Blossom Dearie - The Second Disc

Release Round-Up: Week of June 7

June 7, 2024 by The Second Disc | 9 Comments

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. Dwight Twilley, Jungle: Expanded Edition (Iconoclassic) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Iconoclassic’s deluxe expanded edition of power pop hero Dwight Twilley’s third solo album boasts six bonus tracks including the outtakes “Forget About It, Baby,” “You Can Change It,” and “Don’t You Love Her,” and Twilley’s demos of “Long, Lonely Nights,” “To Get to You,” and the title track. Ken Sharp has contributed a new essay based on his…

Categories:

Release Round-Up

Formats:

Blu-Ray Audio, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Classic Rock, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Reggae, Rock, Soundtracks

Tags:

APB, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Bing Crosby, Blossom Dearie, Bon Jovi, Helen Merrill, Israel Vibration, Luther Vandross, NRBQ, Robert Hunter, Robin Trower, Skeeter Davis, Smoking Popes, Stina Nordenstam, Tom Verlaine, Tutti Camarata

The Year In Review: The 2023 Gold Bonus Disc Awards, From A to Z – Part One

January 15, 2024 by The Second Disc | 2 Comments

Happy 2024! Welcome, friends, to The Second Disc’s 14th Annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards! As we yet again 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 2023’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. After much deliberation, we’re excited to unveil our favorites. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill Top…

Categories:

Features

Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Cassette, DVD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Classic Rock, Classical/Opera, Folk, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

Tags:

Barbra Streisand, Barry Manilow, Blossom Dearie, Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick, Elvis Costello, Eugene Ormandy, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Green Day, Howard Jones, John Williams, Matt Monro, Rose Marie, The Beatles, The Darkness

Release Round-Up: Week of June 30

June 30, 2023 by The Second Disc | No Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Frank Zappa, Funky Nothingness (Zappa/UMe) 3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Zappa.com / uDiscoverMusic.com 2LP Standard Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Zappa.com / uDiscoverMusic.com 2LP Colored Vinyl with exclusive guitar pick: Zappa.com / uDiscoverMusic.com / SoundofVinyl.com UMe and Zappa Records have taken another deep dive into the vaults for Funky Nothingness. Recorded in the year following the release of Hot Rats and building upon its sound with many of the same musicians including Ian Underwood, violinist Don “Sugarcane” Harris, and Wrecking Crew bassist Max Bennett, the previously unreleased sessions include both compositions and jams. The five-piece group was completed by drummer Aynsley Dunbar whom…

Categories:

Release Round-Up

Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, Rock

Tags:

Alan Jay Lerner, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Big Country, Blossom Dearie, Charlie Watts, Frank Zappa, Frederick Loewe, Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia Band, Johnny Desmond, Jule Styne, Lucinda Williams, The Baseball Project, Vivian Blaine

The Music Played: Universal Collects Blossom Dearie’s 1960s Fontana Years with Over Two Dozen Unreleased Tracks

May 9, 2023 by Joe Marchese | 10 Comments

In a career spanning six decades and over 30 albums, singer-pianist-songwriter Blossom Dearie (1924-2009) garnered attention from popular song’s finest writers including Michel Legrand, Bob Dorough, and Johnny Mercer and musicians such as Miles Davis and Bill Evans. A self-described “songwriter’s singer” and “jazz musician learning to be a jazz singer,” Dearie recorded for the Verve, Capitol, and Fontana labels before striking out with her own Daffodil Records; she also made numerous guest appearances on producer Ben Bagley’s Revisited series of songwriter anthologies. Now, the U.K.’s Universal Music Recordings will celebrate an…

Categories:

News

Formats:

Box Sets, CD

Genres:

Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal

Tags:

Blossom Dearie

Release Round-Up: Week of June 10

June 10, 2022 by The Second Disc | 2 Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the titles hitting stores today! Elton John, Madman Across the Water: 50th Anniversary Edition (Rocket/UMe) 3CD/BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 4LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Elton John’s 1971 Madman Across the Water receives a new 50th anniversary reissue. Available in three different formats, its most expansive is a 3CD/Blu-ray collection that’ll offer the original album (remastered by Bob Ludwig in 2016), five rare bonus tracks, a dozen solo piano demos, an unreleased full version of outtake “Rock Me When He’s Gone,” Elton’s…

