Bill Withers announced himself to the world in 1971 in typically understated fashion. He stood beside a plain brick wall, holding a lunch pail on the front cover photograph of Just as I Am. It offered no indication as to the fiery music contained within its grooves, from the plain-spoken, gut-wrenching "Ain't No Sunshine" to the tender and moving "Grandma's Hands." Withers was clearly a singer/songwriter with whom to be reckoned. But did stardom suit Bill Withers? His follow-up album was
Release Round-Up: Week of August 28
Frank Zappa, Official Reissues #15-26 (Zappa Records/UMe) FZ's 1972-1979 discography, almost entirely sourced from original analog masters. (Joe breaks it all down for you here!) Various Artists, A&M 50: The Anniversary Collection (A&M/UMe) Three discs of hits and favorites from a most eclectic of major labels. Elvis Presley, A Boy from Tupelo: The Complete 1953-1955 Recordings (Follow That Dream) The King's complete Sun tenure, with single masters, alternates, live takes and more -
Release Round-Up: Week of August 21
KISS, Destroyer: Resurrected (Mercury/UMe) The 1976 classic gets a new mix from original producer Bob Ezrin for its 35th anniversary. (It's also available on vinyl, too!) Taj Mahal, The Hidden Treasures of Taj Mahal (Columbia/Legacy) Tomorrow may not be your day, but today certainly is if you're a Taj Mahal fan: two discs of unreleased material - one of studio tracks, one from a 1970 show at the Royal Albert Hall. Los Lobos, Kiko: 20th Anniversary Edition / Kiko Live (Shout!
The Fabulous, and Complete, Johnny Cash! Legacy Announces "Columbia Album Collection"
He’s been everywhere man, he’s been everywhere. But now Johnny Cash is going somewhere he’s never been before: into Complete Albums territory. Though the Man in Black has been anthologized numerous times in the past (including on an indispensable set of Bear Family releases) nothing has approached the sheer magnitude of this new box set. The Complete Columbia Album Collection is a massive 63-CD, 59-album treasure trove collecting every one of Cash’s albums for the venerable label, released
Blame It On The Bossa Nova: Él Compiles Brazilian Classics, Plus: "Pop! Goes the West"
The gentle guitars of a bossa nova band and the blazing guns of the American West don’t seem to have much in common on the surface. Yet the sun-drenched music of Brazil and the dramatic landscape of the American West both have their own distinct mythologies. And as the 1960s dawned, both bossa nova and western music swept the pop charts. Cherry Red’s Él label is celebrating these two very different styles with a pair of new anthologies. Festival of Bossa Nova is a primer on the early days of
Vinyl Renaissance: Omnivore Recordings Offers Art Pepper, Josh Haden's Spain on Vinyl, Plus "Music City" Rarities
The term "record store" (two rather hallowed words in these parts!) has long been used to describe those stores that sell music, even well into the age of the CD, and now, the digital download. But lately, record store walls have been lined with more and more actual vinyl records. In 2011, more records were purchased than in any other year in the past two decades, with sales up 36 percent over 2010, to a not-too-shabby 3.9 million. Sales for 2012 are likely to best that number. Since its
Tuesday Tidbits: Incubus Teams with Best Buy on Exclusive "HQ," Bert Jansch's "Heartbreak" Is Expanded, and Musicians Fight Epilepsy with "Joey's Song"
Today is the day for a 2-CD/1-DVD set of previously unissued live performances from the band Incubus. Celebrating their twentieth year together, Incubus is launching a 4-week, 18-city tour co-headlining with Linkin Park. The tour kicks off tonight in Boston, Massachusetts, but the performances on Incubus HQ Live date from one year ago, recorded in West Hollywood, California. That was when the band set up shop at a storefront on La Brea Avenue for seven special nights of performances. HQ Live
Release Round-Up: Week of August 14
Bob Dylan, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (Mobile Fidelity) Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab is issuing newly-remastered stereo hybrid SACDs of classic Bob Dylan albums, and today's release is the 1963 Freewheelin', Dylan's second long-player. Read more here. Incubus, HQ Live (Legacy) Incubus' Summer 2011 live concert performances are preserved on this deluxe set, available in single-CD + DVD, double-CD + DVD and exclusive Best Buy editions. Read more here. Kinks, At the BBC (Universal
These Are the Voyages: Complete Box Set of "Star Trek" Television Music Planned
