Black Friday Means Exclusive Record Store Day Releases!

Welcome to the November Paradise Found Records blog. Have you started building your holiday shopping list yet? Once again there are a bevy of excellent, exclusive Record Store Day releases for Black Friday, November 24. You can check out the full list of more than 170 titles here; you can also browse a copy at the front of both of our stores. As in the past, please note that there are no holds, and everything will be sold on a first come, first served status as we can’t guarantee stock. Here are the 20 Black Friday releases I’m most excited about, in alpha order.

Asteroid City Original Soundtrack

This 2LP orange pressing features selections from Wes Anderson’s 2023 film, including a new track from Jarvis Cocker and a jukebox of fifties and earlier classics by Bob Wills, Slim Whitman, Bill Monroe, Tex Ritter and others. 

The Doors – Live in Bakersfield

This new-to-vinyl live double album from August of 1970, less than a year before the release of L.A. Woman, their final effort, finds the trio in a bluesy, exploratory mode. The show features a thirteen-minute “When The Music’s Over,” a fifteen-minute “The End” and a fifteen-minute jam through “Mystery Train” and ”Crossroads.”

The English Beat – I Just Can’t Stop It

The energetic, politically-charged ska of early eighties British label 2 Tone Records never found massive success outside the UK, but this record came close. The “English” Beat–they had to add the modifier due to a US group with the same name–crafted a debut that encapsulated the movement’s ethos: hopped-up dance music that combined punk energy with Jamaican rhythms performed by BIPOC and white musicians focused on a message of unity. This 2LP release includes a first-ever bonus LP of B-sides, rarities and extended versions.

Faces – Had Me a Real Good Time…with Faces! In Session & Live at the BBC 1971-1973 

Before Rod Stewart went on to solo glory, Ronnie Wood replaced Mick Taylor in The Rolling Stones and Kenney Jones replaced Keith Moon in The Who, The Faces made raw, raunchy rock. They might have sounded at times like they were about to careen off the rails, but they launched a thousand bar and hair bands. These previously unreleased gems come from three separate radio shows, including a 1971 John Peel BBC Concert. 

The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots – Live at the Paradise Lounge, Boston, Oct. 27, 2002

While some prefer The Soft Bulletin, my favorite Flaming Lips record is Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, the 2002 epic that included “Do You Realize?”, their second biggest hit after “She Don’t Use Jelly.” This pink pressing is a new-to-vinyl selection of songs from a Yoshimi-era show first heard on 2022’s 20th anniversary expanded CD box. 

Grateful Dead – Fillmore West, San Francisco, 3/2/69

Deadheads are always well served on Black Friday. This year’s offerings include the first-time-on-vinyl 5LP box featuring the fourth and final night of the legendary 1969 Fillmore West run, originally released on a now-highly-sought-after 10CD box in 2005. Jerry Garcia lovers can also pick from two new-to-vinyl double albums of solo projects spotlighting the guitarist in duo mode. So What is a collection of outtakes from his collaboration with David Grisman, while Pure Jerry: Marin Veterans Memorial Auditorium, San Rafael, CA – February 28, 1986 finds Garcia with longtime sideman John Kahn.  

Noah Kahan – Cape Elizabeth EP

One of 2023’s biggest breakouts is New England roots-rocker Noah Kahan. This is a marble repressing of his 2020 five song EP recorded at the start of the lockdown and dropped with little notice. It’s sure to move, as the first edition has become increasingly hard to find as his fan base has grown exponentially.

Little Feat – Live at Manchester Free Trade Hall 1977

Little Feat’s classic 1978 live album, Waiting for Columbus, is widely recognized as one of the all-time greats of the genre. This new-to-vinyl 3LP set is the best of the three shows from Rhino’s excellent 5CD expanded Waiting for Columbus box released earlier this year. 

Los Lobos – Kiko

Los Lobos have released many great records in a forty-plus year run. This 30th anniversary 3LP deluxe edition of their sixth, best-selling effort includes a 3rd record of previously unreleased demos plus the original album expanded to two discs for increased fidelity.

