The vinyl record collecting blog - with news about new vinyl record releases, vinyl record sales, new music releases, album cover art and weekly features
Two Northern Soul 45's make the list this week which is a little unusual as Northern Soul values drifted away toward oblivion along with the British economy. Another Beatles "Please Please Me" made the list which has been an almost weekly event lately. And another original U2 12", sold by the band themselves at a swap meet in Dublin sometime around 1979, makes the list again, this time in the #1 spot.
1. 12" - U2 "Out of Control" numbered 12"#644/1000 U2 Three U23 - $5,500.00
2. 45 - Esther Grant "Let's Get The Most Out Of Love" / "Take Me Now Or Leave Me Be" Whilstone 001 - $5,400.00
3. LP - The Beatles "Please Please Me" Parlophone UK Bold Black label 1st Stereo - $5,100.00
4. 45 - The Movements "Cockstrong" / "Let's Get Involved" Sounds International $5012.00
5. LP - The Rolling Stones promotional album Decca UK Pressing - $4,550.00
More on this week's top 5 on Vinyl Record Talk, Tuesday 8:00PM Eastern / 5:00PM Pacific on Radio Dentata.
Various Artists Rumor Mill Records 2 180g LPs/CD Produced by: J. Ralph Engineered by: J. Ralph Mixed by: J.Ralph Mastered by: Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering (lacquer cut by Bernie Grundman) Co-produced by: Arthur Pingrey
MUSIC
SOUND
Soundtrack to Autism Documentary Sounds Universal Themes by Michael Fremer April 01, 2011
The documentary film “Wretches and Jabberers” follows the world traveling adventures of two middle-aged autistic men. One grew to adulthood in a mental institution, the other in an adult disability center.
Misdiagnosed as children because of their inability to speak, only when the two learned to communicate by typing did they join the conversation.
While this exquisitely recorded and packaged double LP set is ostensibly the soundtrack to the movie, it feels more like a parallel “high concept” project that resembles one of Hal Wilner’s tribute albums.
The songs, written by producer, engineer, mixer and arranger J. Ralph or in some cases in collaboration with the artists who sing them, are first person accounts of feelings, thoughts and experiences these two men endured breaking through the barriers of their condition, but they will touch deeply even the most outgoing and loquacious listener.
The search for validation, respect and dignity is a universal theme that transcends the very personal efforts of the two men starring in Gerardine Wurzburg’s film and that’s what will resonate as you listen, but of course for those with autism or who have someone autistic in their family it will touch the core.
Mr. Ralphs has managed to attract an impressive group of collaborators including Norah Jones, Carly Simon, Stephen Stills, Ben Harper, Bob Weir, Antony (of Antony and the Johnsons), Judy Collins, Bonnie Bramlett, Devendra Banhart and Martin Carthy.
Perhaps you consider it ironic that some of the world’s best communicators have been asked to contribute songs about struggling to be heard.
That contradiction didn’t escape Mr. Ralph’s attention. So, in a somewhat daring gambit, he asked the artists to run through the songs only until they could just perform them. At that point he recorded, getting fresh, unpolished but intensely deep performances.
That some of the bigger stars would allow themselves to be heard at a most vulnerable and exposed moment in artistic expression—before the polish goes on—is a testament to their trust in Mr. Ralph’s vision and of course to their desire to contribute something both to the movie and to its mission of making people more aware of autism and the struggles of those afflicted.
Working in a basic folk, folk/rock, folk/pop vein, Ralph has written or co-written a series of short, intimate, engagingly tuneful songs with strong, attractive melodies enhanced by impeccable arrangements.
The album opens with Mr. Ralph singing “The Reason Why.” If the song sounds like something from Tea For the Tillerman and Ralph sounds sort of like Cat Stevens, that’s because the tune was written for him but for one reason or another he was unable to perform it.
Norah Jones is up next with another Ralph composition and again, this guy’s ability to channel an artist’s melodic and stylistic sensibilities is uncanny. You’ll think it’s a gospely Jones composition. The bass/drums/piano backdrop suits perfectly and if you’re not yet hooked, Carly Simon’s “The Letter,” with lyrics by Ralph and Simon should seal the deal.
Simon’s vocal performance is direct and pure and here the “quick read and record” technique works perfectly. The haunting melody is accompanied by Ralph’s wistful, perfectly conceived marimba patch.
Ben Harper sounds more like Antony on “More Like You” (than you’ll ever know) —a plea for understanding that skirts but does not descend into preciousness. A pedal steel guitar floats in an impossibly distant landscape fronted by guitar, bass and piano.
The unique quiverings of Antony are up next in “Killingly Hard,” backed by Ralph on classical guitar and Danny Bensi on cello. The singer voices the demands of the two men for their dignity but of course the song has universal appeal.
Vashti Bunyan, the more recently re-discovered ‘60s British folk singer turns in a pristine vocal performance on “Flower and the Lion” that’s an appropriately nostalgic reminiscence ending with the line “I keep a locket in my pocket with a picture of a time forgotten. You know the one, we were both there.”
The insistent, uptempo Stills/Ralph collaboration sounds surprisingly like something Neil Young might have produced, with lines like “I want my own kingdom beyond this prison of silence I live in alone.”
Most surprising are the back to back contributions by Scarlett Johansson and Vincent Gallo, better know from their work in movies, though of course Gallo has been a fine artist and did have a rap/punk musical career before moving to film. Like producer/songwriter/lyricist/arranger/recording engineer Ralph, he’s a 21st century renaissance man.
Johansson’s dreamy, raspy-edged tone on “One Whole Hour” is as compelling and weighty as any of the veterans’ contributions. Gallo, close-miked and smartly processed to produce a feeling of being suspended between waking and sleep delivers a short but riveting reverie.
It’s really unfair to give any of the performers short shrift—from Judy Collins’s soaring vocal (she’s still got that voice) to David Garza’s pristine falsetto, also tastefully processed, but you’ll just have to discover the others fully on your own.
However, I couldn’t close the musical description without relating the story Mr. Ralph told me about Nic Jones. If you are unfamiliar, he’s a ‘60s folk singer/guitarist who greatly influenced Nick Drake.
You’ll hear that immediately on “Pretty Words Lie,” in both the vocals and the eerie way Ralph lays down the guitar part. It too will remind you of Drake.
Unfortunately, Jones was seriously injured in a career-ending car accident, but Ralph really wanted him for the record so he contacted Jones’s wife and made his pitch.
She was not very encouraging and told him he was welcome to try but that the odds were not great and that he should expect to be summarily shown the door despite the great distance traveled.
Ralph took the chance and Jones was so enthused, he was willing to travel to Abbey Road to record his performance. So here’s a rare Nic Jones performance to add to the richness of this record.
The album winds down elegantly with tracks by British folk veteran Martin Carthy, his Irish counterpart Paul Brady, and finally one from the Mexican singer Lila Downs followed by a reprise by alt-rocker Leah Siegel of “Birdsong” covered by Collins earlier in the set.
Musically, this is a remarkable set of performances with an equally impressive set of songs. Mr. Ralph’s melodic sensibility and the diversity of ideas he summons forth and expresses within a relatively basic folk genre make it difficult to believe that almost every song came from a single individual, though of course Mr. Ralph would be the first to point out the contributions made by a team of musicians and other collaborators.
On top of that achievement is the superb recording quality for which, the young Mr. Ralph is also responsible. The involvement of McIntosh, which provided monitoring gear as well as funding for the limited CD and vinyl production was surely helpful.
