From all of us here at Second Disc HQ to all of you, we hope you've enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving in the company of beloved family and friends. (And with plenty of delicious food, too!) Now, Record Store Day's annual Black Friday event is upon us, so we're spotlighting a dozen of the most eagerly anticipated releases arriving to your local independent brick-and-mortar record shop! Here are our personal picks for RSD BF must-haves; visit Record Store Day's official website for a list of
The Black Friday edition of Record Store Day is happening this Friday, November 26, and Real Gone Music has five titles premiering for the event. These LPs are a happily eclectic lot: the most comprehensive vinyl overview of 1960s girl group The Shangri-Las, a vinyl version of Dusty Springfield's complete Atlantic singles collection (which Real Gone released on CD earlier this year and includes comprehensive liner notes by our very own Joe Marchese), the vinyl debut of an initially
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Dusty Springfield, The Complete Atlantic Singles 1969-1971 (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The Complete Atlantic Singles 1968-1971brings together Dusty Springfield's 24 U.S. single sides released during her tenure at Atlantic. These tracks have been remastered from the original mono tapes by Mike Milchner at Sonic Vision, and all but the eight sides pulled from Dusty in Memphis have never before appeared on CD in
For several years in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Dusty Springfield was romantically linked to singer-songwriter Norma Tanega. On February 5, 2021, the late, talented duo will be linked once more with a pair of new releases from our friends at Real Gone Music. Real Gone has previously surveyed Springfield's remarkable career on releases including Faithful (premiering her complete, lost album with producer-songwriter Jeff Barry in standalone form), A Brand New Me: The Complete Philadelphia
Cherry Red's long-running RPM imprint announced earlier this year that 2020 would be its final year of operations - but that hasn't kept RPM from going out with a bang. One of the final titles to arrive from the imprint, Right Back Where We Started From, is a joyous 3-CD celebration of Female Pop and Soul in Seventies Britain. The title is drawn from Maxine Nightingale's irresistibly bouncy 1975 single, a top ten entry in the United Kingdom and a top five in the States. Not every track on
We've already filled you in on Ace's recent anthology collecting works by Philly soul maestro Thom Bell; now we're looking to the American South with another release! Way back in 2012, Ace Records collected the multifaceted sounds of Chips Moman and Don Crews' American Studios on Memphis Boys: The Story of American Studios. The 24-song tribute collection featured such visitors to Memphis as Dusty Springfield, Wilson Pickett, B.J. Thomas, and Solomon Burke as well as Elvis Presley, one of the
After having previously celebrated two of his musical inspirations - Burt Bacharach and Teddy Randazzo - with their own volumes, Ace's Songwriters and Producers series is turning its attention to legendary soul maestro Thom Bell. On June 26, the label's Kent imprint will release Ready or Not: Philly Soul Arrangements and Productions 1965-1978. As the title indicates, all 23 tracks were either produced or arranged (or both!) by the multi-hyphenate musician-composer-producer-arranger-conductor who
Tomorrow, November 1, Cherry Red's Strike Force Entertainment imprint will release the next title in its series of definitive reissues from Cilla Black's considerable catalogue. The 2-CD set Especially for You Revisited/Classics and Collectibles brings together a newly remixed version of Cilla's 1980 album Especially for You with a second disc of rare and previously unreleased tracks. Especially for You marked a turning point in Black's career as it was her first recording project after
The names of Mickie Most and Reggie Young might not be among the most familiar except to diehard music aficionados, but the songs that benefited from their respective golden touches certainly are among the most well-known ever. Ace Records has recently paid tribute to both of these late talents with a pair of deluxe anthologies. The Pop Genius of Mickie Most may be the most lavish single-disc package yet released by Ace, housed in a heavy slipcase also containing a squarebound 74-page
"Words by Hal David." That credit graces many of the most cherished popular songs of the second half of the twentieth century, including "(They Long To Be) Close To You," "I Say a Little Prayer," "The Look of Love," and of course, "What the World Needs Now Is Love." Beginning this weekend, Public Television stations nationwide will be celebrating the life and legacy of Hal David with a new special. What the World Needs Now: Words by Hal David from John Paulson Productions is hosted by The
Ace Records has released a number of splendid Motown collections in recent years, but now the label is taking a different approach to the music of Hitsville, USA. As Motown celebrates its landmark 60th anniversary, On the Detroit Beat: Motor City Soul - U.K. Style 1963-1967 brings together 24 diverse British interpretations of Motown classics, making for a potent reminder that the Sound of Young America was, truly, international. Compiler Tony Rounce helpfully points out in his liner notes
Last year, the Bella Union label released a collection that fell under the radar. Happily, we here at Second Disc HQ have discovered Paradise: The Sound of Ivor Raymonde, available in 1-CD, 2-LP, and digital formats. The name of Raymonde will surely be familiar to fans of Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones, or The Walker Brothers, but those are only three of the artists with whom the late producer-arranger-conductor worked his magic. Paradise, co-curated by his son Simon Raymonde of Bella Union
As a member of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, Eddie Hinton played on countless recordings by the likes of Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, and Otis Redding. But there was another side of the guitarist that led Jerry Wexler to once proclaim him "the next big thing." Hinton was a persuasive performer and moreover, a fine songwriter. In collaboration with Donnie Fritts, he penned what's likely his most famous song: "Breakfast in Bed," first recorded by Baby Washington but made
