The Christmas season is upon us, and there are plenty of new titles coming your way to make spirits bright! Today's round-up looks at upcoming collections from Neil Diamond, Louis Armstrong, and Reba McEntire, as well as one various-artists set filled with heavy hitters. Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and Kennedy Center Honoree Neil Diamond has been a Christmas music mainstay since the release of 1992's The Christmas Album. The Brooklyn-born superstar, whose story is coming soon to Broadway in
In Memoriam: Brooks Arthur
Brooks Arthur was always the coolest guy in the room...but he was also the nicest. A gentle giant of the music business, the producer-engineer died yesterday - but not before cementing a legacy of some of the most enduring sounds in pop history. The Brooklyn native born Arnold Brodsky grew up alongside such friends as Neil Sedaka, Carole King, and Neil Diamond, all united in their dreams of making it big across the bridge in Manhattan. While in high school, he worked in the mailrooms of
In Memoriam: Loretta Lynn (1932-2022)
On her 2016 album Full Circle, Loretta Lynn openly pondered, "Who's gonna miss me when I'm gone?" Today, upon the pioneering singer-songwriter's death at the age of 90, that answer was abundantly clear. Tributes poured in from Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Kacey Musgraves, Martina McBride, Carrie Underwood, and LeAnn Rimes, as well as from The Grand Ole Opry, The Country Music Association, and The Country Music Hall of Fame. Carole King, one of many artists outside of the country genre to
Pleasure and the Pain: Iconoclassic Expands The Damned's "Strawberries" for 40th Anniversary
The cover of The Damned's 1982 studio album Strawberries featured a pig with a strawberry on its head. Lead singer Dave Vanian once revealed that the title was inspired by fans' reaction to the band's new music: "We were playing a lot of new material and we had an audience that didn't want to hear about anything...they just wanted to hear [older singles] 'Neat Neat Neat' and 'New Rose,' nothing else. And they wanted to just smash everything. And they weren't interested in hearing music at
Just For A Thrill: Peggy Lee's "Norma Deloris Egstrom" Returns to CD for 50th Anniversary
The words I have to say may well be simple, but they're true/Until you give your love, there's nothing more that we can do... Those lyrics from Lesley Duncan's "Love Song" opened Peggy Lee's 40th original album and her final one for Capitol Records, the label with whom she had been associated since 1944. (She left Capitol for Decca in 1952 and re-signed with the label five years later.) With Norma Deloris Egstrom from Jamestown, North Dakota, both the title (Lee's birth name) and the stark
Summer Storms: Cherry Red, Righteous Collect "Dark Exotica" from Stan Kenton, Others
The word "exotica" typically conjures up breezy, mid-20th century imagery of tikis, palm trees, and tropical drinks. Indeed, many musicians were all too happy to contribute to the genre named after Martin Denny's 1957 album, the title of which was coined by Liberty Records executive Si Waronker. Denny's musical island fantasies indeed proved transporting for Americans, as did releases from the likes of Les Baxter, Esquivel, and Arthur Lyman. Back in 2018, the Numero Group curated an
From L.A. to Bakersfield: Omnivore Celebrates California Music Heroes Dean Torrence and Buck Owens on New Collections
This fall, Omnivore will be revisiting the back pages of two California artists with whom the label has become associated: Dean Torrence and Buck Owens. Back in 2017, Omnivore issued Filet of Soul Redux: The Rejected Master Recordings from Jan Berry and Dean Torrence, the innovative surf-rock duo and Beach Boys pals who transformed the sound of SoCal pop. But Dean was always much more than "just" one-half of that pioneering musical pair. As a graphic designer, Torrence won the Grammy Award
Lightning Frightening: New Bowie Box Offers 'Hunky Dory'-Era Rarities
Hot on the heels of the success of the documentary Moonage Daydream (and its recently released soundtrack, currently streaming and coming soon to physical media), Parlophone has announced a major audio excavation from the David Bowie vault. On November 25, 2022, the label will release Divine Symmetry (An Alternative Journey Through Hunky Dory), a 4CD/1BD box set chronicling the twelve months leading up to the December 1971 release of Bowie's fourth studio album. Highlighted by 48 previously
California Saga: The Beach Boys' "Sail On Sailor: 1972" Explores "Carl and the Passions," "Holland"
The cover of The Beach Boys' eighteenth studio album didn't look so different than what fans might have expected, with its shot of the beach, blue sky, and palm trees through a car window. But once listeners placed the needle on the first track, it was clear this was no ordinary Beach Boys record. Only one song - the opening "You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone," a twangy rocker with little of the lushness once associated with their sound - bore a production credit for Brian Wilson; only
Right as the Rain: Barbra Streisand's "Live at the Bon Soir" Arrives in November
Barbra Streisand first took the stage of New York's tiny Bon Soir on September 9, 1960. The eighteen-year-old singer appeared third on a bill after house band The Three Flames and comic duo Tony and Eddie, and before closing act Phyllis Diller. The groundbreaking comedienne later recalled her first encounter with Streisand: "We shared a dressing room at the Bon Soir...It was the size of a peapod and usually you could smell fear in there. But she wasn't a bit nervous - at least not that I
Heartbreakers Beach Party: Tom Petty's "Fillmore 1997" Features Hits, Deep Cuts, Covers
The Estate of Tom Petty has announced the late rock-and-roller's first live album in more than a decade. Live at the Fillmore 1997 captures highlights from Petty and the Heartbreakers' blazing 20-show run as recorded at San Francisco's venerable Fillmore between January 10 and February 7, 1997. Six full shows were captured live, from which 58 songs have been culled for this release. Making this an even more special affair, 35 of the songs are covers and most unique to the Petty discography.
