It was late in 2015 when audiences across the country watched Aretha Franklin take the stage at The Kennedy Center Honors to salute honoree Carole King. The undisputed Queen of Soul tore into King, Gerry Goffin, and Jerry Wexler's "(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman" with blazing intensity and thrilling authenticity. She had not just sung these lyrics but lived them. Nearing the song's finale, she simply but defiantly dropped her fur coat to the floor, creating an instant viral moment
Review: The Rolling Stones’ “Goats Head Soup 2020” Box Set Is Sure To Satisfy Your Hunger
Goats Head Soup: as far as Rolling Stones albums go, it's an outlier. It's not a "landmark album" in the same way as Sticky Fingers, it didn't defy expectations in the same way as Exile. It didn't herald a new sound like Beggars Banquet or Let It Bleed. Now, that's not to say it's not a great album, but it just feels...different. After the one-two-three-four punches of Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, and the magnum opus Exile on Main Street, it makes sense that fans had long
I’ve Got a Feeling: The Road to “Let It Be” Chronicled on Upcoming Book, “The Beatles: Get Back”
Fans of the Fab Four already have August 2021 on the calendar for the world premiere of director Peter Jackson's documentary The Beatles: Get Back. Now, the group's Apple Corps has joined with Callaway Arts and Entertainment to announce a tie-in project sure to get mouths salivating - The Beatles: Get Back, the book. The 240-page hardcover tome, the band's first authorized book release since the best-selling The Beatles Anthology, will be released on August 31, 2021 - just four days after the
Watching The Wheels: Kenneth Womack’s New Biography “John Lennon: 1980” Offers A Comprehensive Look At The Artist’s Later Days
John Lennon has been in the news a lot lately, and with good reason. 2020 marks what would have been the musician's 80th birthday and, sadly, it's also the fortieth year since his death. But there's more to that final year of John's life than the tragic events of December 8, 1980. In his new biography, John Lennon: 1980 - The Last Days in the Life, Beatles expert Kenneth Womack tracks that period of creativity and reinvention, writing in a way that's simultaneously approachable yet
This Is The Life: Weird Al’s Drummer, Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz, On His New Book Of Photos
Ever wonder what it's like to be behind one of the most famous comedy musicians of all time? Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz literally knows - and, for the first time, he's getting to tell his side of the story. The versatile drummer, who's played on every one of "Weird Al" Yankovic's records and tours for the past four decades, is releasing Black & White & Weird All Over: The Lost Photographs Of "Weird Al" Yankovic '83-'86 through 1984 Publishing on October 27, four days after Al's 61st
The Next Step Is Love: New Box Set Chronicles 50 Years Of Elvis Presley’s ‘That’s The Way It Is’
Legacy Recordings' From Elvis in Nashville, focusing on The King's storied 1970 Music City sessions, isn't the only Elvis box set coming this year. Follow That Dream, the online-exclusive, collector-oriented Elvis label, also recently announced a massive collection: That's the Way It Is: 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition is a new look at the live recordings which comprised part of the multimedia project That's the Way It Is. Over 8 CDs, the box presents 128 tracks and more than 450 minutes of
Sweet, Sweet Fantasy: Mariah Carey Kicks Off 30th Anniversary Campaign
She famously doesn't count birthdays, but Mariah Carey is taking 2020 to commemorate the birth of her music career with some rare and unreleased material. Earlier this month, the pop icon announced #MC30, a celebration throwing all the way back to her self-titled debut, issued three decades ago this past June. The campaign promises weekly "digital EPs, remixes, bonus cuts, rare tracks, acapella moments and mind-blowing live performances" - and five releases have occurred so far. The first,
Book Review: “Along Comes The Association: Beyond Folk Rock and Three-Piece Suits” by Russ Giguere
"Well, I'm a comer and a goer in a six man band," went the lyrics to The Association's 1968 semi-autobiographical single "Six Man Band." Now, founding member Russ Giguere has reflected on his comings and goings in a new book that serves as both a personal memoir and a history of the band. Along Comes The Association: Beyond Folk Rock and Three-Piece Suits, written with Ashley Wren Collins, is a compelling look back at a colorful life in the group that gave the world such enduring hits as "Along
Release Round-Up: Week of May 8
