“Ah, I’d love to wear a rainbow every day/And tell the world that everything’s okay. But I’ll try to carry a little darkness on my back/Till things are brighter, I’m the Man in Black.” And though Johnny Cash appeared as that Man in Black, immortalized in his song, he was in reality a man of many colors. His music reflected a crucial empathy that guided his career as he embraced the various strains of America itself, both its people and its music. Records preserve Cash walking with superstars
You Can't Stop Twisted Sister: Live Set Coming From Rhino Handmade
Do you wanna rock? Then the latest release from Rhino Handmade might just be for you! Following stellar sets from the 1960s (The Beau Brummels' Bradley's Barn) and the 1970s (Bobby Charles' self-titled album), the label jumps into the glam world of the 1980s with a vengeance! Twisted Sister's Live at the Marquee Club captures the Long Island band taking London by storm in March 1983. At the time of the Marquee Club gigs, Twisted Sister had only released one studio album, 1982's Under the
Wounded Bird Helps "The Hawk" Take Flight Again
It’s very possible that you might be enjoying Bobby Charles, reviewed yesterday in this very space! But whether you’re grooving to Bobby or not, you might be interested in some more Band-related news! Long before Rick Danko produced Bobby Charles’ Bearsville LP, Danko joined Levon Helm, Robbie Robertson, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson in supporting the one and only Mr. Ronnie Hawkins as his Hawks. Though colorful rockabilly legend Hawkins was born in Arkansas, he found his greatest success
Review: Bobby Charles, "Bobby Charles: Rhino Handmade Edition"
Gumbo’s on the menu, and Rhino Handmade is serving. The self-titled Bearsville debut LP from Bobby Charles is a N’awlins stew of roots music, laid-back country, soul and pure rock-and-roll from the man who gave the world “See You Later, Alligator,” and Rhino Handmade has expanded the original 1972 LP with two discs of delicious bonus material (RHM2 52663, 2011), shipping today from the label. It’s somewhat ironic that Bobby Charles was recorded in Woodstock, New York, as the man born Robert
On Target: Audio Fidelity Introduces New Retro Reissue Line
Can anybody doubt that Audio Fidelity knows its audience? The audiophile label is taking niche marketing to another level with the introduction of its new line of reissues. To the average consumer, a “Target CD” might be one purchased at that retail giant. To certain collectors, though, the words “Target CD” have a different meaning altogether. In the infancy of the compact disc, target CDs were pressings released by WEA (Warner-Elektra-Atlantic) in the early-to-mid 1980s. Most were
Monday Morsels: Pink Floyd On 5.1 SACD, Lost Dave Davies LP Joins Kinks Reissues, Kritzerland Is In "Style"
This weekend offered so much news that we couldn't wait to share it all with you! From the first-time release of Dave Davies' "lost" 1969 album to Kritzerland's restoration of a classic Italian film score and Analogue Productions' new Pink Floyd SACD, we've got something for everyone to kick off the week! Why Pink Floyd? EMI answered that question with the May 10 announcement of a stunning new reissue campaign for the legendary band. Now, another component of that series is confirmed to be
Weekend Wround-Up: The Smiths, The Beatles, Pearl Jam and More!
