Maybe Bob Dylan really was a hobo. Despite his solid middle-class upbringing, it wasn't uncommon for fans to believe that Dylan really did ride the rails slinging a bag on a stick. Dylan, for a time, even encouraged this mythology of his own making. But if he wasn't a hobo in the literal sense, he undoubtedly was one, musically, if one defines a hobo as "one who wanders from place to place without a permanent home." Since his self-titled Columbia debut in 1962, Dylan has travelled the path from
Lauded Wainwright: Box Set to Honor Musical Patriarch (UPDATED)
Loudon Wainwright III has had a charmed life. The singer/songwriter has captivated audiences for decades with his witty, self-deprecating style. He's also done an impressive job of passing on his musical gift through genetics; children Rufus, Martha and Lucy Wainwright Roche are all accomplished singer/songwriters in their own right. But his latest project is all his to celebrate: a box set spanning his idiosyncratic career, coming out in May on Shout! Factory. 40 Odd Years is to be a
Blues in a Box: Legacy to Celebrate Robert Johnson's 100th
May 8 would have been the 100th birthday of Robert Johnson, arguably the most influential figure in blues music. Of course, Johnson did not live nearly that long - he died at 27 in 1938, leaving a legacy of stirring, influential recordings on 78 RPM records and a bizarrely ill-documented lifeline (only two pictures of him are known to exist, and there's a legend that he gained his guitar prowess thanks to a deal with the devil himself) - but his legacy remains strong. The 1961 compilation King
Hollies "Lost Recordings" Box Coming from Sundazed
The Hollies have long existed in the shadow of Graham Nash's other band - you know, the one with two or three other initials. But the lineup of Nash, Allan Clarke, Tony Hicks and Bobby Elliot plus Eric Haydock or Bernie Calvert could be equally potent. And lately, The Hollies have been recipients of a lot of well-deserved love. First came last year's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and then Sundazed kicked off a vinyl campaign reissuing two of the band's hardest-to-find American
Back Tracks: Buffalo Springfield Reunion Special
“Used to play in a rock ‘n roll band, but they broke up. We were young and we were wild, it ate us up,” lamented Neil Young in the song “Buffalo Springfield Again” from his 2000 album Silver and Gold. “I’d like to see those guys again, and give it a shot. Maybe now we can show the world what we’ve got. But I’d just like to play for the fun we had.” Some 11 years later, Young’s wish may be coming true. On February 10, Rolling Stone carried a headline for which fans had waited years: “Exclusive:
Beatles, Big Star Grab Grammys
A quick congratulation to start the morning for two notable box sets which took home Grammys last night. Robert Gordon won a Grammy for writing the liner notes to Rhino's Big Star box Keep an Eye on the Sky, while Best Historical Album went to The Beatles' The Original Studio Recordings; receiving that trophy were producer Jeff Jones and mastering engineers Paul Hicks, Sean Magee, Guy Massey, Sam Okell and Steve Rooke at Abbey Road.
The Price of Box Sets: How Much is Too Much?
The revelation of The Rolling Stones' CD singles box set is pretty cool, and living proof that the catalogue music business is still thriving. It's a year that's given or will give us a box set of Danny Elfman's music for Tim Burton, all of Aretha Franklin's Columbia-era material and an enormous run-through of The Grateful Dead's European tour of 1972. But how much is all of this worth? The Stones set, when one converts from pounds to U.S. dollars, is nearly $300. How worth it is that for some
Massive Stones Box Rolling Your Way
Although nobody knows if The Rolling Stones have any plans on touring this year, their music is still ripe for catalogue projects. Two years ago it was the deluxe version of Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! Last year it was the Exile on Main St. deluxe reissue and some collectible vinyl boxes. And this year it will be a sizable 45-disc box set chronicling all of their singles from 1971 to the present. Following in the tradition of a few ABKCO CD singles boxes (covering the band's early material), UMe will
Record Store Day Going Back to the '90s
As we fast approach April 16 - this year's Record Store Day, the music geek's Christmas - we're starting to see more vinyl reissues happening in independent stores especially for the occasion. Two of the most recent ones take us back to the rock and roll sound of the 1990s, from traditional grunge to spacier, experimental styles. Twenty years ago, Matthew "Slim" Moon formed a record label in Olympia, Washington, with the intention of putting out eclectic records, from spoken word to punk. That
How "Cool" Is New Dean Martin Box Set?
