American popular music has lost another one of the greats with today's passing of singer/drummer Levon Helm, 71. Though few groups would have the audacity to name themselves The Band, that’s exactly what Helm, Robbie Robertson, Garth Hudson, Rick Danko and Richard Manuel did. The former Hawks crystallized the sound that spawned a thousand imitators, returning rock to its most stripped-down American roots. The Band backed Bob Dylan, was admired by The Beatles, and epitomized the burgeoning
R.I.P. America's Oldest Teenager, Dick Clark (1929-2012)
It's with a heavy heart that we pass on the news of the death earlier today of Dick Clark, 82, the legendary entertainment impresario, one-time disk jockey and eternal host of American Bandstand whose place in the annals of music history can't be denied. The report was initially published by TMZ but later confirmed by sources including ABC News. Our memories of the great man's appearances on game shows like The $10,000 Pyramid and programs like New Year's Rockin' Eve are too many to recount,
Turn Out The Stars: Lost Bill Evans Concert Premieres From Resonance Records
Louis Armstrong isn’t the only late jazz great being remembered with a new posthumous release. Following its acclaimed discovery of early Wes Montgomery performances, the Resonance Records label is turning its attention to pioneering pianist Bill Evans. Live at Art D'Lugoff's Top of the Gate will arrive from Resonance on June 12 in both compact disc and vinyl editions, preserving Evans’ performance at New York City’s Village Gate on October 23, 1968. One of the most influential jazz pianists
Review: Janis Joplin, "The Pearl Sessions"
One dictionary defines "pearl" as an object both "hard" and "lustrous," synonymous with "gem" or "jewel." Couldn't all of those words also describe Janis Joplin? Pearl was, of course, the name bestowed upon the singer by her final group, The Kozmic Blues Band, and the title of her final, posthumously released album from 1971. Pearl has arrived on CD once more from Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings under the title The Pearl Sessions (88697 84224 2), expanding the original 10-track album
Review: Donovan, "The Essential Donovan"
Dear Donovan: what's it been like being you? The enigmatic Scotsman born Donovan Philips Leitch has worn many colours since bursting onto the music scene in 1965: the guitar-slinging Woody Guthrie disciple of "Catch the Wind," the mystical folkie of "Season of the Witch," the lysergic hippie of "Sunshine Superman," the sinister rock narrator of "Hurdy Gurdy Man." Though he's never retired, the poet/troubadour has maintained a low profile in recent years. He's only sporadically emerged with
By the Power of Grayskull: "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" Soundtrack Comes to CD...Via France!
Here’s one off the beaten reissue path for you children of the eighties! Chances are you’ll remember Masters of the Universe: Prince Adam of Eternia transformed into the valiant warrior He-Man to defend his kingdom from the evil forces of Skeletor. Launched as an action figure line in 1982, the franchise reached its largest audience via Filmation’s animated television series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. 130 episodes were produced over two seasons, but the series continued to air
Dead and (Real) Gone: Grateful Dead, Mick Fleetwood's Zoo, Durocs, Germs and More Coming In May
It’s time to book passage on the Real Gone train for next month’s trip from Philadelphia to San Francisco, as the enterprising label has announced its latest, wide-ranging group of titles all slated for late May release. Returning to print are live shows from The Grateful Dead as well as a number of albums from the Cameo Parkway library, while rare LPs from The Germs, The Durocs, Jerry Reed and Mick Fleetwood all get the deluxe treatment for the first time. Three titles are making their CD
The Hungry Years: Neil Sedaka's "Tra-La Days" and "Overnight Success" Arrive on CD, 10cc and Elton John Guest
From “Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen” to “Breaking Up is Hard to Do,” Neil Sedaka drew on a seemingly endless well of onomatopoeic hooks to enliven his early rock-and-roll records, leaving no Tra-la-la or do-be-doo untouched. The Juilliard-trained musician and native of Brooklyn, New York was one of the relatively rare few rockers of his generation equally adept at both performing and songwriting. As active members of Don Kirshner’s Aldon Music stable (alongside Carole King and Gerry Goffin as
King of Cool: Career-Spanning Dean Martin Box Set "Collected Cool" Coming in June, Uncut Dino DVDs Arriving in May
How lucky can one guy be? Although Dean Martin's exhaustive catalogue has been definitively anthologized on four massive box sets released by Germany's Bear Family label between 1997 and 2001, unheard material from the King of Cool continues to be discovered. Reporting in February 2011 about the then-recent Cool Then, Cool Now 2-CD/book box set, this writer opined: "A true career retrospective box with material from each label and era would be essential for those Martin fans looking for more
More Ways to Connect with The Second Disc!
