Universal Music Catalogue will issue a new collection celebrating the work of the bluesman born McKinley Morganfield but known the world over as Muddy Waters. Can’t Be Satisfied: The Very Best of Muddy Waters 1948-1975 presents 40 classic tracks from across the singer/guitarist’s tenure on the Chess label. Waters recorded for Chess for most of his life, after being discovered by Alan Lomax in the early 1940s for his Library of Congress-sanctioned sojourn to discover and record local country and blues musicians. From his birthplace of Mississippi, Waters relocated to Chicago, where,…
Clear Sailin’: Omnivore Reissues Lost Classics from Chris Hillman, NRBQ, and The Choir
Among its many exciting releases, Omnivore has a trio of albums due soon from three very different rock artists: Chris Hillman, pre-Raspberries band The Choir, and NRBQ. Last year, Chris Hillman (veteran of groups including The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, The Desert Rose Band, and supergroup The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band) released the acclaimed album Bidin’ My Time – only his seventh solo album. Produced by Tom Petty (one of the late superstar’s last projects), the LP reaffirmed Hillman’s deserved place in the pantheon. Omnivore is now reissuing his first two solo albums,…
Back to the Garage: Metallica Re-Revisits Classic EP on Multiple Formats
While you’re waiting for the next exhaustive, extras-packed Metallica album reissue, the legendary metal group is reissuing a classic EP in April. Originally released in 1987, The $5.98 EP: Garage Days Re-Revisited found the quartet in a reflective mood, covering some of their favorite hard rock and punk groups like Diamond Head, Budgie, Killing Joke and the Misfits. The band was also looking forward: Garage Days Re-Revisited featured vocalist/rhythm guitarist James Hetfield, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and drummer Lars Ulrich joined by 24-year-old bassist Jason Newsted (cheekily credited on the sleeve as “Master…
Release Round-Up: Week of February 2
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Ron Wood and Ronnie Lane, Mahoney’s Last Stand: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Faces’ Ronnie Lane and Ron Wood teamed up to pen the score, consisting of country/folk-flavored songs and instrumental tracks, for this 1972 low-budget Canadian film. Real Gone brings it back to CD with new liner notes by Richie Unterberger. Read more here! Roxy Music, Roxy Music: Super Deluxe Edition (Virgin/UMe) 3CD/1DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon…
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Roxy and (More Than) Elsewhere: Zappa’s Legendary 1973 Shows Collected On New Box Set Released Tomorrow
Fans of the uncompromising rock composer Frank Zappa have a special jewel to add to their collections tomorrow: a definitive set chronicling his 1973 stand at The Roxy in Hollywood. The Roxy Performances is a 7CD box set that offers material from four incredible nights from December 8-12, 1973, as heard on 1974’s Roxy & Elsewhere (in overdubbed form), 2014’s Roxy By Proxy (which featured alternate performances sans overdubs) and 2015’s Blu-ray/CD combo Roxy The Soundtrack. In addition to the four main shows from the 9th and 10th of the month, The…
Check Out Your Mind: Cherry Red, SoulMusic Collect Complete Recordings of Soul-Funk Band Maxayn
Cherry Red’s SoulMusic imprint has recently delivered a heaping helping of rare R&B with a powerful 3-CD box set collecting the albums of Maxayn, the band fronted by vocalist Maxayn Lewis. Reloaded: The Complete Recordings 1972-1974 presents the three albums recorded by Maxayn for Capricorn Records, all of which pushed the envelope of soul, funk, and rock. The Oklahoma-born, prodigiously gifted singer born Paulette Parker joined the Ike and Tina Turner Revue in 1967. Upon “graduation” from the ranks of The Ikettes, the powerful-voiced singer and accomplished multi-instrumentalist was opening for other…
Summon the Heroes: John Williams Box to Celebrate More Than 25 Years of Pops and More
This past Sunday, John Williams received a Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Capella, for a track on his latest studio album. It’s his 24th Grammy and joins his five Oscars, four Golden Globes, three Emmys and numerous other awards. At 85, Williams has hardly slowed down. Of course, aside from his film composing work, he has also been an orchestra conductor for many years. Sony Classical is celebrating that aspect of Williams’ career with the 20-disc John Williams: Conductor box set due this Friday, February 2. Williams himself needs…
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Ace Spotlight, Part One: Label Goes Soul Deep with James Carr and Clarence Carter
Ace Records’ Kent imprint keeps fans and collectors on a steady diet of rare and well-done soul, and a quartet of releases that closed out 2017 prove to be no exception. Though held in high esteem by connoisseurs, James Carr never received the recognition of many of his peers. The 20-track, simply-titled The Best of James Carr (Kent CDKENM472) makes a strong case for the Memphis singer’s place in the top of the R&B pantheon. It begins, naturally, with his stone-cold classic 1967 recording of Dan Penn and Chips Moman’s “The Dark…
