Rare 1974 Cat Stevens Concert Album To Receive First-Ever U.S. Release On RSD Black Friday

Yusuf / Cat Stevens’ little known 1974 concert album, Saturnight: Live from Tokyo, is scheduled for release in the U.S. for the first time ever, 50 years after it was released only in Japan, due to contractual restrictions. Remastered from the original production master for the first time since its original release, the record will go on sale exclusively as part of Record Store Day’s Black Friday annual event on November 29th. 

Saturnight: Live from Tokyo will be available as an “RSD First” release on 180-gram Orange Splatter color vinyl. The LP has been cut at the world-famous Abbey Road Studios and will be packaged for the first time in a gatefold sleeve that includes lyrics and new liner notes from the band’s 1974 tour manager, Carl Miller, and bassist Bruce Lynch.

Pre-order Saturnight: Live from Tokyo

Saturnight was recorded on June 22nd, 1974, at Sun Plaza Hall in Nakano, Tokyo, Japan on the Japanese leg of  the 1974 “Bamboozle World Tour.” The tour comprised 50 shows across North America, Europe, Australia and Japan to support the release of Buddha and the Chocolate Box. Stevens had long felt an affinity with the aesthetic elegance and spiritual depth of Japanese culture, especially the principles of meditation and reflection upon which their traditions of poetry, design and craftsmanship are founded.

Saturnight features Cat Stevens at his peak, performing an incredible concert of songs from his then-newest release, Buddha and the Chocolate Box (“Oh Very Young,” “King of Trees,” “A Bad Penny”) alongside some of his greatest hits which dominated the charts in the early ‘70s. These include the classics “Lady D’Arbanville” (Mona Bone Jakon - 1970); “Wild World,” “Where Do The Children Play?” “Hard Headed Woman,” “Father & Son” (Tea for the Tillerman - 1970); “Peace Train,” “Bitterblue” (Teaser and the Firecat - 1971); and “Sitting” (Catch Bull at Four - 1972).

Also included is a soulful cover of Sam Cooke’s “Another Saturday Night.” Stevens and his band were fresh from recording the song at a studio in Tokyo using a Japanese brass section – the very same version that would go on to become a hit single later that year. The performance on Saturnight captures the first time they ever played “Another Saturday Night” live.

Although Saturnight never received a full global release – due to contractual reasons between A&M and Island Records – Stevens arranged for the proceeds to be donated to UNICEF. He had recently become a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and with their help, had visited Ethiopia and Kenya earlier in 1974. There, he saw firsthand some of the utter devastation caused by drought and famine, but also witnessed the remarkable resilience and nobility of the human spirit. The experience moved him profoundly and had a truly lasting impact on his life and career, so that his humanitarian efforts would soon overtake his personal musical ambitions.

As Cat Stevens redirected more of his individual success towards helping those in need, he would eventually leave the music industry altogether. Dedicating himself to charity and advocacy work, he would use the status and rewards that music had brought him in the service of equality and a just world. In many ways Saturnight represents a significant early step on that incredible journey.

BEAT (Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, Steve Vai, Danny Carey) Announce November 10th Livestream

 

From the moment BEAT went on-sale, tickets flew out of box offices across North America. With that reception, the tour producers and band members broadened the itinerary to feature 65 performances in total across North America. 

Today, Adrian Belew, Steve Vai, Tony Levin and Danny Carey have announced plans to present a global livestream titled “LIVE FROM LOS ANGELES” on November 10 at 8:00 PM Pacific. The worldwide demand for BEAT appearances has been deafening since the ensemble’s formation was announced, and this move is directly tied to satiating that interest to give fans around the world the opportunity to watch a complete performance of this historic tour.

The performance will be available to purchasers for the limited window of seven days only. The event will be available for $24.99 in partnership with Veeps. To purchase, visit Veeps. 

The concert will be mixed by multi-Grammy and Emmy mixer Bob Clearmountain who mixed the livestream of the Foo Fighters Taylor Hawkins tributes in both the U.K. and U.S.

This year, former King Crimson members Adrian Belew and Tony Levin teamed up with guitar virtuoso Steve Vai and Tool drummer Danny Carey for the first time to create BEAT, a creative reinterpretation of the three iconic 80s King Crimson albums - Discipline, Beat, and Three Of A Perfect Pair.

So far, the performances have been nothing short of stellar. In his review of BEAT's show on October 6 at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, PA, Ira Kantor wrote: "Overall, the consensus proved both undeniable and palpable: Belew, Carey, Levin, and Vai are actually four of a perfect pair!"

