Real Gone Music has just announced their October slate of titles and while only one of them will get you into the Halloween spirit, there might well be something else among the eclectic choice of genres to pique your interest! First up, Real Gone is releasing three two-disc greatest hits collections. One of these features liner notes from our very own Joe Marchese: Percy Faith's The Definitive Collection. Faith was hugely in demand at Columbia Records, arranging and conducting for a large
Ramseur Reissues Josh White's Elektra Classic "Josh At Midnight" On Vinyl
Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman once said of Josh White, "Josh was his own man in a time before it became fashionable." Indeed, White (1914-1969) had a remarkable career. He recorded blues, gospel and folk on so-called "race records" in the 1920s and 1930s before moving on to headline at New York's Café Society, and appearing on radio, in motion pictures and in four Broadway productions. He played stages around the world, singing before royalty. Yet the career of the pioneering
Release Round-Up: Week of August 19
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Turtles, The Complete Original Album Collection (Manifesto/FloEdCo) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The definitive Turtles box set is here! The Complete Original Albums Collection presents all six albums released by The Turtles between 1965 and 1970, expanded with rare bonus material. Each of the group's first three albums -- It Ain't Me Babe, You Baby and Happy Together -- is presented in its original mono and stereo mixes,
Rounder Records Continues 45th Anniversary Celebration with Classic Bluegrass Reissues
Rounder Records, one of the preeminent labels in the realm of roots music and Americana, is currently celebrating its 45th anniversary. As part of its ongoing digital catalogue initiative, the label has reissued a number of vintage bluegrass albums on digital service providers this month. Artists include Mark O'Connor, The Rice Brothers, Kenny Baker, Stuart Duncan, Tony Trischka, Hazel Dickens, and The Wayfaring Strangers! Without any further ado, you can check out Rounder's August digital
Release Round-Up: Week of August 5
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Wilson Pickett, Land of 1000 Dances: The Complete Atlantic Singles Vol. 1 (Real Gone) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Real Gone Music has the first release in a three-volume collection chronicling Wilson Pickett's tenure at Atlantic Records. The Wicked Pickett released a total of 66 single sides at the label and The Complete Atlantic Singles Vol. 1 collects the first 22 of these in their original mono single mixes. You'll find some
Release Round-Up: Week of July 15
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Little Richard, Mono Box: The Complete Specialty and Vee-Jay Albums (Concord/Specialty) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) This new, 5-LP vinyl box set collects all of the studio albums that Little Richard recorded for both the Specialty and Vee-Jay labels between 1957 and 1965. The mono albums, each replicating the original label and jacket art, have been remastered from analog tapes. A 16-page booklet featuring new liner
Release Round-Up: Week of July 1
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! We've got the latest release from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music as well as plenty more that we know you won't want to miss! Eddy Arnold, Each Road I Take: The Lee Hazlewood and Chet Atkins Sessions 1970 (Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Our newest release brings together two seminal, never-before-reissued albums by Eddy Arnold on one CD, both from 1970. Love and Guitars captured Arnold
In The Midnight Hour: Real Gone August Slate Includes Wilson Pickett, The B-52's, Dusty Springfield, Diamond Rio, More
With summer nearly upon us, we're all beginning to make plans for the next few months. Real Gone is doing the same, having just revealed what its releases are going to be for middle of summer in August! The first item on the list is the first of an eventual three-volume collection chronicling Wilson Pickett's tenure at Atlantic Records. Pickett released a total of 66 single sides at the label and The Complete Atlantic Singles Vol. 1 collects the first 22 of these. When Pickett moved to
Dynamic Duos: Omnivore Reissues Henske and Yester's "Farewell Aldebaran" and McGarrigle Sisters' "Pronto"
Omnivore Recordings is gearing up for a busy summer, with releases from The Kingbees, The Bangles, Velvet Crush and many more. Two of the label's most exciting titles, however, come from a pair of remarkable duos. Farewell Aldebaran arrived in 1969 on Frank Zappa's Straight Records label from the duo of Judy Henske and Jerry Yester. Henske was the onetime "Queen of the Beatniks" whose distinctive, bluesy voice earned her legions of fans on the folk circuit. She appeared alongside Johnny
