Release Round-Up: Week of November 4

Bob Dylan, The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete and Raw  (Columbia/Legacy)

At long last, here are the complete and unexpurgated Basement Tapes – 6 discs and over 140 songs recorded in the creatively fertile days of 1967 and 1968 by Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson, Garth Hudson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Levon Helm.  Quite simply, this treasure trove of Americana may well be the Catalogue Music Event of the Year.

Complete: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Raw:

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

The Paul McCartney Archive Collection: Wings, Venus and Mars (Hear Music/MPL, 2014)

Paul McCartney continues his Archive Collection with deluxe, bonus-packed editions of two Wings classics: 1975’s Venus and Mars and 1976’s Wings at the Speed of Sound!  Full details including track listings and more can be found right here!

2-CD/1-DVD Deluxe Book Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / 2-CD Standard Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Gatefold Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

The Paul McCartney Archive Collection: Wings, At the Speed of Sound (Hear Music/MPL, 2014)

2-CD/1-DVD Deluxe Book Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / 2-CD Standard Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Gatefold Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Robert Goulet: The Complete Columbia Christmas Recordings (Amazon U.S. /Amazon U.K.) /  Andy Williams and the Williams Brothers: The Williams Brothers Christmas Album (Amazon U.S. /Amazon U.K.) / The Statler Brothers: The Complete Mercury Christmas Recordings Featuring the Albums “Christmas Card” & “Christmas Present” (Amazon U.S. /Amazon U.K. ) / The Brothers Four: Merry Christmas (Expanded Edition) (Amazon U.S. /Amazon U.K. ) / The Kingston Trio: The Last Month of the Year (Amazon U.S. /Amazon U.K. ) /  Rosemary Clooney: In Songs from the Paramount Pictures Production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (Expanded Edition) (Amazon U.S. /Amazon U.K.) / Frank DeVol and the Rainbow Strings: The Old Sweet Songs of Christmas (Amazon U.S. /Amazon U.K.) / Dick Wagner: Dick Wagner (Amazon U.S. /Amazon U.K.)

Christmas arrives early this year thanks to our friends at Real Gone Music!  The label has a whopping seven Christmas albums due this week from artists including rare holiday music from Rosemary Clooney, The Statler Brothers, The Kingston Trio, Frank DeVol and The Brothers Four!  And that’s not all.  We’re particularly excited about two of Real Gone’s releases.  Joe compiled and annotated Robert Goulet’s Complete Columbia Christmas Recordings featuring both of Goulet’s classic holiday LPs plus a host of bonus tracks, and he has also written the notes for the first CD reissue  from the original master tapes of Andy Williams and the Williams Brothers’ Christmas Album!  Get a head start on the Christmas season with these happy holiday reissues!

T Rex, The Albums Collection (Edsel) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Edsel has boxed up T Rex’s eight studio albums and added two CDs of selected bonus material for this one-stop-shopping set.

Rolling Stones, From the Vault: Hampton Coliseum 1981 (Eagle Rock)

This 1981 live concert from The Rolling Stones’ digital archive goes physical on CD, LP, DVD and standard definition Blu-ray.  The program continues later this month with similar releases for L.A. Forum – Live in 1975!

CD: Amazon U.S.

Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

DVD [NTSC] + CD Set: Amazon U.K.

John Denver, All of My Memories: The John Denver Collection (RCA/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

This new box set traces the beloved, late troubadour’s career over four CDs and 90 songs recorded between 1964 and 1997.

Big Star, Live in Memphis (Omnivore)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 

Vinyl with Download Card: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Roger Taylor, Best (Omnivore)

The first-ever best-of for the Queen drummer features 18 tracks from his criminally-unknown solo catalogue!

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

King Crimson, Starless (DGM) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

This King Crimson treasure chest contains 27 discs – including CDs, DVD-As, and BDs – for an immersive, in-depth look at Crimson circa 1973-1974, live and in the studio.  Full details on this stunning collection can be found here!

Ronnie Milsap, The Complete RCA Albums Collection (RCA/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

This 21-CD set chronicles the Country Music Hall of Famer’s career at RCA Records, from 1973 to 1991, plus his return to the label in 2006!

