Today sees the release of the hotly-anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens in theaters (well, technically, yesterday at 7 PM). As the film seems poised to break several box office records, a deluge of Star Wars products has hit the shelves. Among these offerings released today is the soundtrack CD featuring John William's seventh score for the iconic franchise. To tie in with all of the Star Wars happenings, Sony Masterworks recently announced that the label will be releasing two box sets
Won't You Dance With Me: Real Gone Goes Country with Barbara Mandrell, Ralph Stanley, Marty Robbins and Doug Sahm with Bob Dylan and Others
Real Gone is in a country mood this February, with the majority of their slate devoted to the country and western genre. But that is not all you will find on the label's mix of CDs and vinyl for the month. Kicking things off is collection drawn from Barbara Mandrell's tenure at Columbia Records: This Time I Almost Made It - The Lost Columbia Masters. This CD features liner notes by our very own Joe Marchese based on a fresh interview with Mandrell, and is centered around Mandrell's final
The Year of Al Stewart: Esoteric Reissues Three Early Albums
Al Stewart attained soft rock immortality with his 1976 Top 10 Pop and AC hit "Year of the Cat." But the Glasgow-born, Bournemouth-raised artist and writer had been recording as a leading light of the British folk revival scene for a full decade by the time of his radio breakthrough. Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings imprint has recently restored to print Stewart's third, fourth and fifth albums for the U.K.'s CBS Records label in newly remastered editions. CBS had been Stewart's home since
It Happened Today: Concord Acquires R.E.M.'s Warner Bros. Albums for Future Reissues
That's Concord Bicycle Music in the spotlight: Billboard exclusively reports that the indie label will handle distribution for R.E.M.'s bestselling Warner Bros. Records catalogue, spanning from 1988 to their 2011 dissolution. Beginning in 2016, Concord will be the home for the band's Green (1988), Out of Time (1991), Automatic for the People (1992), Monster(1994), New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996), and Up (1998). Reveal (2001), Around the Sun (2004), Accelerate (2008) and Collapse Into
Along Comes "1966": Ace Anthology Features The Supremes, The Who, Velvet Underground, Bowie, More
Was 1966 the greatest year ever in popular music? The case could certainly be made for its significance - and Jon Savage has done just that in his new book 1966: The Year the Decade Exploded. Savage's book looks at the events and culture of the year in twelve essays, each one built around one 45 RPM record. Naturally, such a book deserves a soundtrack, and Ace Records has seen to it that it receives one with the companion volume of the same name. Jon Savage's 1966: The Year the Decade
WE HAVE OUR WINNERS! ROD McKUEN "REFLECTIONS" SECOND DISCMAS GIVEAWAY!
CONGRATULATIONS! The following 15 entrants have won a copy of Varese Vintage's brand-new Rod McKuen anthology, Reflections: The Greatest Songs of Rod McKuen, on CD! If you entered our contest via Facebook and your name is on the list below, please drop us a line at theseconddisc-at-gmail-dot-com or a Private Message on Facebook with your name and mailing address! If you entered via email, you don't have to do anything - your CD will be in the mail soon! Watch this space soon for more
Review: Fleetwood Mac, "Tusk: Deluxe Edition"
Can an album that sold four million copies be fairly called a cult classic? If the answer is yes, that album would certainly be Fleetwood Mac's Tusk. One of the most willfully unconventional albums ever made, the follow-up to Rumours nonetheless went multi-platinum. Nobody expected the band that had already morphed from blues-rock to the epitome of California pop-rock (and everything in between) to defiantly go the "art-rock" route, yet that's precisely what Mick Fleetwood, John McVie,
Fun, Fun, Fun: Two Unreleased Beach Boys Concerts from 1965 Released from the Vaults
Over the past several years since copyright laws were changed in the EU, it has become a tradition at the end of the year for record labels to release "copyright extension" releases featuring unreleased material from their biggest artists to protect their interests in said material. Hot off the heels of a compilation of Motown unreleased material from 1965 comes another release in this vein from a group who has made this a yearly tradition: The Beach Boys. This last Friday, Capitol put up
A SECOND DISCMAS GIVEAWAY: Rod McKuen's REFLECTIONS From Varese Vintage!
