Rod McKuen - The Second Disc

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Blu-Ray Audio, Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

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Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Everything Else, Folk, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, Rock, Soundtracks

Release Round-Up: Week of May 9

May 9, 2025 by The Second Disc | 2 Comments

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. Jackie DeShannon, Love Forever: Demo Recordings 1966-1968 (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Jackie DeShannon signed with Liberty Records and Metric Music in 1960 as a performer and songwriter. Her big break would come in 1964 when she would open for The Beatles on their first U.S. tour. The next year she would record Bacharach and David’s “What the World Needs Now is Love” and her recording…

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CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Classic Rock, Everything Else, Funk, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

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Bob James, Béla Fleck, Dave Koz, Eric Clapton, Gershon Kingsley, INXS, Jackie DeShannon, Jesse Ed Davis, Lamb, Nellie McKay, Petula Clark, Rilo Kiley, Rod McKuen, Sly and the Family Stone, Tyketto, Wang Chung

Listen To The Warm: Real Gone’s May Line-Up Includes Rare Petula Clark plus Jesse Ed Davis, Lamb, The Bottle Rockets, Béla Fleck & the Flecktones and Others

May 8, 2025 by Randy Fairman | 1 Comment

We’ve already told you about the Jackie DeShannon CD – Love Forever: Demo Recordings 1966-1968 – coming from Real Gone Music tomorrow, May 9. But the label has a packed line-up of other titles ranging from pop to metalcore and years spanning the 1960s to 2000s on both CD and vinyl. Keep reading for all of the details. First up is a new expanded CD reissue of Petula Clark’s 2007 album Solitude & Sunshine: The Songs of Rod McKuen. Clark and McKuen first met in France in the 1960s and became good friends. …

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Formats:

CD, Vinyl

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Classic Rock, Everything Else, Pop, Rock

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Béla Fleck, Gershon Kingsley, Jesse Ed Davis, Lamb, Petula Clark, Rod McKuen, Still Remains, The Bottle Rockets, Tyketto

Release Round-Up: Week of October 4

October 4, 2024 by The Second Disc | 3 Comments

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. Joni Mitchell, Archives Vol. 4: The Asylum Years (1976-1980) (Rhino) 6CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 4LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 4: The Asylum Years (1976-1980) features six CDs (also available as a “highlights” set on four LPs) chronicling the Canadian icon’s trek through the latter half of the ’70s, peeling away from her always-eclectic folk-pop sound, venturing into territory inspired by jazz and fusion. Sourced from variously…

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CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

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Classic Rock, Comedy, Country, Everything Else, Folk, Holiday, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, Rock, Soundtracks

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Afterimage, Barbra Streisand, Bob McFadden, Bobby Helms, Foreigner, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Lady Gaga, Pete Townshend, Rod McKuen, Rod Stewart

Sing Along With the Mummy: Real Gone’s Halloween Line-Up Includes Rare 1959 Album From McFadden and McKuen with Second Disc Records, Rare Soundtracks

October 3, 2024 by The Second Disc | 2 Comments

Bob McFadden and Dor Songs Our Mummy Taught Us

Real Gone’s Halloween line-up began last month and now that October has rolled around, the label is continuing the party with more reissues to play on October 31 filled with material from the 1950s to the 1980s. All of these titles hit store shelves, tomorrow, October 5. First up is a Real Gone/Second Disc Records vinyl reissue: Songs Our Mummy Taught Us by Bob McFadden and Dor. This one-of-a-kind LP was the creation of voiceover artist Bob McFadden – best-known as the voice of Frankenberry, the Thundercats’ pal Snarf, Cool McCool,…

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CD, Vinyl

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Comedy, Everything Else, Soundtracks

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Bob McFadden, Jay Chattaway, Rod McKuen, Sean Bonniwell

We Wish You (Another) Merry Discmas!

