Cast Your Fate to the Wind: Vince Guaraldi’s Breakthrough ‘Black Orpheus’ to Be Expanded
Though he might be best known for the irresistible score to A Charlie Brown Christmas – the music of which is coming back in a big way this holiday season, jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi was first known for an unusual crossover jazz hit, the instrumental “Cast Your Fate to the Wind.” The album that featured that unforgettable song (and put Guaraldi on the road to Peanuts perfection) will also get the deluxe treatment this year, in honor of its 60th anniversary. Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus was so named for the four…
Legacy Puts Prince’s Original ‘Hits’ Albums on Vinyl
As more of Prince’s recorded catalogue consolidates under a deal with Sony Music’s Legacy Recordings, a big question is when a new career-spanning compilation will eventually hit the market. While fans might keep waiting, Legacy will issue two classic collections for the first time on vinyl: the two volumes that made up The Hits in 1993. The Hits capped 15 years of breakneck recording and massive commercial success from The Artist, who earlier that year announced he would change his name to the “Love Symbol” that adorned his most recent studio record,…
UMC to Spice Up ‘Spiceworld’ with New Reissues
England’s pop exports are some of the biggest the world has ever known – and in the ’90s, none were bigger than the Spice Girls. This fall, UMC will reissue Spiceworld, the group’s second album and the one where they were metaphorically on top of the world, in a variety of formats with rare and unreleased material. Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton, Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm and Victoria Adams were irresistible to worldwide pop audiences not long after the release of debut Spice in 1996. With colorful personalities and nicknames (in order of…
Lightning Frightening: New Bowie Box Offers ‘Hunky Dory’-Era Rarities
Hot on the heels of the success of the documentary Moonage Daydream (and its recently released soundtrack, currently streaming and coming soon to physical media), Parlophone has announced a major audio excavation from the David Bowie vault. On November 25, 2022, the label will release Divine Symmetry (An Alternative Journey Through Hunky Dory), a 4CD/1BD box set chronicling the twelve months leading up to the December 1971 release of Bowie’s fourth studio album. Highlighted by 48 previously unreleased tracks, the box features home demos, BBC radio sessions, live and studio recordings, and…
California Saga: The Beach Boys’ “Sail On Sailor: 1972” Explores “Carl and the Passions,” “Holland”
The cover of The Beach Boys’ eighteenth studio album didn’t look so different than what fans might have expected, with its shot of the beach, blue sky, and palm trees through a car window. But once listeners placed the needle on the first track, it was clear this was no ordinary Beach Boys record. Only one song – the opening “You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone,” a twangy rocker with little of the lushness once associated with their sound – bore a production credit for Brian Wilson; only three…
Rockin’ Around in NYC (and Beyond): Yep Roc to Celebrate 40 Years of Marshall Crenshaw’s Debut
Tonight, Marshall Crenshaw takes his 40 Years in Showbiz! Tour to Manhattan’s City Winery. (It’s a show you can watch from the comfort of your home – hopefully my head won’t be in the way!) Just as exciting as seeing this living power-pop legend celebrate his fourth decade of performing: some of his long-out-of-print classic albums are coming back into circulation courtesy of a new label home. Earlier this month, Yep Roc announced a double LP expanded edition of Crenshaw’s hook-filled debut album for Record Store Day Black Friday. In addition to…
The Weekend Stream: September 24, 2022
Welcome to The Weekend Stream, a relaxing weekly review of notable digital-only catalogue titles. There may be no CD or vinyl, but there’s plenty of great new/old music to discover – from quarter-century old R&B classics, a Fleetwood Mac heroine covering Buffalo Springfield, and an actor who sang enough to make you go a little mad. Stevie Nicks, For What It’s Worth (Rhino) (iTunes / Amazon) The celebrated singer has recently been covering this Buffalo Springfield classic on her latest tour, and took to the studio with producer Greg Kurstin, guitarist Waddy…
Right as the Rain: Barbra Streisand’s “Live at the Bon Soir” Arrives in November
Barbra Streisand first took the stage of New York’s tiny Bon Soir on September 9, 1960. The eighteen-year-old singer appeared third on a bill after house band The Three Flames and comic duo Tony and Eddie, and before closing act Phyllis Diller. The groundbreaking comedienne later recalled her first encounter with Streisand: “We shared a dressing room at the Bon Soir…It was the size of a peapod and usually you could smell fear in there. But she wasn’t a bit nervous – at least not that I noticed. I admit, I was…
Seal’s Debut Gets a “Killer” of a Box
Rhino Records adds to its holiday/year-end box set season a new entry in the form of a deluxe edition of Seal’s classic 1991 debut. Available November 4, the reissued Seal will include the British singer’s first album, remastered for the first time on CD and three sides of vinyl in one package. A further three bonus discs collect rare B-sides and remixes (including the original “premix” versions of key songs from early pressings) plus an unreleased concert recorded in Ireland in the wake of the album. The 12″ x 12″ package contains…
