Throughout a career spanning six decades, Dave Edmunds never strayed far from the primal power of genuine rock-and-roll. After stints in various bands - most notably, Love Sculpture - the Welsh singer-guitarist struck out on his own and scored a U.K. Christmas chart-topper in 1970 with a cover of Dave Bartholomew's "I Hear You Knocking." In January 1972, he released his first solo album: Rockpile. Its title would figure prominently in Edmunds' future as he co-founded a band of that name with
Merry Christmas, Baby: Johnny Mathis Celebrates the Holiday Season with New Studio Album "Christmas Time Is Here"
Johnny Mathis is known the world over as The Voice of Romance, but the legendary vocalist deserves another title, as well: The Voice of Christmas. Mathis' very first holiday album, 1958's Merry Christmas, sold over five million copies and remains one of the biggest-selling Christmas albums of all time. Now, Mathis is back with his first album since 2017 and his first yuletide set in a decade. Christmas Time Is Here arrives on October 13 in CD and digital formats from Legacy Recordings and
Review: Little Feat, "Sailin' Shoes" and "Dixie Chicken" Deluxe Editions
Little Feat was no ordinary rock-and-roll band. The seeds of the California group were planted when singer-songwriter Lowell George, then playing in Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention, met keyboardist Bill Payne, who had unsuccessfully auditioned for the famously tough Zappa. The pair hit it off and teamed with former Mothers bassist Roy Estrada and drummer Richard Hayward, late of George's old band The Factory, to form Little Feat. The story remains unclear as to exactly what prompted George
Release Round-Up: Week of June 23
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today. Little Feat, Sailin' Shoes: Deluxe Edition (Warner/Rhino) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1972's Sailin' Shoes was the second album from the original Little Feat lineup of singer-guitarist Lowell George, drummer Richard Hayward, keyboard player Bill Payne, and bassist Roy Estrada. The LP spawned numerous signature songs
Bring Me Home: Paul Young's "The Crossing" Receives 30th Anniversary Edition from 7a Records
Blue-eyed soul singer-songwriter Paul Young made his debut 40 years ago with 1983's No Parlez, his first of five albums released on Columbia Records through 1993. Young has marked the anniversary with a flurry of activity including his new studio album Behind the Lens, a U.K. tour running through November, and a memoir appropriately entitled Take a Piece of Me with You after a famous Daryl Hall lyric popularized by Young. On June 16, 7a Records will continue the Young celebration with a
She Is the Champion: Dolly Parton Unveils "Rockstar," Featuring All-Star Cast Including Elton John, Peter Frampton, Stevie Nicks, Sting, Lizzo, Miley, Many More
"If I'm gonna be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I'm going to have to earn it," Dolly Parton commented upon her 2022 induction into the Cleveland hall. She promised that a rock and roll album was on the way, and today, she made good on that promise...with what essentially amounts to two such records! On November 17, Dolly's own Butterfly Records in association with Big Machine will release Rockstar, a whopping 2-CD or 4-LP collection with 30 songs featuring some of the biggest names in the
Willin': Little Feat's "Sailin' Shoes" and "Dixie Chicken" Get Remastered, Expanded
"When Lowell [George] and I first got together," Little Feat co-founder Bill Payne remembered to author Bob Mehr in 2022, "our philosophical discussions became about what kind of band we want to be in. We're not going to be a blues band...but we'll play some blues. We're not going to be a country band...but we'll play some country. The idea was that it was supposed to be eclectic and not just one thing." That ethos guided Little Feat for seven studio albums on Warner Bros. Records through
Release Round-Up: Week of March 31
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of new titles in stores today! The Who, The Who with Orchestra Live at Wembley (Polydor/UMC) 2CD/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP Colored Vinyl: The Who Official Store 3LP Black Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The Who brings their 2019 Wembley Stadium concert to a host of audio formats. The show featured Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, and their band including Simon Townshend and
Journey Through the Past: Neil Young Expands "Harvest" For 50th Anniversary
