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/ Al Stewart

September 24, 2024 By Joe Marchese 2 Comments

Al Stewart Past Present and Future

Al Stewart fans have been rather well-served in recent years.  The historically-minded troubadour recently released a new live album with the band The Empty Pockets, preserving a concert set on 2 CDs.  Earlier this summer, Al received a volume of Rhino's Now Playing series of vinyl compilations.  Last year, TSD teamed up with Real Gone Music for Songs on the Radio: The Complete U.S. Singles 1974-1981, and in 2022, Madfish issued The Admiralty Lights, a massive 50-CD box set featuring (almost)

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Categories: News Formats: Blu-Ray Audio, Box Sets, CD Genre: Classic Rock, Folk Tags: Al Stewart

August 9, 2024 By The Second Disc Leave a Comment

Elvis Memphis box 2024

Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today.  As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.   Also, don't miss out on today's eclectic slate of releases from Real Gone Music; click here to find out what's new from Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Firehouse, Azar Lawrence, Charlie Nothing, and 3 Inches of Blood! Elvis Presley, Memphis (RCA/Legacy) 5CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon

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Categories: Release Round-Up Formats: Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl Genre: Classic Rock, Country, Folk, Funk, Jazz, Latin, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, Rock, Soundtracks Tags: Al Stewart, Bill Wyman, Dean Martin, Dickey Betts, Elvis Presley, Esperanza Spalding, Frank Sinatra, Jim Peterik, Judy Garland, Little Big Town, Milton Nascimento, Paul Weller, The Soul Searchers, Vera Lynn

August 2, 2024 By Joe Marchese 5 Comments

Randy Newman Best of

Over the past month, Rhino has been releasing numerous titles as part of its Sounds of the Summer initiative, for a total of over two dozen vinyl releases hitting brick-and-mortar stores.  These titles encompass various reissues as well as new entries in the label's ongoing Now Playing series of compilations.  As of now, these LPs are all exclusive to independent record stores and Barnes & Noble locations.  We've given a spin to a few of these titles! How to distill the discography of one

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Categories: Reviews Formats: Vinyl Genre: Classic Rock, Folk, Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: Al Stewart, Chicago, Daryl Hall and John Oates, Frankie Valli, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Randy Newman, Todd Rundgren, Utopia

July 1, 2024 By The Second Disc 5 Comments

Rhino Sounds of the Summer

Today, Rhino announced its new Sounds of the Summer initiative, which will see a total of over two dozen vinyl releases hitting brick-and-mortar stores beginning this Friday, July 5, and continuing throughout the month of July.  These titles encompass various reissues as well as new entries in the label's ongoing Now Playing series of compilations.  As of now, these LPs are all exclusive to independent record stores and Barnes & Noble locations.  You'll find the full list of releases below

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Categories: News Formats: Vinyl Genre: Classic Rock, Folk, Pop, R&B/Soul, Reggae, Rock Tags: Al Stewart, Chicago, Crosby Stills and Nash, Daryl Hall and John Oates, Fleetwood Mac, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, George Benson, Grateful Dead, Jimmy Cliff, Linda Ronstadt, Little Feat, Randy Newman, Rod Stewart, Sonny and Cher, The Doobie Brothers, Utopia, Van Morrison, War, Yes

June 28, 2024 By The Second Disc 1 Comment

Version 1.0.0

Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today!  As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Two Tons o' Fun, Get the Feeling: The Complete Fantasy/Honey Recordings (Real Gone Music/Second Disc Records) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music) Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music celebrate Two Tons o' Fun - a.k.a. Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes Armstead, a.k.a. The Weather Girls - with a complete

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Categories: Release Round-Up Formats: Blu-Ray Audio, Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl Genre: Classic Rock, Country, Disco/Dance, Folk, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock Tags: Al Stewart, Cher, Gerry Beckley, Johnny Cash, Melanie, Neil Young, Richard "Dimples" Fields, The Spinners, Todd Rundgren, Two Tons o' Fun, Yes

