Esoteric Recordings has just continued its series of expanded Procol Harum reissues with A Salty Dog and Home, the band's third and fourth albums as originally released in 1969 and 1970, respectively, on the Regal Zonophone label. As with Esoteric's reissues of Procol Harum and Shine On Brightly, both titles are available in single- and multiple-disc configurations with bonus tracks culled from past reissues plus previously unreleased material. After initial sessions held in Los Angeles
In Memoriam: Cilla Black (1943-2015)
We're deeply saddened at the news of the passing of Cilla Black, 72. Throughout the course of a recording career spanning five decades, the Liverpool-born artist lent her distinctive sound and big voice to songs by The Beatles ("Love of the Loved," "It's for You," Step Inside Love"), Burt Bacharach and Hal David ("Alfie," "Anyone Who Had a Heart"), Randy Newman ("I've Been Wrong Before") and the greatest songwriters of her era. Also beloved in the United Kingdom as a television presenter on
Omnivore's Got The Knack! Three Reissues, Reviewed
"Pop is dead, bring a shovel!" So proclaimed The Knack in the acerbic lyric to the opening track of 1998's "comeback" album Zoom. Of course, the song proved otherwise, as the years between 1991's Serious Fun and Zoom had been kind to the band, a.k.a. Doug Fieger (lead vocals/rhythm guitar), Prescott Niles (bass) and Berton Averre (lead guitar/keyboards/vocals). Omnivore Recordings has recently reissued Zoom and its follow-up, Normal as the Next Guy, along with 2001's Live from
A Brilliant Disguise: Springsteen Live Archive Series Spotlights Los Angeles, 1988
The next release in Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's live archive series has just been announced: LA Sports Arena, California, 1988. Coming toward the end of the U.S. leg of the Tunnel of Love Express Tour, this concert is from April 23, 1988 - the second night of a five-night stand in Los Angeles. Performances from other nights in this stand have shown up on Springsteen videos over the years. The Tunnel of Love Express Tour marked several changes for Springsteen. Most
Whiter Shades: Esoteric Kicks Off Deluxe Reissue Campaign For Procol Harum
Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings imprint is skipping the light fandango with its new reissue campaign dedicated to the classic albums of Procol Harum. Though these titles have been previously issued on CD before (including recent, now out-of-print deluxe editions from Salvo Music), Esoteric's new editions boast previously unreleased music and other new bonuses as well as copiously-annotated booklets and restored original album artwork. The first two titles in the series, 1967's Procol Harum
Good Grief! Varese Premieres "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" On CD
When Charles Schulz, director-producer Lee Mendelson and co-producer Bill Melendez announced they were bringing Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the Peanuts gang to the big screen for the very first time, anticipation was naturally high. A Boy Named Charlie Brown was well-received upon its December 1969 theatrical debut, going on to do good business and receiving credit for breaking the Disney monopoly on feature-length animation. Today, it's still remembered as the best of the four Peanuts animated
The Pieces Fit: Omnivore Reissues Three From Peter Frampton
Following the label's deluxe, expanded box set edition of Humble Pie's legendary Rockin' the Fillmore, Peter Frampton is returning to Omnivore Recordings - this time as a solo artist. Frampton is coming alive once again via remastered reissues of 1986's Premonition, 1989's When All the Pieces Fit, and 2003's Now. All three titles are due from Omnivore between August 28 and September 11. Premonition returned Frampton to the Billboard charts and the airwaves after the disappointment of his
Hang On To Yourself: David Bowie's "Five Years 1969-1973" Box Collects Albums, Bonus Discs
Forty-four years to the day after David Bowie first performed at Glastonbury (then known as the Glastonbury Fair rather than today's Festival), Parlophone Records has announced the first in a new series of box sets which will eventually span his entire career. Five Years: 1969-1973, named of course after the opening track of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, will be available on September 25 in 12-CD or 13-LP configurations, containing all of the core material (ten
In Memoriam: Back Tracks - James Horner (1953-2015)
We're deeply saddened to share the news of the tragic and unexpected death of film composer James Horner whose stirring melodies have thrilled, excited and inspired generations of moviegoers on films like Aliens, Avatar, An American Tail, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, and of course, Titanic. Back on March 8, 2010, our own Mike Duquette paid tribute to the Horner legacy with a special installment of Back Tracks. In memory of Mr. Horner and his immense contributions to cinema and music, we're
