"Bob Crewe's lyrics have meant so much--to so many--for so long; it is hard to imagine they will ever be forgotten. Bob had a way about him in life as he did in the studio, a charismatic personality, an ability to draw the best out of everyone and a limitless joy of music, art and life...We will never forget Bob Crewe." So spoke Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio upon the passing last year of Bob Crewe at the age of 83. A veteran songwriter, producer and entrepreneur, Crewe's vibrant, thrilling music
Short Takes: Yes' Massive Box Set, Metallica's Original Demo and Van Halen Remasters
There soon will be many more Yessongs. Progressive rockers Yes released the triple-LP live album Yessongs in 1973. It captured the band at the height of its powers, riding a wave of success thanks to the 1972 album Close to the Edge. In the weeks leading up to the recording of Yessongs, however, the band recorded a number of shows that are now being collected in Rhino's massive 14-CD box set Progeny: Seven Shows from Seventy-Two. The May 19 release contains seven complete shows recorded in
Perfectly Frank: Sinatra Celebrated With Career-Spanning Box Set "Ultimate Sinatra"
2015 is getting a lot more ring-a-ding-ding come April thanks to the release of Ultimate Sinatra. On April 21, Capitol/UMe will continue the Frank Sinatra centennial celebration in style with new career-spanning collections drawing on the Chairman of the Board’s historic tenures with the RCA Victor, Columbia, Capitol and Reprise labels. Available as a 25-track single CD, a 26-track digital album, a 24-track 180-gram double-vinyl set, and a deluxe, 101-track 4-CD or digital box set, Ultimate
Walking in Memphis: Omnivore Revisits "Beale Street Saturday Night"
Omnivore Recordings is going back to Memphis. The label has already preserved a number of classic records drawing on the city’s rich musical landscape by artists including Big Star, Alex Chilton, Sandra Rhodes, and Sid Selvidge. On April 14, Omnivore will add to that collection with the reissue of Beale Street Saturday Night, produced and curated in 1979 by the late Jim Dickinson in celebration of the city’s blues mecca Beale Street. Produced for The Memphis Development Foundation (and
A Winter's Tale: 7Ts Reissues Two From David Essex
The music of David Essex has long had a home at Cherry Red’s 7Ts label. Late in 2014, 7Ts revisited the catalogue of the British singer/actor for a two-for-one, double-disc reissue of 1983’s The Whisper and 1984’s This One’s for You. David Essex, OBE, was born David Albert Cook in 1947. Since making his record debut on the Fontana label in 1965, he has scored nineteen Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom (including two No. 1s), and sixteen Top 40 albums. Following a stage appearance in the
Portrait of His Love: New Mint Audio Records Label Launches With Unreleased Matt Monro Concert
We’ve written often here in the past about the splendid restoration work of Richard Moore on projects for vocalist Matt Monro and composer Roy Budd, among others. Now, we’re happy to spread the word that Moore has launched a new label. U.K.-based Mint Audio Records has kicked off with three releases (and counting!) from a trio of bona fide music legends: Rosemary Clooney, Jim Reeves, and Matt Monro. All three of these titles premiere never-before-released music, and we’ll be taking an in-depth
Warmth of the Sun: Rumer Collects "B-Sides and Rarities" On New Release
Since making her major label debut in 2010 with Seasons of My Soul, the artist known as Rumer (real name: Sarah Joyce) has made the case that elegantly-crafted adult pop can still be viable in the 21st century. Influenced by Burt Bacharach, Laura Nyro, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Stephen Bishop, Jimmy Webb and Paul Williams, Rumer is possessed of a honeyed voice that's most frequently been compared to Karen Carpenter on her three studio albums - Seasons, 2012's Boys Don't Cry (a collection of
Creole Moon: Edsel Heads to "N'awlinz" With Dr. John Reissues
With a new pair of reissues, Demon Music Group’s Edsel label is the in the right place, for the label has turned its attention to the catalogue of one of the funkiest men alive: Mac Rebennack, a.k.a. Dr. John, the Night Tripper. An A&R man, arranger, producer, artist, and session musician since the early days of New Orleans rock and roll, the good doctor came into his own as a solo headliner with 1968’s Gris-Gris. Since that psychedelic exploration of N’awlins-style R&B, Dr. John has
"Mathis Is..." Coming In TWO WEEKS From Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music!
