassette, standard vinyl, and deluxe color vinyl. Featuring “Ball and Chain” and “Hero Ground Zero,” WHO isn’t a concept album but rather a new collection of muscular songs playing to the band’s still-considerable strengths. In the U.S., Target will offer an exclusive CD with three bonus tracks while the Japanese SHM-CD edition has those three bonus cuts plus a fourth, the demo of “Sand.” Read more here!

The Mamas and The Papas, The Complete Singles (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Real Gone returns its fantastic Mamas and Papas compilation, The Complete Singles, to print.  Originally released as a 50th anniversary 2-CD set in 2016 and reissued on limited-edition green vinyl for Record Store Day Black Friday last year, the collection will now receive a widespread vinyl release on black wax.  The 2-LP set includes all 31 singles (A- and B-sides!) from the iconic pop group, which were thought lost forever.  After a years-long, intercontinental mission, Real Gone was able to bring together all the classic tracks.  This reissue will utilize the existing Aaron Kannowski remaster which made those single mixes sound better than ever.  The gatefold packaging boasts liner notes from Ed Osborne that feature exclusive interview excerpts from Lou Adler and Michelle Phillips alongside rarely seen photographs of the band.

The Babys, Silver Dreams: Complete Albums 1975-1980 (Cherry Red/HNE) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Silver Dreams: Complete Albums 1975-1980 contains expansions of the British pop-rock group’s five original albums – The Babys, Broken Heart, Head First, Union Jacks and On The Edge – plus a bonus disc featuring a promo-only live record recorded at The Tower Theatre outside Philadelphia in 1977 and a sanctioned released of The Unofficial Official Babys Album, taken from an early session in 1975 and released once the group had begun to climb the charts. The five studio albums all feature bonus tracks, from single edits to non-album material (like a cover of Motown standard “Money (That’s What I Want)” included on 1981’s Anthology and part of a 1979 live set from Cleveland used for single B-side material. Read more here!

Dollar, Ultimate Dollar (Cherry Pop) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Pop vocal duo Dollar, a.k.a. David Van Day and Thereza Bazar, are celebrated on a lavish, new 6-CD/1-DVD box set from Cherry Pop. The box contains expanded versions of all three of their original studio albums with rare and new-to-CD bonus tracks including demos, single A- and B-sides, backing tracks, outtakes, and 12-inch mixes. A DVD (alas, in Region 2 PAL) has eighteen promo videos and television appearances. Bazar has personally overseen the project which includes an 84-page book filled with essays, lyrics, photographs, and Bazar and Van Day’s track-by-track commentary. The box is released in conjunction with a new 2-CD Greatest Hits and limited edition vinyl LP of debut album Shooting Stars.

Reba McEntire, Read My Mind: 25th Anniversary Edition (MCA Nashville) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Reba McEntire marks 25 years of Read My Mind with a new reissue. The original album, her 20th, was notable for its top five Country hits “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter” (a No. 1), “Why Haven’t I Heard from You” and “And Still;” the crossover chart entry “Till You Love Me;” and the groundbreaking “She Thinks Is Name Was John,” the first mainstream country song to address the AIDS crisis. For this reissue, a 2019 live performance of “And Still” is appended to the original 3x platinum album.

The Sound of Music: Original Broadway Cast Recording (Craft Recordings)

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

Craft Recordings celebrates 60 years of The Sound of Music with CD and vinyl reissues of the original Broadway cast recording starring Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel, and originally released on Columbia Records. Produced by Goddard Lieberson and featuring Robert Russell Bennett’s grand orchestrations, it’s been newly remastered for Craft’s reissue from the original three-track master tapes by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound. The LP version will be pressed on four sides of vinyl for optimum sound quality at RTI and housed in a replica of the original LP’s lavish gatefold jacket (the first such gatefold printed by Columbia). [Note this edition was previously available in a limited run from Craft’s sister imprint Analog Spark; the releases are identical other than the label artwork.] The album will also be available digitally, including at 192/24 high resolution. Read more here!

Klaus Nomi, Klaus Nomi (Real Gone Music) (Real Gone Music)

Real Gone revisits Klaus Nomi‘s self-titled album.  Previously released just five months ago on cabaret smoke vinyl (we reviewed it here!), the fantastically off-kilter avant-garde album will now be issued once more on hot pink vinyl.  For folks who may have missed out on the last pressing, this is a good opportunity to spin the operatic, other-worldly cult classic.

Tony Joe White, That On the Road Look “Live”  (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Next up is a CD reissue of Tony Joe White’s 1971 live recording, That On the Road Look “Live,”  which was also just released on white vinyl for Record Store Day Black Friday.  The CD reissue contains the same program, recorded while White was opening for Creedence Clearwater Revival.  The original multitrack tapes were prepared for release shortly after the tour, but were only finally released in 2010 as a Rhino Handmade exclusive.  Now, the concert arrives for its first-ever regular retail release.  With a killer band (check out Duck Dunn on bass) and a fantastic setlist (a ten-minute “Polk Salad Annie”!) this album is not one to miss!