June 25, 2024 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

Les Cousins

"For two-and-a-half years, I had the Friday night show at Bunjies Coffee Bar, and it became a residency for me," Al Stewart remembered in an interview with this author for the recent collection of his U.S. singles.  "After a while, I got another residency right around the corner at a club called Les Cousins."  The Greek Street venue was a focal point of the London folk scene.  Nick Drake, Cat Stevens, Alexis Korner, John Renbourn, and a young American named Paul Simon all passed through its

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD Genre: Folk Tags: Al Stewart, Bert Jansch, Cat Stevens, Donovan, Nick Drake, Paul Simon, Various Artists

September 8, 2023 By The Second Disc 2 Comments

Rumours Live

Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! Al Stewart, Songs on the Radio: The Complete U.S. Singles 1974-1981 (Second Disc/Real Gone) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music) This definitive, first-ever singles collection from singer-songwriter Al Stewart brings together the A- and B-side of every single during the period in which Stewart catapulted from folk clubs to the mainstream.  Stewart bridged the gap

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Categories: Release Round-Up Formats: Blu-Ray Audio, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl Genre: Classic Rock, Country, Folk, Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks Tags: Al Stewart, Alice Cooper, Art Pepper, Black Sabbath, Christopher Guest, Fleetwood Mac, Graham Parker, Harry Shearer, J. Geils Band, Jeff Harnar, Jefferson Starship, Marvelous 3, Michael McKean, Nanci Griffith, Paradox, Pat Boone, Rain Parade, Rooney, The Doors

September 7, 2023 By The Second Disc 3 Comments

Al Stewart Songs on the Radio

The Vietnamese Lunar New Year identifies 2023 as The Year of the Cat...and the timing couldn't be better! Tomorrow's the day when Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records unveil a definitive, first-ever singles collection from legendary singer-songwriter Al Stewart. In 1976, Stewart took the beguiling "Year of the Cat" to the top ten of the Pop and AC charts, inaugurating a run of timeless hits still heard on radio today in formats from classic rock to pop and yacht rock.  Now, for the very

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Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: Classic Rock, Pop Tags: Al Stewart, Alan Parsons

July 18, 2023 By The Second Disc 5 Comments

Al Stewart Songs on the Radio

The Vietnamese Lunar New Year identifies 2023 as The Year of the Cat...and the timing couldn't be better! On September 8, Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records will unveil a definitive, first-ever singles collection from legendary singer-songwriter Al Stewart. In 1976, Stewart took the beguiling "Year of the Cat" to the top ten of the Pop and AC charts, inaugurating a run of timeless hits still heard on radio today in formats from classic rock to pop and yacht rock.  Now, for the very first

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Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: Classic Rock, Pop Tags: Al Stewart, Alan Parsons

January 3, 2023 By The Second Disc 5 Comments

gold cd2

Happy 2023!  Welcome, friends, to The Second Disc's 13th Annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards! A lot has happened in the last twelve months, but as we look to a new year with optimism and a hopeful spirit, we recognize the many roles music has played in our lives.  With that spirit in mind, The Second Disc wishes to recognize 2022's cream of the catalogue music crop - those exemplary reissues and box sets, big and small, that proved to be truly outstanding for music lovers worldwide.  Despite the

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Categories: Features Formats: Blu-Ray, Blu-Ray Audio, Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl Genre: Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Classical/Opera, Disco/Dance, Folk, Funk, Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks Tags: Al Stewart, Blondie, Culture Club, David Bowie, Elton John, Eugene Ormandy, Freddie Hubbard, Gold Bonus Disc Awards, Henry Mancini, Jimi Jamison, John Barry, John Williams, Joni Mitchell, Marvin Hamlisch, The Monkees, Vince Guaraldi

June 3, 2022 By The Second Disc Leave a Comment

Prince and the Revolution Live 1

Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, highlighted by our newest Second Disc Records release and featuring a selection of the week's other new titles! Stoney and Meatloaf, Everything Under the Sun: The Motown Recordings (Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music) Stoney and Meatloaf's Everything Under the Sun: The Motown Recordings from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music is the ultimate celebration of late rock superstar