Neil Young's fourth studio album, 1972's Harvest, was a landmark for the artist. His first and only No. 1 album in the U.S. and U.K. to date, it spun off his only U.S. No. 1 single to date with the ballad "Heart of Gold," and became the best-selling album in the U.S. of 1972 - only to remain the best-selling album in Young's ever-growing catalogue. The 2015 Grammy Hall of Fame inductee has received numerous reissues including a 2002 DVD-Audio presentation and a 2009 remaster as part of Young's
Release Round-Up: Week of October 14
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! Frank Zappa, Zappa '75: Zagreb/Ljubljana (Zappa/UMe) (Zappa Official Store / Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Zappa '75: Zagreb/Ljubljana captures The Mothers' first and only concerts in Yugoslavia. Zappa referred to the dates as "The Mothers of Invention Yugoslavian Extravaganza," and the performances lived up to that mighty moniker. The shows were staged in Zagreb and
Shooting Stars: Iconoclassic Rediscovers Lost Gems from Ohio Players, Dwight Twilley
On July 29, Iconoclassic Records will release a pair of albums from two very different artists - yet both releases look to be equally essential. The Ohio Players famously topped the U.S. Hot 100 in 1975 with the irresistible "Love Rollercoaster," the group's second song to reach that coveted spot after "Fire." The band's history is a bit of a roller coaster itself, with plenty of ups and downs. Upon its release in 1981, Tenderness might have been considered a down, but Iconoclassic is
Loose Salute: Michael Nesmith's "Different Drum: The Lost RCA Victor Recordings" Comes to Vinyl in August
You asked, we answered! Since Michael Nesmith's Different Drum: The Lost RCA Victor Recordings premiered on CD in April 2021 from Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records, we've been inundated with requests for a vinyl edition. In a little over two weeks, on August 5, the 22-track anthology will make its debut in the format as a deluxe gatefold 2-LP set pressed on "blue smoke" vinyl. Let's fill you in with our official press release: Michael Nesmith long travelled to the beat of a "Different
Release Round-Up: Week of July 15
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Beatles, Get Back (Apple/Disney) DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada After a manufacturing delay scuttled a release earlier this year, The Beatles: Get Back finally made it to DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday. Both presentations offer director Peter Jackson's three-part, 468-minute Get Back on three discs - one part per disc. No additional bonus features have been included, although
Release Round-Up: Week of May 27
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of new titles available in stores and online today! ABBA, Album Box Set (Polar/UMe) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Picture Disc Bundle: Official Store To coincide with the arena show ABBA Voyage setting sail in London on May 27, the band's 2021 studio album Voyage will be canonized in a new career-spanning box set featuring every one of the quartet's nine
Mercenary Territory: Rhino Turn Little Feat's 'Waiting for Columbus' Into Multi-Show Box Set
Last year for Black Friday's Record Store Day event, Rhino premiered Little Feat's Electrif Lycanthrope: Live at Ultra-Sonic Studios 1974, a concert album recorded in front of an intimate studio audience in Hempstead, New York. The band originally fronted by Lowell George always blossomed in a live setting, with that particular brand of electricity best captured on 1978's Waiting for Columbus. The double album recorded in 1977 at London's Rainbow Theatre and Washington, DC's Lisner Auditorium
Harmony Constant: 7a Records Reissues, Expands Michael Nesmith's "And The Hits Just Keep On Comin'" For Its 50th Anniversary
"I realized early on that Red was the magic carpet," the late Michael Nesmith observed to this author in 2020 of his longtime collaborator Orville "Red" Rhodes. "I began to realize this guy is on another level...He's playing music up at the highest jazz levels, but he's playing all by himself. I thought it was some of the most inspired and celestial pedal steel guitar music -which was like an impossibility, but it really was." Perhaps no release better epitomizes the intuitive, almost
Until the End: Omnivore Reissues, Expands The Left Banke's Final Album, "Strangers on a Train"
The Left Banke burst onto the scene in 1966 with the exquisite single "Walk Away Renee." A No. 5 Pop hit, it was subsequently covered by the likes of The Four Tops, Linda Ronstadt, Eric Carmen, and Frankie Valli while remaining an oldies radio staple. Though the band only notched one more top 20 hit, the delicate "Pretty Ballerina," their two original albums on the Smash label established The Left Banke as progenitors of the baroque pop sound. Primary songwriter/keyboardist Michael Brown left