Don't move those Bear Family boxes over quite yet, Dean Martin fans. Between 1997 and 2001, the German label issued four remarkable boxes collecting virtually every note ever recorded by Dean Martin not only for Capitol and Reprise (his two most famous label associations) but for Diamond, Embassy, Apollo, Warner Bros. and MCA. So what could a new box offer to collectors and fans? On June 7, Hip-o will release a two-CD box set dedicated to the perennially cool singer and swinger in a hardcover
Short Takes: Queen Prep Collector's Single, Weezer Ready "Pinkerton Demos" and a Rush of Reissues
With a new batch of reissues out in the U.K. and an upcoming retrospective exhibition running in London later this month, Queen's 40th anniversary campaign is going strong. The same week that said exhibition, Stormtroopers in Stilettos, opens at the Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane, Island will release a two-track downloadable single of "Keep Yourself Alive (Long Lost Retake)" b/w "Stone Cold Crazy." The A-side, from a proposed 1975 single in the U.S., was released on Hollywood Records' 1991
Release Round-Up: Week of February 8
The Beatles, Love (iTunes Version) (Apple/EMI) Another Beatles album drops on iTunes: the 2006 soundtrack to the Cirque du Soleil attraction - and this version has two previously unreleased bonus tracks. (iTunes) Miles Davis, Bitches Brew Live (Columbia/Legacy) The jazz great lights up the Newport Jazz and Isle of Wight Festivals in this vintage compilation (Sony) The Stan Getz Quintets, The Clef & Norgran Studio Albums (Verve/Hip-o Select) A three-disc box collating Getz's early
Are Two Discs Better Than One for Pearl Jam Live Show?
The reissue conundrum of the week was figuring out how many discs of bonus material were going to figure into Pearl Jam's upcoming reissues of Vs. and Vitalogy. The deluxe edition combines both albums with a much-requested live set at Boston's Orpheum Theater in 1994; that set is also featured on CD and vinyl in the inevitable super-deluxe box. But the deluxe edition listed three CDs worth of additional material, while the super-deluxe box listed four. And the deluxe CD, when pre-ordered on the
Getting Closer to the Next Batch of Howard Jones Reissues
Mark your calendars, fans: the next set of Howard Jones reissues are almost ready to pre-order. As previously reported, the next batch of HoJo discs - after last year's remasters of Human's Lib and Dream Into Action - will be the EPs The 12" Album and Action Replay, which collated dance mixes, B-sides and - perhaps most notably - the hit single version of "No One is to Blame" produced by Phil Collins. As with the last batch, there will also be a limited edition box set that combines both discs
The Second Disc Interview #4: Talking Soundtracks with MV Gerhard of La La Land Records
The wide berth of reissues, box sets and compilations across major and independent labels the world over, means some releases can fall through the cracks at times. At The Second Disc, it was always an early mission to make sure the labels handling catalogue soundtrack reissues did not suffer this fate. Intrada, Film Score Monthly, Kritzerland, Varese Sarabande - all are essentials for the catalogue music fan with a taste for soundtracks, and their work is hard to ignore. La La Land Records,
Full "Vs.," "Vitalogy" Reissue Details Announced
Pearl Jam fans will have a few more black (silver?) circles to spin when Vs. and Vitalogy are reissued this March - and now we've got full details on the sets, including deluxe formats. We mentioned a few days ago that Amazon had shown track listings for each album that had three bonus tracks apiece. It was also assumed that there would be a box combining both expanded albums with additional swag, not unlike 2009's Ten monolith. And now we have details on all that and more. First of all, in
Review: George Michael, "Faith: Legacy Edition"
It won't make any sense in today's media-saturated world, but in 1987 and 1988, George Michael was inescapable. The idea that one single artist could grab multiple genders, races, cliques and generations by the shoulders with his or her music is all but impossible today, but the man born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou did just that. Faith, released by Epic Records in the fall of 1987, put six tracks in Billboard's Top 5 (two-thirds of them No. 1 hits), netted him a Grammy Award for Album of the