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Categories: Release Round-Up Formats: Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, SACD, Vinyl Genre: Classic Rock, Classical/Opera, Country, Folk, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul Tags: Al Stewart, Alan Vega, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Bill Evans, Chuck Armstrong, East Coast, Frank Sinatra, George Scott, Grateful Dead, John Williams, Mabu's Madness, Max Roach, Meat Loaf, Michael Nesmith, Prince, Shaun Murphy, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Stoney and Meatloaf

February 25, 2022 By The Second Disc 8 Comments

Al Stewart The Admiralty Lights Cover

2022 just might turn out to be the Year of the Cat if Madfish Music has anything to do with it.  On June 3, the U.K. label will release a massive, 50-CD box set anthologizing the career of celebrated singer-songwriter Al Stewart.  The Admiralty Lights: Complete Studio, Live, and Rare 1964-2009 spans five decades of the artist behind "Year of the Cat," "Time Passages," "Midnight Rocks," "Bedsitter Images," and "Nostradamus" via his complete released live and studio recordings and over 300

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD Genre: Classic Rock, Folk, Pop, Rock Tags: Al Stewart, Alan Parsons, Richard Thompson

January 3, 2022 By The Second Disc 2 Comments

gold cd2

Happy 2022!  Welcome, friends, to The Second Disc's 12th Annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards! Once again, we've all faced unprecedented challenges over the past twelve months.  A year that began with hope and promise has ended with further uncertainty for many of us.  But music continues to fill a significant role in our lives, providing solace, comfort, and escape in a time unlike any other.  With that spirit in mind, The Second Disc wishes to recognize 2021's cream of the catalogue music crop -

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Categories: Features Formats: Blu-Ray Audio, Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, DVD, Vinyl Genre: Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Country, Gospel, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rap/Hip-Hop, Rock, Soundtracks Tags: Al Stewart, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Aretha Franklin, Connie Smith, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Deniece Williams, Elton John, Explorer Tapes, Gold Bonus Disc Awards, Ian Gillan, Jerry Bock, John Williams, Joni Mitchell, Metallica, Murray Head, Phyllis Hyman, Sheldon Harnick, The Band, The Beach Boys, Tim Rice, Various Artists, Yvonne Elliman

November 5, 2021 By Joe Marchese 1 Comment

Al Stewart Time Passages

1978's Time Passages concluded British singer-songwriter Al Stewart's trilogy of albums with producer-engineer Alan Parsons which began with 1975's Modern Times and continued with the following year's Year of the Cat.  During this purple patch, Stewart earned his first hit singles in the United States, transitioning from folk troubadour at home to bona fide pop star abroad.  And while Year of the Cat, the album, charted higher than Time Passages, the latter's title track was a bigger hit in the

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: Box Sets, CD, DVD Genre: Classic Rock, Pop Tags: Al Stewart

May 13, 2021 By Joe Marchese 4 Comments

Al Stewart Year of the Cat

Surely one of the most unlikely hits of 1976-77 was Al Stewart's "Year of the Cat."  An atmospheric tale of romance in a faraway place with Casablanca name-checks of Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre, the song propelled the British singer-songwriter to the top of the pops: No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 (and even higher, No. 4, in Cash Box) and No. 8 AC as well as No. 31 in the U.K., his only chart appearance there.  Following its expanded reissue late last year of Stewart's 24 Carrots, Cherry

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Classic Rock, Pop Tags: Al Stewart

January 12, 2021 By Joe Marchese 1 Comment

Al Stewart 24 Carrots

Periodically this month, we'll be looking at titles released in the latter part of 2020 that we either didn't cover, or only covered briefly, the first time around! We hope you enjoy this look at "some nice things we've missed." Scottish singer-songwriter Al Stewart released his first album in 1967 but didn't break into the lucrative American market until 1974's Past, Present, and Future (released 1973 in the U.K.).  While that LP only peaked within the second half of the Billboard 200, the

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD Genre: Classic Rock, Everything Else, Pop Tags: Al Stewart, Anthony Phillips

December 17, 2015 By Joe Marchese 1 Comment

Al Stewart Past Present and Future

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

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Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: Classic Rock, Folk Tags: Al Stewart, Alan Parsons

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