LOS ANGELES – On April 21, Rhino will help celebrate Record Store Day 2012 with several limited edition, vinyl releases including two classic albums, T. Rex’s Electric Warrior and the Misfits’ Walk Among Us, a 12” featuring a 40+ minute version of Grateful Dead’s “Dark Star,” and their first offerings in Warner Bros. Records’ “Side By Side” series with two split 7” vinyl releases, one featuring “Respect” by both Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin and the other “Kick Out The Jams” by both MC5 and Afrika Bambaataa. All releases will be available exclusively at select independent music retailers during Record Store Day 2012. For a list of participating stores, please visit www.recordstoreday.com.
Grateful Dead’s “Dark Star” was their ultimate improvisational vehicle, allowing the band to really stretch out and jam freely, often times for over a half hour. DARK STAR – 5/4/72 – OLYMPIA THEATRE – PARIS, FRANCE includes one of the longest versions of the song in Dead history, clocking in at over 40 minutes, featured on 12”, 180-gram vinyl. Mixed by Jeffrey Norman and mastered by David Glasser, the vinyl features nearly 20 minutes of the song on the first side followed by a mid-song drum solo and the song’s epic finale on the second side. Released in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Dead’s legendary Europe ’72 tour, DARK STAR is limited to 4,200 copies worldwide and will be available for a suggested list price of $16.98.
The ELECTRIC WARRIOR SINGLES BOX is a clamshell-box featuring the entire album, plus the non-album b-side “Raw Ramp,” spread across six 7-inch singles. When combined, the six picture sleeves form an image of T. Rex founder Marc Bolan in his prime. Chris Bellman used the original analog masters to cut each disc at Bernie Grundman Mastering. Limited to 3,000 copies, the ELECTRIC WARRIOR SINGLES BOX will be available for a suggested list price of $49.98.
Rhino will also offer three colored-vinyl versions of the Misfits’ WALK AMONG US to mark the 30-year anniversary of the band’s 1982 full-length debut. It is a faithful reproduction of the original with music cut from the original analog masters and packaging that duplicates details down to the printed inner sleeve. Limited to 3,000 total copies in the U.S., WALK AMONG US will be available for a suggested list price of $17.98. The album will be pressed on red (1,250 pieces), blue (1,250 pieces) and clear (500) vinyl. Color variations will be distributed randomly. There will also be a purple vinyl pressing released internationally that will be limited to 1,500 copies.
Lastly, Rhino will release their first offerings in Warner Bros. Records’ “Side By Side” series, which features a colored 7-inch vinyl with the original version of an iconic song on one side and a signature cover of the same song on the other. The first release is a gold 7-inch with Otis Redding’s “Respect” paired with Aretha Franklin’s version. The second is a red and white splatter 7-inch with MC5’s “Kick Out The Jams” paired with Afrika Bambaataa’s version. Each “Side By Side” 7-inch will be limited to 6,800 copies worldwide with a suggested list price of $6.98.
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