Until about a year before The Second Disc started, it seemed likelier to invent a warp drive than to get a decent reissue series of music from the Star Trek universe. All that changed in 2009, when Film Score Monthly released an remastered and expanded edition of James Horner's iconic soundtrack to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982). Over the next three years, the floodgates opened. All six of Paramount's films featuring the original television cast (for those keeping track, that's Jerry
Reissue Theory, In Memoriam: Various Artists, "The Essential Marvin Hamlisch"
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we focus on notable albums and the reissues they may someday see. Today's installment looks back at the mighty career of the late Marvin Hamlisch and how his best songs might be compiled into a truly "Essential" release. On Tuesday morning, August 7, news broke that composer Marvin Hamlisch had unexpectedly died the day before, at the age of 68. The worlds of music, theatre and film were all shocked, as Hamlisch's latest musical, The
Review: Johnny Cash, "The Greatest" Series and "We Walk the Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash"
Saddle up! This week has brought a veritable Johnny Cash bonanza from Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings, and a trip to the Ponderosa isn’t even required! As the Cash 80th birthday train continues its ride, the late artist’s longtime home is celebrating his career with four newly-curated compilations on compact disc as well as an all-star tribute concert available in DVD/CD and Blu-ray editions. The new series The Greatest (the rare hyperbolic title that can stand up to scrutiny)
Heaven On Their Minds: Remastered "Jesus Christ Superstar" Coming From Verve, with Deep Purple's Ian Gillan, Yvonne Elliman
"Nothing could convince me that any show that has sold two and one-half million copies of its album before the opening night is anything like all bad," wrote The New York Times' Clive Barnes on October 13, 1971 upon the Broadway debut of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Jesus Christ Superstar. Indeed, the original Jesus Christ Superstar was a bit of a revelation, a true hybrid of rock and theater, introduced as a record but destined for the world's stages. And it's returning in a new,
Release Round-Up: Week of August 7
The Beach Boys, Japanese 2012 Remasters (EMI) Released last week across the sea, these new Japanese remasters of 12 of the boys of summer's first LPs (spanning from 1963 to 1971 but, alas, incomplete) should be hitting our shores around now. Has anyone had the chance to hear them yet? Roxy Music, The Complete Recordings 1972-1982 (Virgin) This 10-disc set, kicking off a planned 40th anniversary celebration of the iconic New Wave pioneers, features new remasters of the band's first eight
"Used Cars" (The Music) for Sale at La-La Land!
La-La Land's latest catalogue title, released last week, is a pleasant surprise: the premiere release of the score to the cult-classic comedy Used Cars. The 1980 picture, starring Kurt Russell as an unscrupulous salesman willing to go to any lengths to shut down his competition, was a particular surprise for anyone familiar with the talent behind the production. It was the second film to be directed by Robert Zemeckis, and was written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale and produced by Steven Spielberg.
Aztec Camera Catalogue to Be Expanded by Edsel in August
The brilliant, multifaceted work of Roddy Frame's Scottish pop band Aztec Camera will see significant expansion courtesy of the hardworking folks at Demon Music Group. Aztec Camera's six studio albums, featuring singer/songwriter Frame and a rotating cast of musicians (including future Smiths second guitarist Craig Gannon, drummer Steve Jordan, keyboardist Tony Mansfield and others), will all be expanded by Edsel on August 27. Debut LP High Land, Hard Rain (released in 1983 on Rough Trade
Mike Oldfield Celebrated in August with New Deluxe Reissues, Compilation
Mike Oldfield was always more than "Tubular Bells." The 59-year-old multi-instrumentalist has continued to put out diverse, challenging music long after his signature tune was released nearly 40 years ago. In recent years, Universal Music Enterprises has done a great job of anthologizing Oldfield's work with expanded editions of his early works for Virgin Records; on August 14, not only will two new deluxe editions be released, but a brand-new career spanning compilation will hit stores as
Surf's Up! "Surf Age Nuggets" Box Coming from RockBeat, Plus: Billy Gibbons, Dickie Goodman and a Visit to Southfork!
