When Lee Hazlewood died in 2007 after a brave battle with cancer, music lost one of its true eccentrics. With a resonant baritone, a keen ear for a melody and a dry wit, Hazlewood was an unlikely recording star. His first long-term collaboration was with guitarist Duane Eddy, with whom he produced a string of hit instrumentals. His second such collaboration was a career-defining one with Nancy Sinatra, effectively launching her career with 1966’s “These Boots are Made for Walkin’” on the Reprise label. For that hallowed company, truly The House That…
“Listen” to Gary Lewis’ Solo Reissue, Coming Soon from Now Sounds
Everybody loves a clown, so why don’t you? Many did indeed love acclaimed comedian and filmmaker Jerry Lewis, but it must have been a surprise when his 20-year old son, Gary, received quite a lot of chart love in 1965. Discovered at Disneyland and signed to Liberty Records by ace producer Snuff Garrett, Gary Lewis and the Playboys had a smash right out of the gate with “This Diamond Ring.” Hitting No. 1 in the middle of the British Invasion, that Al Kooper/Bob Brass/Irwin Levine song remains a 1960s perennial, its production a…
Iconoclassic to Reissue Solo Carl Wilson and Guess Who in September
If sensitive composer/producer Brian Wilson was the soul of The Beach Boys, and brash frontman Mike Love the voice, passionate singer/guitarist Carl Wilson was no doubt the heart. There was little Carl Wilson couldn’t do, vocally, whether the angelic tones of “God Only Knows,” the soulful shouting of “I Was Made to Love Her” or the dreamlike psychedelia of “Feel Flows.” And when brother Brian wasn’t able to guide the band through the tumultuous 1970s, Carl stepped up to the plate with an amazing run of songs bringing the band’s sound into a…
The Lady and Her Music: “The Essential Lena Horne” Coming in August
Thanks to our friends at MusicTAP for the tip that, on August 24, Legacy will celebrate the life of a great lady of song with its release of The Essential Lena Horne: The RCA Years. Like The Essential Henry Mancini (scheduled to be released on the same day), this release is far from definitive, but appears to be a solid introduction to one period of the late Horne’s magnificent career. That career saw the artist rising from her nightclub roots to break racial barriers in Hollywood, becoming one of America’s first African-American…
Breaking News: More “Promises” Kept from Kritzerland
We catalogue music enthusiasts just can’t get enough. Near-universal acclaim greeted Kritzerland on its re-release of the original cast album of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s Promises, Promises, including from your humble correspondent. Yet many of those cheers were quickly followed in the fan community by: “Now, when are you going to release the London Cast Recording?” The long-lost United Artists LP was recorded in 1969 with the stars of the production at the Prince of Wales Theatre: Tony (then Anthony) Roberts (Annie Hall, How Now Dow Jones, Xanadu) as Chuck Baxter, Betty…
Of Panthers and Baby Elephants: “The Essential Henry Mancini” Coming Soon
Henry Mancini’s film score work has been anthologized numerous times, and the latest such release is due August 24 from Legacy as part of their ongoing The Essential… series. The Essential Henry Mancini is a 2-disc overview containing 36 tracks, dating between 1958 and 1983. During that time, Mancini was one of Hollywood’s most prolific composers, creating memorable themes for the big and little screens alike. Mancini’s longterm collaboration with Blake Edwards ranks with the Danny Elfman/Tim Burton and John Williams/Steven Spielberg teams as among the most influential ever in the annals of…
British Invasion, Redux: New Sets Due from The Searchers and Petula Clark
While the original British Invasion is now just a few years south of 50, its music continues to endure. The Second Disc is pleased to report on a trio of new releases coming our way from two of the U.K.’s seminal artists, The Searchers and Petula Clark. One of the best and most successful bands to come out of Liverpool, The Searchers may have toiled in the shadow of that other band from Liverpool, but hits like “Sugar and Spice,” “Pins and Needles” and “When You Walk in the Room” remain some…
Feed Your Head: Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, Live!
