Blues

Tags:

In a White Room: Cream’s ‘Wheels of Fire’ Spins Back Into Print As Box Set

May 13, 2026 by Mike Duquette | 6 Comments

Cream’s penultimate album – the 1968 studio/live set Wheels of Fire – will be expanded this summer, offering four unique mixes of the studio disc on two CDs, an expanded concert offering on another two, and a selection of rare and unreleased cuts on a fifth CD. The Wheels of Fire (Super Deluxe Edition) will also be matched by Wheels of Fire: In the Studio, a triple LP set that, true to its name, features the studio material from the 5CD collection. (Wheels of Fire: Live At The Fillmore and Winterland, a triple album collecting the…

Categories:

Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Digital Download, Digital Streaming

Tags:

Cream, Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce

The Weekend Stream: May 9, 2026

May 9, 2026 by The Second Disc | 3 Comments

Welcome back to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts, plus new works from legacy acts and even some personally curated favorites. It may not get more eclectic than this one, folks! We’ve got catalogue classics from jazz immortals, country icons and ’80s hitmakers; new songs from legends of classic rock, R&B, adult contemporary and hip-hop; new sounds from MUNA, The Waterboys, and Crack the Sky’s John Palumbo; and a sampler of international works, from Spanish chorale to Austrian pop that won…

Categories:

The Weekend Stream

Formats:

Genres:

Blues, Classic Rock, Everything Else, Jazz, Latin, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock

Tags:

Andy Partridge, Barry Manilow, Chaka Khan, Clodagh Rodgers, Crack The Sky, Eddy Arnold, Gene Pitney, George Michael, Jim Reeves, John Coltrane, MUNA, Mike Finnigan, Motörhead, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, The Mike Sammes Singers, The Rolling Stones, The Waterboys, Udo Jürgens

The Weekend Stream: April 11, 2026

April 11, 2026 by The Second Disc | 4 Comments

Welcome back to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts, plus new works from legacy acts and even some personally curated favorites. Another George Michael single is redelivered, XTC demos get delivered and a reinvented video game dance classic enters the arena – plus a whole lot of oddities and buried treasure from 1976! George Michael, Faith (Single) (Columbia/Legacy) (Apple / Amazon) The second of George Michael’s Faith singles to be delivered to digital with the original covers and B-sides is the effortlessly classic title…

Categories:

The Weekend Stream

Formats:

Digital Download, Digital Streaming

Genres:

Blues, Cast Recordings, Country, Electronic, Everything Else, Folk, Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

Tags:

Abbey Lincoln, Andre Kostelanetz, Andy Partridge, Aztec Two-Step, Cedar Walton, Chet Atkins, Danny Davis, David Gates, Earl Scruggs, Freddy Weller, Gary Stewart, George Michael, John Lee Hooker, Lea Michele, Lou Courtney, Lynn Anderson, Markolino Dimond, Tim Rice, XTC

Review: Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, and The Mothers, “Bongo Fury: 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition”

April 6, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 2 Comments

The earliest known recordings of Frank Zappa and Don Van Vliet, a.k.a. Captain Beefheart, are one in the same. The pair’s “Lost in a Whirlpool,” recorded at Antelope Valley College in Lancaster, California circa 1958, is hardly auspicious but points the way towards the future musical activities of both men: Zappa, for its humorous lyrics (“about a person who was…skindiving in the San Diego sewer system, and talking about encountering brown, blind fish…It was kind of like the Cousteau expedition of its era,” per Zappa in 1989) and Beefheart, for its blues…

Categories:

Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa, George Duke

Formats:

Blu-Ray Audio, Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Classic Rock

Tags:

Too Rolling Stoned: Robin Trower’s Live Classic Gets Remixed and Expanded

February 19, 2026 by The Second Disc | 3 Comments

A treat for British blues-rock fans, this spring will see the release of an expanded edition of Robin Trower Live!, the first concert release from the celebrated guitarist. Available April 3, the set will offer Trower’s renowned set from Stockholm, Sweden in 1975, not only uncut for the first time but remixed and put in its original sequence. The 2CD digibook reissue will pair the expanded, remixed edition alongside the original album, while the remix will also be available as a 2LP set. The accompanying liner notes by David Sinclair include new interview…

Categories:

Formats:

Genres:

Tags:

Robin Trower

Robin Trower Live! (50th Anniversary Edition)

February 19, 2026 by Mike Duquette

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The former Procol Harum guitarist’s acclaimed power trio live release gets a fresh look to celebrate its half-century mark! It’s been newly sequenced back into its original 12-song running order and remixed from the original multi-tracks by engineer Richard Whittaker. A 2CD set will include that expansion next to a new remaster of the original seven-track LP, while the vinyl includes the new mix across two LPs. Liner notes by David Sinclair include new…

