Ray Charles’ 1963 potpourri Ingredients in a Recipe for Soul makes it first official appearance on vinyl in decades and also returns to CD in this remastered reissue featuring the original album sequence only. Tracks include “Busted,” “That Lucky Old Sun,” “Over the Rainbow,” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Endlessly: A Tribute to Brook Benton
The late Charley Pride recorded this tribute to velvet-voiced soul crooner Brook Benton in the mid-1980s, but it went unreleased. Now, Pride’s estate has unearthed his original recordings which were co-produced by Bob Pickering and recorded not in Nashville but in Dallas; Pickering has mixed and mastered them for this release which celebrates what would have been Benton’s 94th birthday on September 19. (He died in 1988 at the age of just 56.) The label notes that “Other than digitally transferring, mixing and mastering the original multi-track performances, virtually no other post-production…
Workin’ Man: Willie Sings Merle
Willie Nelson spent much of the summer out on the road with the Outlaw Festival, so it’s only appropriate that his new studio album is paying tribute to a fellow Outlaw. Workin’ Man: Willie Sings Merle, available on CD, LP, and digitally, finds Young celebrating his late friend Merle Haggard, with whom he recorded three albums between 1983 and 2015. Willie’s 78th original album, Workin’ Man features a host of Hag favorites including “Okie from Muskogee,” “Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down,” “Today I Started Loving You Again,” “Mama Tried,” and “If…
The Weekend Stream: September 13, 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. Phil Collins gets remixed, unexpected covers of The Cure and Bob Dylan and so much more – all part of this week’s round-up! Phil Collins, No Jacket Required (2025 Mix) (Craft/Rhino) (Apple / Amazon) A nice surprise for fans of Phil: not only have a few bonus tracks exclusive to the new vinyl box set of No Jacket Required made digital stores, but Steven Wilson’s stereo remix of the original album…
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The Weekend Stream: August 30, 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. We’ve got one Vault track from Prince, four albums unearthed by SuperVisible Multi Media, five rare mixes from Bowie and Jagger, and more than 100 hard-to-find cuts from Connie Francis – now that’s some rock and roll math! Prince, “Sign O’ the Times” (Live in Rotterdam 1987) (NPG/Legacy) (Apple / Amazon) A welcome respite from sharing fabricated, possibly AI-generated inspirational quotes on social media, the Prince estate has released…
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Release Round-Up: Week of August 29
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. Deep Purple, Rapture of the Deep: 20th Anniversary Edition (earMusic) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada A 20th anniversary edition of Rapture of the Deep, Deep Purple’s 18th studio album, offers a remix and resequencing of the album by Roger Glover, with two non-LP tracks (“MTV” and “Things I Never Said”) now added into the sequence. This was the second album from the band’s longest-tenured line-up, the…
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The Weekend Stream: August 9, 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. Jim Reeves isn’t the only gentleman on display this week: we’ve also got Peter Gabriel, Eddy Grant, Ben Folds and a host of film composers – plus many, many more! Peter Gabriel, Live At WOMAD 1982 (Real World) (Apple / Amazon) Loosed from the vault is Gabriel’s nine-song headlining set at the first World of Music, Art and Dance Festival, held at the Bath & West Showground in Shepton Mallet,…
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The Weekend Stream Extra: Jim Reeves’ Country Legend Goes ‘Singing Down the Lane’ on New Expanded Edition
Even as the sound of country music changed in the 1980s – a shift represented by everything from the Urban Cowboy soundrack to Kenny Rogers’ romantic crossover singles – some things never changed. Take Jim Reeves, for instance: the baritone crooner spent the late ’50s and early ’60s helping craft the “countrypolitan” style that helped the genre spread its wings in other listening markets in America beyond the rural South. Into the late ’70s and early ’80s, he was still a force on the country charts, both on his own (“Oh, How…
The Weekend Stream: July 26, 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. Billy Joel fans have it good this week, with seven hours of hits and rarities from his new documentary. If you’ve got room after that, there’s an anniversary reissue for literally the last five decades in a few different genres, too! Billy Joel, And So It Goes (The Musical Companion to the HBO Documentary Film) (Columbia/Legacy) (Apple / Amazon) If you’ve watched all five hours of the new two-part Billy…
