The Reverend's Guide to Record Store Day 2026

For those of you who celebrate the holiday, Record Store Day is rapidly approaching, and if you haven’t scanned the list of available hot wax at least a dozen times by now, what sort of record collector are you? It’s shaping up to be one of the best RSD events in recent memory – sure, there are a bunch of major label retreads, reissues of albums you didn’t want to buy when they were new, and gimmicky picture discs and 3” records (really…this is something we needed?) – but this spring’s sale also includes a bunch of previously-unreleased studio and live gems worth your time and money.

What follows below is the Reverend’s carefully-curated list of Record Store Releases that I’ll be spending my hard-earned coin on buying. There are other titles of merit on this year’s list – your tastes may vary – as well as more than a few albums that I already own on vinyl and/or CD and see no reason to part with a dollar to get the newest and hottest version of such. The below-listed flapjacks are those that I think will provide the most bang for your buck, and to buy every LP here will run you a cool $300+ so if you haven’t been saving your pennies (do they still exist?), well, shame on you… 

Marshall Crenshaw - The Bootleg Sounds of Marshall Crenshaw: 1984-87 (Yep Roc Records)
    Crenshaw is a helluva songwriter and performer, so The Bootleg Sounds of Marshall Crenshaw: 1984-87 promises to be a real banger. Marshall personally dug through his archives to assemble this special vinyl release, which includes unreleased recordings, demo tapes, and live takes recorded during the noted time period that resulted in acclaimed LPs like Downtown, Mary Jane & 9 Others, and Good Evening. The 14-track album includes a bunch of original tunes as well as covers of Gene Pitney’s “Town Without Pity” and Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be the Day,” recorded with Garry Tallent and Max Weinberg of the E Street Band. Fun fact: Crenshaw portrayed Holly in the 1987 Ritchie Valens biopic La Bamba, performing Holly’s “Crying, Waiting, Hoping” in the movie and on the soundtrack album. 

The dB’s - Cycles Per Second: US Tour 2024 (Propeller Sound Recordings) 
    Peter Holsapple and the dB’s have enjoyed a modicum of “rediscovery” these past few years, and justifiably so…the band’s power-pop flecked, old school indie rock sound is unique to the dB’s, one of the finest bands from the 1980s ‘college rock’ era. Propeller Sound Recordings reissued the band’s first two albums – 1981’s Stands for deciBels and 1982’s Repercussion – a couple years back, which resulted in a 2024 reunion tour featuring all four original band members (yes, even Chris Stamey!). Cycles Per Second is a document of that tour, a baker’s dozen of classic dB’s tunes including fan faves like “Black and White,” “Love Is For Lovers,” “Lonely Is,” and the scorching “Amplifier.” The album has been pressed on ‘firework splatter’ vinyl for RSD and includes a full-color inset of tour photos.

The Dream Syndicate - Sketches For Medicine Show (Fire Records)
    The Dream Syndicate released a wonderful, deluxe four-CD box set of the band’s 1984 sophomore album Medicine Show late last year, and fans thought that was about all that the archives held for that period of the band’s history. Come Record Store Day 2026, however, a new chapter will be written with Sketches For Medicine Show, a collection of rare recordings circa 1983-84 that includes a handful of rehearsal recordings and live tracks including the band’s unique version of Bob Dylan’s “Knocking On Heaven’s Door” and Bonnie Dobson’s anti-war folk classic “Morning Dew.” Syndicate frontman Steve Wynn has assured fans via social media that none of the seven tracks on Sketches were included on the deluxe box set, so this LP offers all new munchies for your ears. This may also be the rarest of this year’s RSD releases, with only 600 copies distributed regionally.

Freddie King - Feeling Alright: The Complete 1975 Nancy Jazz Pulsation Concerts (Elemental Music)
    There aren’t that many blues releases on this spring’s RSD slate, but this triple-disc Freddie King live set should make up for the lack of quantity with a collection of unparalleled quality. Capturing the legendary blues guitarist performing before 50,000 fans at France’s Nancy Jazz Pulsations Festival in October 1975, the album is previously unreleased. Produced by award-winning reissue wizard Zev Feldman, and sourced from original ORTF (Office de radiodiffusion-télévision française) recordings, the discs are pressed on 180-gram vinyl and the title is authorized by King’s estate. The release includes appreciations of the artists from his daughter Wanda King and ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons as well as extensive liner notes from music journalist and historian (and a friend of mine) Cary Baker. If a three-LP set is a bit too rich for your bank account, budget-friendly CD and digital versions will be released on April 24th. 

