News

Today, Rhino announced its new Sounds of the Summer initiative, which will see a total of over two dozen vinyl releases hitting brick-and-mortar stores beginning this Friday, July 5, and continuing throughout the month of July.  These titles encompass various reissues as well as new entries in the label’s ongoing Now Playing series of compilations.  As of now, these LPs are all exclusive to independent record stores and Barnes & Noble locations.  You’ll find the full list of releases below including descriptions courtesy of TSD.

July 5

Genesis, And Then There Were Three
1-LP on 140-gram Sea Blue Vinyl

Reissue of the band’s 1978 studio album – their first as a trio (Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford, and Tony Banks).  Features “Follow You, Follow Me.”

George Benson, Now Playing
1-LP on 140-gram Sea Blue Vinyl

10 tracks, including “Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love for You,” “On Broadway,” “Give Me the Night,” and “This Masquerade.”

Van Morrison, Now Playing
1-LP on 140-gram Sea Blue Vinyl

10 tracks drawn from the Irish troubadour’s first three Warner Bros. albums: Astral Weeks, Moondance, and His Band and the Street Choir.

Various Artists, Now Playing: Summer Sounds
1-LP on 140-gram Sea Blue Vinyl

This 10-song collection leans towards “yacht rock” with such classic, breezy tunes as Firefall’s “You Are the Woman,” Nicolette Larson’s “Lotta Love,” Orleans’ “Dance with Me,” and England Dan and John Ford Coley’s “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight.”

Yes, The Yes Album (Steven Wilson Remix)
1-LP on 140-gram Sea Blue Vinyl

Yes’ classic 1971 album is reissued in Steven Wilson’s stereo remix. Includes the concert staples “I’ve Seen All Good People,” “Starship Trooper,” “Yours Is No Disgrace,” and more.

July 12

Al Stewart, Now Playing
1-LP on 140-gram Sea Blue Vinyl

10 songs, including single versions of “On the Border,” “Year of the Cat,” “Time Passages,” and “Song on the Radio” (among others – listen to every one of Al’s U.S. singles on Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music’s 2023 CD collection Songs on the Radio: The Complete U.S. Singles 1974-1981).

Linda Ronstadt, Simple Dreams
1-LP on 140-gram Sea Blue Vinyl

Linda’s 1977 studio album includes such favorites as “It’s So Easy,” “Blue Bayou,” and “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me.”

Utopia, Now Playing
1-LP on 140-gram Sea Blue Vinyl

This 10-track compilation offers beloved tunes from the Todd Rundgren-fronted band including “Love Is the Answer,” “Feets Don’t Fail Me Now,” “Love in Action,” and the Beatles parody/pastiche “I Just Want to Touch You.”

July 19

Crosby, Stills & Nash, CSN
1-LP on 140-gram Sea Blue Vinyl

CSN’s best-selling 1977 album boasts the single “Just a Song Before I Go” as well as “Dark Star,” “Shadow Captain,” and “See the Changes.”

The Doobie Brothers, Takin’ It To The Streets
1-LP on 140-gram Sea Blue Vinyl

The Doobie Brothers’ Michael McDonald era launched with this 1977 smash including the title track and “It Keeps You Runnin’.”  McDonald and The Doobies are currently on tour this summer!

Daryl Hall and John Oates, Now Playing
1-LP on 140-gram Sea Blue Vinyl

Daryl Hall (currently on the road with Elvis Costello) and John Oates may be estranged, but their cherished legacy of song lives on.  This 10-track collection samples some of the best from their Atlantic era including “She’s Gone,” “I’m Sorry,” “Fall in Philadelphia,” and “When the Morning Comes.”

Little Feat, Time Loves A Hero
1-LP on 140-gram Sea Blue Vinyl

Little Feat’s 1976 studio album – their sixth – returns to vinyl on this new edition.

Sonny & Cher, Now Playing
1-LP on 140-gram Sea Blue Vinyl

Here’s ten of Sonny & Cher’s greatest hits including “Baby Don’t Go,” “The Beat Goes On,” “I Got You Babe,” and Sonny’s solo “Laugh at Me.”