Categories:

Formats:

Genres:

Tags:

Bongo Fury (50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition)

January 30, 2026 by Mike Duquette

5CD/1BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1LP (black): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1LP (galaxy): uDiscoverMusic.com / Zappa Online Store Frank Zappa’s final album with The Mothers of Invention was also a collaboration with frenemy and fellow iconoclast Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart) – a bit of a transitional live-plus-studio album in Zappa’s always fascinating and often-unusual discography. (Other contributors include George Duke, Tom and Bruce Fowler, and Napoleon Murphy Brock plus newer recruits Terry Bozzio and…

Categories:

Formats:

Blu-Ray Audio, Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Tags:

Advance Romance: Zappa and Beefheart’s “Bongo Fury” Returns as 50th Anniversary Box Set

January 28, 2026 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

Zappa Records is rolling out its first archival release of 2026, and in doing so, is belatedly celebrating the 50th anniversary of one of Frank Zappa’s landmark releases. Bongo Fury, The Mothers of Invention’s 1975 collaboration with fellow iconoclast Don Van Vliet a.k.a. Captain Beefheart, is returning on March 20 in a variety of formats including a 5CD/1Blu-ray box; 2LP expanded edition; and 1LP original album. Bongo Fury is notable not only as the final original album to be released by Zappa and The Mothers but also as a transitional album featuring…

Categories:

Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa

Formats:

Blu-Ray Audio, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Classic Rock

Tags:

Release Round-Up: Week of January 23

January 23, 2026 by The Second Disc | No Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. The Power Station, The Power Station DLX (Parlophone/Rhino) 4CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Rhino is expanding the self-titled debut from The Power Station into a 4CD box set. The Power Station DLX includes the remastered album (featuring the hits “Some Like It Hot” and a cover of T. Rex’s “Get It On (Bang a Gong)”) alongside three discs of bonus material, including unreleased “raw instrumental” versions,…

Categories:

Formats:

Genres:

Blues, Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Folk, Pop, Rock

Tags:

Andrew Lloyd Webber, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Lucinda Williams, Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman, Squeeze, The Power Station, Van Morrison, Warren Zevon

Another Merry Discmas to All from The Second Disc!

December 24, 2025 by The Second Disc | 16 Comments

No one – not even your friends at TSD HQ! – can predict the arc of music reissues. When we launched The Second Disc nearly 16 years ago, the business was in a place of surprising highs and lows. The Beatles’ albums had been remastered for the first time ever – but it seemed that stalwarts like Rhino Records were enduring hardships. Vinyl was a niche concern, streaming even more so, and who knew where the CD would end up? (And that doesn’t even account for personal growth immaterial of the music…

Categories:

Features, News

Formats:

Blu-Ray, Blu-Ray Audio, Box Sets, CD, DVD, DVD-Audio, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Comedy, Country, Disco/Dance, Electronic, Everything Else, Folk, Funk, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

Tags:

Release Round-Up: Week of December 19

December 19, 2025 by The Second Disc | 1 Comment

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today. Just a heads-up, friends, that this is our final Release Round-Up of the year…but this feature will be back in mid-January once the number of releases gets back to a state of relative normalcy. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Todd Rundgren, Solo in Clearwater (Cleopatra) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Cleopatra releases a set from Todd Rundgren’s 2003 solo tour recorded in Clearwater, Florida on January 28. Tunes include “Love…

Categories:

Jimmie Vaughan, Peter Criss, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Todd Rundgren

Formats:

Genres:

Blues, Classic Rock, Pop, Rock

Tags:

In Memoriam: Steve Cropper (1941-2025)

December 4, 2025 by Mike Duquette | 2 Comments

It’s a sad fact that so much of America’s musical infrastructure – the men and women whose session work powered thousands of pop chart hits and significant recordings – exists in near-obscurity. Consider The Funk Brothers, that collective of R&B musicians in Detroit who powered nearly every Motown session in the label’s golden age. Fans and collectors still sift through the vagaries of paperwork and memory to determine who lent their instruments to which song; the unofficial group’s members would be credited by name at the insistence of Marvin Gaye on his…

Categories:

Features

Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Classic Rock, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock

Tags:

Albert King, Bob Dylan, Booker T. Jones, Booker T. and the MG's, Brian May, Eddie Floyd, Neil Young, Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Steve Cropper, The Blues Brothers, Wilson Pickett

THE SECOND DISC’S 2025 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE IS HERE!