The San Francisco Bay Area music scene of the 1960s was certainly one of the most fertile at that time or any other; groups of such prodigious invention as The Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Quicksilver Messenger Service all thrived and found a national audience. With apologies to The Dead, though, the longest and strangest trip of all may have been taken by the Bay Area’s own Jefferson Airplane. Drawing on blues, rock, folk, jazz and psychedelia, the Airplane carved out a niche all its own, scoring hit singles with songs…
Romantic Hamlisch Coming Soon from Kritzerland
This is shaping up to be an exciting week for classic soundtrack fans. Hot on the heels of Film Score Monthly’s announcement of a Bronislau Kaper collection, Kritzerland unveiled its latest release Monday morning: Marvin Hamlisch’s score to the 1983 film Romantic Comedy. Hamlisch is too often underrated in the film scoring department, although can you really call someone underrated who has amassed three Academy Awards, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, four Grammy Awards, a Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize? Still, his acclaimed, clever and comedic score to 2009’s The…
News Round-Up: New Stage and Screen Releases from Kaper, Loesser and More
There’s rarely such a thing as a Monday matinee, but that won’t keep The Second Disc from ushering in the week with news of a quintet of reissues from our friends at Film Score Monthly and Sepia Records. These exciting releases are sure to please devotees of both soundtracks and cast albums. Film Score Monthly kicks things off with their new release of BUtterfield 8: Bronislau Kaper at M-G-M, Volume 1 (FSM 1309). Kaper rarely seems to be afforded the acclaim given to many of his contemporaries, and a major reason may be that…
Back Tracks: Rupert Holmes
“If you like pina coladas, and getting caught in the rain”…Come on, you know how it goes, sing along…“If you’re not into yoga, if you have half a brain…” So goes the song that got Rupert Holmes into the record books as singer/songwriter of the last No. 1 hit of the 1970s and the first of the 1980s. While it may be the most famous song penned by the idiosyncratic artist/composer/producer (and collaborator of artists ranging from Streisand to Sparks!), it’s merely the tip of the iceberg for Rupert Holmes. Over the course of…
News Round-Up: Coming Soon from Audio Fidelity, Kritzerland & Masterworks Broadway
There’s lots of label action to report today, so let’s just jump right in: Hot on the heels of this week’s release of Stevie Wonder’s Talking Book and Laura Nyro’s Time and Love: The Essential Masters, Audio Fidelity has announced two more titles to receive the 24K Gold CD reissue treatment. Coming up are two 1980s classics: Rickie Lee Jones’ 1989 Flying Cowboys, produced by Walter Becker of Steely Dan, and Billy Idol’s Rebel Yell, the 1983 album that catapulted Idol to superstardom. Steve Hoffman is mastering Rebel, while Kevin Gray handles…
Starr-Struck: Vini Poncia and Jackie Lomax, Reissued
Oh my, my! Ringo Starr turned 70 on July 7 and celebrated with a concert at Radio City Music Hall and an afternoon “Peace and Love” celebration. After the breakup of The Beatles, few would have believed what a prolific career the former Richard Starkey would have; his 15th studio album, Y Not, saw release via Hip-O Records just this past January. Ringo’s always gotten by, well, with a little help from his friends. His first solo LP, 1970’s Sentimental Journey, found George Martin in the producer’s chair, and famous friends like Maurice Gibb,…
Review: Harry Nilsson and John Stewart, “Spotlight on Nilsson/Willard”
Whenever the temptation exists to get depressed about the state of the catalogue business, a reissue comes along as a reminder of a couple things. One, that good things, indeed, do come to those who wait. Two, that sooner or later most everything will see the light of day. One such reissue arrived from DRG Records on June 29 to sadly little fanfare. This totally unexpected set joins albums by two disparate artists, yet stands as a cohesive and altogether rewarding listening experience. Harry Nilsson’s never-on-CD, pre-RCA Spotlight on Nilsson has been…
Review: “Promises, Promises: Original MGM Broadway Cast Recording”
The Fourth of July isn’t usually a holiday known for gifts. But your humble reviewer felt as if he got a gift, and what a gift!, on July 3 when Kritzerland’s limited edition deluxe 2-CD reissue of the original cast album of Promises, Promises (KR 20015-9) arrived in the mail. As a result, much of the weekend was spent listening to an album I’ve known for years, but hearing it as if for the first time. For background on this release, see The Second Disc’s post of June 14 and join us…
Come Back When You Grow Up: Lost Bobby Vee Tracks to See Release
The early 1960s could be thought of as the era of the Bobbys: Darin, Rydell, Vee. Despite rising to prominence in the unfairly-derided period between the birth of rock & roll and the British Invasion, these post-Elvis pop stars all stormed the charts and left behind great recorded legacies. Darin was a multi-faceted entertainer who touched on pop, standards and folk-rock with equal ability before passing away at a too-young age, Rydell waxed some of the most indelible pop confections out of Philadelphia and Vee was a prime exponent of the work…
July 4th Special Review: Frank Sinatra, “America, I Hear You Singing”
“I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,” Walt Whitman famously wrote in 1900. In early 1964, the country was still recovering from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and as in so many times of turmoil, artists stepped up to raise their voices in song and perhaps lend comfort and assurance. One such artist was Frank Sinatra. While his many other loves have been well-documented, love of country surely ranked high among them. A lifelong civil rights champion and proud Italian-American, Sinatra took a cue from Whitman in naming…
Loesser is Always More: Happy Birthday, Frank Loesser!
