This morning, it was announced that Garth Hudson, 87, had died in a Woodstock, New York nursing home. Hudson was the last surviving member of The Band, and with his passing, an era has come to a close. Though best known for his virtuosic organ playing, Hudson was a multi-instrumentalist who brought various colors to The Band's rootsy, organic brand of Americana. Hudson's sound tapped into the many veins of American popular music and could, by turns, conjure a raucous revival, a whimsical
Big things often come in small packages. Such is the case with Legacy Recordings' recent excavation of Bob Dylan and The Band's 1974 tour. 40 concerts took place over 30 dates and 21 cities, with Dylan, Robbie Robertson, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, Levon Helm, and Rick Danko even playing two shows in one day in many markets. The 1974 Live Recordings takes the form of a tiny cube, packing in 27 discs and 431 tracks (417 of which are previously unreleased). The set contains every
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. Bob Dylan, The 1974 Tour Recordings (Columbia/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) In 1974, Bob Dylan embarked on an extensive tour with his old backing band. Now, they, too, were universally known - as The Band - and the double bill hit indoor arenas across North America for 40 concerts over 30 dates and 21
Bob Dylan had come a long way from coffeehouses. In 1974, the superstar singer-songwriter embarked on an extensive tour with his old backing band. Now, they, too, were universally known - as The Band - and the double bill hit indoor arenas across North America for 40 concerts over 30 dates and 21 cities. The tour became one of the largest and highest-profile of the era, in no small part due to the promotional efforts of David Geffen, who'd spurred on the talks and had recently lured Dylan
Storyteller, songwriter, guitarist, musicologist, singer: throughout a career spanning the 1950s through the present day, Jaime Royal "Robbie" Robertson wore many hats. The Toronto-born musician joined his first band in 1956 and attracted the attention of Ronnie "The Hawk" Hawkins in 1959. Hawkins liked what he heard, and recorded two of the teenaged Robertson's songs in 1959. Before long, he was playing in Hawkins' band alongside fellow Canadians Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, and Garth Hudson,
From the first seconds of the opening "Life Is a Carnival," it was clear that Cahoots was no ordinary album by The Band. The quintet's first three albums had established them as major proponents of the rootsy genre that would later be called "Americana." But now, the sound blasting from the speakers was one of sheer funk: simultaneously dark and joyful, aggressive yet inviting. In what might have been considered a heretical move by some, the group was bolstered by three saxophones, two
Happy 2022! Welcome, friends, to 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 music crop -
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Band, Cahoots: 50th Anniversary Edition (Capitol/UMe) 2CD/LP/BD/7-inch single: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD (Contents of CDs 1 & @ below): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1LP (2021 Mix of Original Album): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The Band and Capitol/UMe are in Cahoots for a deluxe 50th anniversary reissue of the group's fourth studio album. The remixed and remastered Cahoots arrives in
The Band and Capitol/UMe are in Cahoots for a deluxe 50th anniversary reissue of the group's fourth studio album. On December 10, a remixed and remastered Cahoots will arrive in various formats including a Super Deluxe 2CD/BD/LP/7-inch vinyl box set, 2CD, 180-gram half-speed-mastered black vinyl, limited edition vinyl, and digital download/streaming. All of these formats have been overseen by Robbie Robertson and feature a new mix of the original album by Bob Clearmountain from the original
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Band, Stage Fright: 50th Anniversary Edition [Various Formats] (Capitol/UMe) 2CD/1BD/1LP/1-7″ single: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD (CD 1 & 2 of box set): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1LP (Remixed Album Only): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The Band slightly belatedly revisits 1970's Stage Fright for its 50th anniversary in a variety of editions anchored by Bob Clearmountain's stereo and
With their seminal first two albums, Music from Big Pink and The Band, the group consisting of Garth Hudson (keyboards, piano, horns), Levon Helm (drums, vocals, mandolin), Richard Manuel (keyboards, vocals, drums), Rick Danko (bass, vocals, fiddle) and Robbie Robertson (guitar, piano, vocals) had earned the right to call themselves, simply, The Band. They effortlessly fused folk, country, blues, gospel, soul, and a dash of rock to create an organic, back-to-basics sound that reverberated with
Fifty-one years ago this past weekend, a crowd of half a million converged at Max Yasgur's Farm in Bethel, New York for the Woodstock Music and Art Fair. The four-day event became a cultural touchstone and mythical ideal, strengthened even more by the Woodstock film and soundtracks that proliferated the marketplace during the early '70s and beyond. While performers, fans, and countless supposed attendees participated in even more myth-building, a small group of historians and researchers worked
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