Rod Stewart, Foot Loose & Fancy Free
1-LP on 140-gram Sea Blue Vinyl

Rod’s eighth studio album, from 1977, introduced “Hot Legs,” “You’re in My Heart (The Final Acclaim),” and “I Was Only Joking.”

War, Greatest Hits
1-LP on 140-gram Sea Blue Vinyl

“The World Is a Ghetto,” “The Cisco Kid,” and “Why Can’t We Be Friends” are all present on this 10-song collection first issued in 1976.

July 26

Chicago, Greatest Hits 1982-1989
1-LP on 140-gram Sea Blue Vinyl

This beloved LP, first issued in 1989, has since gone 5x Platinum.  It’s a compact, 12-song overview of the band’s 1980s oeuvre, including “Hard to Say I’m Sorry/Get Away,” “What Kind of Man Would I Be,” “Look Away,” “You’re the Inspiration,” “Hard Habit to Break,” and other soaring power ballads.

Jimmy Cliff, In Concert: The Best of Jimmy Cliff
1-LP on 140-gram Transparent Red Vinyl

This 1976 set features “Many Rivers to Cross,” “You Can Get It If You Really Want,” “Wild World,” and “The Harder They Come.”

Joni Mitchell, Hissing Of Summer Lawns
1-LP on 140-gram Clear vinyl

Joni’s 1975 album (introducing “In France They Kiss on Main Street,” “Edith and the Kingpin,” and “The Boho Dance”) was part of 2022’s The Asylum Years (1972-1975) box set and now is broken out for standalone vinyl release.

Fleetwood Mac, Best of 1969-1974
2-LP on 140-gram Sea Blue Vinyl

This new 19-song compilation of Fleetwood Mac’s pre-Buckingham/Nicks days on Reprise Records will be released the same day on CD. The 19 tracks, spanning “Oh Well – Pt. 1” through “Prove Your Love,” reflect numerous personnel shifts, as band members including Christine McVie, Danny Kirwan, Dave Walker, Bob Welch, and Bob Weston came and went. (Christine, of course, stayed.) With each new lineup came a gradual change in sound which would eventually take the band far from its blues-rock roots. Yet one thing stayed consistent throughout the volatility: Fleetwood Mac’s sharp, unerring musicality.

Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, Greatest ’60s Hits
1-LP on 140-gram Sea Blue Vinyl

Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, Greatest ’70s Hits
1-LP on 140-gram Sea Blue Vinyl

Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons racked up so many hits that one Now Playing-style compilation wouldn’t do.  Hence, Rhino offers up two.  The first has “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Rag Doll,” “Let’s Hang On,” and six more, while the second has solo Valli tracks such as “Grease,” “My Eyes Adored You,” the single version of “Swearin’ to God,” and the group’s “Who Loves You” and “December 1963 (Oh What a Night).”

Grateful Dead, Go To Heaven
1-LP on 140-gram Sea Blue Vinyl

Grateful Dead, Shakedown Street
1-LP on 140-gram Sea Blue Vinyl

The Dead’s 1978 and 1980 Arista albums return to vinyl.

Randy Newman, The Best of Randy Newman
2-LP 140-gram Sea Blue Vinyl

In anticipation of Robert Hilburn’s definitive biography of the singer-songwriter expected later this year, Rhino brings this 21-track compilation from 2001 to vinyl for the first time.  A master class in songwriting, its classic tunes include “Sail Away,” “Political Science,” “Mama Told Me Not to Come,” “Marie,” “Louisiana 1927,” “I Love L.A.,” and “Short People,” among others.

Warren Zevon, Warren Zevon (Deluxe Edition)
2-LP on 180-gram Black Vinyl

The sardonic singer-songwriter’s 1976 Asylum Records debut (with “Hasten Down the Wind,” “Carmelita,” “Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me,” and “Desperadoes Under the Eaves”) got the deluxe treatment in 2008 with a bonus disc of demos and alternate takes; this 2-LP version may mirror its contents.