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/ Joe Marchese

Sinister Footwear II: Frank Zappa's "Halloween 81" Box Set Arrives In October

August 14, 2020 By Joe Marchese 5 Comments

Frank Zappa Halloween 81

It wouldn't be Halloween without a little Frank Zappa...and this year, Zappa Records and UMe are delivering once again with a frightfully entertaining new box set.  October 2 will see the release of Halloween 81, following up the previous releases of Halloween 73 and 77.  The 6-CD box set boasts 78 previously unreleased live tracks from three concerts for more than seven hours of listening. The bandleader's New York Halloween shows were among his most anticipated as he blended his signature

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD Genre: Classic Rock, Rock Tags: Frank Zappa, Steve Vai

Countdown: Rhino Celebrates 60 Years of John Coltrane's "Giant Steps"

August 12, 2020 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

John Coltrane Giant Steps

John Coltrane's 1960 Atlantic debut was entitled Giant Steps, and indeed, that's what the saxophonist took on this groundbreaking album.  Intense, dark, probing: the color of his saxophone was all his own.  On September 18, Rhino will celebrate 60 years of Giant Steps with a multi-format anniversary edition encompassing 2-LP and 2-CD sets as well as a digital Super Deluxe Edition for streaming or download. An early innovator in bebop and hard bop and later a groundbreaker in modal and free

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Categories: News Formats: CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl Genre: Jazz Tags: John Coltrane

The Next Step Is Love: New Box Set Chronicles 50 Years Of Elvis Presley's 'That's The Way It Is'

August 11, 2020 By Joe Marchese 14 Comments

Elvis Thats the Way It Is 50th

Legacy Recordings' From Elvis in Nashville, focusing on The King's storied 1970 Music City sessions, isn't the only Elvis box set coming this year. Follow That Dream, the online-exclusive, collector-oriented Elvis label, also recently announced a massive collection: That's the Way It Is: 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition is a new look at the live recordings which comprised part of the multimedia project That's the Way It Is. Over 8 CDs, the box presents 128 tracks and more than 450 minutes of

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Categories: News Formats: Books, Box Sets, CD Genre: Classic Rock, Pop, Rock Tags: Elvis Presley

Hand of Doom: Rhino Revisits Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" on 50th Anniversary Vinyl Box Set

August 7, 2020 By Joe Marchese 1 Comment

Black Sabbath Paranoid SDE Vinyl

50 years ago next month, Black Sabbath's breakthrough sophomore album Paranoid was released, becoming a key building block in the transition from "hard rock" to "heavy metal." On October 9, the Birmingham band's dark and innovative album will return to vinyl in a 50th anniversary 5-LP Super Deluxe Edition from Rhino featuring the vinyl debut of two 1970 concerts. Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward followed up their self-titled debut album of early 1970 with Paranoid,

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, Vinyl Genre: Classic Rock, Rock Tags: Black Sabbath

Phone Rings, Door Chimes, In Comes Company: Vocalion Releases Quad Mixes of "Company" and "A Chorus Line" on SACD

August 4, 2020 By Joe Marchese 3 Comments

Company Quad

The U.K.'s Dutton Vocalion label is continuing its ongoing campaign reissuing quadraphonic albums on hybrid SACD (with a stereo layer playable on all CD players) with two classic Broadway cast recordings from the Columbia vaults.  Both were choreographed by Michael Bennett, feature the talents of Donna McKechnie, and have orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick.  Moreover, both merged classic Broadway with a powerful and contemporary sensibility. Much as Rodgers and Hammerstein had done before him,

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Categories: News Formats: CD, SACD Genre: Cast Recordings Tags: Dean Jones, Donna McKechnie, Ed Kleban, Elaine Stritch, Marvin Hamlisch, Priscilla Lopez, Stephen Sondheim

Fancy: Reba McEntire's "Rumor Has It" Gets 30th Anniversary Expanded Edition

August 3, 2020 By Joe Marchese 4 Comments

Reba McEntire Rumor Has It

Late last year, Reba McEntire celebrated 25 years of her Read My Mind album with an anniversary expanded edition.  Now, she's following that up by revisiting her 3x platinum 1990 smash Rumor Has It in similar fashion.  On September 11, Rumor Has It will return from MCA Nashville in a new edition with two bonus versions of its top ten hit "Fancy": a live acoustic take recorded at Music City's famed Ryman Auditorium and a dance remix by Dave Audé (who recently remixed Barbara Mandrell's "Sleeping

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Categories: News Formats: CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl Genre: Country Tags: Bobbie Gentry, Reba McEntire

