Record Store Day Black Friday 2025 preview: Classic rock, pop & folk
Today’s the big fish in our continuing coverage of Record Store Day’s upcoming Black Friday event—because today we’re covering all the classic rock, pop, and folk reissues that are coming to independent record stores on Friday, November 28. These are all the big acts from the ’60s, the ’70s, and (in some cases) the ’80s whose reissues are the bread and butter of the current-day vinyl revival. So naturally, it’s a big category for Record Store Day, making this batch is our biggest preview yet.
And it’s a wildly mixed bag. Some of these reissues are at the tippy-top of our shopping lists—there are even one or two things that we’ll be downright depressed if we don’t manage to take home on Black Friday. And then there are quite a few records that just seem ridiculous to us: pricey reissues of dollar-bin staples, unnecessary 7-inch singles, zoetrope picture discs that look nifty but sound crummy, official concert recordings that are one step away from being from bootlegs.
So let’s jump in and see what Black Friday’s got in store. If you missed out on any of our other Black Friday previews, click here for our full coverage. And the complete list can be viewed on the Record Store Day site right here.
America: Hearts [Friday Music]
Oof. This is proof that it takes all kinds to build a Record Store Day. Hearts, the unexceptional 1975 album from soft-rockers America, is being trundled out for a 50th-anniversary edition. This is the album that has “Sister Golden Hair” (aka America’s George Harrison ripoff, as opposed to their other huge hit, the Neil Young ripoff). And I challenge anyone to find a used copy of Hearts that costs more that five dollars on the open market. Nevertheless, Friday Music has decided it’s worth repressing on red vinyl, and they’ve sweetened the pot by adding two bonus tracks onto the vinyl; I hasten to add that Friday has also added on their customary surcharge to the price tag, guaranteeing this will cost $5–10 more than almost all of the other single-disc releases of the day. Well, I tried to fake it, but I don’t mind saying I just can’t make it. NL
The Band: Jericho [BFD]
It’s easy to forget that The Last Waltz wasn’t really the Band’s last waltz. After their much-ballyhooed breakup, most of the Band reformed in 1983, becoming a touring act with Jim Weider replacing Robbie Robertson. And after a couple of false starts, they finally got around to recording a new album in 1993, although pianist/vocalist Richard Manuel had died tragically in 1986—the new record, Jericho, includes one of his final recorded performances in “Country Boy.” The rest of Jericho is pretty by-the-book, lacking the special magic of the Band’s earlier recordings, although their take on Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City” is a decided highlight, driven by Levon Helm’s inimitable vocal and Garth Hudson’s down-home accordion. This is Jericho’s first-ever release on vinyl, so its limited 1,000 copies will disappear fast, but this is an RSD First release, meaning a wider release is on the books. NL
Phil Collins: 12”ers [Rhino]
The six 12-inch remixes that appeared on various singles accompanying the release of Phil Collins’s 1985 blockbuster No Jacket Required were all compiled onto a 1987 CD-only release called 12”ers. Now that release is being issued on vinyl, although all of the tracks were previously available on vinyl on their respective 12-inch singles (and a truncated version of 12”ers did appear on vinyl in Japan and Brazil). The remixes are all about what you’d expect, slightly extended variations on the hits without straying too far from the sound that made them omnipresent on ’80s radio. In that sense, they’re all pretty listenable, not relying too heavily on rigidly programmed club beats and allowing certain elements in the mix to come forward to provide new perspective. I don’t think there’s anything here that comes close to trumping the LP version, although the extended remix of “Take Me Home” has its moments. NL
The Doors: Live at Copenhagen, 1968 [Rhino]
Like death and taxes, another aspect of life guaranteed to us all is a new release by the Doors for Record Store Day. This time around, it's a previously unreleased recording of the band performing at Copenhagen’s Falkoner Centret in September 1968 during the touring cycle for Waiting for the Sun. What there is no guarantee of is how this will sound. Previous official live releases by the band have been sonically dodgy and better suited for the bootleg market. Will that matter to folks who still drool over the tortured poetics of the Lizard King and have this on top of their RSD Black Friday shopping list? Of course not. RH [CORRECTION: Some of this show has been released on CD, on the 50th-anniversary expanded reissue of Waiting for the Sun. Curious buyers should be able to preview it on streaming services to get an idea of the audio quality—in our opinion, not terrible for an ROIO from 1968, but nothing resembling the quality of a commercial recording.]
