The list of releases for Record Store Day‘s annual Black Friday event was released this week and as usual it is filled with big names, obscure reissues and a few novelty items.
One of the things that stood out while glancing at the list of 158 items is the high number of records that have ties to Seattle. Some are recorded by Seattle artists, some recorded in Seattle and others have very loose ties to the Emerald City. Here’s a rundown of some of the Seattle connections to Record Store Day’s Black Friday releases.
Chris Cornell “When Bad Does Good”
The first posthumous release of new music from Chris Cornell gets a standalone vinyl release outside of its inclusion in the box set of the same name. The 7″ single is on black and white marbled vinyl and it features a b-side of Temple of the Dog covering Mother Love Bone’s “Stargazer” recorded live at the Paramount.
Cannonball Adderly “Swingin’ in Seattle: Live at the Penthouse 1988-67”
The Seattle connection here is obvious because it’s in the title. There are several jazz releases on the list and this one looks to be a hot ticket item for jazz collectors. Here’s the official description from the Record Store Day website:
Swingin’ in Seattle: Live at the Penthouse (1966-1967) is a collection of previously-unissued recordings by the Cannonball Adderley Sextet captured live at the height of his powers over 4 nights at the famous Penthouse jazz club in Seattle, WA between 1966 and 1967. Just one week later, Adderley would record his classic Mercy, Mercy, Mercy: Live at “The Club” album at the Capitol Records studio in Hollywood, CA. This limited-edition deluxe 2LP set features Cannonball Adderley on alto saxophone, Nat Adderley on coronet, Joe Zawinul on piano and keyboards, Victor Gaskin on bass and Roy McCurdy on drums. The extensive booklet includes rare and previously unissued photographs; essay by music journalist Bill Kopp; interviews with drummer Roy McCurdy and Cannonball’s widow Olga Adderley Chandler; plus Seattle saxophonist/writer Stephen Griggs interviewing original recording engineer/radio DJ Jim Wilke; and much more! Mastered by the legendary Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering Studios in Hollywood, CA and pressed at Microforum Vinyl Record Pressing in Toronto, Ontario. Swingin’ in Seattle, along with Etta Jones A Soulful Sunday: Live at the Left Bank, are the first two releases from the newly-formed Reel to Real Records launched by saxophonist Cory Weeds and producer Zev Feldman focused on important archival jazz releases.
Grateful Dead “Playing in the Band: Seattle, WA 5/21/74”
Another offering with Seattle in its title, this release will definitely satisfy Deadheads as it’s the longest Grateful Dead song ever recorded. How long is it? It’s a 47-minute long song split across two sides of a 12″ LP.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience “Burning of the Midnight Lamp”
It wouldn’t be a Record Store Day event without a release from Jimi Hendrix. This year’s Black Friday Hendrix release is a mono 7″ EP featuring “Crosstown Traffic,” “Burning Of The Midnight Lamp” and “Gypsy Eyes.” The EP is pressed on transparent orange and it is a numbered release of 3,000.
Kinski “Be Gentle with the Warm Turtle”
Local noise rock favorites Kinski are getting a Record Store Day release with the reissue of their sophomore full-length on vinyl. This is the first time the record is being released on vinyl and it is on the more limited side of the Record Store Day releases with 900 copies of the double LP getting released. This version will include two bonus tracks that were previously only released on compilations.
Green River & U-Men “Away in a Manger/”Blue Christmas”
The fine folks at Sub Pop are releasing a split 7″ from two of Seattle’s finest proto-grunge bands. The record features Green River’s version of the Christmas classic “Away in a Manger” and U-Men taking on “Blue Christmas.” Two thousand copies were pressed with 1,000 on translucent green and 1,000 on translucent red. Sub Pop has the following to say about the album from a press release:
Green River’s sick & unholy rendition of the classic Christmas tune “Away in a Manger,” was originally released on the long out of print C/Z Records compilation entitled Another Pyrrhic Victory: The Only Compilation of Dead Seattle God Bands.
U-Men’s slurring, lurching, belly crawling, pisstake on “Blue Christmas” was originally available on the Christmas ‘84 cassette compilation that very few will remember having ever been in print.
Two ugly orphans, brought together to live as one grinning, writhing glump of career-capping, Christmas gak! Happy birthday baby Jesus!
Those are just the major Record Store Day Black Friday releases that have direct connections to Seattle or Seattle artists. There are others that are loosely connected to Seattle that are noteworthy as well. Here are a few:
- Guns N’ Roses, which features Seattle native Duff McKagan, is releasing a 7″ of “Shadow of Your Love,” which was previously only available as part of the “Appetite for Destruction” Locked ‘N’ Loaded box set.
- Wallingford resident Dave Matthews is releasing the 4xLP “DMBLive 2.22.94 Trax – Charlottesville, VA.”
- Local power-pop icons The Posies appear on the reissue of the Big Star tribute compilation “Big Star: Small World.”
- And lastly, in the perhaps loosest connection to Seattle, New York-based label Mom+Pop are releasing a 3LP compilation for their 10th anniversary. The compilation, “Mom+Pop 10 Year Anniversary Compilation,” features FIDLAR covering Nirvana’s “Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle” and Joshua Radin covering the late Elliot Smith’s “13.”
