Release Round-Up: Weeks of December 17 and 24

With the last two weeks of the year so light on catalogue titles, we figured we’d combine it all into one post. Below you’ll find two new titles for this week, and two for the next!

The Pogues, 30 Years (Rhino U.K.)

Here, in one box, is all of the Irish folk-rockers’ original albums, including new mixes of debut Red Roses for Me and Peace and Love, plus a bonus unreleased live show from 1991 with Joe Strummer of The Clash assuming lead vocal duties. (Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.)

Boz Scaggs, Boz Scaggs (Hybrid SACD – DSD) / Warren Zevon, Excitable Boy (Hybrid SACD – DSD) (Audio Fidelity)

Two new audiophile titles, mastered by Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman, respectively.

Yes, The Studio Albums (Rhino)

A collection of all of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-nominated prog group’s studio albums for Atlantic/ATCO, featuring the remastered and expanded presentations from 2003-2004 and the 2009 expanded remaster of 1987’s Big Generator, previously released only in Japan. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Various Artists, American Hustle: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Legacy)

The soundtrack to this highly-anticipated, award-contender drama from David O. Russell (director of last year’s excellent Silver Linings Playbook) features, among other period pop/rock tracks, including a re-recorded version of Electric Light Orchestra’s “10538 Overture,” the Japan-only Zoom bonus track “Long Black Road” (left off the last remaster) and a new Jeff Lynne track, “Stream of Stars.”

Release Round-Up: Week of October 29

Bananarama, Deep Sea Skiving / Bananarama / True Confessions / Wow! / Pop Life / Please Yourself: Deluxe Editions (Edsel)

The pop trio’s London discography gets the royal treatment with these 2CD/1DVD expanded editions featuring loads of rare and unreleased bonus tracks.

Deep Sea Skiving: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Bananarama: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
True Confessions: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Wow!: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Pop Life: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Please Yourself: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Humble Pie, Performance: Rockin’ The Fillmore – The Complete Recordings (Omnivore)

The landmark 1971 album is expanded into box set form, featuring all four sets at the legendary Fillmore East recorded for the original release. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Jethro Tull, Benefit: A Collector’s Edition (Chrysalis/Rhino)

Tull’s third album gets newly remixed in stereo and surround by Steven Wilson and newly expanded with rare single and remix material. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Andy Williams, The Complete Christmas Recordings / Bobby Darin, The 25th Day of December with Bobby Darin / Patti Page, Christmas with Patti Page (Deluxe Edition) / The New Christy Minstrels, The Complete Columbia Christmas Recordings / Various Artists, Funky Christmas / Tompall and the Glaser Brothers, Lovin’ Her Was Easier/After All These Years / Belfegore, Belfegore (Deluxe Edition) (Real Gone Music)

Spread some holiday cheer with the latest batch of Real Gone titles, which also includes the incredibly rare sophomore album by German goth/New Wave outfit Belfegore – now expanded with bonus tracks.

Andy Williams: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Bobby Darin: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Patti Page: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
The New Christy Minstrels: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Funky Christmas: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Tompall Glaser: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Belfegore: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Boz Scaggs / James Taylor / Wu-Tang Clan, The Essential (Legacy)

The latest in the double-disc hits series includes career-spanning treasuries from Scaggs and Taylor (including the Warner and Columbia years in equal measure) and a new collection from hip-hop collective Wu-Tang Clan.

Boz: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
JT: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Wu-Tang: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Various Artists, 12″ Disco: The Collection (Rhino U.K.)

Compiled by the fine folks at Big Break Records, this triple disc set features disco hits and rarities in equal measure, including a few tracks bowing onto CD for the first time. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Leo Sayer, Just a Box: The Complete Studio Recordings 1971-2006 (Edsel)

All of the U.K. hitmaker’s (“You Make Me Feel Like Dancing,” “When I Need You”) studio albums, plus two discs of rarities in this exhaustive set curated by Sayer himself on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of his first U.K. hit, “The Show Must Go On.” (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Various Artists, Oh Yes We Can Love: The History of Glam Rock (Universal U.K.)

