Tags
Bonnie Raitt, Dire Straits, Discogs, Dokken, Electric Light Orchestra, Gerry Rafferty, Handel, Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Mel Tormé, Monty Python, Music, Nat King Cole, Records, Richard Harris, Simon and Garfunkel, Steve Miller Band, Talking Heads, The BCPF, Underdog Records
Salutations™!!
It was a rainy, then sunny, then rainy, then sunny day yesterday. Mary’s Gourmet Diner, Underdog Records, Willows Bistro. Lots of record listening. But, it was a great day. Great. Day. Here’s our haul:
©Elektra Records
- Dokken – Under Lock And Key – I dug me some Dokken in the mid-80s. This is my favorite album from them as it contains “In My Dreams” which is my favorite song from them. And… it was there in VG++ condition. Why pass that up?
- Dokken – Back For The Attack – This was there at VG++, too. Double trouble!
- Simon & Garfunkel – The Concert In Central Park – They had a full band behind them on this album. They performed in front of 500,000 people at this concert. 500k!!! But, it was put the best by The BCPF: Paul Simon solo with Art Garfunkel’s harmonies=perfection. VG+.
- Dire Straits – Making Movies – This leaves only two albums for me to get to have the whole Dire Straits studio catalog. Granted their catalog isn’t that extensive but the point is that I have really gotten into them and I want all of them. This isn’t my favorite one or even two of theirs but it’s still really good. Jonathan kept an eye out for me as I missed out on a copy a few weeks back. VG++.
- Talking Heads – Stop Making Sense – I really wish that this was the extended version of the album. That would have been a 2xLP, I’m sure. I don’t even know if there is a version on vinyl or not. This has a truncated version of “Once in a Lifetime,” excluding the “water dissolving, water removing” part. In fact, every song but two were truncated because of limitations of vinyl’s capacity. The CD/cassette versions were longer. Plus, none of the Tom Tom Club stuff. This album is #345 on the RS list. As far as the overall goes, I think it’s way too low. I’d put it in the Top 100, but that’s just me. I think this is awesome, I just wish there was a deluxe version. VG+.
- George Frideric Handel/ The English Concert, Trevor Pinnock – Music For The Royal Fireworks, Concerti A Due Cori – The BCPF loves her some Hanel. VG+.
- Electric Light Orchestra – Eldorado – A Symphony By The Electric Light Orchestra – I love me some ELO and I love the Wizard of Oz reference on the cover. VG.
- Richard Harris – My Boy – I really enjoyed the first Richard Harris album that I had. I’m wondering if the album was dedicated to his son, Jared, who fans of Mad Men would know as Lane Pryce on the show? He would have been around 10 when this came out. VG+.
- Jean-François Paillard Chamber Orchestra • I Solisti Veneti • Various – The Pachelbel Canon And Other Baroque Favorites – NM.
- Nat ‘King’ Cole Trio – In The Beginning – VG+ of very early Nat. It’s his trio and it was true jazz. The BCPF really loves him and I love the style (and him, too). Great record.
- Nat King Cole – L-O-V-E – $1 bin find in mono and VG shape. More Nat King Cole.
- Nat King Cole – Let’s Face The Music – And more in the $1 and in VG shape.
- Johnny Cash & June Carter – Carryin’ On With – $1 bin find in VG shape.
- Buster Poindexter – Buster Poindexter – The sandpaper-voiced singer of the New York Dolls, David Johansen, in his mid-to-late-80s alter ego, Buster Poindexter. Yeah, I liked “Hot Hot Hot” and that’s why I bought it. Well, that and it was only $1. It’s in VG+ shape.
- Various – Television’s Greatest Hits, Volume II – I’m a sucker for television theme songs and I actually have this on CD. But, I couldn’t pass up on having the 2xLP version and that 2xLP version was only $1. Ka-ching!
- Bonnie Raitt – Give It Up – #495 on the RS list and it was sitting in the $1 bin. The BCPF picked it up, so “yay her” for adding to the list. We’re up to 187 out of 500 right now. VG.
- Monty Python – Instant Record Collection – Exactly as it says., Monty Python. Sketch stuff, I think. $1 bin find. VG.
- Gerry Rafferty – Night Owl – I enjoyed the other Rafferty album I have. It’s a $1 bin find in VG.
- Mel Tormé – The Tormé Touch – I got this for several reasons. It was in the $1 bin. I like his voice. I dig his nickname (the Velvet Fog). And, I was a fan of Harry Anderson and Mel was his favorite singer. RIP Harry (and Mel). VG.
- The Steve Miller Band – Circle Of Love – It was there for $1. That’s the only reason I got it. Well, I liked the cover. VG.
That’s it. That’s a pretty extensive haul but a lot of it was $1 bin stuff. I added two to the RS list gathering experiment.
Underdog Records has a ton of freshly-stocked used vinyl in. If you’ve not been in a while, go check it out! If you’ve never been, check it out! Don’t have a receiver or turntable or speakers? Want some? Underdog Records always has some equipment for sale and reasonably priced. All your vinyl needs can be met at Underdog. Usually, they are open Tuesday-Saturday but for this week, they’ll be closed on Tuesday as Jonathan and Kerri are going out of town for the holiday. He certainly needs and deserves it.
Discogs is how I bring you this list every week. I keep every album I own on vinyl listed on there and they have a pretty cool marketplace, too.
Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!
