Esoteric Recordings is rightly known for its deluxe editions and box sets, but the Cherry Red imprint delivers the same high level of quality with its more modest releases. Today, we're looking at the single-disc expanded editions of a trio of diverse rock classics released in late 2019. Strawbs' ninth album, Deep Cuts, isn't an album of rarities as the title might indicate. Instead, the 1976 album is, as lead vocalist David Cousins describes in the liner notes, "the best-sounding album
He Sends Us: Sam Cooke’s Keen Years Collected In New Box
Sam Cooke would have turned 90 on January 22, 2021, but that's not stopping the party from starting a little early! This month, The King of Soul will be celebrated with a new box set featuring five of his albums for the Keen label. The Complete Keen Years (1957-1960) showcases Cooke's early work as a pop craftsman at the end of the 1950s. At the beginning of the decade, Cooke was a teenage sensation as a member of gospel group The Soul Stirrers. But his interest in R&B and pop could not
The Year in Review: The 2019 Gold Bonus Disc Awards, From A to Z
Happy 2020 and welcome to The Second Disc's 10th Annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards! It's time once again to recognize this year's cream of the crop - those exemplary reissues and box sets big and small that proved to be truly outstanding products for music lovers worldwide. There was no shortage of great reissue titles in 2019; in fact, by our count, we covered over 700 releases in all! And after much deliberation, we're excited to unveil our favorites. This isn't your run-of-the-mill Top 10,
UPDATE: Vinyl Me Please Offers Exclusive Vinyl Variant of Laura Nyro’s “More Than a New Discovery” from Second Disc Records, Real Gone Music
UPDATE 1/2/20: Over two years ago, Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music released A Little Magic, A Little Kindness: The Complete Mono Albums Collection from the late Laura Nyro. The centerpiece of that two-disc anthology was the world premiere CD release of the original mono version of Nyro's Verve Folkways debut, More Than a New Discovery. Now, that rare and superior mix is making its way to limited edition vinyl as our first release of 2020. Seldom has the title of a debut album been
You Can Handle It: Real Gone Announces Vinyl Reissues of Soul Classics
Happy New Year, everybody! 2020 is shaping up to be a great year for Real Gone Music. There's the upcoming standalone version of Johnny Mathis' The Island, the return of Laura Nyro's More Than A New Discovery in mono...and that's just the Second Disc Records slate so far! In addition to titles from Rod McKuen and Barbara Eden, Real Gone has also announced remastered vinyl editions of Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band's enduring Express Yourself and It's Just A Matter of
In Memoriam: Jerry Herman (1931-2019) and Allee Willis (1947-2019)
This week, popular music lost two of its titans: Jerry Herman, 88, and Allee Willis, 72. Today, we pay tribute to them. "There is no tune like a showtune," went the lyric of Jerry Herman's sprightly song for the 1960 off-Broadway revue Parade starring Dody Goodman, Richard Tone, and the young Charles Nelson Reilly. And there is certainly no tune like a Jerry Herman showtune: bright, bouncy, heartfelt, optimistic, moving, exciting. While Herman's oeuvre was relatively small compared to many of
Over The Waves: The Beach Boys Release Copyright Extension EP “1969: I’m Going Your Way”
We interrupt our holiday hiatus for this special report... Following the band's wide-reaching copyright extension releases the last few years, Beach Boys fans have been expecting some rarities vintage 1969 to enjoy as the year wraps up. Today, Capitol/UMG quietly released 1969: I'm Going Your Way, this year's digital-only round-up of rarities but fans will no doubt be disappointed by its limited scope. While 2018 saw the release of three albums' worth of rare material (On Tour: 1968 ,
Merry Discmas and Happy New Year!
The stockings are hung, the carols are playing, the tree is trimmed, and we're getting ready for a long winter's nap! The Second Disc team will be taking our annual hiatus until January 2, 2020. When we're back, we'll be a few weeks away from our tenth anniversary, if you can believe it - not to mention just days away from releasing our first Second Disc Records title of the year, a special vinyl edition of Laura Nyro's More Than a New Discovery in its rare mono mix. It will be followed in
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,
Who’s In Love Here: Second Disc, Real Gone Release Johnny Mathis’ Lost Album “The Island” in February
Johnny Mathis has recorded many romantic albums over the past seven decades, but none quite like The Island. Recorded in 1989 but unreleased for decades, The Island transported listeners to Brazil, with all of its mystique and magic. On February 7, this lost classic arrives in a new deluxe edition - its first-ever release on standalone CD - from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music. Renowned producer Sergio Mendes of Brasil '66 fame and arranger-guitarist Dori Caymmi joined Mathis to
Let It Snow: Omnivore Breaks Away with Murry Wilson and Snow EP
With its latest release, Omnivore Recordings might as well as be singing "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" The intrepid label has unearthed a true rarity for a new digital EP: four previously unreleased songs produced in 1969 by Murry Wilson for an all-but-unknown harmony-pop outfit named Snow. Freshly unearthed from The Beach Boys' vault, Murry Wilson & Snow: The Break Away EP features Snow's lush and fully-produced and orchestrated renditions of two songs from Brian Wilson's
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
Extravagant Gestures: Cherry Red, SoulMusic Box Up Dionne Warwick’s Arista Albums on New 12-CD Set