December 23, 2023 by The Second Disc | 12 Comments

The stockings are hung, the presents are wrapped, and the time is now to wish all of our readers at The Second Disc a wonderful holiday season before we enter a brief winter hibernation until the new year! 2023 was our 13th year as (we hope!) one of the more fun destinations for music reissues, box sets and catalogue releases. The business has certainly changed a lot in that time – maybe too much vinyl, maybe not enough CDs? – but labels big and small keep finding new, old and interesting ways…

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Features

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Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

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Classic Rock, Disco/Dance, Everything Else, Holiday, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

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Arthur Baker, John Luongo, John Williams, Philip Bailey, Rick Springfield, Rod McKuen, Sylvester, The Beatles, The Replacements, The Salsoul Orchestra, The Spinners

Release Round-Up: Week of October 13

October 13, 2023 by The Second Disc | 2 Comments

Music to Freak Your Friends and Break Your Lease

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! Johnny Mathis, Christmas Time Is Here (Legacy/Real Gone/Second Disc) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada “Christmas Tree Green” Vinyl LP: RealGoneMusic.com / Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada “Holly Red” Vinyl LP: BarnesandNoble.com Johnny Mathis is back with his first album since 2017 and his first yuletide set in a decade. Christmas Time Is Here boasts ten newly-recorded tracks including those which premiered last year on the digital-only EP A Merry Little Christmas. It’s Mathis’ seventh…

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Blu-Ray, Blu-Ray Audio, Box Sets, CD, DVD, Vinyl

Genres:

Classic Rock, Everything Else, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, Rock

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Agnetha Faltskog, Jim Croce, Johnny Mathis, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marc Almond, Pink Floyd, Ringo Starr, Rod McKuen, The Cranberries, Whitesnake

OUT TOMORROW: Johnny Mathis’ All-New Christmas Album and Rod McKuen’s Electronic Freakout!

October 12, 2023 by The Second Disc | 1 Comment

Here at Second Disc HQ, tomorrow is all about the holidays! We’ve teamed with Real Gone Music for a pair of new releases – one looking forward to Christmas, and another that’s ideal for a wild Halloween. First up is the new studio album from the legendary Voice of Romance, Johnny Mathis. His very first holiday album, 1958’s Merry Christmas, sold over five million copies and remains one of the biggest-selling Christmas albums of all time. Now, he’s back with his first album since 2017 and his first yuletide set in a…

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Everything Else, Holiday, Popular Standards/Vocal

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CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

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Johnny Mathis, Kristin Chenoweth, Rod McKuen

Send Out the Clowns: Real Gone, Second Disc Revisit “Music to Freak Your Friends and Break Your Lease” In Time for Halloween

August 18, 2023 by The Second Disc | No Comments

Tired of “Monster Mash”? Through with calling “Ghostbusters”? If your Halloween playlist is begging for something different, Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records have you covered! On October 6, you can look no further than the frightfully fun Music to Freak Your Friends and Break Your Lease. Don’t believe us? Take The Bride of Frankenstein’s word for it – she’s on the cover! One of the most unusual records of all time, this “Symphony for Tape Delay, IBM Instruction Manual, & Ohm Septet” was credited upon its original release in 1974…

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Electronic, Everything Else

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Vinyl

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Release Round-Up: Week of March 27

March 27, 2020 by The Second Disc | 5 Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Donna Summer, Encore (Crimson Productions) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The ultimate Donna Summer box set, Encore bring together the late superstar’s complete albums on 33 CDs, including 8 discs of 7″ and 12″ mixes, single edits, non-album cuts, and other rarities. It totals a staggering 329 tracks, truly the most comprehensive tribute to Summer ever collected. Christian John Wikane provides the new liner notes. The set is limited to 1,500 copies and out today in the United Kingdom (and next Friday in…