Categories:

Release Round-Up

Formats:

Blu-Ray, Box Sets, CD, DVD, Vinyl

Genres:

Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Country, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, Rap/Hip-Hop, Rock

Tags:

Alfred Drake, Ben Bagley, Bill Anderson, Blossom Dearie, Cab Calloway, Dolly Parton, Elaine Stritch, Elton John, Judy Garland, KISS, Kaye Ballard, Notorious B.I.G., Rufus Wainwright, The Rolling Stones

They Came, They Danced: Legacy Releases Fourth Season Soundtrack to “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”

March 8, 2022 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

The fourth season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is now underway, with two episodes arriving each Friday on Amazon Prime Video for four weeks. The series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino (Gilmore Girls, Bunheads) chronicles the colorful life of Midge “Mrs.” Maisel (portrayed by Emmy Award winner Rachel Brosnahan) as she carves out a career in New York in the rough-and-tumble world of stand-up comedy; the current season finds her in 1960, working at a seedy burlesque house and navigating the equally choppy waters of her personal life. A trademark of the series…

Categories:

News

Formats:

CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Cast Recordings, Popular Standards/Vocal, Soundtracks

Tags:

Blossom Dearie, Doris Day, Eileen Rodgers, Ella Fitzgerald, Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Patience and Prudence, The Barry Sisters, Various Artists

My Cup Runneth Over: Kritzerland Reissues More from Ben Bagley, “I Do! I Do!” Cast Album, and “Alfred the Great” Soundtrack

January 7, 2022 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

Kritzerland has announced its first slate of releases for 2022. Leading off the trio is the latest volume in the label’s long-running reissue series from Ben Bagley’s Painted Smiles Records. Harold Arlen and Vernon Duke Revisited Vol. 2, first released in 1980 and expanded in 1991, celebrated the two composers’ oeuvres with a typically eclectic Bagley cast including jazz singer Blossom Dearie; stage and screen stars Sandy Duncan, Helen Gallagher, Dolores Gray, and Tammy Grimes; and songwriter-pianist Arthur Siegel. Dennis Deal and Albert Evans provided the arrangements for these selections which feature…

Categories:

News

Formats:

Genres:

Cast Recordings, Soundtracks

Tags:

Blossom Dearie, David Garrison, Dolores Gray, Helen Gallagher, Karen Ziemba, Ray Leppard, Sandy Duncan, Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt

Release Round-Up: Week of November 12

November 12, 2021 by The Second Disc | 1 Comment

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Elvis Presley, Back in Nashville (RCA/Legacy) 4CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP Colored Vinyl: Graceland Official Store Elvis: Back in Nashville boasts 82 recordings on 4 CDs (or digitally) from The King’s final Nashville sessions in 1971. With country, folk, holiday and gospel songs, pop, and rock and roll, these seminal tracks represent some of the most richly diverse in Elvis’ storied catalogue. Like its predecessor From Elvis in Nashville, this collection features all new, stripped-down remixes by Matt Ross-Spang. A 2-LP highlights release is available…

Categories:

Release Round-Up

Formats:

Blu-Ray, Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Disco/Dance, Everything Else, Folk, Holiday, Pop, Rock

Tags:

Blossom Dearie, Dolores Gray, Eagles, Elvis Presley, Eric Clapton, Jake Shimabukuro, Joni Mitchell, Kylie Minogue, NRBQ, Nirvana, Rod Stewart, She and Him, Taylor Swift, War

Release Round-Up: Week of September 24

September 24, 2021 by The Second Disc | No Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Steely Dan, Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live (UMe) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The first Steely Dan live album since 1995’s Alive in America, Northeast Corridor was recorded on the group’s last tour at venues including New York’s Beacon Theater, The Met Philadelphia, and others. (The band’s nine-show Beacon residency in 2018 featured themed shows including performances of full albums, a “By Popular Demand” night, and more.) The single-disc set of 12 songs (of course abbreviated from a typical tour setlist) features songs off Can’t Buy…