Happy Friday! We’ve got some tidbits to tide you over till we return on Monday, with much, much more! If you’re eagerly awaiting that complete Smiths box set but are worried about the falling American dollar, worry no more! Thanks to fine folks at MusicTAP for the heads-up that Rhino will be releasing The Smiths – Complete in the U.S. on October 18! The American edition will be available in the same configurations as in the U.K.: a gigantic Limited Edition Super Deluxe Box set, a vinyl LP
Johnny Mathis, Alfred Newman and Basil Poledouris Coming Soon From La-La Land
Let’s hope all of you film score fans out there have been saving your pennies! On Monday, Kritzerland will unveil its latest classic soundtrack release (watch this very space for that news!) and the very next day, La-La Land continues the musical bonanza with two unique offerings. Jean Neguelsco's 1958 film A Certain Smile starred Rosanno Brazzi (South Pacific) and Joan Fontaine (Rebecca). Adding to the luster, the soundtrack to the 20th Century Fox drama about a middle-aged man’s affair with
Out Of Control: Light in the Attic Invites You To Axton's "Late Late Party"
Light in the Attic is having a party, and you’re invited! Fresh from the success of Our Lives Are Shaped by What We Love: Motown’s MoWest Story (review here), the label has announced another exciting anthology. You might not know Charles “Packy” Axton now, but chances are, you’ll want to get to know him. Born in Memphis, Tennessee into the Stax Records family (his mother Estelle Axton and her brother Jim Stewart founded the Stax label!), “Packy” picked up the saxophone at a young age and
More Garland: First Hand Reveals "The London Studio Recordings 1957-1964"
The British Film Institute describes Ronald Neame’s 1963 film I Could Go on Singing as a “made-to-measure portrait of a singer grappling with her many demons before a London Palladium concert.” With the singer in question portrayed by the incandescent Judy Garland in what would turn out to be her final film role, it’s only natural to wonder just how much of the film was art imitating life. Or was it the other way around? Garland herself had performed triumphantly on the famed London stage as
You Gotta Have Heart: Audio Fidelity Preps Gold Heart, "Sweet Baby James"
Audiophile specialty label Audio Fidelity continues to revisit familiar titles in 24k Gold CD editions with its two latest releases, both due August 23: James Taylor's 1970 breakthrough Sweet Baby James, and Heart's 1998 retrospective Greatest Hits. In the documentary film Troubadours, Carole King comments that due to the "generational and cultural turbulence...there was a hunger for the intimacy of what we did." And as 1970 began, listeners certainly did hunger for James Taylor. After the
Joel McNeely's Score to "Squanto" Arrives From Intrada and Disney
Intrada Records sure knows how to keep promises! We first reported on the film score label’s partnership with Walt Disney Records back on June 27 when the initial release in a series co-branded with Disney was announced. That first Disney/Intrada release was Michael Giacchino’s Academy Award-winning score to Up (review here), and it was released simultaneously with John Scott’s score to the Touchstone picture Shoot to Kill, also from the Disney vaults under the Intrada Special Collection
Collectors' New Choice: Gordon Anderson Launches New Label
Eagle-eyed crate diggers might have noticed a major disappearing act of late. Collectors’ Choice Music, long renowned for its diverse and eclectic line-up of releases by artists ranging from Bing Crosby to Jefferson Airplane, has quietly been allowing its label’s releases to go out-of-print. In fact, many of those titles are already commanding high prices on the second-hand market. (The beginning of the end of the Collectors’ Choice label can be read here.) Though the company’s famed
Weekend Straw Poll: One Box
It almost goes without saying, but that U2 box has been a real hot topic among friends at The Second Disc. This author has long held the belief that UMe's U2 reissues, starting with the 20th anniversary package for The Joshua Tree in 2007 have been among the best expanded sets released by a major label. The packaging is detailed, the mastering is pretty good (details uncovered on audiophile CD versions of the early albums are replicated on the reissues) and the bonus content is a potent mix of
Stax Remasters Continue with Thomas, Brown and The Dramatics (UPDATED 8/5 WITH TRACK LISTINGS)
While Berry Gordy was defining “The Sound of Young America” in Detroit, Jim Stewart, Estelle Axton and Al Bell were pioneering deep, gritty Southern soul in Memphis. To many, Motown and Stax were two sides of the same coin, both offering powerhouse R&B sounds that spoke directly to the country’s youth. Since acquiring Stax from Fantasy Records in 2004, Concord Music Group has relaunched Stax as an active concern with new artists and has introduced a number of healthy catalogue initiatives
Love Hurts, But This Nazareth Box Looks Painless
Madness isn't the only artist getting a career box set from Salvo Music this year. The U.K. label is affording the same treatment to Scottish rockers Nazareth. While the band had only fleeting chart success in either the U.K. or the U.S. (enjoying early success at home with Top 10 hits "Broken Down Angel" and "Bad Bad Boy," as well as high-charting tunes like their rocking takes on Joni Mitchell's "This Flight Tonight" and Tomorrow's "My White Bicycle," and having one brief Top 10 in the U.S.