Release Round-Up: Week of January 31

January 31, 2020 by The Second Disc | No Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Rod McKuen, New Ballads (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Real Gone celebrates the late Rod McKuen with a slate of releases this week. For the 1970 album New Ballads, the singer-songwriter teamed with renowned arranger-conductor Don Costa for this remarkable collection of songs including “As I Love My Own,” the dramatic Jacques Brel collaboration “I’m Not Afraid,” “Thank You for Christmas,” and a composition which could have been McKuen’s credo: “Hit ‘Em in the Head with Love.” New Ballads showcases…

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Formats:

Box Sets, CD, DVD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Funk, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul

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Burt Bacharach, Charles Wright and the 103rd Street Rhythm Band, Howard Jones, Jacques Brel, Jefferson Airplane, Kim Wilde, Melody Federer, Neneh Cherry, Richard Adler, Rod McKuen, Scott Walker

Holiday Gift Guide Review: “A Voice of the Warm: The Life of Rod McKuen” by Barry Alfonso

December 16, 2019 by Joe Marchese | 2 Comments

“Come with me/What wonders we’ll find,” sings Rod McKuen to open his lilting waltz “Kaleidoscope” in his recognizable sandpaper voice. But the more revealing lyrics come later, when the poet-singer-songwriter asserts, “You’ll look in my eyes and see you.” Over a career spanning seven decades – but particularly during a purple patch in the late 1960s and early 1970s – McKuen’s loyal legion of fans saw themselves in his deceptively simple art. His empathetic words conveyed the beauty of everyday life, and his comforting pop melodies offered a balm for troubled times….

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Holiday Gift Guide, News, Reviews

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Rock Gently: Real Gone Music Remembers Rod McKuen in January with New CDs, Digital Debuts

December 12, 2019 by The Second Disc | 4 Comments

We’ve already filled you on a number of titles from Real Gone Music’s January slate, including our Second Disc Records release of Laura Nyro’s rare mono More Than a New Discovery on vinyl and the first-ever reissue of Miss Barbara Eden on CD and vinyl. Now, Real Gone has announced a pair of titles from a true iconoclast: the late Rod McKuen. On January 31, the label will premiere New Ballads, the singer-songwriter-poet’s highest-charting Warner Bros. album, on CD alongside a newly-expanded edition of his original Greatest Hits. And that’s not all….

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CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming

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It’s Witchcraft – Cherry Red’s Righteous Imprint Compiles 2-CD Set of Halloween Novelties

October 25, 2019 by Randy Fairman | 3 Comments

With Halloween less than a week away, we thought we’d take a look at a new compilation which was recently released from Cherry Red’s Righteous Records imprint: the 2-CD Trick or Treat: Music To Scare Your Neighbours – Vintage 45s from Lux and Ivy’s Haunted Basement. The Lux and Ivy in the title are the husband and wife mainstays of the punk/rockabilly group The Cramps, who debuted in the 1970s and were active until Lux’s death in 2009. Aside from being punk innovators, the pair also championed older music on their own…

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Everything Else, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock

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Bo Diddley, Burt Bacharach, John Zacherle, Rod McKuen, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, The Coasters, The Cramps

Release Round-Up: Week of November 2

November 2, 2018 by The Second Disc | 2 Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Melissa Manchester, Mathematics: The MCA Years (Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music bring Melissa Manchester’s 1985 MCA album to CD for the very first time in an expanded 2-CD deluxe edition! Mathematics: The MCA Years features the original Mathematics (produced by George Duke, Brock Walsh and Robbie Nevil, Trevor Veitch and executive producer Quincy Jones!) on the first CD, while the second disc boasts 13 bonus tracks including every period remix, the non-LP…

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Formats:

Box Sets, CD, DVD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Classic Rock, Country, Holiday, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, Rock

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Barbra Streisand, Bob Dylan, Eagles, John Klein, Joni Mitchell, King Crimson, Marianne Faithfull, Melissa Manchester, Metallica, Mott the Hoople, Paul Williams, Rod McKuen, Rosanne Cash, The McGuire Sisters

Make A List and Check It Twice: Real Gone Announces Christmas Reissues From The McGuire Sisters, John Klein, Rod McKuen

