What's a batch of Queen reissues without some compilations? The same day of the latest catalogue overhaul in the U.K., Island will release Deep Cuts 1973-1976. True enough to its name, it will feature album sides from the first five albums, with no bonus material. While some of the tunes are known even to casual fans ("Stone Cold Crazy," "Keep Yourself Alive"), it's a fine enough disc for anyone who wants to dip more of their foot into the waters of Queen's discography (or see how new
Lauded Wainwright: Box Set to Honor Musical Patriarch (UPDATED)
Loudon Wainwright III has had a charmed life. The singer/songwriter has captivated audiences for decades with his witty, self-deprecating style. He's also done an impressive job of passing on his musical gift through genetics; children Rufus, Martha and Lucy Wainwright Roche are all accomplished singer/songwriters in their own right. But his latest project is all his to celebrate: a box set spanning his idiosyncratic career, coming out in May on Shout! Factory. 40 Odd Years is to be a
Big Break Delivers Big Slate of Soul Classics in March
Our friends at the U.K.-based Big Break label haven't given much thought lately to a break! A recently-announced slate of March releases bring the label's total catalogue to nearly 50 titles since its inception in 2009, and covers a wide and diverse swath of soulful artists. Some are returning to the label (The Pointer Sisters, Deniece Williams, Billy Ocean) and others are making their label debuts (Dennis Edwards, Ashford and Simpson, The Originals). Deniece Williams is recipient of her third
Blues in a Box: Legacy to Celebrate Robert Johnson's 100th
May 8 would have been the 100th birthday of Robert Johnson, arguably the most influential figure in blues music. Of course, Johnson did not live nearly that long - he died at 27 in 1938, leaving a legacy of stirring, influential recordings on 78 RPM records and a bizarrely ill-documented lifeline (only two pictures of him are known to exist, and there's a legend that he gained his guitar prowess thanks to a deal with the devil himself) - but his legacy remains strong. The 1961 compilation King
The Latest Queen Reissue Update
Just a quick note to readers that Queen's Web site has posted release dates for the upcoming reissues in all international territories. Except America of course! Over here, we've got a release date of "TBC," which is perhaps better than "N/A."
"Another Stoney Evening" Inaugurates Crosby-Nash Label
With Buffalo Springfield confirmed to play Bonnaroo and a fall tour still a possibility, Neil Young and Stephen Stills have a busy few months ahead. Well, David Crosby and Graham Nash aren't ones to sit around waiting on their bandmates. The venerable harmonists are the latest artists to take the indie route and have announced the formation of Blue Castle Records. Its first release will arrive March 22 to coincide with their upcoming tour as a duo. On that date, Crosby and Nash will reissue
Brandeis, Twice as Nice? Dylan Bonus Disc Getting Standalone Release
Those who ordered Bob Dylan's The Bootleg Series Volume 9: The Witmark Demos 1962-1964 on Amazon got a special bonus alongside the two-disc set: a bonus disc of part of a show at Brandeis University in 1963. Culled from a reel-to-reel tape recorded and owned by Rolling Stone co-founder Ralph Gleeson, this seven-track disc is one of the earliest (if not the earliest) known live recording by the Bard. And now, in case you missed out on it the first time around, Bob Dylan in Concert - Brandeis
From a "SMiLE" to a Frown
The rumblings over a potential unearthing of The Beach Boys' SMiLE was a big deal. How big? So big that when this author shared the news with friends that don't follow music catalogue affairs as closely, even those friends were excited. This legendary lost record is something that a lot of Beach Boys fans would be willing to check out, not just the bootleg hunters and classic rock enthusiasts who are likely reading this right now. So it's a bitter pill to swallow upon reading new comments by
Reissue Theory: Bobby Darin, Compiled: "The Motown Years"
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we reflect on great albums and the reissues they could someday see. At the time of his untimely death in 1973, Bobby Darin was signed to Motown Records, where he recorded one solo LP and enough material for a posthumous second LP. Despite their high quality, Darin's Motown recordings have long been unavailable. Today's Reissue Theory takes us back to 1970 and the final chapter in the life of the great Bobby Darin. Bobby Darin was so much
