Features / The Weekend Stream

Welcome back to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts, plus new works from legacy acts and even some personally curated favorites. A lot of new singles from some old favorites, from Stephen Bishop to Jimmy Webb – plus even more outtakes from Ween, remixes from Whitney Houston, rare finds for country, comedy, hard rock and soundtrack lovers, and a must-read story about a fan letter to one of our most missed singer/songwriters.

Stephen Bishop, “I Don’t Know You Anymore” (Life’s a Bish) (Apple / Amazon)

The “On and On” and “Save It for a Rainy Day” singer/songwriter has unearthed this raw but potent guitar-and-vocal demo of a tune he wrote during the era that yielded his very first album, 1976’s Careless. It arrived just two days before the one-year anniversary of his final album, THIMK.

Jimmy Webb, “Winter Clothes (Original Demo)” (Sun) (Apple / Amazon)

Jimmy Webb is previewing his new album Yours for the Taking: The Found Songs of Jimmy Webb (due October 23) with this demo originally penned with Frank Sinatra in mind. A newly recorded version of the song, featuring Graham Nash, also appears on the album, but this is the original piano-and-vocal demo which Webb pitched to the Chairman.  And even if Frank thought it needed a little work, it’s quintessential Webb…sweeping, poignant, lyrical, romantic, and thoughtful. Yours for the Taking, which also welcomes Marc Cohn, Amy Grant, and Michael McDonald, finds Webb similarly finishing other songs from his trunk which he’d left behind over the decades. If “Winter Clothes” is any indication, longtime fans are in for a treat. He tells Billboard all about it here.

Whitney Houston, WH1TNEY (Expanded Edition) (Arista/Legacy) (Apple / Amazon)

The physical edition of a new compilation with all of Whitney Houston’s Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers may have been wanting, but a digital edition is anything but. It expands the offering to 32 tracks, including fan favorites like the Thunderpuss remix of “It’s Not Right But It’s Okay” and Kygo’s posthumous interpretation of her rare cover of Steve Winwood’s “Higher Love.” But the real treat is a host of vintage 12″ versions and remixes to favorites like “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me),” “So Emotional,” “Queen of the Night” and others, which are exceedingly rare to digital storefronts. (Thanks to reader Robbert for sharing the news with us!)

Brenda Lee, Brenda Lee Sings Top Teen Hits / Memphis Portrait / Now / Only When I Laugh / Feels So Right (MCA Nashville)

Teen Hits: Apple / Amazon
Memphis Portrait: Apple / Amazon
Now: Apple / Amazon
Laugh: Apple / Amazon
Feels So Right: Apple / Amazon

Another five Brenda Lee albums have made their digital debuts this week. 1965’s Sings Top Teen Hits features some standout covers of The Beatles (“Can’t Buy Me Love,” “He Loves You”), Bacharach and David (“Always Something There to Remind Me,” “Wishin’ and Hopin'”), Willie Nelson (“Funny How Time Slips Away”) and even the Motown songbook (“Dancing in the Street”). 1970’s Memphis Portrait features takes on “Leaving on a Jet Plane” and “Proud Mary,” while 1974’s Now offers “Nothing from Nothing” and “Never My Love” plus the Shel Silverstein-penned Top 5 country hit “Big Four Poster Bed.” Only When I Laugh and Feels So Right closed out Lee’s output in the ’80s, as well as her tenure on MCA.

Ween, Golden Wastes (Elektra/Rhino) (Apple / Amazon)

Hot off the heels of a well-loved (and rarities-packed) deluxe edition of Ween’s 1996 genre exercise 12 Golden Country Greats, Golden Wastes adds another three unreleased versions of tracks from the sessions plus another unreleased cut, “There’s a Smooth Talkin’ Dude Around.”

Josh Turner, Your Man (20th Anniversary Edition) (MCA Nashville) (Apple / Amazon)

With his sophomore album from 2006, Josh Turner became a country music sensation, charming audiences with his bass voice and romantic overtures. The terrific, twangy title track became his first of four Billboard No. 1 country hits (as did follow up “Would You Go with Me”) and even crossed over into the pop Top 40. For the album’s 20th anniversary, it’s been reissued with an unreleased studio track, “Hard Headed,” plus five rare and unreleased live cuts (which are also available on a CD edition, too!).

Yasiin Bey, The Ecstatic (Deluxe) / The Ecstatic (Instrumentals) (self-released)

Deluxe: Bandcamp
Instrumentals: Bandcamp

Back when Yasiin Bey rapped under the name Mos Def, 2009’s The Eclectic was seen as a return to form for the lyrically-conscious, genre-blending rapper, who’d spent some time dabbling in acting and other art forms. Featuring production from The Neptunes, the late J Dilla and Madlib, and guest appearances from Slick Rick and Bey’s Black Star partner Talib Kweli, the album reached the Top 10 in America. Despite this, he hasn’t released a solo album since (not counting the 2019 effort Negus, presented only in sound installations). A new deluxe edition of this album (plus an instrumental version) has been made available on Bandcamp, featuring two unreleased bonus tracks.