The sound is pristine, three-dimensional, dynamic and in every good sense of the “audiophile quality.” The arrangements rely upon the audio to convey musical ideas, with careful placement of instruments in the mixes. Every track is an aural as well as musical treat. Bob Ludwig mastered the 96/24 recordings and Bernie Grundman cut the lacquers plated and pressed at RTI. The vinyl sounds much more life-like than the somewhat opaque-sounding CD. It’s not even close.The vinyl limited edition is a treasure you should not pass on.
April is Autism Awareness month. I can’t think of a more direct and intimate way to become aware of this mysteriously growing problem than listening to this hauntingly beautiful album. You’ll surely return to it often for both the music and the sound.
Thanks to Michael over at www.musicangle.com for the exclusive rights to reprint this material. Stop by MusicAngle.com for more reviews and features.
this is in my top ten album covers for 2011, beautiful!
SEPULTURA: 'Kairos' Artwork Unveiled
Brazilian/American thrashers SEPULTURA will release their new album, "Kairos" (an ancient Greek word signifying a time in between, a moment of undetermined period of time in which something special happens) on June 24 in Europe and July 12 in North America via Nuclear Blast Records. The artwork for the effort was created by Erich Sayers, a Los Angeles-based freelance digital artist and photographer whom SEPULTURA first met at the band's recent concert at the House Of Blues in West Hollywood, California.
Commented Sayers: "I started by researching 'Kairos' for images and meaning as soon as the band gave me the title.
Michael Stipe has revealed that he “reached out to” Kurt Cobain with a proposed musical collaboration, in an effort to save Cobain’s life.
Speaking to Interview magazine, the R.E.M. frontman said: “I knew him and his daughter. And Courtney [Love] came and stayed at my house. R.E.M. worked on two records in Seattle and Peter Buck lived next door to Kurt and Courtney. So we all knew each other........
saw him perform once and am still impressed with his music
Nonesuch Releases New Pat Metheny Solo Acoustic Album, "What’s It All About," June 14; Pre-order with Print, Instant Download
Nonesuch Records releases What’s It All About—a solo acoustic album from guitarist and composer Pat Metheny—on June 14, 2011. After nearly 40 recordings under his name, this marks the first time there is not a single Metheny composition represented. Rather, What’s It All About comprises 10 classic songs, some very well known, that hold personal meanings for the guitarist. (The double-LP edition, pressed on 180-gram, high-performance vinyl, includes the complete album on two discs, along with two additional tracks, Monk's "'Round Midnight" and Rodgers & Hammerstein's "This Nearly Was Mine.") What’s It All About is available for pre-order now in the Nonesuch Store with a limited-edition photographic print, a number of which will be signed, and a free instant download of the album track “Alfie,” by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.
Following the Grammy–winning 2001 solo acoustic record One Quiet Night, Metheny began regularly playing the specially tuned baritone guitar he used on that album in the breaks between sound check and the show when he was on the road. “Almost every day as I worked through one well-known tune or another, various visitors or local crew people would come up to me and ask which record it was on, and I would have to say that I had never made a record like that,” Metheny says. “And over the years, I have had it in the back of my mind that I should do an album of some of those tunes at some point.”
As with One Quiet Night, Metheny recorded the songs on What’s It All About late at night, in his New York City home over a short period of time. In selecting which ones to put to tape, Metheny says: “I wanted to record some of the music that was on my radar before I ever wrote a note of my own, or in a few cases, even before I played an instrument. I was born in 1954 and all of these songs were in the Top 40 during my childhood and early teen years. It was a period when harmony and melody were still important and viable elements in popular music. Every one of these tunes has something going on that is just hip on musical level, no matter how you cut it. They have all stuck with me over the years.”
Most of the record was made using the acoustic baritone guitar, with three exceptions: Paul Simon’s “The Sound of Silence” is played on a 42-string custom made “Pikasso” guitar, Bob Spickard and Brian Carman’s “Pipeline” is played on a six-string, and John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s “And I Love Her” is played on a nylon string guitar.
Over the course of more than three decades, guitarist Pat Metheny has set himself apart from the jazz mainstream, expanding and blurring boundaries and musical styles. His record-setting body of work includes 18 Grammy Awards in 12 separate categories; a series of influential trio recordings; award-winning solo albums; scores for hit Hollywood motion pictures; and collaborations and duets with major artists such as Ornette Coleman, Steve Reich, Charlie Haden, Brad Mehldau, and many others. His band, the Pat Metheny Group, founded in 1977, is the only ensemble in history to win Grammys for seven consecutive releases.
To reserve your copy of the What's It All About and the limited-edition print and to download the album track "Alfie," head to the now. Nonesuch Store
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stop by and read the rest of this fantastic write up. as a record collector, it makes you proud to be part of the vinyl revival!!
Record Stores Revinylize OC
The vinyl boom is fueling a resurgence of record retailers
By BRANDON FERGUSON
It's a chilly day at the Lab, Costa Mesa's über-hip "anti-mall." It's the kind of place where people spend $30 on cotton T-shirts emblazoned with line drawings of birds. Amid well-heeled young couples strolling by, lattes in hand, and foodies munching on empanadas pulse the synthy rhythms of avant-garde industrial band Ashra, courtesy of a 12-inch platter of black polyvinyl chloride spinning at 33.3 rpms on a nearby turntable.
Located stage left of Urban Outfitters' towering glass doors is a small relic of the past—a baby-blue, chrome-trimmed 1957 Kenskill camper trailer. It's where local bluesman/head-banger/entrepreneur Parker Macy has chosen to house his latest business venture, a record store named Creme Tangerine. After successfully running a small LP stand located across Bristol Street (outside specialty market the Seed), he and his business partner Jonathon Staph seized an opportunity to upgrade.
Macy is just one cog in a wheel of Orange County traders and retailers whose primary ware—vinyl records—is a sonic format many declared dead decades ago. But don't try telling him that.
Record shop creates buzz downtown with vinyl collectors
By Dan Kane
CANTON — “We just brought in 3,000 more records, all brand-new and sealed,” Michael Nasvadi from downtown Canton’s Buzzbin Art & Music Shop, says excitedly. “It doesn’t sound like a lot but it is.”
Open since September on the primo corner of Cleveland Avenue and Fourth Street NW, the Buzzbin shop is finding a niche as a vinyl mecca for local collectors. “They like the vinyl sound, they like owning the vinyl, they wanted us to expand what we’re doing,” Nasvadi, a record collector himself, says of his music clientele.
“Vinyl is on the upswing in this download age. People who cherish the music are hanging onto it. People burn through it. They just buy it right away.”
The City of Seattle is planning to use the legacy of one of their most famous past-residents, Jimi Hendrix, by creating a $2 million recreational facility in his name.
The area will be developed as a space to motivate youth in music and art and be available for multi-cultural gatherings.
The immortal "Rock Around The Clock" was released by Bill Haley & His Comets in 1955
In 1966, The Mamas and the Papas started a three-week run at #1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Monday, Monday.” The song reached #3 in the U.K. Reportedly, the group all hated the song, except for its writer John Phillips.
In 1966, Simon and Garfunkel's "I Am a Rock" entered the Hot 100. During its eleven week chart run, it will peak at #3.
In 1971, The Rolling Stones released “Brown Sugar” in the U.S., where it went to #1. The track, recorded at the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama, went to #2 in the U.K.
In 1977, the Eagles went to #1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Hotel California,” the group's fourth U.S. #1. The track went to #8 in the U.K.
In 1994, Randy Bachman led 1,322 guitarists who had gathered in Vancouver to play Bachman-Turner Overdrive's "Takin' Care of Business", for 68 minutes and 40 seconds.