RockBeat Records is back! The label, founded by by Arny Schorr of S’more Entertainment and employing James Austin in the same capacity in which he served at Rhino Records (Vice President of A&R), has already delivered music from an eclectic roster of artists including Jackie DeShannon, Glen Campbell and Todd Rundgren. The RockBeat team has just announced four new projects that are every bit as stylistically diverse as one might expect from the label: a box set of surf music classics,
House That Used To Be: Old 97's "Too Far To Care" Remastered and Expanded by Omnivore
Though 1997's Too Far to Care was actually the third album from Texan band Old 97's, it was an album of firsts. The major label debut of Rhett Miller and his musical cohorts, Too Far to Care placed the band at the vanguard of alt-country. It combined the muscularity of rock and the songcraft of pop with the traditional country sound on which the band had earned an Elektra Records contract, and led to performances in front of Lollapalooza crowds. In celebration of the album's 15th anniversary,
Saturday Spotlight: From Eelwax Jesus to Declan's Well
We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming... Another Saturday night and you ain't got nobody? Well, it has been called the loneliest night of the week. It's also been said that S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y night is alright for fighting. But here at Second Disc HQ, this evening will hardly be lonely, because Mike and I will be indulging in some of our favorite new music. Yup, that's right! For this special weekend update, if you will, we're turning the spotlight from back-catalogue favorites to
Lee Hazlewood Makes "A House Safe For Tigers"
One of our favorite characters here at Second Disc HQ is the one and only Lee Hazlewood. Whether singing psychedelic duets with the daughter of the Chairman of the Board, proving that Hollywood kids Dino, Desi and Billy were “Not the Lovin’ Kind” or going all twangy with Duane Eddy, Hazlewood made his mark wherever he went. Light in the Attic kicked off a new Hazlewood reissue campaign in April with the release of the deliciously offbeat The LHI Years: Singles, Nudes and Backsides 1968-1971,
Wonderful! Wonderful! Johnny Mathis' Long-Lost Mercury Catalogue Comes to CD from Real Gone Music
Johnny Mathis’ association with Columbia Records began in 1956, which makes it one of the longest relationships between artist and label in popular music. But it’s often overlooked that Mathis departed Columbia for a brief period at rival Mercury Records, right as some young upstarts from across the pond were changing the face of music forever. (Keep in mind that Mathis himself wasn’t even 30 when he made the shift!) During a prolific three years (1963-1966) at Mercury, Mathis recorded eleven
Some Kind of a Summer: Real Gone Offers David Cassidy, Gary Lewis, Grateful Dead, Johnny Mathis In August
Real Gone Music is looking ahead to August, and it's going to be one hot summer! The label has just announced new titles from all around the pop/rock spectrum: Gary Lewis and the Playboys, David Cassidy, The Grateful Dead and Johnny Mathis! Gary Lewis and the Playboys' Complete Liberty Singles first arrived in 2009 from the late Collectors' Choice Music label, with 45 tracks on 2 CDs. This anthology definitely proved that there was much more to the group than just "This Diamond Ring,"
Short Takes, International Edition: INXS Celebrates 25 Years of "Kick" Plus The Byrds Go Mono and Stereo
Welcome to the working week! This morning's Short Takes brings us to the U.K. for the 25th anniversary of a pop classic, and to Japan, where one of the 1960s' greatest bands is getting the red carpet treatment! Though we're reluctant to rush the summer away, it sure looks like this September's going to be a month with kick! Kick, that is. It appears that Universal U.K. will be giving the full, Super Deluxe treatment to Aussie band INXS' 1987 breakthrough album. The multi-platinum Kick
From "Sassy" to "The Matriarch of the Blues" and Beyond: PopMarket Offers New Complete Box Sets in August
Though it may be summer vacation for many of us, the folks at Sony's PopMarket have been too busy to take much of a rest! They'll be releasing three more Complete Albums boxes from a triumvirate of artists who blurred the lines between jazz, R&B, pop and rock. Box sets for The Brecker Brothers, Etta James and Sarah Vaughan will arrive at general retail as well as at PopMarket.com on August 28. Though most genres have been benefitted from the comprehensive Complete Albums series, jazz fans
Brother Love Returns: Neil Diamond's "Hot August Night" Celebrates 40 Years With Newly-Expanded Reissue
"The stage, she is the God-damnedest woman you ever saw." So said Neil Diamond on the occasion of his first Hot August Night, nearly forty years ago at Los Angeles' Greek Theatre. It was likely that the leaves were, indeed, hanging down, and the grass on the ground smelling...sweet. Diamond is caught in an odd pose on the album's cover, deep in a moment. He's in a beaded denim suit predating his famous glitter shirts, his long mane of hair wind-blown. The harsh red lighting suggests the
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