"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
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
Elvis and Dino took on hypocrisy. Dion lamented the senseless deaths of Abraham, Martin, and John. Johnny "Poetry in Motion" Tillotson cast a spotlight on the poor treatment of veterans returned home from war. Bing Crosby wondered "What Do We Do with the World" and Paul Anka observed that "This crazy world has come undone." Such are the moments captured on Ace's thoroughly captivating new collection Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs Present State of the Union: The American Dream in Crisis
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Frank Sinatra, Sings for Only the Lonely: 60th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Capitol/FSE/UMe) 2-CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1-CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2-LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada On Frank Sinatra's 1958 Capitol concept album masterwork, he sang for Only the Lonely. But now, 60 years on, that classic is being revisited for everyone in a new 2-CD anniversary edition. Frank Sinatra
Last week, Willie Nelson made headlines when he announced that he would be playing a concert in support of Texas' Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, Beto O'Rourke. News outlets made much of the fact that some of the artist's conservative fans perceived a betrayal, but in truth, Nelson has always followed his heart and stayed true to his own convictions. He shared that in common with the late Frank Sinatra, his friend and onetime duet partner. The appropriately-titled My Way is a heartfelt
On Frank Sinatra's 1958 Capitol concept album masterwork, he sang for Only the Lonely. But now, 60 years on, that classic is being revisited for everyone in a new 2-CD anniversary edition. Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely: 60th Anniversary Deluxe Edition will arrive on October 19 from Capitol Records, UMe, and Frank Sinatra Enterprises. The reissue will feature the original 1958 mono album mix, a new 2018 stereo remix by Larry Walsh, and four mono bonus tracks. The release will also
In a career encompassing seven decades, Frank Sinatra blazed many trails. Yet his role in the birth of the long-playing record, or LP, is oddly among his lesser-known accomplishments. Legacy Recordings and Columbia Records have just celebrated that momentous event with a 70th anniversary limited and numbered reissue of The Voice of Frank Sinatra, available exclusively on vinyl from the Vinyl Me Please webstore. When Sinatra took the microphone at Columbia's Vine Street Playhouse in
Throughout his lifetime, Frank Sinatra grew accustomed to his concerts being Standing Room Only. Now, that's the title of a sensational new box set from UMe and Frank Sinatra Enterprises. This 3-CD book-style release under the Signature Sinatra banner follows the 2016 box World on a String as well as earlier celebrations of the artist's live performances in New York, Vegas, and London. Standing Room Only brings together three complete concerts, two of which have never been previously released
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Frank Sinatra, Standing Room Only (Capitol/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) This new 3-CD, book-style box set from Capitol/UMe features three spectacular live concerts from three decades of Frank Sinatra's storied career, including the January 28. 1966 second show with The Count Basie Orchestra and conductor Quincy Jones at The Sands in Las Vegas, making its CD debut; and two previously unreleased shows: October 7, 1974 at
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, and one of the biggest Release Fridays of the year to date! Chicago, VI Decades Live: This is What We Do (Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Chicago celebrates 50 years on the road with this expansive new box set featuring 4 CDs and 1 DVD of previously unreleased live music recorded between 1969 and 2014. This set includes two complete concerts - The Isle of Wight, 1970 on CD and a Rockpalast broadcast from Germany in 1977 on
Spring's about to get a lot more swingin', thanks to an upcoming release from the one and only Chairman of the Board. On May 4, Capitol Records and UMe will drop Frank Sinatra: Standing Room Only, a new 3-CD collection of rare or previously unreleased live concerts from three decades of the great man's storied career. This set begins with the January 28. 1966 second show with The Count Basie Orchestra and conductor Quincy Jones at The Sands in Las Vegas. This concert is making its CD debut,
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Carol Burnett, Carol Burnett Sings: Expanded Edition (Real Gone) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Real Gone celebrates the 50th anniversary of The Carol Burnett Show with the comedy legend's third solo album and first for RCA Victor. A tie-in to the groundbreaking variety show, Carol Burnett Sings features four songs performed on early episodes: "Georgy Girl," "Enter Laughing," "I Believed It All" and "There's No Business Like Show
Summer may still be in its final days, but when it comes to music, Christmas is just around the corner! Today, Capitol/UMe announced a new collection from Frank Sinatra set for release on October 6. Ultimate Christmas collects 20 of the Chairman's seasonal standards from both his Capitol and Reprise periods, spanning 1954 to 1991, including collaborations with his children Frank, Tina, and Nancy. This collection will be available in CD, digital, and 180-gram 2-LP black vinyl editions, as well