In 1998, singer-songwriter Eddie Rabbitt died of lung cancer, aged 56. During his career, he scored over 20 #1s on Billboard's country singles chart, including 1981’s “I Love a Rainy Night.” Elvis Presley, Dr. Hook, Tom Jones, Kenny Rogers, Crystal Gayle and Lynn Anderson all recorded his songs.
In 1991, Ozzy Osbourne was cleared in a suit by a couple who claimed his music influenced their son to try to commit suicide.
In 2004, Rudy Maugeri, the baritone voice of the 1950s doo-wop group, The Crew Cuts, died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Las Vegas. He was 73. Taking their name from a popular hair style of the day, the quartet formed in Toronto and went on to have several hits in the US, including the number one "Sh-Boom" in 1954 and the number three "Earth Angel" in 1955.
In 2010, Dave Fisher, who formed The Highwaymen with four university pals in the late 1950s, died at the age of 69 after a battle with a bone marrow disorder. The quartet topped the Billboard chart in 1961 with "Michael (Row The Boat Ashore)".
celebrating birthdays today include Bill Kreutzmann (Grateful Dead) (65) and Phil Campbell (Motorhead) (50), among many others.
this from the latimes.com, love that a man is giving something back to the music that made him a few dollars!
Record executive Mo Ostin gives $10 million to UCLA for new music center
Mo Ostin, a record executive and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee who sent the likes of Frank Sinatra, Jimi Hendrix, Bonnie Raitt, Neil Young and Paul Simon into the recording studio, now will send students at UCLA’s School of the Arts and Architecture into a studio that bears his name.
Once iconic in their own right, pored over and much loved by consumers, album covers have become collector’s items – and neither labels nor artists seem to care what’s on the cover, writes UNA MULLALLY
YOU PROBABLY haven’t listened to Smash Song Hits by Rodgers and Hart lately. It’s a record that remains rarely heard, despite being one of the most influential albums of all time – not for the music, but for the world’s first album cover.
Alex Steinweiss was 22 when he fell into a job as art director at Columbia Records, then a new division of the Columbia Broadcasting System. He was meant to focus on advertising materials but in 1940, aged 23, he designed the cover art for Smash Song Hits, thinking music buyers would be more drawn to records if the brown paper bags they had previously been wrapped in were replaced with something a little more eyecatching.
Metallica are scheduled to enter the studio later this month, and the band have until recently remained tight-lipped on plans. Now, drummer Lars Ulrich has told Metal Hammer magazine that there will be no shortage of material when the foursome’s 10th studio album gets started.
Ulrich explained, “James [Hetfield] told me in Australia that he had over 700 [new] riffs. That was slightly overwhelming. When I spoke to him yesterday, he told me that he’d been playing guitar again in the last couple of weeks. And listen; when James tunes his guitar, he comes up with three to five usable guitar riffs. It’s kind of frightening. James is not allowed to play guitar without being recorded. Literally! There are also hours and hours of jams and tuning-room shindigs.”
Drummer Jason Bonham has completed a track written by Led Zeppelin in 2008… but it will appear on the next Black Country Communion album.
Bonham worked with Led Zep’s Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones on a reunion project following Led Zeppelin’s one-off London show in 2007. But all was abandoned when singer Robert Plant declined to take part, and the three couldn’t settle on a satisfactory replacement.
Kid Rock Donates $100,000 to Detroit Organizations, American Red Cross
by Amy Sciarretto
Kid Rock was feeling generous this past weekend. The rapper-rocker-country singer-Detroit native-ex-husband of Pamela Anderson donated $100,000 towards a variety of charitable organizations and accepted the Great Expectations Award from the Detroit branch of the NAACP at their 56th Annual Fight For Freedom Fund Dinner
In their 33-year career, the Go-Go's have only released four albums, including three during their 80's heyday and 2001's God Bless the Go-Go's. As of last summer, it appeared that would be their full career output as they readied their Farewell Tour. Then Jane Wiedlin was injured in a hiking accident and the whole good-bye was put on the back burner.
Oakland, California extreme metallers ALL SHALL PERISH will release fourth full-length album, "This Is Where It Ends", on July 26 (North America) and July 29 (Europe) via Nuclear Blast Records.
Commented the band: "This time around we chose Brent Elliott White (DEATH ANGEL, JOB FOR A COWBOY, WHITECHAPEL) to handle the artwork duties.
Following the release of the "Dave & Angela" EP, Cynics have announced the release of their debut album "Don't Need Much." The record is due out June 13th on CD in the UK through Household Name Records and June 14th on vinyl in the US through Kind Of Like Records.
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never heard of the man, though i bet he has some good music. you be the judge on this one, you knew someone would exploit the situation, but he is wrong to do so?
Bob Cheevers Releases Powerful New Single: "The End of Bin" About Death of bin Laden
Americana artist Bob Cheevers, releases potent new song and video in wake of the May 1st capture and death of Osama bin Laden
Americana artist Bob Cheevers has just recorded a powerful and controversial new song and video about the death of Osama bin Laden called “The End of Bin”. Cheevers is an Emmy winning songwriter and 2011 Texas Music Award nominee.
Cheevers says "I’ve never been known for writing 'protest songs', but I have the feeling while writing "The End of Bin" that I might have experienced just a bit of what Neil Young felt like when he was reacting to the Kent State tragedy and writing "Ohio" This terrorist war we’ve been waging for a decade has taken lots of tolls and when I listen to and watch the video we shot of this song, I can feel in my gut, hear in my voice, and see in my face the anguish of those tolls.”
After having written over 3000 songs, Cheevers knows a great song in the making, and states, “The writing process is generally very organic in the beginning then turns into process... but the writing of this song never went to process. I felt like an old time reporter scribbling down on my little notepad what I was hearing and watching. When what I was writing 'felt' complete, I remember going back and placing a couple sections in different spots to strengthen the syntax and then smiling at all of the things I’d felt were captured on that page, needing only a little nudge here and there to paint the clear picture in my head.”
Bob, the son of a radio star in the 20s and 30s, grew up in Memphis and got a soul full of music. He later had success in the late 60s with a Top 40 charting pop career including, ironically, singing lead on the TV theme “Love American Style” and playing shows in almost every state. Later, having spent 16 years as a journeyman writer in Nashville, he got the experience that has led to the refinement of his craft.
He says regarding “The End of Bin,” “I heard it in my head, and literally sat down with my guitar and played it from start to finish never having played it before. So often, songs are given to the writer...the writer just being a conduit for the information. Some things need to be said for the people who feel them but don't have the words to express their feelings.” After ten years of touring Europe, Cheevers has lots of friends and fans over there who are echoing the sentiments he sings about in this song. Archetypes...beliefs that exist across miles if not the ages, that are shared by people and civilizations with no particular connection between them. Some people call those truths.
Bob Cheevers says: “This song is about the demise of a man who in my estimation, according to the deeds attributed to him, deserved to die. OK...you can say only 'God' has the right to take a life. You can interject any kind of religious or philosophical thought process into this situation. There are schools of thought about everything in life. I jokingly say that 'Opinion is the lowest form of knowledge...but that's just my opinion.' My opinion is that Bin Laden died as he lived... with blood on his hands. Only this time, it was his own blood. This piece was my visceral response to what I saw unfolding Sunday night May 1st.