Mathis Is… It’s a difficult statement to complete. How to describe one of the most remarkable voices in popular music? Johnny Mathis continues to enjoy a singularly wonderful, wonderful career - one spanning seven decades, over 350 million records sold, more than eighty albums, and a host of million-selling singles including “Misty,” “Chances Are” and “Too Much, Too Little, Too Late.” Longtime readers of The Second Disc can no doubt imagine how privileged we feel to be able to inaugurate
Kritzerland Ain't Misbehavin' With Complete, Expanded "Stormy Weather"
Don’t know why there’s no sun up in the sky… Well, the sun has come up, and the reason’s clear: Kritzerland has a new 2-CD complete edition of the soundtrack to Stormy Weather, Twentieth Century Fox’s 1943 musical extravaganza starring Lena Horne, Cab Calloway, Fats Waller, Dooley Wilson, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, The Nicholas Brothers and many more. Loosely based on Robinson’s life, the film is short on plot but long on song-and-dance, with musical figuring into over 70 of its 78 minutes!
The Ultra Zone: Steve Vai Brings "Live in L.A." Concert To CD, DVD
With a résumé ranging from Frank Zappa to Whitesnake, three-time Grammy Award winner Steve Vai has earned his reputation as one of the most inventive, virtuosic guitarists in rock. Vai – an accomplished composer and producer as well as musician – has recently signed with Sony’s Legacy Recordings to a new multi-album agreement which will kick off with two releases in 2015. The first of these has been confirmed for April 7, 2015. Stillness in Motion – Vai Live in L.A. is drawn from his October 12,
Can't Get Enough: Deluxe 2-CD Bad Company Reissues On the Way
Today saw the reissue of Physical Graffiti, Led Zeppelin’s first album on the band’s own Swan Song Records label. So it’s appropriate that Rhino chose today to announce the deluxe, expanded reissue for the very first album on Swan Song – the self-titled debut of British hard rock supergroup Bad Company. That 1974 chart-topping album will be joined on April 7 by Bad Company’s 1975 sophomore effort, Straight Shooter in a similarly expanded edition. These reissues, to be available on CD, LP and
Don't Leave Her This Way: Thelma Houston's "Any Way You Like It" Gets Expanded Treatment
Powerhouse vocalist Thelma Houston has long had a champion in SoulMusic Records. In 2012, the label issued an expanded edition of her debut album (and second overall) for Motown’s California-based MoWest label, and in 2013, SoulMusic reissued both of her duet albums with the “Ice Man” Jerry Butler. The label has just revisited 1976’s Any Way You Like It, the album that made a superstar out of Houston thanks to a little anthem called “Don’t’ Leave Me This Way.” Though Berry Gordy’s West
Liquid Spirit: Raising A Coffee Cup to Starbucks' Final CD "Blue Note Blend"
On April 1, 1995, Starbucks launched its line of CDs with Blue Note Blend, a selection of thirteen tracks from the catalogue of the venerable jazz label and its sister labels. Available as a standalone release or bundled with a pound of Starbucks’ same-named coffee, the album was an unqualified success, selling over 75,000 copies and spawning sequel volumes. Twenty years later, the coffee house is returning to its roots for a new edition of Blue Note Blend which features many of the same
From Belmont Ave. To Bleecker St.: Never-Before-Heard Dion Concert Arrives On CD In April
In a career spanning an astounding seven decades, Dion DiMucci has transitioned from doo wop to rock and roll to pop to folk to blues to contemporary Christian and back again, always bringing his stamp of originality and attitude to each endeavor. In August 1971, The King of the New York Streets took to one street in particular – Bleecker – to perform at the legendary Bitter End, today New York’s oldest rock club. Omnivore Recordings in the U.S. (and Ace Records in the U.K.) has captured Dion at
Coming Back For You: Ronnie James Dio's "Elf" Returns
Who’s that gleefully malevolent-looking elf? Why, it’s none other than the late Ronnie James Dio, legendary frontman of Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell and of course, Dio. Between 1972 and 1975, Dio (under his real name of Ronald Padavona) led the band Elf for three albums. The first of those LPs, the eponymous Elf, has just been reissued by Cherry Red’s Hear No Evil imprint in a newly-remastered edition. Singer/bassist Dio founded Elf in 1967 as The Electric Elves, alongside
Hey Joe! Rare Early Jimi Hendrix Recordings Collected By Legacy, Experience Hendrix
With Experience Hendrix and Legacy Recordings having previously reissued Jimi Hendrix’s core catalogue as well as more unexpected offerings like The Cry of Love and Rainbow Bridge, where to go next? The answer is back to the very beginning – which, as always, is a very good place to start. You Can’t Use My Name: Curtis Knight & The Squires (Featuring Jimi Hendrix) The RSVP/PPX Sessions is the first in a series of releases intended to place the legendary guitarist’s pre-fame recordings in the
