Earlier this year, Zappa Records and UME released Zappa/Erie, a 6-CD box documenting Frank Zappa and The Mothers' shows in the Erie, Pennsylvania area circa 1974-1976. An upcoming release due October 14 is a bit slimmer - just two CDs - but no less interesting as it chronicles Zappa and the band's visit to an even more far-flung locale in the fall of 1975. Zappa '75: Zagreb/Ljubljana captures The Mothers' first and only concerts in Yugoslavia. He referred to the dates as "The Mothers of
Though Heroes and Villains is the title of Grapefruit's new 3-CD anthology chronicling The Sound of Los Angeles 1965-68, that famous Beach Boys song isn't among its 90 selections. Not that Brian Wilson and co. are absent; the compilation instead presents another SMiLE tune, "Do You Like Worms (Roll Plymouth Rock)" as part of its portrait of a place and time in music history when it truly seemed anything was possible. U.K.-based compiler David Wells persuasively makes the case here that L.A.
The Frank Zappa archive has opened wide in recent years; the past twelve months alone have seen such diverse releases as The Mothers 1971, the 50th anniversary edition of 200 Motels, and Zappa '88: The Last U.S. Show. The latest addition to the canon (or Official Release Series No. 122, for those keeping count) has recently arrived from Zappa Records and UMe. Zappa/Erie premieres three full shows from the Erie, Pennsylvania area (including Edinboro, some eighteen miles outside of Erie) plus a
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up featuring a selection of the week's new titles! The Beach Boys, Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of The Beach Boys - Expanded Edition (Capitol/UMe) 3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 6LP Standard: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1CD (contains CD 1 only): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP Standard: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada All Formats (including 2LP and 6LP exclusives): The Beach Boys Official
Though Blossom Toes only recorded two albums, the band is still remembered today as a leading exponent of psychedelic pop-rock in the late 1960s. Guitarist Jim Cregan went on to play with Cockney Rebel and become one of Rod Stewart's major collaborators while Brian Godding, also on guitar, forged a path in jazz and progressive rock. Earlier this year, Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings reissued Blossom Toes' 1967 debut We Are Ever So Clean as a 3CD deluxe edition comprising the original album, a
Sorry, Frank! Though the title of Zappa and The Mothers' 1971 album was Just Another Band from L.A., listeners knew what the maverick bandleader was alluding to: his latest group was anything but. Vocalists Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (a.k.a. Flo and Eddie) and bassist Jim Pons - all freshly recruited from The Turtles - were now happy together with Zappa, drummer Aynsley Dunbar, keyboardists Bob Harris and Don Preston, and multi-instrumentalist Ian Underwood in one of the most outrageous and
On June 3, Zappa Records and UMe are taking a journey to Elsewhere. Frank Zappa's 1974 live album Roxy and Elsewhere primarily featured performances from Hollywood's Roxy Theatre recorded in December 1973. The Elsewhere in the album's title referred to "Son of Orange County" and "More Trouble Every Day," both of which were captured in May 1974 at Edinboro State College in Edinboro, Pennsylvania (with parts of "Son of Orange County" drawn from a Chicago show). Now, the entire Edinboro show
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the titles arriving in stores today! Frank Zappa, The Mothers 1971 / Fillmore East - June 1971: 50th Anniversary Expanded Edition / Rainbow Theatre - December 10, 1971 (Zappa Records/UMe) The Mothers 1971: Official Zappa Store / Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Fillmore East - June 1971: 50th Anniversary Expanded Edition: Official Zappa Store / Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Rainbow Theatre -
Frank Zappa called 200 Motels "a surrealistic documentary." Leonard Maltin described it as a "visual, aural assault disguised as a movie; completely berserk, freeform film...some of it ingenious, some funny, but not enough to maintain [an] entire film." Roger Ebert compared the surreal musical to the work of experimental composer Harry Partch before observing that it "assaults the mind with everything on hand...a full wall of sight-and-sound input." Zappa never wrote and directed another
In a masterstroke of understatement, Frank Zappa and The Mothers proclaimed themselves to be Just Another Band from L.A. on a 1972 album of the same title. Of course, The Mothers were never just another band, but this particular iteration - featuring former Turtles vocalists Flo and Eddie (Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan) and bassist Jim Pons, drummer Aynsley Dunbar, keyboardist Don Preston, and multi-instrumentalist Ian Underwood - was one of the most memorable of the band's existence. This
Happy 2022! Welcome, friends, to Part Two of The Second Disc's 12th Annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards! Once again, we've all faced unprecedented challenges over the past twelve months. A year that began with hope and promise has ended with further uncertainty for many of us. But music continues to fill a significant role in our lives, providing solace, comfort, and escape in a time unlike any other. With that spirit in mind, The Second Disc wishes to recognize 2021's cream of the catalogue
Welcome to our final Release Round-Up of 2021! There are very few new releases scheduled for the next two weeks, but we'll be back in 2022! Frank Zappa, 200 Motels: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - 50th Anniversary Edition (Zappa Records/UMe) 6CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD (Original Soundtrack Only): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP Black Vinyl (Original Soundtrack Only): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP Red Vinyl (Original