Consider the context and feel free to think the way you think and do...and know that I'm doing what David Crosby said to do in his song "Long Time Coming"..."Speak out against the madness.""
great, indepth write up at guitarinternational.com with a vet of the music industry:
David Coverdale Reveals the Surprising Blueprint for Whitesnake
By Rob Cavuoto
David Coverdale and company return to their no-holds-barred, bluesiest, sexiest rock n’ roll roots with Whitesnake’s 11th studio album, Forevermore, the band’s first in more than two years. Coverdale has reignited an explosively fruitful vein of creativity with guitarist and co-writer-producer Doug Aldrich, guitarist Reb Beach, drummer Brian Tichy and Michael Devin on bass. As with all Whitesnake’s albums, Coverdale unleashes his incomparable vocal chops with emotional fervor. Armed with an arsenal of key players, the CD shows the world that the “snake” is an unstoppable wall of guitars!
I had the chance to sit with one of the premier and legendary frontmen of all time while rehearing for his upcoming world tour to chat about his latest release, Forevermore, his musical arsenal, as well as all things “snake.”
He even dropped a hint of two about a possible book How White is Your Snake? On stage as well as off, he is powerhouse of raw energy and excitement. Somebody better let this guy loose on stage or he’s going to explode!
DEF LEPPARD's 'Mirrorball' To Receive European Release Via FRONTIERS
Frontiers Records will release DEF LEPPARD's new live album (with bonus DVD), "Mirrorball", on the following dates:
Germany, Switzerland, Austria: June 17
June 23: France
Rest Of Europe: June 20
"Mirrorball" will be available on June 7 exclusively at Walmart and Sam's Club locations in the United States and Canada. The album will include a 50-minute DVD that contains live performances and intimate backstage footage of the band captured on the road. A special limited vinyl edition will also be made available. "Mirrorball" will also be available online, marking the first time the band's music will officially be made available for digital purchase.
this is one of the most comprehensive looks at one of the most seminal lps of our time. take the time to read the article, who knew?
Looking back on Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde, the record that changed Nashville
by Daryl Sanders
Whether you drop the needle on the first side of the crackling vinyl LP, cue up track one of a gleaming aluminum disc, or pop in your earbuds and click the wheel, the first thing you hear retains the shock of newness: a marching-band drumbeat, then the yawp of a trombone like a huge intake of breath, followed by a carnivalesque riot of woozy horns and whoops and shouts. In some ways, it sounds outside time, like a Salvation Army parade stomping and hollering past a far-off grandstand. And yet it still sounds fresh and spontaneous, as if it could have been recorded last week.
But it wasn't. Forty-five years ago this month, Columbia Records released Bob Dylan's landmark double album Blonde on Blonde, an album recorded almost entirely in Nashville. Not only is it widely regarded as one of Dylan's best records, but it routinely shows up whenever artists, critics and rock historians list the 10 greatest rock albums ever made. For Music City, the album was nothing less than transformative, elevating Nashville as a recording center on par with New York and Los Angeles.
Andrew WK producer Don Fleming re-issues Velvet Monkeys
This reissue of the Velvet Monkeys debut 1982 release, Everything is
Right, features Don Fleming (later of Gumball and producer of Sonic Youth,
Teenage Fanclub, Screaming Trees, Hole, Alice Cooper, Joan Jett, Andrew
W.K.) on vocals and guitar, Elaine Barnes on vocals and keyboards, Stephen
Soles on bass and Jay Spiegel (Half Japanese, Gumball, Dinosaur Jr.,
Lookies) on drums. This is a June 7 release on Fleming's venerable Instant
Mayhem label.
Skip Groff, producer of many notable Washington, D.C. bands, first
recorded the Velvet Monkeys in 1981 at Don Zientara's Inner Ear Studio.
Drive In and Shadow Box, were featured on Groff's Connected LP, a
sampler of D.C bands released in 1981 on Limp Records. The band followed
with the 10 song cassette-only Everything is Right, released on their own
Monkey Business label in July 1982. Three additional live songs from a
show at the Chancery in D.C. on New Year's Eve 1981 have been added to the
original release for this reissue.
The Velvet Monkeys were formed in Washington, D.C. in 1981 and found many
like-minded bands in the mushrooming local scene including Half Japanese
(with whom Fleming, Barnes and Spiegel also played), Tiny Desk Unit, The
Nurses, and Chalk Circle. The band was originally a three-piece combo that
included prominent use of a Dr. Rhythm drum machine. By late 1981, drummer
Jay Spiegel, a.k.a. the Rummager, joined the line-up and the band began
their move from minimalist art-rock toward an increasingly heavier sound.
The digital reissue of Everything is Right is the first release on Don
Fleming's Instant Mayhem label since partnering with digital distributor
IODA. The audio was restored from the original analog tapes and remastered by Fleming. Instant Mayhem will release reissues of Fleming's older catalog (w/Velvet Monkeys and Gumball) as well as new projects. The next two releases for the label are a new solo EP titled Don Fleming 4, and a new album by To Live and Shave in L.A. called The Cortège.
In 1891, the Music Hall (later Carnegie Hall) had its grand opening with its first public performance. The first performer was Pyotr Llych Tchaikovsky.
In 1900, "The Billboard" (later called "Billboard") began weekly publication instead of monthly after six years of publication.
In 1956, Elvis Presley scored his first U.S. #1 single and album when “Heartbreak Hotel” went to the top of the charts. His debut album also went to #1.
Chris Montez recorded "Let's Dance" in 1962.
In 1963, on a recommendation by George Harrison, Dick Rowe (head of A&R at Decca records, and the man who turned down The Beatles) went to see The Rolling Stones play at Crawdaddy Club, London. The band were signed to the label within a week.
In 1967, "San Francisco" by Scott McKenzie entered the US charts where it will eventually hit #4. The John Phillips written song became a sort of anthem during the hippie movement.
In 1968, Buffalo Springfield played their last show. Richie Furay formed Poco, Neil Young began a solo career and Stephen Stills teamed up with David Crosby and Graham Nash in Crosby, Stills and Nash.
Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Rising" was released in 1968.
In 1986, the announcement was made that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame would be located in Cleveland, OH.
In 1990, a John Lennon tribute concert was held in Merseyside, England with Al Green, Joe Cocker, Ringo Starr, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Lenny Kravitz, Lou Reed, Joe Walsh, Wet Wet Wet, The Christians, Kylie Minogue and Deacon Blue.
birthday wishes to Bill Ward (Black Sabbath) (63) and Ian McCulloch (Echo & the Bunnymen) (52) among others.
DEAR JERRY:No sooner did I finish reading about some lengthy song titles in one of your recent columns, when that very night on American Idol, Steven Tyler rattled off a dandy — that is if it really is a legit title.
It may have been a bunch of made-up nonsense, of the frim fram, ossenfay, chifafra variety.
Though I don't recall any of his gibberish, it came up when they were talking about Nat King Cole recordings.
Was it hogwash or the real deal?
—Maurice Courtney, Racine, Wisc.
DEAR MAURICE: I'd say it is a little of each.
Tyler's glowing critique, following Casey Abrams' revival of Nat King Cole's “Nature Boy,” included this comment:
“Casey, you are an artist in the truest sense of the word. You chose a song by Nat King Cole, who once sang kemo-kimo stare-o-spare, ma-hi-ma-ho, ma-rump-sticka-pumpernickle, soup-bang, nip-cat, polly-mitcha-cameo.”
That Aerosmith's front man even knew this obscure tune — not having been a hit by anyone — is surprising, but his ability to flawlessly cite its main verse is downright amazing.
For the record, the actual title is “Kemo Kimo (The Magic Song).”
