Record Store Day 2025, which happens on April 12th, promises to be one of the better Record Store Days in years. One label that always has a strong presence on Record Store Day is the mighty reissue label Rhino Records.
Below is a preview roundup of just a few of the label’s excellent reissues and archival editions to be released on Record Store Day.
Grateful Dead, Beacon Theatre, New York, NY 6/14/76 This RSD Exclusive is a five-LP set available in an edition of 7,600. Rhino has reissued many Grateful Dead box sets in the past and this year’s entry is one of the best.
These shows were recorded during the Keith and Donna Godchaux era of the group. The recordings came out after Blues for Allah and before Terrapin Station. There has only been one previous official live Grateful Dead archival release on vinyl from 1976, making this a true rarity.
There are the expected long jams like the nearly 20-minute “Playing In The Band,” as well as “Dancing in the Street,” “Crazy Fingers,” “Slipknot,” and, from Blues for Allah, “Franklin’s Tower.” Some other highlights include “Tennessee Jed,” the particularly relevant “U.S. Blues” and the Jerry Garcia solo track “The Wheel.”
The sound quality on these discs is outstanding and hearing the group play in the intimate confines of the Beacon Theatre is truly special. The clam-shell box houses the 180-gram vinyl albums, which are in poly-lined sleeves and there is a four-page insert with liner notes, a photo, and an essay from Jesse Jarnow, co-host of the Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast, author and WFMU radio host.
War, Why Can’t We Be Friends? (50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition) This RSD Exclusive is available in an edition of 3,900 releases. War was once one of the most cutting edge and popular groups in American music. Their birth was a unique late ’60s/early ’70s story. Discovered and founded by ’60s British rock pioneer Eric Burdon, the group came about after Burdon’s exploration of American West Coast psychedelic music.
Burdon’s time with the group was brief. They went on to have massive crossover R&B hits, while developing their own unique sound. While they had some significant political lyrical themes in their music, it was the hit albums All Day Music, The World Is A Ghetto, and Why Can’t We Be Friends?, all on Avenue/United Artists, that made them so ubiquitous in the first half of the ’70s.
This reissue of Why Can’t Be We Be Friends? released in 1975 follows previous Record Store Day releases and is very much in the vein of the The World Is A Ghetto (The Complete Sessions) RSD release from 2023. While that set was four LPs, this one is three. The first album is a remastered version of the original album and includes the monster hits “Low Rider” and the title cut.
Discs two and three come in a gatefold and include bonus tracks, alternate versions and a 23-minute making-of-the-album that takes up all of side four on the last disc. Eight of the tracks are previously unreleased. The slipcase, hard-shell box houses both the 140-gram vinyl single and double albums and all the vinyl comes in poly-lined sleeves.
These original albums were immaculately recorded and the sound quality here is superb. Given the importance of the group, it is surprising that no booklet or extensive liner notes were included. That being said, few groups drew from as many stylistic sources, carried as powerful a message, had as many massive hits, and crossed over like War. These archival RSD boxes are worthy of the group’s significant legacy.
Joni Mitchell, Joni Mitchell & The L.A. Express 1976 U.S. Tour The Joni Mitchell Archive series has been an unqualified success and there have also been a few archive Record Store Day releases. By far the best one is this new RSD Exclusive, three-LP set available in an edition of 6,400.
Billed as an L.A. Express live release, it includes a different lineup from the official Miles of Aisles release from 1974 of that group and features live performances from venues not included on the Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 4: The Asylum Years (1976-1980).
These 1976 recordings are different from the Miles of Aisles sound, and are not as jazz-oriented as what was to come next for Mitchell. Guitarist Robben Ford, bassist Max Bennett, and Mitchell’s then boyfriend drummer John Guerin return from the 1974 tour, but Victor Feldman replaces Larry Nash on keyboards. Additional musicians include David Luell on sax, flutes, and backing vocals, and Gail Ford adding harmonies on the only cover here “Twisted.” Luell in particular adds a different texture to the music here than on previous L.A. Express recordings and the jazz band Mitchell would enlist for the Shadows and Light tour.