1971 was a banner year for cinema with such all-time classics as The French Connection, A Clockwork Orange, Carnal Knowledge, The Last Picture Show, and Shaft. The highest-grossing film of the year in North America was United Artists' Fiddler on the Roof. But Fiddler wasn't the studio's only musical of the year. Mere days before the Broadway adaptation hit cinemas, UA opened one of the most wild, inventive, outré, and unhinged films of the year: 200 Motels. Written, co-directed, and composed
While The Second Disc prides itself on connecting people to reissues and box sets they can keep on their shelves, it's no secret that listening audiences are also digital - catalogue music lovers, too - and our passion is connecting people to music from the past that they might adore. So we've introduced a new feature: The Weekend Stream, which focuses on hidden gems that recently made it to digital channels that might make your playlists a little brighter! Captain Beefheart and His Magic
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Joe Jackson and Todd Rundgren featuring Ethel, State Theater, New Jersey 2005 (Purple Pyramid) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Todd Rundgren and Joe Jackson's 2005 international tour featuring post-classical string quartet Ethel is brought to a 2CD/DVD set from Purple Pyramid collecting all three artists' sets plus the encore which brought them together. Both Jackson and Rundgren performed solo for sets blending fan favorites with
Following recent releases including the soundtrack to director Alex Winter's documentary Zappa (already out on CD/digital and coming to vinyl this Friday) and Halloween 81, Zappa Records has announced a new archival title - and it's a landmark, if bittersweet, addition to the library. Zappa '88: The Last U.S. Show will arrive in CD, LP, and digital formats on June 18, preserving the March 25, 1988 show at Uniondale, New York's Nassau Coliseum that turned out to be the musician and bandleader's
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Neil Young, Archives Vol. 2: 1973-1976 (Reprise) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Neil Young's second Archives box set arrives in a wide commercial release, dropping the oversized packaging and expansive book in favor of a slimmer package. The 10-CD box is sequenced chronologically to spotlight the astonishingly prolific period lovingly referred to as the Ditch Years. The box contains 131 tracks from Neil's personal archive. Of
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Zappa: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Zappa Records/UMe) 3CD/Digital: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 5LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP/Digital Highlights: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada UMe and Zappa Records offer a soundtrack release for director Alex Winter's documentary film about the iconoclastic artist. The 68-track collection is out today on CD and has been available digitally, while the
Today sees the streaming release of the documentary film Zappa from director (and Bill in the Bill & Ted series of films) Alex Winter. Taking into account the many sides of the late, iconoclastic artist - from musician to activist, from boundary-breaking rock-and-roller to innovative composer - the movie has already received widespread acclaim. Fully authorized by the Zappa Family Trust, Winter's portrait of the artist incorporates rare archival footage alongside interviews with key family
Like most things that have gone on this year, Record Store Day 2020 has been a rollercoaster ride. The result: three days of Record Store Drops. This Saturday, October 24, music fans will be joining the queue - whether in-person if it's safe to do so or online - for their chance at some limited-edition vinyl. Ahead of the event itself, we thought we'd break down what you can expect and detail some of the releases for which we're most excited. The main change from years past? Shorter lines and
"The finest night of the year..." Frank Zappa knew how to throw one hell of a Halloween party. The iconoclastic composer-bandleader counted Halloween as his favorite holiday, and his annual celebratory shows were among his most anticipated. The 1981 stand at the late, lamented Palladium - a once-plush 1927 movie palace sadly demolished in 1998 to make room for dormitories at New York University - was particularly special to Zappa's fans as he had curtailed the 1980 shows earlier than
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Herb Alpert, Herb Alpert Is... (Herb Alpert Presents) 3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 5LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Herb Alpert Is...a trumpeter, songwriter, producer, artist, entrepreneur, philanthropist. The list goes on. To tie in with director John Scheinfeld's documentary of that name premiering this fall, Alpert's own Herb Alpert Presents label is releasing a 3-CD or 5-LP deluxe box set tracing his
It wouldn't be Halloween without a little Frank Zappa...and this year, Zappa Records and UMe are delivering once again with a frightfully entertaining new box set. October 2 will see the release of Halloween 81, following up the previous releases of Halloween 73 and 77. The 6-CD box set boasts 78 previously unreleased live tracks from three concerts for more than seven hours of listening. The bandleader's New York Halloween shows were among his most anticipated as he blended his signature
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Johnny Cash, The Complete Mercury Recordings 1986-1991 (Mercury/UMe) 7CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 7LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The Complete Mercury Recordings 1986-1991 will be available on 7CD or 7LP, 180-gram vinyl formats. The box collects all six albums Johnny Cash recorded for Mercury Records during that era: Class Of '55: Memphis Rock & Roll Homecoming with Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and Carl
On Friday, Zappa Records/UMe announced its latest archival release. The Mothers 1970, a 4-CD box set, is due on June 26. Like previous Zappa archive projects such as last year's 50th anniversary edition of Hot Rats, this one has been produced by Ahmet Zappa and "Vaultmeister" Joe Travers to provide a look at a heralded period of creativity. The short-lived Mothers of Invention iteration heard on these discs featured Aynsley Dunbar (drums), George Duke (piano/keys/trombone), Ian Underwood