A quintuple-disc set exhaustively looks at a half-century of the glam rock genre, digging far beyond the usual hits and influential tracks. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Ramones, The Sire Years 1976-1981 (Rhino)

The first six Ramones LPs, albeit without any of the bonus tracks included on previous reissues. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Eagles, The Studio Albums 1972-1979 (LP) (Rhino)

A vinyl box featuring the band’s complete Elektra studio albums. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

The “Lowdown” On Legacy’s Upcoming “Essential Boz Scaggs”

Earlier this year, Boz Scaggs returned from a five-year absence from the studio with Memphis, a collection celebrating classic southern soul like “Rainy Night in Georgia,” “Love on a Two Way Street” and “Mixed Up, Shook Up Girl.”  In just a couple of weeks, Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings will be celebrating Scaggs’ own music with the October 29 release of the 2-CD anthology The Essential Boz Scaggs.  This 32-song set draws on Scaggs’ landmark tenure at Columbia Records which yielded 1976’s Silk Degrees but also on his recordings for Atlantic, Virgin and 429 Records right up through Memphis.

Singer-songwriter-guitarist Scaggs made a splash on the first two albums by the Steve Miller Band before departing that group’s ranks to pursue solo fame.  1969’s Atlantic Records LP Boz Scaggs wasn’t his debut; that honor actually went to the all-but-forgotten, never-reissued Boz, which received a release in Sweden only in 1965.   But Boz Scaggs (co-produced by Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone) paired the singer-songwriter-guitarist with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and the great Duane Allman on guitar, and attracted enough attention to gain him a Columbia Records contract.  1971’s Moments began his association with Columbia, and its mellow brand of blue-eyed soul would lead to the 1976 breakthrough Silk Degrees.

Scaggs’ seventh overall album and fifth for Columbia, Silk handily bested the No. 81 chart placement of its predecessor Slow Dancer.  Silk Degrees, produced by Joe Wissert with backing from future Toto men David Paich, Jeff Porcaro, Steve Porcaro and David Hungate, peaked at No. 2 and spent 115 weeks on the Billboard chart.  Three of its singles, “Lowdown,” “It’s Over” and “Lido Shuffle” all made the Top 40.  A fourth single, “What Can I Say,” barely missed that mark, with a No. 42 berth.  “Lowdown” netted Scaggs a Grammy Award, and the album’s closing song (and the B-side of two separate singles) “We’re All Alone” went on to receive numerous cover versions of which Rita Coolidge’s Adult Contemporary chart-topper was undoubtedly the most successful.  Scaggs’ winning streak continued with the platinum sellers Down Two Then Left (1977) and Middle Man (1980) as well as the No. 3 AC/No. 14 Pop single “Look What You’ve Done to Me” from the film Urban Cowboy.  “Look What You’ve Done to Me” – with backing vocals from Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Timothy B. Schmit of The Eagles – and the Top 15 hit “Miss Sun” both appeared on 1980’s Hits! LP, and are reprised here.

What else will you find on The Essential?  Hit the jump for more details plus the track listing with discographical annotation and pre-order links!

Release Round-Up: Week of May 21

The Beach Boys, Live: The 50th Anniversary Tour (Capitol)

Brian, Mike, Al, Bruce and David may not be touring again anytime soon, but at least we now have two discs of live memories to play. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Townes Van Zandt, The Late Great Townes Van Zandt / High, Low and In Between (Omnivore)

You heard the demos, now rediscover these great country albums, on CD or vinyl!

Late Great CD (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.), LP (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)
High, Low CD (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.), LP (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Various Artists, FM: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Culture Factory USA)

The hit-filled soundtrack, featuring the Steely Dan single of the same name, is the latest to get the Culture Factory LP replica treatment. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes, Diana Ross, Donna Summer, Jeff Buckley, Chet Atkins et al., Playlist: The Very Best of (Legacy)

A dozen or so new entries in the Playlist series are coming your way this week. Watch this space tomorrow for a full breakdown on them all!

Review: Duane Allman, “Skydog: The Duane Allman Retrospective”

“I ain’t wastin’ time no more,” Gregg Allman sang following the death of his brother Duane at the age of 24 in October 1971, “’cause time goes by like pouring rain…and much faster things/You don’t need no gypsy to tell you why/You can’t let one precious day slip by.”  Surveying the remarkable new box set Skydog: The Duane Allman Retrospective (Rounder 11661-9137-2), it’s evident that Duane Allman’s too few days certainly were precious, filled with soulful sounds that transcended genre tags like rock, blues, pop and R&B.  It’s sobering to realize that the seven-disc box’s consistently surprising, dynamic and gripping licks were recorded in just six short years, between 1965 and 1971, and only three of its 129 tracks were recorded under the name of “Duane Allman.”  Rather, as a leader of the Allman Brothers Band and anonymous session man for everybody from Lulu to Aretha Franklin, Duane Allman generously placed his gifts as a musician in the service of others.