Release Round-Up: Week of September 17
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Bob Dylan, Springtime in New York: The Bootleg Series Vol. 16 (1980-1985) (Columbia/Legacy) 5CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The latest volume of Bob Dylan's long-running archival series, Springtime in New York: The Bootleg Series Vol. 16 (1980-1985) covers the period in which Dylan recorded the albums Shot of Love (the final LP in
Spooky, Scary: Andrew Gold's "Halloween Howls" Returns on Friday
When late singer-songwriter Andrew Gold set out to record his Halloween Howls: Fun and Scary Music album, he knew he was filling a void. The composer-lyricist of "Thank You for Being a Friend" and "Lonely Boy" wrote in the 1996 CD's original liner notes, "Each holiday has a mood and usually has music to go with it. However, it's been very hard to find any tapes or CDs of Halloween music. In fact, there's mostly just scary sound effects available and very few songs. So, I fixed that." Over the
OUT TOMORROW: Michael Nesmith's "Different Drum: The Lost RCA Victor Recordings" from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music
Tomorrow - Friday, April 30 - is the date for the first Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music release of 2021 - and it's one that's been years in the making! Michael Nesmith has always travelled to the beat of a "Different Drum" - whether as the writer of that classic hit for Linda Ronstadt and The Stone Poneys, the wool hat-clad member of The Monkees, or one of the earliest progenitors of the country-rock genre. In recent years, Nesmith has penned the critically acclaimed
Short Takes: Triumph Prepares New Box Set as RSD Ambassadors; Omnivore Celebrates "Yesterday's Tomorrow;" and Evie Sands Releases New LP
Canadian hard rock heroes Triumph have been selected as the Canadian Ambassadors for Record Store Day 2021 - and the band isn't showing up empty-handed! As previously reported, RSD will be held in two "Drops" this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The first of those drops is June 12, with the second to follow on July 17. On June 12, Triumph - Rik Emmett (guitars/vocals), Mike Levine (bass, keyboards) and Gil Moore (drums, vocals) - will release a 40th Anniversary vinyl box set of
Propinquity: 7a Records Announces Micky's "Dolenz Sings Nesmith" For May Release
Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith have shared a musical journey together since 1966 when The Monkees first hit the NBC airwaves and the group's chart-topping debut album arrived in stores on the Colgems label. When COVID-19 unexpectedly struck one year ago, Dolenz and Nesmith were preparing to take to the road once again for An Evening with The Monkees; once the virus rendered that impossible, Dolenz got to work on a celebration of his dedicated friend's classic songs. The result is Dolenz
Second Disc Records, Real Gone Music Premiere Michael Nesmith's "Different Drum: The Lost RCA Victor Recordings" on CD in April
The Second Disc is proud to announce the first Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music release of 2021 - and it's one that's been years in the making! Michael Nesmith has always travelled to the beat of a "Different Drum"-whether as the writer of that classic hit for Linda Ronstadt and The Stone Poneys, the wool hat-clad member of The Monkees, or one of the earliest progenitors of the country-rock genre. In recent years, Nesmith has penned the critically acclaimed autobiography Infinite Tuesday,
Review: Elvis Costello and The Attractions, "Armed Forces: Super Deluxe Edition"
"Hey Clockface, keep those fingers on the dial," Elvis Costello implored on the jaunty, jazz-flavored title track of his 2020 album. "You said you'd be a friend to me, but time is just my enemy and it is hurting me so..." Despite his pleas, time has been rather good to Costello's artistry. Though initially branded an "angry young man" - and indeed, he channeled the punk zeitgeist early on with his fast and furious compositions - Costello has been able to travel wherever his muse takes him.
Review: Andrew Gold, "Lonely Boy: The Asylum Years Anthology"
The Asylum Records discography of pop polymath Andrew Gold has been well-addressed in the CD era - first via international CD reissues, then individual expanded editions on the U.S. Collectors' Choice label, and an all-encompassing set in 2013 from the U.K.'s Edsel label. But one thing had eluded Gold: a bona fide box set. Cherry Red and Esoteric Recordings have delivered with Lonely Boy: The Asylum Years Anthology, a 6-CD/1-DVD compendium celebrating the late artist (1951-2011) with
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