Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Fleetwood Mac, Live: Super Deluxe Edition (Warner/Rhino) (Rhino.com / Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Rhino reissues Fleetwood Mac's 1980 Live - the first live album from the line-up of Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood - as a deluxe 3CD/2LP/7″ box set. The two CDs and two LPs will both have the remastered original double album. The third CD will offer 14 previously unreleased
Release Round-Up: Week of March 19
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Neil Young, After the Gold Rush: 50th Anniversary [Vinyl + 7" Box] (Reprise) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) This 50th Anniversary remastered edition of Neil Young's classic album was released on CD in December; now the vinyl version arrives. The set includes two different recordings of the outtake "Wonderin'" on the bonus 45. The A-side was recorded in March 1970 in Topanga (previously heard on Archives Vol. 1) while the B-side is
I Want You, I Need You: Retroactive Reissues Three from Chris Christian Including Star-Studded LP with Cross, Valli, Champlin, Beckley, Foster
Chris Christian rose to prominence as one-third of the pop trio Cotton, Lloyd and Christian alongside producer Michael Lloyd (The Osmonds, Barry Manilow) and Daryl Cotton (Zoot, Olivia Newton-John). Before long, Christian's songs were being recorded by the likes of Elvis Presley ("Love Song of the Year"), Dionne Warwick ("When the World Runs Out of Love"), and Carpenters ("(Want You) Back in My Life Again"). Christian also produced and wrote songs for artists including B.J. Thomas, Marilyn
Holiday Gift Guide Stax Spotlight: The Staple Singers' "Come Go with Me" and "The Gospel Truth: Complete Singles Collection"
UPDATED DECEMBER 2020: Earlier this year, Craft Recordings released The Staple Singers' Come Go with Me: The Stax Collection in vinyl and digital editions. The set compiled all of the famed gospel group's 1968-1974 albums for the Stax label plus a volume of rarities, non-LP single sides, and live recordings. Now, that box has come to CD as beautifully remastered from the original analog tapes by Jeff Powell at Take Out Vinyl. Come Go with Me: The Stax Collection features the following
Release Round-Up: Week of November 13
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Elton John, Jewel Box (EMI/UMe) 8CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Deep Cuts 4LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Rarities & B-Sides 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada And This Is Me... 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Elton John is reaching deep into the vault with Jewel Box, a new, super-sized collection of rare and unreleased material. The British pop legend's deep dive into his
They'll Take You There: Craft Recordings Releases Staple Singers' "Come Go with Me: The Stax Collection" on CD
Earlier this year, Craft Recordings released The Staple Singers' Come Go with Me: The Stax Collection in vinyl and digital editions. The set compiled all of The Staple Singers' 1968-1974 albums for the Stax label plus a volume of rarities, non-LP single sides, and live recordings. On November 13, that box will come to CD as remastered from the original analog tapes by Jeff Powell at Take Out Vinyl. Come Go with Me: The Stax Collection features the following original studio albums: Soul
Ride Out the Storm: Craft Recordings Collects "Complete Singles" From Stax's Eclectic Gospel Truth Imprint
Earlier this year, Craft Recordings kicked off its celebration of Stax Records' Gospel Truth imprint with a weekly digital album campaign. That series wrapped up on August 28, opening the door for the November 13 release on CD and LP of The Gospel Truth: The Complete Singles Collection. Stax chief Al Bell launched Gospel Truth in 1972, working in close coordination with radio promotions guru/producer/songwriter Dave Clark and Stax staffer Mary Peak Paterson. Early press materials for the
Release Round-Up: Week of July 10
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Grateful Dead, Workingman's Dead: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Grateful Dead/Rhino) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Often hailed as one of Grateful Dead's most accessible albums along with its follow-up, American Beauty, Workingman's Dead placed its focus on tighter songcraft in a country/folk-oriented vein that would later be described as "Americana." It introduced the group's
In Memoriam: Little Richard (1932-2020)