How to top Music from Big Pink? Wisely, The Band didn't even try. Ditching the Dylan co-writes and the covers, The Band returned with their self-titled sophomore LP in fall 1969. Late in 2019, Capitol Records and UMe remixed and expanded that now-classic effort for its 50th anniversary in the style of 2018's Big Pink campaign with releases in a variety of formats - most notably, a 2-CD/2-LP/1-BD/1 -7" single super deluxe edition. The so-called "Brown Album" was recorded about as far from New
Welcome to another installment of Release Round-Up! Here's what's on the way this week. David Bowie, Conversation Piece [Various Formats] (Parlophone/Rhino) Conversation Piece box set: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Space Oddity 2019 Mix CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Space Oddity 2019 Mix LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada "Space Oddity" 360 Reality Audio single: Amazon HD / TIDAL / Deezer Links TBD The 5-CD box Conversation Piece traces
It's been fifty years since The Band released their self-title album, lovingly referred to by fans as "The Brown Album." To celebrate the anniversary of the pioneering release, The Band will be reissued in a variety of expanded editions on November 15. These follow last year's similar reissues of the group's debut, Music from Big Pink. While The Band was primarily recorded in Hollywood - in Sammy Davis, Jr.'s pool house, no less! - the feel was decidedly rustic. The sessions took on a
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Judy Collins, The Elektra Albums: Volume Two (1970-1984) (Edsel) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Demon Music Group's Edsel label is following up its July release of Judy Collins' The Elektra Albums Volume One (1961-1968) with a second volume out today. The Elektra Albums Volume Two (1970-1984) finishes up the artist's Elektra Records tenure, comprising these nine releases on CD in their original sequences: Whales and Nightingales
Our friends at Real Gone Music have some sweet news to share. The label continues its color vinyl soundtrack reissue series with Cher and Christina Aguilera's Burlesque pressed on hot pink and the soundtrack to Martin Scorsese's The Departed on green wax. Fans of sixties pop will delight in the upcoming opaque blue vinyl celebration of The Archies. All the titles will be pressed in limited quantities and are set to arrive on September 13. In 2010, two of the biggest divas in music joined
Woody Guthrie remains one of the most significant figures in folk music. His legendary songs of freedom and struggle laid the groundwork for the folk revival that arose in the fifties and sixties, and his music endures as part of America's rich musical heritage. In 1970, renowned folk artists like Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Country Joe McDonald, Odetta, Richie Havens, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Earl Robinson, The Band, and Woody's son Arlo Guthrie, convened to pay tribute to the legendary songwriter,
Rolling Stone has broken the news this morning that Rhino Records is getting back to the garden in a big (make that BIG) way. Woodstock 50 - Back to the Garden: The Definitive 50th Anniversary Archive, due August 2, will live up to its name as the last word on the legendary festival. This 38CD/1BD set, limited to 1,969 copies, will include every note performed onstage by every act at Yasgur's Farm over those three days of peace and music, save two tracks by Jimi Hendrix (omitted at the request
The house on Parnassus Lane, formerly Stoll Road, in West Saugerties, New York might be one of rock and roll's least likely landmarks, with its unassuming residential façade distinguished only by its pink siding. But the colorful house bore witness to the birth of some of the greatest songs in American pop history when Bob Dylan and his band - soon to be The Band - recorded "The Basement Tapes" there. When Capitol Records subsequently signed Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Rick
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Band, Music from Big Pink [Various Formats] (Capitol/UMe, 2018) Super Deluxe Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2-LP Black Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2-LP Pink Vinyl: uDiscoverMusic.com Just in time for its 50th anniversary, Capitol/UMe will reissue The Band's seminal exploration of Americana, Music from Big Pink, on CD, 2-LP vinyl, digital, and in a
The Band is returning to Big Pink for its 50th anniversary. On August 31, Capitol/UMe will reissue the seminal Music from Big Pink on CD, 2-LP vinyl, digital, and in a CD/BD/2-LP/1-7 inch single Super Deluxe Edition. Though few groups would have had the audacity to name themselves The Band, that's exactly what Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Rick Danko and Richard Manuel did. Big Pink was the album where the former Hawks (and former Bob Dylan backing band) crystallized the
Bob Dylan once said that, upon hearing Woody Guthrie's songs, "it was like I had been in the dark and someone had turned on the main switch of a lightning conductor." Steve Earle opined that "Woody is my hero of heroes and the only person on earth that I will go to my grave regretting that I never met." No less a literary eminence than John Steinbeck noted, "Woody is just Woody," before explaining, "Harsh voiced and nasal, his guitar hanging like a tire iron on a rusty rim, there is nothing
I. Play a song for me... Bob Dylan saw a very different future for folk music. His fifth studio album, Bringing It All Back Home, was released in March 1965, featuring one traditional acoustic side and one electric side. Underscoring the fact that his embrace of (gasp!) electric rock-and-roll was no fluke, Dylan plugged in at the Newport Folk Festival on July 25. From some appalled audience members came a chorus of boos. Others cheered. Dylan had electrified not only his own act, but