Yes, Relayer CD/DVD-A and CD/BD (Panegyric)

CD/DVD-A: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

CD/BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Steven Wilson works his magic on Yes’ 1974 Relayer, the band’s seventh studio album!  Wilson provides new stereo and surround mixes available on CD + DVD-A or BD configurations.

XTC, Drums and Wires CD/DVD-A and CD/BD (Ape House)

CD/DVD-A: Amazon U.S. TBD / Amazon U.K.

CD/BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Wilson takes the same approach for the newest volume in Ape House’s series of deluxe XTC reissues on CD/DVD-A and CD/BD: 1979’s Drums and Wires, the band’s third album.

Scorpions, Blackout SACD (Audio Fidelity) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

The eighth studio album from Germany’s favorite hard rockers arrives on hybrid stereo SACD, playable in all CD players, from Audio Fidelity.

Various Artists, Blue Note: Uncompromising Expression (Blue Note) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Blue Note celebrates its 75th anniversary with 75 single sides collected on this new 5-CD box set.  Each disc represents a different era in the label’s history – which is, to say, the history of jazz!

Thelonious Monk, ‘Round Midnight: The Complete Blue Note Singles 1947-1952 (Blue Note) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Thelonious Monk’s recordings for Blue Note signaled the label’s move from boogie woogie and vintage jazz to cutting-edge hard bop. These recordings, which include the first version of Monk’s classic composition “‘Round Midnight” (originally recorded as “‘Round About Midnight”), were released on a series of fifteen 78 RPM singles. Later, the singles were re-compiled on 10-inch and 12-inch LPs.  This collection, housed in a hardbound digipak, will present for the first time Monk’s Blue Note singles in their original 78 RPM sequence of release, adding as bonus tracks the alternate takes that appeared on later LP and CD releases.  All told, the 2-CD set includes nine tracks not available on any current reissues of the great pianist/composer’s albums.

Frank Sinatra, Come Fly with Me / In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning / This is Sinatra! / A Jolly Christmas with Frank Sinatra / Sinatra and Swingin’ Brass / Moonlight Sinatra (Vinyl) (Capitol/UMe)

As part of the Signature Sinatra initiative, Capitol/UMe has been releasing a series of select original Sinatra LPs from both his Capitol and Reprise catalogues in limited edition, remastered heavyweight vinyl pressings.  Look for this series to continue with more releases in the very near future!  We’ve been able to obtain few details about these releases, but we can confirm that Come Fly with Me is mono, as is A Jolly Christmas with Frank Sinatra.  (No true stereo version of the latter has ever been issued.)  (Thanks to The Sinatra Family Forum for their valuable info on these releases!)

Come Fly with Me (Mono – Amazon shows incorrect stereo cover): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

In the Wee Small Hours: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

This is Sinatra! : Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

A Jolly Christmas with Frank Sinatra (Mono): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Sinatra and Swingin’ Brass: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Moonlight Sinatra: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Carly Simon, Playlist: The Very Best of Carly Simon (Arista/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

This 14-track Playlist volume combines Carly’s hit Arista recordings (“The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of,” “Coming Around Again,” “Better Not Tell Her”) with live cuts (“You’re So Vain,” “Anticipation”) and one new-to-CD track: the Live from Grand Central performance of “Touched by the Sun.”

 

Judy Collins, Both Sides Now: The Very Best of Judy Collins (Wildflower) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

The catalogue of Collins’ own Wildflower Records is tapped for this 2-CD, 28-track set drawn primarily from recent and late-period recordings.

Bette Midler, It’s the Girls (Warner Bros.) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. )

The Divine Miss M returns with her tribute to the greatest girl groups of all time – and Bette isn’t limiting herself to any one era, as she tackles songs by The Andrews Sisters, The Shirelles, The Supremes, TLC and more!  Marc Shaiman (Hairspray, Smash) produces this spirited set!

Neil Young, Storytone (Reprise)

For his latest album, Neil Young fulfilled his ambitions to record an LP live with an orchestra in the same room.  The lush Storytone features a 92-piece orchestra and choir, and is available in a deluxe edition with a second disc of Neil’s solo renditions of its songs.  With material ranging from dramatic ballads to finger-snapping swingers, this is truly a departure from anything Young has done before – and is well worth checking out for that reason alone.

Deluxe 2-CD Version (Orchestrated and solo albums): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Standard Edition (Orchestrated album only): Amazon U.K.

