Over a career spanning more than 50 years, Mississippi-born pianist-singer-songwriter Mose Allison (1927-2016) was one of the most influential figures in jazz and modern blues. The self-described "Middle Class White Boy" inspired such artists as Pete Townshend, Jimi Hendrix, Georgie Fame, Elvis Costello, Ben Sidran, Van Morrison, and Al Kooper. He recorded more than 30 albums as a leader, and now roughly a third of his entire discography has been collected on a splendid new box set from Cherry
In the Mood for a Melody: Legacy Collects Billy Joel's "The Vinyl Collection, Vol. 1" With Seven Albums, Previously Unreleased Concert
When The New York Philharmonic opened music mogul Clive Davis' NYC Homecoming Concert last Saturday evening, the esteemed orchestra energized the crowd with a medley of New York anthems. Nestled among classic melodies by such legendary composers as George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein was "New York State of Mind" by the pride of Long Island, Billy Joel. His presence in such company was well-deserved: over a 50-year career, Joel has penned enough standards to warrant entry into the pantheon of
Get Back: The Beatles Remix, Expand 'Let It Be'
More than 50 years after its May 1970 release, The Beatles' Let It Be - the Fab Four's final original studio album - remains anything but the last word on the band. While the LP topped the charts in multiple countries including the U.S. and U.K., and included such beloved now-standards as "The Long and Winding Road," "Across the Universe," "Get Back," and the title track, the road to its release was anything but a smooth one. It was previously announced that the story would be chronicled this
Just the Smile: Rory Gallagher's 1971 Solo Debut Expanded as 50th Anniversary Box Set
2020 saw a number of releases from late Irish guitar god Rory Gallagher including a blazing 1977 live set and a career-spanning anthology. Now, the celebration of all things Gallagher continues with a 50th anniversary edition of his 1971 solo debut. On September 3, UMC (in the U.K.) and UMe (in the U.S.) will reissue the eponymous Rory Gallagher as a 4CD/1DVD set containing a new mix of the original album, 30 previously unreleased outtakes and alternates, a six-song BBC Radio John Peel Sunday
Gimme Danger: Cherry Red Collects Iggy and The Stooges' "Raw Power"-Era Rehearsals on New Box Set
Cherry Red has recently released its second volume of archival material from Iggy Pop and The Stooges following 2020's You Think You're Bad, Man? The Road Tapes '73-'74. The new title is Born in a Trailer: The Session and Rehearsal Tapes '72-'73, and it's a 4-CD collection chronicling the band's rehearsal recordings made in London, Michigan, Los Angeles, Detroit, and New York. Author Kris Needs doesn't pull any punches in his liner notes to this box when he describes this period in Stooges
Release Round-Up: Week of August 20
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Eric Clapton, Eric Clapton: Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Polydor/UMe) 4CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1LP (Original Album Only): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Eric Clapton's eponymous 1970 solo debut is reissued today in 4CD and 1LP iterations. The 4CD Deluxe Edition presents Eric Clapton in three separate mixes, with one mix on each of the first three CDs in the box: The Tom Dowd Mix, The Eric Clapton Mix, and The
You Make a Grown Man Cry: Rolling Stones Celebrate 40th Anniversary of "Tattoo You" with New Multi-Format Release
The old saying goes that necessity is the mother of invention. And when The Rolling Stones needed a new LP to tour behind but didn't have time to write and record, they invented Tattoo You. The 1981 album was primarily assembled from a decade's worth of outtakes, some essentially finished and some nowhere near so; band members eventually made their way into the studio to complete the latter tracks. The gamble paid off and Tattoo You topped the U.S. Billboard 200 and went to No. 2 on the U.K.
