Features / Release Round-Up

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up!

Bryan Ferry, Live at the Royal Albert Hall 1974 (BMG)

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

Bryan Ferry’s Live at the Royal Albert Hall 1974 presents 14 selections recorded at the storied London venue in 1974 drawn from his first two solo albums.  These range from classic standards (“These Foolish Things,” “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes”) to ’60s pop (“Don’t Worry Baby,” “It’s My Party”), rock (“A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” “Sympathy for the Devil”), and R&B (“The Tracks of My Tears”). A smattering of Ferry originals are featured on the album, too, including “Another Time, Another Place” and Roxy Music’s “A Really Good Time.”  Read more here!

Bobby Patterson, It’s Just a Matter of Time [Purple Vinyl Edition] (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Texas soul man Bobby Patterson is well-known for his productions on Chuck Jackson, Fontella Bass, and Little Johnny Taylor.  Stepping in the spotlight on his own, Patterson released It’s Just A Matter of Time on the Paula label in 1972, featuring 12 exemplars of soul in all its flavors.  For its first LP reissue in decades, Real Gone has pressed the album on purple vinyl, housed in a replica of the original album art (complete with lyric insert).  The new edition is limited to just 700 copies.  Read more here!

Gil Scott-Heron, I’m New Here: 10th Anniversary Edition (XL)

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

XL Recordings marks 10 years of the late Gil Scott-Heron’s I’m New Here.  The 2-CD or 2-LP color vinyl set features the original album alongside two unreleased recordings – a newly unearthed original called “King Henry IV” and a take on Richie Havens’ arrangement of “Handsome Johnny” – plus a clutch of rare session recordings originally issued on the first edition of the album.  Now all these tracks will be widely available, collected in one place for the first time.

Gil Scott-Heron x Makaya McCraven, We’re New Again: A Reimagining by Makaya McCraven (XL)

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

In other news, I’m New Here has been given a new “reimagining”/remix by Makaya McCraven under the title We’re New Again following in the footsteps of Jamie xx’s acclaimed 2011 remix album We’re New Here.   Read more about both titles here!

Paul Carrack, Live 2000-2020: The Independent Years (Carrack U.K.) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The multi-talented voice of Ace, Squeeze, and Mike + The Mechanics presents a new 5-CD box set featuring 20 years’ worth of live recordings including renditions of the hits “Love Will Keep Us Alive,” “Tempted,” and “How Long,” as well as choice covers of classics like “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today,” “When You Walk in the Room,” and “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying.”

Tommy Sands, This Thing Called Love/Sands at the Sands (Sepia) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Sepia Records brings together a pair of albums from Tommy Sands for their first appearance on CD.  This Thing Called Love concentrates on standards while the live LP features both those classics and a smattering of rock-and-roll.

Al Jolson, The Kraft Music Hall Years: 1947-1949 (Sepia) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This set features 3 CDs and over 80 tracks from the quintessential entertainer including “April Showers,” “Almost Like Being in Love,” “Baby Face,” “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” and “Toot Toot Tootsie (Goodbye).”

Mario Lanza, Classics (Sepia) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

After previously concentrating on Lanza rarities, Sepia collects 23 of the Italian-American tenor’s most popular recordings to create a sampler of his artistry.  All three Sepia titles are released as a result of current U.K. public domain laws.

Richard Marx, Limitless (BMG) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The pop balladeer returns with his first studio album in five years highlighted by the leadoff single “Another One Down.”  Available on CD and digital.

Stone Temple Pilots, Perdida (Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

STP are back, too, with a 10-song album promising “introspective lyrics and unexpected instruments.”  Available on CD, LP, and digital.