Ngozi Family - Gate Crash ’78 (Now-Again Records)
    This Zamrock stuff scratches a 1970s-era rock ‘n’ roll itch you didn’t know you had, and everything I’ve heard from the Ngozi Family, Paul Ngozi, Chrissy Zebby Tembo, Witch, and other bands from Zambia’s ‘70s rock scene is of uniformly high quality and high energy. Gate Crash ’78 is a long-lost Ngozi Family/Chrissy Zebby Tembo album that was test-pressed but never released back in the day. This is number one on my RSD hit parade, and once you’ve heard guitarist Paul Ngozi, it’ll be high on your list too. Now-Again Records has done an admirable job in documenting this obscure corner of rock ‘n’ roll history, and Gate Crash ’78 carries on the tradition with an eight-page booklet featuring rare photos and details on the Ngozi Family’s amazing history.

The Ramones - Live In San Francisco (Rhino Records)
    Another year and another live Ramones disc hits the shelves – and we have Rhino Records to thank! The tracklists on all these authorized live hubcaps, as well as most of the recent glut of bootleg vinyl, don’t vary by that many songs and, well, they’re the Ramones, so they mostly all deliver the same electrifying tightrope walk of sound. But we fanatics buy ‘em up anyway, like good little lemmings collecting baseball cards, and since this is a long overdue authorized release of the band’s 1979 City Hall Plaza show in San Francisco for the End of the Century tour, we’ll probably buy this one as well. Often bootlegged (notably as City Hall by Bad Joker Records and Live 1977 & 1979 by Live Wire Productions), the legit release offers up 27 songs on two LPs pressed on 140-gram ‘neon pink’ vinyl. 

Runt w/Todd Rundgren - The Necessary Cosmic Frenzy (Rhino Records)
    This is another title high on my “buy” list, the first ever solo performance by rock legend and innovator, Todd Rundgren. Runt was Rundgren’s first band after the Nazz – it was really a solo joint to begin with – and he’d be billed under his own name soon after the release of the lone, self-titled and excellent Runt album in 1970. This live performance from Philadelphia’s Sigma Sound Studios took place on June 30th, 1971 and was broadcast by WMMR-FM radio. Rundgren was backed for the occasion by his future Utopia bandmember “Moogy” Klingman, bassist Stu Wood, guitarist Tom Cosgrove, and drummer Norman “N.D.” Smart. Rundgren would leave Runt in the rearview mirror with the release of the expansive Something/Anything? two-album set in 1972 and the rest, as they say, is history.

Thin Lizzy - Live In Cleveland 1976 (UMR/Vertigo Records)
    After several years spent treading the boards, British hard rock band Thin Lizzy, fronted by an Irish singer, songwriter, and bassist – the musical genius that was Phil Lynott – broke through to stateside audiences in 1976 with a pair of acclaimed albums, Jailbreak and Johnny the Fox. This FM radio broadcast was originally included as part of 2024’s six-disc 1976 box set, broken out here as a stand-alone 2-LP set pressed on transparent vinyl. The May 1976 concert, broadcast on Cleveland’s WMMS-FM, includes most of the songs from Jailbreak as well as a handful of earlier tunes. I have personal knowledge of the depth of WMMS’s tape archives, and if they’re starting to produce these live shows for vinyl reissue, we collectors are in for a treat!      

Honorable Mention (i.e. other groovy RSD releases to consider): Dr. Feelgood’s Oil City Confidential, the soundtrack to director Julien Temple’s 2009 film about the influential 1970s British R&B band; The Gits’ Etcetera, an odds ‘n’ sods collection of rarities and live tracks from the ill-fated but influential punk rock band; The Mooney Suzuki’s People Get Ready, a 25th anniversary reissue of the Detroit sound-adjacent rockers’ classic album with a bonus 1999 concert disc; John Prine’s BBC Sessions, a nine-song collection of material from the acclaimed singer/songwriter’s first two albums, performed live on BBC radio; Terry Callier’s At The Earl of Old Town, a cool live show from the 1970s-era folk/jazz/blues guitarist (who found a modicum of fame in the 1990s in the U.K.); and SRC’s Milestones, the Detroit rocker’s acclaimed sophomore album, a masterful mix of hard rock, prog, and British Invasion influences. 

The Reverend's Guide to Record Store Day 2025

That twice-yearly Bacchanalian festival of vinyl consumerism is right around the corner and, like many of my fellow blockheads, I have my own list of “must have” LPs and “maybe if the price is right” albums to shop for on April 12th. Yes, there are some über-cool reissues of obscure or cult-rock albums, gems like the Blasters’ An American Music Story: The Complete Studio Recordings 1979-1985, Camper Van Beethoven’s Telephone Free Landslide Victory, or an expanded version of the Neurotic Outsiders’ self-titled 1996 debut featuring members of the Sex Pistols, Duran Duran, Guns ‘n’ Roses, and the Cult (it’s better than it sounds). But I’ll pass by those flapjacks (mostly ‘cause I already own a lot of that stuff) as I dig deeper into the crates for the vinyl gems that I’ve never heard or, because of their rarity, never owned…here’s the Reverend’s personally-curated list of Record Store Day 2025 releases that I’ll be buying…