180-gram Double Vinyl (Orchestrated and solo albums): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

The Doobie Brothers, Southbound (Arista Nashville) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Listen to the music!  For this greatest-hits duets set, The Doobie Brothers (including Michael McDonald) have teamed up with current country stars including Blake Shelton, The Zac Brown Band, Hunter Hayes, Brad Paisley, Sara Evans, Toby Keith and Vince Gill.  Southbound marks the first Doobie Brothers album to feature Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons and Michael McDonald since 1976’s Takin’ It to the Streets!

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like a Real Gone Christmas: Label Preps Robert Goulet, Andy Williams and the Williams Brothers, B.J. Thomas, More

The first day of autumn is almost here, but Real Gone Music is looking ahead to winter – and the most spectacular line-up of holiday music we’ve seen since The Second Disc started up nearly five years ago!  The label has just unveiled its release slate for November 4, with a whopping seven Christmas titles, two contemporary Christian albums from a classic pop legend that make a perfect seasonal  complement, and – just to keep things rocking – a hotly-anticipated CD from a classic rock great.

I’m doubly proud to announce that four of the titles in this batch are extra-special to us here at Second Disc HQ.  I’ve compiled and annotated the first-ever collection of The Complete Columbia Christmas Recordings of the one and only Mr. Robert Goulet!  That means both of Mr. Goulet’s sparkling holiday LPs (This Christmas I Spend with You and Robert Goulet’s Wonderful World of Christmas), of course, but we’re also adding a little extra under the Christmas tree with both sides of a rare mono 45 and all three duets recorded by Goulet and his then-wife Carol Lawrence – including “The Christmas Waltz,” never before on CD!  Spectacularly remastered at Sony’s Battery Studios, these long out-of-print Christmas classics from one of the most distinctive vocalists of all time have never sounded better!

I’ve also written the liner notes for another true labor of love for the Real Gone team: the first-ever wide-release CD issue of 1970’s The Williams Brothers Christmas Album – the only full-length album featuring Andy Williams and his brothers Bob, Dick and Don!  With some of the most spectacular harmony singing ever put on a Christmas record, the album is highlighted by an amazing side-long medley of holiday favorites and the Williams Brothers’ renditions of Kay Thompson’s “The Holiday Season” and “Jingle Bells,” this original Barnaby Records release – freshly remastered from the original tapes for the first time by Mike Milchner at SonicVision – finally can take its place among Andy Williams’ Christmas treasures on compact disc.  This reissue of  The Williams Brothers Christmas Album follows last year’s comprehensive, 2-CD release from Real Gone of Andy’s complete Columbia Christmas recordings!

Real Gone is also chronicling a key chapter in the career of B.J. Thomas with two new releases.  In the mid-1970s, Thomas became one of the most successful artists ever in the field of contemporary Christian music, recording a series of record-breaking, Grammy Award-winning albums for the Myrrh label that reflected the style and high production values of his pop material but with a spiritual emphasis.  Featuring key players from Muscle Shoals and the Nashville A-Team and songs by Hal David, Chris Christian, Archie Jordan, Pete Drake, and B.J. and his wife Gloria, these albums have never received their due on CD – until now!  Home Where I Belong/Happy Man and You Gave Me Love/Miracle, with two albums on each CD, reveal a major chapter in the career of B.J. Thomas – and these amazing, heartfelt and incredibly catchy records aren’t just for Christian music fans!  Best of all, B.J. was kind enough to contribute to my liner notes for both releases, illuminating this often-misunderstood period of his remarkable, and still-thriving, career.

These four titles are joined by other must-have stocking stuffers from The Statler Brothers, The Brothers Four, The Kingston Trio, Frank DeVol and Rosemary Clooney – plus Real Gone has the long-lost solo album from Alice Cooper and Lou Reed’s frequent collaborator Dick Wagner on CD!  After the jump, we have the label’s press release and pre-order links!

Release Round-Up: Week of March 18

Elvis Presley, Recorded Live on Stage in Memphis: Legacy Edition 

The King’s 1974 live gig in his home turf is remastered and paired with a show in Richmond, Virginia from two days before and a handful of RCA studio rehearsals in Hollywood. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Belinda Carlisle, The Anthology / The Collection (Edsel/Demon)

Edsel did a great job of expanding Belinda’s solo catalogue last year; now, they’ve prepped a CD/DVD hits set and 3CD/2DVD box for the fans, with singles, rarities, promo videos and live material.

