Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today!

Michael Nesmith, Different Drum: The Lost RCA Victor Recordings (Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music)

Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music are bringing Michael Nesmith's Different Drum: The Lost RCA Victor Recordings to vinyl for the first time today!  This 2-LP compendium features 22 tracks on CD drawn from the RCA Victor vaults, most of which are new to vinyl.  These songs were originally released to digital platforms in 2018 as bonus tracks to Nesmith's RCA six albums - solo and with The First and Second National Bands - and then premiered on CD in 2021.  Over the course of Nesmith's original LPs released between 1970 and 1973, he blossomed as a singer, songwriter, bandleader, and producer under the aegis of RCA Nashville legends Chet Atkins and Felton Jarvis.  With bandmates including legendary pedal steel guitarist O.J. "Red" Rhodes, John Ware, and John London, Nesmith pioneered country-rock with a spiritual and searching style all his own.  This set is housed in a deluxe gatefold sleeve and also includes a four-page insert.  TSD's Joe Marchese has written the liner notes as well as a new remembrance of Nesmith while John Sellards has designed the package boasting numerous photos from Henry Diltz.  Vic Anesini has mastered the audio.  Different Drum arrives on "blue smoke" vinyl at general retail while Barnes and Noble will also be carrying an exclusive variant edition pressed on red "fuego" vinyl.  Read more here!

Paul McCartney, McCartney I II III (MPL)

3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / uDiscoverMusic.com
Standard 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / uDiscoverMusic.com
Color 3LP: uDiscoverMusic.com

Macca has boxed his three influential self-titled albums - McCartney (1970), McCartney II (1980), and McCartney III (2020) - in various formats.  The trilogy collection will be available on three 180-gram black vinyl LPs; three 180-gram color vinyl LPs (clear for McCartney, white for II, and creamy white for III); and three CDs.  No bonus material is included for any of the albums.  All formats have cover art and typography from Ed Ruscha and include three photo prints as well as a new introduction by Paul.  Read more here.

Neil Young and Promise of the Real, Noise and Flowers (Reprise)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP/CD/BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
BD and all formats: Greedy Hand Store

Neil Young and Promise of the Real's Noise and Flowers was recorded during their brief 2019 tour which kicked off just two weeks following the passing of Young's longtime manager Elliot Roberts at the age of 76.  During the wide-ranging concerts, Young performed with a photograph of Roberts taped on his road case, and he considered the retrospective shows to be celebratory tributes to his fallen friend. It's coming in a variety of formats including CD, LP, and digitally; concurrently, a concert film of the same material will be issued on standalone Blu-ray and as part of a 2LP/1CD/1BD Deluxe Edition box set.  Get more details here.

Bobbie Gentry, The Girl from Chicksaw County: Highlights from the Capitol Masters (Capitol/UMC)

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

Missed out on Bobbie Gentry's 2018 Grammy-nominated box set The Girl from Chickasaw County?  UMC is looking back on that landmark set with this new highlights collection featuring 46 tracks on 2 CDs or 32 tracks on 2 LPs.  Produced and compiled by Andrew Batt, the set naturally opens with the chart-topping "Ode to Billie Joe" and continues on a tour of Gentry's Capitol discography including selections from all seven of her Capitol albums (her final studio album for the label, Patchwork, was released in 1971) including the stunning title track of 1970's Fancy which has since become a staple of country superstar Reba McEntire's repertoire.  Three songs ("Casket Vignette," "Recollection," and "Hushabye Mountain") have been especially remixed by Batt for this release.  Read more here.

Tintern Abbey, Beeside: The Anthology (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Real Gone anthologizes the ultra-rare sides from psych-pop band Tintern Abbey on this new 2-LP collection.  The set comes on purple vinyl and the package includes a 4-page insert with an essay featuring quotes from the band and unpublished photos.  Only the two sides of the original single have ever appeared on vinyl before.  The rest of the tracks make their debut in the format here.  It's limited to 1,500 copies.

Andy Bey, Experience and Judgment (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Jazz vocalist Andy Bey's 1974 Atlantic debut returns to vinyl today. The spiritual soul album consists of 12 songs, half written by Bey himself.   Five others were written or co-written with the album's producer, William S. "Bill" Fischer, who also plays keyboards on the LP.  The final song is a cover of Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield's "Rosemary Blue." Real Gone's new reissue comes on "Sea Blue" vinyl and is limited to 1,000 copies.

James Horner, Field of Dreams (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Real Gone also has two soundtrack LPs today beginning with this inspirational James Horner score to the 1989 fantasy.  The original score album was released back in 1989 on CD, cassette and vinyl, and La-La Land Records released an expanded version of the score back in January.  Real Gone's new vinyl reissue preserves the original soundtrack album and is the first vinyl reissue of the album.  It comes on "Cornfield Green" vinyl.

Various Artists, Serendipity (Music From the Miramax Motion Picture) (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

We then jump ahead twelve years for another soundtrack, this time to the romantic comedy Serendipity.  Its soundtrack album is a various artists affair with classic to contemporary artists (from Louis Armstrong and Nick Drake to John Mayer - who contributed a song from his then-recent debut studio release Room for Squares).  Cuts such as Shawn Colvin's "When You Know" and Brian Whitman's cover of Bacharach and David's "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" were recorded for the film and soundtrack album, respectively.  One track of Alan Silvestri's score is also included.  Real Gone's vinyl reissue marks the first time that the Serendipity soundtrack has appeared on the format.  Real Gone has added an inner sleeve with production photos and the LP comes on "Skating Rink White" vinyl.

Britny Fox, Bite Down Hard (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music)

Philadelphia glam metal band Britny Fox parlayed their connections with fellow Philly group Cinderella to score a major label contract with CBS. By 1991, though, they'd moved over to the Warner-affiliated EastWest label and made some changes. For their third full-length album Bite Down Hard, the band enlisted Tommy Paris on lead vocals (replacing "Dizzy" Dean Davidson) to join remaining members Michael Kelly Smith (guitar), Billy Childs (bass), and Johnny Dee (drums). Guitarist Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne) and Rikki Rockets (Poison) added to the album's muscular sound.  With a full complement of strong original songs and a sensational cover of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band's "Midnight Moses," Bite Down Hard seemed poised for success. Though it failed to make a chart impression in the alt-rock landscape, the original album has become a collectible on vinyl. (Curiously, it wasn't issued on CD in Europe.) RGM's first-time-in-the-U.S. vinyl reissue is pressed on clear with brown splatter vinyl, housed in an inner sleeve with lyrics.

Baton Rouge, Shake Your Soul (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music)

RGM's second hard rock/metal title of the day hails from the same creatively fertile yet often overlooked period. Shake Your Soul, the debut of the Louisiana band known as Baton Rouge, was built around the big, anthemic, and hook-filled songs of guitarist/lead singer Kelly Keeling (Michael Schenker Group, Trans-Siberian Orchestra) and lead guitarist/singer Lance Bulen (Kingbaby, Puzzle Gut). Their songs were given a tough, aggressive production by Jack Ponti and associate producer Vic Pepe recalling the best of glam/hair metal/AOR groups such as Aerosmith and even REO Speedwagon. The Atlantic Records release of Shake Your Soul managed to place within the bottom third of the Billboard 200 and earn the group a fan base that remains loyal today, more than a decade after they disbanded. Real Gone's vinyl LP of Shake Your Soul is the album's U.S. premiere in the format, and it's presented on magenta vinyl limited to just 2,000 copies.

Eugene Ormandy, The Complete RCA Album Collection (RCA/Sony Classical) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Eugene Ormandy's The Complete RCA Album Collection features the Hungarian-born American conductor's early recordings as leader of The Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra.  He came to the attention of the Minnesota group after subbing for Arturo Toscanini, and was enlisted to step in for Henri Verbrugghen.  The stint led to his leading the Symphony between 1931 and 1936, bringing him (and the Minneapolis Symphony) to national attention.  The Complete RCA Album Collection includes every one of his RCA sides on 11 CDs, many of which weren't ever issued on LP, let alone on CD.  It's all packaged in a compact clamshell case, with each disc housed in a paper sleeve.  Minnesota author Richard Evidon has provided a new essay within the accompanying booklet, and all of the music has been remastered to Sony Classical's usual high standard.  Read more here.

Sha Na Na, Woodstock: 20 Years After (Liberation Hall)

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

Two decades after taking the stage at Yasgur's Farm right before Jimi Hendrix, Sha Na Na reprised their rock-and-roll revival act at the Woodstock: 20 Years After concert held across the country at Cal-State Dominguez Hills in Carson, California.  The group - featuring Jocko Marcellino, Screamin' Scott Simon, and Donny York, all still members today - performed alongside fellow veterans of the original event including Blood, Sweat and Tears, Melanie, Canned Heat, Edgar Winter, and Country Joe McDonald.  Liberation Hall is bringing Sha Na Na's 20th anniversary performance (offering such classics as "At the Hop," "Rock Around the Clock," and "Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay" to CD, DVD, and digital formats.  Get the track listing and more here.

Jerry Lee Lewis, The Complete Jerry Lee Lewis on Sun (Curb) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This 5-CD, 149-song box set brings together The Killer's seminal recordings for Sam Phillips' Sun Records label including "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," "Great Balls of Fire," "High School Confidential," and much more.  At less than $35.00 as of this writing, this is a whole lotta rock and roll bang for your buck.

Judy Garland, In Person: Long Beach Municipal Auditorium - Monday, July 11, 1955 (Sepia) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Another new live release for the Garland centennial arrives today from the U.K.'s Sepia Records.  In Person features Judy along with The Hi-Los and Jerry Gray's orchestra on a lively set including such classics as "The Man That Got Away," "After You've Gone," "A Couple of Swells," "Over the Rainbow," and "I Wish I Were in Love Again."

Mario Lanza, The Electrifying Mario Lanza: Rarities and Restored Recordings (Sepia) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Sepia also continues its long-running series of Mario Lanza collections with this latest title dedicated to the late tenor.  This release spans 1946-1959 (the year Lanza died at just 38 years of age) and premieres on CD a number of tracks newly restored from acetates.  The repertoire includes both popular standards and operatic material, all of which is sure to satisfy Lanza fans and collectors.