Concord Bicycle Music has been an aggressive recent player in catalogue music. The indie giant has succeeded with a variety of jazz, soul and rock titles, controlling such labels as Fantasy, Stax and Wind-Up Records; elsewhere, they’ve brought the Traveling Wilburys discography back into print and signed a bold deal with R.E.M. to distribute their Warner Bros.-era masters, from 1988 to their final bow in 2011. With all this activity, Concord’s latest step was inevitable: they announced last week the founding of Craft Recordings, a label to handle their back catalogue affairs….
Review: Van Morrison, “The Authorized Bang Collection”
The first sound that jumps out at you after inserting Van Morrison’s The Authorized Bang Collection is that of the familiar “Brown Eyed Girl,” but something about it is different. As presented in its original stereo mix as remastered from the original 1967 first-generation tape, it’s more vibrant than ever, with pronounced instrumental separation and a crisp sheen – as if that misty morning fog has been lifted, and the green grass smells fresher than ever. It will have you singing sha la la la la la la la la la la…
Release Round-Up: Week of April 28
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! The Supremes, Supremes A’ Go-Go: Expanded Edition (Motown/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Here we A’ Go-Go! The Supremes’ landmark, chart-topping 1966 album (with “You Can’t Hurry Love” and “Love is Like An Itching In My Heart” – and that’s just for starters!) gets lavishly expanded on two remastered CDs. This release has got it all: mono and stereo mixes of the original album, a whopping 29 bonus tracks (a full 24 of which are heard here for the first time!) and not one, but…
White Knight
Todd Rundgren returns with a new studio album, and he’s bringing along a number of special guests including Daryl Hall, Joe Walsh, Donald Fagen, Joe Satriani, and Trent Reznor! Rundgren has written and produced 15 original songs for White Knight. Available on CD, LP, and DD.
Review: The Doors, “The Doors: 50th Anniversary Edition”
Suffice it to say that Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krieger, and John Densmore set the night on fire with their debut album, the 1967 Elektra release of The Doors. That amalgamation of blues, rock, pop, jazz, and pure poetry has recently turned 50 years old, and so it’s received its first-ever box set expansion from Rhino as a limited, numbered 3-CD/1-LP hardcover book-style box set including both the original mono and stereo mixes of the original LP (with the mono version appearing on CD for the first time) and a live…
Review: Fleetwood Mac, “Tango in the Night: Deluxe Edition”
The music of Fleetwood Mac could fairly be said to define the 1970s – in all its style, tumult, and excess. Where did that leave the union of Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks, and Lindsey Buckingham once a new decade emerged? 1982’s Mirage found Fleetwood Mac trying to recapture the magic of 1977’s epochal Rumours, and succeeding in large part. Yet Mirage felt as if it firmly had one foot planted in the previous decade. With its belated follow-up, 1987’s Tango in the Night, the band embraced the 1980s…
Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie
Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie have come together for their first joint album, consisting of 10 original songs. Mick Fleetwood and John McVie lend able instrumental support to the singer-songwriters. Available on CD, LP, and DD.
