The Second Disc Interview #3: What’s Happening “Now” with Steve Stanley!

The music may be then, but the place to be is undoubtedly Now.

By that, of course, I mean Now Sounds. Launched in 2007 by Steve Stanley, the producer of over 50 titles for the Rev-Ola label, Now Sounds celebrates the rich and varied melodies created between 1964 and 1972, though the label isn’t limited to that period. A labor of love for its founder, Now Sounds has established itself as the go-to label for fans of this golden era of both songwriting and record production.

We’ve seen a career anthology from the Wondermints, and reissues from familiar artists like Dion, The Association, Gary Lewis, and The Cowsills. Now Sounds has also unearthed gems from the likes of Tina Mason, the Tuneful Trolley and Jamme, produced by “Papa” John Phillips. This week, the label releases its expanded edition of Paul Williams’ sunshine pop classic Someday Man. The 1970 album, with a title track familiar to many Monkees fans, is one of the gold standards of pop songwriting and polished production, with both duties performed by Williams and Roger Nichols. Stanley’s much-anticipated reissue doubles the length of the original LP, and continues the label’s fruitful relationship with Williams and Nichols. (Fine complements to Someday Man are the similarly-expanded edition for Williams’ early band The Holy Mackerel, and the return of Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends with the group’s Full Circle set.)

The Second Disc couldn’t be more pleased to talk shop with Steve Stanley of Now Sounds! Dig the photo of Steve with legendary musical wunderkind Emitt Rhodes, and after the jump, join us where Steve candidly offers his thoughts on the rewards and challenges of releasing catalogue music in today’s fractured music business. He also gives some scoops about what’s next for Now Sounds. And after you’re done reading and find yourself waiting for your copy of Someday Man to arrive? Remember to tune in every Monday to LuxuriaMusic.com from 6 pm to 8 pm PST to hear Steve’s radio program, The Now Sounds. You’ll be thanking me later!

Release Round-Up: Week of October 26

And now, here it is: the catalogue titles coming to your local stores this week.

Various Artists including James Taylor, Billy Preston and Badfinger, The Apple Records remasters (Apple/EMI)

This year’s Beatles remasters are remasters of albums on The Beatles’ short-lived Apple label. There’s a lot of great, varied stuff to be hand across many genres. There’s 14 individual remasters plus a new compilation with some other hard-to-find tunes (Come and Get It: The Best of Apple Records), not to mention an indie sampler (10 Green Apples) and a 17-disc box set compiling all those discs alongside two more CDs of extra tracks only otherwise available through digital providers (those digital bonus cuts – as of this writing, which was penned several hours before it was posted – seem to have not been made available through online retailers). (Official site)

Miles Davis, The Genius of Miles Davis (Columbia/Legacy)

Did you miss all the out-of-print Miles Davis session box sets? Do you have $750 to spare? Do you like box sets packed with extra swag inside a trumpet case? Then this is the best day of your life. The Genius of Miles Davis is 43 discs of the trumpet legend, packed in 21 pounds of material possession. (Sony Music Digital)

The Monkees, Head: Deluxe Edition (Rhino Handmade)

The Pre-Fab Four’s most bizarre project is extensively expanded to three discs of psychedelia, live cuts, outtakes, alternate mixes and vintage interviews with Davy Jones. If you’ve a Monkees fan in your inner circle, this is the holiday gift they’ll thank you for. (Rhino)

Crowded House, The Very Very Best Of Crowded House (EMI/Capitol)

A new best-of from the Aussie pop masters takes the best of their career save this year’s excellent Intriguer. A digital edition features an expanded track list and a live B-side. (Amazon, iTunes)

There’s more after the jump, of course.

Intrada Releases Two Classic ’60s Scores from the Vault

Intrada’s latest batch of titles may be on the shorter side when it comes to pure musical recognition, but they have three scores released for the first time anywhere – two of which are from two classic adapted film works of the early ’60s.

Those scores are to 1961’s Raisin in the Sun and 1962’s Requiem for a Heavyweight, both penned by Laurence Rosenthal. Requiem is an adaptation of the famous Playhouse 90 teleplay penned by Rod Serling (this adaptation stars Anthony Quinn as the boxer and Jackie Gleason as his manager, not to mention a young Cassius Clay – not yet called Muhammad Ali – as one of Quinn’s opponents), while Raisin is an adaptation of the acclaimed Broadway play with its original cast reprising their roles onscreen (including Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee and Louis Gossett, Jr.).

Each score is sourced from the original mono masters; portions of Requiem are missing but nearly all of the score is present. (Raisin is complete.) The label has also released a Signature Edition of Bruce Broughton’s score to Glory & Honor, a 1998 TV-movie starring Delroy Lindo as Matthew Henson, the real-life colleague of explorer Robert Peary. Racial politics in the early 20th century obscured the importance of Henson, who was black, with regard to Peary’s successful expedition to the North Pole in 1909.

Glory & Honor is limited to 1,200 copies while the Rosenthal two-fer is capped at 1,500. The usual info is after the jump.