The Rill Thing: Omnivore Returns Little Richard's Reprise Albums to CD in New Expanded Editions

July 31, 2020 By Joe Marchese 6 Comments

LittleRichard RillThing

Rock and roll lost a founding father this year with the passing of Richard Penniman, a.k.a. Little Richard.  Now, the outrageous, charismatic, and ahead-of-his-time piano-pounder is being celebrated by Omnivore Recordings with the reissue of his first two Reprise albums originally released in 1970 and 1971.  Both titles are due in expanded editions on September 18. The 1960s saw the peripatetic Richard moving from label to label (and genre to genre) including Mercury, Atlantic, Specialty, Vee

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Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: Classic Rock, Pop, R&B/Soul

Back to Dirty Blvd.: Lou Reed's "New York" Gets Deluxe Box Set Treatment in September

July 29, 2020 By Joe Marchese 9 Comments

Lou Reed New York

Lou Reed went back to basics for his fifteenth solo studio album and Sire Records debut, 1989's New York.  In contrast to the prevailing high-gloss, sleek, and electronic sound of the day, Reed opted for a primal sound with two guitars, bass, and drums that recalled his groundbreaking work two decades earlier with The Velvet Underground.  (In fact, the VU's Moe Tucker even played percussion on a couple of tracks.)  On September 25, Rhino will revisit the dark, visceral LP in a sprawling

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD, DVD, Vinyl Genre: Rock Tags: Lou Reed

Happy Together: Demon Reissues Three Turtles Collections on Vinyl

July 29, 2020 By Joe Marchese 1 Comment

Turtles Golden Hits

Three years after the U.K.'s Demon Records released The Turtles' The Albums Collection - a six-LP vinyl set presenting the band's complete studio album discography - the label has added three more vinyl titles to their Turtles library: the period anthologies Golden Hits (1967) and More Golden Hits (1970) plus the 2017 compilation The Turtles '66.  All three reflect the changing sound of the eternal group which both epitomized AM pop and gently sent it up. Golden Hits arrived at the midpoint

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: Vinyl Genre: Pop Tags: The Turtles

Great Spirit: New Robert Plant Anthology Due in October

July 27, 2020 By Joe Marchese 10 Comments

Robert Plant Digging Deep Subterranea

Today, Robert Plant begins the third season of his podcast Digging Deep with Robert Plant on which he reflects on his storied career and shares the stories behind the music.  To coincide with the season premiere, Plant has announced a new career-spanning 2-CD set.  Due on October 2 from his own Es Paranza label, Digging Deep: Subterranea compiles 30 tracks on two CDs (or streaming/digital) from his solo body of work. Digging Deep: Subterranea will be the first 2-CD collection of the Led

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Categories: News Formats: CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming Genre: Blues, Folk, Rock Tags: Patty Griffin, Robert Plant

In Memoriam: Peter Green (1946-2020)

July 25, 2020 By Joe Marchese 1 Comment

Peter Green

Earlier today, it was confirmed that Peter Green - the wunderkind guitarist who played with john Mayall's Bluesbreakers and co-founded Fleetwood Mac as well as his own Splinter Group - died at the age of 73.  As a singer, songwriter, and electrifying guitar-slinger, Green pushed the boundaries of blues-rock and forged a thrilling, all-encompassing new sound reflected on such classic songs as "Black Magic Woman,"  "Albatross," "Oh Well," and "Man of the World."  Artists the caliber of B.B. King

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Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: Blues, Classic Rock Tags: Peter Green

Field of Eternity: Cherry Red, Esoteric Reissue and Expand Anthony Phillips "Living Room Concert"

July 24, 2020 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

Anthony Phillips The Living Room Concert

Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings imprint has had a long relationship with composer/ex-Genesis guitarist Anthony Phillips including numerous reissues and last year's release of his latest album, Strings of Light.  Now, Esoteric has reissued and expanded another treasured album from Phillips: his 1995 acoustic live set The "Living Room" Concert. The album was culled from Phillips' June 25, 1993 performance as part of the Living Room Concert Series on the U.S. public radio program Echoes.  As

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Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: Everything Else Tags: Anthony Phillips

Tell Me All The Things You Do: Rhino Boxes Fleetwood Mac's Early Reprise Years

July 23, 2020 By Joe Marchese 21 Comments

fleetwoodmac 1973 74 prodshot cds

1975's Fleetwood Mac introduced a new sound for the band founded by Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Peter Green, and Jeremy Spencer. The addition of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks to the lineup saw a marked shift towards mainstream pop-rock and earned the group its first No. 1 album. But the Mac had been reinventing itself virtually from the start. Now, its early years are being revisited on a pair of new releases from Rhino due September 4. Fleetwood Mac 1969 to 1974 is a long-anticipated,