Apparently his mother played Nat King Cole often and Steven grew up listening to him. He never forgot those songs he and mom once enjoyed.
Two weekes later, Casey was unfortunately sent packing. Not to worry, with Casey's many talents his future success is a certainty.
The writers of “Kemo Kimo,” Moe Jaffe and Dwight B. Latham, were no strangers to clever and zany lyrics. Their most famous tune is the novelty “I'm My Own Grandpa,” a Top 5 for Lonzo & Oscar in 1948.
“Kemo Kimo” was recorded and first came out in 1947, the year before Steven's birth. It is the lead track on a three-disc 78 rpm album, “King Cole for Kids (Songs for Children By the King Cole Trio)” (Capitol DC-89). In 1951, Capitol added two more tracks and reissued the kids collection as an eight-track, 10-inch LP (H-3070).
“King Cole for Kids” was the second Capitol 78 album for Cole, but not until his third (“Penthouse Serenade”) did they begin including “Nat” in his cover credits.
DEAR JERRY:Like most teenagers in the 1960s, I was in tune with the Top 40. But unlike my R&R peers, I also listened regularly to a weekly radio program called Showtime, that featured soundtrack selections. I don't recall the host, but it ran on a San Francisco station, though it might have been syndicated.
They once played a piece by a male-led ensemble, about clowns. It may be titled something like “Everyone Loves a Clown” (not the Gary Lewis and the Playboys hit), or “A Million People Love a Clown.”
Whether it's from a “Clown” movie or not, I don't know. My research has turned up nothing. Can you help?
—Lee Andersson, Daly City, Calif.
DEAR LEE: Fortunately neither of us is beset by coulrophobia, or we'd be forced to scrap this little adventure.
I suspect any program called Showtime featured as many or more original cast performances than silver screen soundtrack tunes. That explains why you could not find “Mr. Clown” among soundtracks. Rather, it is from a 1968 Broadway show titled “Maggie Flynn.”
Real-life husband and wife, Jack Cassidy and Shirley Jones, play the fictional Irish couple, Phineas and Maggie Flynn, as they face the challenge to survive in mid-19th century New York.
Cassidy is the lead voice on “Mr. Clown,” but is joined by lovely Maggie (“picture a map of Ireland on a freckled face” and “a leprechaun dressed up in Irish lace”), plus a childrens' chorus.
Now that you know what you're looking for, “Maggie Flynn (The Original Broadway Cast Recording)” (RCA LSOD-2009) can usually be found online in either the LP or CD format. Both have the exact same selections.
IZ ZAT SO? By Broadway standards, the 82 performances of “Maggie Flynn” (October 23, 1968 - January 5, 1969) is barely a blip on the Great White Way radar. Longevity champ “The Phantom of the Opera” is closing in on 9,700 (January 26, 1988 - present)!
Maggie's music, however, lives on. The Original Cast Recording often turns up on those All-Time Best of Broadway lists.
Moreover, “Maggie Flynn” has taken up permanent residence among my Top 10 cast albums.
Jerry Osborne answers as many questions as possible through this column. Write Jerry at: Box 255, Port Townsend, WA 98368 E-mail: jpo@olympus.net Visit his Web site: http://www.jerryosborne.com/
All values quoted in this column are for near-mint condition.
Copyright 2011 Osborne Enterprises- Reprinted By Exclusive Permission
a friend in vinyl has a unique project and is trying to come up with funds (at kickstarter.com) to study the impact of vinyl in our music culture today. Stop by, read what they are doing and if you can help, please do so! Here is a snapshot of what they plan to do:
The New Face of Vinyl: Youth's Digital Devolution
Project by Ben Meadors and Owen McCafferty
About this project
It isn't uncommon to see the everyday items of our past make it into the mainstream again, especially with young people. Clearly leisure suits, 8-Tracks, and gas guzzling land yachts never seemed to make it with the youth of today. Yet we are in the middle of the largest format revolution since the advent of the compact disc; except this time, young people all over the world are picking up a once forgotten format: vinyl records.
All throughout the United States, teens and young adults alike are doling out cash for vinyl re-issues of their favorite records, or even better, getting the latest artists and records on vinyl. In the age of digital downloads, mp3’s and compact discs, youth in America are embracing the analog experience in the biggest way since the 1970s.
The exact cause of this “digital devolution” is not entirely known. Is it that young people are becoming intrigued by the physical experience vinyl gives to the user? Or perhaps they are noticing a difference in the sound reproduction? Is this some fad or is it here to stay? No one knows just yet what the state of vinyl is now and what it holds in the hearts of millions across the country, but we do know that the vinyl experience is different for everyone who is involved. It’s time to find out exactly what is behind the black wax revolution.
Photographer Ben Meadors and writer Owen McCafferty are going to set out on a journey to discover what exactly is inspiring people all over the United States to buy vinyl, and share that journey with all of you.
By raising $6,500 Ben and Owen will travel to Portland, San Francisco, Chicago, Cleveland, and New York City, to photograph and interview young record collectors, record store owners, and the occasional vinyl buyer to ask them why they love records, and what keeps them buying.
After collecting the pictures, Owen will write a narrative to document their journey in a 180+ page, full color photo book to share with the world.
Your donations will contribute to the traveling expenses in each city, as well as help to print a small quantity of the books. Those who donate $165.00 or higher will receive a signed copy of the beautiful book autographed by both Ben and Owen. The initial copies will be specifically made and commissioned for donors. A few extra copies will be printed in hopes of having the book sponsored by a publishing company in order to have it distributed on a large scale in book stores throughout the world.
With enough funding, this project will bring the vinyl revival to the forefront, and give everyone a glimpse into this new culture that is taking precedence in the lives of music lovers everywhere. Your contributions will not go unnoticed no matter what size it may be.
We thank you greatly for your interest, and we hope you can help us make this project a reality.For more information regarding the project including contact information, news, and event details, visit www.BenMeadors.com/vinyl
Thank you for standing by as we resolved our technical difficulties.
This week we'll play funk from Dennis Coffey and Archie Bell and the Drells plus bring back a rare favorite from Lynn Vernado.
Also with the Beatles featured in this week's poll, news and Top 5, we break out some extra-clean original Beatles on Capitol swirls that are for sale in our store.
In the news, more about the back and forth drama regarding Ringo Starr's birth home, and we ask just what should it take to get a building preserved that in some way was touched by a Beatle. Also, top sellers from the last twelve months and more evidence that vinyl records are here to stay!
great interview over at the hollywoodreporter.com (i've always had a secret crush on her!)
Brandi Carlile on Her New Live Album, Admiration for Elton John and Thoughts on Lady Gaga
by Lesley Goldberg
A concert "becomes a Church," says the singer-songwriter, who releases 'Live at Benaroya Hall With the Seattle Symphony' this week.
You could say Brandi Carlile is in a league of her own. A stark contrast to heavily produced pop singers like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Ke$ha, Carlile’s focus is on music over image, history over headlines, grit over glam. In this age of American Idol, when building your audience organically is the hardest route to stardom, the openly gay Carlile did just that with 2007’s "The Story," which broke the Billboard Hot 100 and went on to become a sort of sleeper hit.