Adios, Adios: Glen Campbell To Release Final Studio Album in June
In 2011, Glen Campbell released Ghost On the Canvas and it was revealed that the legendary artist was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Campbell then embarked upon the yearlong Good Times – Final Farewell Tour which took him to cities in Europe and North America. After the conclusion of that tour, he went into the studio to finish the album See You There, which was released in August of 2013. It was billed at the time as his sixty-third and final studio album. However, it has now been announced that Campbell had recorded…
Release Round-Up: Week of April 14
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Michael Nesmith, Infinite Tuesday: Autobiographical Riffs – The Music (Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Rhino Records offers a 14-track companion CD to Michael Nesmith’s memoir Infinite Tuesday – An Autobiographical Riff (due on April 18). This collection has tracks from Nesmith solo as well as The Monkees and The First National Band, charting his singular and often-trailblazing work over the decades. Read more here! The book is available next Tuesday, April 18, at Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada, and…
The Music Never Stopped: Rhino To Issue Grateful Dead’s “Long Strange Trip” Soundtrack
A new documentary reflecting on the legacy of the Grateful Dead is on its way to theatres, and a companion soundtrack release promises to complement the long-awaited motion picture. Long Strange Trip: Motion Picture Soundtrack chronicles the band’s history via a selection of career-spanning studio and live performances, including previously unreleased tracks. Two versions of the album – a 2-CD set and an expanded Amazon-exclusive 3-CD edition (both also available on digital download and streaming) – will be released on May 26, the same date that the film by director Amir Bar-Lev…
Release Round-Up: Week of April 7
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! B.J. Thomas, New Looks from an Old Lover-The Complete Columbia Singles (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) New Looks from an Old Lover – The Complete Columbia Singles from B.J. Thomas gathers up all of the A and B sides the singer recorded for that label during his tenure there in the 1980s including the No. 3 Country hit “Two Car Garage” and two No. 1s: “Whatever Happened To Old-Fashioned Love” and “New Looks from an Old Lover.” It’s all been newly remastered…
The Authorized Bang Collection
Van Morrison is returning to his roots – with a bang! This new 3-CD collection presents his seminal Bang recordings in their original mixes on Disc 1. Disc 2 has the single versions of “Brown Eyed Girl” and “Ro Ro Rosey” together with 13 alternate takes, the majority of which are previously unreleased. The third disc contains the first official appearance of Morrison’s humorously notorious “contractual obligation recordings.” Check out our full article for more information on this landmark release which promises to finally place Morrison’s early music in complete context.
Live For The Music: Rhino Expands Two Bad Company Classics
Rhino is continuing its series of Bad Company deluxe editions on May 26 with another pair of double-disc deluxe reissues from the band’s Swan Song years. Run With The Pack (1976) and Burnin’ Sky (1977) have been newly remastered from the original production tapes. Each of these two seminal albums has been expanded with rare and unreleased recordings from the original album sessions. The CD versions of these Deluxe Editions include all of the new bonus tracks, while the 180-gram vinyl editions offer a selection of the bonus material. The albums will…
Release Round-Up: Week of March 31
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring some of the most hotly-anticipated sets of the year! Fleetwood Mac, Tango in the Night [Various Editions] (Warner Bros./Rhino) 3CD/1DVD/1LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Fleetwood Mac’s 1987 album featuring “Little Lies” and “Everywhere” returns in a variety of formats including a 3-CD/1 DVD/1 LP version (with the original album on CD, high-resolution stereo DVD, and LP; a CD of outtakes; and a CD of rare single…
Standing In The Sunlight: Legacy Preps Authorized Reissue of Van Morrison’s Bang Recordings Including Infamous “Contractual Obligation” Recordings
Almost exactly 50 years ago today, on March 28, 1967, Van Morrison and Bert Berns went into a studio for a two-day session for Bang Records. The results of this session gave Morrison a signature song but also led to eventual trouble between the artist and label, unauthorized albums, and legal entanglements. Morrison’s released Bang material has been reissued and his unreleased Bang sessions have been bootlegged many times over the subsequent five decades, but now Legacy Recordings is bringing all of the material together for the first time, officially authorized by Morrison,…
Chuck
Before shuffling off this mortal coil earlier this year at the age of 90, the rock-and-roll pioneer Chuck Berry left behind his first new album in almost 40 years, featuring almost all new material written by the legend. Chuck was recorded around his home base of St. Louis, and features the local group that has backed him on 200+-dates over the past two decades. The group includes his children Charles Berry Jr. (guitar) and Ingrid Berry (harmonica), plus Jimmy Marsala (Berry’s bassist of forty years), Robert Lohr (piano), and Keith Robinson (drums). …
Americana
Legendary Kinks frontman-songwriter Ray Davies returns with his first solo album in a decade, named after his acclaimed 2013. Davies wrote and arranged Americana, based on themes explored in his memoir, and was joined by co-producers Guy Massey and John Jackson, and The Jayhawks as his backing band. In addition to new Davies songs, the album also features brief spoken-word passages from the book, to create a musical autobiography of Davies’ time in America. Available on CD, LP, and DD.
