With the ongoing celebration of the band's 50th anniversary and the upcoming reunion shows at Chicago's Soldier Field, the Grateful Dead have arguably been more visible in 2015 than in any point since the passing of Jerry Garcia in 1995. The long strange trip continues this fall with Rhino Records' release of the band's most lavish release to date. 30 Trips Around the Sun, due on September 18, is a whopping collection of never-before-released live Dead. It will be available both as an 80-CD
Release Round-Up: Week of June 2
This week's Release Round-Up is headlined by a legendary singer-songwriter's first appearance on Second Disc Records, plus an array of box sets, reissues and beyond from across the musical spectrum! Paul Williams, A Little on the Windy Side: Expanded Edition (Second Disc/Real Gone) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) The newest release from our very own Second Disc Records imprint of Real Gone Music is here! The first-ever American reissue of Paul Williams' 1979 Portrait Records album has
Going to the Country: "Dylan, Cash and the Nashville Cats" Chronicles Birth of Music City Country-Rock
Two legendary artists headline a new anthology arriving on June 16, 2015 from Legacy Recordings. Dylan, Cash and the Nashville Cats: A New Music City, a 2-CD, 36-track compilation, serves as an audio companion and soundtrack to the exhibit of the same name currently on display at Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame through December 31, 2016. Like the exhibit, this new release explores the timeless sounds created at the intersection of country, folk and rock in Nashville between, roughly
Endless Highway: The Band's "Capitol Rarities 1968-1977" Compiled On New Release
With last year's complete release of Bob Dylan and The Band's The Basement Tapes, and the recent Record Store Day "official bootleg"-style vinyl LPs of music from those seminal sessions, the music of The Band is once again, happily, enjoying a high profile. Fans of The Band might have noticed a new compilation quietly released last week by Capitol Records. Capitol Rarities 1968-1977 features 33 tracks and over two hours of music from the legendary group of Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Garth
Let's See Action: Pete Townshend Collects Solo Work, Introduces New Songs on "Truancy"
Pete Townshend recently confessed to Rolling Stone, "I just hope that on my deathbed I don't embarrass myself by asking someone, 'Can you pass me my guitar? And will you run the backing tape of 'Baba O'Riley'? I just want to do it one more time." Yet Townshend still finds himself looking to the past even as he embraces the present and future. While on the road celebrating (for the final time?) the legacy of The Who with creative partner Roger Daltrey, Townshend will issue a new solo
Release Round-Up: Week of May 19
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up featuring a number of rock legends! Yes, Progeny: Seven Shows from Seventy-Two (Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) This whopping 14-CD box captures seven complete concerts from Yes circa 1972 - the same tour leading up to the performances preserved on Yessongs. For those who don't need 14 discs, 2-CD and 3-LP Highlights distillations are also available (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) ! Jeff Beck, Live+ (Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon
Dancing in the Dark: Bruce Springsteen's Archive Series Revisits 1984, New Jersey
Just a few weeks following the release of their New Year's Eve show from Nassau Coliseum on December 31, 1980, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have confirmed the latest volume in their ongoing live archive series. Pre-orders are open now for Brendan Byrne Arena, New Jersey 1984. The release is a bittersweet one for New Jerseyans; the Byrne Arena (later the Continental Airlines Arena and the Izod Center) opened in July 1981 in East Rutherford's Meadowlands and earlier this year was
Release Round-Up: Week of May 12
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! We kick off with a quartet of releases drawing on never-before-released live material! Leonard Cohen, Can't Forget: A Souvenir of The Grand Tour (Columbia/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Leonard Cohen offers ten selections - including two songs never previously recorded and a pair of covers - from his recent world tour. Andrew Gold, The Late Show - Live 1978 (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) You'll say "thank you for being a
Release Round-Up: Week of May 5