The “Wait” Is Over: Varese Returns Dave Grusin’s “Heaven Can Wait” and “Racing with the Moon” to CD
For more than fifty years, Robert David Grusin – or Dave Grusin, as he’s better known – has been making music to the tune of multiple Grammys and an Oscar, not to mention Golden Globes and various other honors. Grusin has successfully scored for motion pictures and kept a busy profile in pop, soul and jazz, co-founding GRP Records and encouraging compact disc technology at the dawn of the era. Back in 2013, Kritzerland delivered the world premiere soundtrack releases of two of the composer’s finest scores: 1978’s Heaven Can Wait, which netted Grusin…
Am I Dreaming? Cherry Red’s RPM Label Collects Pop, Soul, Prog, and More on Collector-Aimed Box Sets
Cherry Red’s RPM imprint has recently touched on a variety of genres in a trio of 3-CD box sets which are small in size but chock full of rare musical offerings. Am I Dreaming? 80 Brit Girl Sounds of the ’60s draws on a diverse range of Brit girl styles including pop, rock, folk, mod, R&B, and psychedelia. It showcases how Motown and the Brill Building sounds traveled across the Atlantic, as well as uniquely homegrown British sounds. RPM previously chronicled this era on eight volumes of Dream Babes, released between 1994…
Unmasked: The Platinum Collection
Andrew Lloyd Webber celebrates his 70th birthday and his memoir Unmasked with this 4-CD, 71-track box set of the same name. The career-spanning anthology features many of the composer’s most famed songs from Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar, School of Rock, and more, performed by artists including Barbra Streisand, Madonna, Elvis Presley, Alice Cooper, Tom Jones, The Everly Brothers, and the stars of his hit shows onstage such as Glenn Close, Donny Osmond, Elaine Paige, Sarah Brightman, and Michael Crawford. Previously unissued tracks from Beyoncé, Nicole Scherzinger, Gregory…
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The Best of The Grateful Dead Live
2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. (TBD) / Amazon Canada (TBD) 2LP (The Best of The Grateful Dead Live, Vol. 1 1969-1977): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. (TBD) / Amazon Canada (TBD) How to distill the Grateful Dead’s enormous live legacy into one collection? Rhino gives the massive undertaking its best shot with this new 2-CD anthology, featuring 19 tracks drawn from live albums released on Warner Bros. and Arista during the group’s tenure, as well as several select archival titles released after Jerry Garcia’s passing in 1995. (This includes a track from…
How the West Was Won [Multiple Formats]
3 CDs: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 4 Vinyl LPs: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Blu-ray Audio: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Super Deluxe Edition (3 CD/4 LP/1 DVD): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Led Zeppelin’s 2003 concert album chronicling the band’s June 25 and 27, 1972 concerts at the Los Angeles Forum and Long Beach Arena returns in a new, remastered edition available in multiple formats.
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The Colpix Singles
Nina Simone’s 1959-1964 time at the Colpix label is collected on the 2-CD, 27-track The Colpix Singles (also available in a 14-track highlights edition on vinyl). At Colpix, Simone recorded some of the most sly, sultry, and incendiary music of her career, touching on folk, blues, jazz, and soul – all of which are reflected on this compendium of original single versions.
Mood Indigo: The Complete Bethlehem Singles
Mood Indigo: The Complete Bethlehem Singles collects the earliest recordings of Nina Simone. The 14-track CD version follows the chronology of the original mono singles, while the vinyl LP version has “Porgy (I Loves You Porgy)” and “Love Me or Leave Me,” Simone’s debut single, on a bonus 7-inch replica 45 rather than on the LP. Additionally, Barnes & Noble will have an exclusive blue vinyl version. Ashley Kahn’s new liner notes draw on a fresh interview with drummer Al “Tootie” Heath, who joined Simone and bassist Jimmy Bond on the intimate…
Music of the Night: Andrew Lloyd Webber Celebrates His 70th Birthday with a New Box Set
Since September 25, 1979, there hasn’t been a day when an Andrew Lloyd Webber melody hasn’t been heard on Broadway. That was the opening night of Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Evita. Before it ended its run in June 1983, Lloyd Webber’s musical Cats had opened, launching a record-breaking run through September 2000. But on January 26, 1988, the show opened which would eclipse them all: Phantom of the Opera. It today celebrates 30 years (marked with a special gala earlier this week) and is comfortably the longest-running show in Broadway history,…
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Release Round-Up: Week of January 26
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! ABBA: The Album – 40th Anniversary Edition (Polar/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) ABBA revisits its fifth studio album (released in December 1977 in Scandinavia and January 1978 in the U.K.) – a tie-in to ABBA: The Movie – as a deluxe 2-LP, 45 RPM, half-speed mastered set. Featuring “The Name of the Game,” “Take a Chance on Me,” and “Thank You for the Music,” the chart-topping LP has been a favorite of the band’s discography. Historian Carl-Magnus Palm provides new liner notes,…