The 13th Floor Elevators’ Houston Music Theatre, Live 1967 (LMLR)
    Said to have originally been planned as the Elevators’ sophomore album, Houston Music Theater, Live 1967 is being released for the first time on vinyl with a glorious restored mono mix, printed inner sleeve, OBI strip, and ‘blue and black marble effect’ vinyl, thus quenching the fanboy collector thirst for fancy (and ultimately absurd) colored vinyl. Recorded, of course, from the revolving stage of the Houston Music Theatre on February 18th, 1967 the performance spotlights the band in what was arguably its prime, with singer Roky Erickson, guitarist Stacey Sutherland, and electric jug maestro Tommy Hall laying down a groundbreaking psychedelic sound, assisted by the rhythm section of bassist Ronnie Leatherman and drummer John Ike Walton.
    I don’t know what kind of sound quality they’ll resurrect for this RSD release, or even if it’s sourced from original International Artists master tapes (a possibility!), but the set does feature fave Elevators’ tracks like “Fire Engine,” “Reverberation,” and “Your Gonna Miss Me” as well as an extended jam. The often-bootlegged performance has received previous release under such dodgy titles as Levitation, I’ve Seen Your Face Before, and Live Evolution Lost by various U.K. record labels.   

Skip James’ Hard Time Killin’ Floor (Shanachie Entertainment)
    Mississippi Delta blues legend Skip James was an innovative guitarist and haunting vocalist who is often overlooked when academic types start jawboning about blues music. James recorded a number of sides for Paramount Records in 1931 and the resulting 78rpm shellac sold poorly, so the artist disappeared into obscurity. James was “rediscovered” after 30 years by musicians John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine and pushed into service at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival; James subsequently recorded a handful of fine albums for Vanguard Records before his death in 1969. Hard Time Killin’ Floor reprises the 2005 Yazoo Records CD of the same name, but with only 14 of its 18 original tracks, which represented the total output of his 1931 Paramount sessions. It’s 14 good ‘uns, though, including tracks like “Devil Got My Woman,” “I’m So Glad” (later covered by Cream), and “22-20 Blues.” If you’re looking for an introduction to the singular talent that was Skip James, check this out!  

John Lennon & Yoko Ono’s Power To the People - Live at the One-To-One Concert (Apple Records)
    This ambitious four-track 12” EP, running roughly 20 minutes, revisits John & Yoko’s legendary August 30th, 1972 concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City. This benefit show raised over $1.5 million for schoolchildren with special needs, the Lennons backed by the Plastic Ono Band and Elephant’s Memory. The EP was produced by Sean Ono Lennon, engineered from the original tapes, and pressed on 180gram yellow vinyl. The EP offers three previously-unreleased performances, which is pretty cool considering that the 1972 double-disc set Some Time In New York City featured 16 performances, including four jams with Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention; it’s also been out of print in any format for over a decade. Worth picking up if priced reasonably…this is the sort of classic rock curio that record labels love to overcharge rabid fans to acquire.  

The Meters’ Live At Great American Music Hall, San Francisco (Sing, Inc.)
    Double vinyl set pressed on “Mardi Gras colored vinyl,” whatever that is. But you can’t go wrong with what was arguably New Orleans’ hottest band, this 1975 live set featuring the classic Meters line-up with Art Neville (keyboards), Leo Nocentelli (guitar), George Porter Jr. (bass), and Joseph ‘Zigaboo’ Modeliste (drums) with new guy Cyril Neville adding percussion. Straddling the time period between 1974’s Rejuvenation and late 1975’s Fire On the Bayou, Live At Great American Music Hall offers a strong nine-song set. Part of this performance had been previously released as the bootleg LP The Meters Live At Rozy’s but this RSD set restores the entire performance, properly sequenced and remastered for official release.

Sly & the Family Stone’s The First Family: Live At Winchester Cathedral 1967 (High Moon Records)
    There’s a renewed interest in Sly & the Family Stone – and rightfully so – thanks to Questlove’s recent Hulu network documentary Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius), which places the funk and soul legends in proper context as the groundbreaking outfit they were. The First Family: Live At Winchester Cathedral 1967 captures the original band prior to their signing with Epic Records and nearly a year before “Dance To the Music” delightfully lit up the radio airwaves. I couldn’t find any bootleg LPs covering this particular show (or era), which qualifies this RSD release as a true rarity and a gem for Sly & the Family Stone fans; this High Moon Records exclusive features a gatefold sleeve and 24-page booklet.    