Throughout her illustrious, if tragically curtailed, career, Judy Garland raised her voice in song with some of the greatest artists of all time, including Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire, Al Jolson, Gene Kelly, Kay Thompson, and many more. Last Friday, August 4, a new 4-CD set arrived from the U.K.'s JSP Records celebrating Garland's greatest vocal collaborations with these performers and many others. Judy Garland: Classic Duets features 109 tracks over 4 CDs, including 15 tracks
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! B.J. Thomas, New Looks from an Old Lover-The Complete Columbia Singles (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) New Looks from an Old Lover - The Complete Columbia Singles from B.J. Thomas gathers up all of the A and B sides the singer recorded for that label during his tenure there in the 1980s including the No. 3 Country hit "Two Car Garage" and two No. 1s: "Whatever Happened To Old-Fashioned Love" and "New Looks from an
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
Fifty years ago, Frank Sinatra released one of his finest albums - and indeed, one of the finest albums of all time. Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim arrived in late March 1967 on the Reprise label, marking the first collaboration between America's foremost vocalist and Brazil's foremost composer. On April 7, UMe and Frank Sinatra Enterprises will reissue the original album for its 50th anniversary in a new edition featuring two previously unreleased bonus tracks. For the
Leave it to Noel Coward to sum it all up. In his introduction to Frank Sinatra's June 14, 1958 performance at the Sporting Club in Monte Carlo, the famous British playwright-actor-songwriter-raconteur observed of his American friend's on-screen performances, "I've never yet known him to strike a false note." As Coward undoubtedly knew, the same was true of Sinatra's musical recordings, sung with the emotional honesty and unvarnished directness of a great actor and communicator. From his
From all of us here at Second Disc HQ to all of you, we hope you're enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving in the company of family and friends. Of course, from this day which conjures nostalgic and warm feelings comes a celebration of a different kind with this year's annual Black Friday - the day for consumers to start off the holiday shopping season on a mad, frenetic note. But 2016 is just in the latest year in which numerous retailers in the U.S. have made headlines by blackening Thursday, or
Capitol Records, the venerable label founded by Johnny Mercer with B.G. DeSylva and Glenn Wallichs and now a unit of Universal Music Group, turns 75 next year. In celebration of this landmark anniversary, the label has announced three new initiatives. The first of these endeavors is The Capitol Records 75th Anniversary Collection, a series of 75 vinyl reissues from various genres curated by "noted music journalists, authors and other renowned creative figures." The Beatles are represented
Are you making a list and checking it twice? We are! Record Store Day Black Friday is here in less than a month, and this week we're showcasing all of our favorite titles. We've shown you the goods from Legacy, Real Gone, Rhino and Omnivore; now, here are 20 more titles we think you should absolutely check out. There's soundtrack goodies from Varese Sarabande and Light in the Attic; holiday favorites from Bob & Doug McKenzie, Frank Sinatra and "Dolemite" himself; lost gems from Isaac Hayes,
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up - one of the year's biggest! Frank Sinatra, World on a String (Capitol/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K./ Amazon Canada) Featuring performances spanning 1953 to 1982, this new live collection boasts more than four hours' worth of rare audio and video from the legendary Chairman of the Board - over 90 tracks on CD alone including such Sinatra favorites as "I Get a Kick Out of You," "I've Got You Under My Skin," "The Lady is a Tramp," "Witchcraft"
Rarely has an album so lived up to its name as in the case of The Intimate Keely Smith. The 1965 Reprise record, just brought to CD for the first time in a top-notch expanded edition via Real Gone Music, puts the song stylist front and center onstage in a tiny club, backed by just a small combo. The listener has a stage-side table. Other than the happy lack of clinking glasses and billowing smoke, you are there for a romantic, sensual, and yes, intimate set of classic ballads by Harry Warren,
This fall, the Chairman of the Board will be globetrotting once again. World on a String is the appropriate name of a new 4-CD/1-DVD box set celebrating Frank Sinatra's live performances on the world's stages. This box, due on October 21 from UMe and Frank Sinatra Enterprises, follows previous live collections dedicated to Sinatra's performances in London, New York and Vegas. Upping the ante, the new set has concerts from eight countries: Monaco, Australia, Egypt, Dominican Republic,
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Phil Collins, No Jacket Required and Testify: Deluxe Editions (Atlantic/Rhino) No Jacket Required 2-CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada No Jacket Required LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Testify 2-CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Testify LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Phil Collins' No Jacket Required, originally released in 1985 and still the artist's most commercially successful album,