One of Birmingham's most renowned musical exports, Roy Wood trained listeners to expect the unexpected. The founder or co-founder of The Move, Electric Light Orchestra, and Wizzard, Wood hasn't been among the most prolific artists of the rock era - with just four proper solo albums to his name - but he's surely one of the most inventive. Late last year, Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings imprint reissued Wood's second solo LP, Mustard, as an expanded edition. Now, the label has returned to the
What's So Funny: Elvis Costello Announces "Armed Forces" Box Set Coming in November
Elvis Costello is hardly resting on his laurels this fall. He's prepping for the October 30 release of his latest studio album, Hey Clockface, and is in the middle of a 50 Songs for 50 Days online campaign in which he showcases a different - and often politically relevant - song each day until the U.S. election. Now, he's announced his biggest project yet for 2020: a deluxe 9-disc vinyl Super Deluxe Edition of Armed Forces with three 12-inch LPs, three 10-inch LPs, and three 7-inch singles
Short Takes: Grateful Dead Offer "American Beauty: The Angel's Share," Paul McCartney Celebrates Rupert Bear's 100th with Single Reissue
Back in July, the Grateful Dead released a collection of never-before-heard outtakes and session material from the band's 1970 classic Workingman's Dead. The digital release was entitled The Angel's Share, after a whiskey distillation term, and offered the most comprehensive glimpse yet into the Dead's creative process. Today, Rhino announced that there's more of The Angel's Share - this time, a digital release with over two hours of never-before-heard outtakes, demos, and alternate takes from
In Memoriam: Mac Davis (1942-2020)
On one of his most famous compositions, Scott "Mac" Davis sang, "I could just sit around making music all day long/As long as I'm making my music, ain't gonna do nobody no harm/And who knows, maybe I'll come up with a song..." The singer-songwriter-actor never had difficulty coming up with a song, including that memorable one. Davis, who died yesterday at the age of 78, recorded "I Believe in Music" on his second Columbia album in 1970, and the group Gallery took it up the charts in 1972.
Jump to It! Rhino Collects Aretha Franklin's Hits, Rarities, Never-Before-Released Tracks on New Box Set
It was late in 2015 when audiences across the country watched Aretha Franklin take the stage at The Kennedy Center Honors to salute honoree Carole King. The undisputed Queen of Soul tore into King, Gerry Goffin, and Jerry Wexler's "(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman" with blazing intensity and thrilling authenticity. She had not just sung these lyrics but lived them. Nearing the song's finale, she simply but defiantly dropped her fur coat to the floor, creating an instant viral moment
In Memoriam: Helen Reddy (1941-2020)
Helen Reddy shocked audiences in 1973 as she accepted her Grammy Award for Best Female Vocal Pop Performance and thanked God "because She makes everything possible." The trophy, of course, was for "I Am Woman," and it was the acceptance speech heard 'round the world. Helen Reddy had roared. News broke last evening that the Australian-born singer died at the age of 78, but not before she witnessed her classic anthem take on renewed meaning in modern-day America and around the
The Walrus and Me: "Looking Through a Glass Onion" Collects Pop-Psych Beatles Covers
Let me take you down... The Beatles' songs were so sturdy and well-crafted that artists such as Matt Monro and Ella Fitzgerald became early adopters. But from the start, John, Paul, George, and Ringo's contemporaries had been just as likely as the older generation to mine their songbook. As the sixties continued and the Beatles ushered in the shift from pop to rock (minus the "and roll"), similarly youthful artists brought their own increasingly adventurous spins to the lads' material.
