The Fifth Day of Second Discmas

Welcome to Week 2 of Second Discmas!  We hope you’ve got your dancing shoes on, because today’s prize is bound to get you right onto the floor!

Thanks to our amazing friends at Light in the Attic, two lucky winners will each receive a copy of Wheedle’s Groove: Seattle’s Finest in Funk and Soul 1965-1975!  This electrifying CD illuminates another side of the rich musical landscape of Seattle, Washington, long before the dawn of grunge!  The new 2011 reissue of the original, acclaimed 2004 compilation features 18 tracks plus photos, liner notes and poster art in one lavish package!  Among these funky slabs of Seattle soul: The Overton Berry Trio takes on “Hey Jude,” The Topics reinvent “Louie, Louie” and Annakonda offers “Wheedle’s Groove,” the song that gives the album its title!

How can you snag Wheedle’s Groove?  Simple!  You can win by e-mailing us (theseconddisc (at) gmail (dot) com)!  Just be sure to include your name, city and state in your email, and put “Second Discmas/Wheedle’s Groove” in the subject line!  But that’s not your only way to win!  You can also “like” this post as it appears on Facebook or retweet the post on Twitter!  Drawings for the smoking-hot Wheedle’s Groove must be received by Tuesday, December 20, at 3:00 p.m. EST.  But if you enter today’s drawing and aren’t a winner, no fear!  You’ll automatically be entered in all the rest of the Second Discmas contests!

Don’t forget to check back each day this week for more fantastic prizes!

Second Discmas, Week One: And The Winners Are…

And the winners are…

With our second week of exciting giveaways about to kick off later today, it’s about time to reveal the winners from our first week of Second Discmas!

Without further ado, here we go!

Congratulations to…

Charles K. of Cleveland, OH, and Jose M., winners of Ben Folds’ The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective!

Jeffrey R. of Los Angeles, California, Rich D., Jake H., Kenneth R., and Anthony “Anth”, winners of Billy Joel’s Piano Man: Legacy Edition!

Edward O., Richard D., and Pat C., winners of The Essential Phil Spector!

Alex P. of Los Angeles, California and Mati C. of Buenos Aires, Argentina, winners of the special two-pack of Miles Davis’ The Bootleg Series Vol. 1: Live in Europe 1967 and Janis Joplin’s Move Over!

Special thanks to our friends at Sony Music Entertainment and Legacy Recordings!

If you see your name above and have received an email or message from us, please be sure to reply to (theseconddisc (at) gmail (dot) com) so we can send your gift on its way!

And remember: if you’ve entered a Second Discmas drawing via email, Facebook or Twitter, you are still eligible for all of the swell swag we have coming your way through this Friday!  Watch this space for today’s gift, and good luck!

The Second Disc Buyers Guide: The 100 Greatest Reissues of All Time, Part 16 (#25-21)

We’re nearing the Top 20 of our 100 Greatest Reissues list, taking Rolling Stone‘s list of the greatest albums of all time and investigating their many pressings and expansions as the catalogue industry has grown. Today, journey to the past with a quintet of California rock heroes, one of rock-and-roll’s early pioneers and the once-and-always Mr. Dynamite!  Plus: a Beatle and a star of the Motown stable make intensely personal statements on their own!

25. Fleetwood Mac, Rumours (Warner Bros., 1977)

If any one record could be said to encapsulate an entire era, it might be Fleetwood Mac’s towering 1977 Rumours.  This is the album that turned a solid blues-rock band into the biggest pop giant of the decade, immortalizing the group’s internal strife and romantic intrigues in one made-for-radio package.  Rumours established Lindsey Buckingham as a writing and production force, although Rumours was very much a group effort for Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood, as well.  Its four singles (Nicks’ “Dreams,” Christine McVie’s “Don’t Stop” and “You Make Loving Fun,” Buckingham’s “Go Your Own Way”) are as immortal today as the album itself, which sold over 40 million copies.  Taking in sex, drugs, and rock and roll with the idyllic California sun as the backdrop, Rumours remains one of the most successful LPs of all time.

