Back to Black: Legacy Unveils Record Store Day Black Friday Exclusives From Simon, Dylan, Davis, Nilsson, Hendrix & More

It’s that time of year again!  Though Black Friday has taken a backseat in recent years to the once-unheard-of Thanksgiving Day sales, the folks at Record Store Day still hold the day after Thanksgiving in high esteem.  News has begun to trickle out about this year’s RSD Back to Black Friday exclusives, and the team at Legacy has certainly put together a collection of special vinyl releases – and a handful of CDs, too – that look back to recent releases from the label and forward to future titles.  All titles are available in participating Record Store Day locations on November 29!

Classic rock releases, naturally, are at the forefront of the Legacy slate:

(*) denotes numbered edition

Cheap Trick, The Classic Albums 1977-1979 * (Epic/Legacy) – A new box set of five 12” 180-gram LPs includes the first five Cheap Trick records: Cheap Trick (1977), In Color (1977), Heaven Tonight (1978), At Budokan (1978) and Dream Police (1979), all newly mastered in 2013 from the original analog tapes and packaged with original album artwork.

The Clash, The Clash / Give ‘Em Enough Rope / London Calling / Sandinista! / Combat Rock (Epic/Legacy) – These five classic Clash albums, included in the Sound System box set, are released separately as vinyl-replica CDs.

Bob Dylan, Side Tracks * (Columbia/Legacy) – The two-disc set of non-album material from The Complete Album Collection Vol. One is available as a numbered, 200-gram vinyl triple-LP set.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Fire b/w Foxey Lady (Live at The Miami Pop Festival) * (Experience Hendrix/Legacy) – This 7” single contains two performances from the Experience’s previously-unreleased set at the Miami Pop Festival in 1968, which is coming to CD very soon from Experience Hendrix and Legacy.

Paul Simon, Paul Simon / There Goes Rhymin’ Simon / Still Crazy After All These Years (Columbia/Legacy) – Rhymin’ Simon’s first three post-Simon & Garfunkel studio albums, recently on CD as part of The Complete Albums Collection, all arrive in remastered 180-gram LP editions, each also containing a download card.

After the jump: Legacy gets funky with Sly and the Family Stone, plus vintage rock and roll from Roy Orbison, classic pop from the one and only Harry Nilsson, Miles Davis in mono, and more!

Doors, Dead, Duran Drafted by Rhino for Record Store Day

It’s less than 70 days until (holiday name redacted because it’s too early to think about it), which means it’s almost time for Record Store Day’s Black Friday event! On November 29, participating stores will be stocking exclusive titles from major and independent labels. Warner Music Group’s Rhino catalogue arm – long thought on the ropes until a slew of releases this year – has five strong catalogue vinyl projects to offer on that special day, including one we’ve previously reported on (which marks the addition of a new classic band to the Rhino family).

We’ve got a full rundown on each title below! Titles marked with a * will be individually numbered; quantities are listed, as well.

The Doors, Curated by Record Store Day * (Elektra): this new compilation was put together by participating Record Store Day stores, who agreed upon a side of rare mono mixes of classic cuts and another featuring live performances. All have been mastered by original engineer Bruce Botnick and pressed on 180-gram vinyl; package variants feature the track list handwritten by surviving members Robby Krieger or John Densmore. (7,500 copies)

Track listing: Break On Through (to the Other Side)/Soul Kitchen/Moonlight Drive/When the Music’s Over (all mono) // Love Street/The Unknown Soldier (Live @ The Hollywood Bowl 1968)/Roadhouse Blues (Live @ The Felt Forum, New York City – 1/17/1970)/Five to One (Live in Boston 1970)

Duran Duran, No Ordinary EP * (Parlophone): in the spring of 1993, as the ’80s hitmakers enjoyed a major comeback with two Top 10 hits off their self-titled seventh studio album (nicknamed The Wedding Album), their touring schedule took them to a special intimate show at Los Angeles’ Tower Records store. Three tracks – the new hit “Come Undone” and reworked versions of hits “Hungry Like the Wolf” and “Notorious” – were released on a promotional cassette at the time; that cassette is now available on 10″ white vinyl for the Black Friday festivities! (5,000 copies)

The Grateful Dead, Family Dog At The Great Highway, San Francisco, CA – 4/18/1970 (Grateful Dead/Warner Bros.): what a find! A long-lost acoustic set (previously released as an incomplete digital official bootleg) featuring originals (“Friend of the Devil,” “New Speedway Boogie”) and covers (“Wake Up Little Susie,” “I Know You Rider”), plus six solo songs by organist Ron “Pigpen” McKiernan. This 180-gram double LP set features mastering from Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering and new sleeve art from Scott McDougal. (7,500 copies)

Jethro Tull, Benefit * (Warner Bros.): with a new remix by Steven Wilson due out, Warner goes back to the original U.S. pressing of Tull’s third LP on 180-gram vinyl. (3,000 copies)

Stone Temple Pilots, Core (Atlantic): the San Diego rock band’s first and biggest-selling album, released in 1992 helped usher in the alternative rock revolution of the early part of the decade. Featuring radio staples “Sex Type Thing,” “Creep” and the Top 40 hit “Plush,” this edition (the first on wax since the album’s initial release) will be pressed on translucent yellow vinyl. (3,000 copies)

WE HAVE A WINNER! Chrysalis Live Classics from Ten Years After, Robin Trower and UFO!

KEITH PETTIPAS, THESE THREE SETS ARE YOURS! E-mail or Facebook message us and they’ll be on their way!

Shower The People: “The Essential James Taylor” Blends Best of Columbia, Warner Years

If you, like me, immediately think of James Taylor whenever you hear the initials “JT” in the context of a music superstar, then Legacy Recordings has a release just for you!  The Essential James Taylor, due on October 29 like The Essential Boz Scaggs, is the troubadour’s first-ever 2-CD career-spanning anthology.  Its 30 studio and live tracks draw on the artist’s tenures at Warner Bros., Columbia and Hear Music, from 1970’s breakthrough Sweet Baby James through 2007’s One Man Band.

Following James Taylor’s self-titled 1968 Apple Records debut (which its producer, Peter Asher, wrote “[could be] fairly described as ‘over-produced’”), the British Asher and American Taylor decamped for the U.S., and specifically, Los Angeles.  Though James Taylor met with little success, Asher still believed in his charge.  Taylor assembled loyal friends, including a pre-Tapestry Carole King and future Eagle Randy Meisner, to support his often-gentle vocals and distinctive guitar style on his Warner Bros. debut, Sweet Baby James. That combination of an innately sweet voice with an almost painfully honest lyric led “Fire and Rain” straight to a No. 3 placement on the Billboard Hot 100, but that single is far from all the Grammy-nominated Sweet Baby James has to offer. The Essential includes “Fire and Rain” plus the title track.  Five more studio LPs followed at Warners through 1976 all of which are represented on the new compilation: Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon (“Long Ago and Far Away,” the chart-topping “You’ve Got a Friend”), One Man Dog (“Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight”), Walking Man (“Walking Man”), Gorilla (“How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You),” “Mexico” with David Crosby and Graham Nash on backing vocals),  and In the Pocket (“Shower the People”).  Taylor closed out his Warner Bros. period with the release of the multiple-platinum-selling Greatest Hits, which included new versions of two songs from his Apple debut, “Carolina in My Mind” and “Something in the Way She Moves,” plus an exclusive live version of “Steamroller” from Sweet Baby James.  All three of those have been included on The Essential.

After the jump: an overview of Taylor’s Columbia years and beyond, plus the full track listing and pre-order links!