Unfolding enveloping missiles of soul/Recall senses sadly/Mirage like soft blue like lanterns below/To light the way gladly... The Beach Boys' spellbinding 1971 song "Feel Flows" may be the most famous obscure song in the band's catalogue. Cameron Crowe adopted it for the closing credits of his coming-of-age film Almost Famous (soon to receive a mega-expansion on CD and vinyl), and it's also featured on the soundtrack to the new Apple Music documentary 1971. The Mike Love-led Beach Boys are
Mood Indigo: BMG Reissues Nina Simone’s Debut “Little Girl Blue” on CD and LP
BMG is continuing to celebrate the legacy of late trailblazer Nina Simone with an upcoming reissue of her 1959 debut album for Bethlehem Records, Little Girl Blue. The remastered stereo album will arrive on CD, LP, and digital services on August 13. Though it didn't see release until February 1959, Little Girl Blue - so named for the Rodgers and Hart standard introduced in their Broadway musical Jumbo - was actually recorded in one session near the end of 1957. Although Simone was
Oh What a Night for Love: Mint Audio Continues Peter Skellern Anthology Series with “The Complete Island and Mercury Recordings”
When Mint Audio Records left Peter Skellern on The Complete Decca Recordings, the British singer-songwriter-pianist had completed his 1972-1975 tenure at Decca Records after three studio albums and one odds-and-ends collection. Now, Mint has continued the Skellern story with the release of a new 3-CD set, The Complete Island and Mercury Recordings, covering 1975-1982 via six full albums and a handful of bonus tracks. This beautiful anthology chronicles his path from singer-songwriter to
Piano and I: Alicia Keys Revisits Her Debut Album “Songs in A Minor” with Previously Unissued Bonus Tracks
Alicia Keys' 2001 debut Songs in A Minor quickly established the singer-songwriter-pianist as a musical force with which to be reckoned. The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 1, going on to sell roughly 12 million copies worldwide and earning five Grammy Awards for the young artist as well as a 7x Platinum certification. The LP was the breakthrough success for Clive Davis' J Records label, proving without a doubt that the golden-eared hitmaker hadn't lost his touch. This Friday, Songs
Dance Tunes for The Underdog: Omnivore Remembers Mumps, “American Family” Icon Lance Loud with New Anthology
Before The Real Housewives, The Osbournes, and The Real World, there was An American Family. The twelve-part 1973 PBS documentary series chronicled the day-to-day life of the Loud family of Santa Barbara, California. It's now considered a prototype for modern-day reality television: its 300-plus hours of filming yielded footage of Pat Loud breaking up with her husband Bill after 21 years of marriage and of their son Lance's coming out as gay. Lance was the breakout star of the program, and
In Memoriam: B.J. Thomas (1942-2021)
I can't stop this feelin' deep inside of me/Girl, you just don't realize what you do to me... For more than five decades, we've been hooked on the feelings imparted in song by B.J. Thomas: the despair of "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," the soaring optimism of "I Just Can't Help Believin'," the longing of "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song," the unfettered spirit of "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," and the sheer euphoria of "Hooked on a Feeling." Oklahoma-born,
Stay Clean: Motörhead’s ‘No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith’ Gets 40th Anniversary Box Set
Motörhead's first, chart-topping live album is getting a 40th anniversary makeover. 1981's No Sleep 'til Hammersmith arrived on the heels of the British band's international breakthrough, Ace of Spades. The metal trio - Lemmy Kilmister, "Fast" Eddie Clarke, and Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor - created a big noise on the live LP primarily recorded at the Queen's Hall in Leeds and City Hall in Newcastle. On June 25, it's returning from BMG in 4CD, 2CD, and 3LP configurations. The 4CD set is
Moon Child: Real Gone Continues Black Jazz Reissues with More from Doug Carn Featuring Jean Carn
Real Gone is continuing its exploration of the Black Jazz Records label with two reissues from Doug Carn. The multi-instrumentalist/composer was the label's most prolific artist, recording four albums from 1971-1974. The two most recently addressed by Real Gone are 1973's Revelation, which was released last Friday (May 21), and 1971's Infant Eyes, due on June 11. He was joined on both albums by his then-wife Jean Carn (later Carne) who provided vocals. Doug Carn, born in Florida in 1948,
Love It Loud: KISS Inaugurate Official Bootleg Series with 2001 Gig in Tokyo
