What do David Crosby, Luciano Pavarotti, Bono and Neil Diamond all have in common? Each gentleman is a past honoree as MusiCares Person of the Year. Administered by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and chosen by the MusiCares Foundation, the title is bestowed upon artists to commend both artistic achievement in music and commitment to philanthropy. A tribute is to paid to the recipient with an evening of eclectic performances celebrating his or her legacy. In 2011, the
Release Round-Up: Week of April 26
Derek and the Dominos, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (Universal) The 2-CD remastered/expanded 40th Anniversary Edition (previously a Best Buy exclusive) and super deluxe 4-CD/2-LP/1-DVD box set of the seminal album both arrive in stores today. Read more here. (2-CD – Amazon, Box Set – Amazon) Bob Dylan, The Other Side of the Mirror: Live at the Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965 (Columbia/Legacy) Murray Lerner’s film chronicling Dylan’s incendiary performances at Newport is released on
It's Motown Monday: Kent Releases The Definitive Monitors In June
It's Motown Monday here at The Second Disc as we're pleased to spread the news of the latest title in Ace Records' series of lost Motown treasures! Previous releases have been devoted to The Satintones, The Contours and Marv Johnson, and this June will see the first-ever CD anthology dedicated to the recordings of The Monitors. Led by future Temptation Richard Street, The Monitors released five singles on Berry Gordy's V.I.P. and Soul labels and one LP on Soul. Say You!: The Motown Anthology
Review: Don Sebesky, "Giant Box"
Why can’t jazz be populist and pure, both at the same time? One imagines Creed Taylor asked that question when he launched CTI (Creed Taylor Incorporated) as a solo label back in 1970. Three years earlier he had decamped from Verve and christened the CTI name as an imprint of Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss’ A&M Records. At A&M, Taylor produced nearly 30 albums by such jazz greats as Wes Montgomery, Montgomery's heir apparent George Benson, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Herbie Mann. Taylor’s
Stage and Screen Classics, Reissued: "Until September" and "Camelot"
If there’s a link between Kritzerland’s two new releases, it would have to be melody. I’m speaking of sheer, unadulterated, romantic melody, courtesy of two of music’s finest purveyors of such themes: John Barry and Frederick Loewe. This morning, the stage and screen specialists announced two limited edition titles of 1,000, and both are notable, indeed. From Mr. Barry comes the 1984 score to Until September, while Mr. Loewe is represented by the first-ever CD release of the 1964 Original
Now Boarding: Jefferson Airplane Reissues Take Off On BGO and Friday Music
Now departing from San Francisco: it's Jefferson Airplane! While the classic band's live reissue series launched by Collector's Choice Music remains in limbo, fans of the classic rock line-up of Grace Slick, Marty Balin, Paul Kantner, Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady and Spencer Dryden don't have to fear! Both BGO Records and Friday Music have a rich slate of Airplane projects to keep the group flying high! Friday Music kicks things off with a 180-gram vinyl LP remastering of the ironically-titled
Heavy Traffic: "The Jim Capaldi Story" Told On Upcoming Box Set
It's time to clear a space on your shelf next to Steve Winwood's 1995 box set The Finer Things or its 2010 counterpart Revolutions. The life and career of Winwood's longtime collaborator Jim Capaldi (1944-2005) is being celebrated by the fine folks at Universal U.K. with a lavish new box set, Dear Mr. Fantasy: The Jim Capaldi Story. Set for release on June 27, Dear Mr. Fantasy is named after one of Traffic's most beloved songs. It encompasses Capaldi's work with that group as well as early
Short Takes: Cars on Friday, INXS Live Show and Howard Jones Tidbits
Our friends at Friday Music have found a great way to celebrate the reunion of The Cars: a reissue of one of their albums! A straight reissue of the group's final album for Elektra, 1987's Door to Door, remastered by the label's own Joe Reagoso, will be available May 10, the same day as the band's brand-new studio album, Move Like This. In honor of the impending royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, INXS have released a digital album of their 1985 concert performed in honor of a
Intrada Premieres Scores to "Ravagers," "Stay Tuned"
Some small but significant premiere releases have bowed from Intrada this week: a dynamic sci-fi score from the '70s and a comedic action romp from the '90s. Ravagers was a brooding post-apocalyptic film featuring Richard Harris as a vigilante safeguarding against the titular band of marauders hell-bent on killing any survivors they can find. Art Carney and Ernest Borgnine co-starred in this forgotten thriller, and the score was composed by Fred Karlin, a jazz arranger who gained prominence in
