Australia's Playback Records label returned to the scene in 2019 with a pair of new releases and the promise of more to come. Today, we're looking at those new titles from Curtis Mayfield and Timi Yuro! As a writer, producer, and artist - both solo and with The Impressions - Curtis Mayfield (1942-1999) was one of the foremost exponents of Chicago soul. He penned such favorites as Jan Bradley's "Mama Didn't Lie" and Major Lance's "The Monkey Time," not to mention such Impressions hits as
A Really Good Time: Bryan Ferry's "Live at the Royal Albert Hall 1974" Arrives on Friday
Bryan Ferry surely took some fans by surprise when, in 1973, he released his first solo studio album. These Foolish Things was named after the 1935 standard, quite a far cry from the original music he was recording as frontman of Roxy Music. The all-covers LP was a journey through Ferry's record collection, featuring his reimagined versions of songs by Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, Lesley Gore, Smokey Robinson, and others. He followed up These Foolish Things in 1974
A New Format: Pre-fun. Indie-Pop Band Announces Vinyl Reissues
It was the most-talked about story for a very specific subset of indie-pop fans a month ago: an Instagram account for The Format was spotted. From 2002 to 2008, The Format were the band for lovers of ornately-crafted pop/rock that borrowed from turn of the century alternative stylings and baroque pop of the '60s and '70s in equal measure. Was a reunion imminent? That question has yet to be answered definitively - though it sure looks like they did yesterday at an event we'll discuss in a
The Giants Awakened: Real Gone Preps Art Blakey Anthology and Horace Tapscott Quintet LP Reissue
Real Gone Music has announced two exciting jazz titles due the last week of February and the first week of March. Arriving first on February 28 is the first-ever vinyl reissue of The Horace Tapscott Quintet's 1969 album The Giant Is Awakened. Originally released on the Flying Dutchman label, the recording is a masterful mix of free jazz and pan-African influences. Pianist Tapscott leads the band, which also features alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe, bassists David Bryant and Walter Savage,
Release Round-Up: Week of January 31
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Rod McKuen, New Ballads (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Real Gone celebrates the late Rod McKuen with a slate of releases this week. For the 1970 album New Ballads, the singer-songwriter teamed with renowned arranger-conductor Don Costa for this remarkable collection of songs including "As I Love My Own," the dramatic Jacques Brel collaboration "I'm Not Afraid," "Thank You for Christmas," and a composition which
Paint My Masterpiece: Sony Prepares Bob Dylan "Japanese Single Collection"
In April 2020, Bob Dylan is set to embark on his ninth tour of Japan. Sony Japan will commemorate the event on March 25 with a new 2-CD set, Japanese Single Collection. It brings together 20 years' worth of A-sides released from 1965 to 1985, presented in the order they were released in Japan, including the rarity "George Jackson (Big Band Version)." As far as packaging, the album cover was newly designed in Japan and the illustrated booklet includes discographical information and scans of
Affirmative Yes: Real Gone Announces Vinyl Reissues of The Bonniwell Music Machine, The Donnas, and Little Beaver
Real Gone Music is at it again with a slate of overlooked classics due for reissue on vinyl this February and March. First up, there's The Donnas' Gold Medal, a power-pop favorite from 2004 that features the radio hit "Fall Behind Me." The Butch Walker-produced album marked a new direction for the band as they embraced a '70s-inspired psychedelic sound evoked visually by the very groovy artwork. Due on February 28, Real Gone's black-and-gold splatter vinyl edition will reproduce all the
Ace Round-Up, Part One: London American and Westbound Records Anthologies
Having previously chronicled 1956-1966 over eleven volumes, Ace has returned to its London American Label series for a last (?) hurrah. The London American Label Year by Year: 1967 is packed with 28 stellar selections to illuminate a year in which the label was in steadfast decline. London had long been the destination for great American records, but the major U.S. companies were launching their own U.K. arms and declining to license to London. This led London to release fewer 45s from
Another Time, Another Place: Stage Door Expands Broadway's "Kwamina" For 2-CD Deluxe Edition