On June 27 and 28, A&E will air director D.J. Viola's two-part documentary film KISStory as part of the network's Biography series. The four-hour documentary aims to become the definitive chronicle of KISS' roughly 50-year history and features interviews with Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer, Eric Singer, producer Bob Ezrin, manager Doc McGhee, and famous fans including Dave Grohl and Tom Morello. (No word on whether founding members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss were interviewed for
Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life: Stage Door Preps Second Volume of RCA’s “Show Time” Series of Classic Musicals
By 1953, RCA Victor already boasted a considerable number of Broadway classics in its catalogue - from original cast recordings of Brigadoon and Paint Your Wagon to studio cast renditions of South Pacific and Finian's Rainbow. But the label was eager to build up its musical theatre repertoire and compete with the likes of Columbia and Decca. To that end, the Show Time series was launched - a collection of 16 EPs, each dedicated to four songs from a beloved musical or operetta. The EPs were
Grapefruit Round-Up: Cherry Red Imprint Reissues Cult Favorite from Oberon, Collects Prog and Classic Rock Sounds on New Box Sets
Today, we're looking at three recent releases from Cherry Red's Grapefruit imprint! Grapefruit is continuing its series of 3-CD clamshell cases with two titles spotlighting the 1970s. Riding the Rock Machine: British Seventies Classic Rock, available now, is certainly one of the broadest such releases in Grapefruit's series. Compiler David Wells sets out his mission statement in straightforward fashion: "[Such] is the reductive nature of radio station playlists and Spotify recommendations
Paul McCartney, John Lennon, The Beach Boys, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, and More Feature on “1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything” Soundtrack
David Hepworth's 2017 book Never a Dull Moment: The Year That Rock Exploded set forth the author's belief that the year crystallized the "rock era," producing more enduring recordings than any other year in the genre's history. It's difficult to argue with any year that yielded John Lennon's Imagine, The Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers, Carole King's Tapestry, Joni Mitchell's Blue, Elton John's Madman Across the Water, Carly Simon's Anticipation, Sly and the Family Stone's There's a Riot Goin'
If You Don’t Know Me By Now: Legacy Plans Philadelphia International “Best of” Series
The Philadelphia International Records 50th anniversary campaign kicks off this Friday, May 25, with the release of Get on Board the Soul Train: The Sound of Philadelphia International Records Vol. 1 from the U.K. Snapper Music label's United Souls imprint. The 8-CD hardcover book-style box presents the first eight albums released on PIR, and the series will eventually encompass every one of PIR's LPs on CD. On the domestic front, Legacy Recordings issues its first anniversary release this
Come On People, Come On Children: Omnivore Reissues Laura Nyro’s 1994 Japan Concert, Premieres 1966 Audition Tape
55 years ago, Laura Nyro released her first album on Verve Folkways. It lived up to its hyperbolic title, for the Bronx-born singer-songwriter was, indeed, More Than a New Discovery. The Second Disc celebrated Laura's legacy with a vinyl reissue of that album's original mono mix as well as with A Little Magic, A Little Kindness: The Complete Mono Albums Collection on CD. Earlier this year, the U.K.'s Madfish label announced American Dreamer, a vinyl box bringing together her 1966-1978 LPs
Party Mambo! Little Steven and The Disciples of Soul Bring “Summer of Sorcery Live” to CD, LP, BD
Little Steven and The Disciples of Soul are once again conjuring a Summer of Sorcery. On July 9, Wicked Cool Records and UMe will release Summer of Sorcery: Live at the Beacon Theatre from Van Zandt and his big band of musical wizards. The concert, in support of the 2019 release of the Summer of Sorcery studio album, was recorded at the storied New York venue on November 6 of that year. It will arrive in multiple audio and video formats: 3CD, 5LP, and Blu-ray. The band's entire 25-song
Hold Me Closer, Tiny Dancer: Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous” Soundtrack Gets Mega-Expansion
Cameron Crowe, in association with Universal Music, has done the (near-) impossible. On July 9, the writer-director will revisit the soundtrack to his 2000 instant classic Almost Famous in greatly expanded, near-complete form, including five - yes, five! - Led Zeppelin songs plus tracks by other typically difficult-to-license artists including Simon and Garfunkel, The Who, Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, David Bowie, and Stevie Wonder. That's not to mention new Rock and
Short Takes: Acoustic Sounds Continues Verve, Impulse! Reissue Series; UMe Breaks Out Individual Traffic LPs from Box Set; Omnivore Collects Emitt Rhodes’ The Palace Guard