Categories:

News

Formats:

CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Country, Holiday, Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul

Tags:

Al Green, Anthony Perkins, Blossom Dearie, Cab Calloway, Carrie Underwood, Chick Corea, Donald Fagen, Dorothy Loudon, Edie Adams, Jack Cassidy, Joan Rivers, John Sebastian, Ringo Starr, Sex Pistols, Steely Dan, The Lovin' Spoonful, The Velvet Underground, Vernon Duke, Vincent Youmans

Release Round-Up: Week of April 16

April 16, 2021 by The Second Disc | No Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Mary Wilson, Mary Wilson: Expanded Edition (Motown/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Just days before her sudden passing, Mary Wilson promised that her 1979 Motown solo debut would finally see reissue. Universal Music and Wilson’s estate have made good on that promise with this new digital release. Mary Wilson: Expanded Edition will include the original Mary Wilson album produced by Motown great Hal Davis; three single versions of the album’s disco anthem “Red Hot;” the four bonus tracks produced by Gus Dudgeon; and an all-new single streaming now with special relevance…

I’m Back in Circulation: Kritzerland Reissues First Two Volumes of Ben Bagley’s “Cole Porter Revisited”

March 1, 2021 by Joe Marchese | 1 Comment

Over the weekend, Kritzerland announced the latest two titles in its ongoing reissue campaign of Ben Bagley’s Revisited series: Cole Porter Revisited and The Unpublished Cole Porter Vol. 2. The pride of Peru, Indiana, Porter (1891-1964) remains one of the Great American Songbook’s most renowned exponents. He lived long enough to see his classic songs such as “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “Night and Day,” “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “Just One of Those Things,” and “Anything Goes” become standards, and they’re still performed and recorded today. But Ben…

Categories:

News

Formats:

Genres:

Cast Recordings, Popular Standards/Vocal

Tags:

Alice Playten, Blossom Dearie, Bobby Short, Cole Porter, Karen Morrow, Kaye Ballard

Going, Going, Gone: Kritzerland Premieres John Barry and Alan Jay Lerner’s “Lolita, My Love” on CD, Reissues Ben Bagley’s “Irving Berlin Revisited”

November 4, 2020 by Joe Marchese | 2 Comments

Kritzerland has just announced two new titles today! A musical version of Vladimir Nabokov’s 1955 novel Lolita hardly seemed like typical fare for the Broadway stage. Yet Alan Jay Lerner – lyricist-librettist of My Fair Lady, Camelot, and Paint Your Wagon – envisioned just that. Lolita had already been adapted by Nabokov himself for director Stanley Kubrick’s 1962 film starring Sue Lyon, James Mason, Shelley Winters, and a scene-stealing Peter Sellers, but the author gave his blessing to Lerner’s ambitious undertaking. “Mr. Lerner is most talented, and an excellent classicist,” he commented. …

Categories:

News

Formats:

Genres:

Cast Recordings, Popular Standards/Vocal

Tags:

Alan Jay Lerner, Blossom Dearie, Bobby Short, Denise Nickerson, Dorothy Loudon, John Barry, Richard Chamberlain

In the Mood for Love: Cherry Red Collects Early Blossom Dearie in New Box Set

May 2, 2019 by Joe Marchese | 3 Comments

This past weekend – April 28, to be exact – would have marked the 95th birthday of Blossom Dearie. The singer-pianist-songwriter with the recognizably wispy, coquettish voice recorded over 30 albums for labels including Verve, Capitol, and Fontana, and collaborated with talents including Johnny Mercer, Michel Legrand, and Bob Dorough. Cherry Red’s El label has just celebrated Dearie’s early years with a new 3-CD set, The Adorable Blossom Dearie (superseding the label’s previous single-disc release with the same title and artwork). Though often considered in the ranks of the jazz singers, Dearie…

Categories:

News

Formats:

Box Sets, CD

Genres:

Jazz, Popular Standards/Vocal

Tags:

Blossom Dearie, Bobby Jaspar