Bob Dylan: The Original Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan & “Masters of War” 7-inch [Legacy]
The very earliest pressings of Bob Dylan’s 1963 album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan contained four songs that were quickly replaced: “Rocks and Gravel,” “Let Me Die in My Footsteps,” “Rambling Gambling Willie,” and “Talkin’ John Birch Blues.” Two of those were eventually issued on the first Bootleg Series box set, while the others have popped up on releases of dubious legality over the years. Still, the original version of Freewheelin’ is widely purported to be one of the rarest records in existence, the sort of thing collectors don’t even bother looking for simply because it’s too difficult to find. At long last, Sony Legacy is releasing a facsimile of the original mono version Freewheelin’ with the four missing tracks reinstated. It’s a sister release to the recent Dylan box set The Bootleg Series Vol. 18: Through the Open Window, which collects unreleased Dylan recordings dating from 1956 to 1963. This reissue also includes the original liner notes, which haven’t been seen until now. If that’s not enough archival Dylan, there’s also a 7-inch that includes Dylan’s first recording of “Masters of War,” recorded at Alan Lomax’s apartment, coupled with a recorded conversation between Dylan and Lomax on the B-side. NL
Fleetwood Mac: Live 1975 [Rhino]
First issued as the third CD of a mega-deluxe edition of Fleetwood Mac’s 1975 self-titled album, this live album is compiled from two shows on the band’s 1975 tour, their first prolonged outing with recently enlisted members Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. What makes this setlist so interesting is the presence of all the lingerers from previous incarnations of Fleetwood Mac, meaning that we get the Buckingham/Nicks lineup performing chestnuts like “Oh Well,” “Station Man,” and “The Green Manalishi,” as well as brand-new tunes “Rhiannon” and “Landslide.” While the new band’s performances of the older songs already indicate the smoother California-inflected direction the band was moving in—lacking the tormented firepower of the Peter Green/Danny Kirwan years—this set should hopefully serve as a gateway for Buckingham/Nicks fans to go back and discover all those great early Fleetwood Mac records, if they haven’t already. NL
Grateful Dead: On a Back Porch Vol. 2 [Rhino]
In addition to the live set from 1980 covered below, the Grateful Dead is dropping a second volume of a live compilation series meant to help promote Dogfish Head’s Grateful Dead Juicy Pale Ale. Produced by the Dead’s resident archivist David Lemieux, this five-track disc features, according to the press notes, “easy-listening Dead,” such as their take on Martha and the Vandellas’ “Dancing in the Street” and Go to Heaven track “Althea.” What is unclear is exactly what shows these five songs were plucked from, but if the first volume of this series is anything to go by, it will be a healthy mix of material from throughout the band’s four decades as a live act. RH
Grateful Dead: The Warfield, San Francisco, CA, October 4 & 6, 1980 [Rhino]
In September and October 1980, Grateful Dead did a 15-night stand at the Warfield Theater in their hometown of San Francisco, each one featuring an acoustic set and two electric sets by the celebrated jam band. (Those shows were part of the source for the 1981 live albums Reckoning and Dead Set.) For Record Store Day 2019, the group released two of those acoustic sets from October 9 and 10 as a double LP, and for RSD Black Friday, they are returning to that particular well to release the acoustic sets from the shows on October 4 and 6 as another 2-disc vinyl set in an edition of 6,000. (A double CD edition is also dropping on November 28.) By all accounts, these were top-notch gigs, with the band leaning into the stripped-down format as they ran through country faves (“The Race Is On,” “On the Road Again”) and some limber-limbed, cornpone originals (“Ripple,” “Cassidy”). RH
George Harrison: Living in the Material World [Dark Horse]