Release Round-Up: Week of September 23
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Joni Mitchell, The Asylum Albums (1972-1975) (Elektra/Rhino) 4CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 5LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Joni Mitchell’s Archives campaign rolls on with this new 4-CD or 5-LP box collecting four of the inspirational singer-songwriter’s most acclaimed and beloved studio albums, all recorded for David Geffen’s then-new Asylum Records label: For the Roses (1972), Court and Spark (1974), and The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975), as well as Joni’s first live album, Miles of Aisles (1974). All four albums have been newly remastered by Bernie Grundman, and Mitchell’s friend Neil Young has contributed an essay to…
That Ol’ Christmas Spirit: Real Gone Announces Yuletide Slate with Steve and Eydie, B.J. Thomas, Lea Michele
Real Gone Music has that holiday feeling with its upcoming slate of three joyful titles for the Christmas season. The label has just announced two deluxe CD releases along with one beautiful vinyl title that’s sure to keep spirits bright. All three titles are due November 11. First up is a definitive, expanded, and remastered edition of Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme‘s 1964 Columbia Records classic That Holiday Feeling. After more than a decade of representing Steve and Eydie’s GL Music catalogue, Real Gone is proud to announce a new partnership with…
EXCLUSIVE: Roxette Singer Marie Fredriksson’s Memoirs Coming to America with Rare Solo Album
Fans of Swedish pop masters Roxette are in for a special treat next year: the group’s late, celebrated singer Marie Fredriksson’s memoirs will be published in America, alongside the release of a rare solo record. Listen to My Heart: Life, Love & Roxette takes fans into the life and career of one of the most arresting figures of ’80s and ’90s pop. Co-written with Swedish writer Helena von Zweigbergk and published in her homeland in 2015 – four years before Fredriksson’s passing at the age of 61 after nearly 20 years of…
Heartbreakers Beach Party: Tom Petty’s “Fillmore 1997” Features Hits, Deep Cuts, Covers
The Estate of Tom Petty has announced the late rock-and-roller’s first live album in more than a decade. Live at the Fillmore 1997 captures highlights from Petty and the Heartbreakers’ blazing 20-show run as recorded at San Francisco’s venerable Fillmore between January 10 and February 7, 1997. Six full shows were captured live, from which 58 songs have been culled for this release. Making this an even more special affair, 35 of the songs are covers and most unique to the Petty discography. Live at the Fillmore 1997 will be available on…
An Orchestral James Bond Collection Finally Gets Its Shot
James Bond has been a suave secret agent on screen for 60 years – so an official musical companion getting delayed several years is nothing, right? Bond 25, an orchestral survey of the pop themes that have accompanied every picture based on Ian Fleming’s Agent 007, is finally heading to stores this Friday, September 23, after a delay just slightly longer than the release of the most recent Bond film, 2021’s No Time to Die, the fifth and final outing for Daniel Craig in the lead role. (Originally planned for a 2019…
What’s So Civil About the ‘Use Your Illusion’ Box, Anyway?
As post-glam/metal moments of largesse go, Guns N’ Roses’ simultaneous release of Use Your Illusion I & II was perhaps as big as it gets. So it makes sense that a new box set collecting both albums is about as grandiose – and as messy. On November 11, UMe will collect the band’s 1991 studio albums in a new super deluxe box that spans seven CDs or 12 LPs and a Blu-ray. Both boxes include new remasters of Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, plus two complete live sets,…
There’s a Light: Rory Gallagher’s “Deuce” Goes Super Deluxe
Over the past couple of years, UMC has been busy revisiting the catalogue of late Irish guitar virtuoso Rory Gallagher. Following last fall’s box set celebrating Gallagher’s eponymous 1971 debut, the label is turning its attention to his second album, 1972’s Deuce, for another deluxe, expanded edition. The similarly expansive 4CD release, due on September 30, boasts: A new mix of the original album; 28 previously unreleased alternate takes; A six-song 1972 BBC Radio In Concert performance; and Seven Radio Bremen radio session tracks. The package also contains a 64-page hardcover book…
Cat’s In the Cradle: Real Gone’s Black Friday RSD Slate Features Harry Chapin, The Jesus Lizard, Smash Mouth, and Fountains of Wayne
As we continue our look at the titles coming out on this year’s Black Friday Record Store Day, we’re turning our attention to Real Gone Music. The label has a quartet of titles coming to independent stores on November 25. The lineup includes a compilation from an acclaimed 1970s storyteller, two favorites from the 1990s, and one from the 2000s. The ’90s and ’00s releases are all vinyl debuts. We’ve got the details below with the descriptions coming directly from the label. For a list of stores participating in Record Store Day,…