Laura Nyro, David Bromberg, Ann Wilson Headline Rounder's June Reissue Campaign
The venerable Rounder Records label, currently enjoying its 45th anniversary, has long been a leading light in the realm of roots music and Americana. But those terms need not be applied solely to one type of music. This month, as part of its ongoing digital catalogue initiative, Rounder is reissuing a number of titles blurring the genre lines of roots-rock and Americana. Some of the familiar names represented in this go-round include Ann Wilson of Heart, Laura Nyro, David
Even The Nights Are Better: Real Gone's June Slate Features Petula Clark, Air Supply, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Fairport Convention, More
With spring having just begun, it might be hard to believe that summer is going to be here before we know it. But the year marches on and Real Gone Music is kicking off the summer with its June 3rd slate of titles. As per usual with the label, there are a wide variety of genres being represented, including one that Real Gone has never dipped into before. We'll begin with the two titles that feature liner notes by our very own Joe Marchese. The first is a collection from sixties British
Release Round-Up: Week of April 22
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Impressions, The Best of The Impressions: The Curtom Years (Varese Vintage) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Varese Vintage has an impressive line-up of releases this week! First up, the label has brought together 18 prime cuts from the premier purveyors of Chicago soul, Curtis Mayfield and the legendary Impressions. This set features singles released on the Curtom label between 1968 and 1976 including the R&B hits "Fool for
To Know Them Is To Love Them: Dolly, Emmylou and Linda Release "The Complete Trio Collection"
Individually, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris have created some of the most beautiful records of all time, blurring the lines between country, pop, folk, and rock-and-roll. Collectively, the threesome released two transcendent and heartfelt albums, Trio (1987) and Trio II (1999). The two landmark LPs garnered sales of over five million copies and three Grammy Awards and became beloved additions to all three artists' discographies. Today, Rhino Records announced the September 9
Rounder Bluegrass Initiative Features Béla Fleck, Doc Watson, John Hartford, Louvin Brothers, More
Rounder Records, the pioneering American roots music label, is in the midst of its 45th anniversary celebration. Over the past months, the Cambridge-founded, Nashville-based Rounder has been making titles from its deep catalogue available as digital downloads. Last month, the label threw a Mardi Gras party with digital reissues of R&B, blues, jazz and Cajun music of the Crescent City. This month, the 51-time Grammy-winning Rounder - since 2010 under the umbrella of the Concord Music Group
Special Shout-Out to This Year's Reissue Grammy Winners; Legacy Leads Catalogue Pack
The 58th Annual Grammy awards were held a little over a week ago and there were numerous winners. The Grammys have so many categories that the majority are not given out on the actual television broadcast. Even though we're a little late, we'd like to give acknowledgment to the winners from reissue and catalogue labels who picked up an award, some for categories that aren't always exclusively associated with reissues. The biggest winner of the night for reissue labels was Sony's Legacy
Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man: Bob Dylan's "Bootleg - Live 1964" Coming In Surround Sound
The sixth volume of Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series is coming to 5.0 multichannel hybrid SACD from Audio Fidelity in March. Live 1964: Concert at Philharmonic Hall was mixed into surround sound years ago by Sony, but the mix has sat on the shelf until now. It will arrive March 18 as newly remastered by Steve Hoffman (with a remastered stereo layer playable on all CD players). First released in 2004, Bootleg Series Vol. 6 premiered Dylan's Halloween night concert from 1964 at New York's
The Year In Review, Part 2 - More Of The Best Of 2015
The Second Disc is continuing its celebration of 2015's finest with today's column by Ted Frank! Stop, do not pass GO and do not collect 200 dollars if you haven't already read our Sixth Annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards summation of the year's greatest releases. Here, Ted presents his very own, alternative year in review with titles new and old! I make records ... I really don't want to be about singles or anything. -Adele, The Tonight Show In recent years, the download/stream-heavy music