Bo Goes to the Beach in Hip-o Select Reissue
Hip-o Select, in addition to prepping what they've confirmed is the penultimate set of James Brown singles, has got a blues title coming up: a straight reissue of Bo Diddley's Beach Party, the first live album by guitar legend Bo Diddley. Recorded over two nights in June of 1963 at a club in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Bo Diddley's Beach Party features nine of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer's original songs and an instrumental cover of fellow Chessman Chuck Berry's "Memphis." This set makes
Simon's Legacy Showing in April
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOiVaE-pKqM] A quick heads-up thanks to our friends at Pause & Play: Columbia/Legacy has set April 12 as a release date for the first batch of Paul Simon reissues. Simon's catalogue, it was announced last year, will return to Columbia after Simon left them for Warner Bros. in the 1970s. Simon's newest LP, So Beautiful or So What, is due out on Concord the same day, while a deluxe edition of Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water is out in
La-La Land Goes Straight as an "Arrow" on New Soundtrack Batch
La-La Land's got two soundtracks ready to order today, including their first-ever expansion of a score by Hans Zimmer. The German composer is one of a remaining few "household name" composers to even the least knowledgeable of film scores thanks to titles like the Oscar-winning The Lion King, Gladiator, Rain Man, Gladiator, the Pirates of the Caribbean series and Inception. But only last year was he treated to an expanded reissue - Perseverance's new Rain Man CD - and it was criticized for less
Reissue Theory: Madonna, "Like a Prayer"
By now, you've likely heard the 1,000th No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 - Lady Gaga's new single "Born This Way." The dance anthem has come under a bit of fire for critics thanks to its striking similarity to another dance-pop icon's hit, Madonna's "Express Yourself." The Madonna-Gaga comparisons have been wildly obvious from the start - Italian-American, dyed blonde singers with decent if not fantastic voices, a flair for the visual and a desire to control every aspect of their iconography
Release Round-Up: Week of February 15
Smokey Robinson, The Solo Albums Volume 4 (Motown/Hip-o Select) The Motown great's next two vintage studio albums (Love Breeze and Where There's Smoke) go back into print on one CD with a bonus B-side instrumental added on. (Hip-o Select) Teena Marie, ICON (Motown/UMe) The late, great Motown singer is canonized in Universal's budget compilation series. (Amazon) Phil Collins, No Jacket Required (Audio Fidelity) The Genesis frontman/drummer's biggest and best pop LP gets the 24K gold CD
Hollies "Lost Recordings" Box Coming from Sundazed
The Hollies have long existed in the shadow of Graham Nash's other band - you know, the one with two or three other initials. But the lineup of Nash, Allan Clarke, Tony Hicks and Bobby Elliot plus Eric Haydock or Bernie Calvert could be equally potent. And lately, The Hollies have been recipients of a lot of well-deserved love. First came last year's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and then Sundazed kicked off a vinyl campaign reissuing two of the band's hardest-to-find American
Billy Preston's Debut to Get Digital Reissue
Interest in Billy Preston has piqued in recent years thanks to reissues of his work with The Beatles ("Get Back," of course one of the last great hits on The Fab Four's recent, Grammy-winning remasters) and beyond (two albums for The Beatles' Apple Records, reissued last year). Now, ABKCO goes a bit deeper into the vaults to release, for the first time in years, Preston's first album. 16 Year Old Soul, released in 1963 on Sam Cooke's SAR/Derby label, captured Preston at the very beginning. He
Metallica's "Garage" Days Re-Visited on Vinyl Reissue
Metallica are reissuing their Garage Inc. compilation in several vinyl formats. Garage Inc. was a double-disc set released in 1998 that showcased the multiple rock influences of the L.A.-based metal gods. One disc was comprised of newly recorded covers of favorites from Black Sabbath and Thin Lizzy to Bob Seger and Lynyrd Skynyrd. The other disc was another collection of covers that the band had previously released on singles and EPs (notably the then-out-of-print 1987 EP The $5.98 EP: Garage