FINAL UPDATE 8/4: "Phil Spector Presents the Philles Album Collection" and "Essential Phil Spector" Due From Legacy
Well, get a load of that! This is the photo I've been waiting for - and if you're reading this, chances are you've been waiting with bated breath, too! As of August 4, we have official confirmation that Legacy's Phil Spector Presents the Philles Album Collection is, indeed, coming on October 18, along with a two-disc retrospective as part of the label's long-running Essential series. Most purchasers of Legacy's first wave of Philles Records reissues last February took immediate notice of a
Crom Smiles Upon Intrada (But Not Surround Fans)
Fans of Basil Pouledoris' scores to Arnold Schwarzenegger's Conan the Barbarian (1982) and Conan the Destroyer (1984) had a reason to be excited when the Tadlow label recorded the City of Prague Philharmonic performing the complete score to each film (the first score has already been released, the second is forthcoming). The late composer had expressed disappointment with the original film recordings (particularly that of Destroyer), and his family participated in the release in full. Plus, with
Pop-Punkers Yellowcard on Yellow Vinyl (and More) in New Box Set
If you're a vinyl collector or have an incredibly strong sense of nostalgia for recent things, this one's for you: pop-punk band Yellowcard are compiling their discography onto a collector's vinyl box set. The Florida-formed, L.A.-based outfit enjoyed mainstream success with the upbeat "Ocean Avenue" (once expertly described by SPIN magazine as the song that plays right after Hoobastank's "The Reason" at school dances nationwide). The band's sound was pure pop with clean production and a
Review: The Beau Brummels, "Bradley's Barn: Expanded Edition"
Before Abbey Road or Caribou, The Beau Brummels immortalized a famous recording studio as the title of Bradley’s Barn, their 1968 album for Warner Bros. Records. The San Francisco pop-rock outfit had travelled to Nashville, Tennessee to record at Owen Bradley’s storied venue at roughly the same time their contemporaries, The Byrds, were on the other side of town cutting Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Though the “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Turn! Turn! Turn!” hitmakers beat the Brummels to the punch
Elton, Orbison, Plant, Mellencamp, Allman Salute "The Producer" On New T Bone Burnett Comp
T Bone Burnett epitomizes cool. The former Joseph Henry Burnett, with his omnipresent sunglasses, is so cool, in fact, that he makes the name “T Bone” sound hip! He’s the producer as rock star, an artist whom superstars and fresh-faced talents alike seek out for a shot in the arm. He’s also the man who made bluegrass trendy. And lest his cool credentials be in doubt, the man toured with Bob Dylan on the Rolling Thunder Revue! Raised in Texas, by way of Missouri, Burnett relocated to
Queen Break Free, Go Deep on Third Wave of Reissues (UPDATED)
UPDATE: One unreleased track has been added to the reissue of The Miracle; in addition, the iTunes video content - much of it previously released - has been added to the post. Original Post: The U.K. is rushin' headlong into the last batch of Queen reissues (available September 5 everywhere but the U.S.), and now there are track lists for each bonus EP, included with these reissues of The Works (1984), A Kind of Magic (1986), The Miracle (1989), Innuendo (1991) and the posthumous Made in
Breaking Benjamin Add Deluxe Compilation in Their Diary
In our coverage of Queen reissues, we've bemoaned the lack of catalogue coverage at the band's U.S. label, Hollywood Records. Granted, the Disney-owned label doesn't need much catalogue attention when there are Disney Channel soundtracks and tween-friendly records to promote. But there is one rather interesting band on the label roster that isn't the label's typical fare: Breaking Benjamin, a hard-rock quartet from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Their alt-metal sound - hard-driving and insistent
Reissue Theory: Bruce Hornsby and The Range, "The Way It Is"
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we look back at notable albums and the reissues they could someday see. Exactly 25 years ago today, a classic pop album was released, with a sound that was totally different from what was the norm at that time. Now, we look back at the debut of Bruce Hornsby, and why a deluxe version would be a good idea. There were plenty of great songs to top the Billboard charts in 1986, but only one had any sort of conscious reflection behind it. Only
A Salvo of Madness Coming in September
Many of the box sets announced this year have been pretty nuts, in some way, shape or form. But none have been quite as nutty as this one: a career-spanning box by those nutty boys in Madness. The long-running British ska band, whose large handful of U.K. hits like "Our House" and "One Step Beyond" have filled dance floors the world over, has had an exceptionally busy few years with their catalogue, offering nearly all their discography, from their early hits on Stiff Records to their late-'90s
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