No love, no peace, no shoes on my feet…no home, just a shack where I sleep… In the fall of 1971, Philadelphia International Records launched its long-playing series with Billy Paul’s Going East, and the title opus in which the velvet-voiced crooner spins a slow-burning yarn of slavery. It was hardly Top 40 fare (Paul would have to wait till producers/songwriters/label entrepreneurs Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff gifted him “Me and Mrs. Jones” the following year) but signaled the dramatic
The Hills of Yesterday: Henry Mancini, Charles Strouse Offer "Molly Maguires" Scores
A victim of the blacklist, director Martin Ritt (The Front, The Great White Hope and Norma Rae) felt passionately about using film to explore relevant social issues. So it would have been no surprise that he was taken with the story of the Molly Maguires, the Irish-American coal miners who formed a secret society (some might say, of terrorists) to fight their oppressive employers in 19th century Pennsylvania. Ritt enlisted an all-star cast including Sean Connery (still in his James Bond
Vintage, Retro Mixes Shine on U.K. Philadelphia International Box Set
Now's as good a time as any to get into the sweet sounds and lush arrangements of Philadelphia soul in the 1970s. 2011 marked the 40th anniversary of legendary writer/producers Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff's creation of a label that set the groundwork for some of the best soul and R&B sounds of the decade, and this year's seeing a lot of excellent catalogue projects honoring that legacy. We've already told you about Legacy's Golden Gate Groove: The Sound of Philadelphia Live in San
Thank You M.C. 1969: Michael Chapman's Folk-Rock Classic "Rainmaker" Arrives From Light in the Attic
When the distinct green Harvest Records logo is remembered today, it’s often for Pink Floyd or early Electric Light Orchestra. But the label, created to stake a claim in the burgeoning rock market, boasted a deep, diverse roster, all the better to compete with other “alternative” labels like Decca’s Deram or Philips’ Vertigo. One of the artists who found early success on Harvest was Michael Chapman, a former art and photography instructor. Chapman’s greatest achievement was arguably 1970’s
Chicago Reissues Return From Friday Music, "Hot Streets" Kicks Off Campaign
On 1971’s Chicago III, one of the band's passionate anthems went, “I just want to be free…” But it took until 1978 for the band to be truly free, and that year’s Hot Streets was an album of firsts. The freedom largely came as a result of the group having severed its ties with longtime producer/manager James William Guercio; hence, Hot Streets was Chicago’s first album in many years not recorded at Guercio’s famed Caribou Ranch. It was also the first to lack a number in its title and first to
Keep Feeling Fascination: Human League's "Dare" Gets Expanded
"You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar when I met you..." As patently false as the subject matter behind The Human League's hypnotic "Don't You Want Me" is, it was a massive, out-of-nowhere smash for a band that came out of a troubling state of flux with a renewed energy unlike few others. The fruits of that period, the 1981 album Dare, is coming back into U.K. stores this spring as a deluxe title with a host of non-LP goodies over two discs. The Human League started out as an
New Blues Traveler Compilation Includes Unreleased Material, Hopefully Avoids Giving Fans the Runaround
Get out your big hats and harmonicas - Blues Traveler is releasing a new career-spanning compilation with a host of unreleased material to accompany their favorite singles. Ah, the '90s jam band revival. One of the more intriguing concepts to come out of the post-grunge explosion era, where it seemed every major label was trying something new to see if it would stick with audiences. The demand for quirky live acts gave popular culture stalwarts like the Dave Matthews Band and Phish as well as
The Story of US: Shout! Factory Starts Series for '80s Music Fest (UPDATED 2/8)
Following a pair of DVD releases, Shout! Factory has announced the release of several performances on CD from the famous US Festival in California. Spearheaded by Apple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak, the US Festival intended to be a celebration of technology and culture, with a temporary stage and open-air venue paid for by Wozniak himself just for the purposes of the festival. (Initially called the Glen Helen Pavilion, the San Manuel Amphitheater, where the festival was held, remains the
Vinyl Experience: Jimi Hendrix Comes To Sundazed
Get ready to be experienced, again, on vinyl. Sundazed Music and Experience Hendrix have announced a new series of 7-inch vinyl singles, housed in picture sleeves, featuring music not before released in the single format. The first such single will arrive in April, and both sides will be taken from Hendrix’s incendiary BBC performances of 1967 (released on CD and vinyl LP by Experience Hendrix as BBC Sessions). Hendrix’s October 17, 1967 performance of Bob Dylan’s “Can You Please Crawl Out
Reissue Theory: Whitney Houston, "Whitney"
We remember Whitney Houston (1963-2012) and her timeless legacy of song. We're sharing this feature in her memory, and will return with a tribute to this musical legend, gone too soon. Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we focus on notable album and the reissues they could someday see. Today's entry: a 25th anniversary spotlight on one of the best dance-pop albums of any era, and a tribute to a powerhouse R&B voice. In a word: Whitney. Around this time in 2010,
Short Takes: "Meet Glen Campbell" and "Matter of Time" Reissued, A Rare Earth Curio and More From Impulse!