September 28, 2018 by Randy Fairman | 5 Comments

Even though Fall has just begun, we are already looking ahead to Christmas as several artists have already announced yuletide albums for this year. And, continuing their annual tradition, our friends at Real Gone Music are releasing selection of classic Christmas CDs this year, the first three of which they have just announced. All three of these are due on November 2. First up is Season’s Greetings From the McGuire Sisters – The Complete Coral Christmas Recordings. The singing trio of real-life sisters (Christine, Dorothy and Phyllis) got their big break on…

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John Klein, Rod McKuen, The McGuire Sisters

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Everything Else, Holiday, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal

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Something for Audrey (And Patty): Cherry Red Reissues Mancini’s “Two for the Road” and “Me, Natalie”

June 15, 2017 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

In the canon of all-time great film composers, the name of Henry Mancini still looms large. Cherry Red’s El imprint has brought two of his classic 1960s scores together on one CD: the original RCA Victor soundtrack album of Two for the Road (1967) and the Columbia Records release of Me, Natalie (1969) – the latter of which has only been previously available on CD as part of a large Mancini box set. Mancini scored four films for Audrey Hepburn – Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Charade, Wait Until Dark and Two for the…

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Henry Mancini, Rod McKuen

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Soundtracks

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It’s a Great Soundtrack, Charlie Brown! Kritzerland Premieres Score by Guaraldi, McKuen

March 17, 2017 by Mike Duquette | 4 Comments

For nearly 50 years, getting the complete score to 1969’s animated feature A Boy Named Charlie Brown was as fruitless as kicking a football held by Lucy Van Pelt. Kritzerland’s newest album changes all that, offering Vince Guaraldi and John Scott Trotter’s score and Rod McKuen’s songs as they appeared in the film for the very first time. A Boy Named Charlie Brown found producer Lee Mendelson and director Bill Melendez teaming up again to bring Charles M. Schulz’s beloved Peanuts comic strip to animated life, after a host of instant classic…

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Rod McKuen, Vince Guaraldi

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Jazz, Soundtracks

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Seasons In The Sun: Frank, Dusty, Petula, More Salute Rod McKuen On New Anthology

March 7, 2017 by Joe Marchese | 2 Comments

In the case of Rod McKuen, “prolific” might well have been an understatement. Before he turned 35, McKuen had already lived many lives – from farm hand, lumberjack, rodeo cowboy, disk jockey, and U.S. Army veteran to singer, songwriter, actor, and the most commercially successful poet of his time – or any other. Despite an enviable career that saw him receive two Academy Award nominations and Frank Sinatra dedicate an entire album to him, the songs of Rod McKuen frequently haven’t received their due, and even after his death, he remains an…

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Reviews

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Pop

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Dusty Springfield, Frank Sinatra, Glen Campbell, Nancy Sinatra, Perry Como, Petula Clark, Rod McKuen, Tom Jones, Various Artists

Do You Like The Rain? Cherry Red Revisits Kerr and McKuen’s “The Sea, The Earth, The Sky”

June 24, 2016 by Joe Marchese | 3 Comments

When singer-songwriter-poet Rod McKuen teamed with composer-arranger-conductor Anita Kerr for the 1967 album The Sea, neither had any inkling that the record’s success would lead to an entire series of albums under the San Sebastian Strings moniker through 1975. The oft-imitated, never-duplicated, platinum-selling The Sea epitomized the now-moribund genre of “mood music,” offering spoken word and music in a relaxing, spellbinding mélange. Cherry Red’s él imprint has recently reissued the box set The Sea/The Earth/The Sky as a 3-CD set, re-presenting the trilogy in complete form. Kerr’s lush, string-laden musical settings and…

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Anita Kerr, Rod McKuen, The San Sebastian Strings

Formats:

Box Sets, CD

Genres:

Everything Else, Pop

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Cherry Red’s él Label Offers Rod McKuen, Wally Stott, Bobby Scott Rarities