The remaining BEAT shows are as follows:

10/30 - Murat Theatre - Indianapolis, IN                      

11/01 - Copernicus Center - Chicago, IL #

11/02 - The Riverside Theater - Milwaukee, WI                       

11/03 - Orpheum Theater - Madison, WI                           

11/04 - State Theatre - Minneapolis, MN #

11/06 - Paramount Theatre - Denver, CO #

11/08 - The Theater at Virgin Hotels - Las Vegas, NV                        

11/09 - Humphrey’s Concerts - San Diego, CA #

11/10 - The United Theater on Broadway - Los Angeles, CA #

11/18 - B of A PAC - Thousand Oaks, CA               

11/20 - San Jose Civic - San Jose, CA                           

11/21 - Grand Theatre at The Grand Sierra Resort - Reno, NV                                

11/22 - Keller Auditorium - Portland, OR                           

11/23 - McDonald Theatre - Eugene, OR                            

11/25 - Orpheum Theatre - Vancouver, BC                       

11/26 - Moore Theatre - Seattle, WA #

11/30 - The Venue at Horseshoe - Hammond, IN                         

12/02 - UB Center For The Arts - Buffalo, NY                            

12/03 - Mortensen Hall at the Bushnell Center - Hartford, CT                           

12/04 - F.M. Kirby Center -  Wilkes-Barre, PA                   

12/06 - Lynn Auditorium - Lynn, MA                               

12/07 - Tropicana Showroom - Atlantic City, NJ                     

12/08 - Kings Theatre - Brooklyn, NY                         

12/10 - Brown Theatre - Louisville, KY                        

12/11 - The Factory - St. Louis, MO                         

12/13 - The Criterion - Oklahoma City, OK                

12/14 - Majestic Theatre - San Antonio, TX                     

12/16 - Revel - Albuquerque, NM                   

12/17 - Fox Tucson Theatre - Tucson, AZ                             

12/18 - Yaamava’ Theater - Highland, CA

# - LIMITED AVAILABILITY REMAIN

PURCHASE TICKETS 

OUT NOW: Vanilla Fudge's 'Where Is My Mind - The Atco Recordings 1967-1969' Box Set

 

Vanilla Fudge's Where Is My Mind - The Atco Recordings 1967-1969 is a nine-CD box set featuring the complete ATCO recordings, newly remastered from the original tapes. The set includes the albums  Vanilla Fudge (Mono & Stereo Versions), The Beat Goes On (Mono & Stereo Versions), Renaissance, Near The Beginning And Rock & Roll, Along with the double live recording At The Fillmore West In 1969, plus sessions, outtakes and rare singles. It's all rounded out with an illustrated booklet featuring a new essay and exclusive band interviews.

Vanilla Fudge members inclue Mark Stein (vocals, organ), Vincent Martell (guitar, vocals), Tim Bogert (bass, vocals) and Carmine Appice (drums, vocals). The band were originally known as The Pigeons and gained notoriety thanks to their radical, slowed down and heavy interpretations of current hits. They signed to Atco Records, a division of Atlantic in April 1967 and changed their name at the insistence of Atlantic founder Ahmet Ertegun to Vanilla Fudge. Their radical cover version of The Supremes’ hit “You Keep Me Hanging On” was issued as a single in June 1967. Dominated by the hard-hitting approach of their rhythm section and the powerful Hammond organ playing of Mark Stein it became a US top 10 hit.

The band’s self-titled debut album was released in August 1967 and was a psychedelic rock tour-de-force, featuring a seven-minute version of ‘You Keep Me Hanging On’, it also featured imaginative cover versions of compositions by The Beatles, The Zombies and Curtis Mayfield among others. Over the next two years, the Fudge would record a series of albums that would evolve from psychedelic rock to heavy rock and influence many emerging bands, among them Deep Purple, before disbanding in 1970.

Purchase Where Is My Mind - The Atco Recordings 1967-1969 

The Rolling Stones Announce 4K UHD Release Of Intimate 1999 Shepherd’s Bush Empire Gig

“Welcome to Shepherd’s Bush,” proclaimed Mick Jagger. “I’ve been waiting to say that for a little bit.”

With that opening introduction, shortly before launching into "Shattered," The Rolling Stones gave an inspired performance on June 8, 1999 at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London for “1,800 lucky dogs,” according to Paul Sexton’s liner notes that accompany the release of Welcome to Shepherd’s Bush, the brand-new video release from the world’s greatest rock ‘n’ roll band.

Marking a return to what the liner notes term “the nostalgic intensity of a compact Stones show with the exciting echoes of Eel Pie Island and the Crawdaddy Club,” two iconic London venues where the band made its mark in the halcyon ’60’s of the British Invasion, this “secret gig” took place just several days before two sold-out shows at the 70,000-seat Wembley Stadium. The shows followed the release of the band’s 1998 live album, No Security, a series of North American gigs between January and April that year before returning to the U.K.

