The air was thick with anticipation at Radio City Music Hall. The date was August 3, 2021 and Tony Bennett was set to take the Great Stage with his friend and confidante Lady Gaga for the first of two farewell performances. It was his 95th birthday. A 6,000-strong crowd, mostly masked and uncomfortably shoulder-to-shoulder, jammed the theatre's lobby for a final chance to see one of the twentieth - and twenty-first - century's greatest voices live. The announced time on the ticket came and
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 Record Store Day event. In keeping with tradition, Mike, Randy, and Joe have once again selected some essential picks of the roughly 200 titles being released tomorrow at independent record stores
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Beatles, Let It Be: 50th Anniversary Edition [Various Formats] (Apple/Capitol/UMe) 5CD/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 5LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The Beatles' final album, Let It Be, arrives in deluxe editions to coincide with Peter Jackson's multi-part
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Neil Young, Official Bootleg Series Vol. 1: Carnegie Hall 1970 (Reprise/Shakey Pictures Records) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The Neil Young Official Bootleg Series launches with Carnegie Hall 1970, featuring Young's debut at the venerable venue on December 4, 1970 (the early show). Carnegie Hall 1970 will arrive on double vinyl, double CD, and digital formats (including high
Today, Tony Bennett turns 95. The artist - for whom the designation "legendary" isn't mere hyperbole - is scheduled to take the stage tonight at Radio City Music Hall with his friend and collaborator Lady Gaga for the first of two shows billed as One Last Time. Bennett is currently battling Alzheimer's, and tickets for the pair of concerts sold out in moments. An album (date TBA) with Gaga is forthcoming, but in the meantime, Legacy Recordings and Columbia Records have announced a new reissue
Bill Evans would have earned his place in the jazz history books if only for his role on Miles Davis' landmark 1959 set Kind of Blue. But the pianist-composer and modal jazz innovator recorded over 50 live and studio albums as a leader before his untimely death in 1980 at the age of just 51, leaving behind a legacy of some of the most beautiful jazz ever committed to tape. In addition to Davis, he also served as a sideman to musicians including Chet Baker, Cannonball Adderley, Charles Mingus,
The busy members of The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra are decking the halls with boughs of holly for their latest, all-star release. Christmas with The Stars and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, due as a digital-only title in the U.S. on Friday, November 29, brings the acclaimed orchestra together with some of the biggest names in the classic Columbia and RCA Victor constellations for newly-arranged symphonic versions of Christmas favorites. Featured artists include Elvis Presley, Tony Bennett,
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Doors, Waiting for the Sun: 50th Anniversary Edition (Elektra/Rhino) (Amazon U.S./ Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The Doors' Waiting for the Sun, featuring the hit "Hello, I Love You," is turning 50 with a new box set. This 2-CD/1-LP box features Bruce Botnick's remastered version of the original stereo mix on both CD and 180-gram vinyl, plus a disc of 14 previously unreleased tracks including nine rough mixes and five live performances from
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
The Christmas season is almost upon us, and classical crooner Josh Groban is celebrating with an expanded edition of Noël, his best-selling holiday album. Released in the fall of 2007, a holiday record was something of an inevitability for the lyric baritone, who at the time had spent the better part of the previous decade becoming an adult contemporary sensation. At 19, he stepped in for opera singer Andrea Bocelli during a rehearsal for the Grammy Awards in 1999, where he sang "The Prayer"
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Kinks, The Mono Collection (Sanctuary/BMG) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The Kinks' The Mono Collection brings together eight of the band's classic albums in their original U.K. Pye Records mono editions on ten LPs, all pressed on 180-gram vinyl. The set includes 1967's Live at Kelvin Hall and 1970's original 2-LP collection The Kinks (otherwise known as The Black Album. A hardcover 48-page book including never-before-seen
This past August 3, Tony Bennett celebrated his milestone 90th birthday...and made it clear that he had no intentions of slowing down. Indeed, the legendary vocalist has dates booked well into 2017, but first, he's looking back with a new 3-CD set including rare and previously unreleased material. Tony Bennett Celebrates 90 premieres the recording of the all-star concert tribute held at Radio City Music Hall on September 15 of this year, but the Amazon-exclusive Deluxe Edition will
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up - maybe the biggest and most diverse yet of 2015! David Bowie, Five Years (Parlophone) 12 CD Box Set: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 13 LP Box Set: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. New remasters of David Bowie (a.k.a. Space Oddity), The Man Who Sold the World, Hunky Dory and Pin Ups are collected in a new box set along with existing versions of Ziggy Stardust (in both the original and 2003 mixes), Aladdin Sane, Live Santa Monica '72, the Ziggy Stardust