While his name may not be instantly recognizable today, many of the songs penned by Frank Loesser most certainly are: “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” “Heart and Soul,” “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?,” “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat.” The man himself passed away in 1969, but his catalog lives on. June 29 would have marked Loesser’s 100th birthday, and Sony’s Masterworks Broadway division marks the centennial with this week’s release of the 19-track compilation Heart and Soul: Celebrating the Unforgettable Songs of Frank Loesser. Academy Award- and Tony Award-winner Loesser’s…
Review: John Fogerty, “Centerfield: 25th Anniversary”
John Fogerty can be called many things. Prolific, though, isn’t one of them. Fogerty’s 1985 Centerfield, originally issued on Warner Bros. Records, marked the former Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman’s return to a prominent place in the rock pantheon after a near decade-long absence. After acrimoniously parting ways with his famous band, Fogerty recorded a collection of rootsy country covers (1973’s The Blue Ridge Rangers) for CCR’s longtime label, Fantasy Records. Yet Fogerty was locked in battle with Fantasy’s larger-than-life owner Saul Zaentz, whom he blamed for a number of bad business deals. Adding…
Rhino Handmade Redux: Introducing Tartare
One would think Collectors’ Choice Music would have had its hands full with July’s release of the complete Allan Sherman catalog. Not so. The fine folks at Collectors’ Choice have joined forces with Warner Music Group to introduce a new label designed to reissue LPs so rare, even WMG’s Rhino Handmade wouldn’t tackle them. With that in mind, the new label is named Tartare, and its first 10 releases are all due to ship on July 6. Any new reissue label is cause for readers of The Second Disc to rejoice; what…
My Son, the Reissue Campaign
In the pantheon of American comedy, there’s a special corner reserved for the work of song parodists. The form arguably reached its greatest heights under the aegis of Stan Freberg in the 1950s. Freberg and his stable of talented voice artists (including animation legends Daws Butler, Paul Frees and June Foray) knew no sacred cows and their amazing body of work still inspires gales of laughter today. (Any comedy fan unfamiliar with the Freberg oeuvre is advised to seek out Rhino’s exhaustive 1999 box set, Tip of the Freberg. You’ll be hooked…
Reissue Theory: Brian Wilson, “Imagination”
Monday, June 21 marks the first day of Summer 2010. How appropriate, then, that the 68th birthday of Brian Wilson was a mere day earlier on June 20. Few musicians, if any, have contributed as much to the American myth of summer as Beach Boys leader Wilson. Years after galvanizing popular music with albums like 1966’s much-reissued Pet Sounds and singles such as the same year’s psychedelic “Good Vibrations,” Wilson embarked on a solo career in 1988. Like so much of the man’s journey through life, the road to solo success was a bumpy…
News Round-up: A Soulful Tuesday
Soul music enthusiasts have had a lot to cheer about this year, with boutique labels (Reel Music, Cherry Red’s Big Break and Super-Bird) and majors (Hip-O Select) alike delivering the goods with deluxe reissues of many classic albums. Soulmusic.com is offering two new releases this week, one on its own label and one coming from Expansion Records. Thelma Houston’s 1969 LP Sunshower (Dunhill 50054) was previously available on CD as an expensive Japanese import, but Soulmusic.com brings it to the masses with an expanded edition. This reissue includes the entire album plus…
Bacharach: Reissued, Remastered and Remixed
Hot on the heels of The Second Disc’s look at the solo recordings of Burt Bacharach, news just broke that one of the maestro’s most famous non-solo albums is receiving the limited-edition deluxe reissue treatment from the Kritzerland label. United Artists’ cast recording of the 1968 Broadway musical Promises, Promises has long been a favorite recording of Bacharach & David aficionados for introducing their songs “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” “Promises, Promises” and “Knowing When to Leave” to the world, and for capturing the indelible, Tony Award-winning lead performance of a pre-Law & Order Jerry Orbach…
Tangled Up in Bob: Dylan To Be Boxed Again?
The music of Bob Dylan is widely credited with introducing the concept of the box set to the CD era with the 1985 release Biograph (Columbia C3K 38830, reissued as C3K 86568). Further Dylan box sets have followed including 1991’s The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 (Rare and Unreleased): 1961-1991 (Columbia C3K 47382, reissued as C3K 65302), 2003’s limited edition catalog reissue box simply collecting 15 individually-available hybrid Super Audio CD editions of his catalog (Columbia 90615), and most recently, the career-spanning Dylan (Columbia 88697 11420 2-S1). Well, in an interview on Wednesday…
