Rarebird's Rock and Roll Nest

As someone who began collecting out-of-print records in the early 1990's, I can easily remember a time when many Beach Boys albums were not commercially available, and seemed to be rarely discussed. Which albums were those? Well, nearly every proper album that the band recorded after 1969 was unavailable and largely forgotten during the '90's. That began to change in the year 2000, when Capitol Records issued a 2-on-1 CD containing the 1970 Sunflower album and the 1971 Surf's Up album on one disc. Similar 2-on-1 reissues followed during that same year, until all of the band's studio albums up to the self-titled Beach Boys from 1985 were available again. Since then, those albums have remained commercially available -- physically, digitally, or both -- and some of them (particularly the ones released during the early-'70's) have become more appreciated over time. However, there are two Beach Boys albums that have been un available since the 1990's, an...

For Record Store Day 2026, a limited edition Weezer LP was issued. 1192 contains remixed recordings of Weezer's first studio sessions from mid-November of 1992 (hence the title), discovered on a reel of 1" Ampex tape by original bassist Matt Sharp. The LP was pressed in grey vinyl, to match the color of the tape reel, and was limited to 3,000 copies. The LP was classified as an "RSD First" release, and has still not been given a wider release as of one month later. But it is certainly only a matter of time before it does become available, due to both its quality and its historical significance. Produced by Sharp and mixed by Joe Chicarrelli, this LP features early versions of songs from Weezer's classic self-titled 1994 debut album (known as the "Blue Album") by the nerdy alternative band's original lineup, which featured Sharp on bass, as well as rhythm guitarist Jason Cropper (who was ousted from the band before the release of the Blue Album). ...

For Record Store Day in 2026, Collective Soul issued a limited edition vinyl LP titled Touch And Go . The LP was limited to 2,500 copies, and pressed in blue-swirl-colored vinyl. This new studio album from the Georgia-based rock band, who made their name during the alternative '90's, was inspired by '80's new wave sounds, particularly the sound of The Cars. (The album is presumably named after that band's 1980 song "Touch and Go"). The album was described as an "RSD Exclusive Release", and as of one month later has still not been given a wider release. However, a wider commercial release (either physical or digital) is likely to happen more sooner than later. Although this album is touted as marking a new creative direction for Collective Soul, lead singer and guitarist Ed Roland did pursue this genre once before. Touch And Go is reminiscent of a 2020 Record Store Day Black Friday release by The Living Room (aka Alien Attitude), another Rol...

For Record Store Day 2026, the U.K.-based Demon label issued a T. Rex record titled Songs From "Marc" , containing ten tracks recorded by the Marc Bolan-led band for Bolan's 1977 TV series Marc . The LP was limited to 2,500 copies, and was pressed in orange vinyl. Marc aired on British television for six weeks in the late summer of 1977, exactly around the time of Bolan's untimely death in a car crash on September 16th of that year. The show promised an intriguing new phase in the career of the then-faded glam-rock star. He served as the show's host, and lip-synced songs recorded and mimed by the final T. Rex lineup. The show spotlighted other U.K. musical acts from the time, and also showed sequences of a dance troupe called Heart Throb moving to the sounds of recorded songs. For fans of Bolan, the low-budget show is fun to watch, but is also saddening, because it shows the not-quite-30-year-old singer and guitarist during his final days, when he was clearly w...

For Record Store Day 2026, Robert Plant's current band Saving Grace issued a limited edition vinyl EP containing four new studio tracks. The 12-inch, 45 rpm EP, titled All That Glitters... , was limited to 3,500 copies. Saving Grace was also the name of Plant's most recent album from 2025, recorded with the titular U.K.-based band, featuring co-vocalist and accordionist Suzi Dian. The sound of Saving Grace is mainly acoustic, and is inspired by folk, blues, Gospel, and Americana styles. Their mostly gentle sound is far more reminiscent of Plant's work with Alison Krauss than of his work with Led Zeppelin, but it has a more Celtic ambience, and an occasional touch of psychedelia. The 77-year-old Plant is no longer the heavy metal screamer that he once was. His vocals on Saving Grace are understated and controlled, and Dian's vocal accompaniment provides a "sweeter" counterpoint. The songs on the album are covers drawn from various genres, usually rendered w...

This past April 11th, the Rolling Stones released a limited edition, white-labeled 12-inch vinyl single titled "Rough and Twisted", under the pseudonym The Cockroaches. This one-sided single was limited to 1,000 numbered copies worldwide. As of four days later, the song has still not been released to streaming services, and the single is being sold for big bucks on eBay and Discogs. Why the fake name? The Cockroaches was a name that the superstar rock band sometimes used in the 1970's, when they wanted to secretly perform a gig in a low-profile venue away from the spotlight. The distribution of this single was done in a similarly secretive way. Signs began to appear around London, advertising a mysterious band called the Cockroaches, with a QR code that connected visitors to their official website . This website featured a graphic of the disc's plain white cover, and when a "flip" link was clicked, it listed GPS coordinates referring to locations of stores...

Cats were a rock band based in Philadelphia, who were active from 1976 until 1981, and released one self-titled new wave-era album in 1980. The band Cats had no connection to the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical; the very first stage performance of Webber's Cats took place one year after the Cats album was released. One of Cats' songs, "(He's Got) The Rest Of His Life", sounds lyrically similar to Billy Joel's hit "You May Be Right", which was released the same year. However, that Cats song had appeared the previous year on a 1979 various artists compilation which showcased Philadelphia musicians, so it predated the release of Joel's song. Also, since this band bore some musical similarity to Queen, you might suspect them of lifting the title of their album's opening track "On The Prowl" from Queen's "Man On The Prowl", but -- guess what? Cats predated that Queen song by four years. Considering the band's 1976 ori...