Your Favorite Neighborhood Record Stores (Los Angeles, this one’s for you)
by Alexis Justman
On Record Store Day’s Eve I stayed up making a wish list of all the special releases I wanted to snag. On Record Store Day I slept in, because it was so hot outside and I knew people were already camped outside Amoeba’s entrances waiting in line for the special RSD releases of bands like Jimmy Eat World, Jenny and Johnny with Gram Parsons, Big Star, Built to Spill, The White Stripes, Beach Boys, Ryan Adams and more
SEVEN WITCHES: New Album Artwork, Track Listing, Release Date Revealed
Many years have passed since the last SEVEN WITCHES album saw the light of day and guitarist/mainman Jack Frost decided it was time to give the fans what they wanted... and brought back James Rivera (HELSTAR) to front the group once again
Music for film scored by Paul McCartney to get first proper CD release in July
Paul McCartney's soundtrack for the 1966 film "The Family Way" will be released on CD July 26 by Varèse Sarabande. The new disc will be the first historically accurate and proper release of the music, which has, up till now, been released with added music not directly connected with the original soundtrack.
The music for the film was written by Paul McCartney, performed by session musicians and released in 1966 on Decca Records in the UK and London Records in the U.S.
Ryan Hewitt Masters Flogging Molly for Vinyl at Bernie Grundman's
New Album "Speed of Darkness" Adds Premium 12" Album Release
Recording engineer Ryan Hewitt booked Bernie Grundman Mastering's disc mastering studio for the vinyl release of Flogging Molly's new album, "Speed of Darkness." Recorded at Echo Mountain Studios, Asheville, NC, and Sonic Ranch, El Paso, TX, the album was digitally mastered at 96K/24-bit for vinyl by Dave Collins at Dave Collins Mastering and at 44.1K/16-bit for CD and online release. Release date May 31, 2011 from Borstal Beat Records.
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Elliot Easton: My 12 Most Influential Guitar Recordings
Ellen Barnes
In a celebration of his comeback and his ongoing evolution as a player, Cars guitarist Elliot Easton revealed the dozen guitar recordings that have most influenced his playing in a new interview with MusicRadar.com.
“A great guitar recording is one that influences scores of other guitar players,” said Easton, who will release The Cars’ first album in 24 years, Move Like This, on May 10.
In 1939, "Beer Barrel Polka" was recorded by The Andrews Sisters.
In 1958, Alan Freed has trouble on his hands when a brawl breaks out following a Big Beat Show at the Boston Arena. Several of the estimated 5,000 teens in attendance are injured and Freed will later be charged with incitement of a riot and destruction of property.
In 1964, Gerry and the Pacemakers make their US television debut on the Ed Sullivan Show a full month before their first appearance on the Billboard chart with "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying".
In 1968, The Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded “Voodoo Chile.” It was featured on the Electric Ladyland double album and became a U.K. #1 single on 21st November 1970, two months after the guitarist's death.
In 1968, the Beach Boys begin a 17 date tour of the US with a show in New York. The second half of the concert featured the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who lectured the audience on "spiritual regeneration." The reaction was so negative, more than half of the remaining tour dates were cancelled. Ohmmmmmmm..........
Paul McCartney made his first American stage appearance in 10 years in 1976. The "Wings Over America" tour began in Ft. Worth, TX
In 1978, FM, a film about the struggles of a radio station, debuts in Los Angeles. The soundtrack features Steely Dan, Steve Miller, The Eagles, Neil Young, Billy Joel and Warren Zevon. More people would buy the soundtrack than bothered to see the film.
Dollywood (Dolly Parton's theme park) opened in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee in 1986.
Also in 1986, Robert Palmer went to #1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Addicted To Love,” it made #5 in the U.K. Palmer originally recorded the song as a duet with Chaka Khan but due to contractual problems her voice was removed.
The late James Brown was born in 1933.
birthdays today include Pete Staples from The Troggs (1944), Bruce Hall of REO Speedwagon (1953) and Frankie Valli of the Four Seasons (1937)
2CD and Digital Release Features Remastered Original Album, Plus 19 Previously Unreleased Demos
Remastered Album to be Released on 180g Vinyl by Mobile Fidelity
R.E.M. has teamed with Capitol/I.R.S. for the July 12 release of an expanded 25th Anniversary 2CD and digital edition of the band's 1986 album, Lifes Rich Pageant. The new edition features the digitally remastered original album, plus 19 previously unreleased demo recordings cut prior to the album's studio sessions. The commemorative release also adds new liner notes by music journalist and author Parke Puterbaugh, with the 2CD package presented in a lift-top box with a poster and four postcards. On the same date, the remastered original album will be reissued by Mobile Fidelity on 180-gram vinyl in faithfully replicated LP packaging.
R.E.M.'s fourth studio album, Lifes Rich Pageant was recorded by vocalist Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and drummer Bill Berry at John Mellencamp's Belmont Mall Studios in Indiana. Produced by Don Gehman, renowned for producing a string of punchy, soulful heartland-rock albums by Mellencamp, Pageant includes the singles "Fall On Me" and "Superman." The album was R.E.M.'s first to achieve Gold certification status, and it reached #21 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart, the band's then-highest chart position.
With Lifes Rich Pageant, R.E.M. kicked open the door to a more extroverted future. As Anthony DeCurtis noted in his lead review in Rolling Stone 25 years ago, "Lifes Rich Pageant is the most outward-looking record R.E.M. has made, a worthy companion to the group's bracing live shows and its earned status as a do-it-yourself and do-it-your-way model for young American bands... For R.E.M., the underground ends here."
"The Athens Demos," as R.E.M. has dubbed them, comprise the new edition's second disc of 19 previously unreleased recordings, including drafts of Pageant's 12 songs, plus additional demos of songs that were later recorded for other releases. Among them are early versions of "Bad Day," "Rotary Ten," "Two Steps Onward," "Mystery To Me," "All The Right Friends," and "March Song (King Of Birds)," an early instrumental version of "King Of Birds" from Document. One track, "Wait," has never before been officially released by R.E.M. in any form, but it has shown up on bootlegs over the years.
1. Begin The Begin
2. These Days
3. Fall on Me
4. Cuyahoga
5. Hyena (Album Version)
6. Underneath The Bunker
7. The Flowers of Guatemala
8. I Believe
9. What If We Give It Away?
10. Just a Touch
11. Swan Swan H
12. Superman
Disc Two: The Athens Demos – all previously unreleased
(Recorded March 1986 at John Keane's Studio, Athens GA)
1. Fall On Me
2. Hyena
3. March Song (King Of Birds)
4. These Days
5. Bad Day
6. Salsa (Underneath The Bunker)
7. Swan Swan H
8. Flowers Of Guatemala
9. Begin The Begin
10. Cuyahoga
11. I Believe
12. Out Of Tune
13. Rotary Ten
14. Two Steps Onward
15. Just A Touch
16. Mystery To Me
17. Wait
18. All The Right Friends
19. Get On Their Way (What If We Give It Away)
All songs by Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe except "Superman" (G. Zekley-M.Bottler)
Not a great line up this week, however, CVR Blog picks of the week include the Fleet Foxes with Helplessness Blues, a couple of Hollies reissues on vinyl, Stevie Nicks first new material in a few years with her album called In Your Dreams, R.E.M.'s The Lowdown, and some great 70's music including UFO with Live in Texas 1979, Uriah Heep's Into the Wild, Cheap Trick's In Color, Rush with Moving Pictures and Lou Reed's Walk On The Wild Side - Recorded Live! New York 1972.
As always, no wagering is allowed!