"What's New?" Ronstadt and Riddle Classic Revisited on Gold CD
While the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has inexplicably remained immune to her charms, few artists have had the career of Linda Ronstadt. She's racked up 38 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including ten that went Top Ten. On the album chart, she's placed 36 entries, including ten that reached the Top Ten there too (her magic number!) and three that hit pole position. And consider this: after playing a vital role in the country-rock scene with the Stone Poneys and their hit recording of Mike
A Dozen "Playlist" Sets Due in May
Love 'em or hate 'em, the various budget compilations that come from the major labels are quick, easy ways to get catalogue material out to the masses. Universal's ICON and Sony's Playlist series are probably the highest-profile of these series, but the latter is arguably the more beloved of the two, thanks to a concerted effort by some of the producers at Legacy to get rarer tracks on the Playlist discs, whether it's a rare single version or bonus track from a previous reissue. Legacy has 12
Review: Howard Jones, "The 12" Album/Action Replay: Remastered Editions"
Less is more, they tell you. If a song like "Yesterday" was done with a full band, would it have retained its emotional impact than its original, heartrending arrangement? Now, that argument often rings true, but sometimes a little more is pretty fun, too. Anyone who enjoys the music of the 1980s can attest to this. Some of the best hits of that decade were flush with production techniques and overdubs that would have been shunned in decades past. The synthesizer and the drum machine became the
Crossing the Pond: "London American Label 1963" Spotlights Spector and More
It’s 1963. Imagine a label that counted Roy Orbison, Darlene Love, James Brown, The Drifters and Jerry Lee Lewis all among its artists. While such an array of talent never convened under one roof in America, it was a very different story in the United Kingdom. The U.K.’s Decca Record Company indeed brought all of those artists, and more, under the umbrella of its London American label. London American delivered the best in American pop, R&B and rock and roll to British audiences. Ace is
In Case You Missed Them: Soundtrack Smashes from La-La Land, FSM
Our apologies for not getting these titles to you earlier, but there's been a lot of action on the indie soundtrack label front, with two titles announced by Film Score Monthly late last week and three from La-La Land that went on sale yesterday and are selling briskly. Over at FSM, the label released Friday a short but powerful score to the film Testament, a 1983 drama featuring Jane Alexander as a mother coping with the fallout from a nuclear blast outside their California suburb. The
Right On: Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" Receives 40th Anniversary Box Set (UPDATED WITH TRACK LIST)
Smokey Robinson has called it "the greatest album of all time." Rolling Stone ranked it in the Top Ten in its survey of the Greatest Albums of All Time, at No. 6. Marvin Gaye's What's Going On broke the Motown mold as Gaye delivered one of the most personal albums of all time: impassioned, outraged, haunting, beautiful and altogether unexpected. That seminal LP was released on May 21, 1971 and has remained in print since. Ten years ago, for its thirtieth anniversary, Motown reissued What's Going
Welcome to the "House of Rufus"
Think Loudon Wainwright III's Forty Odd Years box set is exhaustive? The singer-songwriter's son, Rufus, just topped it - and then some. We previously reported that Rufus Wainwright was planning a massive career-spanning box set, but Universal Music just revealed details on the scope of House of Rufus, due out this summer. Altogether, the set includes 19 - count 'em, 19! - discs, featuring every studio and live record Wainwright's ever released and then some. According to a post on Rufus'
Release Round-Up: Week of April 12
Bob Dylan, In Concert: Brandeis University, 1963 (Columbia/Legacy) Did you miss this when it first came to pass as a bonus disc with Amazon orders of the latest Bootleg Series? Here's your second chance. (Official site) Danny Elfman, The Tim Burton/Danny Elfman 25th Anniversary Music Box (Warner Bros.) Can you believe it? These things are finally starting to ship after four months and endless posts of addressing speculation and delays. (Official site) Jimi Hendrix, South Saturn Delta / Band
Another Barrel Full of Monkees from Friday Music?