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Oddly, releases were split between yesterday and today, but both days add up to a wealth of titles in nearly every genre! Without a doubt, this is one of the most packed weeks yet this year! Jackie DeShannon, All the Love: The Lost Atlantic Recordings (Real Gone) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) All the Love--The Lost Atlantic Recordings brings together DeShannon's entire 1973 Atlantic Records material in one place for the first time,
Review: Frank Sinatra, "Ultimate Sinatra"
On August 31, 1939, Frank Sinatra stepped into a New York recording studio as vocalist of Harry James' orchestra for a two-song session. The second song recorded, Arthur Altman and Jack Lawrence's "All or Nothing at All," captured a philosophy that the 23-year old "boy singer" would hold closely. "All or nothing at all/Half a love never appealed to me," he asserted. "If it's love there is no in-between..." Indeed, Frank Sinatra's life was one of triumphant highs and shattering lows - no
But Beautiful: "Lady in Satin: The Centennial Edition" Expands Billie Holiday Classic To 3 CDs
Billie Holiday was just a couple months away from her 43rd birthday when she entered Columbia Records' 30th Street Studio on February 18, 1958 to record Lady in Satin. The album controversially promised a new, glamorous setting for the artist, who had recently been diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver following a lifetime of troubles including alcohol and drug dependency, abusive relationships, stints in reform school and prison, and even a period as a teenaged prostitute. The LP's original
Release Round-Up: Week of April 28
Dusty Springfield, Faithful (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Faithful assembles for the first time on one CD all of the masters produced by Jeff Barry ("Chapel of Love," "Leader of the Pack," "Sugar, Sugar") for Dusty Springfield in 1971. From his home base at New York's Century Sound, Barry produced thirteen songs for Dusty - twelve intended for album release and one for a non-LP single. Four songs were released on two 45s, but when Dusty departed Atlantic Records, the
Loaded: Jeff Beck Offers "Live+" With Tour Performances, New Studio Recordings
With Jeff Beck currently hitting the road once more, the time is right for Atco's upcoming release of Jeff Beck Live+ culled from performances on the legendary guitarist's 2014 tour with ZZ Top. The May 19 release features 14 live cuts along with Beck's first two studio recordings since 2010. Beck's tour last year with ZZ Top was curtailed due to the injury of the band's bassist, Dusty Hill; Live+ will arrive in the midst of the April 30-May 10 tour dates for ZZ Top and Beck. On May 12,
Say "Aloha": Fleetwood Mac, David Crosby, Beck Featured On New Cameron Crowe Soundtrack
Since making his big-screen debut as a writer with the 1982 comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High, onetime teenaged Rolling Stone scribe Cameron Crowe has made music an integral part of his films - and we're not just talking about Almost Famous! Every one of his movies as writer-director, from 1989's Say Anything... to 2011's We Bought a Zoo, has had its share of musical highlights. His next film, Aloha, should prove to be no exception. On May 26, Legacy Recordings and Madison Gate Records
Release Round-Up: Week of April 21
Today's Release Round-Up features an array of titles including a box set from the one and only Chairman of the Board, a number of vintage albums in surround sound, a classic reissue from a new Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, and more! Frank Sinatra, Ultimate Sinatra (Capitol/UMe) 4-CD Box: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 1-CD Highlights: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 2-CD Target Exclusive: Target.com 2-LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Standard Edition DD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. The 100th
Perfect Sense: Legacy to Revisit Roger Waters’ "Amused to Death" with New Stereo and 5.1 Remixes
While there has been no Pink Floyd reissue news for nearly a year now since the release of a deluxe edition of The Division Bell, fans can look forward to revisiting one of Rogers Waters’ solo projects with the newly announced reissue of Amused to Death. Death was released in 1992 and was Waters’ third solo outing after 1984’s The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking and 1987’s Radio K.A.O.S. As is common for Waters’ LPs, it is a concept album. The songwriter based it upon ideas from Neil
Turn Them Loose On Broadway: Masterworks Reissues Bette Davis Musical and More
Sony’s Masterworks Broadway division is once again opening the vaults to rescue more vintage recordings from obscurity. Over the next three months, the label will release in its made-on-demand CD-R and digital programs three Broadway related recordings: the 1969 London Cast of Off-Broadway’s Dames at Sea (making its CD premiere), 1952’s Broadway revue Two’s Company starring Bette Davis (making its U.S. CD debut) and the original recording of Sir John Gielgud’s 1958 Broadway solo Shakespeare
Release Round-Up: Week of March 31
Today's Release Round-Up has everything from classic country and rock to vintage jazz! Glen Campbell, Rhinestone Cowboy: 40th Anniversary Edition (Capitol Nashville) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. ) Capitol Nashville remasters and expands Glen Campbell’s smash 1975 album with five bonus tracks, including the previously unreleased “Quits,” two rare new-to-U.S.-CD single sides and remixes of “Rhinestone Cowboy” and “Country Boy (You Got Your Feet in L.A.).” Read full details
Raise Your Hand! Epic Springsteen Concert Comes to Archive Series
Please join us in welcoming the newest contributor to The Second Disc, Randy Fairman! Randy's checking in today with news of the latest addition to Bruce Springsteen's live archive series! Bruce Springsteen is continuing his Archive series at a fast pace, with the latest release coming just over a month after premiere of the last (December 31, 1975 at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania). This time, the concert is another from New Year’s Eve, but five years later and a little up
Wonderful Tonight: Eric Clapton Turns 70, Releases New Late-Period Anthology
On March 30, Eric Clapton turns 70, but the guitar hero isn't about to rest on his considerable laurels. He's marking the occasion with a series of concerts including two at New York's Madison Square Garden and seven at London's Royal Albert Hall. Reprise Records is also celebrating the artist's landmark birthday with the April 28 release of Forever Man, a compilation concentrating on his longtime affiliation with the label and its sister Warner Bros. Records which began in 1983. Featuring 51
Margaret Whiting and George Shearing's "Lost Jazz Sessions" Found
With her straightforward, emotionally honest and vocally pristine style, it's no wonder why Margaret Whiting became one of the foremost interpreters of the body of work known today as The Great American Songbook. One of the earliest signings to Johnny Mercer's fledgling Capitol label, Whiting scored approximately 50 chart hits in the 1940s and 1950s, popularized now-standard songs including "My Funny Valentine," "It Might as Well Be Spring," "Moonlight in Vermont" and "Baby, It's Cold Outside,"
Light As The Breeze: Leonard Cohen Returns With Live Rarities Set
Just a few months after the September 2014 release of Leonard Cohen’s new studio album Popular Problems and subsequent concert release Live in Dublin, the troubadour is back with a new offering drawn (like Live in Dublin) from his Old Ideas World Tour. Whereas Dublin presented an overview of Cohen’s extraordinary career, the upcoming Can’t Forget: A Souvenir of the Grand Tour presents rarities performed during the international trek. The May 12 release from Legacy Recordings features a pair of
Such a Much! Croydon Collects R&B Girls, Swingin' TV Themes
Since its inception in 2013, Cherry Red’s Croydon Municipal label has reliably shed light on some of the least illuminated corners of the pre-Beatles pop world. Two recent releases - Such a Much: R&B Girls of the ‘50s and ‘60s and TV is the Thing: Fifties and Sixties Television Themes – continue in this tradition. Like many of Croydon’s releases, Such a Much features a blend of names both familiar (LaVern Baker, Little Esther, Etta James, Ruth Brown) and less familiar (Paula Grimes,
Sensitive Chaos: Rhino To Release Anthology From Steve Howe of Yes
Get ready to say “Yes” to a new retrospective from progressive-rock great Steve Howe. The English guitarist has curated a new 33-track retrospective, simply titled Anthology, for release on March 10 via Rhino. The 2-CD set, also available as a digital download, is primarily drawn from the studio albums he’s recorded between 1975 and 2011. It arrives just weeks before the May 19 release of Progeny: Seven Shows from Seventy-Two, the 14-CD box set preserving Howe and Yes' performances on their
Short Takes: Yes' Massive Box Set, Metallica's Original Demo and Van Halen Remasters
There soon will be many more Yessongs. Progressive rockers Yes released the triple-LP live album Yessongs in 1973. It captured the band at the height of its powers, riding a wave of success thanks to the 1972 album Close to the Edge. In the weeks leading up to the recording of Yessongs, however, the band recorded a number of shows that are now being collected in Rhino's massive 14-CD box set Progeny: Seven Shows from Seventy-Two. The May 19 release contains seven complete shows recorded in