—
“And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack. And you may find yourself in another part of the world. And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile. And you may find yourself in a beautiful house with a beautiful wife. And you may ask yourself, well… How did I get here?” – “Once in a Lifetime” (Eno/Frantz/Byrne/Harrison/Weymouth)
absolutely nothing about them. In fact, other than maybe in passing, I’ve never even heard of them. Yes, I know that floors you, Dear Reader, and yet, comes as no surprise, whatsoever. All that said, I really wish I still didn’t know who it was and I really wish I hadn’t heard this. I remember being in high school, having only played the bass for about 2 years and getting together with a bunch of other high school musicians who also hadn’t played very long and never in a “band.” What we pulled out of our arses noodling around on instruments we barely knew our way around sounded 800x better than this. The mere fact that Frank Zappa had anything to do with it makes me question my respect for him and that was spotty to begin with. I did some research to find out more about the album before I passed harsh judgement but nothing in my readings made me feel any better about this. All I read was about how important it is and how the Magic Band was a “well-rehearsed” band for these recordings. The construction site across from the studio makes better music than this when they’re running the cement mixer, running a brick saw, riveting aluminum studs and hauling stuff around the building on heavy equipment. This is an hour+ that I will never get back. I don’t care about the “importance” of it, it sucks. Pure and simple. It’s gawd-awful. The fact that it’s on this list at all, much less Top 60? That is an atrocity. There’s no explaining to me how important or fantastic it is, because no matter the significance, there’s no changing that I got a headache from it and wanted to step in front of a passing city bus while and after listening to it. I hated this.
sat this high, in my opinion. I’ve never made it a secret that I don’t like the bluesier stuff. This was a return to their roots (read: more blues) than the nearest previous stuff. To ME, this is less Stones than I’m used to. I know, too, that it was the last album released while Brian Jones was alive. So, there’s some kind of creepiness there, although I’m used to hearing stuff from people who have passed on. I remember listening to Pearl, it was creepy knowing that Janis had died after recording it, even one song instrumental because she died mere days before the scheduled vocal session. Creepy. Okay, sorry. To me, this album drags, almost the whole time. I like “Sympathy for the Devil” (one of my favorite Stones songs) and “Street Fighting Man.” But, the rest, meh. I can look back on this entire list and find almost any other Stones album and put it before this one. I’m not saying it doesn’t belong on the list, I get its importance. I just think most of the other albums on this list should, could or would be higher. Even the last that we listened to, Sticky Fingers, much better album than this. Tattoo You, Some Girls, all should have been higher than this, certainly higher than they were. I don’t get it, other than that roots mess. Meh, at best.
instruments but most of the instrumentation was done by him. Of course, he had guest players and this there was a great deal of them: “Maniac” Mike Sambello, Nathan Watts, Raymond Pounds, George Benson, Minnie Riperton, Herbie Hancock, just to name a few. The guest list was extensive. It’s jazz, it’s rock, it’s R&B, it’s soul, it’s everything. Great ballads, jammy jazz riffs and swinging horn sections, oh yeah! “Sir Duke.” ‘Nuff said with that. Well, maybe not ’nuff said. This album would be worth it alone just for that tune. Luckily, there’s a shload more on here to enjoy in addition. How in the world did I not know that Coolio totally ripped off Stevie with “Pastime Paradise?” I was like what the heck is that!? And, Coolio had any room to get upset when ‘Weird Al’ used “Gangsta Paradise” as one of his parodies? Yeah, perhaps he had permission from Stevie to use it, but still, it was only partly his to complain about. This version is the best of all of them, I say. I have to say, too, that synth basses in 1976 were actually more advanced than I realized. Stevie plays the crap out of it, too. The runs are like someone actually playing bass. When it is bass, it’s Nathan Watts.”I Wish,” “Isn’t She Lovely” and “Joy Inside My Tears” are some of my faves on this album. I have the video for the Classic Albums series on this album. I’ll have to break that out and watch it again. Great album from a great artist! DUG!
and “Money Honey.” This was the first rock and roll record to sell one million copies, which makes sense since it was one the first rock records. I dug it!
Garfunkel. Another album released in the year of my birth, 1970, this one is older, by 10 months. It’s the fifth album and is the swan song for the duo, each going their own way. I’m thinking it was a bit contentious, who’s with me? The album starts with the sweet “lean on me” themed title track. There were rumors that the song was about drugs (“silver girl”), but it wasn’t. Apparently, it’s about Peggy, Paul Simon’s then-wife. I love the overall feel of this album. There’s tension and there are times you can sense it but even with the deteriorating relationship of the duo going on they’re able to keep it together and make it work, even renting a house in L.A. while Art was filming Catch-22. They experimented with sounds and effects, much used during the song “Cecilia,” which is one of my favorite S&G tunes. “The Boxer,” another fave, is probably the one that took the longest to record. From what I understand, it started in 1968 and was recorded in several places over the course of almost two years. While he was the more prolific of the two, I think Paul Simon was jealous of the growing popularity of Art Garfunkel. “The Only Living Boy in New York” was the product of feeling lonely in NYC while Art was filming in Mexico. The last tune on the album, “Song for the Asking,” from what I’ve read, was like Simon and Garfunkel, each trying to reconcile and keep the channels open for future opportunities to work together. I believe they only did spot reunions after that. A landmark album that instead of boosting the duo was the sunset for them. Simon, of course, went on to monster success as a solo guy and Art didn’t do too bad, as far as I can tell. It’s a great album. Great, well-written tunes and it’s S&G, hard to go wrong with that, yeah? DUG!
