Release Round-Up: Week of September 27
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Chicago, Chicago at the John. F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington D.C. (9/16/1971) (Rhino)
3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
4LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Chicago at the John. F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington D.C. (9/16/1971) arrives on 3 CDs, 4 LPs, and digital formats, preserving the band’s show in the U.S. capital. The concert was recorded just eight days after the opening of the Kennedy Center. Every track on this set is previously unreleased (including the first-ever performance of “Saturday in the Park” and an embryonic “Dialogue” without Part Two; neither song had yet been recorded) with the exception of “Goodbye,” which premiered in 2018 on Chicago: VI Decades Live. The album, newly mixed from the original multi-track tapes by founding member Lee Loughnane and engineer Tim Jessup, boasts the classic Chicago lineup of Robert Lamm (keyboard, vocals), Terry Kath (guitar, vocals), Peter Cetera (vocals, bass), Danny Seraphine (drums), Lee Loughnane (trumpet, vocals), James Pankow (trombone), and Walt Parazaider (woodwinds, vocals). Read more here.
Dave Edmunds, Swan Songs: The Singles 1976-1981 (Omnivore)
2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Omnivore
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Omnivore
Swan Songs: The Singles 1976-1981, available on both CD and vinyl, brings together Dave Edmunds’ 29 A- and B-sides originally released on Led Zeppelin’s Swan Song label. The set features songs written by and with the likes of Nick Lowe (“Here Comes the Weekend,” “I Knew the Bride”), Elvis Costello (“Girls Talk”), John Fogerty (“Almost Saturday Night”), Graham Parker (“Crawling from the Wreckage”), Chuck Berry (“It’s My Own Business”), Will Birch (“A.1. on the Jukebox”), Huey Lewis (“Bad Is Bad”), Hank DeVito (“Queen of Hearts”), Mickey Jupp (“You’ll Never Get Me Up (In One of Those))”, Bob Seger (“Get Out of Denver”), Billy Bremner (“Trouble Boys,” “The Creature from the Black Lagoon”), and even Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart (“Where or When”). All tracks are presented in their original single versions as restored by Michael Graves. TSD’s Joe Marchese provides new liner notes in the package designed by the set’s producer, Omnivore’s Greg Allen. Read more here!
Michael Bublé, The Best of Bublé (Reprise)
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Canadian crooner Michael Bublé – that country’s third best-selling artist of all time, behind only Celine Dion and Shania Twain – releases his first-ever “best of” collection today on CD and digitally. The non-chronologically-sequenced compilation’s 21 tracks include two previously unreleased tracks from the five-time Grammy Award winner: the bright, uptempo original song “Don’t Blame It on Me” and a cover of Cuban composer Osvaldo Farres’ oft-recorded 1947 standard “Quizas, Quizas, Quizas” (“Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps”). The new tracks are joined by the singer’s chart hits (“Haven’t Met You Yet,” “Home,” “Everything,” “It’s a Beautiful Day”) and the covers of classic standards that put him on the map (“Sway,” “L.O.V.E.,” “Fever,” “Cry Me a River,” “Feeling Good”) and pop hits (“Save the Last Dance for Me,” “Me and Mrs. Jones,” “Moondance, “Quando, Quando, Quando”) – many of which also made various international charts. 2LP vinyl editions (standard at all stores, clear at his webstore, olive green at Barnes & Noble, and white at Amazon) are due on November 22. You’ll find the track listing and more here.
Van Morrison, New Arrangements and Duets (Virgin) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Van Morrison has dug into his archive for this release compiled from tracks recorded in 2014 (the big band recordings) and 2018-2019 (the duets). The new arrangements by Chris White and Paul Moran of lesser-known Morrison gems are joined by duets featuring Willie Nelson, Curtis Stigers, Joss Stone, and Kurt Elling. Available on CD, LP, and digitally.
Melanie, The Lost 1979 Album (Cleopatra) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
This album, featuring both original songs and covers, was recorded in various studios while Melanie was between labels. This remastered edition as part of Cleopatra’s ongoing series dedicated to the late singer-songwriter features new liner notes by Dave Thompson as well as new artwork. Available on CD and vinyl.