Illusions: Kim David Smith Channels Dietrich, Lenya, Minogue, and More on "Live at Joe's Pub"
The decadent culture of Weimar Germany - itself inspired by the American Jazz Age - has long proved a fertile source of inspiration for artists everywhere. David Bowie, Bryan Ferry, Klaus Nomi, Ute Lemper, and Alan Cumming are just a few of the performers that have mined and reinvented the Weimar era in their music. Based on his new release Live at Joe's Pub, cabaret vocalist Kim David Smith deserves to be added to that esteemed list. Captured in March 2019 at a midnight show in that intimate
They'll Take You There: Craft Recordings Releases Staple Singers' "Come Go with Me: The Stax Collection" on CD
Earlier this year, Craft Recordings released The Staple Singers' Come Go with Me: The Stax Collection in vinyl and digital editions. The set compiled all of The Staple Singers' 1968-1974 albums for the Stax label plus a volume of rarities, non-LP single sides, and live recordings. On November 13, that box will come to CD as remastered from the original analog tapes by Jeff Powell at Take Out Vinyl. Come Go with Me: The Stax Collection features the following original studio albums: Soul
Ride Out the Storm: Craft Recordings Collects "Complete Singles" From Stax's Eclectic Gospel Truth Imprint
Earlier this year, Craft Recordings kicked off its celebration of Stax Records' Gospel Truth imprint with a weekly digital album campaign. That series wrapped up on August 28, opening the door for the November 13 release on CD and LP of The Gospel Truth: The Complete Singles Collection. Stax chief Al Bell launched Gospel Truth in 1972, working in close coordination with radio promotions guru/producer/songwriter Dave Clark and Stax staffer Mary Peak Paterson. Early press materials for the
UPDATE: Universal Addresses Playback Issues with Richard and Linda Thompson's "Hard Luck Stories" Box Set, Offers Replacement Discs
UPDATE 9/24: Just days prior to the U.S. release date of Richard and Linda Thompson's box set Hard Luck Stories (1972-1982), it became known that some copies of the collection were plagued by playback issues and difficulty ripping the discs to one's personal computer. The Second Disc immediately reached out for comment, and today, Universal Music has addressed the situation with an official statement. We're sharing that statement (which is also available at uDiscovermusic.com, the label's
Short Takes, Christmas Edition: Collections Coming from Peggy Lee and Buck Owens
This Friday, Capitol Records and UMe will release Peggy Lee's Ultimate Christmas on CD and vinyl as part of the Peggy Lee 100 celebration. This yuletide follow-up to Ultimate Peggy Lee brings together 22 holiday favorites from the late artist including selections from her Capitol albums Christmas Carousel (1960) and Happy Holiday (1965) - the latter an anthology of old and new material - as well as Decca and Capitol single releases and more. Ultimate Christmas includes a number of songs
Here Comes My Baby: Cherry Red Collects The Tremeloes' "Complete CBS Recordings"
When they signed to CBS Records in 1966, The Tremeloes were seeking a second act. Founded as a beat group in 1958, the Dagenham band fronted by Brian Poole scored numerous hits on the U.K. Singles Chart including covers of "Twist and Shout," "Candy Man," "I Want Candy," and "Do You Love Me," the latter of which reached No. 1. But when Poole left the group that bore his name in 1966, his bandmates found themselves at a crossroads. Yet they pressed onward, and a move from Decca to CBS yielded
Pour Down Like Silver: Richard and Linda Thompson Box Out Tomorrow in U.S.
Though they've been separated personally and professionally for almost four decades, Richard and Linda Thompson are still recognized as one of the most significant musical duos of their generation. Fairport Convention co-founder Richard first teamed with Linda as a member of folk-rock group The Bunch, releasing one album in 1972; in October of that year, they became husband and wife. From a purely musical standpoint, the marriage of guitarist-songwriter Richard to vocalist Linda was a completely
Great Gosh A'Mighty: Two More Little Richard Albums Expanded by Omnivore
This Friday, September 18, Omnivore will release two expanded editions from the one and only Little Richard. But those reissues of The Rill Thing and The King of Rock and Roll aren't all the label has coming from the piano-pounding pioneer. On October 23, Omnivore will continue mining Richard's Reprise discography with 1972's The Second Coming and jump ahead to 1986 for the Warner Bros. release Lifetime Friend, both in newly expanded and remastered form. The Second Coming, Little Richard's
I've Got a Feeling: The Road to "Let It Be" Chronicled on Upcoming Book, "The Beatles: Get Back"
UPDATED: Fans of the Fab Four now have November 25, 2021 on the calendar for the Disney+ launch of director Peter Jackson's three-part documentary The Beatles: Get Back. Now, the group's Apple Corps has joined with Callaway Arts and Entertainment to announce a tie-in project sure to get mouths salivating - The Beatles: Get Back, the book. The 240-page hardcover tome, the band's first authorized book release since the best-selling The Beatles Anthology, will be released on October 12,
