“I cut off my hair and I rode straight away, for that wild unknown country where I could not go wrong.” So sings Bob Dylan in “Isis.” It’s a line fitting for the mercurial Dylan, especially in 1975 as he and his merry cohorts – both friends and musicians – embarked on a tour of North American cities large and small on the circus-like Rolling Thunder Revue. Back in 2019, we told you about Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese. Part concert document and part mockumentary, the controversial film…
Digital Round-Up: Bob Dylan Collects Rarities on “Best of The Bootleg Series,” Releases New Episode of “Theme Time Radio Hour”
Since 1991, Bob Dylan and his team have combed the archives for new and interesting rarities from the vault to create The Bootleg Series. Once a tightly curated affair, the series has since expanded to take on a kitchen sink, “warts-and-all” approach. Fans have savored new archival Dylan releases every fall for several years and have been speculating what would arrive this year. While it appears likely that a new volume won’t hit shelves until next year, the Dylan team have chosen to take a look back at the series with a…
Play Tetris Til My Eyes Fall Out: The Second Disc’s Bandcamp Friday Picks, October 2020
The month’s best new release day is back! Since March, indie music retailer Bandcamp has waived their share of revenue for indie artists and labels using their platform to give “the little guys” a leg up in the face of the pandemic. The result was more music bought by more fans than any day on the site, a record broken on the first Friday of May. Bandcamp Fridays have since taken place in June, July, August, and September – plus the first of an annual occurrence when the service will donate its…
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What Was It You Wanted? MoFi Announces Deluxe Vinyl Reissues of Bob Dylan’s “Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid,” “Oh Mercy,” “‘Love and Theft'”
The long-awaited next volumes in Mobile Fidelity’s successful series of Bob Dylan albums have been announced: a 2-LP 45rpm edition of Oh Mercy is available now, and a further 2-LP 45rpm configuration of Love and Theft is due later this month. This follows a 33rpm remaster of Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid, already available. (All three titles are also available on hybrid stereo SACDs from MoFi.) 1989’s Oh Mercy represented something of a return-to-form for Bob Dylan, who, after a few consecutive uninspiring albums, linked up with producer Daniel Lanois for an album…
Release Round-Up: Week of July 17
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Little Steven, Voice of America [CD/DVD] (Wicked Cool/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Little Steven’s sophomore album from 1984, featuring “Voice of America,” “Solidarity,” “Los Desaparecidos,” and “Among the Believers,” returns to CD in Bob Ludwig’s remaster previously available only on vinyl. The CD edition gets even sweeter with the addition of the full Live at Rockpalast 1984 concert. Voice of America was written, produced, and arranged by Little Steven who got support from The Disciples of Soul (including The Rascals’ Dino Danelli) and guest background vocalist Gary U.S. Bonds. (The…
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Release Round-Up: Week of June 19
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, Orange Crate Art: 25th Anniversary Edition (Omnivore) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Omnivore 2LP Black Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Omnivore 2LP Colored Vinyl: Omnivore Omnivore celebrates 25 years of Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks’ beautiful Orange Crate Art with a variety of reissues. The 2-CD version boasts three previously unreleased bonus tracks on the first disc: a stunning, subtle take on “What a Wonderful World” (listen here) that…
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UPDATE: Bob Dylan Confirms “Rough and Rowdy Ways” Tracks
UPDATED 6/11/20: Last month, Bob Dylan announced the upcoming release of Rough and Rowdy Ways, his first album of original music in 8 years. Due out next Friday, June 19, on Columbia Records, Rough and Rowdy Ways will be a ten-song, two-CD affair. The album opens with “I Contain Multitudes,” followed by “False Prophet,” and it closes with the epic “Murder Most Foul.” In typical Dylan fashion, much of the details about the new album have remained under lock and key. But earlier today, Columbia Records posted a video revealing the evocative…
Something To See: Bob Dylan Announces New Album “Rough and Rowdy Ways,” Shares New Single
Bob Dylan has been on a roll, getting us through lockdown with new singles that find him as clever and compelling as ever. On Thursday evening, May 7, the Bob Dylan Twitter account posted another cryptic tweet – complete with a pulp book-inspired illustration and a lyric quote – which had fans everywhere wondering if we might get another treat to tide us over. Well, come midnight, we got our answer as “False Prophet” was released on digital streaming services. The third surprise single in what’s become a triweekly tradition, “False Prophet”…
Bob Dylan Mystifies Again With New Single, “I Contain Multitudes”