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New Coat of Paint: Anti- to Remaster Tom Waits’ Elektra/Asylum Catalogue in 2018
Having remastered his catalogue for Anti- Records spanning from 1999 to 2011 last year for CD and vinyl, iconoclastic singer Tom Waits will next partner with the label by turning his attention to the seven albums he released on the Asylum label during the first portion of his career. Waits and his wife and creative partner Kathleen Brennan have remastered all of Waits’ studio and live output between 1973 and 1980 for CD and 180-gram LP, bringing many of the albums back into physical print after long absences. Debut album Closing Time…
Love…Thy Will Be Done: Cherry Pop Expands Martika, Andrew Ridgeley Titles in January
Cherry Pop is returning to the early days of the 1990s with expanded editions from the small discographies of two beloved artists: Andrew Ridgeley of Wham!, and Martika. After breaking up Wham! in 1986, George Michael graduated to bona fide solo superstar, while his musical partner Andrew Ridgeley had largely shunned the spotlight to pursue other interests such as acting and motor racing. By 1990, however, Ridgeley was ready to return to music. The result was Son of Albert, his only solo album to date. Released on Epic Records (asserting its right…
Oh, Darling! Cherry Red Reissues Graham Bonnet’s 1990s Output On New Box Set
The Graham Bonnet story has been well-chronicled by Cherry Red’s Hear No Evil imprint via expanded editions of the English rocker’s classic albums as well as a career-spanning anthology. Late in 2017, HNE continued its Bonnet series with a new 3-CD compact clamshell box set. Flying Not Falling: 1991-1999 expands three albums from the versatile vocalist: The Day I Went Mad (1999), Underground (1997), and Here Comes the Night (1991). Bonnet’s career has ranged from pop to hard rock over six decades. He first rose to fame as part of the duo…
Sugar In My Bowl: Bethlehem, Rhino Plan Singles Collections Honoring Nina Simone
Few artists have had the impact on pop, soul, rock and jazz as the iconoclastic Nina Simone. Simone (1933-2003) played by her own rules in life and art, recording some of the most electric and eclectic music imaginable in any genre. It wasn’t uncommon on a Simone album to find politically charged protest music alongside popular Broadway hits and reworkings of contemporary rock songs. This April, she will enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, though she preferred to call her singular fusion of genres “black classical music.” Throughout her long…
Going to California: Led Zeppelin Goes Super Deluxe with “How the West Was Won”
Fifteen years ago, Led Zeppelin issued How the West Was Won, premiering performances from the band’s June 25 and 27, 1972 concerts at the Los Angeles Forum and Long Beach Arena. Now, those seminal tracks have been newly remastered under the supervision of Jimmy Page for a surprise addition to the band’s Super Deluxe library – as well as in a variety of formats, all of which are due from Atlantic/Swan Song on March 23 including the first-ever Blu-ray Audio and vinyl editions. The remastered How the West Was Won arrives in…
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Rhino Collects 25 Years of Trips with Grateful Dead Live Compilation
The Grateful Dead played more than 2,300 concerts during their lifespan. Of those, it’s estimated that some 2,200 of those shows were taped by the band and their loyal fans. The good-natured California group allowed them to be freely distributed from the beginning, and every Deadhead has a favorite. But where would you start with the live history of such an esteemed band? The Dead and Rhino are offering an answer to that question this spring with The Best of The Grateful Dead Live, a 2CD or 2LP set offering highlights from…
Intrada’s Valiant Effort: A Deluxe ‘Roger Rabbit’ Soundtrack From Disney!
Intrada is set to make Disney fans p-p-p-pleased with a major soundtrack expansion: Alan Silvestri’s stirring score to Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Gary K. Wolf’s quirky novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? – the tale of a hard-boiled private detective named Eddie Valiant solving the murder of a comic strip character – was equal parts Raymond Chandler and Chuck Jones, and perfect film fodder. But nobody could have predicted what Who Framed Roger Rabbit would have become: Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman’s script rearranged the plot into a Chinatown-esque mystery in 1940s…
In the Lap of Luxury: Marillion Detail Expanded Remix Package for ‘Brave’
Following the release of last year’s remixed expansion of Misplaced Childhood, neo-prog rockers Marillion are jumping ahead to one of their top albums of the 1990s to reissue: 1994’s Brave, their seventh album. A 4CD/1Blu-ray box set edition of the album is due March 9. Brave was the third Marillion album with vocalist Steve Hogarth, who replaced Fish as frontman in early 1989. A stark departure from 1991’s Holidays In Eden, their most pop-centric album, Brave told the story (based on actual events) of a girl discovered by police on England and…