Cherry Red's él Label Offers Rod McKuen, Wally Stott, Bobby Scott Rarities
Cherry Red's él imprint has a trio of recent releases continuing its commitment to truly eclectic sounds of the pre-1964 era. Two of these are musical odes to the big city life of London and New York, from arrangers Wally Stott and Bobby Scott, respectively; the third reissues and expands a compilation from the late Rod McKuen. Singer-songwriter-poet-author-renaissance man McKuen, who died earlier this year, was recently the subject of Varese Vintage's Reflections: The Greatest Songs of Rod
Raven Has Folk and Funk With Melanie and Mother's Finest
Raven Records' most recent pair of CDs certainly showcase the label's eclectic leanings! From singer-songwriter Melanie Safka, the label has a three-for-one release of her much-loved albums Candles in the Rain, Leftover Wine and Gather Me. The Melanie release is joined by a four-for-one title from pioneering funk-rockers Mother's Finest collecting the band's self-titled LP plus Mother's Finest Live, Another Mother Further and Mother Factor. Raven's release from Melanie follows the Morello
The Year of Al Stewart: Esoteric Reissues Three Early Albums
Al Stewart attained soft rock immortality with his 1976 Top 10 Pop and AC hit "Year of the Cat." But the Glasgow-born, Bournemouth-raised artist and writer had been recording as a leading light of the British folk revival scene for a full decade by the time of his radio breakthrough. Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings imprint has recently restored to print Stewart's third, fourth and fifth albums for the U.K.'s CBS Records label in newly remastered editions. CBS had been Stewart's home since
Release Round-Up: Week of December 11
This week's Release Round-Up is slimmer than most of late, but still filled with some ideal stocking stuffers... Joe Cocker, The Life of a Man: Ultimate Hits 1968-2013 (UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada) UMe celebrates the life and career of the late, great Joe Cocker with this new 3-CD, 36-track anthology with greatest hits and deeper cuts including a live version of "With a Little Help from My Friends" never before released in the United States. This set was previously released in
Brand New Melanie: Morello Label Reissues Four of Melanie's Rare Albums On CD
"Well, I got a brand new pair of roller skates/You got a brand new key/I think that we should get together and try them out you see..." With her chart-topping 1971 hit "Brand New Key," Melanie Safka-Schekeryk built on the success of previous hits like the Woodstock-inspired anthem "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)" and her cover of The Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday." But "Brand New Key" also unfairly tagged the singer-songwriter as a novelty artist, a notion she was quick to dispose with the
Release Round-Up: Week of October 30
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Packed with over 30 titles including highly-anticipated reissues, a slew of box sets, collections and more, it just may be the mightiest of the year! The Velvet Underground, Loaded: Re-Loaded 45th Anniversary Edition (Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) The Velvet Underground's 1970 album - and Lou Reed's swansong with the band - gets the deluxe expanded treatment from Rhino in this new box set featuring the original stereo and mono
Roger McGuinn and Pete Seeger, Tony Orlando, Doc Watson Join Bottom Line Archive Series
The Bottom Line Archive Series, preserving performances from the late, renowned New York club, will roll out a new trio of releases on October 30. Joining previous entries from artists including The Brecker Brothers, Harry Chapin and Janis Ian are new titles from Tony Orlando, Doc Watson, and the duo of Pete Seeger and Roger McGuinn. One 1994 evening at The Bottom Line, famed disk jockey Vin Scelsa joined folk legend Pete Seeger and The Byrds' Roger McGuinn for one-of-a-kind exchange of
Hear The Bang: Lost Country-Rock Classic By Late Singer-Songwriter Denny Lile Is Rediscovered
Singer-songwriter Denny Lile was only 21 years old when a newspaper headline proclaimed "Maybe THIS time it's Denny Lile's turn," but he was already a veteran of the music business and its vagaries. A couple of singles came and went with his band Elysian Field on Imperial Records; the same fate befell Soul, Inc. and its handful of singles on the Laurie label. At the time of that headline, Lile was striking out with his own group Otis for the single release of "Hear the Bang." A self-titled