There's a Light: Rory Gallagher's "Deuce" Goes Super Deluxe
Over the past couple of years, UMC has been busy revisiting the catalogue of late Irish guitar virtuoso Rory Gallagher. Following last fall's box set celebrating Gallagher's eponymous 1971 debut, the label is turning its attention to his second album, 1972's Deuce, for another deluxe, expanded edition. The similarly expansive 4CD release, due on September 30, boasts: A new mix of the original album; 28 previously unreleased alternate takes; A six-song 1972 BBC Radio In Concert
Go Back, Jack, Do It Again: Steely Dan's Discography Gets Overhaul from UMe, Analogue Productions
Between 1972 and 1980, Steely Dan - the loose unit of like-minded musicians and singers led by songwriter-producers Walter Becker and Donald Fagen - released seven albums on the ABC and MCA labels. While Steely Dan was never a "singles artist," charting just three top ten hits, the band's albums were era-defining affairs; six of their LPs have attained at least Platinum status in the United States, with the seventh respectably going Gold. Now, that epochal catalogue defined by immaculate
Let There Be Love: SoulMusic Collects, Expands Shirley Murdock's Elektra Albums
As a member of the extended family of funk group Zapp, Shirley Murdock memorably added her vocals to the 1986 hit "Computer Love" (for which she also shares a co-writing credit). Concurrently, Murdock was launching her own solo career at Elektra Records, where she would release three solo LPs through 1991. Now, Cherry Red's SoulMusic Records imprint has revisited and expanded that trio of albums on As We Lay: The Elektra Recordings (1985-1991), a new 3-CD collection that's an essential
Too Hot: Edsel Compiles Second Album Box for Kool & The Gang
In 2024, Kool and the Gang will celebrate 60 years of music-making. Though the band has weathered the passing of key personnel in recent years including founding members Ronald Bell a.k.a. Khalis Bayyan and Dennis "D.T." Thomas, Robert "Kool" Bell and George "Funky" Brown keep the fusion of soul, R&B, dance, funk, and jazz alive and well. Earlier this year, Demon Music Group's Edsel label released Kool and the Gang's The Albums Vol. 1: 1970-1978 collecting their first dozen LPs plus a disc
Here She Comes Again: Dolly Parton's Greatest Hits Collected on "Diamonds and Rhinestones"
Here she comes again. Hot on the heels of the expanded edition of Dolly Parton's A Holly Dolly Christmas, the superstar is teaming with Legacy Recordings and RCA for a new, career-spanning package. Diamonds and Rhinestones: The Greatest Hits Collection arrives on November 18 with 23 tracks, originally released between 1971 and 2020, on CD, 2LP, and digital formats. Diamonds and Rhinestones draws on Parton's recordings for RCA Victor, Columbia Records, and her own Dolly Records label. The
And Your Bird Can Sing! The Beatles' "Revolver" Goes Super Deluxe in October
The Beatles' seventh studio album - and the bridge between Rubber Soul and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - 1966's Revolver is recognized as one of the Fab Four's most groundbreaking as well as significant albums. With producer George Martin, the group employed studio wizardry to bring their new songs to life - tape loops, automatic double tracking, close miking, use of varispeed and reversed tapes, among other techniques that would soon be imitated by countless others - as well as
Circle of Love: Dolly Parton's "Holly Dolly Christmas" Gets Expanded Edition in October
2020's A Holly Dolly Christmas was Dolly Parton's 47th solo studio album, but only her third full-length Christmas record following the Kenny Rogers collaboration Once Upon a Christmas (1984) and solo Home for Christmas (1990). The joyful yuletide set, supported by a prime-time CBS television special, became the superstar's eighth Billboard Country chart-topper; it also reached the peak of the Holiday Albums chart and the top twenty of the Billboard 200. On October 14, the Grammy-nominated
The Weekend Stream Labor Day Special: Spotlight on WIWS Radio with John and Chrissy Sellards
Welcome to a special edition of The Weekend Stream for the long Labor Day weekend! Longtime readers might have noticed that adorable owl perched comfortably atop The Second Disc. He's the mascot for WIWS Radio, an online radio station dedicated to '50s and '60s classics in authentic AM radio sound. We'd like to introduce you to John and Chrissy Sellards, the couple behind WIWS. John is already well known to Second Disc readers for his design work on most of our Second Disc Records releases.