Varese Vintage recently celebrated a singular career when the label released Reflections -The Greatest Songs of Rod McKuen. This definitive overview of McKuen's work as a singer-songwriter features 24 of his most famous compositions including "If You Go Away," "Jean," "Seasons in the Sun," "A Man Alone" and "Love's Been Good to Me." I was proud to pen the liner notes for this collection, and now, Varese and I would like to give you a chance to WIN THIS NEW RELEASE! Though a self-professed
Couldn't I Just Tell You: Todd Rundgren and Utopia Concert From 1978 Arrives On CD
With unauthorized live releases proliferating in the E.U. drawn from radio broadcasts of variable quality, it's refreshing to see Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings imprint continue its Todd Rundgren Archive Series featuring concert performances in excellent sound. The latest such release, Live at the Old Waldorf, is drawn from Rundgren and Utopia's Saturday, August 5, 1978 concert at the San Francisco venue. Recorded for KSAN-FM, this release has been remastered from the original ¼-inch stereo
Release Round-Up: Week of December 11
This week's Release Round-Up is slimmer than most of late, but still filled with some ideal stocking stuffers... Joe Cocker, The Life of a Man: Ultimate Hits 1968-2013 (UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada) UMe celebrates the life and career of the late, great Joe Cocker with this new 3-CD, 36-track anthology with greatest hits and deeper cuts including a live version of "With a Little Help from My Friends" never before released in the United States. This set was previously released in
Real Gone Celebrates Christmas With The Soulful Strings, John Gary, Four Seasons
Real Gone Music is this year's source for classic Christmas reissues - including two from our own Second Disc Records imprint! Here, we're taking a look at three more titles from the label's Christmas feast! At first glance, The Soulful Strings might appear to be just another of those ubiquitous sixties instrumental studio outfits, delivering MOR versions of the day's popular hits. Yet, a closer look at Cadet Records' Soulful Strings - and most of its brethren, truth be told - reveals some
Omnivore Revisits "Christmas Time Again!" With Chris Stamey and Co.!
What's that festive sound you're hearing? If it's fun, fresh, and a little off the beaten path, it might just be coming from Omnivore Recordings' recent reissue of The dB's and Friends' now-classic holiday party Christmas Time Again! (OVCD-152). Christmas Time first arrived as a holiday vinyl EP from the Chris Stamey Group in 1986. Seven years later, in 1993, the collection was expanded for a new CD release, with the track count jumping from seven to sixteen tunes. In 2006, Collectors
Two From Captain Fingers: Robinsongs Reissues Lee Ritenour's "Rit" and "Rit 2"
In a solo career now numbering five decades and counting, California's Lee Ritenour - a.k.a. Captain Fingers - remains one of music's most virtuosic and prolific guitarists. An in-demand session guitarist who has played for artists including Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin, Ritenour released his first recording as a leader in 1975 with First Course; his most recent, A Twist of Rit, was issued earlier this year. Now, Cherry Red's Robinsongs imprint has looked
WE HAVE OUR WINNERS! "CRUISING" SOUNDTRACK SACD FROM AUDIO FIDELITY!
CONGRATULATIONS! The following 5 entrants have won a copy of Audio Fidelity's brand-new SACD of Cruising: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack! If you entered our contest via Facebook and your name is on the list below, please drop us a line at theseconddisc-at-gmail-dot-com or a Private Message on Facebook with your name and mailing address! If you entered via email, you don't have to do anything - your SACD will be in the mail soon! Watch this space soon for more exciting
Review: "The Classic Christmas Album" Series 2015
Since 2011, Sony's Legacy Recordings has offered a crop of ideal stocking stuffers with the Classic Christmas Album series. This year's quartet of releases has a decidedly more modern bent, featuring artists associated with the '70s (Earth, Wind & Fire), '80s (a various artists compilation), '90s (Sarah McLachlan) and 2000s (Celtic Thunder). Three of these titles are actually expanded editions of previously released albums. Earth, Wind and Fire's Classic Christmas entry reprises last
Uncommonly Gentle: Intrada Scores with "Scissorhands," "Double Indemnity," "Something Wicked" and More
Intrada Records has gone big throughout this year, bringing all four JAWS soundtracks to the surface in definitive forms and adding to the Back to the Future 30th anniversary festivities with a reissue of two of Alan Silvestri's scores (including the never-before-expanded Part II). How do they close out the year? With a four-title slate that includes a classic composer-director combo, an anthology of '40s and '50s noir, an unused score from a Disney cult classic and an epic newer score from a
"The First Bobby Hart Solo Album" OUT TODAY From 7a Records!
