On March 20, as the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic was just starting to be understood, indie music retailer Bandcamp made the bold choice of waiving their share of revenue for artists and labels who were cancelling shows and delaying album releases left and right. The result was more music bought by more fans than any day on the site, a record broken on the first Friday of May. Bandcamp Fridays have since taken place in June and July - plus the first of an annual occurrence when the service
"Be My Baby." "Can't Take My Eyes off You." "Stand by Me." "You Don't Own Me." Songs such as these not only defined the era in which they were first written and performed, but continue to resonate today. They're just four of the classic songs included on an upcoming 7-DVD set from Treasury Collection that serves as a definitive concert anthology of classic American R&B music. Rock, Pop, and Doo Wop has been curated by executive producer and director TJ Lubinsky from his acclaimed onstage
For its 60th anniversary year, Universal Music Enterprises has begun reminding fans that "Motown Did It First"; now, the label that launched The Sound Of Young America is revisiting a box set that was released in celebration of its 50th anniversary a decade ago. Motown: The Complete No. 1s is being reissued and expanded on June 28. Motown: The Complete No. 1s featured more than 200 international chart-toppers, plus a handful of bonus masters that went to No. 1 through cover versions or
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Bobbie Gentry, The Girl from Chickasaw County: The Complete Capitol Masters (UMC U.K.) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The career of the enigmatic Bobbie Gentry is celebrated on a remarkable new box set. The hotly-anticipated 8-CD collection The Girl from Chickasaw County: The Complete Capitol Masters collects all seven of Gentry's 1967-1971 Capitol Records studio albums plus more than 75 previously unreleased recordings. This
Even if you don't know the name of Bert Berns, chances are you know the songs he wrote ("Twist and Shout," "I Want Candy," "Hang On, Sloopy," "Piece of My Heart"), produced ("Under the Boardwalk," "Baby I'm Yours," "Brown-Eyed Girl," "Here Comes the Night") and oversaw as head of Bang Records ("Cherry, Cherry," "Solitary Man" and the rest of Neil Diamond's earliest recordings). Though Berns died in the final days of 1967 at just 38 years of age, a year hasn't gone by since when his songs haven't
In 1965, Hal David first made the observation, "What the world needs now is love, sweet love...it's the only thing that there's just too little of." Over fifty-two years later, there's still just too little love, and it's a situation which Carlos Santana has aimed to remedy. The guitar hero was inspired by seeing the velvet-voiced Ron Isley, longtime lead singer of The Isley Brothers, performing with Burt Bacharach in a 2004 television special promoting their collaborative album Here I Am.
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Elvis Presley, A Boy From Tupelo - The Complete 1953-55 Recordings (RCA/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.) A Boy From Tupelo: The Complete Recordings 1953-1955 journeys back to the birth of rock-and-roll to feature, on three CDs and digitally, every known Elvis Presley Sun Records master and outtake. In addition, the collection also contains Elvis' four earliest, privately-pressed sides, and vintage radio and concert
Two legendary musical forces are teaming up this summer to celebrate the eternal Power of Peace during the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love. On August 4, The Isley Brothers and Santana will join forces for their first full-length collaboration. Power of Peace arrives on that date from Legacy Recordings, featuring Ronald and Ernie Isley joined by Carlos and Cindy Blackman Santana tackling a number of classic rock and R&B standards which have inspired them over the years. This all-new
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up highlighted by the latest release from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music! The Isley Brothers, Groove with You...Live! (Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) We're incredibly excited and proud to bring this sizzling, swooning and immersive double-album document of The Isley Brothers at the peak of their powers to CD for the very first time! Groove with You...Live! features powerful renditions of
Tomorrow, September 2, is the date for the latest - and funkiest! - release from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music! Groove with You...Live! was the great "lost" Isley Brothers album, a sizzling slab of live-in-the-studio soul...but it's lost no more! In 1980, Ronald, Rudolph, O'Kelly, Ernie and Marvin Isley and Chris Jasper were riding high with their singular, electrifying fusion of rock, funk and soul. After having transformed in 1973 from a three-man vocal group to a self-contained
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Archies, Sugar, Sugar: The Complete Albums Collection (Cleopatra) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) At long last! The complete albums of The Archies are being assembled in one 5-CD box set by Cleopatra Records. You'll find The Archies, Everything's Archie, Jingle Jangle, Sunshine and This Is Love each in a mini-LP replica sleeve, along with a booklet containing new liner notes. Bubblegum never tasted so good as in these top-notch
Even though summer has just begun, Real Gone Music is already looking toward the end of the season with its September releases. As per the label's norm, the artists represented span a wide range of styles and genres. We've already told you about the Second Disc Records/Real Gone release of The Isley Brothers' lost Groove With You...Live! album. Joe has also written the liner notes for another of Real Gone's September offerings: Robert Goulet's 2-CD The Definitive Collection. Joe put
