I took a ride, I didn't know what I would find there... George Harrison's snarling takedown of the "Taxman" opened The Beatles' Revolver with a powerful sting. The so-called Quiet Beatle took on the first-person role with the relish of (and a musical nod to) a Batman villain. Though 1965's folk-rock-influenced Rubber Soul had seen the Fab Four's songwriting grow by leaps and bounds, Revolver matched the songwriting strides with revelatory studio processes including ADT (Artificial Double
Journey Through the Past: Neil Young Expands "Harvest" For 50th Anniversary
Neil Young's fourth studio album, 1972's Harvest, was a landmark for the artist. His first and only No. 1 album in the U.S. and U.K. to date, it spun off his only U.S. No. 1 single to date with the ballad "Heart of Gold," and became the best-selling album in the U.S. of 1972 - only to remain the best-selling album in Young's ever-growing catalogue. The 2015 Grammy Hall of Fame inductee has received numerous reissues including a 2002 DVD-Audio presentation and a 2009 remaster as part of Young's
Release Round-Up: Week of May 6
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles out today including a very special pair from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music! Melissa Manchester, Live '77 (Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music) Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music proudly present the premiere release of Melissa Manchester's Live '77, recorded by Arista Records in October 1977 at Gainesville, Florida's Great Southern
Holiday Gift Guide Spotlight: Belinda Carlisle, "Live Your Life Be Free: 30th Anniversary Edition"
Following a well-received Go-Go's reunion in 1990, Belinda Carlisle returned to the studio to record her fourth studio album, Live Your Life Be Free. Likely the jaunt with her old bandmates inspired her, as the 1991 LP returned the singer to the sixties-inspired, girl-group milieu. Although Live Your Life failed to chart in the U.S., it hit the top ten in the U.K. and yielded four charting singles including the brisk and lusty "Do You Feel Like I Feel" which remains Carlisle's final U.S. hit
Holiday Gift Guide Review: The Doors, "L.A. Woman: 50th Anniversary Edition"
"Well, I've been down so goddamn long that it looks like up to me..." Jim Morrison knew of what he spoke. When The Doors entered Sunset Sound in November 1970 to record what would become their sixth studio album, L.A. Woman, the quartet was ready for a reboot. In September, Morrison had been convicted on profanity and indecent exposure charges related to a March 1969 concert in Miami. With an appeal in place, he was free on bail. But some radio stations had banned The Doors, and even concert
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Elvis Presley, "Back in Nashville"
When Elvis Presley entered RCA's famed Nashville Studio B in June 1970, expectations were high. His last major recording sessions - not counting those for the Universal film Change of Habit - had taken place at Memphis' American Sound Studio with producer Chips Moman, resulting in the acclaimed From Elvis in Memphis LP. Could he follow up that career triumph? Many would argue that he did. Rather than strictly repeat the formula, he and producer Felton Jarvis crafted the concept album Elvis
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Jimmie Vaughan, "The Jimmie Vaughan Story"
Blues guitarist par excellence Jimmie Vaughan turned 70 earlier this year, and The Last Music Company wasn't about to let the milestone go unnoticed. The label has released the appropriately-titled box set The Jimmie Vaughan Story, boasting 5 CDs and over six hours of music chronicling Vaughan's career up to the present day. The collection is available in two formats: a large-scale box which adds a 12-inch LP of Jimmie's 2001 album Do You Get the Blues?, two 45 RPM vinyl singles, a catalogue
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Joni Mitchell, "Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968-1971)"
Last evening in Washington, DC, Joni Mitchell joined the 44th class of Kennedy Center Honorees alongside Bette Midler, Berry Gordy, Lorne Michaels, and Justino Diaz. The singer-songwriter who has blurred the lines of folk, pop, rock, and jazz was celebrated by friends and admirers including Brandi Carlile, Herbie Hancock, Ellie Goulding, Norah Jones, Brittany Howard, Dan Levy, and Cameron Crowe. President Joe Biden, also in attendance, had earlier summed up the thoughts of many when he
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Billy Joel, "The Vinyl Collection, Vol. 1"
By his own account, Billy Joel stumbled into the singing part of the singer-songwriter equation. He explained of his 1971 debut Cold Spring Harbor, "I wrote this album not as a singer-songwriter, but as a songwriter. I was thinking of other people doing the material on this album. But the advice I got from people in the music business was, 'Well, if you want people to hear your songs, make an album. And then you go out on the road and you do shows and you promote your album. I thought,
THE SECOND DISC'S 2021 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE IS HERE!