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD Genre: Blues, Classic Rock, Rock Tags: Bob Welch, Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac, Jeremy Spencer, Mick Fleetwood, Peter Green

Review: Donna Summer, "A Hot Summer Night"

July 22, 2020 By Joe Marchese 5 Comments

Donna Summer Hot Summer Night

"This isn't just my show...this is your show!" Donna Summer exclaimed during "MacArthur Park," the opening song of her August 6, 1983 concert at Costa Mesa, California's Pacific Amphitheatre.  Now, that memorable concert dubbed A Hot Summer Night truly can be yours, as Driven by the Music and Crimson Productions have debuted it on CD and DVD as well as on a separate vinyl release. A Hot Summer Night, part of Summer's Hard for the Money tour, was filmed in the wake of the She Works Hard for

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Categories: Reviews Formats: CD, DVD, Vinyl Genre: Disco/Dance, Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: Donna Summer

Lost In Loveliness: Stage Door Collects Dolores Gray's "Decca Singles 1953-1955"

July 21, 2020 By Joe Marchese 5 Comments

Dolores Gray Decca Singles

Stage Door Records celebrates the legacy of one of Broadway's great leading ladies, the late Dolores Gray, with its next release. Due in stores on August 14, Heat Wave: The Decca Singles 1953-1955 has two dozen sides Gray recorded for the venerable Decca label during that period including the Irving Berlin-penned showstopper from the soundtrack of There's No Business Like Show Business which lends this collection its title. (Gray stepped in when the film's star Marilyn Monroe was contractually

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Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: Popular Standards/Vocal Tags: Dolores Gray

Review: Micky Dolenz, "Live in Japan" [CD/DVD Edition]

July 20, 2020 By Joe Marchese 4 Comments

Micky Dolenz Live in Japan

Even today, the name Kodak is synonymous with photography.  But in 1980 Japan, Kodak was synonymous with The Monkees.  The venerable company had scored a popular commercial there with the group's recording of "Daydream Believer," leading to a fresh wave of Monkeemania.  Word spread, and soon, Davy Jones and Peter Tork were touring the country as solo acts.  Micky Dolenz was third to arrive, having comfortably reestablished himself as not only a stage star but a theatrical and television

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Categories: Reviews Formats: CD, Vinyl Genre: Pop Tags: Micky Dolenz, The Monkees

I'm In Love, What's That Song: Replacements Expand 'Pleased To Meet Me' For New Box Set

July 17, 2020 By Joe Marchese 16 Comments

The Replacements Pleased to Meet Me

On the heels of last year's revelatory Dead Man's Pop set exploring the making of Don't Tell a Soul, Rhino has announced a new box set from The Replacements celebrating another of the Minneapolis band's finest albums.  On October 9, 1987's Pleased to Meet Me - the immediate predecessor of Don't Tell a Soul - will get the deluxe treatment as a 3-CD/1-LP set (also available digitally) featuring a whopping 29 previously unreleased tracks. The 'Mats' fifth studio album, Pleased to Meet Me is

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl Genre: Classic Rock, Rock Tags: Alex Chilton, Paul Westerberg, The Replacements

Break the Silence: Run Out Groove Announces Killswitch Engage as Next Release; Zevon, Kravitz, Louis XIV Up for Vote

July 15, 2020 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

Killswitch Engage As Daylight Dies

Run Out Groove has announced its next, fan-voted vinyl release direct from the vaults of Warner Music.  The winner is metalcore band Killswitch Engage's 2006 As Daylight Dies.  The Massachusetts band's fourth studio album, it will be available on vinyl for the very first time in the U.S. as a 2-LP set with bonus tracks also making their vinyl debut and artwork from bassist Mike D'Antonio.  It's available for pre-orders only until August 26 at which point the album will be pressed and limited to

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Categories: News Formats: Vinyl Genre: Rock Tags: Killswitch Engage

Cherry Red, SoulMusic Release 'Anything You Want,' Three-Disc David Sanborn Salute

July 15, 2020 By Joe Marchese 1 Comment

David Sanborn Anything You Want

Whether you've heard his albums or not, chances are you've heard the music of David Sanborn. The alto saxophone great has played on classic records by Steely Dan, Paul Simon, Elton John, Billy Joel, James Taylor, David Bowie, and dozens of others. Now, Cherry Red's SoulMusic Records imprint has delivered a comprehensive survey of Sanborn's 20+ years for the Warner family of labels. Anything You Want: The Warner-Reprise-Elektra Years 1975-1996 draws on 17 of his albums as a leader and showcases

