If you’ll forgive the stupidly obvious lede, Dan Schlissel takes comedy pretty seriously. As the founder of Minneapolis-based Stand Up! Records, he’s carved a considerable niche in the music industry as one of the longest-lasting and most stalwart homes for stand-up comedy on CD, LP and many other formats. Schlissel, a first generation American whose parents came from Israel, first started the indie-rock label -ismist, which provided a crucial stepping stone to an up-and-coming band of masked alt-rockers called Slipknot, who’d become one of nu-metal’s pre-eminent acts in the late ’90s and…
Something He Said: Rhino Issues Vinyl Box of Classic Richard Pryor Albums
Not long after honoring one of the finest stand-ups in box set form, Rhino’s doing it again, with a surprise release of a vinyl set devoted to the work of Richard Pryor. I Hope I’m Funny: The Warner Albums (1974-1983), available today exclusively through Rhino’s official web store, is a 7LP box collecting six albums that captured the boundary-shattering comedian at his arguable peak. A bit more laser focused than either Rhino’s 2000 box …And It’s Deep Too! The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings (1968-1992) or the Shout! Factory set No Pryor Restraint: Life in…
Release Round-Up: Week of April 18
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. Neil Young, Coastal: The Soundtrack (Reprise/NYA) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The concert film Coastal, documenting Neil Young’s 2023 solo concert tour, was released to cinemas yesterday; today, its soundtrack album arrives on CD, LP, and digital formats. The 11-track album includes Young favorites such as “I Am a Child,” “Expecting to Fly,” “Comes a Time,” and “Vampire Blues.” Dame Shirley Bassey, The Singer (Cherry…
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The Line-Up: Stand Up! Records Reissues Three Richard Pryor Classics on Vinyl
55 years ago, Richard Pryor (1940-2005) made his debut on records. His self-titled album was an auspicious introduction for the man who would be recognized as one of the most significant and influential stand-up comedians of all time as well as a genuine film superstar, an accomplished writer, an Emmy Award recipient, Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize honoree, and five-time Grammy Award winner. In 2021, Omnivore Recordings teamed with the Richard Pryor Estate for CD reissues of Richard Pryor (1968), Craps (After Hours) (1971), and Live at the Comedy Store 1973 (first…
The Living Word: New Box Sets Chronicle Wattstax in Full, 50 Years On
One of the greatest music festivals of the ’70s is getting celebrated with an exhaustive array of reissues in 2023: Wattstax, the multi-dimensional Los Angeles celebration of soul, funk, blues and gospel courtesy of Stax Records. A half-century after the premiere of a Golden Globe-nominated documentary on the star-studded 1972 event, Craft Recordings, custodian of the Stax catalogue, will release the most definitive looks at Wattstax, most recently addressed in a 3CD box set in 2003 that took the highlights of both double albums from 1973 and added even more material. Soul’d…
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I Hope I’m Funny: Omnivore Reissues Richard Pryor’s “Live at The Comedy Store, 1973”
Earlier this year, Omnivore Recordings released a pair of albums from Richard Pryor, the rare artist for whom “legendary” is entirely apt and not at all hyperbolic. Pryor (1940-2005) pushed the envelope in life as well as in art – on film, television, and records. Following the expanded reissues of his eponymous 1968 debut album and 1971’s Craps (After Hours), Omnivore has turned its attentions to another rarity from the five-time Grammy Award winner and pioneering writer-actor-comedian. Live at The Comedy Store, 1973 was recorded at the venerable West Hollywood club and…
Release Round-Up: Week of February 26
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Bob Dylan, 1970 (Columbia/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) In recent years, Bob Dylan’s annual copyright-extension collections have become highly sought-after collectors’ items and fodder for bootleggers everywhere. Happily, Legacy Recordings has opted to give a wide release to Dylan’s 1970 set, largely drawn from the Self Portrait sessions and featuring his loose jams with George Harrison. This 3-CD set features 74 previously unreleased tracks on 3 CDs. Read more here. Neil Young, Way Down in the Rust Bucket [Various Formats] (Reprise) 4-LP/2-CD/DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Your Local…
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Heart and Brain: Omnivore Preps Spoken Word Releases from Richard Pryor, Allen Ginsberg
Omnivore Recordings is heating up this winter with a trio of spoken-word releases from two legendary and provocative figures, Richard Pryor and Allen Ginsberg. Richard Pryor (1940-2005) wasn’t just one of the most significant and influential stand-up comedians of all time but also a genuine film superstar, an accomplished writer, an Emmy Award recipient, Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize honoree, and five-time Grammy Award winner. Omnivore Recordings is traveling back to the early years of the groundbreaking performer’s career with two releases available on CD and digitally. The self-titled Richard Pryor album,…
What’s Going On: “Motown 25” Comes To DVD In New Box Set, Highlights DVDs
On the evening of March 25, 1983, the Pasadena Civic Auditorium was alive with the sound of music – the Sound of Young America, to be more specific. Motown Records was celebrating its 25th anniversary, and producer Suzanne de Passe wasn’t pulling any stops. “Once in a lifetime” was as overused in 1983 as it is today, but the galaxy of stars assembled by de Passe couldn’t be described any other way: Diana Ross and the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Lionel Richie and the Commodores, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Stevie Wonder, Mary…
Release Round-Up: Week of August 20
Fleetwood Mac, Then Play On: Deluxe Edition / Fleetwood Mac: 1969-1972 (Warner Bros./Rhino) The pre Buckingham-Nicks era of the Mac gets some love on CD and vinyl: their last Peter Green-led album from 1969 is expanded with bonus tracks, and it’s also included in a remastered vinyl box set with follow-ups Kiln House (1970), Future Games (1971) and Bare Trees (1972) (plus the 1969 single “Oh Well” on 45). Then Play On: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 1969-1972: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Jimi Hendrix, The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Experience Hendrix/Legacy) The famous “purple box” from 2000 – the first box set released in the official…
Release Round-Up: Week of June 11
Paul McCartney and Wings, Rockshow (Eagle Rock) Macca’s newly-restored live show may not be in the Wings Over America box, but that means you can buy it for that much less now. (DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.; BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) ZZ Top, The Complete Studio Albums 1970-1990 (Warner Bros./Rhino) So not only are you getting all of ZZ Top’s London/Warner-era albums in one convenient box, but you’re getting a fair amount of them in their original mixes for the first time ever on CD. Win? Win. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Various Artists, The…
Shout! Factory to Release Nine-Disc Richard Pryor Box Set
Richard Pryor – one of the most culturally-significant, nearly-unprintable and flat-out funniest stand-up comedians in history – will be celebrated by Shout! Factory this summer with a massive career-spanning box set. No Pryor Restraint: Life in Concert captures more than 12 hours of Pryor, from his popular (if comparatively pedestrian) early works as a Cosby-esque stand-up in the 1960s, to his wildly popular, immensely controversial glory years in the 1970s and 1980s to his last stand-up appearances in the 1990s, before retiring from the stage to cope with multiple sclerosis. Pryor’s glory…