Seven James Bonds at Casino Royale/They came to save the world and win the gal at Casino Royale! Six of them went to a heavenly spot, the seventh one is going to a place where it's terribly hot... Hal David's lyric captures just a small fraction of the insanity of Charles K. Feldman's 1967 Casino Royale, the big-budget comic extravaganza and cult favorite that was "too much...for one James Bond!" And so, David Niven as James Bond was joined by 007s of all shapes and sizes (and genders!),
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Dusty Springfield, A Brand New Me: The Complete Philadelphia Sessions (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Dusty Springfield's 1970 A Brand New Me LP (her follow-up Atlantic effort to the landmark Dusty in Memphis) found Dusty traveling to Sigma Sound in Philadelphia to work with Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff and Thom Bell, architects of the orchestrated soul known as "The Philadelphia Sound." Springfield would have a #3 AC
Five decades ago, in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, a social movement was growing. Young people, with heads full of progressive ideas and evolving attitudes toward sex, drugs and rock and roll, were converging on the area to celebrate their personal freedom--an extension of that January's "Human Be-In" in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. The "Summer of Love," as it was called, was the birth of the modern counterculture, and music played an integral role in the shaping,
It's not even Memorial Day yet, but we're already looking ahead to the heart of summer for upcoming reissues and now we've got Real Gone's slate due just after Independence Day on July 7. As is usually the case with this label, it's an eclectic group of releases. You've already heard the news about Second Disc Records and Real Gone's A Little Magic, A Little Kindness from Laura Nyro, with notes by our very own Joe Marchese, but Joe's notes are also featured in two other Real Gone releases in
In the case of Rod McKuen, "prolific" might well have been an understatement. Before he turned 35, McKuen had already lived many lives - from farm hand, lumberjack, rodeo cowboy, disk jockey, and U.S. Army veteran to singer, songwriter, actor, and the most commercially successful poet of his time - or any other. Despite an enviable career that saw him receive two Academy Award nominations and Frank Sinatra dedicate an entire album to him, the songs of Rod McKuen frequently haven't received
Earlier this year, Cherry Red's Strike Force Entertainment label reissued Dusty Springfield's Reputation, the legendary vocalist's 1990 "comeback" album featuring productions by The Pet Shop Boys, Dan Hartman, and others. That expanded reissue took the form of a 2-CD/1-DVD set, adding nineteen bonus tracks and five music videos within its slipcase. More recently, SFE has turned its attention to Dusty's follow-up, A Very Fine Love, as a CD/DVD combo. The 1995 Columbia album, recorded in
Before Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff and Thom Bell created The Sound of Philadelphia, Jerry Ross created the sound of Philadelphia. The Philly-born producer-songwriter-entrepreneur penned hits for Diana Ross and the Supremes and The Temptations and produced chart-toppers by Bobby Hebb and Shocking Blue, but only now has his remarkable legacy in pop, rock-and-roll and soul been celebrated on disc. Ace has recently issued Some Kinda Magic: The Songs of Jerry Ross, a 24-track compendium of Ross'
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Beach Boys, Becoming The Beach Boys: The Complete Hite and Dorinda Morgan Sessions (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) This 2-CD set, a tie-in with Jim Murphy's recent book Becoming The Beach Boys 1961-1963, chronicles the earliest years of America's Band. Featuring 62 tracks (over 40 previously unreleased), Omnivore's CD is released in conjunction with The Beach Boys' Brother Records, and features all of the extant
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Wilson Pickett, Land of 1000 Dances: The Complete Atlantic Singles Vol. 1 (Real Gone) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Real Gone Music has the first release in a three-volume collection chronicling Wilson Pickett's tenure at Atlantic Records. The Wicked Pickett released a total of 66 single sides at the label and The Complete Atlantic Singles Vol. 1 collects the first 22 of these in their original mono single mixes. You'll find some
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Dusty Springfield rightfully regained her reputation as one of the best British soul singers of her generation, with the help of some famous collaborators. The fruits of that labor, 1990's Reputation, is being expanded by Cherry Red Records this summer. While Dusty had dominated part of the '60s with a unique brand of soul-pop on tracks like "I Only Want to Be with You," "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" and the Burt Bacharach-Hal David-penned "Wishin' and
With summer nearly upon us, we're all beginning to make plans for the next few months. Real Gone is doing the same, having just revealed what its releases are going to be for middle of summer in August! The first item on the list is the first of an eventual three-volume collection chronicling Wilson Pickett's tenure at Atlantic Records. Pickett released a total of 66 single sides at the label and The Complete Atlantic Singles Vol. 1 collects the first 22 of these. When Pickett moved to
Was 1966 the greatest year ever in popular music? The case could certainly be made for its significance - and Jon Savage has done just that in his new book 1966: The Year the Decade Exploded. Savage's book looks at the events and culture of the year in twelve essays, each one built around one 45 RPM record. Naturally, such a book deserves a soundtrack, and Ace Records has seen to it that it receives one with the companion volume of the same name. Jon Savage's 1966: The Year the Decade