Few singers could conjure as much emotion through words and tone as Nina Simone. While many of her best-known albums from the '60s and '70s have become widely available in recent years, music from her ex-U.S. years have been much harder to find. Among the most sought-after is Fodder On My Wings, a 1982 album originally released on the French label Carrere. Decades out-of-print on a major label, the album will be re-released by Verve and UMe - complete with new cover art - on April 3. Whether
Release Round-Up: Week of February 21
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Hank Williams, Pictures from Life's Other Side - The Man and His Music in Rare Photos and Recordings (BMG) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) BMG salutes late singer-songwriter-legend Hank Williams with the release of Pictures from Life's Other Side - The Man and His Music in Rare Photos and Recordings. This lavish 6-CD collection presents all 144 tracks recorded by Williams for his 1951 radio show sponsored by Mother's Best Flour
U're Gonna C Me: New Wave of Prince Reissues Includes Live Box Set
Legacy Recordings and The Prince Estate are partying like it's 2001-2002! On April 17, The Rainbow Children (2001) and One Nite Alone... (2002) will be reissued along with Prince's first official live albums from the tour that took place in between those two studio releases. One Nite Alone...Live! and One Nite Alone: The Aftershow...It Ain't Over! will both premiere on vinyl in limited edition purple, while The Rainbow Children returns to CD for the first time in years and on a clear double
I Say a Prayer With Every Heartbeat: Vinyl Me, Please Expands Whitney Houston's Debut for 35th Anniversary
Thirty-five years ago today -- on Valentine's Day, 1985 -- Whitney Houston's self-titled debut was released. With three consecutive No. 1 singles, "You Give Good Love," "How Will I Know" and "Greatest Love Of All," the album was a smash hit that introduced listeners to one of the most talented vocalists of all time. Now, to celebrate that anniversary, Vinyl Me, Please will partner with Legacy Recordings to press a special 2LP, peaches-and-cream-colored 180-gram vinyl pressing. The first disc
Release Round-Up: Week of February 14
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Johnny Mathis, The Island (Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The 1989 "lost" album by Johnny Mathis is lost no more! Renowned producer Sergio Mendes of Brasil '66 fame and arranger-guitarist Dori Caymmi joined Mathis on The Island to subtly modernize the classic sounds of bossa nova and samba. He delivered some of his most sensual vocals ever for ten smoldering songs by Caymmi, Mendes, Ivan Lins,
Love You More: Billy Ocean Announces New Album, "One World"
Last month, the multi-platinum-selling singer Billy Ocean - known for his streak of pop and R&B hits in the '70s and '80s - celebrated his 70th birthday. To mark the occasion, he also announced the release of his first album of new material in 10 years, entitled One World. Due April 17 from Legacy Recordings, the record sees Ocean reunite with producer Barry Eastmond, whose credits include a number of Billy's best-loved hits, like "When The Going Gets Tough" and "Love Zone." As the press
Ace Round-Up, Part Two: Spotlight on Merseybeat Girls, "Jon Savage's 1969-1971" and "Deep Soul Treasures"
Today, we're looking at another trio of recent releases from the team at Ace Records! If you missed Part One of our Ace Round-Up, click here! While The Beatles are no doubt Liverpool's most famous musical export, Merseyside - spanning 249 square miles (or 645 square kilometers) bordering Lancashire to the northeast, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south and southeast, and The Irish Sea to the west - yielded an abundance of groups like The Cryin' Shames, Gerry and The
Let's Do It Again: Playback Records Returns with Curtis Mayfield, Timi Yuro Collections
Australia's Playback Records label returned to the scene in 2019 with a pair of new releases and the promise of more to come. Today, we're looking at those new titles from Curtis Mayfield and Timi Yuro! As a writer, producer, and artist - both solo and with The Impressions - Curtis Mayfield (1942-1999) was one of the foremost exponents of Chicago soul. He penned such favorites as Jan Bradley's "Mama Didn't Lie" and Major Lance's "The Monkey Time," not to mention such Impressions hits as
Release Round-Up: Week of February 7