Release Round-Up: Week of February 1
George Michael, Faith: Legacy Edition (Epic/Legacy) There's going to be a review of the two-disc/one-DVD edition of this album (also available as a deluxe box set) coming up later today, but let me say right now: Damn. If you forgot how good this record was - how it makes a lot of '80s pop look temporarily flawed and full of effort - go buy this immediately. I'll wait. (Official site) Bob Marley and The Wailers, Live Forever: September 23, 1980 - The Stanley Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA (Tuff
Pearl Jam Reissue Details Trickling Out
We've previously covered the forthcoming wave of Pearl Jam reissues from Legacy, this time pertaining to the band's second and third LPs Vs. (1993) and Vitalogy (1995). It seems that these sets might be closer to stores than previously known, thanks to some Amazon listings. The retailer has March 29 dates for expanded editions of each album, as well as a box that looks to collate both of them with possible additional material. (This clears up a bit of confusion from a Rolling Stone story that
Derek, Eric and "Layla": Details Announced for 40th Anniversary Set
Prepare to be on your knees: details have been released for UMe's upcoming 40th anniversary editions of Derek & The Dominos' Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, due out March 8. The result of a searing, bluesy collaboration between Eric Clapton, members of Delaney & Bonnie's touring outfit and Duane Allman, Layla was a critical success but sold only moderately until the title track shot to the Top 10 some two years after the album was released. It became a multigenerational hit in the
Short Takes: Early Details on Reissues from Pearl Jam, Kate Bush
A new Rolling Stone article has revealed some details about the upcoming batch of catalogue titles from Pearl Jam. The forthcoming reissues of Vs. (1993) and Vitalogy (1994) will feature "previously unheard bonus tracks (including an alternate version of “Corduroy” and a guitar-and-organ version of “Betterman”), an entire 1994 Boston show and a cassette from their Monkeywrench radio series." The article is not clear, but it seems as though both albums and bonus material may be paired together,
Back Tracks: Aerosmith Part I - The Columbia Years
Aerosmith isn't dead, but it may as well be. Frontman Steven Tyler was preposterous in his first televised appearance as a judge on American Idol (though there was some very funny writing about the whole ordeal), and if you're like me, you wish Tyler had stepped away from such ridiculous duties and went on to perform with what many have called America's greatest rock and roll band - even if it sounded more like their recent, pop-oriented rock instead of their bluesy, pre-metal days. To
Massive Live Dead Box Coming in Fall
Do you love The Grateful Dead? I mean really love-with-capital-letters-bold-italicized-and-underlined LOVE The Grateful Dead? Well, there's a massive box set coming your way to help you express that love. In its newest issue, Rolling Stone reports a box is coming from Rhino that will chronicle The Dead's European tour of 1972 in its entirety, all from original 16-track recordings. It's going to be 60 discs of 22 shows, in their entirety, unedited and bursting at the seams with liner notes and
Reissue Theory: Sammy Davis, Jr., Compiled: "Sammy in the Seventies"
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, here we reflect on well-known albums of the past and the reissues they could someday see. Today, we look at a beloved American icon and one of the least anthologized periods of his lengthy career. There may be no figure in American popular culture more maligned in death than Sammy Davis, Jr. The image of the diminutive entertainer, clad in open shirts and bell-bottoms, wearing beads and gold chains, and with an ever-present cigarette dangling
Back Tracks: Queen, Part II
We continue our coverage of Queen's previous reissues - in anticipation of the band's forthcoming remasters on new U.K. home Island Records - with a look at Queen during most of the '80s, where they went increasingly pop-friendly before returning to their rock roots in the 1990s, losing their iconic frontman and becoming anthologized in nearly a dozen or so compilations. The show must go on, after the jump.
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