On January 31, Stage Door Records will revisit a short-lived yet ambitious 1961 Broadway musical from the co-writer of Damn Yankees and The Pajama Game. For his first musical since the baseball-centric Damn Yankees, composer-lyricist Richard Adler (working solo following the 1955 death of his partner Jerry Ross) turned his attention to a very different subject. Kwamina (which translates to "born on Sunday") recounted the (fictional) life story of Peter Kwamina Mwalla, the son of a West African
Milestones: "Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool" Soundtrack Coming on Legacy in February
Tuesday, February 25 will see the U.S. broadcast premiere of director Stanley Nelson's acclaimed film Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, theatrically released last year. The Grammy-nominated Best Music Film chronicled the late Davis' life and art via previously unseen footage and new interviews with the likes of Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones, Carlos Santana, Clive Davis, Wayne Shorter and Ron Carter. Four days before the broadcast premiere, on February 21, Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings will
Glad All Over: Dave Clark Five Preps "All The Hits" Collection on CD and LP
Fans of The Dave Clark Five have good reason to feel glad all over...again! The British Invasion hitmakers had a string of successful singles before their breakup in 1970, including "Glad All Over," "Because," and "Catch Us If You Can." DC5 leader Clark (who holds the rights to their discography) hasn't been too keen on looking back at his past, though, much to superfans' dismay. However, tides began to turn last summer when remastered editions of six DC5 albums and the 2008 compilation The
Just Peachy: New Box Set Celebrates 50 Years of The Allman Brothers Band
The November 1969 arrival of the self-titled The Allman Brothers Band heralded the arrival of a group which would change the face of music. Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Berry Oakley, Jai Johanny Johanson (a.k.a. Jaimoe), and Butch Trucks fused rock, blues, and country with jazz-inspired improvisation to become one of the most beloved bands of all time. On February 28, UMe and Mercury Records will celebrate 50 years of The Allman Brothers Band with a remarkable, career-spanning box
The Importance of Your Love: Vince Hill Reflects on His "Legacy" with 1965-1974 Anthology
One of our favorite releases of 2017 was Cherry Red/Strike Force Entertainment's two-fer of Edelweiss (1967) and Look Around (1971) from the big-voiced British pop crooner. While the set didn't inaugurate the hoped-for series of reissues on CD (to date, at least), Hill followed it up with Legacy: My Hits and Rarities (1965-1974). We've caught up with this CD which is available exclusively through the singer's webstore. It's both a fine introduction to Hill's oeuvre and a welcome reminder of why
Let Us Cling Together: Queen Tap Japanese Fans For New Greatest Hits Collection
Imagine narrowing down your favorite band to just one song. We couldn't do it! But some very fastidious Japanese fans of Queen did - and their choices are forming a new compilation due this month. For Greatest Hits In Japan, Queen and Universal Music opened a vote in the country where just one track from the iconic British rock group could be selected for a compilation timed to the upcoming Japanese tour by Queen + Adam Lambert. Nearly 20,000 votes were collated, and the top 12 tracks made
He Sends Us: Sam Cooke's Keen Years Collected In New Box
Sam Cooke would have turned 90 on January 22, 2021, but that's not stopping the party from starting a little early! This month, The King of Soul will be celebrated with a new box set featuring five of his albums for the Keen label. The Complete Keen Years (1957-1960) showcases Cooke's early work as a pop craftsman at the end of the 1950s. At the beginning of the decade, Cooke was a teenage sensation as a member of gospel group The Soul Stirrers. But his interest in R&B and pop could not
The Year in Review: The 2019 Gold Bonus Disc Awards, From A to Z
Happy 2020 and welcome to The Second Disc's 10th Annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards! It's time once again to recognize this year's cream of the crop - those exemplary reissues and box sets big and small that proved to be truly outstanding products for music lovers worldwide. There was no shortage of great reissue titles in 2019; in fact, by our count, we covered over 700 releases in all! And after much deliberation, we're excited to unveil our favorites. This isn't your run-of-the-mill Top 10,
You Can Handle It: Real Gone Announces Vinyl Reissues of Soul Classics
Happy New Year, everybody! 2020 is shaping up to be a great year for Real Gone Music. There's the upcoming standalone version of Johnny Mathis' The Island, the return of Laura Nyro's More Than A New Discovery in mono...and that's just the Second Disc Records slate so far! In addition to titles from Rod McKuen and Barbara Eden, Real Gone has also announced remastered vinyl editions of Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band's enduring Express Yourself and It's Just A Matter of
