Seven Record Store Day Black Friday 2016 Releases You Need to Check Out

The official list of releases for Record Store Day’s Black Friday event has been released, laying out hundreds of exclusive titles that will be available for purchase in stores on November 25.  Judging from the list, there is a lot to be excited for this holiday season.

For nearly a decade, Record Store Day has been the biggest occasion of the year for purchasing vinyl records. Celebrating physical music releases, independent record stores, artists and music fans, it has almost single-handedly been the cause of vinyl’s resurgence. The event’s organizers started Record Store Day Black Friday in 2010 to continue the momentum of the main date and make record stores a destination for any music lover’s holiday shopping needs.

As always, this year’s list consists of exclusives, first releases and limited runs. Here are seven of Vinyl Bay 777’s choices for this year’s most interesting Black Friday releases. 

1.       The Beach Boys, 'Becoming The Beach Boys': This LP brings forward some of The Beach Boys’ earliest recordings and demos, nine of which have never been released on vinyl before. This is a companion album to Jim Murphy’s book of the same name and includes liner notes written by the author as well.

2.       Amanda Palmer and Jherek Bischoff, 'Strung Out in Heaven': In homage to their frequent collaborator David Bowie after his passing, Amanda Palmer and Jherek Bischoff released a six-track digital EP of Bowie’s classics arranged for a string quartet. After Prince passed away, the duo gave “Purple Rain” the same treatment. This is the first time all tracks will have a physical release.

3.       Sesame Street, 'Sesame Road': The idea for this one is cute. The people behind ‘Sesame Street’ took classic rock tracks and changed them to be educational. There’s “I Want to Hold Your Ear,” “Grouch Girls Don’t Want To Have Fun,” “A Little Yelp From My Friends,” “Rebel L,” “It’s Just a Rock (But I Like It Fine),” “Hey Food” and more. It will come randomly distributed on four different colors of vinyl with green being the most obscure.

4.       Sugarhill Gang/Chic, 'Meet Your Maker': Perhaps due to the success of their Back-to-Back series, Rhino has created a new 7” series. Titled ‘Meet Your Maker,’ the concept takes a classic hip-hop song and backs it with the song that it samples from. The first entry is The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight,” which has Chic’s “Good Times” on the b-side of the single.

5.       Various Artists, 'Pop the Clutch: Obscure Rockabilly from the Vaults': If you are into rockabilly, this is the album for you! It features “rare and obscure” tracks from defunct labels that are hard to find anywhere in their original forms.

6.       Yardbirds, 'Birdland': This is the final official Yardbirds album, originally released in 2003 on CD and never on vinyl until now. While drummer Jim McCarty and guitarist Chris Dreja were the only members of the original 1960s band left, there are plenty of guest appearances on the album, including one by Jeff Beck. Other musicians who make appearences on the album include Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Slash, and Brian May.

7.       Various Artists, 'The Smart Studios Story' and 'American Noise Volume One': Butch Vig was one of the most sought-after producers in the late-1980s and 1990s, having a heavy hand in the sound and production of some of the era’s most iconic alternative albums. ‘The Smart Studios Story’ is a documentary detailing the story of his and Steve Marker’s legendary Smart Studios. ‘American Noise Volume One: Smart Studio Era 1’ is a companion soundtrack to the documentary and features some of Butch Vig’s earliest productions.

There are, of course, many more amazing titles being released for Record Store Day’s Black Friday 2016 event. From exclusive re-issues to limited edition albums and first releases, there is bound to be something to satisfy every music lover’s holiday wish list. The full list of exclusive releases is available on the Record Store Day website right now.

What better way to spend the biggest shopping day of the year than at your local record store, Vinyl Bay 777! We have thousands of titles to choose from on vinyl, CD, cassette tape and more. Shop in-store during our newly extended hours and online at vinylbay777.com any time.