Folk

Another Merry Discmas to All from The Second Disc!

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…

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Holiday Gift Guide Review: Bob Dylan, “The Bootleg Series Vol. 18: Through the Open Window”

Bob Dylan met Columbia Records’ John Hammond on September 14, 1961 at the apartment of folksinger Richard Farina and his then-wife Carolyn Hester.  Dylan had been invited to Carolyn’s rehearsal session as a harmonica player.  Hammond later told the story of being so impressed with the young man from Hibbing, Minnesota that he decided to sign him on the spot.  A subsequent audition took place, and when Dylan – then dazzling audiences at Gerde’s Folk City on a bill shared with The Greenbriar Boys – showed up for Hester’s Columbia session on…

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Release Round-Up: Week of December 5

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles out today!  As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Judy Collins, The ’60s Singles (Second Disc/Real Gone) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music Judy Blue Eyes Vinyl LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music Judy Collins’ The ’60s Singles brings together, for the first time, the remarkable array of 45s on which the singer’s discography was built. With songs by Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Randy Newman, Sandy Denny, Eric Andersen, and Joni Mitchell – including the international smash “Both…

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OUT TOMORROW! Judy Collins’ “The ’60s Singles” Arrives from Real Gone Music, Second Disc Records

It’s no exaggeration to state that Judy Collins transformed the sound of folk music. With a crystalline voice and a songbook blurring traditional genre lines, the Seattle native came to prominence in the fertile Greenwich Village stomping grounds of New York City.  The luminous Collins – a classical piano prodigy, talented guitarist, gifted adapter and later, songwriter, and singer with a three-octave range – signed with Jac Holzman’s Elektra Records in 1961 and remained an Elektra artist for nearly two-and-a-half decades. Tomorrow, December 5, Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records will revisit…

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

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…

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The Second Disc’s Guide to Record Store Day Black Friday 2025

From all of us here at Second Disc HQ to all of you, we hope you’ve enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving in the company of beloved family and friends. (And with plenty of delicious food, too!)  Now, Record Store Day’s annual Black Friday event is upon us, so we’re spotlighting a dozen of the most eagerly anticipated releases arriving to your local independent brick-and-mortar record shop! Here are our personal picks for RSD BF must-haves; visit Record Store Day’s official website for a list of participating retailers.  Happy Listening, and have a great…

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The Weekend Stream: November 8, 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. It’s a positively packed line-up today: pop icons old and new, unique stage experiences and two different trips to the land of Oz – plus a really cool recording summit opportunity for New Yorkers and a trio of tributes to some deceased musical heroes. Madonna, Confessions on a Dance Floor (Twenty Years Edition) (Warner/Rhino) (Apple / Amazon) The Queen of Pop’s next studio album, reportedly due out next year, is…

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Release Round-Up: Week of November 7

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,…

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The ’60s Singles

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music Judy Blue Eyes Vinyl LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music Judy Collins’ The ’60s Singles brings together, for the first time, the remarkable array of 45s on which the singer’s discography was built. With songs by Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Randy Newman, Sandy Denny, Eric Andersen, and Joni Mitchell – including the international smash “Both Sides Now” – Collins’ early Elektra singles reflected a vast musical imagination, a hunger to explore material from rock to art songs, and a powerful social conscience.  Every one of…

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Pack Up Your Sorrows: Judy Collins’ “The ’60s Singles” Arrives in December from Real Gone Music, Second Disc Records

It’s no exaggeration to state that Judy Collins transformed the sound of folk music. With a crystalline voice and a songbook blurring traditional genre lines, the Seattle native came to prominence in the fertile Greenwich Village stomping grounds of New York City.  The luminous Collins – a classical piano prodigy, talented guitarist, gifted adapter and later, songwriter, and singer with a three-octave range – signed with Jac Holzman’s Elektra Records in 1961 and remained an Elektra artist for nearly two-and-a-half decades. On December 5, Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records will revisit…

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The Weekend Stream: October 11, 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 brings some super ’70s soul, some ’80s and ’90s throwbacks on the Broadway stage and more – including a tribute to one of the original Moody Blues we lost this week. Curtis Mayfield, The Makings of: A Curtis Mayfield Collection (Rhino) (Apple / Amazon) The documentary The Makings of Curtis Mayfield – directed by Grammy-winning R&B musician H.E.R. and featuring archival footage and conversations on the Super Fly hitmaker’s craft…

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Power to Consume: Legacy Unveils Record Store Day Black Friday Slate with Prince, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, More

We’re continuing our look at this year’s Record Store Day Black Friday releases with a rundown of the nine titles coming your way on Friday, November 28 from Legacy Recordings.  These include classics from Miles Davis, Prince, and Billy Joel, a rarity from Bob Dylan, a spirited Danny Elfman soundtrack, and more!  Click here for a list of participating Record Store Day shops, and stay tuned for more RSD Black Friday news here at The Second Disc! Cage the Elephant, Live from The Vic in Chicago (RCA/Legacy) (2LP – Yellow and Black Splatter vinyl;…

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The Weekend Stream: October 4, 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. From the Foo Fighters entering Bandcamp for a cause to a Record Store Day rarity by Rage Against the Machine, the dream of the ’90s is very much alive here…plus much more from other decades, too! Are Playing Where??? Vol. I by Foo Fighters Foo Fighters, Are Playing Where??? Vol. 1 (Roswell) (Bandcamp) After kicking off a season of drummer exodus – sacking session drummer Josh Freese, who’d join…