Country Joe and The Fish, Live! Fillmore West 1969 (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Real Gone also has a limited-edition, 2-LP issue of Country Joe and the Fish’s Live! Fillmore West 1969 which not only featured the legendary Berkeley band (with replacement bassist Jack Casady of Jefferson Airplane), but also their famous friends.  Originally released on Vanguard in 1994, the raucous and ramshackle concert was recorded in January 1969 as a farewell to the band’s “classic” lineup.  The explosive album features a lengthy, 38-minute “Donovan’s Reef Jam” that features the Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart on drums.  After 25 minutes, Jerry Garcia, Steve Miller, and the Airplane’s Jorma Kaukonen join in on guitars.  Another friend, Dave Getz from Big Brother and the Holding Company, sits in on “It’s So Nice to Have Your Love.”  Real Gone’s 50th anniversary reissue marks the first vinyl appearance of this document in almost 20 years.  Only 1,000 yellow vinyl copies are being pressed up.  The discs are housed in a newly designed, six-panel, double-gatefold package that includes the original liner notes from producers Sam Charters and Bill Belmont.

Mary J. Blige, HERStory Vol. 1 (UMe)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
7″ Box Set: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

HERstory, Vol. 1 takes listeners through the first five or so years of Mary J. Blige’s still-thriving career, primarily focusing on singles from What’s The 411? and My Life (many in rare single-only remix form) as well as her Method Man and Jay-Z collaborations and the relatively rare “Everyday It Rains” off the soundtrack to the 1995 hip-hop documentary The Show. The album will be primarily available as a CD, 2LP or digital set, with a special deluxe box set edition featuring 16 hits and remixes from the same period (a slightly different track list from the standard album) across eight newly-created 7″ singles. Taken together, it’s a solid summary of her first few years on the scene – and, judging by its title, hopefully the first of a series. Read more here!

Chet Baker, The Legendary Riverside Albums (Riverside/Craft) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Originally slated for a November 15 release, this long-awaited box set finally arrives on Friday. The 5-LP collection includes (Chet Baker Sings) It Could Happen To You, Chet Baker In New York, Chet, and Chet Baker Plays The Best Of Lerner And Loewe. Baker cut these albums between 1958 and 1959, a period that proved pivotal in his career and life. Sings sees Baker set aside his trumpet and showcase his other-worldly vocal tone, while In New York features nimble playing from Philly Joe Jones, Johnny Griffin, and Paul Chambers, among others. The instrumental Chet includes pianist Bill Evans, flautist Herbie Mann, and guitarist Kenny Burrell providing spare accompaniment that gives Baker ample space to move. His last Riverside album finds the trumpeter interpreting Lerner and Loewe as only he can, including material from My Fair Lady, Paint Your Wagon, and Gigi. Each album has been cut from original analog master tapes by Kevin Gray and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI. But the celebration doesn’t end there – the box also includes a bonus LP of outtakes and alternates. In all, the deluxe box set provides fans with an all-encompassing view into Chet Baker’s singular talents at a crucial stage in his life, presented in the most luxurious way yet! Also available in hi-res digital audio through HDTracks and other providers.

Miles Davis, The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions (Prestige/Craft) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Craft Recordings continues their celebration of Prestige Records’ 70th anniversary with a deluxe vinyl reissue of the 2006 Miles Davis box set, The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions. The new 6-LP set features every track from the classic albums Miles: The New Miles Davis Quintet (1956), Cookin’ (1957), Relaxin’ (1958), Workin’ (1959), Steamin’ (1961), plus “‘Round Midnight” from Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants (1959), and a bonus disc of music from the group’s radio and TV appearances. The pivotal albums included a stellar lineup of pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, drummer Philly Joe Jones, and tenor saxophonist John Coltrane. Each disc in the luxurious new box set is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI and housed in a linen-wrapped folio that features 20 pages full of archival photos and detailed liner notes from jazz historian Bob Blumenthal. You can read more about the box here!

Modern English, Mesh & Lace / After the Snow (Blixa Sounds)

Mesh & Lace CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Mesh & Lace LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
After the Snow CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
After the Snow LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Best remembered for hits like “I Melt With You,” Essex natives Modern English established themselves in the post-punk scene during the early ’80s and earned acclaim on the airwaves and among the underground before signing with Sire and going on to score one of the most beloved hits of the MTV era. Blixa Sounds will release two of Modern English’s early albums — Mesh & Lace (1981) and After The Snow (1982) — on CD and LP on December 6, boasting new artwork, remastered audio, and a wealth of alternate versions, remixed, and single edits.

Randy Newman, Marriage Story: Original Music from the Netflix Film (Lakeshore)

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

Randy Newman’s latest score and second for director Noam Baumbach, Marriage Story, comes to CD and vinyl after its digital/streaming premiere. Newman’s haunting themes complement Baumbach’s searing drama. Available on vinyl today, December 6, and CD next Friday, December 13.

Cole Porter’s The New Yorkers: The 2017 Encores Cast Recording (Ghostlight) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

In 2017, New York’s long-running Encores! series premiered a remarkable reconstruction of Cole Porter’s The New Yorkers, the long-lost show that introduced the standards “Love for Sale” and “I Happen to Like New York.”  Now, that acclaimed production is arriving on CD and digital platforms in a sparkling new cast recording featuring Tam Mutu, Scarlet Strallen, Kevin Chamberlin, Cyrille Aimee, Ruth Williamson, Mylinda Hull, and other A-listers.  The sounds of Prohibition-era New York circa 1930 – brimming with melody, sophistication, and wit as only Cole Porter can provide – are back and sounding more vibrant than ever.