Rumours was, of course, issued early in the CD age, arriving in 1984 (Warner Bros. 3010-2).  The label’s 2001 DVD-Audio issue “(9 48083-9) featured the album in advanced resolution surround sound as well as stereo, and added one track to the original 11-song line-up.  “Silver Springs,” a B-side of “Go Your Own Way,” replaced “Songbird” as the album’s sixth track, and “Songbird” was relegated to the 12^th slot.  In 2004, Warner Bros. and Rhino reissued Rumours as a remastered 2-CD set (R2 73882).  Disc 1 was dedicated to the album, with “Silver Springs” again added, this time in the slot between the reinstated “Songbird” (Track 6) and “The Chain” (Track 8).  Disc 2 premiered 11 roughs and outtakes, five demos and two jam sessions, making the most comprehensive edition yet of the album.  After a 2008 SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) edition from Warner Japan (WPCR-13249), that country’s label issued Rumours as an SHM-SACD in 2011 (WPCR-14171), making the long out-of-print surround mix available once again.

24. James Brown, Live at the Apollo (King, 1963)

Nobody could accuse James Brown of not having faith in himself.  When Brown approached King Records’ Syd Nathan about recording his upcoming October 1962 stand at the Apollo, Nathan balked.  Brown went ahead anyway, funding the record out of his own pocket.  Mr. Dynamite intuitively knew that his live performances transcended anything he was capable of turning out in the studio, thanks to the unbreakable, palpable rapport between performers and audience.  The vocal interplay is part and parcel of the magic of Live at the Apollo, as exciting a document of musical pandemonium as you’ll ever hear.  And Brown’s faith paid off; his performance with the Famous Flames was inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry in 2004.

Live at the Apollo didn’t arrive on CD until 1990 (Polydor 843-479-2), and three years later it arrived as a Mobile Fidelity gold disc (UDCD 583, 1993).  In 2004, Universal revisited the album as B0001715-02, expanding it with four additional single alternates (“Think,” a shortened medley of “I Found Someone/Why Do You Do Me/I Want You So Bad,” “Lost Someone” and “I’ll Go Crazy”) and a deluxe 20-page booklet with new essays and photos.  For Brown and the Flames at their frenetic, electrifying best, this is the place to start.

Hit the jump for three shots of raw rock and soul!

Kritzerland Wraps Up 2011: Orson Welles on “Trial”, and Les (Baxter) Is More

2011 may be coming to a close, but the Kritzerland label still has a couple of surprises up its sleeve.  The label this morning announced its final two releases of the year, and both are offbeat gems: Lex Baxter’s scores to two Edgar Allan Poe offerings (Roger Corman’s 1963 The Raven and the Vincent Price-starring 1970 television special An Evening with Edgar Allan Poe) and Jean Ledrut’s score to Orson Welles’ 1962 film The Trial, described by the Citizen Kane director as “the best film I ever made.”

Emphasizing comedy over horror (just check out that cover artwork for the new CD!), The Raven starred Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff and a young Jack Nicholson, and was one in a line of Corman’s Poe-inspired B-movie classics.  Despite Baxter’s fun, eerie and effective score, The Raven had never seen a soundtrack release, until now!  Tape research for The Raven revealed only the second of two reels of the film’s music, but the label pressed forward as it was a full reel with music from not only the second part of the film but several cues from the first part, for a total of nearly 25 minutes of Baxter’s best.  Several of the composer’s electronic cues have been included as a bonus.   The Raven has been paired with the original soundtrack of  An Evening Of Edgar Allan Poe.  Previously released on CD by Citadel in “fake stereo,” Kritzerland’s release has been mastered from  its original mono tapes and in proper sequence.  The main and end titles, taken from the DVD release, have also been appended for the most complete presentation of the score yet.

The Trial was Orson Welles’ 1962 adaptation of the novel of the same name by Franz Kafka, and Welles captured the air of menace and danger that pervades Kafka’s work.  Anthony Perkins, post-Psycho, starred as the persecuted Joseph K., whose crime is never revealed.  Romy Schneider, Jeanne Moreau, and Elsa Martinelli all figure in K.’s life and trial.  Welles himself (also the author of the screenplay) portrays The Advocate, K.’s lawyer and also the main antagonist of the film.  Jean Ledrut composed the score, including adaptations of Tomaso Albinoni’s “Adagio in G minor.” Ledrut wasn’t prolific, but his music has left a lasting impression.  His score plays on variations of the Albinoni “Adagio,” in addition to his own evocative, original cues.  Martial Solal, of Breathless fame, contributes the jazz piano work, and it all adds up to one wonderfully varied soundtrack to a remarkable (and remarkably forgotten) film.  Kritzerland’s edition has been mastered from a quarter-inch tape source in excellent condition.

Both titles are limited editions of 1,00o copies priced at $19.98 plus S&H.  Both are scheduled to ship the third week of January from Kritzerland.  Pre-orders at Kritzerland typically ship an average of one to five weeks earlier, however.

Hit the jump for track listings, pre-order links and the complete press releases for each title!