River Deep Mountain High: Ace Returns to the Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich Songbook
With Sweet Things, Ace Records has picked a most apt title for its third volume of music from the Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry songbook (Ace CDCHD 1434). Though Greenwich and Barry were united as husband and wife for just the short period of 1962-1965, and only worked together for a short time after that, a year hasn't gone by since when their enduring songs haven't been recorded and re-recorded. The collection's 24 titles span 1963-1978 and blend hits and rarities from the duo with tracks
You Can't Ever Come Down: Esoteric Revisits "The American Metaphysical Circus"
"We were firmly in the American tradition of artistic and political radicalism intermixed with patriotism, and to thus establish a psychic 'distance' from The Beatles." So stated Joseph Byrd in a 2004 interview excerpted in the liner notes to Esoteric Recordings' new reissue of 1969's The American Metaphysical Circus. The album, credited to Joe Byrd and the Hippies, exemplified the adventuresome spirit of the era which led the venerable Columbia Records label to sign a number of
Release Round-Up: Week of May 19
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up featuring a number of rock legends! Yes, Progeny: Seven Shows from Seventy-Two (Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) This whopping 14-CD box captures seven complete concerts from Yes circa 1972 - the same tour leading up to the performances preserved on Yessongs. For those who don't need 14 discs, 2-CD and 3-LP Highlights distillations are also available (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) ! Jeff Beck, Live+ (Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon
Dancing in the Dark: Bruce Springsteen's Archive Series Revisits 1984, New Jersey
Just a few weeks following the release of their New Year's Eve show from Nassau Coliseum on December 31, 1980, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have confirmed the latest volume in their ongoing live archive series. Pre-orders are open now for Brendan Byrne Arena, New Jersey 1984. The release is a bittersweet one for New Jerseyans; the Byrne Arena (later the Continental Airlines Arena and the Izod Center) opened in July 1981 in East Rutherford's Meadowlands and earlier this year was
The Ides of March Celebrate 50 Years with "Last Band Standing" Box Set
"Beware the ides of March," goes the famous admonition. Thankfully, Jim Peterik, Larry Millas, Bob Bergland and Mike Borch didn't heed the warning. Formed in Berwyn, Illinois in 1965 as the Shon-Dels, The Ides of March are still going strong 50 years later with their brassy blend of good-time rock and roll, R&B, pop and soul epitomized on the 1970 hit single "Vehicle." These rock and roll survivors and local legends around the Chicago scene have recently assembled a definitive box set
Review: The Pretenders CD/DVD Reissue Series
Chrissie Hynde, Pete Farndon, James Honeyman Scott and Martin Chambers may have taken the name of The Pretenders, but anybody paying attention soon realized that there was nothing "pretend" about this band - not its brash amalgam of British and American styles (Hynde was a U.S. émigré; the other three were Brits), not its unabashedly punk approach to a classic rock sound, not its effortless, cool swagger. 1979's Pretenders launched the band on a journey that continues to this day. It's been a
Wig Wam Bam! 7Ts Expands The Sweet's Debut Album
Cherry Red's 7Ts label is going back to the glam era with its latest release from The Sweet. Following previous reissues of Cut Above the Rest, Waters Edge and Identity Crisis, 7Ts has recently turned the clock back to Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, the band's very first full album from 1971, for a 2-CD expanded edition. The expanded Funny How Sweet traces the early bubblegum years of the group as they planted the seeds that would blossom into full-on, flamboyant glam-rock. Typical of the
The Second Disc's 2015 Record Store Day Must-Haves
Tomorrow, Saturday, April 18, music fans and collectors will flock to their local independent record stores to celebrate both the sounds on those familiar round black platters and the cherished opportunity to shop for music in a physical retail environment. To many of us, both are a way of life. Each year around this time, we here at Second Disc HQ take a few moments to count down the titles to which we're most looking forward to picking up! Our friend and founder, Mike Duquette, returns to
WE HAVE OUR WINNERS: "CHUCK" SOUNDTRACK CONTEST!
