How lovely to sit here in the shade, with none of the woes of man and maid/I’m glad I’m not young anymore! The rivals that don’t exist at all, the feeling you’re only two feet tall/I’m glad I’m not young anymore! Matt Monro recorded those Alan Jay Lerner lyrics in January 1973 at just 42 years of age. But by that point, the golden-voiced singer had already acquired enough experience to interpret them with supreme confidence and natural charm. Monro’s reassuring, crisply impeccable tone
Lucinda Williams' Self-Titled LP Back Into Print, Expanded for January
Lucinda Williams' self-titled third record - arguably, featuring her first great moments as a country singer-songwriter - will get reissued as a double-disc set next month on the artist's new imprint label, affiliated with independent label Thirty Tigers. Initially released on the Rough Trade label, Lucinda Williams saw the Louisiana native craft a unique blend of country, folk, blues and rock that was miles away from her first two records for Smithsonian Folkways in 1979 and 1980 (the former
Eric Clapton Goes to the "Crossroads" and Brings Friends On New CD, DVD, BD
Eric Clapton is big on giving back. The guitar god founded Antigua’s Crossroads Centre for the treatment of alcoholism and drug addiction in 1998, and in 2004, spearheaded the creation of the Crossroads Eric Clapton Guitar Festival to benefit the facility of the same name. Since that first ’04 fest, Crossroads Festivals have taken place every three years, in 2007, 2010 and 2013. Highlights from the 2013 shows, which took place on April 12 and 13 at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden, are
Motown Rarities Uncovered on Vinyl Box, Digital Outtakes Set
Motown aficionados have a lot of fun stuff to dig through on a number of formats, with the recent release of a box set collecting 14 rare cuts on vinyl and a new, copyright law-busting compilation of 52 previously unavailable outtakes from some of the label's biggest names. Recently issued in the U.K., The Motown 7s Box: Rare and Unreleased Vinyl seems to take more of a tack about "tracks unreleased to vinyl" than "never-before-released tracks on vinyl." Everything here has been made available
Of Mamas, Papas, Raiders and Soundtracks: Real Gone's February Slate Revealed
The announcement of Real Gone Music's release schedule for February 2014 would be cause for celebration any day of the week. But this particular day is special, as you're about to find out. In addition to an ironclad lineup that includes A Gathering of Flowers, the long out-of-print 1970 collection from The Mamas & The Papas; The Complete Recordings by Brotherhood, an unfairly obscure psych-rock band comprised of Phil Volk, Drake Levin and Mike "Smitty" Smith of Paul Revere & The
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Donny Hathaway, "Never My Love: The Anthology"
This time of year, it’s nearly impossible to spend much time on a holiday music station without hearing the familiar, resonant voice persuasively imploring, “Hang all the mistletoe/I’m gonna get to know you better/This Christmas!” Donny Hathaway’s 1970 single “This Christmas” has become one of the most frequently-sung latter-day Christmas standards, recorded in recent years by everybody from Carole King to Mary J. Blige. In a too-short life that was tragically curbed at 33 in January 1979, the
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Buck Owens, "Buck 'Em! The Music of Buck Owens"
No less an eminent personage than American author William Faulkner once said that "a writer needs three things - experience, observation, and imagination - any two of which, at times any one of which, can supply the lack of the others." Country music legend and Bakersfield Sound pioneer Buck Owens, however, utilized all three of those key elements in his songs, which may help explain their timeless stature. Fifty of those recordings are anthologized on Omnivore's new Buck 'Em! The Music of
No Time to Lose: Rainbow Announce Singles Box Set on CD
In the tradition of similar boxes for Deep Purple (released by EMI in 2002) and Dio (released by Universal last year), Universal will release a 19CD box set replicating the singles offering by hard rock outfit Rainbow. Formed toward the end of guitarist Ritchie Blackmore's tenure with Deep Purple in 1975, Rainbow was a meticulously-coordinated rock band, inspired by the chord progression of classical music and with a lyrical bent toward medieval imagery. Adding greatly to the mix was the
The Beatles and The Beach Boys Beat The Boots On "The Big Beat 1963" and "Bootleg Recordings"
