Real Gone Music has announced the re-release of four albums from the label’s vault which are being brought back in print on new vinyl colorways:  Charles Bukowski Reads His Poetry, Norma Tanega’s Walking My Cat Named Dog, Horace Tapscott Quintet’s The Giant Is Awakened, and Tom Tom Club’s self-titled album.  All these sought-after titles will return to shops on August 21, so whether you like free jazz, profane poetry, singer-songwriters, or funky dance grooves, Real Gone has you covered once again!

Charles Bukowski Reads His Poetry:  truth in advertising that sums up this 1972 recording that was ultimately released in 1980 on Takoma.  As Real Gone puts it, “It’s not really what you’d commonly conceive of as poetry, but rather observations and vignettes drawn from life’s darker side, focusing on perversions, poverty, drunkenness, gambling, and bodily functions.  But Bukowski’s bemused air and self-deprecating humor blunt the shock value of the words and emphasize the universality of the themes.  ‘I want you to hate me,’ he says to the audience, but it’s hopeless ‘he is one of us.”  It’s been eight years since Real Gone Music first brought this material back onto vinyl.  Now, to celebrate the poet’s 100th birthday, the label will press up a special vomit-inspired color pressing of this unique work.  Limited to only 1000 copies.

Norma Tanega’s Walkin’ My Cat Named Dog is a TSD favorite – check out our full review of the previous vinyl issue here – and now the singular alternate-tuned guitar work and observant wit of Norma Tanega’s Bob Crewe-produced debut will return on a new sky blue color vinyl variant.  Perfect for anyone who may have missed out the first time around.  If you did, don’t wait to add this one to your collection, as quantities are strictly limited.

For the jazz lovers out there, Real Gone will be re-pressing The Horace Tapscott Quintet’s The Giant Is Awakened.  As we previously covered, the 1969 album was originally pressed up on the Flying Dutchman label and in the intervening years has garnered a cult following from those who admire its melding of free jazz and pan-African influence.  Original pressings fetching triple-digit dollar amounts and Real Gone’s neon-green vinyl pressing from earlier this year sold out at lightning speed.  Now, the album returns on black vinyl, cut from high-resolution audio sources, pressed at Gotta Groove Records, and presented in replica gatefold artwork.

Finally, Real Gone will dig back to reissue Tom Tom Club’s self-titled album.  Previously issued on green vinyl and in a blue-and-yellow starburst hue, the danceable and funky Talking Heads side-project featured Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth alongside Weymouth’s sisters and Adrian Belew and Steven Stanley from the Remain in Light band.  Nearly 40 years on, the album remains influential and is a worthy addition to any record library.  So if you missed either previous edition, do yourself a favor and pick up Real Gone Music’s upcoming tropical yellow and red color vinyl variant and get ready to dance.

All these titles from the Real Gone Music vault return on August 21.  You can order your copies and check out track listings below!

Charles Bukowski, Charles Bukowski Reads His Poetry [Limited 100th Birthday Vomit Vinyl Edition] (originally New Voice Records LP NVM 2001, 1966 – reissued Real Gone Music, 2020) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Your Local Record Shop)

Side 1:

1. Introduction
2. Creation of the Morning Line
3. Death
4. The Sex Fiends
5. “Love,” He Said
6. Piss and Shit
7. The Death of an Idiot
8. Style

Side 2:

1. The Worlds Greatest Loser
2. Last Day of the Suicide Kid
3. The Shoe Lace
4. Hot
5. Earthquake
6. The Rat
7. The Best Love Poem

Norma Tanega, Walkin’ My Cat Named Dog [Limited Sky Blue Vinyl Edition] (originally New Voice Records LP NVM 2001, 1966 – reissued Real Gone Music, 2020) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Your Local Record Shop)