CONGRATULATIONS! The following 10 entrants have won an autographed edition of the CHUCK television soundtrack! If you entered our contest 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: Marshall Brownstein Scott Crawford Michael Duffy Jason Fiske Peter Gladue John Knight Ron Lavery Mitch Moskal Mike Perciaccante Jeffrey Rosen
New "Playlist" Wave Features Ben Folds Five, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince, Santana and More
Legacy’s long-running Playlist series rolls on with another batch of titles to be released tomorrow, April 14. This wave of titles in the budget line range from rock to R&B to rap, and span from the late 1960s right up to the 2000s. As per the standard with this series, each entry is fourteen tracks and generally has some harder-to-find edits and track choices than are generally found on budget compilations. Following a description of each title kindly provided by our friend and founder
Ace Has Music, Music, Music From Teresa Brewer With Duke Ellington and Count Basie
In 1949, Teresa Brewer – born Theresa Breuer in Toledo, Ohio – released a 45 on the London label with the A-side “Copenhagen.” But the A-side, performed with the Dixieland All-Stars, failed to launch Brewer to stardom. That honor went to the flip – Stephen Weiss and Bernie Baum’s “Music! Music! Music!,” and soon, everyone was singing along to Brewer’s plea to “put another nickel in/In the nickelodeon.” The perky Brewer returned to the million-selling chart-topper numerous times throughout her
Raise Your Hand! Epic Springsteen Concert Comes to Archive Series
Please join us in welcoming the newest contributor to The Second Disc, Randy Fairman! Randy's checking in today with news of the latest addition to Bruce Springsteen's live archive series! Bruce Springsteen is continuing his Archive series at a fast pace, with the latest release coming just over a month after premiere of the last (December 31, 1975 at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania). This time, the concert is another from New Year’s Eve, but five years later and a little up
In Memoriam: Jackie Trent (1940-2015)
When I think of the songs of Jackie Trent, I think of the big sound, the pulsating brass, the bold vibrancy, the irresistible beat, the drive. With her first husband Tony Hatch, Trent penned some of the most indelible songs of a golden age of pop music – “I Couldn’t Live Without Your Love,” “Don’t Sleep in the Subway,” “The Other Man’s Grass is Always Greener,” “Joanna” – and saw her work recorded by many of the era’s most remarkable performers, among them Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Scott
Release Round-Up: Week of March 23
It's a Monday release date here in the U.S., so here's your early Release Round-Up! Bee Gees, 1974-1979 (Reprise/Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) This box set brings together the band’s Mr. Natural, Main Course, Children of the World and Spirits Having Flown plus a disc of previously issued bonus material. Full track listing and details here. Watch on Record Store Day for a companion vinyl release to this set featuring the 12-inch mixes from Saturday Night Fever! Kansas,
Still Into Something Good: Ace Collects More From Carole King and Gerry Goffin
The songs of Carole King and Gerry Goffin have been enjoying a rather spectacular renaissance on both sides of the Atlantic thanks to the success of King’s biographical Broadway and West End musical Beautiful. Happily, Ace Records has returned to the duo’s catalogue for a fourth anthology. Hung on You: More from the Goffin and King Songbook follows three previous excursions: Goffin & King: A Gerry Goffin and Carole King Song Collection 1961-1967 (2007), Honey and Wine: Another Gerry Goffin
Zombies, Everly Brothers, Paul McCartney Featured On Varese's Record Store Day Slate
If you’re looking for Zombies on Record Store Day – and we’re not talking about The Walking Dead, either! – Varese Sarabande’s line-up for the April 18 event is just for you! Besides a treat from the British rockers, the label is also offering up vintage rock-and-roll from The Everly Brothers, girl-group pop courtesy The Dixie Cups, a rare soundtrack from Sir Paul McCartney, and more! Straight from the label’s press release, here’s the lowdown on each release you can expect at your local
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