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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!