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The Weekend Stream: July 19, 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. We’ve got a gem from Linda Ronstadt’s vault, a new update of a Disney classic and a fascinating sit-down with one of folk’s most important matriarchs – plus tributes to artists we lost this week and a potential hint at a very exciting reissue from one of the pivotal duos in ’70s rock. Linda Ronstadt, “How Do I Make You” / “Rambler Gambler” (Asylum/Rhino) (Apple / Amazon) This week, song…
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Release Round-Up: Week of July 18
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. Scissor Sisters, Scissor Sisters: 20th Anniversary Edition (Republic) 3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The Scissor Sisters’ 2004 debut gets a (slightly belated) 20th anniversary expansion offering the album in a digipak alongside two bonus discs of B-sides, remixes, and seven previously unheard tracks. A truncated offering of the B-sides and outtakes will be included on a double vinyl edition. “Take Your Mama” to get the…
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Release Round-Up: Week of July 11
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. Jethro Tull, Still Living in the Past (Parlophone/Rhino) 5CD/1BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Still Living in the Past reinterpret Jethro Tull’s original odds-and-ends compilation from 1972 as a 5CD/1 Blu-ray set boasting some 35 unissued mixes and versions alongside just about every one of the 21 original tracks that appeared on the original double album. Alongside the original mixes of the non-album material that comprised Living in…
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Everybody Say Yeah: Real Gone’s July Slate Includes Vinyl Reissues of Mary Chapin Carpenter, “Kinky Boots,” Rusted Root, More
As summer heats up, Real Gone has another slate of six varied releases hitting store shelves, tomorrow, July 11. You’ll find a variety of genres here from Broadway to nu metal to rock to country to jazz. First up is a vinyl reissue of the Broadway cast album Kinky Boots. The 2013 show is based on the 2005 movie of the same title. The story revolves around Charlie, who inherits a failing shoe factory from his father. To turn the business around, he teams with drag performer Lola to begin manufacturing high-heeled…
The Weekend Stream: June 14, 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. This week we’ve got it all, from Bakersfield country to Billy Joel on Broadway; actors who sing and singer-songwriters who act in short films; Tony Joe White going disco and Josh Groban’s hits going super-size. You’ll find something to love – we guarantee it! Wynn Stewart, Songs of Wynn Stewart (Capitol Nashville) (Apple / Amazon) After starting his major label career in the mid-’50s on Capitol, country singer/songwriter Wynn Stewart…
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A Second Disc Interview: Timothy J. Smith Forges a New Path with SuperVisible
If you’ve been reading The Second Disc for some time, you know that one of our highlights is The Weekend Stream, our spotlight of catalogue material that makes its way – either first or primarily – to streaming and download services. The TSD team has the shelves to prove our love of CDs or vinyl, but the joy of discovering a lost classic or future favorite from the past is what really drives us, and The Weekend Stream is run in that spirit. And it might not run at all if not…
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Corner of the Sky: Real Gone’s June Line-Up Includes “Lost” Dusty Springfield Album Plus Jazz, Heavy Metal, Bluegrass, More
As we roll into summer, Real Gone has another varied line-up for June. It is anchored by an unreleased album by Dusty Springfield but also features a jazz rarity from Joe Henderson and Woody Shaw as well as metal, bluegrass, and even an adult film soundtrack. All of these titles are being released tomorrow, June 6, and you can read on for more information. By the beginning of the 1970s, Dusty Springfield was at a career crossroads. Although she remained on her U.K. label home Phillips, she had left her American record…
The Weekend Stream: May 31, 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. We’ve got solo appearances aplenty: Bono, Al Jardine, Grace Potter, John Fogerty, and more new/old music – plus a new subscription service from Crowded House, a Barry Manilow music video, and a tribute to one of the undisputed guitar gods of his generation. Bono, Stories of Surrender EP (Island/Interscope/UMe) (Apple / Amazon) In 2023, U2 frontman Bono embarked on his first ever solo tour, promoting the memoir Surrender: 40 Songs, One…
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After the Glitter Fades: Stevie Nicks, Wilco Classics Added to Rhino’s High Fidelity Vinyl Series
