A domestic version of the psychedelic “Zabriskie Point” soundtrack, and hugely collectable Doors and Rolling Stones collections highlight the Black Friday 2013 edition of Record Store Day.
Also on tap from the ’60s/psychedelic well are records from Flaming Lips, the Dead, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the Stones, the Standells, Sly Stone and Gene Clark.
The recordings are among those offered exclusively in independent record stores Nov. 29. Some are completely exclusive to those stores, while others are making early appearances. As RSD veterans know, supplies of the sexiest titles are quite limited, while some others tend to hang around behind the counter after the big day.
The “Zabriskie Point” soundtrack, long out of print in the U.S., contains four “songs” (improvisations) by Jerry Garcia and Pink Floyd that never appeared on the original album. All tracks on this LP, however, have been available on imports. Michelangelo Antonioni’s film was set in the U.S. counterculture of the late 1960s. Music holds up a lot better than the messy film, most would say. Other artists include Kaleidoscope, the Youngbloods and John Fahey. (The Record Store site says this album is exclusive, although Amazon lists it day and date.) From Water Tower Music.
The Doors LP “was made especially by the band for record stores only,” RSD says. Tracks were suggested by indie record store owners and vetted by the band’s engineer/producer Bruce Botnick. Includes “rare mono mixes” and live tracks. Surviving Doors members John Densmore and Robby Krieger did handwritten track lists, which will be alternated on the two versions of the album artwork. The Doors are regular participants in the Record Store Days. Rhino.
Here are the Doors album tracks:
Side A (all mono): 1. “Break On Through (To the Other Side)” 2. “Soul Kitchen” 3. “Moonlight Drive” 4. “When the Music’s Over”
Side B: 1. “Love Street” (LP version)” 2. “The Unknown Soldier” (Live Hollywood Bowl, 1968)” 3. “Roadhouse Blues” (Live at Felt Forum, New York, Jan. 17, 1970. First show.) 4. “Five To One” (Live in Boston, 1970)
Flaming Lips, also RSD regulars, serve up six tracks created for the science fiction movie “Ender’s Game.” On CD and vinyl (pictured, top of page), with a track “not found on the digital version of the release.” Warner Bros.
The Grateful Dead checks back in with “Family Dog at the Great Highway,” a live acoustic set from 1970. Features some prime solo acoustic Pigpen, “Wake Up Little Susie,” and “Silver Threads and Golden Needles.” About 80 minutes with 17 songs. Rhino is making 7,500 vinyl copies and it’s listed as a RSD exclusive. A CD is coming day and date on the Dead’s web site. Some tracks were released digitally in 2009.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience dishes up the psychedelic classics “Fire” and “Foxey Lady” on 7-inch vinyl. They’re both live performances from 1968, taken from the upcoming “Miami Pop Festival” CD and LP. Columbia.
Jethro Tull’s “Benefit” returns on LP. No details were released, but a major collector’s version of the album is due on CD a month earlier. PLG. (Read about the “Benefit” collector’s edition.)
The Rolling Stones’ EP series for Record Store Day concludes with “Got Live If You Want It.” RSD says, “This is the first release in the original 7″ format since June 1965 and it includes tracks not found on the US album of the same name.” (The debut album and “Five by Five” were other exclusive EPs.) The killer songs recorded in the U.K. in 1965 are “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love,” “Pain in My Heart,” “Route 66,” “I’m Moving On” and “I’m Alright.” ABKCO.
Gene Clark’s “Here Tonight: The White Light Demos” bows on orange vinyl. “Never-before-heard solo demos (by the ex-Byrds star) from the 1970-1971 era.” Exclusive to indie stores for 90 days. Omnivore.
John Fahey gets the tribute treatment from Devendra Banhart, Peter Case and other indie artists. The RSD version of “I Am the Resurrection: A Tribute to John Fahey” comes on two LPs at 45 rpm, with tortoise-shell colored vinyl.
On 7-inch vinyl we have Sly Stone’s “Sexy Situation”/”Mother Is a Hippy” (Columbia); the Standells’ “Zebra in the Kitchen”/”Someday You’ll Cry” (Sundazed); and Van Dyke Parks’ “Come to the Sunshine”/”Farther Along” (Sundazed), all exclusives.
And here’s the biannual nod to my closest indie record shop, Freakbeat Records in Sherman Oaks, Calif., where the guys don’t look at you funny if you ask for something by Q65, the Groundhogs or C.A. Quintet. See you there.
Record Store Day proper comes in late April. The Black Friday edition started in November 2010.
Nice!