Release Round-Up: Week of March 24
Welcome to this week’s packed Release Round-Up, featuring hotly-anticipated box sets, an extensive campaign from an iconoclastic artist, and much, much more! Paul McCartney, The Paul McCartney Archive Collection: Flowers in the Dirt (Capitol/MPL) DELUXE EDITION (3CD/1DVD) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) SPECIAL EDITION (2CD) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) VINYL (2LP) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Paul McCartney reassesses his 1989 album Flowers in the Dirt in a variety of formats. All boast a remastered version of the original 13-track album (including…
Release Round-Up: Week of March 17
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! The Zombies, Odessey and Oracle: 50th Anniversary Edition (Varese Vintage) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) It’s the time of the season! Varese has a new edition of The Zombies’ 1968 classic, freshly remastered at d2 Mastering and with seven bonus tracks as well as new liner notes by co-producer Andrew Sandoval and rare photographs. The bonuses comprise the mono mix of “I’ll Call You Mine” and “I Want Her She Wants Me;” alternate takes and mixes of “Care of Cell 44;” a version…
Into the Flood Again: Legacy To Release 25th Anniversary Edition of “Singles” with Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Paul Westerberg
In 2000, writer/director Cameron Crowe dug into his personal memories as a writer for Rolling Stone for Almost Famous, the story of a reporter on tour with the fictional band Stillwater. The film would garner great critical acclaim, winning a Golden Globe for Best Film – Musical or Comedy and winning the Academy Award for Best Screenplay. The soundtrack album would win a Grammy. But this was certainly not Crowe’s first film to include the music industry nor his first to have a prominent soundtrack album. Released in 1992, Singles took place…
Release Round-Up: Week of March 10
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Elliott Smith, Either/Or: Expanded Edition (Kill Rock Stars) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The Kill Rock Stars label has a new remastered, expanded reissue of Elliott Smith’s 1997 Either/Or on 2 CDs or 2 LPs. The bonus material includes five live tracks, the unreleased tune “I Figured You Out,” a new mix of B-side “I Don’t Think I’m Ever Gonna Figure It Out,” and alternate versions of tracks “New Monkey” and “Bottle Up and Explode!”…
Release Round-Up: Week of March 3
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Ann-Margret, The Definitive Collection (Real Gone) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Real Gone has a new compilation from the one and only Ann-Margret. The Definitive Collection features 30 of the flame-haired singer/actress’s songs from her 1961-1966 tenure on RCA Records and includes standards, pop, soundtrack recordings and collaborations with Al Hirt and Elvis Presley! This title was previously issued as a digital-only entry in Sony’s Essential series. The Second Disc’s Joe Marchese provides the new liner notes! The Rascals, The Complete Singles –…
Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim: 50th Anniversary Edition
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada TBD) Standard Vinyl LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada TBD Exclusive Blue Vinyl LP: uDiscoverMusic.com Sinatra and Jobim’s sublime 1966 Reprise album gets a remastered anniversary reissue with two bonus tracks: a medley of “Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars/Change Partners/I Concentrate on You/The Girl from Ipanema” medley from the A Man and His Music + Ella + Jobim television special; and a previously unreleased alternate take of “The Girl from Ipanema” from the session of January 31, 1966. Available on CD,…
Infinite Tuesday: Autobiographical Riffs – The Music
Rhino Records offers a 14-track companion CD to Michael Nesmith’s memoir Infinite Tuesday – An Autobiographical Riff (due on April 18). This collection has tracks from Nesmith solo as well as The Monkees and The First National Band, charting his singular and often-trailblazing work over the decades.
Different Drum: Michael Nesmith’s “Infinite Tuesday” Offers Soundtrack to His Autobiography
On April 18, Crown Archetype will release Infinite Tuesday: An Autobiographical Riff, the long-awaited memoir by Michael Nesmith. The book chronicles Papa Nez’s life from his childhood days in Dallas, Texas through his success with The Monkees, groundbreaking work in music video and virtual reality, and beyond. Four days before the book’s release, however, Rhino Records will issue a companion CD tracing Nesmith’s musical evolution. The April 14 release of Infinite Tuesday: Autobiographical Riffs – The Music features 14 tracks from Nesmith with The Monkees and The First National Band, and as…



















