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 drummer 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
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, Carnegie Hall (Zappa Records/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Zappa Records and UMe repackage this 2011 website-exclusive 4-CD set in more compact 3-CD fashion for general release. Carnegie Hall chronicles Zappa and the Mothers of Invention's October 11, 1971 shows at the famed New York venue from the original mono tapes. This version drops the opening set by The Persuasions but
Eddie, are you kidding? Is Zappa Records revisiting Frank Zappa's October 11, 1971 concerts at New York's Carnegie Hall? Yes, indeed. When Frank Zappa and his Mothers of Invention took the stage at that historic venue nearly fifty (!) years ago, the performances were recorded for possible future release on the artist's then-home of Warner Bros. Records. Back in 2011, Zappa Records issued a "warts and all" ticket to both complete shows performed on that date as a 4-CD box set simply
Here at Second Disc HQ, we've been thrilled by the news of amazing releases coming from all the labels this Record Store Day 2020, and UMe's slate of 20+ titles is no exception. With a new definitive vinyl edition of Paul McCartney's debut, a tenth-anniversary celebration of Ellie Goulding's Lights, a Cat Stevens rarity making its vinyl debut, an expanded Elton John, a reissue of an impossible-to-find CTI Jazz album, and many more, fans will want to line up bright and early to secure their
What is jazz-rock? The label has been applied to the work of diverse artists such as Chicago, Blood Sweat & Tears, Miles Davis, Steely Dan, and Santana (and that's just to name some of the most well-known exponents) not to mention an entire cadre of fusion artists like the groups Weather Report and Return to Forever. In the jazz-rock canon, the name of Frank Zappa certainly stands tall. The multi-faceted artist delivered one of the genre's earliest and most seminal albums with 1969's Hot
Welcome to our final Release Round-Up of 2019! This edition covers today's releases as well as those of the next two weeks, the quietest time of the year for new releases. The weekly Release Round-Up will be back on January 10. In the meantime, Happy Holidays to all! Frank Zappa, The Hot Rats Sessions (Zappa/UMe) 6CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada This 6-CD box set explores Frank Zappa's 1969 primarily instrumental solo
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Kinks, Arthur, or The Decline and Fall of the British Empire [Various Formats] (BMG) 4CD/4-seven-inch single box: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / The Kinks Official 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / The Kinks Official 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / The Kinks Official The Kinks' 1969 concept album continued in the quintessentially British vein of The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation
If an upcoming box set is any indication, Zappa Records is on fire - as Frank Zappa's 1969 solo album Hot Rats is about to get a lot hotter. On December 20, the label, in association with UMe, will issue The Hot Rats Sessions, a 6CD box set exploring that seminal album from every angle. The mostly-instrumental LP came on the heels of the breakup of the original Mothers of Invention, making it clear that Zappa was a force with which to be reckoned as a composer. Described by the artist as "a
With the lead-up to Record Store Day Black Friday in full swing, it's time to take a look at what Universal Music Group has prepped for the semi-annual vinyl bonanza. The label's eight major catalog vinyl releases are familiar to longtime RSD consumers. Some celebrate an iconic anniversary (as is the case for titles by U2, Frank Sinatra and Frank Zappa), one complements a general catalog title (an unreleased live James Brown album), and some just feature great music in rare
Just in time for Halloween, The Zappa Family Trust and UMe will release Halloween '73, a 4-CD box set featuring over four and a half hours of live material, recorded in Chicago on October 31, 1973. Both of Zappa's live sets from that day - and a further disc of rehearsal tapes - will be collected in the elaborately designed set, which features a "costume box" that houses the four CDs and a "FRANKenZAPPA" mask and gloves set. On the music front, these legendary previously unreleased shows are