The star-studded audience at the gig marking The Rolling Stones’ homecoming included everyone from Anita Pallenberg to Aerosmith, Jerry Hall to Jon Bon Jovi, along with Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, Bob Geldof, Pete Townshend and Lenny Kravitz.

On December 6, Welcome to Shepherd’s Bush will be out on various formats, including for the first time ever for a Stones video, 4K UHD with a Dolby Atmos audio option. Other formats include Blu-ray + two-CD set; a two-CD limited edition package of 15,000 worldwide; a two LP black vinyl package, and a direct-to-consumer two-LP set in 180-gram white vinyl.

The 90-minute set featured several rarely played deep cuts, including the only known performance to date of "Moon Is Up" from Voodoo Lounge, along with "Melody," the Black and Blue selection performed only once before, more than two decades previously, at the famous 1977 El Mocambo show in Toronto, which was officially released in 2022. The live performance of Voodoo Lounge’s "Brand New Car" was one of only seven times the band included it in their set, the last back in 2002. Another highlight featured opening act Sheryl Crow joining the group on-stage for a raucous "Honky Tonk Women."

“It’s good to be home, I’m telling you now,” said Keith Richards before leaning into "You Got the Silver" and "Before They Make Me Run." 

Rhino Announces Quadio Classics From Foghat, Jefferson Starship, J. Geils Band & The Doobie Brothers

Rhino excitedly presents a brand new collection of high-quality quadrophonic releases, extending its QUADIO series of premier reissues beloved by audiophiles everywhere.

Following scarcity for over five decades, four seminal albums have now been digitized and preserved from their original analog four-track Quad mixes. This latest cohort of classics includes Foghat's Energized (1974), J. Geils Band's Bloodshot (1973), Jefferson Starship’s Dragon Fly (1974) and The Doobie Brothers’ Toulouse Street (1972).

Quadraphonic sound, or 4.0 surround sound, utilizes four audio channels connected to four speakers positioned at the corners of a listening space. The ​multi-tracked ​audio is mixed dimensional, immersing the listener in an expansive soundscape. 

The collection is available now as Blu-ray discs with a quadraphonic and 192/24 stereo mix at Rhino.com 

Foghat made big waves with Energized when it landed on January 6, 1974. It eventually reached the Top 40 of the Billboard 200 and boasted hits such as “Honey Hush” and “That’ll Be The Day.” It garnered a Gold certification from the RIAA.

The world formally met Jefferson Starship with the release of the group’s debut, Dragon Fly, in October of 1974. Tunes like “Ride The Tiger” and “Hyperdrive” only reaffirmed the inimitable chemistry and power of the creative union shared by Grace Slick and Paul Kanter following their six years together in Jefferson Airplane. Produced by the band and Larry Cox, it surged to #11 on the Billboard 200.

Worcester, MA powerhouse J. Geils Band leveled up with their breakthrough Bloodshot. Released on April 12, 1973, it vaulted to #10 on the Billboard 200. Powered by Peter Wolf’s seismic vocals and the late J. Geils’s fiery guitar, it yielded the fan favorites “Give It To Me” and “(Ain’t Nothin’ But a) House Party,” among others.

Rock and Roll Hall of Famers The Doobie Brothers really hit their stride on sophomore full-length Toulouse Street. After landing in July 1972, it climbed to #21 on the Billboard 200. It also took flight as the first album to showcase a solid two-drummer foundation with the addition of Michael Hossack accompanying John Hartman. Among many highlights, opener “Listen To The Music” ranks among their most popular material, generating a staggering 622 million Spotify streams and counting.

Joe Strummer, Tom Waits In Restored Guitar Quest Cult Film 'Candy Mountain' Out October 25

Candy Mountain is how much fun it is. Co-directors Robert Frank (Rolling Stones Documentary Cocksucker Blues) and Rudy Wurlitzer take the dated road movie (concept) off its bricks, gussy it up and keep it chugging along. And you get sweeter on ‘Candy’ with every passing mile" and Caryn James of The New York Times wrote, “Candy Mountain... seems to be a small, quirky film, but it easily assumes the weight, ambition and success that many larger films aim for and miss."

Candy Mountain, features Joe Strummer, Tom Waits, Dr. John, Leon Redbone, David Johansen, and others, returns to theaters on October 25.

 

Major 60th Anniversary Celebration Of The Doors Planned For 2025

In the Summer of 1965, Ray Manzarek had a chance encounter on Venice Beach with Jim Morrison, a young poet whom he knew when they were both students at UCLA’s film school. Jim told Ray he had been living on a friend’s rooftop writing songs. Though Morrison had never intended to be a singer, he sat down on the beach and sang the new songs to Ray, including “Moonlight Drive.” Manzarek thought they were the best rock and roll lyrics he ever heard. At that moment, they both agreed to start a rock band and call it The Doors, taking their name from Aldous Huxley’s psychotropic monograph The Doors of Perception and William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. 

