Recently, Record Store Day organizers announced that in lieu of a single-day celebration, planned 2020 RSD would be released across three months on three special "drop days." As labels begin to open up following the COVID-19 outbreak, we're excited to give you the latest. Late last week, Craft Recordings announced the full lineup of indie-exclusive vinyl that will be rolled out on August 29, September 26, and October 24, and the label has added a special 50th Anniversary edition of McLemore
Never Want It Badly Enough: The Second Disc’s Top Tracks For Bandcamp Friday
Despite the challenges facing the music business amid the COVID-19 pandemic, there are some bright spots. On March 20, indie music service Bandcamp waived their share of revenue on all sales for 24 hours, allowing artists and labels to support themselves even more robustly. Thanks to impressive results ($4.3 million spent on music and merch, 15 times an average Friday's revenue), Bandcamp repeated the strategy not once, but thrice: the first Fridays of each month (May 1, which raised $7.1
Needle In The Hay: Elliott Smith’s Sophomore Album To Be Expanded With Live Set
Seventeen years after Elliott Smith's tragic death at the age of 34, his spare, haunting music continues to resonate. On August 28, the Kill Rock Stars label will reissue his 1995 self-titled sophomore album in a 2-CD deluxe edition to commemorate its 25th anniversary. Elliott Smith continued in the acoustic singer-songwriter vein of its predecessor, Roman Candle, with the solo artist's guitar backed up only by an occasional other instrument such as harmonica or drums. Darkness pervaded the
Endless Flight: New Andrew Gold Box Set From Esoteric Offers Albums, Unreleased Live Material
He was born on a summer day, 1951 - and through the '70s, Andrew Gold issued a handful of killer pop singles around the world while serving as an in-demand session musician. This summer, U.K. label Esoteric Recordings will collect his complete discography for Asylum Records along with some choice studio and live bonus material - a portion of which is being released for the first time! Lonely Boy: The Asylum Years Anthology illustrates how Gold - the son of film composer Ernest and Hollywood
Cherry Red’s “A Slight Disturbance in My Mind” Collects The Psych-Pop Sounds of 1966
By any estimation, 1966 was a pivotal year in rock. On one side of the Atlantic: Pet Sounds, Blonde on Blonde, Sounds of Silence. On the other: Revolver, Fresh Cream, Aftermath. Those albums merely represent the tip of the iceberg, however. 1966 was a year in which psychedelia emerged from the fringes and onto the charts via such artists as The Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, and yes, The Beatles with "Tomorrow Never Knows." The underground scene continued to grow and increasingly attract the
Mornin’ Glory: Bobbie Gentry’s “The Delta Sweete” Gets Remixed, Remastered, and Expanded Treatment
It was the third of June/Another sleepy, dusty Delta day... With a new announcement, this June 3 has gotten a lot less sleepy. Bobbie Gentry's 1967 debut album Ode to Billie Joe established the Mississippi native as a crossover country superstar. Boasting the Grammy-winning, chart-topping title track, the LP made it to No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Pop and Country charts and even reached the top five of the R&B survey. One year later, Gentry delivered her second album on Capitol. While The
Cash Money Records Preps Instrumental Compilation, Vinyl Due Later This Month
Last week, Cash Money Records founders (and New Orleans natives) Bryan "Birdman" and Ronald "Slim" Williams donated $225,000.00 to help the COVID-19 relief effort. Their donation was intended to help residents of the Big Easy pay their rents as they continue to cope with the devastation of the virus. Indeed, a social conscience has always been at the forefront of Cash Money's ethos; the donation was the Williams' second such contribution for coronavirus relief. Every year, they also sponsor
Let’s Twist Again: The Legendary Cameo-Parkway Catalogue Is Celebrated With New Digital Collections
You just can't sit down when one of those Cameo-Parkway classics comes on the stereo. Cameo Records - launched by Kal Mann and Bernie Lowe, the team that penned the Elvis hip-shaker "Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear" - and its sister label Parkway dominated the pop charts from 1958 to 1967 with dance crazes like "The Twist" and "The Wah-Watusi" as well as hits by the likes of Bobby Rydell, The Orlons, The Dovells, Dee Dee Sharp, Don Covay, Evie Sands, and of course, Twist king Chubby Checker. Now,
Gee, I Think You’re Swell: Manifesto Expands The Turtles’ Original Albums on Vinyl