Yesterday evening, Bob Dylan’s Twitter feed sent out the simple message: #IContainMultitudes. Just three weeks had passed since his epic “Murder Most Foul” stunned and confused listeners, and Dylanologists everywhere wondered what could be next. This morning, we have the answer as Dylan has released “I Contain Multitudes.” The new single (its title inspired by Walt Whitman) clocks in at roughly four-and-a-half minutes, but it’s no less engaging than the lengthy track that preceded it. The singer-songwriter-storyteller is in a ruminative if cryptic mood on the evocative ballad, its reflective lyrics alternately…
Bob Dylan Releases New Song, “Murder Most Foul”
Bob Dylan surprised fans early this morning with a never-before-heard song. “Murder Most Foul” is a dense, epic examination of America as only Dylan could craft, loaded with unforgettable imagery and unexpected pop culture imagery. “Greetings to my fans and followers with gratitude for all your support and loyalty across the years,” the songwriter offered. “This is an unreleased song we recorded a while back that you might find interesting. Stay safe, stay observant and may God be with you.” “Murder Most Foul” is now the longest studio recording in the Bob…
Paint My Masterpiece: Sony Prepares Bob Dylan “Japanese Single Collection”
In April 2020, Bob Dylan is set to embark on his ninth tour of Japan. Sony Japan will commemorate the event on March 25 with a new 2-CD set, Japanese Single Collection. It brings together 20 years’ worth of A-sides released from 1965 to 1985, presented in the order they were released in Japan, including the rarity “George Jackson (Big Band Version).” As far as packaging, the album cover was newly designed in Japan and the illustrated booklet includes discographical information and scans of the original Japanese picture sleeves. The music is…
Year-End Review: Bob Dylan, “The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings”
As we continue to look back on the year that was, it’s hard to disagree that Bob Dylan was 2019’s king of the reissue. Since releasing More Blood, More Tracks in time for the holidays in 2018, Legacy Recordings and the Dylan team approved MoFi’s deluxe audiophile version of Blood on the Tracks; celebrated the first leg of the famed Rolling Thunder Revue with a new film, CD box set, and LP reissue; delivered a new Bootleg Series installment focusing on his time in Nashville in the late ’60s; and quietly issued…
Holiday Gift Guide Review: MoFi Gives the Audiophile Treatment to Dylan’s “Blood on The Tracks” and J. Geils’ “The Morning After”
Over the years, Mobile Fidelity has cemented itself as one of the leaders in the audiophile re-issue realm. From deluxe 45rpm box set affairs to more bare-bones remasters, the label has been known to go the extra mile to make every album sound its best. Two of their recent reissues have arrived at Second Disc HQ: the extravagant 45rpm One-Step remaster of Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks and the slimmed-down remaster of J. Geils Band’s The Morning After. Both titles are sure to please that audiophile on your gift-giving list! Admittedly,…
Review: Bob Dylan featuring Johnny Cash, “Travelin’ Thru: The Bootleg Series Vol. 15 (1967-1969)”
There’s a delicious moment on the fifteenth volume of Bob Dylan’s long-running Bootleg Series. The troubadour is in Columbia Records’ Nashville Studio A, rehearsing a duet medley with Johnny Cash of his “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” and Cash’s “Understand Your Man.” Once they stop playing, The Man in Black happily observes that “the phrasing comes out just right, ’cause we both stole it from the same song!” Indeed, Dylan and Cash shared substantial musical roots, with less than a decade separating their births. With both signed to Columbia, and Dylan…
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Release Round-Up: Week of November 1
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Bob Dylan featuring Johnny Cash, Travelin’ Thru, 1967-1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 15 (Columbia/Legacy) 3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings chronicle Dylan’s 1967-1969 recordings in Music City – including those made with a very special guest – on the latest volume of the artist’s long-running Bootleg Series. Bob Dylan (featuring Johnny Cash) – Travelin’ Thru: 1967-1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 15 boasts dozens of previously unreleased recordings from the…
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Like A Rolling Stone: The Rolling Stones Prep “Bridges To Buenos Aires” Archive Release
The Rolling Stones have recently announced the latest in their archival series. Bridges to Buenos Aires will be released on November 8 in a variety of CD, vinyl, and video configurations. Following the Bridges to Bremen live album released in June, Bridges to Buenos Aires also commemorates The Rolling Stones’ hugely successful 1997-1998 tour. The Buenos Aires show was recorded on April 5, 1998 — the last of a five-night residency at the River Plate Stadium — and features a very special guest appearance by Bob Dylan, who joins on “Like A Rolling…
Lay Lady Lay: Dylan’s Nashville Period Chronicled In New ‘Bootleg Series’ Volume
Bob Dylan has travelled to many locales, but few have inspired him as powerfully as Nashville, Tennessee. On November 1, Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings will chronicle Dylan’s 1967-1969 recordings in Music City – including those made with a very special guest – on the latest volume of the artist’s long-running Bootleg Series. Bob Dylan (featuring Johnny Cash) – Travelin’ Thru: 1967-1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 15 will be released in 3CD, 3LP, and digital configurations, all of which boast dozens of previously unreleased recordings from this halcyon period. The first disc…