A Material Reissue Coming from Hip-o Select
Every now and then one wonders what Hip-o Select has to offer outside of the Motown and Verve canon. Not that the volumes of catalogue gold coming from the fine producers and compilers devoted to those genres are overkill - quite the opposite - but it would be nice to see other acts in the Universal roster receive the Select treatment. That's what makes the news of a reissue from short-lived power-pop band Material Issue such a delight. The Chicago band only released a small handful of LPs, EPs
Back Tracks: Buffalo Springfield Reunion Special
“Used to play in a rock ‘n roll band, but they broke up. We were young and we were wild, it ate us up,” lamented Neil Young in the song “Buffalo Springfield Again” from his 2000 album Silver and Gold. “I’d like to see those guys again, and give it a shot. Maybe now we can show the world what we’ve got. But I’d just like to play for the fun we had.” Some 11 years later, Young’s wish may be coming true. On February 10, Rolling Stone carried a headline for which fans had waited years: “Exclusive:
Beatles, Big Star Grab Grammys
A quick congratulation to start the morning for two notable box sets which took home Grammys last night. Robert Gordon won a Grammy for writing the liner notes to Rhino's Big Star box Keep an Eye on the Sky, while Best Historical Album went to The Beatles' The Original Studio Recordings; receiving that trophy were producer Jeff Jones and mastering engineers Paul Hicks, Sean Magee, Guy Massey, Sam Okell and Steve Rooke at Abbey Road.
The Gremlin May Be Out of the Bag
It was an innocent question. A Facebook friend of Screen Archives Entertainment, the online soundtrack merchant most notably associated with the Film Score Monthly label, asked if there would ever be a release of Jerry Goldsmith's score to Gremlins. It's not an unfair question, either: it's one of Goldsmith's most popular and fun scores, and with yesterday having been his birthday (he would have been 82), there's no better time to ask. What nobody expected was SAE's answer: "Sometime this
Friday Feature: "Born Free"
Remembering his great friend John Barry upon the composer's recent death, lyricist Don Black regaled the press with stories of the "blunt-spoken Yorkshireman" with his divine gift of music. Black relished the tales of Barry's epic battle with Barbra Streisand which led to the mercurial composer's departure from Streisand's The Prince of Tides and his succinct rebuke to producer Harry Saltzman on the producer's criticism of his theme song for Diamonds Are Forever: "What the f--k do you know about
King, Taylor and Fellow "Troubadours" Arrive on DVD with Bonus CD
Morgan Neville’s 2010 film Troubadours: The Rise of the Singer-Songwriter is nothing if not ambitious. A participant in the Sundance U.S. Documentary Competition, Troubadours functions as a dual biography of Carole King and James Taylor, as well as the story of Doug Weston’s club on Los Angeles’ Santa Monica Boulevard that gave rise to King, Taylor and so many others. Their 2007 reunion and subsequent tour in 2010 provides the framework for the film. Yet moreover, it touches on the entire
The Price of Box Sets: How Much is Too Much?
The revelation of The Rolling Stones' CD singles box set is pretty cool, and living proof that the catalogue music business is still thriving. It's a year that's given or will give us a box set of Danny Elfman's music for Tim Burton, all of Aretha Franklin's Columbia-era material and an enormous run-through of The Grateful Dead's European tour of 1972. But how much is all of this worth? The Stones set, when one converts from pounds to U.S. dollars, is nearly $300. How worth it is that for some
Reissue Theory: "Purple Rain"
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we reflect on great albums and the reissues they could someday see. One of the biggest-selling albums of all time. A rock and roll classic. Soon to be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Still un-reissued in any way, shape or form. This is Purple Rain. With the Grammy Awards on Sunday, there's been some thought at Second Disc HQ regarding some of the Grammy Hall of Fame inductees. While there are more single recordings on the list than
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