Manifesto Records is getting shell-shocked with the vinyl debut later this month of The Turtles' expanded original studio albums. Over six LPs released on White Whale Records between 1965 and 1970, The Turtles' sound epitomized the joyful and bright sound of sixties pop while gently sending it up in subtly subversive fashion. On June 26, Manifesto returns all six of those albums to vinyl as 2-LP sets remastered from the original tapes: the first three in mono/stereo editions, and the last three
Euphoric Bells: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings Invites Listeners to Another World With New Batch of Reissues
Just last week, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings - the label that tirelessly documents "the people's music" and houses the catalogues of 20 legendary labels - released the latest batch of vinyl reissues that have been excavated from the vaults and issued on quality vinyl from the original master tapes. Previous volumes include albums by Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie, Elizabeth Cotten, Lucinda Williams, Dave Van Ronk, and many more. The newest batch digs even deeper to unearth gems spanning new age
Rollin’ and Tumblin’: B.B. King and Eric Clapton’s Collaboration Expanded For 20th Anniversary
Eric Clapton and B.B. King first took the stage together in 1967 - the former a young upstart then serving as one-third of power trio Cream and the latter already a veteran blues master. They didn't record together until 1997 when King called Clapton to guest on his Deuces Wild album of duets, and the experience left both men wanting more. Three years later, Clapton would release Riding with the King, featuring a dozen collaborations between the two guitarists. On June 26, Warner Records and
She Satisfies: Cherry Red Laces Up Shoes’ Elektra Years on Box Set
For more than 40 years, Shoes has been celebrating the art of pop with its compact, melodic nuggets worthy of The Beatles, The Raspberries, or Big Star. Hailing from the town of Zion, Ill. on the banks of Lake Michigan, Shoes was formed by Gary Klebe and brothers John and Jeff Murphy, three kids united in their love of music. Between 1979 and 1982, Shoes - still going strong today, by the way - was signed to Elektra Records where they released three acclaimed albums. Cherry Red has recently
Peggy Lee at 100: Grammy Museum Presents Panel Discussion and Virtual Exhibit; Documentary, CD, and DVD Coming This Summer
100 years ago tomorrow - May 26, 1920 - Norma Deloris Egstrom was born in Jamestown, North Dakota. You know her as Peggy Lee: groundbreaking singer, songwriter, actress, and artist. Though she passed away in 2002, her music is as present today as ever - and her influence just as strong. Peggy's songs have recently scored such television shows as Ryan Murphy's Hollywood and Amy Sherman-Palladino's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and have been heard in commercials promoting Samsung and Tropicana
Emotional Rescue: The Rolling Stones Announce Half-Speed Masters of 10 Classic Albums
In this vacuum that is COVID lockdown, where time seems suspended indefinitely, I was shaken back to reality the other day with the ping of an iPhone notification. "Starting in 7 minutes," the message read, "The Rolling Stones in Nashville." That's where I was supposed to be, half-of-the-nation away for my first trip to Music City and (somehow) my first Rolling Stones show. Well, the oft-repeated lyric felt no more prescient than in that moment: here I was, certainly not getting what I
Boogie Chillen’: Ace Collects John Lee Hooker’s Early Years, Premieres Unreleased Tracks
Ace Records is celebrating the late blues legend John Lee Hooker (1912 or 1917 - 2001) with a historic new box set. Due on May 29, Documenting the Sensation Recordings 1949-1952 accomplishes just that feat. When Ace purchased Sensation Records from Bernard Besman, a number of Hooker sides were among the acquisition. Besman had previously sold some of Hooker's recordings to United Artists and Greene Bottle. Until now, Ace hadn't completed research into the total contents of the acquisition. Over
UPDATE: More Ways To Enjoy Bob Dylan’s Upcoming “Rough and Rowdy Ways”
UPDATED 5/20/20: Bob Dylan has been on a roll, getting us through lockdown with new singles that find him as clever and compelling as ever. On Thursday evening, May 7, the Bob Dylan Twitter account posted another cryptic tweet - complete with a pulp book-inspired illustration and a lyric quote - which had fans everywhere wondering if we might get another treat to tide us over. Well, come midnight that evening, we got our answer as "False Prophet" was released on digital streaming services.