Impulse! Records' 60th anniversary celebration continues all year with Verve/UMe and Acoustic Sounds' ongoing series of deluxe audiophile reissues drawn from the label's storied catalogue. The full 2021 slate of releases - 2-3 per month through December - has been announced. It features some of the heaviest hitters from the Impulse! discography including Ray Charles, Gil Evans, Sonny Rollins, Charles Mingus, and John Coltrane. A number of titles from the Verve catalogue will also be reissued
All Excited: The Rubinoos Premiere 1976 Session on “The CBS Tapes”
Yep Roc Records has unearthed a piece of history from Berkeley, California's power-pop heroes The Rubinoos. On November 3, 1976, co-founders Jon Rubin (vocals) and Tommy Dunbar (guitar) entered CBS Studios in San Francisco with drummer Donn Spindt and bassist Royse Ader to get a feel for the studio prior to the recording of their first album. Now, that session is being released on June 25 as The CBS Tapes. Although they hadn't yet recorded their debut record for Berkeley indie label
Betcha by Golly Wow: Cherry Red, SoulMusic Collect Phyllis Hyman’s Albums Discography In New Box Set
"Phyllis sat right in my class. I can still see the pigtails." In a 2016 interview with The Second Disc, Thom Bell shared his earliest memories of the late Phyllis Hyman (1949-1995). The songwriter-arranger-conductor-producer would cross paths numerous times over the years with his childhood friend: first via Phyllis' hit recordings of his "Betcha By Golly Wow" and "Loving You - Losing You," and later, his own productions and songs for her. "She was a lonely individual," observed Thom,
Invitation to Jamaica: Landmark Anthology “The Trojan Story” Sees 50th Anniversary Reissue
Since 1968, Trojan Records has been synonymous with the reggae, rocksteady, dub, and ska genres. The U.K. label founded by Lee Gopthal and Island Records' Chris Blackwell was instrumental in spreading those Jamaican sounds throughout the world and popularizing such key artists as Jimmy Cliff, Desmond Dekker, Lee "Scratch" Perry, and The Maytals. By 1971, Trojan - with its focus on 45 RPM singles - had amassed enough hit records to release a label anthology. On June 18, that seminal release,
Milk and Alcohol (New Recipe): Rhino Reissues Dr. Feelgood’s “Singles” On Vinyl
Dr. Feelgood made their album debut early in 1975 with Down by the Jetty on the United Artists label. International audiences - not to mention artists including Paul Weller, Richard Hell, Blondie, and Ramones - took notice of the U.K. pub-rockers and lead guitarist Wilko Johnson. The band remained on UA through 1980's A Case of the Shakes when the label was merged with the revived Liberty Records. Now, the 1989 compendium Singles (The U.A. Years +), originally issued on the parent EMI label,
Lookin’ Back: Capitol, UMe Reissue, Remaster Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band’s “Live Bullet”
Bob Seger catapulted to national stardom in October 1976 with the multi-platinum LP Night Moves, after a string of regional hits in the Detroit area and throughout the Midwest. Just before that commercial breakthrough, Seger and his Silver Bullet Band were captured in their live prime at Detroit's Cobo Hall for the 2-LP set Live Bullet. Now, the album is returning to its original vinyl format to mark its 45th anniversary. The new reissue, remastered by Robert Vosgien, will arrive on June 11
Rhythm of the New-Born Day: Cherry Red Revisits, Expands Al Stewart’s “Year of the Cat”
Surely one of the most unlikely hits of 1976-77 was Al Stewart's "Year of the Cat." An atmospheric tale of romance in a faraway place with Casablanca name-checks of Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre, the song propelled the British singer-songwriter to the top of the pops: No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 (and even higher, No. 4, in Cash Box) and No. 8 AC as well as No. 31 in the U.K., his only chart appearance there. Following its expanded reissue late last year of Stewart's 24 Carrots, Cherry
Be My Number Two: Todd Rundgren, Joe Jackson Tour Comes to CD, DVD
Joe Jackson and new 2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Todd Rundgren's paths first crossed professionally on April 24, 2004 at the small Joe's Pub, tucked inside the Public Theater in New York City. That evening, Rundgren celebrated 15 years of his musical Up Against It by recreating the show in concert at its original home of the Public to benefit the theatre. Jackson sang the role of Father Brodie, and he and Rundgren hit it off so well that they decided to continue their
Rough Justice: Rolling Stones Revisit “A Bigger Bang” Rio Concert for CD, LP, DVD, BD
The Rolling Stones' first studio album of the new millennium, 2005's A Bigger Bang, made its mark around the world. It charted in the top five in almost two dozen countries and earned Platinum or Gold certifications in the U.S., U.K., and other international territories. Messrs. Jagger, Richards, Watts, and Wood supported the album with A Bigger Bang, the tour, between 2005-2007 - and it became the highest-grossing concert tour of all time (until U2 usurped its crown). On February 8, 2006,
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