The legendary Glen Campbell has seen a number of his classic albums reissued this year by labels including BGO, Real Gone Music and New Haven. Our friends at Rockbeat Records have lined up the next Campbell release, revisiting his 1985 LP for the Atlantic label, It’s Just a Matter of Time. Produced by Harold Shedd, the album found Campbell revisiting some of his past triumphs. Longtime collaborator and friend Jimmy Webb contributed three songs: the oft-covered “Do What You Gotta Do,”
Cherry Red Sets Off "Love Bomb" with Reissue of The Tubes' Final Capitol LP
It's no "She's a Beauty," but Tubes fans might be excited to know that the band's final album for Capitol, 1985's Love Bomb, is coming to CD with bonus tracks from Cherry Red Records. The Tubes were well known in the late '70s for their no-holds-barred live shows and sly songwriting, with a mind to skewer an increasingly saturated media landscape. As the 1980s dawned, however, The Tubes unexpectedly made moves to turn into a leaner, meaner, rock band. Two albums were cut with producer David
(Don't) Keep It Down: Hot Shot Expands 'Til Tuesday's Debut (UPDATED 1/27)
As promised, new U.K. reissue label Hot Shot Records is releasing an expanded edition of Voices Carry the 1985 debut album by pop group 'Til Tuesday, and it's now available to order. The album was the culmination of three years of hard work from the Boston-based band, comprised of Aimee Mann (vocals/bass), Robert Holmes (vocals/guitar), Joey Pesce (keyboards) and Michael Hausman (drums). In 1983, six months after forming, the band earned local acclaim for their song "Love in a Vacuum," which
"The Visitors," Revisited: Final ABBA Album Expanded with Unreleased Demos
announced a deluxe edition of the group's eighth and final studio album, 1981's The Visitors. The Visitors saw ABBA tackling decidedly darker territory than anyone could have dared to expect from the squeaky-clean Swedish quartet. The group convened in studio barely a month after songwriter Benny Andersson and co-lead singer Frida Lyngstad divorced (the other half of the group, Björn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog, had divorced a year earlier), and sessions could be predictably tense. Adding to
From "Blonde" to "Blue": Bob Dylan, Miles Davis Classics Coming on SACD and LP
Any label president would have killed to have Bob Dylan or Miles Davis on his company’s roster, but Columbia Records’ legendary Goddard Lieberson had the good fortune to have had both of these groundbreaking artists making their most important music on the red label under its watchful eye logo. Since the advent of the compact disc era, there’s been no shortage of reissued music from these giants, and it’s already clear that 2012 will continue the steady flow. Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab has
Review: A Real Gone January - Bill Medley, Jody Miller and The Tymes
Among the first releases of 2012 from newbie label Real Gone Music is a two-on-one collection offering the compact disc debut of Bill Medley’s 100% and Soft and Soulful. But those titles are apt to describe the entire Real Gone line-up for January, as the young label has given 100% to make available a wide variety of music: soft and soulful, yes, but also jazzy, twangy, and folky. There’s something for everyone in this array of once-neglected titles. As 1968 began, The Righteous Brothers were
Reissues on Target: Retail-Exclusive Expansions Available for Adele, Blake Shelton
If you're in the U.S. and are heading to Target after work for a few household items, you might want to keep an eye out for two recent hit albums, both newly expanded in sets exclusive to the retail chain. First up, a familiar expansion of last year's biggest album, 21, by British soul singer Adele. Unless you've been living underneath a rock for the past year, you know that the 21-year-old Grammy Award winner for Best New Artist has had a precedent-shattering year with this record. In an age
You've Got a Friend in Intrada: Randy Newman's "Toy Story 3" Arrives on CD
Toy Story 3 certainly had its fair amount of accomplishments. It was highest-grossing film of 2010 (domestic and worldwide), the all-time box office champ among animated features, and in the Top 10 highest-grossing films of all time. It reaped five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and took two of the gold statues home. It became the first film to be released theatrically in 7.1 surround sound. But one thing Toy Story 3 didn't have was a proper soundtrack album on CD.