The stupid but true thing to start off with is there was nothing "little" about him. I was born in 1987, a year after Richard Penniman was officially canonized as one of rock and roll's true pioneers, inducted into the first class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. From that point through the early '90s, he got to enjoy some unlikely fruits of becoming an elder statesman that aren't typically afforded to many at this stage in their careers. In 1986, his song "Great Gosh A'Mighty," from the
Message in the Music: Craft Recordings Celebrates Legacy of Stax's Gospel Truth Records
Craft Recordings is celebrating the Gospel Truth with a new reissue campaign dedicated to that Stax Records imprint. Every week, the label drops a digital reissue of a Gospel Truth title culminating in the vinyl, CD, and digital release in September - Gospel Heritage Month - of a newly-curated singles collection. Various digital playlists and lyric videos will also be unveiled throughout the course of the series. Stax chief Al Bell launched Gospel Truth in 1972, working in close coordination
Trying To Make A Living: Classics From Chicago's Independent Blues Scene Collected on "Cadillac Baby's Bea and Baby Records"
Blues fanatics rejoice! Earwig Music Company invites listeners to take a spin with a new 101-track, 4-CD collection of classic Chicago blues, R&B, and gospel recordings. Cadillac Baby's Bea & Baby Records: The Definitive Collection, due to arrive on July 19, chronicles one of Chicago's finest indie blues labels. Bea & Baby Records was founded by entrepreneur and music fanatic Narvel "Cadillac Baby" Eatmon. From 1959-1989, the label and its subsidiaries (among them Key, Keyhole,
Release Round-Up: Week of May 24
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! America, Classic Album Collection: The Capitol Years (Capitol/Caroline) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) All six of America's Capitol albums are collected in one newly remastered box set. Classic Album Collection: The Capitol Years presents newly remastered versions of 1979's Silent Letter, 1980's Alibi, 1982's View from the Ground, 1983's Your Move, 1984's Perspective, and 1985's In Concert in one deluxe, affordable package complete
I've Got A Sure Thing: Craft Presents "Soul Explosion" Vinyl Reissue, Plus A Month of Stax Digital Rarities
Craft Recordings has announced the next phase of its campaign to honor one of the great labels of soul - Stax Records. Entitled "Soul Explosion," the campaign began with their Record Store Day releases of Boy Meets Girl: Classic Stax Duets, Stax Does The Beatles and the first-ever mono reissue of Albert King's Born Under A Bad Sign. The next phase begins on May 31 and will see new vinyl and digital reissues of classics from 1969, which proved to be a watershed year for the label, and
True Grit: Capitol Reissues, Updates "Glen Campbell: The Legacy" Box Set For June Release
Since going out of print, Capitol Records' 2003 box set Glen Campbell: The Legacy [1961-2002] has been regularly commanding three-figure sums on the secondhand market. Yesterday, the label delivered some great news to fans of the late superstar. On June 21, Capitol and UMe will issue a new, updated version of the box set in slimmer, digipak packaging, and with a completely new Disc Four bringing the story of Campbell's incredible career to its completion. The first three CDs of the original
One Night Only: Smithsonian Folkways Celebrates 50 Years of "Jazz Fest: The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival," Box Set Due in May
The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, or simply "Jazz Fest," as it's become known, is more than a gathering of musicians performing for a crowd. Since its founding, it's become a cultural event; an annual celebration of the unique music, art, food, and people of New Orleans and beyond, with acts ranging from jazz, rock, pop, country, blues, and more. To celebrate the festival's fiftieth year, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings has announced the May 10 release of Jazz Fest: The New Orleans
Release Round-Up: Week of March 22
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up. Here's what's on the way today, March 22! Aretha Franklin, Amazing Grace: The Complete Recordings (Rhino/Atlantic Catalog Group) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Amazing Grace: The Complete Recordings presents Aretha Franklin's iconic concerts at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles during January 1972 in full. Both the Thursday night and Friday night sets are accounted for, spread across four 180-gram LPs. For
Precious Memories: Rhino Brings Aretha Franklin's Complete "Amazing Grace" to Vinyl
