Record Store Day announces 2023 Black Friday releases

The annual record store event takes place November 24th

The List of Record Store Day (RSD) Black Friday 2023 exclusive releases has been unveiled. Limited edition releases will include selections from The Beach Boys, Jeff Beck, Dierks Bentley, Buckcherry, Kiss’ Eric Carr, Cypress Hill, The Doors, Dr. Dre, Grateful Dead, INXS, Jonas Brothers, Kix, Limp Bizkit, Post Malone, Joni Mitchell, Willie Nelson, Prince, Skid Row, Lil Wayne, Rob Zombie and many others. These will be available on November 24th at participating indie music retailers.

Capitol Records will celebrate The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album on green vinyl with an RSD First release limited to 7,000 copies. The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album was originally released in 1964 and features seven holiday classics and five original tracks, including the singles “Little Saint Nick” and “The Man With All The Toys.”

ATCO/Rhino honors the two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jeff Beck’s immeasurable legacy with an RSD Exclusive 12-inch EP of three songs making their debut on vinyl. Tribute includes “Midnight Walker Lament,” which combines the instrumental “Midnight Walker” from 18 (Beck’s 2022 album with Johnny Depp) with a spoken word poem by Imelda May, a live version of “Elegy For Dunkirk,” featuring Jeff and singer Olivia Safe, and a blistering live version of “Going Down,” recorded in Paris with Beck backed by bassist Rhonda Smith, drummer Jonathan Joseph, vocalist Jimmy Hall, and guitarist Carmen Vandenberg.

Capitol Records will celebrate the 10th anniversary of Dierks Bentley’s Up on the Ridge with an RSD First release on orange vinyl, limited to 3,500 copies. In 2010, Dierks Bentley released his most artistically daring project to date: Up On The Ridge, a powerful, beautiful acoustic album steeped in bluegrass and roots music that moved Dierks to be a country musician in the first place. Besides the five tracks co-written by Bentley himself, the songs come from such varied sources as Bob Dylan, Buddy & Julie Miller, U2, and Kris Kristofferson, who provides guest vocals along with Alison Krauss, Vince Gill, Miranda Lambert, Chris Stapleton, and more.

Buckcherry’s last album with the original line-up that includes guitarist Yogi Lonich, 2001’s Time Bomb, will be available on vinyl for the first time in a metallic brown with black swirl pressing, limited to 2,500 copies globally with an inner sleeve. The album showed that, for Buckcherry, there was no place to go but down as vocalist Josh Todd could have won the award for Rock Star Least Likely to Survive the Year after this record came out. Tracks like “Slit My Wrists,” “Whiskey in the Morning,” and “Porno Star” capture and celebrate a lifestyle decadent even by the standards of the band’s Sunset Strip stomping grounds.

Kiss’ Eric Carr will see the release of Rockology as a picture disc, limited to 4,000 copies, and vinyl-like CD, limited to 1,000 copies. Carr took up the rustic orange persona of “The Fox” and was a fan favorite as a member of Kiss until his death. Carr’s only solo album, Rockology was completed after his death by fellow Kiss member Bruce Kulick. This picture disc vinyl Kiss Collector’s Edition, designed and mastered along with Loretta Carr (Eric’s sister) was imagined in the style of the original four Kiss solo album, and falls in line with them, featuring Eric in his “Fox” makeup and a 12 by 24-inch poster in the style of the original releases. The vinyl look-a-like CD edition features a front/back orange CD with LP groove design and record label print on the front, remastered in high res and playable in any CD player. The packaging includes a cardboard jacket, printed inner sleeve insert, poster and OBI sidespine.

Sony’s Legacy Recordings will mark the 30th anniversary of Cypress Hill’s Black Sunday with a remix package. On July 20, 1993, Los Angeles hip-hop legends Cypress Hill unleashed their sophomore opus Black Sunday on the unsuspecting masses. The record changed rap music with its dark undercurrent, Latin inflection, no-holds-barred storytelling, and the inimitable interplay between B-Real and Sen Dog cast over psychedelically spun rap soundscapes courtesy of DJ Muggs. Two new remixes are available for fans on 12-inch black vinyl, including “Insane in the Brain” from the esteemed DJ/Producer Statik Selektah, and “Hits From The Bong” crafted by the album’s original producer himself, DJ Muggs. The set is limited to 3,100 copies.

The Doors will release Live in Bakersfield as an RSD Exclusive 2 LP and RSD First 2 CD set. The album captures one of the more unique shows from The Doors, during a tumultuous 1970 when Jim Morrison was on trial on trumped-up charges in Miami. The band had been playing together live for five years and were tight enough to be able to veer into the unknown and that’s what they opted for in this California agriculture town on a hot summer night. Featuring improvisations and medleys of The Doors’ many beloved hits from across their albums, Live in Bakersfield is a shamanic adventure for all who listen. This is the first official release of the June 5, 1970 show, and includes the song “Someday Soon”, which was only performed live this one time. The 2 LP set is limited to 7,500 copies while the CD is more widely available at 12,500 copies.

Dr. Dre’s iconic debut album, The Chronic, was originally released in 1992 and features the hits “Nuthin’ But A ‘G’ Thang,” “F*ck Wit Dre Day (And Everybody’s Celebratin’),” and “Let Me Ride.” This 30-Year Anniversary Edition is presented in a special CD longbox package with collectible rolling papers included. The package is limited to 4,000 copies, available exclusively at record stores for RSD Black Friday 2023.