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: David Sanborn

Pick Up The Pieces: Edsel Releases Multi-Disc Average White Band Anthology

July 13, 2020 By Joe Marchese 5 Comments

Average White Band Anthology

In selecting a name, the Average White Band certainly was modest. Over a career spanning nearly 50 years, the Scottish band recorded thirteen studio albums and seven live sets; charted nine hits in the U.K. and U.S. and a further 15 songs on the U.S. R&B survey; scored a million-seller with "Pick Up the Pieces;" and had so many songs sampled that the group was ranked the fifteenth most sampled artist in history as of around a decade ago. The AWB is still active today under the auspices of

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: Box Sets, CD Genre: Funk, Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: Average White Band

Back In The Old Routine: Cherry Red, Esoteric Expand Two from Strawbs

July 10, 2020 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

Strawbs Heartbreak Hill

Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings imprint has returned to the Strawbs discography with another pair of reissues: Burning for You (1977) and Heartbreak Hill (recorded 1978, released 1995). Burning for You arrived between Deep Cuts and Deadlines, both of which have already been reissued by Esoteric.  Deep Cuts had been produced by the team of Rupert Holmes and Jeffrey Lesser who were enlisted to nudge the band - down to four pieces with David Cousins, Chas Cronk, Dave Lambert, and Rod Coombes -

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Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: Classic Rock Tags: Strawbs

Play Me: Neil Diamond's "Hot August Night" Concerts, "Love at the Greek" Come to Vinyl

July 8, 2020 By Joe Marchese 5 Comments

Neil Diamond Hot August Night 2

Hot August night/And the leaves hanging down/And the grass on the ground smelling sweet... Those words which open Neil Diamond's rousing 1969 hit "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show" inspired the title of the superstar's 1972 electrifying live album, Hot August Night. Recorded that summer at Los Angeles' Greek Theatre, Hot August Night went on to inspire four sequels between 1977 and 2018. Now, all five of these live albums are coming to vinyl this August (when else?), with two making

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Categories: News Formats: Vinyl Genre: Classic Rock, Pop Tags: Neil Diamond

A Second Disc Interview: TJ Lubinsky Shares Details on New "Rock, Pop, and Doo Wop" DVD Set

July 8, 2020 By Joe Marchese 22 Comments

TJ Lubinsky and Jerry Butler

"Be My Baby." "Can't Take My Eyes off You." "Stand by Me." "You Don't Own Me." Songs such as these not only defined the era in which they were first written and performed, but continue to resonate today. They're just four of the classic songs included on an upcoming 7-DVD set from Treasury Collection that serves as a definitive concert anthology of classic American R&B music. Rock, Pop, and Doo Wop has been curated by executive producer and director TJ Lubinsky from his acclaimed onstage

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD, DVD Genre: Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul Tags: Aretha Franklin, Ben E. King, Four Tops, Frankie Valli, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Maestro, Lesley Gore, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Little Richard, Ronnie Spector, The Isley Brothers, The Miracles, The Righteous Brothers

In Memoriam: Charlie Daniels (1936-2020)

July 6, 2020 By Joe Marchese 6 Comments

Charlie Daniels Press Photo

American music lost one of its cornerstones today with the passing of Charlie Daniels at the age of 83. Though best known for his 1979 chart-topping hit "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," the country superstar's discography runs much deeper. The North Carolina native grew up listening to the country sounds coming out of Nashville's WSM, home of The Grand Ole Opry - unaware that he would one day be invited to join that esteemed body. He also devoured bluegrass, gospel, and rhythm and blues,

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Categories: News Genre: Country Tags: Charlie Daniels

Review: Whitney Houston, "Whitney Houston: 35th Anniversary Edition"

July 2, 2020 By Joe Marchese 5 Comments

whitney 1984

Whitney Houston wasn't yet 22 years old when Arista Records released her self-titled debut album on Valentine's Day, 1985. Overseen by executive producer Clive Davis, Whitney Houston anticipated every style the singer would explore in her subsequent discography. 35 years later, nearly every song is a recognized classic and a cornerstone of the late singer's career. Vinyl Me, Please, in association with Legacy Recordings and Arista, has just revisited Whitney Houston in a beautiful new 2-LP box

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Categories: Reviews Formats: Box Sets, Vinyl Genre: Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: Jermaine Jackson, Kashif, Teddy Pendergrass, Whitney Houston

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