Aimee Mann – Dead Eyes

Actor/comedian Connor Ratliff turned a career-threatening rejection from Tom Hanks into a popular personal investigational podcast with the help of many famous actors including, eventually, Hanks’ own son Colin. This single features the podcast’s theme by Aimee Mann, our favorite highly-literate sometimes-depressing singer-songwriter, along with her demo of the theme on the flip side.

My Morning Jacket – Happy Holiday!

My Morning Jacket are re-releasing this 2011 digital holiday collection on vinyl with three new tracks, the group’s first new material since their eponymous 2022 effort. Look for the “Snowy Version” of Waterfall II’s warm-fireside-evoking “Welcome Home” and the “Snow Version” of the band’s beloved ballad “Wonderful (The Way I Feel).”

Joni Mitchell – Court and Spark Demos

The latest edition of the Joni Mitchell archives came out last month, a 5CD treasure trove from her early to mid seventies commercial peak. This album features the holy grail from the box, a set of demos from Court and Spark that includes a jaw-dropping twelve-minute-plus piano medley of three tracks from the popular 1974 release and an early demo of “Help Me” that casts the hit in a far more intimate light than the better-known version.

Willie Nelson – Shotgun Willie

Willie Nelson’s sixteenth studio release was a landmark in his career; it included his cover of “Whiskey River,” which would become a staple of his live shows from that point forward, and a stirring cover of Leon Russell’s “A Song For You.” For its 50th anniversary Rhino is releasing it in a 2LP format with the second disc of new-to-vinyl outtakes and alternate versions.

Gram Parsons and the Fallen Angels – The Last Roundup: Live from the Bijou Cafe in Philadelphia March 16 1973

This one is a real discovery and a must for Americana fans: a newly unearthed soundboard recording of the next to last live show by country-rock icon Gram Parsons, from the Bijou Cafe in Philly, with backing from Emmylou Harris and the Fallen Angels. The double album features highlights from his solo career and stint with the Flying Burrito Brothers, and had spent the last fifty years in the vaults before famed record store Amoeba decided to launch a Kickstarter campaign to fund its production.

Rilo Kiley – Under the Blacklight

Between her stints as a child actor and rock star in The Postal Service, Jenny Lewis piloted this excellent Los Angeles indie-rock quartet. This first repress of the group’s fourth and final effort from 2007 comes on purple vinyl and leads off with “Silver Lining,” still a highlight of her live sets.

Olivia Rodrigo – GUTS: the secret tracks

The hottest item this Black Friday will be surely this EP from Olivia Rodrigo, who’s 2023 sophomore effort GUTS rocked surprisingly hard. The EP compiles the four “hidden” tracks from the different editions of the album on “deep purple” vinyl with a butterfly etching on the flip.

Billy Strings – California Sober

Billy Strings has taken the bluegrass world by storm over the past few years; no other bluegrass act sells as many tickets or can fill hockey arenas. This 12” single on green vinyl (of course) features Strings duetting with Willie Nelson on his song “California Sober” on the A side and his cover of “Whiskey River” from Willie’s 90th birthday celebration at the Hollywood Bowl this past April on the B side.

U2 – Under a Blood Red Sky

Forty years ago this past June, U2 played to a half-filled Red Rocks in the middle of an intense summer thunderstorm. The highlights from that show and two others were combined to create this live album, which played a big part in building their legacy as a powerful live act. For its 40th anniversary the group is releasing the record on red vinyl.

War – The World is a Ghetto

War’s fifth album came out in late 1972 and went on to be the biggest selling record in the US the following year. A classic hybrid of soul, funk and jazz, it included “The Cisco Kid,” the band’s biggest hit other than “Low Rider,” along with the thirteen-minute instrumental jam ”City, Country, City” and the ahead-of-its-time title track. For Black Friday, Rhino is releasing a 5LP box that includes a double album of the original release with outtakes on gold vinyl plus a 3LP “making of” collection.

X – Ain’t Life Grand

Southern California’s best punk rockers are still going strong all these years later. This Black Friday the group is repressing its fifth record for the first time since 1985 and adding a 7-inch cover of “Wild Thing.” Ain’t Love Grand might not have the intense energy of the best X LPs, but it’s still stellar and kicks off with the 1-2 punch of “Burning House of Love” and “Love Shack” (not the B-52s’ “Love Shack,” to be clear).