Rhino is issuing Grateful Dead’s Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA 3/2/1969 as a 5 LP set, limited to 7,500 copies. Mixed from the 16-track master tapes by Jeffrey Norman, and mastered by Jeffrey along with tape restoration by Plangent Process, the fourth night of the famed Fillmore West run that produced the bulk of Live/Dead is an exceptional example–going back more than 54 years—as to why you never miss a Sunday show. Opening with what would later be known as the Live/Dead suite, 3/2/69 demonstrates the Dead had not only NOT run out of steam after three magnificent shows, in many ways they surpassed the previous night’s wildly powerful music.

Rhino will release a new collection of 11 rare B-sides, remixes and live performances from the 1982 breakthrough album by INXS. Shabooh Shoobah Rarities includes extended versions of “The One Thing” and “Black & White,” selections from the band’s performance at the 1982 US Festival, plus other rare tracks that have been out-of-print on vinyl since the early ‘80s. The RSD Exclusive release is limited to 3,500 copies.

Republic will issue The Jonas Brothers’ hit singles into a new compilation entitled The Family Business. The 23-song set includes two tracks from DNCE and four tracks from Nick Jonas’ solo albums. The release serves as a companion piece to their current live show dates, entitled The Tour, and their most recent studio album, The Album. The package will be limited to 3,500 copies on 2 LP clear vinyl as an RSD First release.

Friday Music celebrates four decades of Kix’ second album, the classic Cool Kids, for the first time ever on metallic silver vinyl. These Hagerstown, Maryland hard rockers are still going strong as lead singer Steve Whiteman and company co-headline rock festivals, and play jam-packed venues all over. Fan favorites like “Burning Love” “Loco-Emotion” and “Restless Blood” made this a go-to album for 80s hard rock enthusiasts since its release back in 1983. Mastered by Joe Reagoso from the Atlantic Records tapes, this is the first time this album has been on vinyl in decades with exclusive gatefold cover art and limited to 1,500 copies.

Limp Bizkit will issue Rock im Park 2001, recorded live from Nuremberg, Germany. The album captures a Limp Bizkit festival performance praised as “chaotic, frenzied-high energy.” DJ Lethal functions as the sound designer, shaping the sound on this recording. This set was released in the UK on CD and DVD while in the US only the DVD was released. It has never been released on vinyl. This deluxe package includes an OBI side strip, a single album jacket, two printed inner sleeves, new record labels, and two colored vinyl LPs, limited to 5,200 copies. A vinyl look-a-like CD is yellow on both sides with an LP groove and record label design. Remastered in high res, it will play in any CD player. The packaging includes a gatefold jacket, printed inner sleeve insert and an OBI side spine, and is limited to 1,000 copies.

Mercury/Republic Records will profile global superstar Post Malone’s record for the most RIAA diamond-certified singles in history with the 2 LP, The Diamond Collection. The compilation of his top hits to date, including “Congratulations” featuring Quavo, “Sunflower” with Swae Lee, “White Iverson,” and more, will be an RSD First release on clear vinyl in a custom jacket exclusively, limited to 10,000 copies.

Rhino will issue Joni Mitchell’s Court and Spark Demos as an RSD Exclusive, limited to 6,300 copies. Court and Spark is the most commercially successful album of Joni Mitchell’s career. The LP features the never-before-heard demos from the iconic album, including “Help Me” and “Raised On Robbery.”

Willie Nelson’s groundbreaking 1973 album, Shotgun Willie, will get a 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition with a second disc of outtakes and alternates from the album sessions. The project is available for the first time on vinyl as an RSD Exclusive limited to 5,500 copies.

Sony’s Legacy Recordings will faithfully recreate the original one-sided promo 12-inch for the single “Gett Off” that introduced Prince’s new band. The cover and label proclaimed, “Nothing can stop…Prince and the New Power Generation” and the release contains the “damn near 10 min” mix of the song on one side with a blank flip side. The original version was provided to radio and club DJs as a promo on Prince’s 33rd birthday on June 7, 1991 and only 1,500 copies were created. Not originally planned to be included on the 1991 album Diamonds and Pearls, the response to the track was so strong that an edited version was added to the album and became a successful single. The RSD Exclusive will be limited to 7,000 copies.

BMG will reissue Skid Row’s B-Side Ourselves EP as an RSD Exclusive yellow and black marble 12-inch vinyl, limited to 2,500 copies. Originally released in 1992, this EP features Skid Row’s classic line-up covering “Psycho Therapy” (The Ramones), “C’Mon And Love Me” (KISS), “Delivering The Goods” (Judas Priest), “What You’re Doing” (RUSH), & “Little Wing” (Jimi Hendrix).

Lil Wayne presents his first-ever career-spanning compilation album, I Am Music, via Republic Records. The 18-track collection boasts his latest single, “Kant Nobody” featuring DMX produced by Swizz Beatz, Tha Carter IV standout “6 Foot 7 Foot” featuring Cory Gunz and other hits, including the diamond-certified smash “Lollipop” featuring Static Major, “Mona Lisa” featuring Kendrick Lamar, “Drop The World” featuring Eminem, “A Milli,” “Fire Man,” “Go DJ,” and more. The set will be available on 2 LP translucent ruby double vinyl exclusively for RSD Black Friday 2023, limited to 5,000 copies.

A special picture disc edition, featuring new artwork, of the 2021 Rob Zombie record Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy, will be available as an RSD Exclusive limited to 2,200 copies.

The full list can be viewed via the Record Store Day websitewebsite.

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn