Ace Records continues its quest to offer variations on a theme by exploring country interpretations of the music of Bruce Springsteen. Springsteen's Country will collect 20 covers of The Boss, some familiar (Johnny Cash's "Johnny 99," Steve Earle's live take on "State Trooper"), some offbeat (a take on Tunnel of Love opener "Ain't Got You" by Solomon Burke, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's version of beloved outtake "From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)"), and some altogether lesser known
Rosanne Cash, the oldest child of a country music icon and a superb, genre-hopping performer in her own right, will commemorate a museum exhibit of her life and career with a new career-spanning 2CD retrospective. The Essential Collection brings together 40 of Cash's most treasured recordings - half from her tenure on Columbia Records and the other from mostly 21st century work on the Capitol, Manhattan and Blue Note labels. The non-chronological set, curated by Cash herself, features all 10
"Hello out there, this is planet Earth..." If planet Earth indeed had a voice, it might well have sounded like that of John R. Cash: deep, resonant, impactful. Those lyrics open "Hello Out There," the first track on Songwriter, the new, posthumous release from the late troubadour (1932-2003) - the fifth such collection to arrive since his death. It's been released by UMe and Mercury Nashville, in essence adding one more album to his Mercury discography which spanned 1986-1991. The Mercury
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Two Tons o' Fun, Get the Feeling: The Complete Fantasy/Honey Recordings (Real Gone Music/Second Disc Records) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music) Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music celebrate Two Tons o' Fun - a.k.a. Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes Armstead, a.k.a. The Weather Girls - with a complete
Death can't stop The Man in Black: UMe will release a new Johnny Cash album this summer, drawn from unheard recordings from more than 30 years ago. Available June 28, Songwriter features 11 vocals Cash cut in 1993 at LSI Studios in Nashville, augmented by recently-recorded new backing tracks at the Cash Cabin in Hendersonville, Tennessee by Cash's son John Carter Cash and co-producer David "Fergie" Ferguson. Every one of the tunes was composed solely by Cash himself, from lead single "Well
Welcome to The Weekend Stream, a relaxing weekly review of notable digital-only catalogue titles. There may be no CD or vinyl, but there's plenty of great new/old music to discover! This week we've got Depeche Mode on vinyl...er, digital, Roxette in Spanish and Shel Silverstein in rare form. Depeche Mode, Speak & Spell | The 12" Singles (Warner/Rhino) (iTunes / Amazon) Issued in 2018 as the first of nine (and counting) box sets featuring 12" replicas of every Depeche Mode single from a
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! R.E.M., New Adventures in Hi-Fi: 25th Anniversary Edition (Craft Recordings) 2CD/1BD (now due November 19): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD (now due November 12) : Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP (Original album only; out today): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Craft Recordings is continuing its ongoing R.E.M. reissue series with a 25th anniversary edition of the Georgia band's tenth studio album New
Ace Records has had quite a 2021, from collections spotlighting the songs of Lou Reed and Donovan through this past week's releases from Petula Clark, late producer Norman Whitfield, and the ladies of Motown. Today, we're taking a look at a pair of recent releases from the venerable label. Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman (1937-2016) may never have become a household name, but the music he helped create certainly did. A guitarist, producer, songwriter, and engineer, Moman pioneered the sound of
Since 2017, the Bear's Sonic Journals series has presented numerous concerts recorded by sound engineer (and LSD chemist) Owsley "Bear" Stanley. The series has encompassed releases by The Allman Brothers Band, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Tim Buckley, and others; now, it's turning its attention to an artist from a very different tradition who nonetheless found a place within the counterculture. On September 24, The Owsley Stanley Foundation and Renew Records/BMG will release Bear's Sonic
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Allen Ginsberg, At Reed College: The First Recorded Reading of Howl and Other Poems (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The first public reading of Allen Ginsberg's "Howl" took place at San Francisco's Six Gallery in October 1955, but that performance wasn't recorded. It was long believed that the first recorded reading was in March 1956 in Berkeley, California, but that turned out not to be the case. On February 13 and 14,