Countdown To "Physical Graffiti" Begins: Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page Does Q&A, Expanded Album Streams Tomorrow
The wait for the latest volume of Led Zeppelin's remastered and expanded reissue series is almost over! Tomorrow - Thursday, February 19 - Yahoo Live will stream the 40th Anniversary Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti Deluxe Edition Premiere. The complete, previously unreleased companion audio from the upcoming deluxe edition will be unveiled, followed by a live Q&A with legendary axeman and album producer Jimmy Page in front of a live audience at Olympic Studios in London, the same studio
Real Gone Has "Rhapsodies" In April From Dusty Springfield, Rick Wakeman, Jesse Winchester and More
One surefire cure for the winter blues is to think ahead to the warmer climates awaiting us in spring. And Real Gone Music is seeing to it that April 2015 will shower not only with rain but with a full slate of new releases! This batch includes a sprawling set from Yes’ Rick Wakeman produced the great Tony Visconti, two more visits down memory lane with Grateful Dead, plus some rare music from underrated singer/songwriters Craig Fuller and Eric Kaz, and Jesse Winchester. And that’s not
Let's Go Away For Awhile: The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" Comes To Blu-ray Audio
“I figure no one is educated musically ‘til they’ve heard [Pet Sounds],” Paul McCartney once said of The Beach Boys’ classic, released 45 years and one week ago on May 16, 1966. George Martin concurred: “Without Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper wouldn’t have happened.” Brian Wilson poured his musical heart into the album’s thirteen tracks; in less than thirty-five minutes, he delivered an entire spectrum of emotions in a song cycle of striking beauty and sensitivity. Pet Sounds may initially have been
In Memoriam: Lesley Gore (1946-2015)
I last saw Lesley Gore on October 4, 2010. Lesley was one of a starry assemblage of artists paying tribute to Marvin Hamlisch at New York’s Symphony Space. Though I seem to recall her making a comment about the song not being part of her current repertoire, she gamely performed her 1965 hit “Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows” for her friend Marvin, its composer. If you closed your eyes, you were back in time to a more innocent era – whether you had actually been there or not – and filled with the
The Last Ride: Rhino Reissues Ride Anthology "OX4"
On March 31, Rhino is taking a Ride with the shoegaze band of the same name. That’s the date the label will reissue Ride’s OX4, a 2001 best-of anthology, to coincide with the reunited group’s upcoming tour. Though the Oxford band released just four studio albums and a number of EPs between 1990 and 1996, its small discography has proven an influential one. Friends and art school students Mark Gardener and Andy Bell (guitar/vocals), along with Laurence "Loz" Colbert (drums) and Steve Queralt
Grapefruit Collects Rare Psych-Pop From Pre-Deep Purple Episode Six, More on "Shapes and Shadows"
Musical renaissance man Les Reed is responsible for some of the most beloved pop tunes of all time – “It’s Not Unusual,” “There’s a Kind of Hush,” and “The Last Waltz” among them. His songs have been recorded by Tom Jones, Elvis Presley, Shirley Bassey, Petula Clark and Bing Crosby. Less well known is that Reed also founded a record label. His Chapter One Records was formed in 1968 and lasted until 1973, releasing music by a diverse collection of artists including Episode Six (a proving
Jethro Tull Returns to "The Gallery" with New "Minstrel" 2-CD/2-DVD Box Set
Parlophone’s deluxe series of Jethro Tull reissues continues on May 5 with a book-style 2-CD/2-DVD set of the band’s eighth studio album, Minstrel in the Gallery. This deluxe Minstrel, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the gold-certified album, follows last November’s reissue of Tull’s album No. 7, WarChild as well as expansions of Thick as a Brick, A Passion Play, Benefit and Aqualung. (The latter received a super deluxe box treatment.) Both Steven Wilson and Jakko Jakszyk are involved in
Spirit in the Night: Closing Night of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" Tour Comes To Archive Series
Bruce Springsteen is continuing his live Archive Series of CDs which began last year with the release of the Apollo Theater, New York City concert of March 12, 2012 and the Agora Theatre, Cleveland show of August 9, 1978 (from The Darkness on the Edge of Town tour). The newest release, for which pre-orders began Tuesday, takes fans back to the Tower Theatre, Philadelphia, on December 31, 1975 when Springsteen and the E Street Band held the stage for an electrifying night. The last night of
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