1963 was a landmark year for the favorite sons of Hawthorne, California. During those twelve months, The Beach Boys released three Top 10 studio albums (Surfin’ USA, Surfer Girl and Little Deuce Coupe) and launched three Top 10 singles (“Surfin’ USA,” “Surfer Girl,” and “Be True to Your School”). Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson, the outgoing David Marks and returning Al Jardine were perfecting their harmony-laden brand of surf rock and setting the stage for the next step in
Release Round-Up: Weeks of December 17 and 24
With the last two weeks of the year so light on catalogue titles, we figured we'd combine it all into one post. Below you'll find two new titles for this week, and two for the next! The Pogues, 30 Years (Rhino U.K.) Here, in one box, is all of the Irish folk-rockers' original albums, including new mixes of debut Red Roses for Me and Peace and Love, plus a bonus unreleased live show from 1991 with Joe Strummer of The Clash assuming lead vocal duties. (Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.) Boz Scaggs, Boz
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On January 11, 2010, The Second Disc published its first post: a look back at the best reissues of 2009 featuring titles from Elvis Costello, The Beatles and Michael Jackson. The same day, Mike Duquette posted our first true news item, about Legacy Recordings' acquisition of the Jimi Hendrix catalogue. On January 31 came our first review, of Whitney Houston: The Deluxe Anniversary Edition. On March 4, 2010, Joe Marchese joined The Second Disc with two reviews - one of David Bowie's Deram
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Woody Guthrie, "American Radical Patriot"
The title of Rounder Records’ new box set describes its subject, Woody Guthrie (1912-1967), as an American Radical Patriot. Especially in today’s politically-polarized times, some might find those words a contradiction in terms. But in the late folk troubadour’s world, very little was black-and-white. It’s that world which is explored in such depth in this lavish new collection, a limited edition of 5,000 units. American Radical Patriot (Rounder 11661-9138-2) not only proves why Guthrie
Winter's Coming: Legacy's "True to the Blues" Boxes Johnny Winter
Johnny Winter is turning 70 on February 23, 2014, and Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings aren’t about to let the occasion pass without celebration. Two days later, on February 25, the label will release True to the Blues: The Johnny Winter Story. This new 4-CD box set includes 56 tracks spanning Winter’s entire major-label career from 1968 to the present day (his most recent album having been released in 2011). Though the two-time Grammy Award nominee is looking back with this
Want, Too: Rufus Wainwright Announces First Compilation
When I was about to listen to his tape, I remember clearly I was thinking, "Gee, if he has the mom's musicality and smarts, and the dad's smarts and voice, that'd be nice"...Then I put it on and I said, "Oh, my God, this is stunning." -Lenny Waronker on Rufus Wainwright The scope and longevity of Rufus Wainwright's career is almost underserved by his own historic musical lineage. The eldest child of folk singers Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle (who would divorce when Rufus was three),
Baby Ride Easy: Lost Johnny Cash Album Unearthed for March Release
Though the catalogue of Johnny Cash has been mined numerous times, for acclaimed Bootleg volumes and even a Complete Album Collection box set, there’s still more of the story of the Man in Black yet to be told. A crucial part of that story will be revealed on March 25, 2014 when Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings release Out Among the Stars, a “lost album” comprised of twelve recently discovered studio recordings made by Cash between 1981 and 1984. Produced by Nashville legend Billy
Marc Bolan Remembered: T. Rextasy Sweeps Cherry Red With John's Children, Gloria Jones
It’s T. Rextasy at the Cherry Red Group, with two recent titles exploring the music of T. Rex’s Marc Bolan. The Grapefruit imprint has collected two discs’ worth of material from Bolan’s early band John’s Children, while RPM has reissued two albums from Gloria Jones on one CD including the Bolan-produced Vixen. By the time Marc Bolan joined the ranks of John’s Children in 1967, the British band had already established quite a reputation. Encouraged by manager Simon Napier-Bell to engage in
Review: James Taylor, "The Essential James Taylor"