I hope the Fab gods will forgive me for saying this, but George Harrison’s solo career really dropped off quickly. Just a few short years after his 1970 masterpiece All Things Will Pass (which would have been even more of a masterpiece without the unnecessary third disc—please do not smite me, oh Fab gods), Harrison’s solo records are really quite thin gruel. Before things got too grim, though, Harrison released 1973’s lovely Living in the Material World, which boasted another big hit in “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” and also contained the wonderful “Don’t Let Me Wait Too Long.” Last year we got a 50th-anniversary remix of that album, released on a barrage of colored vinyl variants. But never content to let any Beatle well go undipped, the estate holders are giving it another go, this time as a zoetrope picture disc. It probably won’t sound great, and I really do think the remix of the album—while gaining clarity, particularly around Harrison’s voice—loses some of the original’s spark and charm. But with the Ringo release falling off the Black Friday roster, this will be the lone Beatle release of the day, so pony up, lest the Fab gods get tetchy. NL
Billy Joel: Live from Long Island [Legacy]
I don’t claim to have much of an understanding about terroir, but I imagine that Billy Joel that was sourced directly from Long Island is probably some of the most potent Billy Joel you can get. This 1982 concert was filmed at Nassau Coliseum—the very epicenter of Long Island itself—and released on VHS, Betamax, and Laserdisc. Now the audio has been remixed for a stand-alone vinyl release, which is good news if your VCR don’t work so good no more. It should be pure, raw, uncut Joel, if that’s your thing, but be warned: The sheer Long Islandness of this whole endeavor might be too much for most mortals to bear, kind of like staring into the sun, except with lyrics about Brenda and Eddie. NL
Jorma Kaukonen: Wabash Avenue [Culture Factory]
In 1965, the same year he joined Jefferson Airplane, guitarist Jorma Kaukonen committed a bunch of recordings to tape, and the reels have been recently rediscovered and issued in time for Kaukonen’s 85th birthday. Without many details forthcoming, it stands to reason that these are lo-fi solo acoustic recordings, relying heavily on the blues but also including an early version of Surrealistic Pillow’s “Embryonic Journey.” The 2-LP release also includes an audio interview between Kaukonen and his wife Vanessa about the tapes and their rediscovery. Pressed on colored vinyl, this archival release comes from the Culture Factory label, who have been responsible for some poor pressings in my experience (and always include some pretty tacky-looking obis with their releases). However, Kaukonen nuts will probably need to hear this historical recording, quality be damned. NL
Led Zeppelin: “Trampled Under Foot” 7-inch [Swan Song]
When Physical Graffiti was first released to British record shops in 1975, stores would get a bonus Led Zeppelin 7-inch single if they ordered 10 copies of the album. And now, to wrap up the 50th anniversary campaign for the double album comes a reproduction of that 7-inch, containing “Trampled Under Foot” backed with “Black Country Woman.” Without any dedicated single mixes or anything to differentiate them from the familiar album versions, this repress seems like straight-up collector bait, the sort of thing that will be taken home on Black Friday, filed away, and immediately forgotten about for years to come. Outside of the UK, “Trampled Under Foot” was released as a regular single, although due to the LP’s monster success it failed to make much of a sales impact as a separate release. NL
Love: The Complete Elektra Albums [Rhino]
This is going to be the whopper of the day: a 5-LP box set containing the four albums Los Angeles band Love recorded for Elektra Records from 1966 to 1969—Love, Da Capo, Forever Changes, and Four Sail—plus a fifth disc of rarities, single sides, outtakes, and alternate mixes. All four of these albums are well worth owning, but the first three in particular are stone-cold classics, from the hard-hitting garage-folk-rock of their self-titled debut, the mind-expanding jazz- and blues-inflected grooves on Da Capo, and the psychedelic masterpiece Forever Changes, which sounds like nothing else before or since. Chris Bellman cut the four LPs from analog tape, making these even more crucial; the fifth LP was cut from digital. Although unconfirmed, it’s likely the albums are all presented in their stereo mixes rather than mono, but that doesn’t make this set any less desirable in our (little red) book. NL
Maitreya Kali (Craig Smith): Apache-Inca [Flatiron Recordings]
