Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts. Today, we celebrate Crowded House's return, an unreleased track from the Godfather of Soul, six albums from a female country hitmaker and many more!
Crowded House, "Oh Hi" (BMG) (iTunes / Amazon)
One of Second Disc HQ's favorite bands, Crowded House, is back with the first single from Gravity Stairs, their first album since 2021's Dreamers Are Waiting. This gentle, uplifting single from Neil Finn and company (longtime bassist Nick Seymour, keyboardist Mitchell Froom and Neil's sons Liam on guitar and Elroy on drums) was inspired by Neil's support and affection for So They Can, a charity for which he serves as an ambassador. (Gravity Stairs is due May 31.)
James Brown, James Brown Sings Raw Soul / "We Got to Change" (Republic/UMe)
Sings Raw Soul: iTunes / Amazon
"We Got to Change": iTunes / Amazon
Ahead of James Brown: Say It Loud, a four-episode documentary premiering February 19-20 on A&E, an unreleased track from the Godfather of Soul has debuted, taken from an August 1970 session with members of the nascent J.B.'s band, including brothers Phelps "Catfish" and William "Bootsy" Collins on guitar and bass and Brown's longtime sideman Bobby Byrd along with legendary drummer Clyde Stubblefield. Also, Brown's 1967 album James Brown Sings Raw Soul has recently been digitally delivered; it features well-known cuts like "Bring It Up," "Let Yourself Go" and "Don't Be a Dropout."
Holly Dunn, Holly Dunn / Cornerstone / Across the Rio Grande / The Blue Rose of Texas / Heart Full of Love / Getting It Dunn (Warner/Rhino)
Holly Dunn: iTunes / Amazon
Cornerstone: iTunes / Amazon
Rio Grande: iTunes / Amazon
Blue Rose: iTunes / Amazon
Heart Full: iTunes / Amazon
Getting: iTunes / Amazon
Holly Dunn's success as a country singer in the late '80s and early '90s - first on the short-lived MTM label, a division of Mary Tyler Moore's well-known television production company, then on Warner Bros. Records - was underlined by her rarity as a female performer in the genre who had an active hand in writing and co-producing her own material (often alongside her brother, writer/producer Chris Waters). Until this week, none of her six studio albums released between 1986 and 1992 - featuring Top 10 country hits like "Daddy's Hands," "Love Someone Like Me," "That's What Your Love Does to Me" and the chart-toppers "Are You Ever Gonna Love Me" and "You Really Had Me Going" - were not digitally available; the record has now been corrected.
INXS, "New Sensation" (Nick 12" Mix) / "Taste It" (Youth 12" Mix) / "To Look At You" (Extended Mix) (Petrol/Atlantic/Rhino)
"New Sensation": iTunes / Amazon
"Taste It": iTunes / Amazon
"To Look At You": iTunes / Amazon
The last three mixes from INXS' All Juiced Up Part 2 - the first in a planned three batches of triple 12" sets showcasing vintage remixes of the Australian rockers - are now digitally available.
Nat King Cole, From the Capitol Vaults Vol. 5 (Capitol/UMe) (iTunes / Amazon)
Another dozen alternate takes and rarities from one of Capitol's finest voices.
Kristen Kelly, Warrior (Arista Nashville/Legacy) (iTunes / Amazon)
In 2012, Kristen Kelly was positioned as a rising voice in country music, with a compelling single "Ex-Old Man" off a self-titled EP. By the time she released her next EP in 2015, she'd done so as an independent artist. In between, she'd assembled an album's worth of material that Arista Nashville has only belatedly released now. Kelly, who continues to record and tour, is clearly excited about it, though!
Joe Cocker, You Are So Beautiful (A&M/UMe) (iTunes / Amazon)
A little Valentine's-appropriate quickie collection of romantic tracks from the late, bluesy singer, including "You Are So Beautiful," "A Song for You" and "Up Where We Belong," his hit duet with Jennifer Warnes from 1982's An Officer and a Gentleman.
The Tremblers, Twice Nightly (Johnston/Epic) (iTunes / Amazon)
One of the only releases on a CBS-distributed label formed by Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys, The Tremblers was a slick power-pop combo fronted by Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits. The album - mostly originals save for a cover of Elvis Costello's "Green Shirt" - featured a long list of "licks & tricks" supplied by a lot of famous names behind the scenes, including Mike Campbell and Stan Lynch of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Davey Johnstone and Dee Murray from Elton John's band, Dave Clark and Daryl Dragon of The Captain & Tennille.
Ken says
Thanks for the info on the new Holly Dunn releases.
Holly's three MTM albums went out of print after that label closed up shop in Nashville in 1988. Subsequently signed to the Warner Brothers label Holly's MTM masters went with her but her three original MTM albums were never reissued on the Warner imprint. Most of her MTM single hits were compiled in a 1991 Warner Greatest Hits set. However one MTM hit "That's What Your Love Does To Me" [#5/1988] was not included in that set but is now available for download.
Three of Holly's subsequent albums - two for River North and one gospel album for OMS were previously issued as downloads.
Tom Riise says
Thanks 🙂