Ace Records’ ongoing Black America Sings series gets a second helping of classic tunes by Bob Dylan on a new compilation available this week. Highway of Diamonds: Black America Sings Bob Dylan, available January 30 in Ace’s native U.K. (and a week later in America), offers 20 compositions from the Nobel Prize-winning songwriter recast for soul, blues and gospel acts including The Staple Singers, Nina Simone, Harry Belafonte, Billy Preston, Natalie Cole, Solomon Burke, Merry Clayton, Sarah Vaughan, Aaron Neville and more. The collection, available on CD or two LPs, includes informative song/track…
Release Round-Up: Week of May 24
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. Joe Grushecky, Houserocker: A Joe Grushecky Anthology (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Houserocker: A Joe Grushecky Anthology is an all-encompassing look at the singer, songwriter, and bandleader, covering 40 years of music from The Iron City Houserockers, Joey G., Joe Grushecky and The Houserockers, and Grushecky solo. Available on 2 CDs and digitally, the anthology culls 36 key tracks from Grushecky’s discography, as newly remastered by Michael Graves. …
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Release Round-Up: Week of June 16
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the titles available today. The Weather Girls and Martha Wash, Carry On: The Deluxe Collection 1982-1992 (SoulMusic/Cherry Red) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Hallelujah! Carry On: The Deluxe Collection 1982-1992 is a long-overdue assessment of Martha Wash and Izora Armstead’s unlikely journey toward the top of the pop charts, some fascinating music that came before it – and a triumphant second act by Wash following some truly bizarre situations that only could have happened in the music industry. This 4CD box set, compiled and produced…
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The Best of The Rest: Even More RSD Black Friday Releases Confirmed!
November 27 is always a special day for vinyl enthusiasts. Still filled up on last night’s Thanksgiving meal, music fans line up at their local shop for a chance at limited-edition vinyl. While the celebrations may look a little different this year in light of the COVID-19 pandemic (RSD has announced they’ll be less stringent about online sales) one thing remains the same: There are some excellent releases on offer, available exclusively from your local participating record shop! Here are some more releases from labels big and small that have us adding…
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Release Round-Up: Week of August 28
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! America, Half Century (America Records/Gonzo) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The 50th anniversary celebration of America rolls on with a massive new box set. Half Century is an expansive 7-CD/1-DVD box packed with rare and previously unreleased material from the beloved band featuring Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell, and the late Dan Peek. There’s a slew of unreleased demos circa 1970; a remastered full-length radio session in Bremen from 1973; rehearsals and demos for the Hideaway album; 11 unheard session recordings from 1981; a disc full of rarities…
Child of the Seventies: Run Out Groove Brings Bettye LaVette’s “1972 Muscle Shoals Sessions” to Vinyl
Following the recent reissue of Sweet Southern Soul by Lou Johnson (watch this space for a review soon!), Run Out Groove is staying in a soulful bag with the latest addition to its catalogue: Bettye LaVette’s The 1972 Muscle Shoals Sessions! This brand-new, 1-LP collection, voted on by the fans, will prove the first time any of these scorching soul tracks from a remarkable artist have ever been released on vinyl. The soul survivor has recorded for countless labels over the years, including Atlantic, Scepter, Epic, Motown, and most recently, Verve. LaVette…
Release Round-Up: Week of March 30
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! The Cars, Shake It Up: Expanded Edition (Elektra/Rhino) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The Cars reissue their 1981 LP featuring the hit title track “Shake It Up” on CD and double vinyl, featuring eight bonus tracks including previously unreleased demos and alternate and early versions. The Cars, Heartbeat City: Expanded Edition (Elektra/Rhino) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada This expanded edition…
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New “Rare Soul” Collection Features Otis Redding, Percy Sledge, Solomon Burke, Mary Wells and More
If Rare Soul is what you’re looking for, PopMarket has an exclusive release just for you. The online shop has recently released A Crate Digger’s Collection of Rare Soul, a 3-LP set pressed on heavyweight180-gram vinyl presenting 35 tracks culled from the Warner Music Group family of labels including Atlantic, Cotillion, Loma, Atco and Warner Bros. itself. This handsome package, a limited edition of 1,000 units, features 35 tracks from some of the labels’ heaviest hitters as well as names that only soul connoisseurs would recognize. But once you hear these artists,…
Release Round-Up: Week of March 10
This week brings a particularly impressive slate by any standard, but we’re particularly proud to introduce the world to Second Disc Records with our first two releases, from Johnny Mathis and the late Bob Crewe! Johnny Mathis, Life is a Song Worth Singing: The Complete Thom Bell Sessions (Second Disc/Real Gone) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Here, on two CDs, we proudly present both of Johnny Mathis’ album collaborations – including the never-on-CD Mathis Is… – with songwriter-producer Thom Bell, plus ten bonus tracks! Read more here! Bob Crewe, The Complete Elektra Recordings…
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Real Gone’s March Slate Boasts Peggy Lee, Perry Como, Foghat, J. Geils Band – and Second Disc Records, Too!
We hope that nobody missed yesterday’s big news of The Second Disc’s partnership with Real Gone Music to create Second Disc Records, launching March 10 with a pair of releases from Johnny Mathis and Bob Crewe! But that’s not all that Real Gone has on tap for March release. With a total of eight titles ranging from psychedelia to standards, this may be one of the label’s most eclectic release batches yet! Real Gone is kicking off the month on March 3 with two iconic classic rock albums on painstakingly-recreated replica vinyl…
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I Feel Good (All Over): Dance All Weekend Long with Kent’s “Cleethorpes Northern Soul Weekender”
Though we’ve come to expect delightful and deeply soulful compilations from Ace’s Kent label, one of Kent’s latest is a particular trip: a trip, in fact, to the Cleethorpes Northern Soul Weekender. The 6Ts Rhythm and Soul Society has been throwing these bashes on a yearly basis since 1993, offering up plenty of dancing and some of the best names in soul music, among them Doris Troy, Barbara Lewis, Tommy Hunt, Bettye LaVette and Maxine Brown. Kent’s The Cleethorpes Northern Soul Weekender, 1993-2012: 20 Soulful Celebrations offers a variety of songs from…