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! John Stewart, Old Forgotten Altars: The 1960s Demos (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Omnivore brings together 19 previously unissued demos from late singer-songwriter and onetime Kingston Trio member John Stewart, perhaps best known for penning The Monkees' hit "Daydream Believer." While that song isn't here in demo form, numerous other bona fide Stewart classics certainly are, including "July, You're a Woman" (also
Loretta Lynn Pays Tribute to Patsy Cline With New Memoir and Single
On April 3, country music legend Loretta Lynn released a new book chronicling her friendship with another hero of the genre, Patsy Cline. Entitled Me & Patsy Kickin' Up Dust: My Friendship with Patsy Cline, the book is an endearing portrait of a relationship that not only changed the course of the singers' careers, but also the trajectory of country. Dolly Parton has provided the foreword. (Last year, Cline and Lynn's friendship was dramatized in the television film Patsy and Loretta,
Oh Yeah, Alright! Kenneth Womack Tells The Complete Story of “Abbey Road” in New Book “Solid State”
When The Beatles began recording Abbey Road over 50 years ago, They weren't the same Beatles that they'd been before. The stresses of the contentious and seemingly never-ending Get Back project, the appearances of new love interests, the managerial struggles with Apple and Allen Klein, and Dick James' divestment of their Northern Songs copyrights caused a wedge behind the scenes that threatened The Beatles' future. And yet, in a few short months, John, Paul, George, and Ringo managed to
Let the Wind Carry Me: Joni Mitchell’s Stunning Volume of Handwritten Lyrics and Drawings Reviewed
Joni Mitchell doesn't look back. That's what fans have come to understand about the fearless songwriter, singer, poet, and visual artist. She's famously rejected reissue campaigns, career-spanning box sets, cash-in live albums, and hits collections. Over the years, though, she's begun to come around. She approved the DVD/Blu-ray of her 1970 appearance at the Isle of Wight and the LP reissue of the box set Love Has Many Faces, helped organize the Joni 75 tribute concerts, and recently gave the OK
UPDATE: Handwritten Lyrics, Rare Artwork Collected in Joni Mitchell’s “Morning Glory On the Vine: Early Songs and Drawings,” Signed Edition Due October 22
UPDATE: Joni Mitchell has signed 2,000 deluxe editions of her new book. Find out all the details on the standard and deluxe versions below! Music icon Joni Mitchell has been in the news a lot lately. In November, she organized and attended the Joni 75 birthday tribute concerts in her honor, which were turned into a film. There was also the 8-LP reissue of the Love Has Many Faces collection, Norman Seeff's photo book, the blue vinyl reissue of Blue, not to mention the release of Joni 75: A
Soul and Inspiration: Dawn Eden Goldstein Pens Memoir “Sunday Will Never Be the Same”
The world of rock and roll has seen many amazing journeys, but few like Dawn Eden Goldstein's. Using the pen name of Dawn Eden, Goldstein carved out a niche in the 1990s as a rock historian. As the concept of the deluxe CD reissue took hold, she contributed essential liner notes to albums by artists including Harry Nilsson, The Hollies, and The Seekers, and wrote for publications such as Billboard and The Village Voice. But Goldstein was a seeker herself. Born into a Jewish family, she found
Handwritten Lyrics, Rare Artwork Collected in Joni Mitchell’s “Morning Glory On the Vine: Early Songs and Drawings,” Due October 22
Music icon Joni Mitchell has been in the news a lot lately. In November, she organized and attended the Joni 75 birthday tribute concerts in her honor, which were turned into a film (with international screenings on March 21, PBS airings all this month, and a DVD release arriving March 29). There was also the 8-LP reissue of the Love Has Many Faces collection, Norman Seeff's photo book, the blue vinyl reissue of Blue, not to mention the release of Joni 75: A Birthday Celebration on CD this
Special Book Review: Thomas Dolby’s Memoir “The Speed of Sound”
When a music fan thinks of Thomas Dolby, the first thing that springs to mind is probably "She Blinded Me With Science," his classic 1982 new wave hit. He has been labeled as a "one-hit wonder" by several music trade publications and programs. (He actually charted three Hot 100 hits in the United States and sixteen Pop hits in the United Kingdom.) However, as is usually the case in real life, there is much more to his story...and that story is told in Dolby's just-released autobiography, The
Review: “Album Produced By: More Of My Roller Coaster Life” by Bruce Kimmel
At The Second Disc, we're (literally) all about reissues! But none of the titles we cover daily would be possible without the efforts of the producers who select the bonus tracks, commission the liner notes, oversee the remastering and pull the packaging together. And that's just the tip of the iceberg! We have endeavored to spotlight the protean work of this select group of individuals, and have been grateful for the opportunity to conduct interviews with some of the finest in the business,