January 5, 2016 by Joe Marchese | 1 Comment

Cherry Red’s él imprint has a trio of recent releases continuing its commitment to truly eclectic sounds of the pre-1964 era. Two of these are musical odes to the big city life of London and New York, from arrangers Wally Stott and Bobby Scott, respectively; the third reissues and expands a compilation from the late Rod McKuen. Singer-songwriter-poet-author-renaissance man McKuen, who died earlier this year, was recently the subject of Varese Vintage’s Reflections: The Greatest Songs of Rod McKuen, an anthology for which I was proud to write the liner notes. McKuen was an…

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Folk, Jazz, Pop

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Bobby Scott, Rod McKuen, Wally Stott

WE HAVE OUR WINNERS! ROD McKUEN “REFLECTIONS” SECOND DISCMAS GIVEAWAY!

December 15, 2015 by Joe Marchese | 2 Comments

CONGRATULATIONS! The following 15 entrants have won a copy of Varese Vintage’s brand-new Rod McKuen anthology, Reflections: The Greatest Songs of Rod McKuen, on CD! If you entered our contest via Facebook and your name is on the list below, please drop us a line at theseconddisc-at-gmail-dot-com or a Private Message on Facebook with your name and mailing address! If you entered via email, you don’t have to do anything – your CD will be in the mail soon! Watch this space soon for more exciting giveaways! ROBERT PAUL BRADY KATHY FINKELSTEIN ANNE ROBINSON…

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Giveaways!

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Popular Standards/Vocal

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A SECOND DISCMAS GIVEAWAY: Rod McKuen’s REFLECTIONS From Varese Vintage!

December 14, 2015 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

Varese Vintage recently celebrated a singular career when the label released Reflections –The Greatest Songs of Rod McKuen. This definitive overview of McKuen’s work as a singer-songwriter features 24 of his most famous compositions including “If You Go Away,” “Jean,” “Seasons in the Sun,” “A Man Alone” and “Love’s Been Good to Me.” I was proud to pen the liner notes for this collection, and now, Varese and I would like to give you a chance to WIN THIS NEW RELEASE! Though a self-professed loner who often wrote of isolation and solitude, McKuen had an…

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Giveaways!

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Release Round-Up: Week of December 4

December 4, 2015 by Joe Marchese | 2 Comments

Well, this is it – the final big release week of the year! While next week will see releases slow to a trickle, this week is packed with exciting box sets and much more! Bruce Springsteen, The Ties That Bind: The River Collection (Columbia) 4-CD/3-DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada 4-CD/2-BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada This 4-CD/3-DVD or 4-CD/2-BD set celebrating The Boss’ seminal album The River features a treasure trove of previously unreleased material across its 53 audio tracks plus four hours of never-before-seen video footage. Read the full track…

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Formats:

Blu-Ray Audio, Box Sets, CD, DVD, Digital Download, Vinyl

Genres:

Classic Rock, Country, Holiday, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

Tags:

Bette Midler, Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Ferry, Cream, Fleetwood Mac, George Delerue, Judy Garland, King Curtis, Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee, Rod McKuen, Roy Orbison, Simple Minds, The Allman Brothers Band, The Beatles, The Dictators

A Man Alone: Varese Collects “The Greatest Songs of Rod McKuen” In November

October 19, 2015 by Joe Marchese | 6 Comments

On November 13, Varese Vintage will celebrate a singular career when the label releases Reflections – The Greatest Songs of Rod McKuen. This definitive overview of McKuen’s work as a singer-songwriter features 24 of his most famous compositions including “If You Go Away,” “Jean,” “Seasons in the Sun,” “A Man Alone” and “Love’s Been Good to Me.” Though a self-professed loner who often wrote of isolation and solitude, McKuen had an extraordinary ability in music, poetry and prose to strike a chord with his audiences, to give simple and honestly-expressed voice to everyday…

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