So you want to be a rock 'n' roll star? Then listen now to what I say...Just get an electric guitar, then take some time and learn how to play... Those acerbic lyrics from The Byrds' 1967 "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" were admittedly aimed at The Monkees, according to the song's co-writer, Chris Hillman. Yet from the vantage point of over forty years later, the pop and television stars have more than proved their true musical credentials. They're taking their act on the road this
Review: Leon Russell, "The Best of Leon Russell"
There wasn't a dry eye in the house when Leon Russell, upon accepting his induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, thanked Elton John for rescuing him from "a ditch beside the highway of life." Thanks to the success of The Union, the collaborative album between John and his early idol, Leon Russell's profile has been considerably high of late. It's been so high, in fact, that one member of the Steve Hoffman Music Forums even queried of the community, "Is Leon Russell getting too much
Rhino Resurrects "L.A. Woman" This Fall
It was hard not to worry about Rhino for awhile. Since the new year kicked off, things have been eerily quiet from the venerable label and catalogue arm of Warner Music Group (currently prepping for a major reorganization). Outside of the largesse of the Europe '72 box set from The Grateful Dead and a few soundtrack selections, all was quiet. Now, one of Warner's most enduring catalogue artists looks to be getting another reissue: hot off the presses, Rhino's announced a 40th anniversary
Short Takes: More News on Queen Reissues, Stax Expansions, Howard Jones Box Ships
Queen's official site issued a press release yesterday confirming a June 13 release date in the U.K. of the next batch of the band's reissues. News of the World (1977), Jazz (1978), The Game (1980), Flash Gordon (1980) and Hot Space (1982) will comprise this batch. No bonus material has been announced (nor has a U.S. release date been set), but a Deep Cuts compilation will accompany the discs. We have our friends at Vintage Vinyl News to thank for this tip: Concord Records is releasing three
He's Got What It Takes: Marv Johnson's Motown Years Coming from Kent
Had Marv Johnson (1938-1993) accomplished nothing else, he would still go down in history as the first artist heard on a Motown single. The very first release to come out of Berry Gordy's mighty empire in January 1959, Tamla 101, was Johnson's "Come to Me" b/w "Whisper," both sides of which were written by Gordy and the artist. Thankfully, Johnson did accomplish much more musically, and as a testament to his legacy, Ace's Kent label will release I'll Pick a Rose for My Rose: The Complete Marv
Review: Aretha Franklin, "Take a Look: Aretha Franklin Complete on Columbia"
Some legends are repeated so often that they’ve come to be accepted as the truth. One such legend has it that the suits at Columbia Records, circa 1960-1965, were a chain of fools who kept Aretha Franklin from reaching her potential. After all, the record states that one year and one record after being released from Columbia, a superstar was born. But what if that notion was completely incorrect, and Aretha Franklin’s talent was already fully formed and on display at Columbia? Listen to the
Ozzy's "Blizzard" and "Madman" LPs to Be Expanded in May (UPDATE 4/4)
UPDATE 4/4: This isn't particularly new, but in case anyone stumbled upon this post, there was some initial confusion as to the existence of bonus tracks on the Diary of a Madman set. Everything has now been properly edited. Original post: Last year, Legacy promised to turn October into "Rocktober" with the reissues of Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman, the first two solo albums by Ozzy Osbourne. Those reissues were unsurprisingly well-received by fans, particularly following the revelation
We Will Box You: Queen Remasters Box Coming to U.S.
Just a quick note for those of you thinking about how you're going to tackle these Queen remasters when they come to the United States on May 17 (they're of course already available in the U.K.): just as England got a special box of all five deluxe editions, so will we. But it's not going to be found in any store. Queen's Facebook page (the band is actually really good at using social media to update fans appropriately) just linked to an Amazon-exclusive Queen 40 box that will contain the
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