In the annals of American popular song, there’s a place reserved for James Taylor. For 45 years, the Boston-born troubadour’s distinctive and soothing baritone has been a reassuring voice bringing light to the darkness with his nakedly emotional, often autobiographical music. Sure, recording technology has changed a bit over the years, but Taylor’s style now is essentially the same as it was then – applying that warm voice and shimmering, precise guitar to those direct, melodic and deceptively
Bob Mould, Lone Justice, Dream Syndicate Added to Busy Omnivore Release Schedule
Happily for fans, Omnivore Recordings has willfully ignored the unwritten rule that reissue labels wind down for a bit toward the end of the calendar year. They've just announced the latest catalogue projects of what is already shaping up to be a busy 2014, with rare and unreleased recordings due from Paisley Underground group The Dream Syndicate, country-rockers Lone Justice and legendary ex-Hüsker Dü member Bob Mould. [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDnNr6lNxvc] Omnivore
Release Round-Up: Week of December 10
Eric Clapton, Give Me Strength: The '74/'75 Recordings (Polydor/UMe) One of Clapton's most prolific periods is revisited with this six-disc box, featuring expanded versions of 461 Ocean Boulevard (1974), There's One in Every Crowd (1975), a remixed and expanded double-disc version of live album E.C. Was Here (1975), a disc of sessions at Criteria Studios with blues legend Freddie King and a Blu-Ray featuring new 5.1 surround and original quadrophonic mixes. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Ella
Now Sounds Tip-Toes Thru The Tulips With "God Bless Tiny Tim"
Welcome to my dream, and how are you? Will you be here long, or just passing through? Brush off that stardust, where have you been? Don’t tell me my rainbow was late getting in... When Herbert Buckingham “Tiny Tim” Khaury, 37, married Victoria May “Miss Vicki” Budinger, 17, on December 17, 1969 before Johnny Carson, Ed McMahon, The Rev. William Glenesk and a studio audience filled with 268 of the happy couple’s closest friends, roughly 40 million people were watching. It was a high point
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Frank Sinatra, "Duets: Twentieth Anniversary"
"May you live to be one hundred and may the last voice you hear be mine." The image of Frank Sinatra, glass in hand, delivering that favorite toast is an indelible one. His wasn't just a voice, after all. Before he was Ol' Blue Eyes or The Chairman of the Board, he was simply The Voice. And through all its many changes, The Voice endured. The pure, romantically-charged timbre that set the hearts of bobbysoxers pounding in the forties transformed into the ultimate instrument of ultimate cool
Our Beloved Revolutionary Band Returns: Omnivore Expands Two By Camper Van Beethoven
Among the leading lights of what would eventually become known as “alternative rock,” few groups made as great a mark as Camper Van Beethoven. The California band, which had its beginnings in 1983 and coalesced in 1985, incorporated elements of rock, punk, folk, ska and world music into its own style of “surrealist absurdist folk.” Three indie albums arrived before Camper signed with Virgin Records for its major-label debut, 1988’s Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart. On February 4, Omnivore
"Lethal Weapon" Box, "Superman Returns" and More Due from La-La Land
La-La Land never fails to amaze when it comes to Black Friday. The soundtrack label often saves some of its biggest and highest-profile titles for announcements on the shopping weekend (see 2010, 2011 and 2012) - and this year is no different, with two premiere releases of acclaimed scores, an expanded edition of a superhero sequel and a box set devoted to one of the biggest action film franchises of all time. First up: call them slobs, call them jerks, call them gross - just don't call them
Return To Itchycoo Park: Small Faces' "Here Come The Nice" Deluxe Box Set Arrives In January [UPDATED 12/3]
The culmination of the recent Small Faces reissue series from the Charly/Snapper label is set for arrival in January: Here Come the Nice: The Immediate Years Box Set 1967-1969, a lavish 4-CD, 3-EP box set containing “every [one of the band’s] worldwide hit single A & B side on Immediate Records” plus rare and previously unreleased material, “remastered from recently-discovered original master and multi-track tapes.” The set has been produced under the supervision of surviving band
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