Bob Neuwirth, Bob Neuwirth (Sunset Blvd.) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Bob Dylan pal Bob Neuwirth made his debut album in 1974 for Asylum Records, welcoming a “Who’s Who” of guests including Rita and Priscilla Coolidge, “Mama” Cass Elliot, Dusty Springfield, Kris Kristofferson, Don Everly, Booker T. Jones, Three Dog Night’s Cory Wells, Richie Furay, Timothy B. Schmit, Chris Hillman, and others. Now, it’s returned in a new edition from Sunset Blvd. Records with refreshed cover artwork. Neil Young associate John Hanlon has remixed the album while Chris Bellman has remastered. Available on CD and LP.
Thin Lizzy, 1976 (Vertigo/UMR)
5CD/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Jailbreak Remix (Silver Vinyl LP): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Johnny the Fox Remix (Brick Red Vinyl LP): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
1976 will, across five CDs and a Blu-ray Disc, retell the story of the two albums the Irish rockers issued that year: Jailbreak and Johnny the Fox. Both albums have been newly remixed in stereo, 5.1 surround, and Dolby Atmos by Richard Whittaker, under the supervision of guitarist Scott Gorham. The box also includes selections of unreleased material from each album’s sessions and an unissued live set from Cleveland’s Agora Ballroom. It’s all packed in a 10″ x 10″ box alongside a 40-page hardcover book offering new liner notes by writer Mark Blake and rare photos. In addition to the box set, Whittaker’s remixes of Jailbreak and Johnny the Fox will be pressed on colored vinyl. Read more here!
Ray Charles, Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music Vols. 1 & 2 (Tangerine)
Vol. 1: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Vol. 2: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
The late Ray Charles’ own Tangerine Records label is revisiting four classic albums in which The Genius brought his deep-soul touch to the country canon. Today sees the remastered release on CD and LP of the 1962 albums Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music and Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music Vol. 2. These will be followed by 1965’s Country & Western Meets Rhythm & Blues and 1966’s Crying Time on October 18, marking the first time these two rare albums will be available on vinyl in the U.S. since their original pressing and their first proper CD reissues. On November 15, a new compilation album titled Best of Country & Western will be released, drawing on highlights from all of these LPs.
Gilbert O’Sullivan, Songbook (Union Square) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Gilbert O’Sullivan has revisited such favorites from his discography as “Alone Again (Naturally),” “Clair,” and “We Will” on this new studio release which also features the original song “A Kiss Is a Kiss.” Available on CD, LP, and digitally.
Gavin DeGraw, Chariot 20 (Sony Music Nashville) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Working with Nashville uber-producer Dave Cobb, Gavin DeGraw has revisited his Platinum-certified debut album, Chariot, for its 20th anniversary. This re-recording features two songs written during the period of Chariot but unrecorded until now, “Get Lost” and “Love Is Stronger (Alright).” Available on CD, LP, and digitally.
Lady Gaga, Harlequin (Interscope) (Official Online Store)
Lady Gaga has dropped a surprise album this week. The happily genre-jumping Harlequin is inspired by the actor-singer’s role as Harley Quinn in the upcoming Joker sequel Folie a Deux and billed as a “companion album” to that film; Gaga has also described it as a “modern take on vintage pop.” It features many of the classic songs heard in the movie, including “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” “Gonna Build a Mountain,” “That’s Entertainment,” “Get Happy,” and, of course, “The Joker” – all in newly-recorded versions and arrangements (some with tweaked lyrics) that stand alone. A couple of original songs are inspired by the film and Gaga’s character. In a sense, the jazz-rooted Harlequin picks up where the artist’s collaborations with Tony Bennett ended, but with a contemporary edge and a nod to the darkness explored in Joker. The Folie a Deux soundtrack proper is out next week, also on Interscope. Harlequin is available now on CD, various LP editions, and digitally.
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I didn’t realize that Buble and Ray Charles had new compilations coming out! Will have to check these out!