Through much of the ’60s, Craig Smith had a fairly typical and successful career in the music business. He was part of the Good Time Singers, a family-friendly pop group that appeared regularly on The Andy Williams Show. Smith went on to be part of a couple of psych-leaning ensembles, including the Penny Arkade, and wrote some songs for the Monkees (“Salesman” from Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.) and Glen Campbell. But after an extended trip through Asia in the latter part of the decade where he was regularly dropping acid and smoking copious amounts of hash, he went through a mental break, dubbing himself Maitreya Kali and claiming to be a messiah. Somewhere in the midst of this fraught period, Smith recorded and self-released a pair of albums—Apache and Inca, both issued in 1972—that paired magically trippy psych-pop with loopy sentiments and Christian balladry. Those records have been rescued from obscurity through the efforts of folks like Ugly Things magazine founder Mike Stax, who wrote a biography of the artist (2016’s Swim Through the Darkness) and oversaw reissues of Smith’s solo efforts, including this new double LP re-release. Originally intended for RSD proper, this very limited-run package (only 400 copies!) includes liner notes ported over from a 2019 edition and a 7-inch single of previously unreleased songs Smith gifted to his then-girlfriend on an acetate. RH
Joni Mitchell: Rolling Thunder Revue [Rhino]
These recordings are culled from Archives - Volume Four: The Asylum Years (1976–1980), a larger box set Joni Mitchell released in 2024 as part of her ongoing Archives series. While none of these tracks overlap with the vinyl set she released on Record Store Day earlier this year (1976 U.S. Tour), the majority of these tracks did already appear on the shortened vinyl edition of the Archives - Volume Four set. By my count, only two of these songs weren’t on that vinyl collection: “Jericho” live from Niagara Falls and a version of “Woman of Heart and Mind” that was recorded at a party at Gordon Lightfoot’s house in November 1975. If that’s enough to get you over the finish line, this assembles the live recordings from Mitchell’s two stints on Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue tour, with a rotating cast of musicians, little-to-no promotion, and a traveling-circus atmosphere. But I think even hardcore Joni lovers will have trouble justifying this purchase. NL
Randy Newman: Trouble in Paradise Demos [Rhino]
Randy Newman’s 1983 hit “I Love LA” is having a moment, following its prominent inclusion on the HBO show of the same name. (One’s mind reels at what Newman makes of that show’s Gen Z characters and their travails within the world of online influencers.) Rhino just reissued its parent album, Trouble in Paradise, in an all-analog pressing as part of its Rhino Reserve series, and now for Black Friday comes an accompanying LP of previously unreleased demos from that period. These stripped-down embryonic versions find Newman yanking the pull cord on his songwriting after lying idle during the years following 1979’s Born Again. There are also two demos for tracks that didn’t appear on the finished LP, “Rainbow” and “Big Fat Country Song (Something to Sing About)”—the latter of which carries thematic similarity to the album’s theme of indulgence and arrogance but was disliked enough by Paradise’s producer Lenny Waronker to be struck from the tracklist. NL
Olivia Newton-John: “Xanadu” 7-inch [ONJ]
With the 45th anniversary of the release of Xanadu upon us, the estate of Olivia Newton-John is celebrating that dubious milestone with this rather silly RSD First 7-inch. On the A-side is a live version of the film’s theme song, and on the flip is a remix of the track. And… that’s it. No goofy color variant or liquid filling or gaudy picture disc in sight. Just 2,000 singles that will linger in the bins long after this Record Store Black Friday is done. RH
Nico: Live at Reims Cathedral, 1974 [Culture Factory]
Nico’s set at Reims Cathedral in France opening for Tangerine Dream was already notorious, as it was the first time a rock event was allowed to happen at a Catholic church in Europe. Adding to the notoriety is the live recording of the former Velvet Underground chanteuse’s performance, which has been released officially and unofficially over the years. Every version I’ve heard has sounded awful—a likely audience-made bootleg with all the crackly, booming, uneven sonics that you would get from a non-professional with a cheap tape deck. There’s zero chance that Culture Factory has found a way to improve on what was already a dodgy recording. I also call bullshit on the claim, printed on the obi strip for this RSD Black Friday exclusive, that this is the “first time” this has been issued on vinyl. According to Discogs, there are two different official vinyl editions of this same set, released in 2013 and 2021. This one’s for the true obsessives only. RH