The album notes include a disclaimer about how the recordings were done informally and are of non-studio quality. While it’s apparent from the start that they aren’t of the usual near audiophile quality of other Mitchell live archive releases, other than an overall lack of sparkling clarity and the drums, where there are drums, being mixed way down, these recordings are more than adequate. The 180-gram vinyl albums come in poly-lined sleeves and were mastered by Bernie Grundman.
Jethro Tull, Songs From the Vault 1975–1978 This RSD Exclusive in an edition of 8,850 is a two-LP gatefold package set of rarities and out-takes from Minstrel In The Gallery, Too Old To Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young To Die!, Songs From The Wood, and Heavy Horses. Most of the tracks have not previously appeared on vinyl.
This is sometimes an underappreciated period of the Tull canon. While Too Old To Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young To Die!, was a ’70s rock radio staple, Minstrel in the Gallery and Songs From the Wood had a more acoustic, rural framework and the tracks from those two albums are what stand out here. Almost all of the tracks are new stereo remixes by Steven Wilson, who more than anyone has been responsible for remixing the music of the key artists of ’70s Prog.
The inner gatefold spread contains an interview about each song with Ian Anderson, conducted by Martin Webb, and the vinyl albums are in poly-lined sleeves. Even though these recordings come from what must be considered the final stage of the peak of the group, that peak lasted roughly ten years. Given the pablum that passes for pop these days, the Tull sound was a rich and varied musical canvas, that drew on many styles and raised the bar on what pop music could be, showing an intelligence, wit, and musical risk-taking that challenged instead of coddled the pop music audience of that time.
There have been many Tull reissues, archival releases, and RSD releases, with this being one of the better RSD vinyl releases from Tull from a period that needs some serious reconsideration.
Ry Cooder, Live at The Main Point Live 1972 This RSD Exclusive, released in an edition of 5,300, was recorded when Cooder’s third album Boomer’s Story came out, his second album that year. Two tracks previously appeared on the Ry Cooder Radio Show promo-only release.
The sound is acoustic blues with a twist and Cooder is a subtle, unique, and in-demand guitarist whose playing graces some of the greatest albums ever recorded. The acoustic intimacy makes for a recording where one feels like they are right at the show with Cooder playing directly to them. Songs here like “Jesus on the Mainline” are classics.
This release is actually the first archival collection from Cooder. His solo output, which included Bop Till You Drop, the first ever all-digital recording release, is far outnumbered by the many legendary soundtrack albums he recorded. He is also the mastermind behind the Word Circuit label that brought the Buena Vista Social Club to the world, whose music is celebrated in a recently launched Broadway play.
The late ’60s and early ’70s were a time when Warner Brothers had signed Van Dyke Parks, Randy Newman, and Cooder. It would be nearly impossible for such unique and visionary acts like them, as new artists to find a home on a major record label these days. It was a rich period and Cooder’s music at the time, as evidenced by this must-have RSD release, fit right in with such other timeless and legendary artists as Taj Mahal and John Hammond Jr.
Very much in the style of the original promo-only release that this album shares similarity with, very little in the way of liner notes or art work accompany this single-album release, but the vinyl is housed in a poly-lined sleeve. Hopefully, is the beginning of a flood of Cooder archival releases.
Air, Moon Safari Live & Demos This RSD Exclusive white vinyl release is available in an edition of 13,900. The French duo Air proved right from the start as is clear from the demos and live recordings included here from the Moon Safari debut album period in 1998 that they were a group who showed the way that synthesizers and electronics could be used to make music that was sophisticated, heady, and a cut above the usual cold and sterile electronic music sound.
Side one is a collection of Moon Safari demos. What really stands out about this set are the live recordings on side two: three from the BBC, one from KCRW, and one recorded in Amsterdam, with some of the music showing the group also possesses some real guitar rock muscle live. The white vinyl, housed in a poly-lined sleeve, has excellent sound and although a digital-era release, works surprisingly well on vinyl.