Fans of the late, legendary Aretha Franklin are often surprised to discover that The Queen of Soul's best-selling album isn't I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, Lady Soul, or even Who's Zoomin' Who? Rather, that honor goes to the Grammy-winning 1972 live album Amazing Grace - a fact that no doubt pleased Franklin. In fact, it's recognized as the best-selling live gospel album of all time. The 1999 expanded edition of the heartfelt, passionate gospel set will make its vinyl premiere from
Never Grow Old: Aretha's Early Gospel Recordings Back On Vinyl In March
UMe will commemorate the late, legendary Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, with a new vinyl reissue of her earliest recordings next month. Songs Of Faith: Aretha Gospel offers nine gospel standards recorded by a 14-year-old Aretha in 1956 at the New Bethel Church in her native Detroit, where her father, the legendary Rev. C.L. Franklin, would give his inimitable sermons. Predating her tenure on Columbia Records by six years and her breakthrough on Atlantic Records by more than a decade, these
Release Round-Up: Week of February 8
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Prince, Musicology [Various Formats] (Legacy) 1-CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2-LP black vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2-LP purple vinyl: Prince Official Store Today, three of Prince's essential 2000s albums arrive on CD and, for the first time ever, LP. Musicology marked Prince's return to a major label and to the upper heights of the charts. It reached the Top Five on the Billboard Album Chart in
Yesterday's Dreams: UMe Releases "Motown Unreleased: 1968" and "In Loving Memory: Expanded Edition" Copyright Extension Collections
In a winter tradition that's as reliable as any, UMe has released the latest in the annual copyright extension series, entitled Motown Unreleased: 1968. The two-part compilation will arrive to digital download and streaming services today, December 14. Between the two volumes, there's a whopping 88 tantalizing, previously unreleased gems from the Motown vault! Motown heavy-hitters, soul superstars, and fan favorites abound on these two collections. There's a wealth of Stevie Wonder rarities,
THE SECOND DISC'S 2018 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE IS HERE!
Another Cyber Monday is upon us, which means one thing at Second Disc HQ: it's time to launch our annual Holiday Gift Guide, featuring more than 50 essential selections for the music enthusiast in your life! We've filled the guide with box sets (such as the David Bowie title to your left!) as well as archival releases and holiday music favorites that will make great stocking stuffers. So just click here to access this year's top picks, reflecting the diversity of music released this year in
Good News: Cherry Red, SoulMusic Collect Staple Singers' Epic Years on "For What It's Worth"
Stop, children, what's that sound? For nearly half a century, the sound of The Staple Singers was one of tremendous power. Roebuck "Pops" Staples, daughters Cleotha, Mavis, and (sometimes) Yvonne, and son Pervis raised their voices in song to celebrate the Lord, but also to fight for civil rights and espouse messages of positivity and resilience to listeners worldwide. At Epic Records, the group transitioned from pure gospel and blues to soul and R&B - a move that would take them to the
Release Round-Up: Week of August 10
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Elvis Presley, Where No One Stands Alone (RCA/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) RCA presents 14 of The King's seminal gospel and spiritually-themed recordings, all remixed with new orchestrations and new supporting vocals from artists who knew and worked with Elvis including Darlene Love, Cissy Houston, and Lisa Marie Presley plus members of The Stamps Quartet and The Imperials. Includes new versions of "Stand by Me," "You'll
Review: Bear Family's "Battleground Korea: Songs and Sounds of America's Forgotten War"
If there was any doubt that history could be engaging as well as informative, such doubt would be dispelled by a listen to Bear Family's new release, the 4-CD box set Battleground Korea: Songs and Sounds of America's Forgotten War. Make no mistake, the handsomely slipcased collection is as imposing and heavy as a textbook, as its four discs are housed within a lavish, 160-page hardcover tome. But this immersive journey can't help but thrill in its scope and execution. It follows previous Bear
Release Round-Up: Week of March 16
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Various Artists, Andrew Lloyd Webber: Unmasked - The Platinum Collection (Polydor/UMC) 4CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Let the memory live again! Andrew Lloyd Webber celebrates his 70th birthday and provocative new 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