Rhino’s High Fidelity series of audiophile vinyl titles continues today with two (relatively) modern classics. Stevie Nicks’ 1981 solo debut Bella Donna and Wilco’s 1995 debut A.M. are the two albums in question, with both available now exclusively from Rhino.com and select international Warner Music Group online storefronts. Both albums are housed in old-style “tip-on” jackets; they’ve been newly mastered by Kevin Gray and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Optimal. They’re limited and numbered to 5,000 units each. As Mike D. wrote in his review of Nicks’ Complete Studio Albums and Rarities…
Release Round-Up: Week of May 30
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. Grateful Dead, The Music Never Stopped (Rhino) 3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 6LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada This live 3CD or 6LP compendium (also available digitally) from Grateful Dead to commemorate the band’s 60th anniversary includes 27 tracks representing every one of the venues in the 60-CD, 450-song Enjoying the Ride box set. Highlights include the title track from the Spectrum, 1978; “Scarlet Begonias,” “Fire on the Mountain,” and “Touch of…
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Close Up the Honky Tonks: Omnivore Collects A Decade of Live Buck Owens on New Collection
Buck-le up! Omnivore is returning to the discography of Bakersfield’s favorite son, Buck Owens, with a new 3CD set that chronicles a decade of music-making on the concert stage. Buck and His Buckaroos’ Adios, Farewell, Goodbye, Good Luck, So Long: On Stage 1964-1974 is due from the label on June 27. It boasts 89 tracks (78 songs plus 11 introductions and pieces of onstage chatter) – the majority of which are new to CD. A full 25 tracks have never been issued in any format, while a whopping 43 others are premiering…
Springsteen’s Country
Springsteen’s Country will collect 20 covers of The Boss, some familiar (Johnny Cash’s “Johnny 99,” Steve Earle’s live take on “State Trooper”), some offbeat (a take on Tunnel of Love opener “Ain’t Got You” by Solomon Burke, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s version of beloved outtake “From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)”), and some altogether lesser known (Americana acts like Lera Lynn and The Whiskey Treaty Roadshow interpreting “Fire” and “The Rising”). The set was compiled by Sean Rowley, a well-known British DJ/presenter who happens to be one of the men on the…
Somewhere North of Nashville: Ace Takes Listeners to ‘Springsteen’s Country’
Ace Records continues its quest to offer variations on a theme by exploring country interpretations of the music of Bruce Springsteen. Springsteen’s Country will collect 20 covers of The Boss, some familiar (Johnny Cash’s “Johnny 99,” Steve Earle’s live take on “State Trooper”), some offbeat (a take on Tunnel of Love opener “Ain’t Got You” by Solomon Burke, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s version of beloved outtake “From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)”), and some altogether lesser known (Americana acts like Lera Lynn and The Whiskey Treaty Roadshow interpreting “Fire” and…
The Weekend Stream: May 17, 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. A positively packed volume offers legends of pop, rock and country revisiting and interpreting some classic tracks; catalogue favorites from Britney to Sheena and Connie to Katrina; intriguing film scores and show tunes; and remembrances of a few legends we lost this week. Steve Perry & Willie Nelson, “Faithfully” (Dark Horse) (Apple / Amazon) One of rock’s most recognizable voices joins forces with country’s most enduring living icon! Former Journey…
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The Weekend Stream: May 3, 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. We’ve got a real party mix for you this week: alt-rock, soft rock, classic rock (in Spanish!), post-hardcore, funk, Barbra Streisand – you name it, we’re spinning it! R.E.M., Radio Free Europe 2025 EP (Craft) (Apple / Amazon / Bandcamp) The legendary Athens, Georgia rockers have a special, timely treat for fans this weekend. With the real and nonpartisan Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s grants under fire from the current presidential…
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Release Round-Up: Week of April 25
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. Neil Young, Oceanside/Countryside (Reprise/NYA) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Neil Young is unveiling another once-lost album with the release of Oceanside Countryside which arrives on CD today following its vinyl release.The LP was recorded from May to December 1977; the first side comprised solo Young performances, while most of the second featured a full band. It never saw release, though. Instead, Comes a Time hit store shelves in October 1978. Both albums…
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