Last year for Black Friday's Record Store Day event, Rhino premiered Little Feat's Electrif Lycanthrope: Live at Ultra-Sonic Studios 1974, a concert album recorded in front of an intimate studio audience in Hempstead, New York. The band originally fronted by Lowell George always blossomed in a live setting, with that particular brand of electricity best captured on 1978's Waiting for Columbus. The double album recorded in 1977 at London's Rainbow Theatre and Washington, DC's Lisner Auditorium
New Collection 'Songbird' Shows the Solo Side of Christine McVie
Christine McVie's association with Fleetwood Mac began in 1970 when the singer-songwriter born Anne Christine Perfect played and sang on the group's record Kiln House (and even provided its cover artwork). Though uncredited on Kiln House, McVie joined the band shortly thereafter, penning two songs and contributing to a third on 1971's Future Games. Her place in the group assured, she went on to write and sing many of the Mac's most cherished hits including "Don't Stop," "Everywhere," and
Licked Again: The Rolling Stones Bring 2003 Madison Square Garden Show to CD, LP, DVD, Blu-ray
The Rolling Stones may be off the road for now, but until they return to European stages this summer, the World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band is serving up more live fare for audiences everywhere. The Stones will follow up the May 13 release of 1977's Live at the El Mocambo with a live set of more recent vintage. On June 10, Mercury Studios delivers Licked Live in NYC, presenting the band's January 2003 Madison Square Garden show from the 40th anniversary Licked tour, in multiple formats:
Would You Go All The Way? "Zappa/Erie" Collects Three Pennsylvania Shows and More on 6 CDs
On June 3, Zappa Records and UMe are taking a journey to Elsewhere. Frank Zappa's 1974 live album Roxy and Elsewhere primarily featured performances from Hollywood's Roxy Theatre recorded in December 1973. The Elsewhere in the album's title referred to "Son of Orange County" and "More Trouble Every Day," both of which were captured in May 1974 at Edinboro State College in Edinboro, Pennsylvania (with parts of "Son of Orange County" drawn from a Chicago show). Now, the entire Edinboro show
How Does It Feel to Be Back: An Interview with Jeremy Holiday of Iconoclassic Records
Jeremy Holiday remembers it well: at four years old, he got his first "pop" record, Daryl Hall & John Oates' 1980 blockbuster Voices. That record set him on an incredible path that readers of The Second Disc will no doubt recognize: the journey to a fruitful career in catalogue music. For nearly 25 years, Holiday maintained an incredible tenure in the major label reissue business, working at BMG's Buddha and Heritage imprints, surviving a 2005 merger with Sony Music (and BMG's divestment
Rip This Joint: The Rolling Stones' 1977 Secret Show Released on "Live at the El Mocambo"
A surprise gig for The Rolling Stones is now yielding a surprise release. Back in March, 1977, two concerts were announced to take place at the small, roughly 300-capacity Toronto club El Mocambo. Canadian rock band April Wine was confirmed as the headliner; the support act was an unknown band called The Cockroaches. Tickets were distributed via a radio contest on CHUM-FM. It wasn't until the contest winners were being transported to the club on a chartered bus that radio station officials
How Deep Is Your Love: Rumer's Second Volume of "B-Sides and Rarities" Arrives in April
Anyone who's heard Rumer's 2015 collection B-Sides and Rarities knows that the artist's leftovers bear the same hallmarks of quality, beauty, emotion, and elegance as her core releases. Now, seven years later, a second volume is on the way from Cooking Vinyl. B-Sides and Rarities Vol. 2 arrives April 22 on CD and digitally with a vinyl LP edition to follow from the label on October 21. Since that initial collection, the Pakistani-born British artist has released two studio albums, one EP,
Isn't It Romantic? Stage Door Collects Rarities from Broadway and West End Star Sally Ann Howes
Over the course of an extraordinary seven-decade career, Sally Ann Howes exemplified entertainment royalty. Born in London into a showbiz family, she starred on stage, screen, and television, sang in front of three U.S. Presidents, originated roles on Broadway and in the West End, appeared on the cover of Life, and earned a Tony Award nomination. Now, just months after her passing on December 19, 2021 at the age of 91, Stage Door Records is celebrating the legacy of this Truly Scrumptious
Total Conditioning: Two Howard Jones Remix Albums Reissued by Cherry Red