Over 40 years ago, Dionne Warwick left Warner Bros. Records and signed to Clive Davis' Arista label to begin a new chapter in her remarkable career - a career which happens to be going as strong as ever today. Now, Cherry Red's SoulMusic imprint has announced a 12-CD box celebrating Warwick's Arista period. Due on February 28, 2020, Déjà Vu: The Arista Recordings (1979-1994) collects all of her acclaimed albums for the label and rounds up over two dozen previously released bonus
In the Street: Big Star Classics Return to Vinyl in January
For many years, fans of power pop had their Magna Carta of a CD: Fantasy Records' two-fer of Big Star's #1 Record and Radio City, the primary records issued by the legendary Memphis band. Various vinyl reissues of the individual albums have come and gone, too, most notably the 2014 reissues on the Stax label. Now, both #1 Record and Radio City are coming back to vinyl on January 24 from Craft Recordings. Both albums will be newly remastered - all-analog! - by Jeff Powell at Memphis' Take Out
UPDATE: Things That Come Back Again: Cat Stevens “Back To Earth” Box Set and Vinyl Reissues Announced
UPDATE: It's been nearly a year since our initial coverage of the Cat Stevens Back To Earth box set featuring a new remaster done at Abbey Road and a wealth of rare audio and visual material. Since then, lots of changes have affected how the box will reach listeners. Now that Pledge Music is out of the equation, BMG and their new Cat-O-Log division will release the elaborate set more conventionally on April 10. The box won't have all the bells and whistles described last year - just the discs
Unchained Melodies: Omnivore Premieres Bobby Hatfield’s Lost Sessions with Richard Perry
Omnivore Recordings is getting righteous - make that Righteous - with an upcoming release. In 1971, Bobby Hatfield of The Righteous Brothers was on his own. He and partner Bill Medley had split in 1968, and while Medley quickly struck as a solo artist, Hatfield persevered as a Righteous Brother with the enlistment of The Knickerbockers' Jimmy Walker. But the new duo's Re-Birth album hadn't achieved much success, and Hatfield decided to go it alone (again; he had previously released a number of
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
Giant Potatoes: Esoteric, Cherry Red Expand Spirit’s “Potatoland” to Four CDs, Revisit “Two Sides of a Rainbow”
Last year, Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings imprint collected expanded editions of the Ode and Epic albums from the band Spirit as the box set It Shall Be: The Ode and Epic Recordings 1968-1972. Now, Esoteric has revisited Spirit but jumped into the future for a pair of releases: The Complete Potatoland and Two Sides of a Rainbow: Live at the Rainbow 1978. By the time of Spirit's final Epic album, 1972's Feedback, Randy California, Jay Ferguson, and Mark Andes had all departed the band,
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
Release Round-Up: Week of December 13
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Blinky, Heart Full of Soul: The Motown Anthology (Second Disc/Real Gone) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music are proud to mark Motown's 60th anniversary with a collection that has truly been decades in the making. Heart Full of Soul: The Motown Anthology is the ultimate tribute to Sondra "Blinky" Williams, Motown's great lost superstar. Over two CDs and almost 50 songs, Blinky's Motown journey is
OUT TOMORROW! Blinky Is Free at Last on Second Disc Records, Real Gone Music’s “Heart Full of Soul: The Motown Anthology”
The story of Sondra "Blinky" Williams has long been shrouded in mystery. The soulful singer came to Motown Records in 1967 following stints at Vee-Jay and Atlantic, bringing her passionate and powerful deep soul sound to Hitsville, USA. Despite recording dozens of tracks between 1968 and 1973, only a small handful saw release: a mere four 45s plus an album of duets with Edwin Starr, two live cuts, and a couple of one-off recordings, including a key moment on the best-selling soundtrack of Lady
Rock Gently: Real Gone Music Remembers Rod McKuen in January with New CDs, Digital Debuts
We've already filled you on a number of titles from Real Gone Music's January slate, including our Second Disc Records release of Laura Nyro's rare mono More Than a New Discovery on vinyl and the first-ever reissue of Miss Barbara Eden on CD and vinyl. Now, Real Gone has announced a pair of titles from a true iconoclast: the late Rod McKuen. On January 31, the label will premiere New Ballads, the singer-songwriter-poet's highest-charting Warner Bros. album, on CD alongside a newly-expanded
Showing Out: Cherry Red Collects Mel and Kim’s Singles on New Box Set
Between 1986 and 1988, British pop duo Mel and Kim charted four top 5 entries on the U.K. Singles Chart, including one chart-topper there and two songs which reached No. 1 on the U.S. Dance survey. Sisters Melanie and Kim Appleby's career was cut short when Mel tragically died of cancer at just 23 years of age in 1990. But they left behind a vibrant body of work which has recently been celebrated by Cherry Red's Cherry Pop imprint on a new box set. Mel and Kim's The Singles Box Set collects all
Dreaming of Jeannie: Real Gone Brings “Miss Barbara Eden” to CD, LP in January
Since its network debut on September 18, 1965, I Dream of Jeannie has enchanted television audiences. That's in no small part to the magical presence of Barbara Eden as the title character. While Jeannie had the occasional musical moment on the show, few viewers knew at the time of the star's extensive background in music. In fact, Eden studied at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music - and in the wake of Jeannie's success became an in-demand headliner in musical theatre as well as in Las