Movin', Kickin', Groovin': A Barry White Classic Expanded by Hip-o Select
Hip-o Select turns its focus away from Motown for some more satin soul from the inimitable Barry White, with a nicely-expanded release of his 1976 LP Let the Music Play. By the time the title track from the album - an underrated plea for music to soothe the pain of a lost love over some of the lushest strings from The Love Unlimited Orchestra - was released as a single in late 1975, White was virtually his own brand. He'd recently come off a triplet of Top 10 singles in 1974 and
Last Train to Clarksville: Limited Quantity Remains of Monkees "Greatest Hits" on Orange Vinyl
Monkee Alert! In 1969, the band itself was coming apart at the seams, and its television program had been cancelled a year earlier. But Colgems Records had a solution to reignite interest in the zany music makers: release the first-ever Monkees hits collection! That LP was The Monkees Greatest Hits, a 14-track album that lives up to its promise: "I'm a Believer," "Last Train to Clarksville," "Pleasant Valley Sunday," "Daydream Believer," "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You," and so on. The
A-wop-bop-a-loo-lop-a-lop-bam-boom! "Here's Little Richard" Returns in April
When compiling our reissue review on Rolling Stone's greatest albums of all time last year, it was a bit of a surprise at Second Disc HQ to learn, for all the reissues of Little Richard's classic Here's Little Richard on the market, that few of them were particularly archival-oriented. That's about to change this year, though, with an expanded reissue of the iconic album by Concord Music Group in April. Richard Penniman was no stranger to performing and recording when he released his first
Release Round-Up: Week of January 24
The Doors, L.A. Woman: 40th Anniversary Edition (Reprise/Rhino) / Mr. Mojo Risin': The Story of L.A. Woman (Eagle Rock/Rhino) The Doors' final album with Jim Morrison, memorialized in both a double-disc set with unreleased alternates and outtakes and a DVD/Blu-Ray documentary. Various Artists, 2012 Grammy Nominees (Universal Republic) And the nominees are...on this disc. Various Artists, Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty
10538 Overture: Electric Light Orchestra Debut Turns 40, Expanded with Quad DVD and Bonus Tracks
The musical partnership of Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood was a short-lived one, but EMI will soon give listeners a chance to revisit their acclaimed collaboration. A 40th Anniversary Edition of the debut album from Electric Light Orchestra is set to arrive on March 12. Self-titled for its original U.K. release and re-titled No Answer for the U.S., the album announced a bold new sound, reportedly created when Wood urged Lynne to add cellos to his song “10538 Overture.” That track leads off this
Legacy Plans Artist Collections, Themed Sets for New "Playlist" Batch
Brace yourselves, compilation collectors: Legacy's got another batch of Playlist titles out next week. The latest batch of set, due out January 31, skew mainly toward modern country and rootsier rock (Gretchen Wilson, Montgomery Gentry, solo works by Gregg Allman) with some wild cards thrown in for good measure (R&B from Charlie Wilson of The Gap Band and Wyclef Jean, contemporary pop-rockers Augustana, a set from The Hooters that was delayed from the last batch). In a nice change of pace,
Happy Birthday Johnny! Film Legend Celebrates Milestone with Pair of Compilations
The music catalogue world is celebrating one of Hollywood's truest living legends with two, count 'em, two, compilations next month. Whether you're a die-hard film score collector or a mere appreciator of good movie music, John Williams has made a mark on your consciousness. His list of credits spans decades, first as a Juilliard-trained pianist working under the greatest batons in Tinseltown (that's him plunking the low notes in Henry Mancini's iconic Peter Gunn theme), then a light, jazzy
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