Cherry Red continues their ongoing excavation of the Howard Jones catalogue with a new set that collects two remix albums from the mid-'80s: one a special early part of his discography, and one a treasured rarity for Japanese collectors. The label will issue a 2CD set on March 18 featuring the contents of The 12" Album and 12"ers Vol. 2, which collected a plurality of mixes, some B-sides and the odd unique track from the Human's Lib and Dream Into Action albums. 1984's The 12" Album featured
Tears Began to Fall: New Box Set Chronicles Frank Zappa and The Mothers' 1971 Fillmore East Shows, Final London Concert
In a masterstroke of understatement, Frank Zappa and The Mothers proclaimed themselves to be Just Another Band from L.A. on a 1972 album of the same title. Of course, The Mothers were never just another band, but this particular iteration - featuring former Turtles vocalists Flo and Eddie (Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan) and bassist Jim Pons, drummer Aynsley Dunbar, keyboardist Don Preston, and multi-instrumentalist Ian Underwood - was one of the most memorable of the band's existence. This
Pink Floyd Announce 'Pulse' Blu-ray, Does Not Announce Unreleased Digital Live Shows
Two exciting Pink Floyd stories have cropped up for fans of all of their eras: a standalone release of their restored Pulse Blu-ray for 2022, and a dozen unheard live shows from 1971 available to hear now. Pulse, originally released in 1995, chronicled the British band's Division Bell Tour of Europe the previous year. While the album was culled from multiple performances, the accompanying video release was taken from a performance at Earls Court in London on October 20, 1994. There, Pink
Howard Jones at The BBC
Howard Jones At The BBC is a 5CD treasure trove of rare and unreleased recordings from the artist taped by the national radio between 1983 and 1987. Aside from appearances on a handful of B-sides and as bonus material - including a long out-of-print box set of Howard's first two albums that came with a live bonus disc in 2010 - all of these tracks are being heard for the first time since they were broadcast.
Like to Get to Know You Well: Howard Jones Plans BBC Box with Cherry Red
Howard Jones may have issued deluxe editions of all his WEA albums with Cherry Red (who now own the recordings outright), but he's not done archiving his works with the label. They'll issue a 5CD box set of the keyboardist's BBC recordings this fall. Howard Jones At The BBC offers a treasure trove of rare and unreleased recordings taped by the national radio between 1983 and 1987. Aside from a handful of B-sides and bonus material - including a long out-of-print box set of Howard's first two
The Show Time Series EP Collection: Volume Three
Stage Door Records concludes The Show Time Series EP Collection, collecting RCA Victor's 1953 series dedicated to highlights from classic musicals, with this volume featuring 20 tracks from five musicals. The shows heard in this volume are: Anything Goes (Cole Porter); Kiss Me, Kate (Cole Porter); Porgy and Bess (George and Ira Gershwin/DuBose Heyward); Girl Crazy (George and Ira Gershwin); and The Little Shows (various songwriters). Helen Gallagher, Lisa Kirk, Jack Cassidy, and Edie Adams are
Who Could Ask for Anything More? Stage Door Concludes "Show Time" Series With Third Volume Featuring "Girl Crazy," "Anything Goes," "Porgy and Bess," and More
By 1953, RCA Victor already boasted a considerable number of Broadway classics in its catalogue - from original cast recordings of Brigadoon and Paint Your Wagon to studio cast renditions of South Pacific and Finian's Rainbow. But the label was eager to build up its musical theatre repertoire and compete with the likes of Columbia and Decca. To that end, the Show Time series was launched - a collection of 16 EPs, each dedicated to four songs from a beloved musical or operetta. The EPs were
Spooky, Scary: Andrew Gold's "Halloween Howls" Returns on Friday
When late singer-songwriter Andrew Gold set out to record his Halloween Howls: Fun and Scary Music album, he knew he was filling a void. The composer-lyricist of "Thank You for Being a Friend" and "Lonely Boy" wrote in the 1996 CD's original liner notes, "Each holiday has a mood and usually has music to go with it. However, it's been very hard to find any tapes or CDs of Halloween music. In fact, there's mostly just scary sound effects available and very few songs. So, I fixed that." Over the
You Know How to Love Me: A Closer Look at Phyllis Hyman's "Old Friend: The Deluxe Collection 1976-1998"
UPDATED AUGUST 2021: "Phyllis sat right in my class. I can still see the pigtails." In a 2016 interview with The Second Disc, Thom Bell shared his earliest memories of the late Phyllis Hyman (1949-1995). The songwriter-arranger-conductor-producer would cross paths numerous times over the years with his childhood friend: first via Phyllis' hit recordings of his "Betcha By Golly Wow" and "Loving You - Losing You," and later, his own productions and songs for her. "She was a lonely individual,"