31 Knots - Trump Harm
1990's - (My Baby's) Double Espresso
Amanda Shires - Carrying Lightning
Anni Rossi - Heavy Meadow
Architecture In Helsinki - Moment Bends
Association - And Then Along Comes the Association
Barry Manilow - Duets
Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Part 2
Beat - Special Beat Service/Mobile Fidelity (vinyl)
Before The Dawn - Deathstar Rising
Big Joe Turner - Rocks Import
Billie Holiday - Four Classic Albums Plus (2 CDs)
Birds of Avalon - Birds of Avalon (vinyl)
Black Label Society - The Song Remains Not The Same
Blind Boys of Alabama - Take the High Road
Brandi Carlile - Live at Benaroya Hall With The Seattle Symphony
Cat’s Eyes - Cat’s Eyes
Charlie Rich - A Rich Anthology 1959-1978
Cheap Trick - In Color/Audio Fidelity (vinyl)
Cheeseburger - Another Big Night Down the Drain
Colbie Caillat - All Of You
Crass - Christ the Album (remastered with bonus CD)
Dave Depper - The Ram Project
Dave Swarbrick - Swarbrick / Swarbrick 2 / Smiddyburn (2 CDs)
Des Ark - Don't Rock the Boat, Sink the Boat
Det Vackra Livet - Det Vackra Livet
Donnacha Dennehy - Gra agus Bas
Donnie & Marie Osmond - Donny and Marie
Dr. Feelgood - Chess Masters Import
Dredg - Chuckles And Mr. Squeezy
Duff McKagen's Loaded - Taking (vinyl)
Fall - Marshall Suite 3 CDs
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
Franz Ferdinand - Covers EP
Galactic - The Other Side of Midnight: Live in New Orleans
Garland Jeffries - Ghost Writer / One-Eyed Jack / American Boy (2 CDs)
George Hamilton IV - My North Country Home (3 CDs)
Giant Pianoramx - Smooth Danger
Glen Campbell - Gentle on My Mind / By the Time I Get to Phoenix
Grace Slick - Manhole
Gruff Rhys - Hotel Shampoo
Have Nots - Proud
Hollies - Beat Group (vinyl)
Hollies - Bus Stop (vinyl)
Hollies - Here I Go Again / Hear! Here! (2 CDs)
Hooray For Earth - True Lovers
Ian and the Zodiacs - Wade in the Water: Best of
In Fear And Faith - Symphonies EP
Incredible String Band - Big Huge (reissue) (vinyl)
International Submarine Band -The Russians Are Coming / Truck Driving Man (vinyl)
James Pants - James Pants
Jason Forrest - The Everything
Jennifer Lopez - LOVE?
Jesus & Mary Chain - Honey's Dead
Jesus & Mary Chain - Automatic (vinyl)
John Martyn - Heaven & Earth
John Mayall - Howling At The Moon
Johnny Reid - Johnny Reid
Kate & Anna McGarrigle - Tell My Sister (3-CD box set)
Kelly Price - Kelly
Kool & the Gang - Open Sesame
Kylie Minogue - North American Tour Bonus Edition (EP)
Lee Perry & the Upsetters - Return of Sound System Scratch: More Lee Perry
Lee Perry - Return of Sound System Scratch
Lou Reed - Walk On The Wild Side - Recorded Live! New York 1972
Loudon Wainwright III - 40 Odd Years (4-CD & DVD box set)
Mick Harvey - Sketches From the Book of the Dead
Morrissey - Very Best of (CD & DVD)
Mount Moriah - Mount Moriah
Musiq Soulchild - MUSIQINTHEMAGIQ
Nancy Wilson - This Time the Dream's
Poison - Double Dose: Ultimate Hits (2 CDs)
Primal Scream - Vanishing Point (2 CDs)
Priscilla Ahn - When You Grow Up
Pulseprogramming - Charade is Gold
Pygmy Lush - Old Friends
R.E.M. - The Lowdown (2 CDs)
Ram John Holder - Black London Blues / Bootleg Blues
Rush - Moving Pictures - Deluxe Edition CD/Blu-Ray
Sade - The Ultimate Collection (2 CDs)
Samael - Lux Mundi
Shinedown - Somewhere In The Stratosphere
Sixx: A.M. - This Is Gonna Hurt
Skeletons - People
Small Sins - Pot Calls Kettle Black
Sounds Under Radio - Where My Communist Heart Meets My Capitalist Mind
Steve Hackett - Live Rails (2 CDs)
Stevie Nicks - In Your Dreams
Styx - Babe: Collection Import
The Dwarves - Born Again Deluxe Edition
The Fall - Marshall Suite (remastered)
The Fling - When The Madhouses Appear
The Jolly Boys - Great Expectation
The Slits - The John Peel Sessions
The Wave Pictures - Beer in the Breakers
Thin Lizzy - Live in London 2011 (2 CDs)
Title Fight - Shed
Tune Brothers - 15
Twin Atlantic - Free
UFO - Live in Texas 1979
Uriah Heep - Into the Wild
Vandervelde - More Than You Can Feel
Vangelis - Opera Sauvage Remast., Import
Various Artists - Fire & Fury R&B Story 2 CDs
Various Artists - NOW 38
Various Artists - Exotic Beatles 4: Plastic Soul
Various Artists - Fast Five (soundtrack)
Various Artists - INXS: Original Sin
Various Artists - No Future: A Tribute To The Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Damned
Various Artists - Piano Tribute to Arcade Fire
Various Artists - Putumayo Presents: Jazz
Various Artists - The Bullet Records Story (3-CD box set)
Winstons - Color Me Father
Wormrot - Dirge
Xerath - II
Yarborough & Peoples - Be a Winner Import
Remember, if you are a record company and have new releases or know of any I missed (especially vinyl), please email me and I will add your music to the list. I also do reviews of new vinyl, email me for more information.
Cancer Bats are set to release a vinyl version of Birthing The Giant via Distort Records. The album is pressed on gold and is limited to 1,000 copies. The release date is May 17, 2011.
Metallica – St. Anger Back On Vinyl
Metallica will be pressing, “St. Anger” once again on vinyl with a release date of June 7th via Warner Brothers. The album will be offered on a single LP or four 180 gram LPs (45 rpm) with about a song or two on each side.
Top 10 Albums – May 2, 2011
Top 10 albums at Shop Radio Cast for the week of April 26, 2011 – May 2, 2011:
1. Fireworks – Gospel 2. William Elliott Whitmore / P.O.S. – Split 7″ (Record Store Day) 3. Frank Turner – England Keep My Bones 4. Black Lips – Arabia Mountain LP + 7″ 5. Balance and Composure – Separation 6. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah LP 7. Moving Mountains – Waves 8. The Creepshow – They All Fall Down (Picture Disc) 9. Silverstein – Rescue 10. Mock Orange – Disguised As Ghosts LP (Exclusive Green)
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DEFTONES To Begin Work On New Album
DEFTONES frontman Chino Moreno tells Billboard.com that the band is planning to spend the next few weeks working on material for the follow-up to 2010's "Diamond Eyes".
"We're going to have a month off [from touring], but in that month we're talking about going in and starting to write again, maybe even two or three weeks in a rehearsal spot just recording ideas and keeping it going," he said. "[The process will resume in September] so if all goes well hopefully we'll have some product for early next year."
Animal Style Records To Release 12" Debut From Born Without Bones
Animal Style Records has announced that on May 17th it will release "Say Hello," the debut full-length from Born Without Bones (Milford, MA). Originally self-released digitally last year by the band via Bandcamp as a free/pay-what-you-want download, Animal Style will give this record a proper vinyl release with a limited pressing of 500 12-inches on three colorways (100 black/200 sky blue/200 wheat yellow). Each copy will come with a full album download, plus an additional eight unreleased B-side tracks.