December 1, 2025 by The Second Disc | 3 Comments

Well, today is Cyber Monday, which means one thing at Second Disc HQ: it’s time to launch our annual Holiday Gift Guide, featuring (more than) a few of our favorite things for the music enthusiast in your life. Sure, we might not have included raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but we’ve filled the guide with over 50 essential selections: sprawling box sets and deluxe vinyl editions, as well as noteworthy releases on CD from favorite artists that just might make great stocking stuffers. So just click here or visit the handy red…

Categories:

Features, Holiday Gift Guide

Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Classical/Opera, Country, Disco/Dance, Folk, Funk, Holiday, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

Tags:

Release Round-Up: Week of November 21

November 21, 2025 by The Second Disc | No Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. The Beatles, Anthology Collection (Capitol/Apple/UMe) 8CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Official Store 12LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Official Store The Beatles’ Anthology Collection premieres remastered editions of the original three collections of rarities and outtakes compiled by George Martin and released through 1995 and 1996, available across six CDs or nine LPs. Martin’s son Giles, who remastered those albums for this release, also curates a new collection, Anthology 4, across a further two CDs or…

Categories:

Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Country, Holiday, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

Tags:

Aerosmith, Alan Menken, Ariana Grande, Bill Evans, Bing Crosby, Cynthia Erivo, Dr. John, Eric Clapton, John Kander and Fred Ebb, Kurt Weill, Lainey Wilson, Prince, Ray Charles, Rufus Wainwright, Smashing Pumpkins, Stephen Schwartz, The Beatles, The Blues Brothers, The Replacements

Mardi Gras Day: Omnivore Celebrates Dr. John with “Live at The Village Gate”

November 20, 2025 by The Second Disc | No Comments

The Doctor is in! Today, November 20, would have been Dr. John’s 84th birthday. While The Night Tripper, a.k.a. Mac Rebennack, himself passed away in 2019 at the age of 77, his musical legacy lives on – and Omnivore Recordings is celebrating in high style. Tomorrow, the label will premiere Live at the Village Gate, a previously unreleased concert, in 2CD and digital formats. Live at The Village Gate captures the singer-songwriter-pianist in his element at one of his favorite venues, New York City’s Village Gate, on March 5, 1988. Impresario Art…

Categories:

Formats:

CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming

Genres:

Blues, Classic Rock, Funk, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock

Tags:

Dr. John

Release Round-Up: Week of November 14

November 14, 2025 by The Second Disc | 3 Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Nicolette Larson, Look in My Direction: The Warner Bros. Recordings (Cherry Red/Lemon/Second Disc) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Cherry Red) Look in My Direction: The Warner Bros. Recordings from Cherry Red’s Lemon imprint and TSD presents all of the late Nicolette Larson’s original studio and live albums for Warner Bros. Records on 4 CDs, produced by Ted Templeman (The Doobie Brothers, Van Halen) and singer-songwriter Andrew Gold (“Thank You for Being…

Release Round-Up: Week of November 7

November 7, 2025 by The Second Disc | 1 Comment

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Wings, Wings [Various Formats] (MPL/Capitol/UMe) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada On November 4, Paul McCartney released Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run, an oral history of the superstar’s other band. The hardcover tome, created in collaboration with film director Morgan Neville and editor Ted Widmer, tells Wings’ story through text, photographs, a timeline, a gigography,…

Categories:

Formats:

Blu-Ray Audio, Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Classic Rock, Country, Disco/Dance, Folk, Holiday, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock

Step Into Christmas: UMe Preps Holiday Singles Box, Expansion of Connie Francis’ Holiday Album

November 6, 2025 by Mike Duquette | 9 Comments

With the spookiest holidays of the fall now in the rear view mirror (that’s right: Halloween and Election Day!), there’s nothing wrong with looking ahead to the Christmas music season and checking out a pair of now-available titles from Universal Music Group spotlighting some of their classic holiday hits and an album by one of catalogue’s biggest success stories this year. UMe is selling a nifty collection of more than a dozen seasonal 7″ singles in a collectible carrying case. This Classic Holiday Singles Box features Christmas perennials spanning from the ’40s to…

Categories:

Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Classic Rock, Country, Holiday, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock

Tags:

Bing Crosby, Bobby Helms, Brenda Lee, Burl Ives, Chuck Berry, Connie Francis, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald, Elton John, Frank Sinatra, John Lennon, Nat King Cole, Paul McCartney, The Beach Boys, The Jackson 5, Yoko Ono