Comes a Time: Grateful Dead Revisits Early Seventies St. Louis Shows On New Box Set
Another massive Grateful Dead box is on the way. Listen to the River: St. Louis '71 '72 '73 arrives on October 1 from the band and Rhino. It brings together a slew of previously unreleased concerts recorded on December 9 and 10, 1971 in St. Louis, Missouri at the Fox Theatre; October 17-19, 1972 at the Fox Theatre; and October 29 and 30, 1973 at Kiel Auditorium. Each of these concerts has been restored and speed-corrected using Plangent Processes with mastering by Jeffrey Norman. The box is
The Show Time Series EP Collection Volume Two
Following The Show Time Series EP Collection Volume One, Stage Door Records has released Volume Two of the series premiering RCA Victor's 1953 Show Time EPs on CD. The single-CD 20-track release features five musicals: Mademoiselle Modiste (Victor Herbert/Henry Blossom); Naughty Marietta (Victor Herbert/Rida Johnson Young); Shuffle Along (Eubie Blake/Noble Sissle); Blackbirds of 1928 (Jimmy McHugh/Dorothy Fields); and The Band Wagon (Arthur Schwartz/Howard Dietz). Cast
Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life: Stage Door Preps Second Volume of RCA's "Show Time" Series of Classic Musicals
By 1953, RCA Victor already boasted a considerable number of Broadway classics in its catalogue - from original cast recordings of Brigadoon and Paint Your Wagon to studio cast renditions of South Pacific and Finian's Rainbow. But the label was eager to build up its musical theatre repertoire and compete with the likes of Columbia and Decca. To that end, the Show Time series was launched - a collection of 16 EPs, each dedicated to four songs from a beloved musical or operetta. The EPs were
Zappa '88: The Last U.S. Show
2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 4LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Zappa Records has announced a new archival title - and it's a landmark, if bittersweet, addition to the library. Zappa '88: The Last U.S. Show preserves the March 25, 1988 show at Uniondale, New York's Nassau Coliseum that turned out to be the musician and bandleader's final show on American soil. Zappa '88: The Last U.S. Show, featuring the first release of Zappa's "Beatles Medley" with lyrics
Merci, Miles! Jazz Legend Showcased on Unreleased 1991 Concert
One of Miles Davis' final live performances is coming to CD from Rhino/Warner Records. On June 25, as part of Rhino's celebration of Black Music Month, the label will release Merci Miles! Live at Vienne on 2 LPs or 2 CDs. This previously unreleased concert was recorded at the Vienne Jazz Festival on July 1, 1991. The legendary musician would be honored by France mere days later, becoming a Knight of the Legion of Honour, before passing away in September at the age of 65. At the time of the
Back 'In the Running': Next Howard Jones Reissue Coming from Cherry Red in April
Cherry Red's ongoing Howard Jones reissue campaign hits its next marker on April 30, with an expanded CD/DVD and vinyl reissue planned for In the Running, Jones' fifth album and final release for a major label. In the Running continued the artistic and commercial trends that had been a part of Jones' career since 1989's Cross That Line sold modestly outside of the U.S. Top 20 hit "Everlasting Love." With a new decade in full bloom, Jones consciously moved away from the densest electronics of
How My Heart Sings: Craft Recordings Readies New Career-Spanning Box for Bill Evans
Bill Evans would have earned his place in the jazz history books if only for his role on Miles Davis' landmark 1959 set Kind of Blue. But the pianist-composer and modal jazz innovator recorded over 50 live and studio albums as a leader before his untimely death in 1980 at the age of just 51, leaving behind a legacy of some of the most beautiful jazz ever committed to tape. In addition to Davis, he also served as a sideman to musicians including Chet Baker, Cannonball Adderley, Charles Mingus,
Down the Road: Grateful Dead's 'Skull & Roses' Album Expanded with Unreleased Show
Grateful Dead's 50th anniversary series keeps on truckin' with the June 18 reissue of the band's 1971 eponymous live album also known as their "Skull and Roses" album after the cover artwork by Alton Kelley and Stanley Mouse. While the Dead was still a young band at that point, Grateful Dead was their second double-LP live album following 1969's Live/Dead. It also was one of their most successful LPs, peaking at No. 25 on the Billboard Top LPs chart and earning their first Gold sales