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Bryan Ferry, Live at the Royal Albert Hall 1974 (BMG) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Bryan Ferry's Live at the Royal Albert Hall 1974 presents 14 selections recorded at the storied London venue in 1974 drawn from his first two solo albums. These range from classic standards ("These Foolish Things," "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes") to '60s pop ("Don't Worry Baby," "It's My Party"), rock
Release Round-Up: Week of January 31
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Rod McKuen, New Ballads (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Real Gone celebrates the late Rod McKuen with a slate of releases this week. For the 1970 album New Ballads, the singer-songwriter teamed with renowned arranger-conductor Don Costa for this remarkable collection of songs including "As I Love My Own," the dramatic Jacques Brel collaboration "I'm Not Afraid," "Thank You for Christmas," and a composition which
The Start of Something: Roberta Flack's "First Take" Gets Expanded Reissue With Unreleased Material
Roberta Flack's inimitable voice has stirred listeners for over 50 years. She's had hits in the pop, R&B, and traditional vocal fields; earned six gold records, and achieved a multi-platinum success with Killing Me Softly. In April, Flack will be honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for her lasting creative contributions. To mark the occasion, SoulMusic.com and Run Out Groove will release a special version of Flack's debut on April 10. First Take: 50th Anniversary Deluxe
The Right Time: Vinyl Me Please To Release "Aretha Now" on Mono LP
Record club Vinyl Me Please has announced their latest Record of the Month: Aretha Franklin's 1968 landmark, Aretha Now. The album will be pressed on 180-gram black vinyl and uses the classic mono mix, remastered by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound and pressed at QRP. Prior to this VMP edition, the mono mix of Aretha Now was only available on highly sought-after U.S. promos, or on rare U.K. or Brazilian original pressings. Now, Aretha's classic - featuring "I Say A Little Prayer," "Think," and so
It's For Real: "Encore" Collects Donna Summer's Complete Studio Albums and More
On March 27, Demon Music Group's Crimson Productions label will release Encore, the ultimate Donna Summer box set. The Queen of Disco's reigned over the pop charts for decades with stints on Casablanca, Geffen, Mercury, and Atlantic. Over the years, she released 17 studio albums, two live albums, and a wealth of successful singles. Encore will bring together all those albums across 33 CDs, plus 8 discs of 7" and 12" mixes, rare edits, non-album cuts, and
Your Soul and Mine: Gil Scott-Heron's "I'm New Here" Receives 10th Anniversary Expanded Edition and New Remix Album
A decade ago, influential proto-hip-hop performer and writer Gil Scott-Heron released his final solo album, I'm New Here. XL Recordings will revisit the acclaimed album with an expanded edition that hits shops on February 7, exactly ten years after the original was unleashed to the public. The revisited 2-CD or 2-LP color vinyl set features the original album alongside two unreleased recordings - a newly unearthed original called "King Henry IV" and a take on Richie Havens' arrangement of
Release Round-Up: Week of January 24
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Elton John, Live from Moscow 1979 (Mercury/UMe) 2-CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2-LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2019 marked the 40th anniversary of Elton John's landmark tour of Russia, where he stunned audiences as the first rocker to perform in the country. His concerts there were intimate events where he performed alongside percussionist Ray Cooper. Now, Elton brings his May 28, 1979 concert in Moscow to
Ace Round-Up, Part One: London American and Westbound Records Anthologies
Having previously chronicled 1956-1966 over eleven volumes, Ace has returned to its London American Label series for a last (?) hurrah. The London American Label Year by Year: 1967 is packed with 28 stellar selections to illuminate a year in which the label was in steadfast decline. London had long been the destination for great American records, but the major U.S. companies were launching their own U.K. arms and declining to license to London. This led London to release fewer 45s from
Wake Up Everybody: Vocalion Releases Quad SACDs from Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, O'Jays, Earth Wind and Fire, Helen Reddy
The U.K.'s Dutton Vocalion label has announced its first batch of hybrid SACD releases for 2020, all of which feature original quadraphonic and stereo mixes. (The stereo mixes are playable on all CD players.) This round follows an eclectic array of titles released in 2019 including albums by Paul Revere and The Raiders, The Guess Who, Argent, Blood Sweat & Tears, Carlos Santana, and numerous others. (Visit the Dutton Vocalion website for information on all of these titles and more!) The