UPDATED 12/7: The 7a Records label made a big splash earlier this year with its first-ever release. The MGM Singles Collection brought together Micky Dolenz's rare MGM Records sides in a lavishly designed and annotated presentation that was a fan and collector's dream. Now, we're thrilled to report that the Monkees specialists at 7a have turned their attention to another key figure in Monkees lore with the first-ever CD release today of 1980's aptly-titled The First Bobby Hart Solo
Still On "The Cutting Edge": Over 200 Live Bob Dylan Tracks Gifted To Purchasers Of 18-CD Box Set
Did you happen to order this year's most talked-about big box set? By that, I mean the complete 18-CD edition of Bob Dylan's The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series Volume 12? If you did, I'd advise you to sit down while reading this and start checking your email now! The folks at Columbia Records have a very special Christmas present for those who purchased the big Bob box: a free digital download of an additional 208 tracks from the period chronicled in the box set. Yes, that's
Release Round-Up: Week of December 4
Well, this is it - the final big release week of the year! While next week will see releases slow to a trickle, this week is packed with exciting box sets and much more! Bruce Springsteen, The Ties That Bind: The River Collection (Columbia) 4-CD/3-DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada 4-CD/2-BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada This 4-CD/3-DVD or 4-CD/2-BD set celebrating The Boss' seminal album The River features a treasure trove of previously unreleased material across its 53 audio tracks
Dreaming of a Supremes Christmas: Expanded "Merry Christmas" Available NOW!
Christmas came early in 1965 for fans of The Supremes. In November of that year, Motown released not one, but two albums from the beloved trio of Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard: The Supremes at the Copa and Merry Christmas. Both of these LPs would not only score on the Billboard charts but become truly sparkling additions to the Supremes' discography. Still perennial favorites, both Copa and Merry Christmas showcase the group's tremendous versatility, vibrancy and dynamism.
One Of A Kind (Love Affair): Big Break Reissues, Expands "Spinners"
When The Spinners left Motown Records after nearly a decade, the vocal group had never scored a Top 10 Pop hit. They'd come this close in 1970 with the irresistible, Stevie Wonder-penned "It's a Shame" (No. 14) - one of many fine tracks recorded for Berry Gordy's empire that, for one reason or another, never crossed The Spinners over to major stardom. That all changed when Thom Bell - the multi-hyphenate musician, producer, songwriter, arranger and conductor - declared that he wished to
This Is The Love (I've Been Waiting For): Ace Releases "More Motown Girls"
Rarely is the sequel ever the equal - but Ace Records has handily disproved that with Love and Affection: More Motown Girls, a recent trawl through the vaults of Hitsville, USA. And not only is this follow-up to 2013's Finders Keepers - Motown Girls the equal of its predecessor, it might be its better. Whereas that volume featured both previously unreleased music and rarities, every one of the 25 tracks on Love and Affection is never-before-heard (save for five songs culled from last year's
Make a List, Make a Wish: Elemental Music Uncovers Live Art Pepper
Art Pepper would have turned 90 on September 1 of this year. Though the great alto saxophonist passed away in 1982, aged just 56, his legacy lives on. Elemental Music has most recently celebrated Pepper's enduring influence on jazz with the new release of Live at Fat Tuesday's by The Art Pepper Quartet. This new five-song set preserves the performances of Pepper (alto sax), Milcho Leviev (piano), George Mraz (bass) and Al Foster (drums) at the New York nightspot on the evening of April 15,
RPM Label Collects Rare British Jazz On "Turtle Records" Box Set
Though jazz may be one of the most quintessentially American art forms, its influence and power naturally spread around the world in various forms. In Great Britain, the popular Dixieland-inspired "trad jazz" (or "traditional jazz") boom - epitomized by artists including The Three Bs: Mr. Acker Bilk, Chris Barber and Kenny Ball - was followed by a period of intense experimentation among jazz musicians concurrent with the rhythm and blues and rock revolutions. Rock and R&B artists, too,
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