Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up!

John Coltrane, Giant Steps: 60th Anniversary Edition (Rhino)

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

John Coltrane's 1960 Atlantic debut was entitled Giant Steps, and indeed, that's what the saxophonist took on this groundbreaking album.  Intense, dark, probing: the color of his saxophone was all his own.  Rhino is celebrating 60 years of Giant Steps with a multi-format anniversary edition encompassing 2-LP and 2-CD sets as well as a digital Super Deluxe Edition for streaming or download.  Both the CD & 2-LP editions include a newly remastered version of the original album plus eight alternate takes.  Complementing the physical editions will be Giant Steps: 60th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition for download/streaming only.  It includes the same 15 tracks as the Deluxe Edition plus 20 additional outtakes (all of which have been remastered for this release).  Many of these outtakes have only been available on the 1995 Coltrane CD box set The Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings and make their digital debuts here.  Read more here!

Thelonious Monk, Palo Alto (Impulse!/UMe/Legacy)

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

After an unexpected delay, a newly unearthed concert from the late jazz titan Thelonious Monk premieres on Palo Alto.  Recorded October 27, 1968 at that California city's high school, the set features both originals and standards in the inimitable Monk style. The album will be released on CD and LP.  The LP boasts a deluxe presentation with a gatefold sleeve, printed inners, a booklet with liner notes by Monk historian Robin D. G. Kelley plus reproductions of the original concert poster and program. Legacy Recordings is handling the digital release.  Read more here.

Various Artists, A Cellarful of Motown! Volume 5 (Caroline U.K.) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The classic Motown vaults are, once again, open with the long-anticipated fifth volume of A Cellarful of Motown, the rarities series which last saw a volume in 2010.  But this 2-CD, 43-song collection promises to have been worth the wait as it features previously unreleased and new-to-CD tracks from such household name artists as Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Martha Reeves and The Vandellas, Gladys Knight and The Pips, and The (Detroit) Spinners as well as cherished favorites including Chuck Jackson, Barbara McNair, Billy Eckstine, Brenda Holloway, Chris Clark, and the subject of Second Disc Records' 2019 Heart Full of Soul: The Motown Anthology, Blinky.  Read all about this exciting release here!

Little Richard, The Rill Thing / King of Rock and Roll (Omnivore)

The Rill Thing (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
King of Rock and Roll (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Omnivore reissues has newly-remastered and expanded CD editions of Little Richard's first two albums for Reprise Records, originally released at the dawn of the 1970s.  Read all about these lost classics here!

Fleetwood Mac, Then Play On: Celebration Edition (BMG)

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

On the heels of Rhino's Fleetwood Mac: 1969 to 1974 box set, BMG is bringing the band's 1969 LP Then Play On (also included in that collection) back to CD and 2-LP vinyl in a new edition that replicates the audio contents of Rhino's 2013 reissue. The new CD will be released in a deluxe, expanded mediabook presentation with a 16-page booklet featuring liner notes by Anthony Bozza and a foreword by Mick Fleetwood. The 2-LP edition has been half-speed mastered for increased dynamic range and includes the aforementioned expanded track list as well as the 16-page book, all wrapped up in a bookpack presentation.

Heatwave, Gold (Crimson/Demon) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Crimson's latest volume of its budget-priced Gold series of anthologies is a sizzling one, with 45 tracks on 3 CDs - including hits, favorites, and rarities - from the "Always and Forever" group.  Get more details here!

The New Seekers, Gold (Crimson/Demon) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Another Gold volume has 56 songs on 3 CDs from The New Seekers, including the international hit "I'd Love to Teach the World to Sing," the chart-topping "You Won't Find Another Fool Like Me," their cover of The Who's "Pinball Wizard," and much more.

Roy Clark, Greatest Hits (Craft Recordings) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Roy Clark (1933-2018) was not only a talented guitarist, banjo player, and fiddler, but notched 50 Country hits and crossed over to the pop and AC charts with songs like "Yesterday When I Was Young" and "September Song." A frequent guest host for Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, Clark was a perfect choice to bring country music culture to the world at large. The Grammy-winning entertainer was a member of The Grand Ole Opry and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2009.  Craft Recordings celebrates his legacy with this 18-track collection featuring such classics as "Yesterday When I Was Young" and "Come Live with Me."

John Prine, John Prine / Diamonds in the Rough / Sweet Revenge / Common Sense (Rhino/Atlantic)

John Prine (Atlantic SD 8296, 1971) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Diamonds In The Rough (Atlantic SD 7240, 1972) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Sweet Revenge (Atlantic SD 7274, 1973) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Common Sense (Atlantic SD 18127, 1975) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Rhino reissues late troubadour John Prine's first four Atlantic albums, originally released between 1971 and 1975, as standalone vinyl editions today.

Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets, Live at the Roundhouse (Legacy)

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

Celebrating the music of early Pink Floyd, Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets: Live at The Roundhouse arrives on Blu-ray, DVD, and a 2CD/DVD bundle.  The band features Mason, Gary Kemp, Guy Pratt, Lee Harris, and Dom Beken expertly recreating the psychedelic sounds on which the Floyd made its name. Legacy Recordings has confirmed that the movie will include both a stereo and 5.1 soundtrack.  A double-LP set will also be released, pressed at MPO, and housed in a die-cut gatefold package.  Read more here!

Yusuf (Cat Stevens), Tea for the Tillerman 2 (A&M/Cat-o-Log)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Your Local Record Shop
LP + poster: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Your Local Record Shop
Blue vinyl LP + poster: Yusuf/Cat Stevens Online Shop
Merchandise + media bundles: Yusuf/Cat Stevens Online Shop

Yusuf, a.k.a. Cat Stevens, has reimagined and re-recorded his 1970 classic Tea for the Tillerman for a new generation with the assistance of producer Paul Samwell-Smith and guitarist Alun Davies, both of whom collaborated with him on the original.  The result is a surprising yet familiar new take on a beloved LP.

Neil Young, The Times (Shakey/Reprise) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Amazon Music HD / Neil Young Archives)

Neil Young is taking stock of "The Times" on a new 7-track EP which will arrive as an Amazon Original release that can be streamed exclusively on Amazon Music HD in high resolution.  The album can also be enjoyed on NeilYoungArchives.com or on CD.  The Times features performances originally shared on the "Porch Sessions" episode of Young's livestreamed Fireside Sessions series.  The webcast found Neil revisiting political material from across his career, including "Ohio," "Alabama," "Southern Man," and "Campaigner."  The EP also features the revamped "Lookin' For A Leader 2020," an update to the topical track originally released on Living With War in 2006.  You'll also hear a cover of Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" and a new rendition of "Little Wing," recently released on Homegrown.

Nick Cordero, Live Your Life: Live at Feinstein's/54 Below (Broadway Records) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Before coronavirus tragically claimed his life on July 5 at the age of 41, Broadway's Nick Cordero (A Bronx Tale, Bullets Over Broadway) planned on releasing this live album of his acclaimed stint at New York nightspot 54 Below.  Now, Cordero's electrifying concert is being released in celebration of his life.  Live Your Life, named after his own uplifting composition, features guest spots from his friends Zach Braff, Drew Gehling, Sara Chase, and Kathryn Gallagher.