Do you enjoy the news, reviews and features you find here at The Second Disc? We're thrilled to let you know about a few new ways to stay even more connected with us! Since our launch in January 2010, we have endeavored, in the words of founder Mike Duquette's initial post, to be "an all-purpose stop for those who are interested in the back catalogue offerings of the day." We've had the great pleasure of getting to know many of you through your thoughtful and incisive comments on a variety of
Bacharach, Sondheim, Lloyd Webber Honored by Melissa Manchester, Dave Koz, Stephen Bishop and More on New Kritzerland Releases
Kritzerland is reaching into the vaults of Los Angeles’ S.T.A.G.E. charitable organization for three star-filled releases celebrating composers who need no introduction: Burt Bacharach, Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber. These live concert recordings feature renowned artists from the worlds of pop (Melissa Manchester, Stephen Bishop) and jazz (Dave Koz, Ann Hampton Callaway) plus stars from stage, screen and television (Tyne Daly, Felicity Huffman, Len Cariou, Charlotte Rae, Donna
Here She Comes Again: Cracker Barrel Offers Reissued Dolly Parton Live Set On CD/DVD
With a catalogue of over fifty studio albums, both solo and as a duet partner, and a reported 3,000+ songs, it's hard to dispute Dolly Rebecca Parton's standing as a reigning queen of country music. Still, such an appellation sells Parton short, seeing as she's also an actress, author, entrepreneur and philanthropist with multiple Grammy Awards, a Kennedy Center Honor, the National Medal of Arts, and Oscar and Tony nominations. Even when crossing over onto the pop charts or courting a wide
Come Rain or Come Shine: Tracie Bennett's "End of the Rainbow" Arrives From Masterworks Broadway
“After watching Tracie Bennett’s electrifying interpretation of [Judy] Garland in the intense production that opened Monday night at the Belasco Theater, you feel exhilarated and exhausted, equally ready to dance down the street and crawl under a rock. In other words, you feel utterly alive with all the contradictions that implies,” The New York Times’ Ben Brantley about the performance at the center of Peter Quilter’s play End of the Rainbow. This fictionalized look at Judy Garland’s final
Get Down: Gilbert O'Sullivan's "I'm A Writer, Not A Fighter" Remastered and Expanded
Are you ready for another trip through Gilbertville? The fine folks at Salvo and Union Square Music have just released the latest title in their acclaimed Gilbert O’Sullivan reissue series, and though the album is called I’m a Writer, Not a Fighter, it might as well have been named Another Side of Gilbert O’Sullivan. On this 1973 set, the singer/songwriter placed less emphasis on the acoustic piano, his usual instrument of choice, and more on keyboards. These electronic textures musically
I Second That Emotion: Thelma Jones' Columbia Debut Reissued On Big Break Label
Trivia time: name the singer who recorded the original version of “The House That Jack Built.” If you guessed Thelma Jones, you go to the head of the soul music class! While at the small Barry Records label, it was Jones who introduced the song later made famous by Aretha Franklin, but for reasons lost to time, the singer was never able to turn her solid-gold pipes into chart success. Her discography isn’t very deep, but a career highlight of the North Carolina native can now be reappraised
Get It On: Marc Bolan Goes Super Deluxe with T. Rex "Electric Warrior," 2-CD, 1-CD Versions Also Available [UPDATED]
Before David Bowie was Ziggy Stardust, Marc Bolan was the Electric Warrior. A major turning point in the glam-rock revolution of the U.K., the Electric Warrior album (1971) effectively buried the psychedelic folk rock of Tyrannosaurus Rex and immortalized the trashy hard rock of T. Rex. True, one successful single (“Ride a White Swan”) and eponymous album had already introduced the T. Rex name in 1970, and the single “Hot Love” first boasted the expanded band line-up of Bolan, Mickey Finn, Steve
Still Willin': Edsel Reissues A Pair From Little Feat
Though the band formed in 1970 and found a home on Burbank’s famed Warner Bros. label with a debut album produced by L.A. stalwart Russ Titelman, Little Feat always stood apart from its California rock brethren. Still, the blues/rock/funk outfit attracted the attention of some important members of the Laurel Canyon crowd. “Willin’,” written by Feat’s de facto leader and chief songwriter Lowell George, found a home on Linda Ronstadt’s Heart Like a Wheel album. The song was reportedly despised
