Cherry Red’s Strike Force Entertainment imprint is continuing its series celebrating the life and legacy of Cilla Black with the May 10 arrival of another pair of remastered and expanded 2-CD, 2-album collections. First up is her debut album Cilla (1965) with In My Life (1974), the latter of which is making its premiere on CD in full; also released that day is Sher-oo! (1968) with another long-anticipated, new-to-CD title, Modern Priscilla (1978). All of the previously released digital bonus tracks associated with these albums are included here, as well as further…
Simply Love You: Mike McGear’s Wings-Backed Album “McGear” Expanded With Bonus Tracks and DVD
Cherry Red/Esoteric Recordings has announced the June 28 release of one of the most anticipated Beatles-related reissues: an expanded, remastered 2-CD/DVD edition of Mike McGear’s McGear album. The 1974 album was produced by McGear’s brother Paul McCartney who also wrote or co-wrote the majority of the tracks. Linda McCartney, Denny Laine, Jimmy McCulloch, and Denny Seiwell also appear on McGear, which has been dubbed by some fans as a “lost Wings album.” McGear follows Esoteric’s previous reissues of the artist’s McGough and McGear and Woman. Originally released in September 1974, McGear presented a…
Mardi Gras In New Orleans: Macca-Sponsored Professor Longhair Concert “Live On The Queen Mary” Available on CD and LP
In March of 1975, Professor Longhair, the New Orleans blues singer and piano player extraordinaire, gave a concert aboard the Queen Mary ocean liner at a special Venus and Mars album release party organized by Paul McCartney and Wings in Long Beach, CA. Three years later, a recording of the concert was released on Harvest Records. On Friday, April 5, Live On The Queen Mary arrived back on shelves, reissued by Harvest and MPL in a number of configurations: CD, 2-LP, and a special “Long Live ‘Fess” deluxe edition box set. In the…
Release Round-Up: The Second Disc’s 2019 Record Store Day Must-Haves
Looking for our usual Release Round-Up? Alas, there’s not much new in the way of catalogue music this Friday (and we’ve already filled you in on Billy Paul and Leon Russell!), but for a very good reason: tomorrow sees releases a-plenty as part of Record Store Day! Without further ado, welcome to our annual rundown of Must-Haves for this year’s RSD event! Once you’re through reading, let us know what you’re most looking forward to picking up tomorrow at your favorite local independent retailer! Our list features just a sampling of our…
UPDATED WITH TRACK LIST AND ORDER LINK: Happy With You: Paul McCartney Announces Super Deluxe “Traveller’s Edition” of “Egypt Station” With Unreleased Songs and More
Paul McCartney has announced the release of a super deluxe “Traveller’s Edition” of his most recent LP, Egypt Station. The number-one album was originally released last year and was loosely based around the theme of transportation. Now, McCartney and Capitol Records have used that concept as the basis for the new edition, which is due out on May 10. Egypt Station – Traveller’s Edition will be presented in a vintage-style suitcase loaded with music, including different configurations of the album, unreleased songs, a wealth of memorabilia, and “hidden rarities.” A full list of the…
Release Round-Up: Week of December 7
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Wings, The Paul McCartney Archive Collection: Wild Life [Various Formats] (MPL/Capitol) 3CD/DVD Box: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP [Remastered Album + Bonus Audio]: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD [Remastered Album + Bonus Audio]: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Wild Life was the first Wings album but third overall by McCartney outside the shadow of his famous band. Paul and his wife Linda teamed up with drummer Denny Seiwell and guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Denny Laine to create a relaxed, pastoral album that was intentionally as light as a feather. …
Review: The Beatles, “The Beatles (The White Album): Anniversary Edition”
You Say You Want a Revolution Following the enormous, worldwide success of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles wouldn’t have been faulted had they re-entered Abbey Road Studios and created another album of robustly melodic, lavishly orchestrated songs of whimsy and wonder. But Messrs. Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr weren’t interested in repeating themselves. When The Beatles arrived on November 22, 1968, roughly one and one-half years after Pepper, one didn’t even have to play the record to know that it was something different. Not only was it the Fab…