Can You Feel the Love Tonight: Four Elton John LPs Reissued on Vinyl Today
As Elton John continues the final North American leg of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, another four gems from his discography have returned to vinyl following the recent reissues of The One and Peachtree Road. A Single Man arrived in 1978 and marked a turning point for the singer-songwriter following 1976's expansive double album Blue Moves. Despite the presence of the hit single "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word," Blue Moves had ended John's streak of chart-topping albums that began
Two (Discs) of Hearts: Cherry Pop Expands Stacey Q's Debut with 20 Rare or New-to-CD Tracks
Stacey Q's 1986 debut album was titled Better Than Heaven, and listeners were inclined to agree with that assessment as its lead single "Two of Hearts" ascended the charts in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and throughout Europe. On September 16, Cherry Pop will reissue the Hi-NRG classic as a deluxe 2-CD expanded edition with a whopping 20 bonus tracks, almost every one of which is new to CD. Show business was in Stacey Lynn Swain's blood since childhood. She trained as a dancer, modeled,
Dee-Lightful! Stage Door Reissues, Expands Johnny Burke's "Donnybrook!"
"Dee-lightful Is the Word" for Donnybrook! The 1961 Broadway musical was based on Maurice Walsh's short story "The Quiet Man" which had famously been adapted by director John Ford and screenwriter Frank S. Nugent into the Academy Award-winning 1952 film of that name. The story and film had all of the ingredients of a successful musical, with a colorful Irish setting, larger-than-life characters, and vivid romance. Ultimately, Donnybrook! lasted just 61 performances at the 46th Street Theatre
On the Dark Side: Iconoclassic Celebrates John Cafferty and The Beaver Brown Band on "Greatest Hits"
Iconoclassic Records is headed to the "Dark Side" with the first-ever anthology from the real-life band behind Hollywood's Eddie and The Cruisers: John Cafferty and The Beaver Brown Band. On September 30, the label will release Greatest Hits, a freshly remastered 16-track collection from the rock-and-roll revivalists whose "On the Dark Side" reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984 and spent five weeks atop the Mainstream Rock chart and the MTV video charts. Singer-guitarist
Build Me Up, Buttercup: Cherry Red Collects The Foundations on "Am I Groovin' You"
When "Baby, Now That I've Found You" reached No. 1 on the U.K. Singles Chart in late 1967, The Foundations became the country's first multi-racial band to score a No. 1 single. The irresistible tune by Tony Macaulay and John MacLeod also topped the chart in Canada and peaked just out of the top ten in the United States, inaugurating a brief period of success for the groundbreaking group. The Foundations are well-remembered today for both "Baby, Now That I've Found" you and the Macaulay/Mike
Do It Again: HDTT Label Brings Judy Garland's Carnegie Hall Concert to Hi-Res Digital, CD Formats
The Canada-based High Definition Tape Transfers label recently released Judy Garland's The Final Concert in Copenhagen, bringing the legendary artist's last public concert on March 25, 1969 to a variety of high-resolution formats. As the celebration of Garland's centennial continues, the label has turned its attention to Garland's most famous live performance, and indeed one of the most famous concerts of all time. The Greatest Night in Show Business History: April 23, 1961 is HDTT's reissue of
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