Houston, Texas-born keyboardist Joe Sample (1939-2014) would have earned his place in the music history books alone for his work as a sideman with such artists as Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell, Marvin Gaye, and Minnie Riperton. But he also spent roughly thirty years as a founding member of soul-funk-jazz outfit The Jazz Crusaders (later, just […]
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Blossom, smile some sunshine down my way/Lately, I've been lonesome/Blossom, it's been much too long a day/Seems my dreams have frozen/Melt my cares away... - James Taylor, "Blossom" With the Summer of Love over, social and political tensions at a boil, and the specter of the Vietnam War still hovering, the tail end of the […]
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Everybody had a hard year/Everybody had a good time... The Beatles' twelfth and final studio LP may have been titled Let It Be, but that particular admonition has been all but ignored over the years. The album - recorded before, but released after, 1969's Abbey Road - was in some respects a step backward from […]
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While The Second Disc prides itself on connecting people to reissues and box sets they can keep on their shelves, it's no secret that listening audiences are also digital - catalogue music lovers, too - and our passion is connecting people to music from the past that they might adore. So we've introduced a new […]
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1978's Time Passages concluded British singer-songwriter Al Stewart's trilogy of albums with producer-engineer Alan Parsons which began with 1975's Modern Times and continued with the following year's Year of the Cat. During this purple patch, Stewart earned his first hit singles in the United States, transitioning from folk troubadour at home to bona fide pop […]
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Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Billy Joel, The Vinyl Collection Vol. 1 (Columbia/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) This 9LP slipcased box set collects Billy Joel's first six solo studio albums plus his first live album and a box set-exclusive pressing of Live at The Great American Music Hall - 1975, a previously unreleased concert recording […]
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Real Gone Music has a full slate for the rest of the year, including a host of Christmas titles arriving tomorrow, and here are two more entries: a rare record from the group The Brief Encounter also due tomorrow, November 5, and a reissue bringing the Grateful Dead's Road Trips Vol. 2, No. 1 to […]
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Between 1954 and 1966, The Drifters notched 32 entries on the Billboard Hot 100, with a thirty-third "bubbling under." Five of those hits reached the top ten. The African-American vocal group's fortunes were even greater on the R&B chart where, of 30 entries between 1953 and 1974, 23 reached the top ten. Despite an ever-changing […]
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In a career spanning seven decades, North Carolina native Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (1923-2012) brought the sounds of Appalachia to the world at large. A towering figure in Americana, the guitarist was dedicated to the sounds of folk, blues, gospel, bluegrass, and country. Now, a comprehensive collection will salute his remarkable legacy. On December 3, […]
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BMG is following up its reissue earlier this year of Nina Simone's 1959 Bethlehem Records debut Little Girl Blue with the label's follow-up, Nina Simone and Her Friends. Like the earlier title, this newly remastered edition will be available on CD, LP, and in both high-definition and standard digital/streaming versions. The LP will be a […]
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