Jellyfish, Bellybutton and Spilt Milk (Omnivore) Bellybutton: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Spilt Milk: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Here are the deluxe editions that fans of the cult '90s pop revivalists have been waiting for! A total of 51 bonus tracks are spread across these freshly-remastered reissues of Jellyfish's two studio albums. Look for Joe's review later today! Universal Togetherness Band, Universal Togetherness Band (Numero Group) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) The Numero
George Harrison, The Apple Years 1968-1975 (Apple/Universal, 2014) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Here, at last, are George Harrison's complete albums for Apple Records, all beautifully remastered and featuring select bonus material. These six albums are available in a deluxe box set with a bonus DVD or as individual reissues: Wonderwall Music (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Electronic Music (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) All Things Must Pass (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Living in the
Uncle Tupelo, No Depression: Legacy Edition (Legacy) After at least two teasers in the form of Record Store Day releases, one of the most beloved alt-country albums is greatly expanded as a double-disc set with a host of rare and unreleased demos. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Tony Bennett, The Classics (RPM/Columbia/Legacy) One of the most beloved singers of the 20th century is the subject of a new career-spanning compilation, available in single and double-disc iterations. 1CD: Amazon U.S. /
Following the success of 2013’s Bennett/Brubeck: The White House Sessions Live 1962 and Live at the Sahara: Las Vegas 1964, Columbia Records, RPM Records and Legacy Recordings are starting off 2014 with a newly-assembled collection from Tony Bennett due on January 28.The Classics, available in a 20-track standard edition or a 30-track deluxe configuration, features material personally selected by the 87-year old living legend. In a statement provided by Legacy, Bennett confirmed that he kept
It's been a busy week for Tony Bennett, one of the few artists today for whom "legendary" truly applies. Bennett, 87, supported the release of Live at the Sahara: Las Vegas, 1964 as well as the digital release of his entire Columbia Records catalogue with a "digital day" for the books. Bennett engaged in a HuffPost Live Chat, took questions on Twitter via the hashtag #AskTony, shared videos on Facebook, and even participated in a reddit AMA. Here's to the next 87, Tony! Though named for
Tony Bennett,
When Tony Bennett took the stage at Las Vegas’ Sahara on April 8, 1964 he was riding high. Bennett was in the business of creating standards, after all. During that seminal year, he released three studio albums immortalizing such songs as “When Joanna Loved Me,” “The Rules of the Road,” and “Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me).” Columbia Records recorded Bennett’s show live from the Sahara’s Congo Room, but the recording sat on the shelf until 2011 when it was included in Bennett’s
"My ambition has always been to create a hit catalogue rather than hit records," wrote Tony Bennett in 2011. Of course, the modest Mr. Bennett has managed to do both. He's charted successful singles and continues to chart albums, but has also crafted a catalogue distinguished by its sustained excellence. On the same day as the release of Bennett/Brubeck, the landmark 1962 concert performance of Tony Bennett and Dave Brubeck, Sony’s Legacy Recordings also made good on a couple of other
It was a Tuesday afternoon in Camelot when giants met. These giants weren’t the types who resided in the clouds atop beanstalks, of course. These were giants of a decidedly more earthy variety. It was at the behest of John F. Kennedy’s White House that Tony Bennett and Dave Brubeck came together. On August 28, 1962, they shared a bill at the base of the Washington Monument as a parting gift to an audience of college-age interns who had served that summer in the nation’s capital. Following
Wings, Wings Over America: The Paul McCartney Archive Collection (MPL/Hear Music/Concord) Paul McCartney's first great U.S. tour was chronicled brilliantly on this 1977 live album, and it's been greatly expanded herein for McCartney's ongoing reissue campaign. 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 3CD (Best Buy exclusive) 4CD/1DVD box: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Tony Bennett & Dave Brubeck,
What happens when two legends collide? Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings will have the answer for you with the May 28 premiere release of Bennett and Brubeck - The White House Sessions: Live 1962 from Tony Bennett and Dave Brubeck. In the true spirit of jazz, the performance by these two titans on August 28, 1962 was largely unplanned. Both men – Brubeck with his Quartet and Bennett with his Ralph Sharon-led ensemble – were appearing at the behest of President John F. Kennedy’s White
Today, The Second Disc remembers Phil Ramone. The multiple Grammy-winning producer, 79, died on Saturday, leaving behind a legacy of song from artists ranging from Barbra Streisand to Paul McCartney, Barry Manilow to The Band. Yet unlike so many of his contemporaries, Phil Ramone didn’t have a signature style. Instead of molding a band or singer to a preferred sonic specialty, he was a true architect of sound, tailoring each production to the individual artist. Ramone was equally comfortable