Are you ready to groove with us? On September 2, "The Great Lost Isley Brothers Album" is coming to CD from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music! In 1980, Ronald, Rudolph, O'Kelly, Ernie and Marvin Isley and Chris Jasper were riding high with their singular, electrifying fusion of rock, funk and soul. After having transformed in 1973 from a three-man vocal group to a self-contained six-man band, The Isleys cranked out hit after hit. Original powerhouses like "That Lady," "Fight the
The Isley Brothers' first studio album, in 1959, made listeners want to Shout! with its soulful blend of doo-wop, R&B, jazz, rock and roll, and gospel. Ronald, O'Kelly and Rudolph Isley followed up that RCA Victor LP with tenures at labels including Wand, United Artists, Atlantic, and most notably, Motown, before setting up shop at their own T-Neck label. The Isleys' line-up would expand and alter over the years, but their marriage of soul, funk and rock would keep them at the forefront of
From all of us here at Second Disc HQ to all of you, we hope you're enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving in the company of 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 - the day for consumers to start off the holiday shopping season on a mad, frenetic note. But 2015 is just in the latest year in which numerous retailers in the U.S. have made headlines by blackening Thursday, or
Announcements about this year's Black Friday Record Store Day event have been trickling out. A couple of days ago we brought you news of Omnivore's titles and before that, of Real Gone's Dictators release! Now we can tell you about Legacy's slate for the day after Thanksgiving. The titles run the gamut in size from 7" singles to 12" 2-LP sets, and also range in genre from rock to country to hip-hop. Several soundtracks are being released including a single from the 1960s Batman TV show,
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, packed with box sets, reissues, special collections, and more! The Isley Brothers, The RCA Victor and T-Neck Album Masters (Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Legacy has boxed up 23 discs of The Isley Brothers - featuring every one of the group's RCA and T-Neck albums released between 1959 and 1983, including one previously unreleased album and a total of 84 previously unissued or new-to-CD bonus tracks! Every track has been newly-remastered
Get ready for a release that will make you want to shout! Today marks the 74th birthday of Ronald Isley, one-third of the original founding trio of The Isley Brothers. Since bursting onto the scene with 1959's Shout! on the RCA Victor label, Ronald, Rudolph and O'Kelly Isley - plus Ernie and Marvin Isley and Chris Jasper - the R&B legends have notched four Top 10 Pop singles, sixteen Top 40 albums, thirteen Gold, Platinum or Multi-Platinum albums, and inductions into the Rock and Roll
Shalamar, Friends: Deluxe Edition / The Isley Brothers, Winner Takes All: Expanded Edition / Bootsy Collins Presents Sweat Band: Expanded Edition / The Gap Band, Gap Band VII: Expanded Edition / Billy Paul, Lately: Expanded Edition (Big Break) The Big Break titles we covered yesterday include a double-disc expansion of one of Shalamar's most enduring LPs, plus Isleys, P-Funk and albums from Total Experience Records. Full coverage/pre-order links here! Blue Oyster Cult, Imaginos / Sea
A host of '80s R&B titles are out in the U.K. this week from Cherry Red's Big Break offshoot. They include a double-disc expansion of one of Shalamar's best-loved albums, plus expanded editions of a few LPs by the likes of The Isley Brothers, The Gap Band and Billy Paul. While 1982 was the year of Michael Jackson's Thriller, U.K. R&B enthusiasts also count another album as influential to the genre that year: Shalamar's Friends. After a string of hits around the world for the trio
The fine folks at Big Break Records have got another large batch of new titles for release in the U.K. on July 25, and we figured now was a good time to share not only the track lists and details with you, but look ahead at some of the huge titles they're prepping for next month. There are a few really great, underrated titles from some big-name acts in next week's batch, including expansions of The Isley Brothers' Between the Sheets (1983) and I Can See Clearly Now (1972) by Johnny Nash. But
For most of its 35-year run, there was no better outlet for soul music on television than Soul Train. Featuring a diverse palette of R&B artists and the commanding presence of creator/producer/host Don Cornelius, Soul Train has become an institution, the longest-running, nationally syndicated show in American history - albeit one that modern audiences would be slow to appreciate, were it not for the efforts of Time-Life Entertainment in releasing several official DVDs of content from the
Way back in August, The Second Disc reported on a flood of titles in Legacy's budget Playlist series. Today, a whole bunch of them are released, and if you haven't yet made your weekly trip to the record store and were wondering what might be in store, you'll have your answer after the jump. Read on to see the newest compilations for Barry Manilow, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Isley Brothers, gospel titles from Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and Dolly Parton and much more!
The Second Disc kicks off the week with a bit of synergy. Our very own Mike Duquette contributed a wonderful piece over at Popdose looking at the hidden musical treasures you can find at your local grocery store - of all places! - including Sony/Legacy's Playlist: The Very Best of Daryl Hall & John Oates. If you haven’t checked out Mike’s incisive, entertaining feature, please do so now, and then rejoin me here. Okay? Good. Welcome back! With summer turning to fall, and fall traditionally
If you're itching for some vintage R&B from around the way, a few labels have some new releases to keep you satisfied. One is a classic soul LP making its debut on CD, the other two are some solid disco efforts with some bonus cuts to boot. Iconoclassic Records has planned a June 22 reissue of It's Our Thing by The Isley Brothers. Released on the Isleys' own label after leaving a solid but fleetingly successful tenure at Motown, this disc includes the funky, anthemic "It's Your Thing." This