10 Roots Music Recommendations for Your Record Store Day 2024 Black Friday Shopping List
No Depression
Posted On November 25, 2024
Black Friday comes late this year, it’s not until Nov. 29! But as you plan your shopping lists, remember the little guys – independent record stores. Through the folks at Record Store Day, participating record stores offer many great releases this year.
Remember, not every store will have every release, and there are limited copies available. You can search a list of participating stores here. And check out the full list of this year’s 158 releases here.
And here are recommendations of 10 of the best goodies this year, chosen by No Depression writers and editors.
This album, pulled from volume 4 of Joni Mitchell’s Archives box set, includes Mitchell’s solo demos from March 1976, in the early stages of preparation for what became one of her most acclaimed and classic albums. It includes a version of “Black Crow” featuring backing from Chaka Khan. — Michael Elliott
Charles Wesley Godwin – Live From Echo Mountain 
The West Virginia songsmith and his band the Allegheny High returns to Asheville, NC’s Echo Mountain Recording Studios, where he recorded 2023’s All Again to reimagine eight songs from the project in a stripped back nature. Among the tunes on the sunflare-colored vinyl are “Another Leaf” and “Miner Imperfections,” both of which center around his family and have been instrumental in his rise to becoming one of the most captivating songwriters and performers touring today. — Matt Wickstrom
Rolling Stones – Get Yer Ya Yas Out
The Stones’ finest hour, recorded live from Madison Square Garden in 1969, Jagger at his strutting, preening, lascivious best. “You don’t want my trousers to fall down now do ya,” he teases after an impending wardrobe malfunction; “Ah’ll stick mah knife right down yore throat,” he threatens on a chilling, harp-punctuated rendition of “Midnight Rambler,” finishing it off with “and baby, it hurts!” Keith at the top of his slashing, sinister form dueling with Mick Taylor on two back-to-back tracks, ‘Oh Carol,” and “Little Queenie.” Simply the best-play it loud and often. — Grant Britt
This 12″ picture disc single only includes three songs, but they’re all perfect examples of the range of Steve Martin’s artistry. As an actor, comedian, singer, and banjoist, Martin integrates all of these elements into a tribute to the Egyptian pharaoh. Plus, the photo on the vinyl is hilarious! — Hilary Saunders
The Blasters – Over There: Live at The Venue London 1982, The Complete Concert
For the first time, all 23 songs The Blasters performed at their May 1982 stop at The Venue in London will be made available (thirteen tracks from that night have never been released until now). The recordings capture one of America’s greatest rock’n’roll bands in their prime and will be available as a gatefold double-LP with “rare photos and memorabilia.” — Michael Elliott
Kacey Musgraves – Deeper Into The Well
The expanded version of Musgraves’ Deeper Well continues to play into the original record’s atmospheric, folklore-esque feel with seven new songs that include features from Leon Bridges (“Superbloom”) and Tiny Habits (“Perfection”). Other standouts include the pop-tinged “Flower Child” and “Irish Goodbye” along with a 20-minute woodland sound experience that further elevates the collection’s earthy vibes. — Matt Wickstrom
John Lee Hooker – Don’t Turn Me From Your Door
This RSD Exclusive release will be the third edition of this LP of John Lee Hooker songs. Originally released in 1963 and then again in 1972 under the title Detroit Special, only 2,000 copies of the LP will be printed this time around. It’s a rare listen into the Mississippi bluesman’s early work. — Hilary Saunders
Buck Owens – I’ve Got a Tiger By the Tail 
This classic from the grandfather of the Bakersfield sound has been out of print on vinyl since the 1970s. For Record Store Day, the limited reissue comes on orange vinyl and is a start-to-finish fun listen of gratifying steel twang and Owens at his best. — Meredith Lawrence
The Beatles – “I Want To Hold Your Hand” / “I Saw Her Standing There”
More than 60 years after their original releases, these two folksier Beatles songs get a “RSD First” re-press for Black Friday 2024. The reissued double A-sides have been remastered from the original US version of the master tapes, and even cut on the same all-analog lathe that Capitol Records — the band’s original label home — has had since 1970. — Hilary Saunders
Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady –Reno Road
“You can’t do that on a bass,” Jorma Kaukonen told a mesmerized MerleFest audience a few years back, after Hot Tuna partner Jack Casady played one of his inimitable licks. A sampling of those licks along with Kaukonen’s intricate fingerpicking are on display in this 26-track collection of acoustic tracks from the early ’60s, unreleased until now, recorded and engineered by Casady before the duo were electrically entwined in Jefferson Airplane and acoustically connected in Hot Tuna. Piedmont blues, hokum, gospel and even a ragtime tune stand shoulder to shoulder for a memorable setlist that meanders throughout Hot Tuna performances to this day. — Grant Britt