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Release Round-Up: Week of September 26

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.’ Spike Jones in Stereo: A Spooktacular in Screaming Sound! (Omnivore) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Omnivore Recordings LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Omnivore Recordings The late, great Spike Jones’ side-splittingly spooky 1959 album In Stereo: A Spooktacular in Screaming Sound! returns from Omnivore Recordings in time for Halloween as freshly remastered from the original tapes.  Led by an illustrious company including Paul Frees (Boris Badenov, The Haunted Mansion’s Ghost Host), Thurl Ravenscroft (“You’re…

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Release Round-Up: Week of September 19

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today including – did we ever think we’d get the chance to say this? – the CD debut of Buckingham Nicks!  As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Buckingham Nicks (Rhino) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada LP: Amazon U.S. (gold) / Amazon U.K. (baby blue) / Amazon Canada (gold) In just over 15 years of reporting at The Second Disc, it’s a sentence we never thought we’d write: Buckingham Nicks is getting its first-ever reissue.  The 1973 album from Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks…

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The Bootleg Series Vol. 18: Through the Open Window, 1956-1963

8CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 4LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The beginnings of Bob Dylan’s long and extraordinary career have been revisited by Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings on the eighteenth installment of the artist’s long-running Bootleg Series.  Through the Open Window: The Bootleg Series Vol. 18 (1956-1963), available on 8 CDs as well as 2CD and 4LP “highlights” editions, comprehensively chronicles Dylan’s earliest days from Minnesota to Greenwich Village.  The full 139-track box set opens with a December 24, 1956 recording at a music store in St. Paul, MN…

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I Was Young When I Left Home: Bob Dylan’s New Bootleg Series Entry Covers His Earliest Beginnings

Bob Dylan met Columbia Records’ John Hammond on September 14, 1961 at the apartment of folksinger Richard Farina and his then-wife Carolyn Hester.  Dylan had been invited to Carolyn’s rehearsal session as a harmonica player.  Hammond later told the story of being so impressed with the young man from Hibbing, Minnesota that he decided to sign him on the spot.  A subsequent audition took place, and when Dylan – then dazzling audiences at Gerde’s Folk City on a bill shared with The Greenbriar Boys – showed up for Hester’s Columbia session on…

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A Second Disc Interview: A.J. Croce Brings the Family Songbook to Life Once More

The music business works in mysterious ways. Not long after posting news that recent remixes of Jim Croce’s classic solo albums were getting repackaged into a CD set, The Second Disc was approached with the opportunity to talk to A.J. Croce, the son of the late singer/songwriter, ahead of a tour he’s mounting. Adrian James Croce was eight days shy of turning two when a plane crash claimed the life of his father, then just 30 years old. He has since gone into music himself: hardly a clone of Jim – there’s a…

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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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Release Round-Up: Week of September 12

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today.  With nearly 25 titles, it also just might be the year’s biggest to date!  As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. David Bowie, I Can’t Give Everything Away (2002-2016) (Parlophone) 18LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 13CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada After a period of nearly four years, David Bowie’s series of “Eras” box sets is returning with a new, final volume.  I Can’t Give Everything Away (2002-2016) concludes the career-spanning chronicle of the shape-shifting superstar.  The new 13-CD or 18-LP box…

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Release Round-Up: Week of September 5

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. Joni Mitchell, Joni’s Jazz (Rhino) 4CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 8LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada What is jazz?  The question has been debated often, but now we know how Joni Mitchell might answer.  The legendary singer-songwriter’s Archives series is continuing with its first themed compilation, appropriately entitled Joni’s Jazz.  These 61 selections – available on 4 CDs or 8 LPs – draw from nearly every core album in the Mitchell discography…

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On the Road to Findout: Greatest Hits

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 4LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada In advance of the October 7 release of his memoir of the same name, Yusuf, a.k.a. Cat Stevens, is looking back on his discography with On the Road to Findout.  This newly-curated collection spanning 1967-2023 will be available as a 1CD or 2LP highlights set, as well as a deeper-dive 2CD or 4LP collection. It’s the first time an album will feature both the cream of his work as one of the top British folk songwriters…

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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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As Tears Go By: Marianne Faithfull’s “Cast Your Fate to the Wind” Collects Her Decca Recordings

Marianne Faithfull didn’t have to open her mouth to receive a recording contract.  As the story goes, so vividly recounted in the liner notes to the new box set Cast Your Fate to the Wind: The U.K. Decca Recordings, the young woman was so striking in beauty and presence that impresario Andrew Loog Oldham didn’t hesitate to sign her on sight. (Even her name was made for stardom!)  But it was just as clear that she was no ordinary pop starlet chasing dreams in Swingin’ London. Faithfull was remarkably clear-eyed, quipping to…

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Review: Nick Drake, “The Making of ‘Five Leaves Left'”

Nick Drake’s legacy is primarily built around just three albums, originally released between 1969 and 1972.  Before 1974 was out, the British singer-songwriter was gone at the age of 26.  Over the years, esteem for his small discography has only grown.  Partly, this is because the mystique has remained; the Drake estate has only sporadically gone back to the well of unreleased material.  Their cautious and curated approach has yielded a new reward with a box set dedicated to his 1969 debut.  The Making of ‘Five Leaves Left,’ available on 4 LPs…

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