Old & In the Way: Live at Sonoma State - 11/4/73 [Round]
For one brief stretch in the ’70s, Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia joined up with a group of bluegrass-loving pals, including the fantastic mandolin player David Grisman, former Earth Opera member Peter Rowan, and fiddler Vassar Clements, to play a bunch of shows around the US and record a lone self-titled studio album, released in 1975. Like most anything a member of the Dead was involved with, bootlegs of this ensemble’s live performances have been in demand among collectors. Those folks should be plenty satisfied with the official release of the group’s set at Sonoma State College in Cotati, a city about an hour north of San Francisco, from late ’73. The double-vinyl RSD First edition features a mix of originals, bluegrass standards, a nice rendition of the Stones’ “Wild Horses,” and a pair of songs where the group is joined by Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. RH
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: The Live Anthology: From the Vaults Vol. 1 [Warner]
In 2009, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released a 4-CD box set of live recordings collected over the years, starting in 1978 and running all the way up through 2007. It’s a treasure trove of terrific stuff that no fan would want to be without, as no matter the era, Petty and the band display the consistency that became their hallmark. Best Buy released an exclusive deluxe edition with an extra CD (plus some DVDs, a Blu-ray, and a vinyl EP), and the legend goes that at one point those mega-copies were remaindered at a shockingly low price. I never managed to get one, but now that extra CD is coming out on vinyl, featuring an hour’s worth of live tracks recorded over a span of nearly 30 years. With liner notes and recollections from Petty himself, this one’s on the shortlist of Black Friday essentials. It’s an RSD First release, meaning a wider release will follow, and the Vol. 1 in the title is a fortuitous sign that more live stuff could be on the way. NL
The Rolling Stones: Their Satanic Majesties Request [ABKCO]
Someday, and I hope it's very soon, the novelty of these zoetrope picture discs will wear off and labels will stop producing them. Until that blessed occasion, I will continue to roll my eyes at anyone who grabs this RSD Black Friday repressing of Their Satanic Majesties Request, the 1967 album by the Rolling Stones that found the group trying to absorb the shockwave of psychedelia sweeping through the British rock community and writing some stone(d) cold classics (“Citadel,” “She's a Rainbow”) and musical bad trips (“Gomper,” Bill Wyman’s “In Another Land”). I get that the visual effect these zoetrope discs provide is a cool accompaniment for the trippy tunes on this LP, but no one who cares about music should torture their eardrums or their styluses with what is guaranteed to be an awful-sounding pressing. Save your money and find an OG copy. They are out there. An RSD First release. RH
Linda Ronstadt: The Early Years [Iconic Artists Group]
This compilation covers the solo albums Linda Ronstadt recorded for Capitol Records between 1969 and 1974, plus the addition of her big hit with the Stone Poneys, 1967’s “Different Drum.” It’s an interesting mixture of hits and deep cuts, relying heavily on her solo debut, 1969’s Hand Sewn…Home Grown, and her first number-one album, 1974’s Heart Like a Wheel. These albums are all easy to find, and in fact the 1977 Capitol Records collection A Retrospective covers a lot of this same ground. But this collection also has two relative rarities in the form of live recordings from the 1970 Celebration album of performances recorded at the Big Sur Folk Festival. However, all told, the tracklist looks suspiciously short for a 2-LP set. An RSD First release. NL
Todd Rundgren: A Cappella [Rhino]