Bip Bop: Paul McCartney’s Archive Collection Rolls On with Deluxe “Wild Life,” “Red Rose Speedway”
2018 has delivered an embarrassment of riches for Beatle fans, including the Ultimate Mixes of John Lennon’s Imagine, Paul McCartney’s new album Egypt Station, and soon, the super deluxe anniversary box set of The Beatles, a.k.a. The White Album. Today, McCartney upped the ante further with the announcement of not one, but two, new box sets in his ongoing Archive Collection series. On December 7, Macca will release deluxe, expanded editions of his first two albums with Wings: 1971’s Wild Life and 1973’s Red Rose Speedway – plus a bundle with both…
Through A Glass Onion: The Second Disc Hears Selections From The Beatles’ “White Album” Box
NEW YORK, NY – “We live in a perfect world of [these] anodyne, Instagrammed, perfect photographs, in-tune music, and everything in time, and The Beatles weren’t that. The Beatles had a heartbeat to them, and the story of ‘The White Album’ is the story of that heartbeat, if you’d like.” Last Wednesday morning, September 26, Giles Martin was holding court for an audience of about 70 at New York’s famed Record Plant. The subject was, of course, the legendary 1968 double-LP formally named The Beatles but known to all as The White…
Say It’s Your Birthday: The Beatles Mark 50 Years of The White Album with Deluxe Reissue
It’s officially named for the band that created it, but to listeners around the world, the 1968 double-album will forever be known as The White Album. Its sprawling, eclectic lineup of 30 tracks showcased every side of John, Paul, George, and Ringo, and cast its musical net wider from the baroque pop majesty of Sgt. Pepper’s to a heavier celebration of all things, and all sounds, rock-and-roll. Just a few of its classic songs include “Back in the USSR,” “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” “Blackbird,” and “Birthday.” The dissent behind-the-scenes…
Release Round-Up: Week of September 7
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Led Zeppelin, The Song Remains the Same [Various Formats] (Atlantic/Swan Song) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 4LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Blu-ray Audio: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD/4LP/2DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham took the famous stage at New York’s Madison Square Garden on July 27-29, 1973 for the concerts that were captured in the film The Song Remains the Same. …
In the Air Tonite: Phil Collins’ New Box Set “Plays Well with Others” Features McCartney, Clapton, Plant, Bennett
Throughout his career, Phil Collins has always been willing to share his talents – whether at the microphone or the drum kit, as a songwriter, or in the producer’s chair – with his fellow musicians. On September 28, the superstar will collect 59 of his favorite collaborations on a new 4-CD box set. Rhino/Atlantic will release Plays Well with Others just one week before Collins launches his Not Dead Yet, Live! tour on October 5 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Collins states in the press release, “Some would say I’ve lived a charmed…
Review: Keely Smith, “Sings the John Lennon-Paul McCartney Songbook”
Oh yeah, I’ll tell you something I think you’ll understand… At the height of Beatlemania in 1964, some members of the so-called “older generation” still hadn’t caught on to what made the Fab Four more than the latest passing teenybopper fad. But Keely Smith was ready to make them understand. For her third album at Frank Sinatra’s Reprise Records, the smoky-voiced chanteuse set out to have the adults in the room “meet the Beatles” in a new way. Keely Smith Sings the John Lennon-Paul McCartney Songbook was one of the first in…
Release Round-Up: Week of May 18
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Bruce Springsteen, The Album Collection Vol. 2, 1987-1996 (Columbia/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Bruce Springsteen boxes up the second set of his albums in chronological order, remastered by Bob Ludwig and Toby Scott using the Plangent Process. The collection is only available on vinyl, although a limited edition CD version is being released in Japan only. The CD version is now available for pre-order at Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada! Read more details on the box here. LPs 1-2:…
Let ‘Em In: Four McCartney Classics Return to CD and Vinyl in May