Like a Prayer (Answered): Madonna Signs Career-Spanning Deal with Warner, Announces Deluxe Reissue Series
For years - decades, even - fans have wondered when Madonna's catalogue would get the kind of deluxe treatment befitting her stature as a trailblazer. It now looks like that day is coming soon, as early this morning, the artist and Warner Music Group announced a career-spanning partnership. The new deal between Madonna and WMG (already her home for the first 24 years of her career on the Sire, Maverick, and Warner labels) sees that WMG will represent her entire body of work in both recordings
Review: Aretha Franklin, "Aretha"
R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Otis Redding may have written the song, but Aretha Franklin owned it. The singer was only in her mid-20s when she left Columbia Records after five years and seven albums but she wasted no time in making music history when she signed with Atlantic Records in December 1966. By the middle of 1967, she'd had long-sought-after hits with "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" and "Respect" and was proclaimed The Queen of Soul by a Chicago disk jockey. Some reports indicate the
I'm Leavin': Legacy Collects Elvis' Final Nashville Sessions in Remixed Form on "Back in Nashville"
The annual Elvis Week kicked off at Graceland on Wednesday, August 11 with numerous events, activities, and presentations honoring the King of Rock and Roll. Yesterday, Legacy Recordings announced its major Elvis release for 2021, and it's one that picks up directly from last year's release. Elvis: Back in Nashville, due on November 12, is a sequel project to 2020's From Elvis in Nashville. Like that set, it features a host of new remixes by Matt Ross-Spang to place the focus squarely on
Kick Your Door Down: The Replacements Go Back to the Beginning for Deluxe Box of Debut Album
The Replacements burst onto the scene with 1981's Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash. The Minneapolis band's debut arrived on the city's independent Twin/Tone label, its eighteen punk nuggets (more than half of which were under two minutes in length) imbued with a pop accessibility and reckless, rebellious spirit. Lead singer/songwriter/guitarist Paul Westerberg, drummer Chris Mars, and brothers Bob and Tommy Stinson (on lead guitar and bass, respectively) came close to implosion more than
You Know How to Love Me: A Closer Look at Phyllis Hyman's "Old Friend: The Deluxe Collection 1976-1998"
UPDATED AUGUST 2021: "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,"
My Eyes Have Seen: Odetta, The Weavers, Joan Baez, More Featured on Vinyl Me, Please's "Anthology: The Story of Vanguard"
A vanguard is, by definition, a position at the forefront of new ideas or developments. And in the fertile musical stomping ground of the early 1960s, some of the newest, most avant-garde ideas were being espoused on the Vanguard Records label. Yet these so-called radical, even "dangerous" thoughts were being espoused in forms so traditional, they might have seemed as old as time. Vanguard was formed in 1950 by Maynard and Seymour Solomon as a classical label and later moved into jazz. The
Harvest for the World: Demon Music Group Spotlight on Average White Band, The Rubettes, and Barry Blue
Today, we're taking a look at three recent releases from Demon Music Group! On their 1974 Atlantic debut and breakthrough LP AWB, Average White Band proclaimed that they had "Work to Do." The group's confident stab at The Isley Brothers' 1972 funk classic closed the first side of AWB; now, it's one of ten tracks comprising the enjoyable new vinyl collection Cover to Cover, Soul to Soul out on Demon Records. Cover to Cover, Soul to Soul offers a bounty of AWB's most soulful tracks - not
Release Round-Up: Week of August 6
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! George Harrison, All Things Must Pass: 50th Anniversary [Various Formats] (Capitol/UMe) 5CD/BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 8LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 5LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3CD (contains CD 1, CD 2 & CD 5, below): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD (contains CD 1 & CD 2 only): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon
Something Like This: Blue Note Expands Lee Morgan's "Live at the Lighthouse" to 8CD or 12LP Box Set
The discography of trumpeter Lee Morgan is a relatively short one, his life having been cut short at age 33 when he was murdered at the hands of his companion/common-law wife. But in his 33 years, Morgan played with John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Wayne Shorter, and Quincy Jones; scored a pop crossover hit with "The Sidewinder;" and released over 20 albums as a leader. Now, Blue Note Records has announced an expanded 50th anniversary reissue of Morgan's final album released in his
What's The Buzz? "Jesus Christ Superstar" Returning For 50th Anniversary In Various Formats Including 3-CD Box Set