Cyber Monday is upon us once again, which means one thing at Second Disc HQ: it's time to launch our annual Holiday Gift Guide, featuring a few of our favorite things for the music enthusiast in your life. Sure, we might not have included raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but we've filled the guide with more than 50 essential selections: box sets (such as the Fab set to your right!) as well as archival releases and even new CDs from favorite artists that just might make great stocking
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Shania Twain, 'The Woman in Me (Diamond Edition)'
If there's one good thing we can pull from 2020's reissue slate, it's diversity. The end of the year's biggest box sets focused less on the typical classic-rock heavy-hitters and more on genres, eras and artists that typically don't get the red carpet treatment. It's a trend that would surely be nice to continue. The new "Diamond Edition" of Shania Twain's The Woman in Me (Mercury Nashville/UMe B0032601-02) checks off all three of those boxes, yet it's initially an odd sell. After all, isn't
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Lou Reed, "New York" [Deluxe Edition]
"I'll take Manhattan in a garbage bag with Latin written on it that says "It's hard to give a shit these days..." Indeed, Lou Reed always gave off the vibe of someone who didn't give a shit - and moreover, someone who didn't take any shit. But beneath that hip veneer was an artist who cared deeply, and had the talents to express himself and his keenly-felt beliefs in song. He was ready for a new start in 1988 when he began recording his first album for Sire Records after his second stint at
THE SECOND DISC'S 2020 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE IS HERE!
Another Cyber Monday is here, which means one thing at Second Disc HQ: it's time to launch our annual Holiday Gift Guide, featuring a few of our favorite things for the music enthusiast in your life. Sure, we might not have included raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but we've filled the guide with more than 50 essential selections: box sets (such as the amazing Elton John title to your right!) as well as archival releases and Christmas music favorites that just might make great
Holiday Gift Guide Reviews: A Rhino Round-Up with Bad Company, Rush, Van Halen, Hootie, STP and The Notorious B.I.G.
Many of this year's finest box sets came courtesy of the Rhino label. Here, Joe and Randy take a look at a few more of our favorites! First up are Randy's three picks... First up is Rhino's 25th anniversary 3-CD/1-LP Super Deluxe Edition of Stone Temple Pilots' Purple. Initially hitting shelves on June 7, 1994, the band's sophomore album would debut atop the Billboard 200 and stay there for three weeks, eventually becoming the group's second best-selling album after their debut effort,
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Nat King Cole, "Hittin' the Ramp: The Early Years (1936-1943)"
The first voice you hear on Resonance Records' exhilarating new box set Nat King Cole - Hittin' the Ramp: The Early Years (1936-1943) isn't that of the famous artist. Rather, it's his older brother and bassist Eddie Cole warbling teenaged Nat's sprightly composition "Honey Hush." Nat, of course, is the one tickling the ivories with confidence, grace, and an already sure sense of swing. Although he hadn't yet formed his famous trio (and the lineup here credited as "Eddie Cole's Solid Swingers" is
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Mariah Carey, "Merry Christmas: Deluxe Anniversary Edition"
Sitting atop the Billboard Hot 100 this week is a song which took a quarter-century to reach that peak: Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You." The song achieved a couple of milestones with that ranking: it now holds the record for the longest time between a song's debut and its reaching the top of the charts, and it's the first Christmas song to reach the peak in 60 years since The Chipmunks did it in 1959. Before this new milestone for Carey's tune, the song and the album of its
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Margaret Whiting, "Let's Fall in Love: The Lost Recordings Vol. 2"
Three years ago, Sepia Records and My Ideal Music celebrated the late, great Margaret Whiting with Dream: The Lost Recordings, a 2-CD collection of rare radio performances. Now, the long-awaited follow-up has arrived. Let's Fall in Love: The Lost Recordings Vol. 2 has been worth the wait. Like the first volume, the recordings premiering on Let's Fall in Love - a whopping 56 songs, complementing the 57 on Volume 1 - have been culled from The Barry Wood Show, a syndicated radio program for
Holiday Gift Guide Reviews: Cherry Red's Esoteric and Grapefruit Imprints Offer Diverse Box Sets