The Weekend Stream: September 17, 2022
Welcome to The Weekend Stream, a relaxing weekly review of notable digital-only catalogue titles. There may be no CD or vinyl, but there’s plenty of great new/old music to discover! This time out we’ve got Motown rarities, a couple of albums with comic book roots, early music from future legends, and more! Roger Miller, Roger Miller (RCA/Camden/Legacy) (iTunes / Amazon) Legacy has resuscitated this 1964 compilation of early sides from singer-songwriter Roger Miller (produced in Nashville by Chet Atkins). The self-titled album was originally released on RCA’s budget Camden imprint in the…
Go Back, Jack, Do It Again: Steely Dan’s Discography Gets Overhaul from UMe, Analogue Productions
Between 1972 and 1980, Steely Dan – the loose unit of like-minded musicians and singers led by songwriter-producers Walter Becker and Donald Fagen – released seven albums on the ABC and MCA labels. While Steely Dan was never a “singles artist,” charting just three top ten hits, the band’s albums were era-defining affairs; six of their LPs have attained at least Platinum status in the United States, with the seventh respectably going Gold. Now, that epochal catalogue defined by immaculate production, top-notch musicianship, irresistible pop hooks, intricate jazz-based arrangements, and quirky, biting…
Release Round-Up: Week of September 16
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today! Miles Davis, That’s What Happened 1982-1985: The Bootleg Series Vol. 7 (Columbia/Legacy) 3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP Highlights: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The 3-CD box set (also available digitally) focuses on Miles Davis’ final years at the Columbia label with which he had been associated since 1955 and on the three albums that closed out his 30-year run: Star People (1983), Decoy (1984), and You’re Under Arrest (1985). The collection features studio outtakes as well as a complete live performance, What It Is: Montreal…
Burning Desire: Legacy Recordings Announces RSD Black Friday Titles from Jimi Hendrix, Willie Nelson, David Bowie, The Script
This morning, Legacy Recordings announced its slate of four vinyl releases for Record Store Day’s annual Black Friday event taking place on Friday, November 25. Three celebrate classic artists while one revisits a modern-day triumph. Below you’ll find the descriptions provided by the label for all four releases. Visit recordstoreday.com for a full list of participating record stores. David Bowie, The Next Day Extra (12″ Vinyl EP) The Next Day Extra contains various album outtakes and remixes from David Bowie’s The Next Day album. In the summer of 2013, unreleased songs –…
Hello, It’s Me: Rhino Announces Black Friday RSD Slate with Todd Rundgren, Fleetwood Mac, Madonna, More
It’s that time of year again: Record Store Day’s annual Black Friday event is scheduled for Friday, November 25 as the holiday shopping season begins. Rhino has wasted no time in sharing its list of releases from some of the label’s marquee artists including Fleetwood Mac, The Doors, Grateful Dead, and Madonna. Classic albums from Todd Rundgren, Captain Beefheart, and Eric Burdon & WAR are also among the titles on Rhino’s slate. And one release is even available on CD! Read on for the complete lineup, with most descriptions provided by the…
Disney’s Legacy Collection Enters “A Whole New World” with ‘Aladdin’ Expansion
Walt Disney Records’ still-persisting catalogue product line The Legacy Collection has been mostly dormant since 2015. After two waves of titles throughout two calendar years – each focusing on anniversaries of classic Disney films from multiple generations – the series has been stop-start since 2017, releasing expanded editions of the soundtracks to Robin Hood (1973), Beauty and the Beast (1991) and, most recently, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996). Now, a classic title is added to the Legacy Collection for its 30th anniversary: the beloved songs and score of 1992’s Aladdin. Disney…
Let There Be Love: SoulMusic Collects, Expands Shirley Murdock’s Elektra Albums
As a member of the extended family of funk group Zapp, Shirley Murdock memorably added her vocals to the 1986 hit “Computer Love” (for which she also shares a co-writing credit). Concurrently, Murdock was launching her own solo career at Elektra Records, where she would release three solo LPs through 1991. Now, Cherry Red’s SoulMusic Records imprint has revisited and expanded that trio of albums on As We Lay: The Elektra Recordings (1985-1991), a new 3-CD collection that’s an essential addition to any soul, R&B, or gospel shelf. Shirley Murdock was, like…
Too Hot: Edsel Compiles Second Album Box for Kool & The Gang
In 2024, Kool and the Gang will celebrate 60 years of music-making. Though the band has weathered the passing of key personnel in recent years including founding members Ronald Bell a.k.a. Khalis Bayyan and Dennis “D.T.” Thomas, Robert “Kool” Bell and George “Funky” Brown keep the fusion of soul, R&B, dance, funk, and jazz alive and well. Earlier this year, Demon Music Group’s Edsel label released Kool and the Gang’s The Albums Vol. 1: 1970-1978 collecting their first dozen LPs plus a disc of bonus material. Now, Edsel has followed up that…