Skydog tells the story of Howard Duane Allman’s transformation from journeyman guitarist in a number of bands to session pro and ultimately, rock star.  (“Skydog” was his nickname.)  It’s artfully crafted in chronological fashion by recording date, including all of the major touchstones in Allman’s career as well as a number of tracks that add color, context and a further understanding of the man’s art.  All told, 33 of its tracks are new to CD or previously unreleased altogether, and each disc as so expertly curated by producers Bill Levenson and Duane’s daughter Galadrielle Allman creates a distinct chapter of a tragically too-short story.

Dive in, after the jump!

Release Round-Up: Week of January 25

Thin Lizzy, Jailbreak / Johnny the Fox / Live and Dangerous: Deluxe Editions (Universal)

A trio of long-awaited deluxe editions from the U.K., featuring bonus tracks, non-LP sides and (in the case of Live and Dangerous) a DVD. (Amazon U.K.)

Santana, The Swing of Delight / Zebop! / Shango: 30th Anniversary Editions (Friday Music)

Though only one of them is truly a 30th anniversary edition (each album dates back from 1980, 1981 and 1982, respectively), these remasters are more than welcome for fans of classic Santana. (Friday Music)

Various Artists, The Very Best of The Rat Pack (Reprise/Rhino)

Frank, Sammy and Dino’s greatest hits on one disc, along with a previously unreleased outtake by the Chairman of the Board. (Rhino)

Bing Crosby, Bing Sings the Sinatra Songbook / Bing & Rosie: The Crosby-Clooney Radio Sessions / A Southern Memoir (Collector’s Choice)

Three new archive titles for Bing from Collector’s Choice, including some choice materials from the vault. (Official site)

Edwin Starr, Clean: Expanded Edition / Marlena Shaw, Sweet Beginnings: Expanded Edition / Tom Browne, Love Approach: Expanded Edition (Big Break Records)

As detailed in yesterday’s post, three of a dozen or so expanded soul reissues from the U.K.-based label. (BBR)

Various Artists, Playlist (Sony/Legacy)

A huge chunk of Playlist titles for a number of Sony artists, easy on the wallet and a few of them packing some rarities. Consult here for more info. (Legacy)

Legacy Readies New Playlists for 2011

Legacy Recording has got another batch of titles in the long-running Playlist series for next month.

The line-up is particularly diverse, stretching from soul (Lou Rawls, Patti Labelle) to more recent pop acts (Five for Fighting, Ace of Base, Bowling for Soup) and even touching on some gospel acts (including a spiritual disc from Willie Nelson). They’re not as heavy on the rarities, although some of the sets have some appealing rare cuts; Mr. Mister’s compilation will feature four tracks from the recently-released Pull, and The Outfield will debut a new single (from a forthcoming album) on their set.

All these titles are coming out January 25. Order them here and check out the track lists after the jump!

More Boz Scaggs Reissues That We Apparently Missed

There are a few more Boz Scaggs reissues coming from Friday Music this month. The label had four CD reissues of Boz Scaggs titles listed on their Web site, and your humble catalogue correspondent had wrongfully assumed that the top two listings were much more recent than the bottom two. So there is more to report on than the two mentioned last week.

These titles sit back-to-back in Scaggs’ discography, placed right after the singer/songwriter/guitarist’s first album on Columbia Records, Moments (1971). There’s Boz Scaggs & Band, a soulful outing produced by Glyn Johns and featuring Scaggs with his road-tested live backing band. It’s followed by My Time (1972), a rocking crossover record bolstered by the radio hit “Dinah Flo.” Both sets have been expanded with new-to-CD single mixes and live bonus tracks.

You can order each set (including the previously-reported expansions of Moments and Other Roads (1988)) here and hit the jump for the track info.

“Other Roads” Less Traveled: Friday Music Preps Boz Scaggs Reissues

Friday Music has added some more titles to their ongoing series of Boz Scaggs reissues. The label will expand two Columbia LPs from the singer/songwriter/guitarist with remastered sound and packaging.

First, there’s Moments, Scaggs’ debut for Colubmia which featured production by Glyn Johns and a minor hit with “We Were Always Sweethearts.” (Listen for a young Rita Coolidge on backing vocals on the track “Near You”!) This set includes two mono single mixes and a pair of rare EP tracks.

Other Roads saw Scaggs making quite the comeback after eight years away from the industry. Armed with an all-star cast of sidemen (a good chunk of Toto, James Ingram, Siedah Garrett, Timothy B. Schmit, and producers Stewart Levine and Patrick Leonard, each man coming off a respective hot streak with Simply Red and Madonna), Other Roads was an adult-contemporary smash. This reissue includes two non-LP B-sides and a rare remix.

Check out the track lists after the jump and click here to pre-order the sets, due for release on August 31.