Soccer Mommy, For Young Hearts (10th Anniversary Edition) (Fat Possum/Orchid Tapes) (Apple / Amazon)

Sophie Allison’s unique hybrid of grunge and pop has made for an appealing concoction in 2020s indie circles, but her lo-fi 2016 debut as Soccer Mommy just celebrated its 10th anniversary, and now features three bonus tracks to its running order.

Miles Davis, Cookin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet (Remastered 2026) / John Coltrane, Coltrane (Remastered 2026) (Prestige/Craft Recordings)

Miles: Apple / Amazon
Coltrane: Apple / Amazon

2026 is a pivotal year for legendary jazz musicians Miles Davis and John Coltrane: this year’s Miles ’56 showcases Davis’ works for Prestige with his legendary quintet, and this year is also the centennial of that quintet’s most extraordinary other member: saxophonist John Coltrane. (We’ll be reporting on some of his catalogue activity next week.) And so, Craft Recordings has digitally delivered new remasters of the first of the four landmark albums anthologized on Miles ’56 as well as Trane’s first album as a bandleader – both on Prestige, and both released in 1957.

Engelbert Humperdinck, “Drive” (Cleopatra) (Apple / Amazon)

Eng is back with another single from his upcoming album Faithfully (due August 28).  This time, he’s joined by Yes legend Rick Wakeman as they revisit The Cars’ 1984 moody AC chart-topper and pop Top 5 entry.

Mungo Jerry, “Pick It Up” (One Media/ROH Media) (Apple / Amazon)

The prolific Ray Dorset, a.k.a. Mungo Jerry, has never been confined to one genre or style of music as his recent album Undefinable proved.  For this new single, he’s in a rockabilly bag – a dash of “Don’t Be Cruel here,” a pinch of “Hound Dog” there, and it all comes out like Mungo Jerry!

Gilbert O’Sullivan, “Growing Old Disgracefully” (BMG) (Apple / Amazon)

There’s nothing at all disgraceful about this latest single from the “Alone Again Naturally” and “Clair” singer-songwriter. “Growing Old Disgracefully” is the first track off O’Sullivan’s upcoming LP On the Record, which is due November 6, and promises more of his delightfully quirky piano pop.

David Banks, I Used to Be a Bus Driver (RCA) (Apple / Amazon)

The name on this 1976 comedy album may be inscrutable, but David Banks was a well-known associate of Richard Pryor, working for him as a writer, booker and producer of the Grammy-winning albums …Is It Something I Said? and Bicentennial N*****. So it may be a hidden gem for fans of the genre!

Moe Bandy, Hank Williams, You Wrote My Life (Columbia) (Apple / Amazon)

Moe Bandy’s first album in a nearly decade-long tenure for Columbia Records wasn’t strictly a Hank Williams tribute LP, though the title track, a No. 2 country hit and follow-up to the breakthrough “Bandy the Rodeo Clown,” certainly honors the late legend. This LP did set the tempo for his time with the label, though, including multiple duet albums with singer Joe Stampley.

Sister Whiskey, Liquor & Poker (Warner) (Apple / Amazon)

The punny title leans country, but this one is all Sunset Strip hard-edged fare – a kind of curious outcome for a record released in 1993, but under the aegis of Slaughter bassist Dana Strum as producer, it’s a forgotten favorite for those who wish to rock.

Roberto Roena y Su Apollo Sound, Lucky 7 (Remastered 2026) (Craft Recordings) (Apple / Amazon)

A onetime member of the Fania All-Stars and one of the most respected Puerto Rican bandleaders, Roberto Roena y Su Apollo Sound’s seventh studio album (known at the time for their numerical order) is a must-hear for salsa connoisseurs.

Daniel Pemberton, Masters of the Universe (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack – Deluxe Edition) (Lakeshore) (Apple / Amazon)

This year’s tongue-in-cheek sequel/adaptation to the camp classic ’80s animated series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe didn’t light up the box office, but composer Daniel Pemberton’s score certainly had the power, thanks in no small part to contributions from Queen guitarist Brian May and over-the-top rockers The Darkness. This week, a healthy digital expansion of the soundtrack was released, so fans can venture back to Eternia as they please.

David Lindup, Shatter (Original Film Soundtrack) (Hammer) (Apple / Amazon)

Though not a household name, British composer David Lindup is known to cratediggers today as a prolific composer in the KPM series of library music, still used all over worldwide film and TV productions today. In 1974, he composed the music to Shatter, an action film that was one of two co-productions between England’s Hammer Film Productions and Hong Kong’s Shaw Brothers studio. (Hammer horror mainstay Peter Cushing has a supporting role in this film – his last for the studio.) Thanks to reader Tom Riise for sending this our way!

READ THIS

A new biography of the late singer/songwriter Elliott Smith, Nobody Broke Your Heart, is due out later this month. And there’s perhaps no better promise to the archival access it promises than this HuffPost essay by author Kirby Rock, who shares a story about the book’s author Jamie Fisher, who uncovered Smith’s unsent response to a fan letter Rock sent him in 2000, when she was 17 years old. It’s a moving, must-read story – not just about the gifts that endure past Smith’s too-brief life, but about how the response inspired Rock to write and express herself creatively after putting those ambitions on the shelf.