The Anthology (3CD/2DVD): Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.
The Collection (CD/DVD): Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.

Odyssey, I Got the Melody / Happy Together (Big Break Records)

The last two albums by the “Native New Yorker” dance group. Features the singles “Going Back to My Roots” (penned by Lamont Dozier), “Together” (written by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards) and “Inside Out”; both albums feature new liner notes and bonus tracks.

I Got the Melody: Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.
Happy Together: Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.

Barbara Mason, Transition (Soul Brother/Passion Music)

A remastered edition of the “Yes I’m Ready” soul queen’s funky 1974 Buddah Records release, with arrangements from Philly soul greats Norman Harris, Bobby Eli and Richard Rome. (Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.)

Sandra Rhodes, Where’s Your Love Been (Omnivore)

Known for her background vocals and songwriting for everyone from Al Green to Conway Twitty, this forgotten 1972 album for Fantasy Records is rediscovered with seven bonus tracks and a whole lot of country-soul in the mix. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Robert Goulet, Brigadoon / Kiss Me Kate: Original Television Soundtracks (Masterworks Broadway)

Robert Goulet stars in this pair of classic musicals-for-television!  This release marks the first time on CD(-R) for these rare Columbia Special Products albums originally released through, of all places, Armstrong flooring stores. They’re available exclusively at masterworksbroadway.com.

From Brigadoon to Dogpatch, USA: Masterworks’ Slate Features Robert Goulet Musicals, “Li’l Abner,” “Virginia Woolf”

It might be a typical day in Dogpatch, USA, but it’s far from a typical one around these parts, for Sony’s Masterworks Broadway imprint has unveiled its first three releases of 2014 – each one a rare album never previously available in the compact disc/digital era.  Next Tuesday, January 14, Masterworks will reissue the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to the movie musical Li’l Abner, arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle.  Next month, on February 18, comes the spoken-word Original Broadway Cast Recording of Edward Albee’s Tony Award-winning Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? starring Uta Hagen and Arthur Hill.  Finally, on March 18, Masterworks revisits the Golden Age of the television musical with two rare soundtracks starring Robert Goulet: Brigadoon and Kiss Me, Kate.

Oh, happy day!  Between 1934 and 1977, newspaper readers delighted in Li’l Abner, the comic strip adventures of the denizens of Dogpatch, USA.  Controversial cartoonist Al Capp’s colorful coterie of characters – among them Li’l Abner, Mammy, Pappy and Daisy Mae Yokum, Marryin’ Sam, Moonbeam McSwine, and The Shmoo – were instruments of Capp’s biting satire, and at its height, Abner was reportedly read by 70 million Americans, or more than a third of the country’s then-total population.  Though a Li’l Abner film arrived in 1940, and songs were recorded about the character throughout the forties, a full-fledged Broadway musical didn’t arrive until 1956. Starring Peter Palmer, Edie Adams, Stubby Kaye, Tina Louise, Julie Newmar and Charlotte Rae, and sporting a score by Johnny Mercer and Gene DePaul, director Michael Kidd’s production ran for 693 performances.  A film version arrived from Paramount in 1959, with the stage show’s co-book writers Melvin Frank and Norman Panama on board as director and producer, respectively.

Columbia Records issued both the Original Broadway Cast Recording and the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, the latter of which is finally arriving on CD-R and digital download from Masterworks Broadway on January 14.  Many of the stage show’s actors reprised their roles (including Palmer, Kaye, Newmar and ensemble member Valerie Harper), and Nelson Riddle was tapped to arrange and conduct the score.  He and choral arranger Joseph J. Lilley received the movie’s only Oscar nomination.  Columbia’s stereo soundtrack album was actually a re-recording/re-editing of the score for home listening, as was a common practice of the day.  This long-unavailable album will be released exclusively at MasterworksBroadway.com on January 14 in a limited quantity of Manufacture-On-Demand (MOD) CDs as well as digital download.  The CD-R will be available through Arkiv Music on February 11, plus downloads through other digital service providers the same day.

After the jump, we have details on Virginia Woolf and the Robert Goulet two-fer, plus full track listings!