Release Round-Up: Week of June 7
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up – a packed one, for sure! Bob Dylan, The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings (Columbia/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Just in advance of the June 12 debut of director Martin Scorsese’s documentary Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese, Columbia and Legacy unveil a new 14-CD box set that promises to be the ultimate chronicle of the initial leg of Dylan’s legendary Rolling Thunder Revue from the autumn of 1975. The box includes five professionally recorded sets…
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It Shall Be Released: Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue Revived On New Box Set, Netflix Film
Fourteen years after his seminal documentary No Direction Home, director Martin Scorsese is returning to the life and music of Bob Dylan with a new concert film celebrating one of the Bard of Hibbing’s most electrifying tours. Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese debuts June 12 on Netflix. The new film shines a spotlight on Dylan’s unforgettable adventures with an amazing cast of characters on the road during his 1975-1976 tour. It will also screen in theaters in London, Paris, Washington, D.C., Nashville, New York City, Philadelphia, San…
To the Valley Below: Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue Celebrated With Documentary and Box Set
Preliminary details have begun to emerge about an upcoming multi-disc box set and Martin Scorsese-directed Netflix documentary celebrating the 1975 leg of Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue tour. As first reported in Variety, Dylan’s legendary tour will be commemorated on June 7 with a 14-CD, 148-track live box set. The mammoth collection brings together all five professionally recorded Dylan sets from October and November 1975, as well as recently discovered rehearsals recorded at New York’s S.I.R. Studios, and a bonus disc of miscellaneous rare live tracks. [A full track listing for the…
Release Round-Up: The Second Disc’s 2019 Record Store Day Must-Haves
Looking for our usual Release Round-Up? Alas, there’s not much new in the way of catalogue music this Friday (and we’ve already filled you in on Billy Paul and Leon Russell!), but for a very good reason: tomorrow sees releases a-plenty as part of Record Store Day! Without further ado, welcome to our annual rundown of Must-Haves for this year’s RSD event! Once you’re through reading, let us know what you’re most looking forward to picking up tomorrow at your favorite local independent retailer! Our list features just a sampling of our…
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Hey, Music Lover! Legacy Announces Record Store Day 2019 Exclusives
Sony’s Legacy Recordings has announced its offerings for this year’s Record Store Day festivities, to be held on Saturday, April 13 at your local brick-and-mortar retailer! As usual, it’s an eclectic line-up with pop, rock, and R&B superstars all represented. So without further ado, here’s the label’s full list! Jeff Buckley, In Transition – 1 LP – 3,000 copies In Transition is a compilation of seven previously unreleased studio performances from 1993 during the making of Jeff Buckley’s only studio album, Grace, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary this year. Aptly titled,…
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Review: “Music from Vanilla Sky” and “Orange County: The Soundtrack” LPs From Real Gone
Real Gone Music has recently given soundtrack lovers and vinyl aficionados something to talk about with two new color vinyl reissues of turn-of-the-millennium soundtracks: Music from Vanilla Sky (on “blue cloud” vinyl) and Orange County: The Soundtrack (on orange vinyl). The plots of both films are tied to the music within. The soundtrack for the far-out Vanilla Sky shifts moods and tones while maintaining some sense of cohesion as it takes listeners from classic rock to folk, trance and hip-hop. Meanwhile, Orange County‘s soundtrack is more of a music time capsule of the late-’90s and early ’00s rock and hip-hop…
Release Round-Up: Week of December 14
Welcome to another Release Round-Up. Here’s a look at what’s coming out today, December 14! Bruce Springsteen, Springsteen on Broadway [2CD] (Columbia) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Springsteen on Broadway captures songs and selected stories from The Boss’ acclaimed, Tony Award-winning engagement on the Great White Way. Mixed by Bob Clearmountain and mastered by Bob Ludwig, the album arrives one day before the closing show, and also just before it’s broadcast in full on Netflix. The streaming giant will premiere the production at 12:01 a.m. PT/3:01 a.m. ET on…
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Sweetness Follows: Real Gone Announces “Music From Vanilla Sky” and “Orange County” on LP
Last month, Real Gone Music announced the release of seven Christmas-related goodies, including a pair of joint releases with Second Disc Records. But, as temperatures fall, Real Gone plans to bring more than just holiday melodies to keep listeners warm this winter. On December 14, the label will release limited-edition, two-disc colored vinyl sets of two cult film soundtracks: Music From Vanilla Sky and Orange County: The Soundtrack. Vanilla Sky was Cameron Crowe’s seventh film. Based on Alejandro Amenábar’s 1997 psychological thriller, Abre los ojos (Open Your Eyes), it follows the reflections of a real estate magnate as he tries…