Record Store Day Black Friday Round-Up: BMG, Omnivore, and Real Gone Music

October 9, 2025 by Joe Marchese | 1 Comment

As we gear up for Record Store Day’s Black Friday event on Friday, November 28, we’re sharing the lists from BMG, Omnivore Recordings, and Real Gone Music. Click here for a list of participating retailers! First up is BMG’s slate… George Harrison, Living in the Material World (50th Anniversary Mix) (Dark Horse) (Zoetrope LP; 7,600 copies – reprises mix from the 2024 box set) John Lee Hooker, Chill Out (30th Anniversary) (LP; 1,500 copies – remastered reissue of album featuring Van Morrison, Carlos Santana, Booker T. Jones, and Charles Brown) Billy Idol, “77” (Dark Horse) (12″ Picture Disc;…

Categories:

Formats:

CD, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Pop, Rock, Soundtracks

Tags:

Alice Cooper, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Billy Idol, George Harrison, John Lee Hooker, Motörhead, Paul Rodgers, Ratt, Record Store Day, Robbie Robertson, Sugar, The Lemon Twigs, Touche Amore, Warren Zevon

Merry Something to You: Rhino Announces Record Store Day Black Friday Slate with Devo, Joni Mitchell, Alice Cooper, The Doors, Grateful Dead, Randy Newman, More

October 6, 2025 by Joe Marchese | 9 Comments

TSD is kicking off our look at this year’s Record Store Day Black Friday releases, due at participating independent record stores on November 28, with a typically packed slate coming from Rhino. With over 30 titles, the label has brought out the heavy hitters (many of which are RSD mainstays) including The Doors, Fleetwood Mac, Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell, Led Zeppelin, Todd Rundgren, Van Halen, and more. We’ve also included a handful of releases from Rhino sister labels such as Warner (with a Tom Petty live collection) and Elektra (an EP from…

Categories:

Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Classic Rock, Country, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rap/Hip-Hop, Rock, Soundtracks

Release Round-Up: Week of October 3

October 3, 2025 by The Second Disc | No Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Oasis, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? 30th Anniversary Edition (Big Brother) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Oasis have a slightly expanded edition of 1995’s (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? on tap, pairing a 2014 remaster of the album (which initially came with additional bonus material) with a bonus EP of new unplugged mixes of four of the album’s tracks (plus a non-album B-side, “Acquiesce”). The group’s songwriter/guitarist Noel…

Categories:

Formats:

Books, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Country, Disco/Dance, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock

Tags:

Change, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, Gene Loves Jezebel, Jason Isbell, Jimmy Witherspoon, Kirsty MacColl, Lerner and Loewe, Luther Vandross, My Morning Jacket, Oasis, Robben Ford, Taylor Swift, The Cars, Waylon Jennings

The Chess Records Christmas Album

October 1, 2025 by Joe Marchese

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The Chess Records Christmas Album offers 14 unique entries in the Christmas canon, from Chuck Berry’s “Run Rudolph Run” and The Moonglows’ “Hey Santa Claus” to obscure soul, jazz, and gospel fare from the likes of The Soul Stirrers, Kenny Burrell, The Meditation Singers, Rotary Connection, The Salem Travelers, and more. (A particular standout is an instrumental take on “The Little Drummer Boy” by the studio group Lenox Avenue, which featured session legends Chuck Rainey and Richard Tee. It’s one of four new-to-digital tracks…

Categories:

Formats:

Genres:

Blues, Holiday, R&B/Soul

Tags:

Let’s Play Chess: A Chess Records Anthology

October 1, 2025 by Joe Marchese

Let’s Play Chess: A Chess Records Anthology is a new 2LP set offering 25 of the label’s most essential tracks from Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Chuck Berry, John Lee Hooker, Etta James, and others. The set is curated by eminent drummer Steve Jordan, a known appreciator of the Chess legacy. The versatile percussionist cut his teeth playing in the house band for Saturday Night Live, and was plucked alongside a murderer’s row of session legends to keep the beat when cast members John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd started covering Chess sides and…

Categories:

Formats:

Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, R&B/Soul

Tags:

Chess Grand Masters: Classic Blues Label Celebrates 75 Years with Special Vinyl Reissues

October 1, 2025 by The Second Disc | No Comments

For all its influence, it sometimes feels like the Chicago blues label Chess Records doesn’t get the respect it deserves. That changes this fall with a series of new compilations and reissues of old ones, set for release from Universal Music Group to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the label’s creation. Polish immigrants Leonard and Phil Chess became ingratiated into the club scene on the south side of Chicago in the ’30s and ’40s. They were intrigued by the thriving local talent – many of them Black transplants from the Mississippi delta…

Categories: