Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today!
BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COMCheap Trick, Live at The Whisky 1977 (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
This 4CD set compiles a quartet of Cheap Trick's complete, uncut shows recorded at the Whisky-a-Go-Go in Los Angeles in the summer of 1977. It's limited to just 2,000 copies and chronicles when Robin Zander, guitarist/songwriter Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson and drummer Bun E. Carlos spontaneously booked some nights at the historic Sunset Strip nightclub. KROQ-FM DJ Rodney Bingenheimer served as their master of ceremonies, and the Record Plant's Mobile One truck rolled tape on the songs, heard by a few hundred lucky folks in early and late shows on June 3 and 4. By year's end they were opening for KISS and amassing a following which remains to this day. Ken Sharp has provided new liner notes for the package. Read more here. This release has been delayed one week, until December 16.
BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COMAl Jardine, A Postcard from California (UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Al Jardine is revisiting his 2010 solo debut A Postcard from California in a new CD edition reprising the 15-track sequence of the 2012 reissue but with a previously unreleased, remastered and extended version of the bonus track "Waves of Love." Postcard boasts appearances by Glen Campbell, three-quarters of CSNY (Neil Young, David Crosby and Stephen Stills), Steve Miller, The Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea, Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell of America, and Jardine's fellow Beach Boys Brian Wilson, David Marks, Mike Love, Bruce Johnston, and the late Carl Wilson.
BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COMLittle River Band, Ultimate Hits / Masterpieces (UMe)
Ultimate Hits: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Masterpieces: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
With over thirty million records sold and seventeen Hot 100 hits in the U.S., Little River Band remains one of Australia's most enduring musical groups. Universal has not one, but two, 2CD sets out today celebrating the legacy of the band. Ultimate Hits offers 25 classics including "Reminiscing," "Lady," "Lonesome Loser," and "Cool Change" - every charting hit other than "It's Not a Wonder" (the studio version is here rather than the live one which charted) and "Face in the Crowd" which is heard in a unique version on Masterpieces.
Masterpieces is packed with 26 fan favorites such as "Hard Life," "Just Say That You Love Me," and "No Reins on Me." Both collections have been overseen by co-founder Graeham Goble and remastered by Ross Murray Cockle. Ultimate Hits has a 24-page booklet with new liner notes by Victor Marshall; Masterpieces has a 20-page booklet with track-by-track quotes from Goble, Beeb Birtles, Ric Formosa, David Briggs, Roger McLachlan, George McArdle, and other personnel. Both titles are also available on vinyl as imports.
BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COMDonald Byrd, Live Cookin' with Blue Note at Montreux: July 5, 1973 (Blue Note/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Today would have been Donald Byrd's 90th birthday. While the trumpeter passed away a decade ago, Blue Note has newly unearthed a 1975 Montreux set showcasing him at his finest. Though Blue Note released Montreux albums from numerous other artists (Bobbi Humphrey, Ronnie Foster, Bobby Hutcherson, Marlena Shaw), this marks the first official release of Byrd's set. Available on CD, LP, and digitally.
BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COMDavid Crosby and The Lighthouse Band, Live at the Capitol Theatre (BMG) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
BMG releases a CD/DVD of David Crosby and The Lighthouse Band's (a.k.a. Becca Stevens, Michelle Willis, and Michael League) concert at Port Chester, New York's Capitol Theatre which culminated their 2018 tour. The concert showcased their new material as well as old favorites including "Guinnevere," "Carry Me," and "Woodstock."
BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COMJourney, Live in Concert at Lollapalooza (Frontiers) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Another veteran artist has a live CD/DVD album out today. Journey's Live in Concert at Lollapalooza was recorded in summer 2021 at the Chicago festival and features all of the expected hits from the band, among them "Open Arms," "Faithfully," and "Don't Stop Believin'."
BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COMThe Music Man: The New Broadway Cast Recording (Time Life) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
The new production of Meredith Willson's The Music Man starring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster is Broadway's hottest ticket. But if you can't make it to the Winter Garden Theatre before it closes on January 15, this 2-CD cast recording captures much of the excitement (as well as the new arrangements and other musical and lyrical tweaks to the famous score).
BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM
& Juliet: Original Broadway Cast Recording (Atlantic) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Broadway's new jukebox musical & Juliet reimagines Romeo & Juliet with a decidedly contemporary twist, and it's all set to the music of hitmaker Max Martin including such familiar pop tunes as "I Want It That Way," "I Kissed a Girl," "Since U Been Gone," and "Roar."
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A Second Disc Interview: Mixing It Up with John Luongo
It is disappointing that the studio version of It's Not A Wonder is on the Little River Band Ultimate Hits CD. I have several hits CDs and I've already got the studio version. I would have purchased this one too had they included the live version. it is especially frustrating since the Backstage Pass CD is out of print and priced out of my reach on the secondary market. I will however purchase the Masterpieces collection from LRB.
So Al Jardine releases an extended version of Waves of Love and uses it as a selling point, but how much longer is this extended version? If you're not a completist, is it that much longer that it makes a big difference? That kind of info would be helpful to know.
Cheap Trick "Live at The Whiskey 1977" shows a release date of December 16th everywhere I look...did that change? When I pre-ordered, I thought it was out today/December 9th.
Amazon is showing a December 16 release date. I checked this at 9am this morning.
Yes, those pesky manufacturing delays got to Cheap Trick, too. But it’s coming soon and may already be shipping directly from Real Gone for those who pre-ordered with them. 🙂
Crikey, how many versions of "A Postcard From California" are there now? It seems to get re-issued every other month!