Tag: Reissue
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The Oscar Peterson Trio, In a Mellow Mood, 1973 on MPS-BASF
This 2xLP set is actually a reissue of The Way I Really Play and Mellow Mood, which were volumes III and V of the Exclusively For My Friends series. Makes it very confusing when I’m in a record store and trying to determine whether I’ve completed the series or not. (I have not – still…
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Depeche Mode, Speak & Spell: The 12″ Singles, 2018 on Mute
Reissued box of singles by Rhino / Sire / Mute. The singles: “Dreaming of Me,” “New Life,” and “Just Can’t Get Enough” all came out in 1981, the same year as Speak & Spell the band’s debut album. This reissue from 2018 also includes a flexi-disc with “Sometimes I Wish I Was Dead” (which was…
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Japandroids, Celebration Rock, 2012 on Polyvinyl
Japandroids are a duo out of Vancouver BC – while this was their second album (the first was 2009’s Post-Nothing), it was their big breakout record and was pretty unavoidable in the early 2010s. My copy is the 2023 reissue by Vinyl Me Please, on what they call Fire’s Highway vinyl.
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Bob Marley & The Wailers, Legend (The Best Of Bob Marley & The Wailers), 1984 on Island Records.
This was required listening and a mandatory part of any healthy CD collecting heading into college in the 80s. It didn’t matter what musical subculture you came from, this was the lingua franca. I went on to many other Marley albums and deeper knowledge of Reggae and Caribbean music, but this was the one everyone…
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Santigold, Santigold, 2008 on Downtown / Lizard King
My copy is the recent Vinyl Me Please reissue on “gold nugget” vinyl. This is a 15th anniversary edition with an “art print” by Isabelle Lumpkin (Narcissister) who designed the original cover. Originally released as a self-titled album by Santogold, she later changed her name to Santigold based on legal action – so the later…
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Sturgill Simpson, High Top Mountain, 2013 on High Top Mountain Records.
This was Sturgill’s solo debut, self-funded and produced by Dave Cobb, with an outlaw country feel and some Nashville session players like Hargus “Pig” Robbins on keys and Robby Turner and Leroy Powell on Steel Guitar. Tremendous debut and auspicious of good things to come. My copy is the Vinyl Me Please 10th anniversary reissue…
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Various Artists, Inside Llewyn Davis (Original Soundtrack Recording), 2013 on Nonesuch
My copy is the 2023 Vinyl Me Please reissue on “Seaglass Wave” vinyl. Wonderful soundtrack from the Coen brothers movie, with lots of star Oscar Isaac but also Marcus Mumford, Punch Brothers, Chris Thile, and even Justin Timberlake, Adam Driver, and Carey Mulligan. “Please Mr. Kennedy,” a novelty song in the film that Davis misses…
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Archie James Cavanaugh, Black and White Raven, 1980 on Black and White Raven, Inc.
Self-released in 1980 but reissued by the Numero Group, Black and White Raven mixes Yacht Rock, Disco, and Gospel with some flavor of Cavanaugh’s native Tlingit heritage. Lots of the musicians here were part of Redbone, an LA band made up of Mexican American and Native American members. This was a Secretly Society issue on…
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Neil Young, Harvest, 1972 on Reprise
Definitely one of my desert island discs (unless I can cheat and count Decade as one release), Harvest came out in 1972. This would be an absolute classic even if you took out two or three songs: Out on the Weekend, Harvest, A Man Needs a Maid, Heart of Gold, Old Man – then closing…
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Bob Dylan, Blonde on Blonde, 1966 on Columbia
Dylan’s catalog is so extensive and so amazing it’s hard to keep track. Most of it just feels like it’s always just been there – part of the atmosphere. Blonde on Blonde came out in 1966, which feels impossibly early, even given Dylan started releasing albums in 1962. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 (aka…
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Naughty By Nature, Naughty By Nature, 1991 on Tommy Boy
Though self-titled, this is actually their second album together, the first (Independent Leaders) being released under the artist name The New Style. The unavoidable massive hit here was “O.P.P” but there are a lot of great songs, including “Ghetto Bastard” (aka “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright”). “Uptown Anthem,” and “1, 2, 3.” Featured vocalists/rappers include Queen…
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Johnny Cash, I Walk the Line, 1971 on Hilltop / Pickwick.
Labelled as Pickwick/33 on the cover, by arrangement with Share records, but then with Hilltop yellow labels – discount reissue of material previously released on Sun Records. (Share acquired Sun’s catalog in 1969; Pickwick/33 was a subsidiary of Pickwick International which also owned Hilltop – Hilltop focused on country/western.). There are so many reissues of…
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Aretha Franklin, I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You, 1967 on Atlantic
My copy is a 2022 reissue by Vinyl Me, Please as a part of their Essentials track. It was actually Franklin’s tenth studio album but her first release on Atlantic. Imagine having Respect as the lead off track on your debut album at a new label? Not that the nine albums at Columbia aren’t good…
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Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Hard Travelin’: songs by Woody Guthrie and others, 1977 on Fantasy
This is really a 2xLP reissue of two Prestige records: Jack Elliott Sings The Songs of Woody Guthrie (1960) and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott (1961). Fantasy purchased the catalog of Prestige, Riverside, and Milestone in the early seventies. My copy is a pressing from some time in the 80s with the blue Fantasy labels, which I…
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De La Soul, Stakes Is High, 1996 on Tommy Boy
So happy to see De La Soul’s catalog get reissued with quality new pressings. Three Feet High and Rising was one of my favorite hip hop albums of the 80s and their work continued to be strong well into and beyond this album. My copy of this (Stakes is High) is a 2023 reissue on…
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Marvin Gaye, What’s Going On, 1971 on Tamla.
My copy is a late 90s reissue on 180g vinyl with replicated artwork, which I picked up at a record fair at Mill No. 5 in Lowell. This is a must-have in every collection – find an older pressing if you can or a modern quality reissue. If you don’t know this album, go get…
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Kacey Musgraves, Same Trailer Different Park, 2013 on Mercury
My copy is the 2023 Vinyl Me Please reissue (in the VMP Essentials, not VMP Country track) on “green galaxy” vinyl. Love Musgraves’ songwriting – this was her fourth LP but is the one that got her lots of attention, and deservedly so. Mama’s hooked on Mary KayBrother’s hooked on Mary JaneAnd Daddy’s hooked on…
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Willie Nelson, Country Willie: His Own Songs, 1965 on RCA Victor
Nelson’s third LP, and his first for RCA Victor. Look how clean cut he is here, long before outlaw Willie. My copy is part of the Vinyl Me Please box set The Story of Willie Nelson which as you’d expect is well produced and packaged. (Though I prefer plain old black vinyl, these are well…