Talking Heads’ Live On Tour 1978 (Rhino Records)
    Recorded at The Agora in Cleveland, Ohio in December 1978 during the More Songs About Buildings and Food tour, this set was originally released as one of ‘The Warner Bros. Music Show’ promotional albums that were sent to FM radio stations worldwide and which were heavily counterfeited back in the ‘80s (legit station promo copies were also available at record shows for around $25 when you could find ‘em; they run $60+ for a copy today on Discogs!). This is the first official release of the entire performance (adding an eleventh track in “Thank You For Sending Me An Angel” to the promo’s original ten) and it’s been fully remastered from the original analog tapes and pressed on two discs at a quality-enhancing 45rpm (or so sez the ‘bloato hype’!). I’d love to have a copy of this one as my original ‘Music Show’ LP was stolen back in ’81, but we’ll see how it shakes out as Live On Tour is another potential landmine of price-gouging.  

Various Artists –  Cavestomp! Vol. 1 [A Torrent of Talent!] (Org Music)
    Organized by promoter Jon Weiss, the Cavestomp! Festival in New York City is the place to be for aspiring garage-rock and psychedelic bands wanting to be seen and heard…anywhere else is ‘squaresville’, man! Over the years, the storied event has hosted much-anticipated appearances by legendary outfits like the Monks and Sky Saxon (of the Seeds), backed by the Mysterians. This is the first time that any of these near-legendary performances have been cut into hot wax, though, Cavestomp! Vol. 1 featuring a veritable “who’s who” of Nuggets-worthy rockers waiting to blister yer brain and tickle your eardrums.
    “Hosted” by Peter Zaremba of the Fleshtones (romper stompers in their own right!) and Lenny Kaye of the Patti Smith Group (also the original Nuggets curator), Cavestomp! Vol. 1 offers the best party mix of RSD 2025, offering up scorching live performances that mix the old (The Chocolate Watchband, The Monks, The Standells, The Sonics) with the newish (The Grave Digger V, The Hentchmen, The Mooney Suzuki, The Lyres, Dead Moon), 17 rad tracks overall providing a liver-quivering trip back to ’66 that’s guaranteed to blow your mind!      

Various Artists – The Westbound Sound: Foundations [Westbound Records Curated by RSD, Vol. 2] (Org Music)
    Legendary record labels are often remembered for their specific contributions to the culture. Chicago’s Chess Records, for instance, is fondly remembered as a trailblazer in blues, R&B, and early rock ‘n’ roll music. Vertigo Records is associated with progressive rock, SST Records with punk, Sub Pop with grunge, Touch & Go with abrasive, noisy rock and so on. Detroit’s Westbound Records, in my estimation, doesn’t get nearly the respect it deserves, if only for the incredible Funkadelic LPs the label released during the 1970s. But the pioneering funk imprint had more than just the P-Funk conglomeration in its toolkit, boasting of hitmaking, innovating acts in soul and disco music as well.
    The Westbound Sound: Foundations is Org Music’s second “Curated By RSD” release and it lives up to the lofty standards set by last year’s volume one. The limited-edition LP includes some of Westbound’s most heavily-sampled tracks, which provided the musical foundation on which hip-hop and rap music was built in the 1980s and ‘90s. Curated by record store employees across the country, the album features red-hot boss tracks by the Counts, the Ohio Players (two delightfully soulful tracks!), Fuzzy Haskins (the sublimely funky “Love’s Now Is Forever”), the Fantastic Four, Junie Morrison (the former Ohio Player’s bluesy fatback funk “Suzie Thundertussy”) and, of course, Funkadelic (the buoyant “Nappy Dugout”). Another collection of fab tunes and deep grooves from the underrated Westbound catalog, worthy of addition to any discerning collection.  

Chrissy Zebby Tembo & The Ngozi Family’s I’m Not Made of Iron (Now-Again Records)
    The “Zamrock” sound was my personal discovery in 2024, beginning with the Ngozi Family’s incredible 45,000 Volts album (released in ’77), digging into the label’s pair of Zamrock CD sets, and carrying through a pair of Paul Ngozi solo albums. The African nation of Zambia in the late 1970s featured a rock scene as vital and creative as any, anywhere on the planet, and albums by the various Ngozi Family members are as full of attitude and rad sounds as anything coming out of England in 1977-78. This RSD release presents the first commercial release of a Zamrock rarity in Ngozi Family member singer and drummer Chrissy Zebby Tembo’s promotional-only sophomore effort I’m Not Made of Iron (following 1977’s debut My Ancestors). Now-Again Records has done admirable work in restoring these obscure rockers, and this reissue includes an eight-page booklet with rare photos and Zamrock history. If I only manage to find copies of I’m Not Made of Iron along with the Sly and Meters sets, I’ll have a very happy Record Store Day, indeed!

Check out the Record Store Day website to find a vinyl vendor near you!