Guitar player Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore, who’d played together in the Psychedelic Rangers, were recruited soon thereafter. After months of rehearsals, they landed a gig as the house band at a small Sunset Strip club called the London Fog. By May 1966, they had graduated to their dream gig – house band at the Whisky a Go Go. Soon after, Elektra Records president Jac Holzman and producer Paul A. Rothchild saw the band performing at the Whisky and signed The Doors to the label. Over the course of a week, The Doors recorded their debut album at Sunset Sound Recording Studios in Hollywood, putting on tape the songs they had been playing night after night at the Whisky. With an intoxicating, boundary-pushing sound, provocative and uncompromising lyrics, and mesmerizing stage presence, The Doors would go on to have a transformative impact on both music and culture.

Beginning next month, The Doors will kick off the 2025 60th Anniversary with a series of physical releases, an extraordinary anthology book, and much more to come. 

The Doors 1967-1971 6-LP set will arrive as the latest installment in Rhino’s acclaimed High Fidelity audiophile vinyl series on November 22nd, featuring all six of the band’s original studio albums cut from the original analog master tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearant Audio. The vinyl was pressed at Optimal Media and the box includes a heavyweight gatefold jacket featuring rare photos and liner notes by Doors archivist David Dutkowski. Only 3,000 copies of the limited-edition set will be available exclusively at thedoors.com and rhino.com. 

Additionally, for Record Store Day’s Black Friday on November 29th, The Doors will release The Doors – Live in Detroit, featuring the band’s performance from the Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan on May 8, 1970. This 4-LP set will be available on vinyl for the first time. 

Captured on tape during the band's 1970 US tour, it was one of the band's longest performances. In fact, the band played for an hour past curfew and were then banned from the Cobo Arena on future tours. The fiery set includes a number of Blues covers, including "Back Door Man," Junior Parker's "Mystery Train," and "Crossroads" by Robert Johnson. The Doors also tear through a 17-minute-plus version of "The End," as well as an over 19-minute version of "Light My Fire" and other rare tracks such as "Love Hides." This collection captures the band at their absolute zenith.

The Doors’ eponymous debut album - which the BBC and Rolling Stone have each hailed as one of the greatest debuts of all time - released in January 1967 and features the chart-topping smash-hit “Light My Fire,” the bluesy, growling “Back Door Man” and seminal live-set showstopper “The End,” with its legendary Oedipal spoken word section. 

Having cemented their place in the rock pantheon and the psychedelic rock revolution, The Doors returned to the studio resulting in the anticipated follow-up, Strange Days, which went to number three on the US Billboard 200 and featured “Love Me Two Times” and “People Are Strange.”

In 1968, the band released Waiting for the Sun, their first number one album featuring the chart-topping single “Hello, I Love You,” along with “Love Street” and “Five to One.” 

The Doors then dove further into uncharted psychedelic territory with 1969’s string and horn-laden album The Soft Parade, which included the Krieger-penned hit “Touch Me.”

1970’s Morrison Hotel, which boasts fan favorites “Roadhouse Blues” and “Peace Frog,” took the band back to its bluesy roots. 1971’s L.A.Woman, the band’s final album with Morrison and recorded in the band’s rehearsal space, features “Riders on the Storm,” “Love Her Madly” and the title track.

During their brief time together, The Doors delivered six studio albums before Morrison’s untimely death in Paris in 1971. Their electrifying achievements in the studio and onstage remain unmatched in the annals of rock, and today they remain as one of the best-selling bands of all time with over 100 million records sold worldwide. 

In 1993 the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Several years later, the songs “Light My Fire” and “Riders on the Storm” along with The Doors’ debut album were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The Library of Congress also recognized the band, selecting their self-titled album for inclusion in the National Recording Registry in 2014. The Doors also received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007.

Created to commemorate the upcoming 60th anniversary, The Doors’ first-ever complete anthology book Night Divides The Day will illuminate the band’s archives like never before with rare photography, intimate interviews with Robby Krieger and John Densmore, and meticulously sourced archival text from Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek. With unlimited access granted by the band, Night Divides the Day includes a unique collection of historical ephemera – including childhood photos, song lyrics, poster artwork, movie stills, and much more – which adds context to the wealth of rare photography that documents the band’s musical odyssey.

 

The anthology is presented in a limited-edition of only 2,000 numbered box sets, each hand-signed by Densmore and Krieger. Each set includes the 344-page signed edition, a 7” vinyl record with rare demos of “Hello, I Love You” and “Moonlight Drive,” and other assorted historical memorabilia. Available for pre-order now and shipping early 2025.