In Memoriam: Jerry Herman (1931-2019) and Allee Willis (1947-2019)
This week, popular music lost two of its titans: Jerry Herman, 88, and Allee Willis, 72. Today, we pay tribute to them. "There is no tune like a showtune," went the lyric of Jerry Herman's sprightly song for the 1960 off-Broadway revue Parade starring Dody Goodman, Richard Tone, and the young Charles Nelson Reilly. And there is certainly no tune like a Jerry Herman showtune: bright, bouncy, heartfelt, optimistic, moving, exciting. While Herman's oeuvre was relatively small compared to many of
Let It Snow: Omnivore Breaks Away with Murry Wilson and Snow EP
With its latest release, Omnivore Recordings might as well as be singing "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" The intrepid label has unearthed a true rarity for a new digital EP: four previously unreleased songs produced in 1969 by Murry Wilson for an all-but-unknown harmony-pop outfit named Snow. Freshly unearthed from The Beach Boys' vault, Murry Wilson & Snow: The Break Away EP features Snow's lush and fully-produced and orchestrated renditions of two songs from Brian Wilson's
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Mariah Carey, "Merry Christmas: Deluxe Anniversary Edition"
Sitting atop the Billboard Hot 100 this week is a song which took a quarter-century to reach that peak: Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You." The song achieved a couple of milestones with that ranking: it now holds the record for the longest time between a song's debut and its reaching the top of the charts, and it's the first Christmas song to reach the peak in 60 years since The Chipmunks did it in 1959. Before this new milestone for Carey's tune, the song and the album of its
Holiday Gift Guide Reviews: Cherry Red's Esoteric and Grapefruit Imprints Offer Diverse Box Sets
Cherry Red's ongoing series of small clamshell box sets filled with big content make for the perfect stocking stuffer! Here's a look at three more titles you might have missed... Climax Blues Band's The Albums 1973-1976 is the second such box set released this year by Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings imprint, following The Albums 1969-1972. This 4-CD set contains the following albums, culminating in the biggest commercial triumph for the band that began its life as The Climax Chicago Blues
Extravagant Gestures: Cherry Red, SoulMusic Box Up Dionne Warwick's Arista Albums on New 12-CD Set
Over 40 years ago, Dionne Warwick left Warner Bros. Records and signed to Clive Davis' Arista label to begin a new chapter in her remarkable career - a career which happens to be going as strong as ever today. Now, Cherry Red's SoulMusic imprint has announced a 12-CD box celebrating Warwick's Arista period. Due on February 28, 2020, Déjà Vu: The Arista Recordings (1979-1994) collects all of her acclaimed albums for the label and rounds up over two dozen previously released bonus
Holiday Gift Guide Review: David Bowie, "Conversation Piece"
The new David Bowie box set is entitled Conversation Piece - and it's an apt one, as this set is certain to inspire conversations punctuated with cheers. Quite simply, this slipcased, hardcover-book style collection featuring five CDs of material recorded by the late superstar in 1968-1969 is one of the year's best boxes: an exquisite, museum-quality release that exceeds all expectations. Necessity may indeed be the mother of invention, as the set ostensibly exists because of the desire to
UPDATE: Things That Come Back Again: Cat Stevens "Back To Earth" Box Set and Vinyl Reissues Announced
UPDATE: It's been nearly a year since our initial coverage of the Cat Stevens Back To Earth box set featuring a new remaster done at Abbey Road and a wealth of rare audio and visual material. Since then, lots of changes have affected how the box will reach listeners. Now that Pledge Music is out of the equation, BMG and their new Cat-O-Log division will release the elaborate set more conventionally on April 10. The box won't have all the bells and whistles described last year - just the discs
Holiday Gift Guide Review: "A Voice of the Warm: The Life of Rod McKuen" by Barry Alfonso
"Come with me/What wonders we'll find," sings Rod McKuen to open his lilting waltz "Kaleidoscope" in his recognizable sandpaper voice. But the more revealing lyrics come later, when the poet-singer-songwriter asserts, "You'll look in my eyes and see you." Over a career spanning seven decades - but particularly during a purple patch in the late 1960s and early 1970s - McKuen's loyal legion of fans saw themselves in his deceptively simple art. His empathetic words conveyed the beauty of everyday
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