Todd Rundgren’s 1985 album A Cappella is an album better read about than actually listened to. It is exactly that—an a cappella recording made entirely with Rundgren’s voice and body, with the help of an E-mu Emulator sampler—and as such is a fascinating statement of artistic intent… or, at least, of bloody-minded determination. The end result, as you can imagine, is a bit difficult to listen to. Rundgren’s knack for clever songwriting is never not in full effect, but some of the synthesized sounds derived from his vocal samples sound awfully unpleasant, and the masses of vocal overdubs wear thin after a song or two. The more palatable moments adhere to doo-wop and a cappella traditions, like “Johnee Jingo” or his cover of the Spinners’ “Mighty Love.” All told, it’s kind of incredible that someone actually made this album, so from that perspective it’s further proof that Rundgren is an underrated iconoclast and a mammoth talent. Just don’t make me listen to it. NL
Seals & Crofts: Greatest Hits [Rhino]
Somewhere, someone is smiling down on Seals & Crofts. Their 1975 Greatest Hits album is being reissued on “milky clear” vinyl for Black Friday, despite the fact that used record stores are already lousy with this record clogging up the dollar bins. And we just got news that two of their other albums are being given the deluxe 45 RPM 2-LP treatment by Analogue Productions as part of their upcoming Rhino series. It’s hard to imagine anyone needing any additional Seals & Crofts beyond what’s already on this (well-compiled) single disc, as it includes “Summer Breeze” and “Diamond Girl,” both fine AM radio singles of their day, and a bunch of other stuff that should scratch any lingering Seals & Crofts itch. This edition also appears to augment the original tracklist with two additional songs from 1976’s Get Closer. NL
Warren Zevon: Epilogue: Live at the Edmonton Folk Festival [Omnivore]
There’s been a lot of Warren Zevon on vinyl lately (see our reviews of the reissues of Excitable Boy and his three ’90s albums for Giant Records) but this release might be the most significant one yet. It’s a recording of Zevon’s final concert, recorded at the Edmonton Folk Festival on August 9, 2002, just a little over a year before the songwriter died of mesothelioma. Zevon’s joined by his longtime sideman Matt Cartsonis on guitar, fiddle, and dulcimer, and the set’s a stripped-down affair in keeping with the festival’s folky modus operandi. The rarities include a version of “Dirty Life and Times” and a cover of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You,” and mastering comes from Michael Graves and Jordan McLeod of Osiris Studio. The two LPs feature three sides of music and an etching on the fourth side. NL
Various Artists: Flowers in the Afternoon: Late 1960s Sunshine [Craft]
This is quite an assemblage of tracks, coming from historian Alec Palao, who was part of the team responsible for Rhino’s Nuggets box sets and also has helmed countless archival collections for the UK’s Ace Records, including all the Zombies reissues on their Big Beat subsidiary. With Flowers in the Afternoon, Palao focuses his aim on the sunshine-pop movement of the late ’60s but doesn’t rely on familiar names like the Association or Sagittarius. Rather, these 16 tracks are far more obscure, which should make this an illuminating exploration into the genre; two of the songs (one by Mimi Fariña and one by Mark Devlin) are previously unreleased. The comp comes courtesy of Craft Recordings, whose vinyl reputation is sterling, so this should play very well despite it being pressed on orange-colored vinyl. NL
Various Artists: What's This World Coming To: Garage Rock from the Sun Records Vault [Sun]
In 1969, a record producer named Shelby Singleton (“Harper Valley P.T.A.”) bought Sun Records from Sam Phillips and moved the operation from Memphis to Nashville. This compilation collects songs from the Sun Records roster following Singleton’s takeover, focusing on pop, garage rock, psychedelia, and dance-oriented R&B groovers, with bands like the Gentrys, the Free Reign, and the Jesters making a marked shift from Sun’s original rock ’n’ roll, blues, R&B, and country recordings. This should be a pretty interesting comp, with some rarities sprinkled in as collector bait. However, it’s pressed as a zoetrope picture disc, which will likely compromise the sound. Considering that these tracks were quickly produced, rough-and-tumble recordings solely designed to impact the singles charts, that may not be the end of the world. An RSD First release. NL
Previous posts in The Vinyl Cut's Record Store Day Black Friday 2025 coverage:
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