Cherry Red's ongoing series of small clamshell box sets filled with big content make for the perfect stocking stuffer! Here's a look at three more titles you might have missed... Climax Blues Band's The Albums 1973-1976 is the second such box set released this year by Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings imprint, following The Albums 1969-1972. This 4-CD set contains the following albums, culminating in the biggest commercial triumph for the band that began its life as The Climax Chicago Blues
Holiday Gift Guide Review: David Bowie, "Conversation Piece"
The new David Bowie box set is entitled Conversation Piece - and it's an apt one, as this set is certain to inspire conversations punctuated with cheers. Quite simply, this slipcased, hardcover-book style collection featuring five CDs of material recorded by the late superstar in 1968-1969 is one of the year's best boxes: an exquisite, museum-quality release that exceeds all expectations. Necessity may indeed be the mother of invention, as the set ostensibly exists because of the desire to
Holiday Gift Guide Review: "A Voice of the Warm: The Life of Rod McKuen" by Barry Alfonso
"Come with me/What wonders we'll find," sings Rod McKuen to open his lilting waltz "Kaleidoscope" in his recognizable sandpaper voice. But the more revealing lyrics come later, when the poet-singer-songwriter asserts, "You'll look in my eyes and see you." Over a career spanning seven decades - but particularly during a purple patch in the late 1960s and early 1970s - McKuen's loyal legion of fans saw themselves in his deceptively simple art. His empathetic words conveyed the beauty of everyday
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Pink Floyd's "The Later Years, 1987-2019" Will Leave You Lost For Words
Fans were no doubt lost for words when Pink Floyd and Legacy Recordings announced the December 13 release of The Later Years 1987-2019, the massive new set celebrating the David Gilmour-led era of the legendary band. Well, the set has landed at Second Disc HQ - nearly crushing the front porch in the process - and we're thrilled to include it as part of our Holiday Gift Guide. The Later Years is the ultimate celebration of this sometimes-maligned era, bringing together remixed studio albums and
Holiday Gift Guide Review: MoFi Gives the Audiophile Treatment to Dylan's "Blood on The Tracks" and J. Geils' "The Morning After"
Over the years, Mobile Fidelity has cemented itself as one of the leaders in the audiophile re-issue realm. From deluxe 45rpm box set affairs to more bare-bones remasters, the label has been known to go the extra mile to make every album sound its best. Two of their recent reissues have arrived at Second Disc HQ: the extravagant 45rpm One-Step remaster of Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks and the slimmed-down remaster of J. Geils Band's The Morning After. Both titles are sure to please that
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Bear Family Explores "The Bakersfield Sound" on New Box Set
Get Along Down to Town Bakersfield, California is a long way from Nashville - a little under 2,020 miles west, actually. But the distance isn't quite as great when one considers how much significant country music came out of the city in Kern County. Recent years have seen numerous reissues from legendary Bakersfield artists like Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, as well as a fine exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame. But now Bear Family Records has delivered the ultimate tribute to the
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Jewel, "Joy: A Holiday Collection" [Reissue]
In 1999, singer-songwriter Jewel teamed with veteran producer-arranger Arif Mardin (Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield) for Joy: A Holiday Collection, her first Christmas album and third overall studio LP. Within a month of its release, it received a platinum certification, and it continues to be a perennial during the holiday season. Now, Craft Recordings has reissued the gentle album originally released on Atlantic Records for its vinyl premiere, as newly mastered by George Horn and Anne-Marie
Holiday Gift Guide Review: The Replacements, "Dead Man's Pop"
One of the year's most unexpected box sets - The Replacements' Dead Man's Pop, an alternative look at the band's 1989 album Don't Tell a Soul - has turned out to be one of its most exciting. The hell-raising Minneapolis rockers have proudly told the tale of stealing a clutch of tapes from their onetime home of Twin/Tone Records and chucking them into the Mississippi River back in 1987. But happily, the 'Mats and their associates were more careful about subsequent masters, and the next year,