C'est Magnifique: Ella Fitzgerald's "The Lost Berlin Tapes" Arrive in October
Over 58 years ago, Ella Fitzgerald took the stage at Berlin's Sportpalast for a swinging set. The March 25, 1962 date, part of an extensive European tour, found her supported by the trio of pianist Paul Smith, bassist Wilfred Middlebrooks, and drummer Stan Levey. She was no stranger to Berlin; her February 1960 concert at the city's Deutschlandhalle was released as Mack the Knife: Ella in Berlin and won two Grammy Awards. There had been no audio document of her 1962 show...until now. On
A Miracle Happened: "A Cellarful of Motown" Returns with Gems from The Temptations, Martha and The Vandellas, Marvin Gaye, Kim Weston, Blinky, and More
The classic Motown vaults are, once again, open. This Friday, the U.K.'s Caroline label will release the long-anticipated fifth volume of A Cellarful of Motown, the rarities series which last saw a volume in 2010. But this 2-CD, 43-song collection promises to have been worth the wait as it features previously unreleased and new-to-CD tracks from such household name artists as Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Martha Reeves and The Vandellas, Gladys Knight and The Pips, and The (Detroit) Spinners
A Hundred Million Miracles: Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Flower Drum Song" Reissued on Vinyl, Hi-Rez Digital
Flower Drum Song occupies a unique position in the Rodgers and Hammerstein canon. The 1958 musical wasn't one of the duo's timeless hits (Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, The Sound of Music). Nor was it one of their three commercial misses (Allegro, Me and Juliet, Pipe Dream). Instead, when considering the R&H oeuvre, it resides somewhere in between. It played 600 performances, and yielded a successful London production, a couple of bona fide classic songs, a
Truckin': Grateful Dead's "American Beauty" 50th Anniversary Release Set for October Release
Fifty years ago, the Grateful Dead released two consecutive masterworks: Workingman's Dead in June, and American Beauty in November. Rhino delivered a 50th anniversary edition of the former earlier this summer, and as promised, the latter will be released in its own golden anniversary set this fall. On October 30 - almost 50 years to the day after its original release (November 1, 1970) - American Beauty will return as a both a 3-CD set and a 1-LP picture disc. American Beauty: 50th
Suddenly It's Yesterday: Demon Reissues R&B Classics from Freda Payne, 100 Proof Aged in Soul, More
Today, we're taking a look at an array of recent R&B/soul vinyl releases from Demon Music Group! Demon has been home to Holland-Dozier-Holland's Invictus catalogue for years now, and after a comprehensive series of CD reissues, the label has turned its attention to vinyl. Freda Payne's Contact was the Detroit songstress' second album for Invictus and a further showcase for her extraordinary vocal gifts. Freda had already recorded for labels including ABC-Paramount and MGM when an old
Review: The Doobie Brothers, "Quadio"
"What the people need is a way to make 'em smile/It ain't so hard to do if you know how," goes The Doobie Brothers' "Listen to the Music," the opening song (and lead single) off the San Jose, California band's sophomore album Toulouse Street. The Doobies knew how - and so does Quadio, the new, four-Blu-ray box set recently released by Warner Records and Rhino collecting the band's second through fifth albums in their original quadraphonic and stereo mixes. Quadio follows Chicago's box set of
Review: The Rivieras and The Duprees, "The Coed Singles"
New York has been the epicenter of many a musical genre, from salsa to Broadway. One that's still synonymous with the city - and indeed, with America's east coast - is doo-wop. Its golden age was a relatively short one; some might say 1955-1963, or maybe even 1957-1959, or that it started earlier in the fifties. The sweet vocal group sound of doo-wop's street-corner symphonies was simultaneously innocent and sophisticated, with nonsense syllables married to pretty, tight harmonies and
Barnes and Noble's Vinyl Weekend Begins TODAY with Exclusive LPs from The Doors, The Hollies, Bread, Linda Ronstadt, Otis Redding, Classic Broadway Musicals
Today, Vinyl Weekend kicks off at Barnes and Noble locations around the United States. This promotion sees the release a number of exclusive vinyl titles including classic albums, compilations, and cast recordings. These titles are typically available even at locations that (shudder) no longer have full music departments, and should also be available at BN.com. We're spotlighting the catalogue-related titles and more below. Click here to locate a B&N near you. Bread, Anthology of
Review: Andrew Gold, "Lonely Boy: The Asylum Years Anthology"
The Asylum Records discography of pop polymath Andrew Gold has been well-addressed in the CD era - first via international CD reissues, then individual expanded editions on the U.S. Collectors' Choice label, and an all-encompassing set in 2013 from the U.K.'s Edsel label. But one thing had eluded Gold: a bona fide box set. Cherry Red and Esoteric Recordings have delivered with Lonely Boy: The Asylum Years Anthology, a 6-CD/1-DVD compendium celebrating the late artist (1951-2011) with
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