"Nothing could convince me that any show that has sold two and one-half million copies of its album before the opening night is anything like all bad," wrote The New York Times' Clive Barnes on October 13, 1971 upon the New York debut of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Jesus Christ Superstar. Indeed, the original Jesus Christ Superstar album was a sensation long before it ever hit Broadway's Mark Hellinger Theatre. A true hybrid of rock and theater, it was introduced as a record but
Listen, Everyone: Cherry Red, Grapefruit Collect Hardin and York Albums
Eddie Hardin and Pete York first met as members of The Spencer Davis Group. York, the drummer, was a founding member of Davis' outfit while keyboardist-singer Hardin joined in 1967 to fill the void left by Steve Winwood. As they refined the sound of the "new" Group, Hardin and York developed their own rapport but found themselves at odds with their bandmates. York was moving in a more improvised, jazz-oriented direction and Hardin was more interested in songwriting; both men left the Group in
Comes a Time: Grateful Dead Revisits Early Seventies St. Louis Shows On New Box Set
Another massive Grateful Dead box is on the way. Listen to the River: St. Louis '71 '72 '73 arrives on October 1 from the band and Rhino. It brings together a slew of previously unreleased concerts recorded on December 9 and 10, 1971 in St. Louis, Missouri at the Fox Theatre; October 17-19, 1972 at the Fox Theatre; and October 29 and 30, 1973 at Kiel Auditorium. Each of these concerts has been restored and speed-corrected using Plangent Processes with mastering by Jeffrey Norman. The box is
Dance to the Nightingale Tune: Bob Dylan's Next "Bootleg Series" Covers 1980-1985
Following the streaming premiere of his acclaimed Shadow Kingdom concert film, Bob Dylan has announced the latest volume in his long-running Bootleg Series. Springtime in New York: The Bootleg Series Vol. 16 (1980-1985) arrives from Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings on September 17. The set covers the period in which Dylan recorded the albums Shot of Love (the final LP in his so-called "Christian trilogy"), Infidels, and Empire Burlesque. While in a creatively fertile period as a
Bingo! Cherry Red, Robinsongs Celebrate The Whispers on 4-CD Anthology
The story of The Whispers began in Los Angeles circa 1963 when two groups - The Scott Twins and The Eden Trio - came together to share in their love of doo-wop and sweet street-corner sounds. Named The Whispers by Dore Records' Lou Bedell, the group released a string of singles in the 1960s before landing at New York's Janus Records in 1970. Two years later, they released their first album on Janus, beginning a string of almost two dozen LPs - eight of which hit the U.S. R&B top ten and
Review: Joni Mitchell, "The Reprise Albums (1968-1971)"
Joni Mitchell fiercely announced her independence with "I Had a King," the haunting soliloquy which opens her 1968 debut album, Song to a Seagull. "I can't go back there anymore," she proclaimed. "You know my keys won't fit the door/You know my thoughts don't fit the man. They never can...they never can..." The song is bold, wise, and flecked with a graceful equanimity as the singer declares her freedom both from a husband who "lives in another time" and the societal constraints of the day.
The Second Disc Guide to Record Store Day Drop 2 TOMORROW!
Once again, Record Store Day here in the U.S. looks a little - make that a lot - different this year. The usual offerings have been split among two dates in 2021 with Drop 1 having taken place on June 12 and Drop 2 happening tomorrow, July 17. Every retailer is handling the Drop a bit differently thanks to the necessary accommodations for social distancing, smaller crowds, and better safety precautions. So please check in with your favorite store to find out more information. Below, you'll
Release Round-Up: Week of July 16
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Tina Turner, Foreign Affair [Various Formats] (Parlophone/Rhino) 4CD/1DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Official Store (white variant) Rhino and Parlophone revisit Tina Turner's 1989 album featuring "The Best" in a variety of formats including a 4CD/DVD Super Deluxe Edition and 2CD and 2LP Deluxe Editions. The Super Deluxe Edition
Hell Bent: Judas Priest Preps 42-CD Career-Spanning Box Set "Reflections: 50 Years of Heavy Metal Music"
Back in March, we reported on the news that a massive 42-CD box set was on the way from pioneering metal band Judas Priest. Now, the metal titans have confirmed those initial reports. On October 15, Sony Music will release Reflections: 50 Heavy Metal Years of Music including every one of the band's official live and studio albums to date plus 13 discs of previously unreleased live material. It's all been mastered by Alex Wharton at Abbey Road Studios, with the additional material restored and
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