Outlaw Man: Cherry Red, Morello Collect Four Albums from Singer-Songwriter David Blue
David Blue might be best-known for two things: writing "Outlaw Blues" on Eagles' Desperado album, and being a friend and occasional sidekick of Bob Dylan's. Yet he recorded seven albums (plus a major contribution to an eighth, the 1965 Elektra anthology Singer Songwriter Project) between 1965 and 1976 in addition to making appearances on stage and film before his untimely death in 1982. Cherry Red's Morello imprint has recently celebrated the late folk troubadour with a four-albums-on-two-CDs
State of Independence: Donna Summer’s Live Comes to CD, DVD, LP in July
Following its career-spanning Encore box set celebrating late superstar Donna Summer, Demon Music Group's Driven by the Music imprint will be bringing one of the diva's classic concerts to multiple formats. A Hot Summer Night will be issued on July 10 in both CD/DVD and 2-LP colored vinyl formats. The concert was recorded on August 6, 1983 as part of Summer's Hard for the Money tour. The She Works Hard for the Money album had just been released a couple of months earlier, in June, but Summer
Still Truckin’: Vinyl Me Please Plots “The Story of The Grateful Dead” Anthology 14-LP Box Set
Move over, Herbie Hancock, because the next volume of music subscription service Vinyl Me, Please's celebrated Anthology series will be The Story of The Grateful Dead. The massive 14-LP box set collects four studio albums and four live albums originally released between 1969 and 1990. Among them is Without A Net, the 1990 live collection that makes its first appearance on vinyl since its original release thirty years ago. The new pressings in The Story of The Grateful Dead have been
UPDATE WITH LINKS: Are You Ready? Neil Young Confirms “Homegrown” Release Date and Track Listing, Plots Further Archive Releases
For nearly 45 years, Neil Young fans have been clamoring for Homegrown, the lost album that was nearly released in 1975 and most recently slated for the still-yet-to-happen Record Store Day 2020. Now, it's been announced that the album described by Neil as "the missing link between Harvest, Comes A Time, Old Ways and Harvest Moon" will finally reach fans on June 19. "[Homegrown] is all analog! The purest sound," Young wrote in a post on his Neil Young Archives site. "Hear the vinyl. Get a
I Like Your Kind of Love: Edsel Collects Early Andy Williams on “The Cadence Recordings” Box
By any metric, 2020 has been a challenging year. But fans of Andy Williams have had some rays of sunlight with a number of releases. Demon Music Group's Crimson Productions released the late vocalist's Gold, a 3-CD, career-spanning anthology of many of his finest recordings. Real Gone Music issued Emperor of Easy: The Lost Columbia Masters 1962-72, premiering 20 outtakes and rare singles on CD from Williams' first decade at the label. Now Demon's Edsel label is turning back the clock for a new
Baby He’s a Star: ‘Prince and The Revolution: Live’ Comes To Streaming and Download
The Prince Estate made quarantine a little more tolerable this week when they announced that Prince and The Revolution: Live, the 1985 concert film reissued as part of the Purple Rain deluxe package in 2017, was receiving a limited stream on YouTube, to raise money and awareness for the World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. Though the concert will eventually disappear from the video service, the memory will live on thanks to a surprise digital-only premiere of the
Go For It: Real Gone Music Set to Reissues Cult Classics From the ’70s and ’80s in June
Real Gone Music is winding back the clock a few decades with reissues that are sure to please crate-diggers. First, on June 12, the label will release two mid-'80s cult classics - Kleeer's Intimate Connection and the Predator soundtrack. Fiftieth anniversary reissues of Eugene McDaniels' Outlaw and Fanny's self-titled debut will follow on June 26. Long a favorite of electro-funk connoisseurs, New York-based Kleeer recorded half a dozen acclaimed albums for Atlantic. One of their most
LiveandWell: David Bowie Rarity Returns from Parlophone
Parlophone Records has announced that three rare David Bowie live releases from the 1990s will all be returning to streaming formats in the months ahead. Tomorrow, May 15, the first of these titles will arrive on digital platforms. Liveandwell.com was made available as a limited edition CD release in 2000 to BowieNet subscribers. It typically fetches high sums secondhand. For this streaming reissue, it has been expanded with two bonus tracks: "Pallas Athena" and "V-2 Schneider," the former
Review: The Flying Burrito Bros., “Burrito Deluxe” on Hybrid SACD
For years now, we've touted Intervention Records' superlative work in the vinyl reissue front. The team's attention to detail, impeccable artwork, and stellar sonics across genres have given them a reputation in the reissue world as one of the best. Their established quality in the LP world happily extends to the digital realm, as well. Intervention recently released a stereo-only hybrid SACD of The Flying Burrito Bros.' Burrito Deluxe - one of the formative albums of the country-rock genre
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