While anticipation is high for the next box set release in the Paul McCartney Archive Collection, the superstar artist is taking advantage of his new affiliation with Capitol/UMe to restore another four catalogue titles to print in new editions. May 18 will see the reissue on single CD and black and colored vinyl of 2013’s NEW (Macca’s last solo album to date), 2005’s Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, 1978’s Wings Greatest compilation, and 1977’s RAM-inspired Thrillington. All of the vinyl reissues will include download cards. NEW, crafted with producers Giles Martin,…
Give Me Peace On Earth: Craft Reissues ‘Concert For George’ In Various Formats
George Harrison would have been 75 years old next month, and Craft Recordings is celebrating that milestone with the ultimate tribute to the former Beatle: a multi-format reissue of 2002’s Concert For George. Available February 23, two days before Harrison’s birthday, Concert For George will bow in five different physical configurations – the most enormous of which is an online-only box set, limited only to 1,000 copies worldwide and featuring the star-studded tribute show on two CDs, two DVDs, two Blu-ray Discs and four 180-gram LPs. This 12″ x 12″ box set…
The Second Disc’s Essential RSD Black Friday 2017 Release Guide
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. 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 – and Record Store Day’s miniature cousin to April’s yearly event. In keeping with tradition, Mike, Randy and I have once again selected our top picks of the numerous titles being released tomorrow from many of our favorite labels, including Legacy…
Release Round-Up: Week of November 17
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Queen, News of the World: 40th Anniversary Edition (UMC (U.K.) / Hollywood (U.S.) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.) Queen’s sixth album, 1977’s News of the World, is being generously expanded for its 40th anniversary in a new 3CD/1DVD/1LP box set. The original album is presented on CD and LP. The first bonus CD, the entirely unreleased Raw Sessions, presents an alternate version of the original album from demos, outtakes and live cuts. The second bonus disc collects a further 19 relevant bonus tracks, including versions from archival live…
Release Round-Up: Week of October 13
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! The Who, Tommy: Live at the Royal Albert Hall (Eagle Rock) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. In spring 2017, in support of the Teenage Cancer Trust, The Who played the classic Tommy in full, plus an encore set of seven greatest hits at London’s historic Royal Albert Hall. This release includes every song from the 24-track studio album performed live,…
Art for Art’s Sake: Eric Stewart Collection, 10cc, Godley & Creme Box Sets Forthcoming
With apologies to Lady Gaga, it may be British band 10cc that’s most worthy of the term “art pop.” The multifaceted group yielded 11 Top 10 hits in their native England, including the No. 1s “Rubber Bullets,” “I’m Not In Love” and “Dreadlock Holiday”; the group even crossed over into the U.S. charts with “I’m Not In Love” and “The Things We Do for Love,” both Top 5 hits. By an amazing coincidence, not one, not two, but three 10cc-related catalogue collections are hitting stores starting next month in the U.K.! Here’s…
Review: The Beatles, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band: 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition”
I. It Was Fifty Years Ago Today… I read the news today, oh, boy! It’s a new day in Pepperland thanks to today’s release of the most eagerly-anticipated reissue project of the year: the 50th anniversary deluxe box set of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. This would be a landmark collection for any number of reasons: that Pepper is routinely considered one of the greatest albums, if not the greatest album, of all time; that this is the first-ever “Expanded Edition” of a Beatles album; that the entire LP…
Jolly Good Show: Cherry Red Reissues Mike McCartney’s “Woman”
This year, of course, marks the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ legendary Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It also marks, however, the 45th anniversary of the first solo album by Beatle Paul’s younger brother Mike McCartney, a.k.a. Mike McGear. Following its new edition last year of 1968’s McGough and McGear from Mike and his musical partner Roger McGough, Cherry Red’s Esoteric Recordings imprint has recently reissued 1972’s Woman with one bonus track. McGough and McGear had, of course, rose to fame as two-thirds of The Scaffold. The Liverpool trio began as…
