Release Round-Up: Week of January 17
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Marshall Crenshaw, Miracle of Science [Revised Edition] (Shiny-Tone) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Singer-songwriter Marshall Crenshaw reissues his 1996 Razor & Tie release on his own Shiny-Tone label, tinkering with some tracks and adding two new recordings. It launches a new reissue campaign that will ultimately encompass three studio albums -- Miracle of Science, 1999's
RPM Records Wraps Up Almost 30 Year Run; Label's Final Release Due in May
For nearly three decades, the RPM Records arm of Cherry Red Records has exemplified the finest in archival reissues. Here at The Second Disc, we've covered dozens of RPM's often ambitious titles over the last ten years - most of which shed light on artists and albums that would likely otherwise have languished in the vaults. RPM's releases gave equal consideration to all artists, whether the famous (Gene Pitney, Chad and Jeremy, The Spencer Davis Group), the soon-to-be- famous (the pre-ABBA Hep
Thank You For The Music: On 10 Years of The Second Disc
Ten years ago, I was writing my first post for The Second Disc, a website about music reissues I thought was a pretty bright idea. A lot has changed since then. The first posts were written in the bedroom of a suburban New Jersey home - the house I grew up in and moved back into after post-college economic downturn made it the best possible choice to live. This post was written in an apartment in Queens that I share with a lovely fiancée who is very cool about the amount of box sets
Release Round-Up: Week of January 10
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Laura Nyro, More Than a New Discovery [Limited Violet Vinyl Mono Edition] (Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Today's the day! We're so proud to reissue, for the first time ever on vinyl (and in homage to the artist's favorite color), Laura Nyro's 1967 debut More Than a New Discovery in a violet vinyl limited edition of 1,250 copies. This edition features the original, long out-of-print (and
He Sends Us: Sam Cooke's Keen Years Collected In New Box
Sam Cooke would have turned 90 on January 22, 2021, but that's not stopping the party from starting a little early! This month, The King of Soul will be celebrated with a new box set featuring five of his albums for the Keen label. The Complete Keen Years (1957-1960) showcases Cooke's early work as a pop craftsman at the end of the 1950s. At the beginning of the decade, Cooke was a teenage sensation as a member of gospel group The Soul Stirrers. But his interest in R&B and pop could not
The Year in Review: The 2019 Gold Bonus Disc Awards, From A to Z
Happy 2020 and welcome to The Second Disc's 10th Annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards! It's time once again to recognize this year's cream of the crop - those exemplary reissues and box sets big and small that proved to be truly outstanding products for music lovers worldwide. There was no shortage of great reissue titles in 2019; in fact, by our count, we covered over 700 releases in all! And after much deliberation, we're excited to unveil our favorites. This isn't your run-of-the-mill Top 10,
You Can Handle It: Real Gone Announces Vinyl Reissues of Soul Classics
Happy New Year, everybody! 2020 is shaping up to be a great year for Real Gone Music. There's the upcoming standalone version of Johnny Mathis' The Island, the return of Laura Nyro's More Than A New Discovery in mono...and that's just the Second Disc Records slate so far! In addition to titles from Rod McKuen and Barbara Eden, Real Gone has also announced remastered vinyl editions of Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band's enduring Express Yourself and It's Just A Matter of
In Memoriam: Jerry Herman (1931-2019) and Allee Willis (1947-2019)
This week, popular music lost two of its titans: Jerry Herman, 88, and Allee Willis, 72. Today, we pay tribute to them. "There is no tune like a showtune," went the lyric of Jerry Herman's sprightly song for the 1960 off-Broadway revue Parade starring Dody Goodman, Richard Tone, and the young Charles Nelson Reilly. And there is certainly no tune like a Jerry Herman showtune: bright, bouncy, heartfelt, optimistic, moving, exciting. While Herman's oeuvre was relatively small compared to many of
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