Love So Fine: Nick DeCaro's "Works" Features James Taylor, B.J. Thomas, Andy Williams, More
Though the A&M stands for (Herb) Alpert and (Jerry) Moss, A&M Records has meant a great many things to a great many people since its founding in 1962. Those who came of age in the 1980s may think of the famous logo adorning records by Sting, Janet Jackson or Bryan Adams. In the 1970s, the label was home to The Carpenters, Cat Stevens and Joe Cocker. In the 1960s, A&M was not only a label but a “sound.” That sound was a certain, beguiling style of sophisticated adult soft-pop
Put Your Hands Together: Massive 10-CD Philadelphia International Box Due [UPDATED]
Philadelphia International Records has turned 40, and you're invited to the party! Sony's Legacy Recordings thrilled fans earlier this year with the archival release of Golden Gate Groove, a Don Cornelius-hosted concert that brought together many of the label's biggest and brightest stars, from the O'Jays to Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes featuring Teddy Pendergrass. The folks across the pond at the Harmless label have already dropped Philadelphia International: The Re-Edits, with 21 tracks
Philadelphia Freedom: Dexter Wansel Is "Captured" By Robinsongs
Welcome to our second feature today spotlighting artists of the Philadelphia International label! First we looked at The O'Jays' pre-PIR period! Now it's time to look at a lost post-PIR album from Dexter Wansel! Philadelphia-born Dexter Wansel made quite an impression in the City of Brotherly Love, becoming one of the leading lights of the Gamble and Huff organization's "second golden age" of 1976-1983 and playing a key role in shaping the latter-day Sound of Philadelphia. A keyboard
First Stop on the Love Train: The O'Jays' "Imperial Years" Collected On Shout Label
The music business has always had a funny way of turning artists into overnight sensations. But although The O’Jays achieved widespread fame on the Philadelphia International label with 1972’s one-two punch of “Back Stabbers” and “Love Train,” the group hardly broke through overnight. As the Mascots, the Ohio natives recorded their first single in 1960. As the O’Jays (named after their manager, Cleveland DJ Eddie O’Jay), they recorded for the Daco, Apollo and Little Star labels. It was
Just The Tracks, Ma'am: Ace Collects "Criminal Records" On New Compilation
Long before CSI, there was Dragnet. The granddaddy of the television procedural drama, Dragnet actually began on radio in 1949, moving to television in 1951, where it has remained a staple ever since in both repeats and revivals. So it’s appropriate that the ominous theme to Dragnet both opens and closes Ace’s rip-roaring new compilation, Criminal Records, subtitled “Law, Disorder and the Pursuit of Vinyl Justice.” Between Ray Anthony’s treatment of that famous theme and Stan Freberg’s
California Feelin': The Beach Boys' Al Jardine Reissues and Expands "Postcard From California"
Dennis Wilson did it in 1977. Carl Wilson did it in 1981. So did Mike Love. Brian Wilson waited until 1988. But it wasn't until 2010 that Al Jardine released his first solo studio album. Entitled A Postcard from California, Jardine had to content himself with a limited release via Amazon's MOD (Made on Demand) system. Now, with the surviving Beach Boys reuniting for a hotly-anticipated 50th anniversary tour beginning later this month and gearing up for the band's first studio album since
Rolling Stones Flash Back To 1975 With New Archive Release "LA Friday"
Since inaugurating the digital-only Stones Archive in late 2011 with the release of 1973’s The Brussels Affair, The Rolling Stones have made good on their promise to rescue never-before-available concerts and make them available to the public in higher quality than previous bootleg editions. The new LA Friday follows the late January release of Hampton Coliseum: Live 1981, which preserved a show from Hampton, Virginia. LA Friday was recorded on July 13, 1975 at the venue known as The Forum.
First Name Basis: Ozzy, Willie, Janis, Iggy Among Legacy's Offerings For Record Store Day
Here at Second Disc HQ, we're eagerly anticipating April 21, or Record Store Day, the industry-wide celebration of all things vinyl (and a few CDs, too!). Record Store Day, now in its fifth year, gives shoppers the chance to interact with big crowds of fellow music enthusiasts in the brick-and-mortar retail environment cherished by so many of us. Legacy Recordings has announced its impressive line-up of limited edition releases that will line the shelves of your favorite independent music
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 144
- 145
- 146
- 147
- 148
- …
- 172
- Next Page »