The Vinyl Me Please record club has announced two new campaigns to reach an even broader swath of vinyl aficionados. The first is the addition of a new, fourth "track" for the Record of the Month subscription series. In addition to Essentials, Classics, and Rap and Hip Hop, the Country genre will now be given a spotlight of its own. The first album to be reissued as part of the Country track is March 2021's Record of the Month: At Folsom Prison by Johnny Cash (1968). The landmark live LP
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Elton John, Jewel Box (EMI/UMe) 8CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Deep Cuts 4LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Rarities & B-Sides 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada And This Is Me... 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Elton John is reaching deep into the vault with Jewel Box, a new, super-sized collection of rare and unreleased material. The British pop legend's deep dive into his
Back in 2018, Legacy Recordings released Forever Words, a collection of new songs featuring previously unheard lyrics by Johnny Cash. The 16-track set offered new melodies and performances by a "Who's who" of artists including Elvis Costello, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson, Jewel, John Mellencamp, Brad Paisley, The Jayhawks, Robert Glasper, Cash's daughter Rosanne Cash, and his stepdaughter Carlene Carter. Now, Legacy is expanding the original album with a further 18 tracks (16 of which
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
Third Man Records has announced the latest in its Vault subscription service which has previously featured music from Captain Beefheart, Margo Price, Wanda Jackson, Willie Nelson, and a host of Jack White-fronted projects. For the 45th title in the series, Third Man and Sony Music Entertainment turn back the clock to May 5, 1973 when Johnny Cash and his band performed as part of then-President Clive Davis' famed "A Week To Remember" concert series highlighting the best that Columbia Records had
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
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
Johnny Cash is coming to town (again)! When the legendary Man in Black was unceremoniously dropped by his longtime home of Columbia Records in mid-1986 - "the hardest decision I've ever had to make in my life," opined then-label chief Rick Blackburn - he wasn't yet finished. Mercury Records stepped up to sign Cash, beginning a relationship that lasted for five years and six albums. Now, that fertile 1986-1991 period of rebirth is being revisited by Mercury and UMe in a multi-platform
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
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) -
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
Can the circle be unbroken? asks The Carter Family on the opening track of Legacy Recordings' new 5-CD, 105-song soundtrack to Ken Burns' epic documentary Country Music: A Film by Ken Burns. The 1935 funeral hymn is a most appropriate way to begin this collection exploring the manifold branches of country music, but the tone on the box set is far from funereal as it gallops from "hillbilly music" to blues, folk, western swing, rockabilly, countrypolitan, outlaw country, and beyond. Country Music
Here's your Release Round Up for the week ahead. Various Artists, Country Music -- A Film By Ken Burns: The Soundtrack (Legacy Recordings) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) 5CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1CD: Walmart.com Filmmaker Ken Burns has tackled many subjects over the years, from the Civil War to baseball. His documentaries have garnered numerous awards over the years.
Filmmaker Ken Burns has tackled many subjects over the years, from the Civil War to baseball. His documentaries have garnered numerous awards over the years. In 2001, he took an in-depth look at the genre of jazz. Now, he is aiming to explore a different genre with Country Music, an eight-part, 16-1/2-hour documentary premiering September 15 on PBS. And as with Jazz, there will be an accompanying soundtrack. The most expansive of these is a 5-disc box set debuting on August 30 from Legacy
Elvis Costello and the Imposters have been in the news a lot lately. They are set to embark on a U.S. tour this summer co-headlining with Blondie and recently released a new EP, Purse. The four-song set features all unreleased tracks, including previously unrecorded lyrics from Johnny Cash ("If You Love Me") and Bob Dylan ("Down in the Bottom" featuring Rebecca and Megan Lovell). Purse also features co-writes with Paul McCartney ("The Lovers That Never Were") and Burt Bacharach ("Everyone's