"Weird Al" Yankovic to Release "Alpocalypse" on June 21st
Grammy Award-winning artist "Weird Al" Yankovic is set to release his 13th studio album Alpocalypse (Jive Records) on June 21st. It is his first full studio release since the 2006 Grammy nominated album Straight Outta Lynwood that spawned the platinum hit single "White & Nerdy."
Alpocalypse will be available in both standard and deluxe formats and will include the much talked about Lady Gaga parody, "Perform This Way," that generated two million Youtube hits within two days and at its fever pitch was the #5 trending Twitter topic in the world. The deluxe set will have a bonus DVD containing 10 music videos.
The highly anticipated "Perform This Way" video is currently being shot in LA with Al once again taking the helm as director.
"Weird Al" Yankovic has reigned for three decades as the best-selling comedy artist in history, with over 12 million albums sold. He has won 3 Grammy Awards with 12 career nominations. With the recent release of his children's book When I Grow Up (HarperCollins), Weird Al adds "New York Times best-selling author" to his list of accomplishments.
Mötley Crüe have revealed further details of their forthcoming tour with Poison and New York Dolls, including drummer Tommy Lee’s show-stopping drum solo gimmick.
Lee’s solos are always a point of great discussion among Crüe fans – over the years they’ve included everything from a rolling drum kit to a magic trick involving a gun-toting astronaut.
Albums:
1. Adele : 21
2. Glee Cast : Glee: The Music Presents The Warblers
3. Foo Fighters : Wasting Light
4. Soundtrack : Lemonade Mouth
5. Britney Spears : Femme Fatale
6. Alison Krauss and Union Station : Paper Airplane
7. Mumford and Sons : Sigh No More
8. Paul Simon : So Beautiful Or So What
9. Chris Brown : F.A.M.E.
10. Justin Bieber : Never Say Never The Remixes EP
Singles:
1. Katy Perry feat. Kanye West : E.T.
2. Adele : Rolling In The Deep
3. Black Eyed Peas : Just Can't Get Enough
4. Rihanna : S&M
5. Jeremih feat. 50 Cent : Down On Me
6. Bruno Mars : The Lazy Song
7. Jennifer Lopez : On The Floor
8. Chris Brown feat. Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes : Look At Me Now
9. Ke$ha : Blow
10. Cee Lo Green : Fuck You
UK
Albums:
1. Adele : 21
2. Adele : 19
3. The Wombats : The Wombats Produly Present This Modern Glitch
4. Foo Fighters : Wasting Light
5. Jessie J. : Who You Are
6. Bruno Mars : Doo-Wops & Holligans
7. Radiohead : The King of Limbs
8. Rihanna : Loud
9. Cee Lo Green : The Lady Killer
10. Chase & Status : No More Idols
Singles:
1. LMFAO : Party Rock Anthem
2. Bruno Mars : The Lazy Song
3. Jennifer Lopez feat. Pitbull : On The Floor
4. Chris Brown feat. Benny Benassi : Beautiful People
5. Snoop Dogg Vs. David Guetta : Sweat
6. Katy Perry : E.T.
7. Wretch 32 : Unorthodox
8. Nero : Guilt
9. Tracy Chapman : Fast Car
10. Mann : Buzzin
Europe
Albums:
1. Take That : Progress
2. Rihanna : Loud
3. Bruce Springsteen : The Promise
4. Shakira : Sale El Sol
5. Pink : Greatest Hits ... So Far
6. Bon Jovi : Greatest Hits
7. James Blunt : Some Kind Of Trouble
8. Susan Boyle : The Gift
9. Kings Of Leon : Come Around Sundown
10. JLS : Outta This World
Singles:
1. Adele : Rolling In the Deep
2. Bruno Mars : Grenade
3. Lady Gaga : Born This Way
4. Jennifer Lopez feat. Pitbull : On The Floor
5. Rihanna : S&M
6. Black Eyed Peas : Just Can't Get Enough
7. Taio Cruz : Higher
8. Martin Solveig : Hello
9. Jessie J. feat. B.o.B. : Price Tag
10. David Guetta feat. Rihanna : Who's That Chick
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and in music history for today:
In 1956, for the first time in "Billboard" chart history, five singles were in both the pop and the R&B top 10. The singles were Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel," Carl Perkins' "Blue Suede Shoes," Little
Richard's "Long Tall Sally," the Platters' "Magic Touch," and Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers' "Why Do Fools Fall in Love."
In 1960, in the aftermath of the payola scandal, Billboard magazine reports that many radio stations are adopting what they called a "better music" format and banning Rock and Roll.
In 1964, 'The Beatles' Second Album' reaches #1 on the Billboard LP chart in just its second week of release. It was the first album ever to make it to the top that quickly.
The Rolling Stones made their second appearance on Ed Sullivan in 1965.
In 1969, Funk Brother session drummer Benny Benjamin died. Benjamin played with many of Motown’s biggest hit-makers, including The Four Tops, Temptations, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes and Stevie Wonder.
In 1970, one-hit wonder Norman Greenbaum was at #1 on the U.K. singles chart with “Spirit in the Sky.”
In 1972, Bruce Springsteen auditioned for Columbia's A&R man John Hammond both in his office and at the Gaslight Club in New York at night.
Also in 1972, Les Harvey (Stone the Crow) was electrocuted on stage in Swansea, Wales. He died several hours later at the age of 25.
In 1979, the Who performed their first concert after the death of Keith Moon. Kenney Jones, formerly of the Faces, was the new drummer.
Pink Floyd's hit single "Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)", with its chorus of kids chanting "We Don't Need No Education", is banned by the South African government in 1980. Black children, upset about inferior education, adopt the song as their anthem. The government says the song is "prejudicial to the safety of the state."
In 1989, police were called when a man walked into a Los Angeles jewelry store wearing a wig and false mustache and teeth. It turned out to be Michael Jackson.
In 1991, R.E.M.'s video for Losing My Religion was banned in Ireland for its religious imagery.
In 2005, Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker reunited as Cream for the first of four nights at Royal Albert Hall in London. Tickets were being sold for nearly $1,000 on eBay, while fans from all over the globe flew in to catch the performances.
In 2006, Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards was released from a hospital in New Zealand after suffering a mild concussion when he fell out of a coconut tree while on holiday in Fiji. He was airlifted to Auckland's Ascot Hospital for observation, where he underwent a brain scan.
In 2007, nearly 2,000 musicians gathered in the Polish city of Wroclaw to play “Hey Joe” by Jimi Hendrix. It was the largest guitar ensemble in recorded history, which landed them in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Guitar legend Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr was born in 1929 (died November 5, 2005)
birthdays today include Engelbert Humperdinck (1936), Leslie Gore (1946) and Lou Gramm of Foreigner (1950), among many others.
For three weeks in a row the top record has pushed past the $10k mark. For the past two weeks Sex Pistols rarities have topped the list, and this weeks it's The Beatles original Stereo pressing of "Please Please Me", however the top price of over $13k does not come close to the sales of the Sex Pistol's records, which have been the highest recorded for two years.
1. LP - The Beatles "Please Please Me" Parlophone UK Bold Black label 1st Stereo - $13,176.41
2. LP - Wilhelm Furtwangler "Beethoven 9th Symphony" Soviet Union Pressing - $5,100.00
3. 12" - Led Zeppelin “Road Box” Test Pressing - $4,801.00
4. LP - Johanna Martzy "Schubert" Columbia 33CX UK Pressing - $3,500.00
5. 12" - Led Zeppelin "Road Box" - $3,200.00
More on this week's top 5 on Vinyl Record Talk, Tuesday 8:00PM Eastern / 5:00PM Pacific on Radio Dentata.
Will this seven LP Pepper set spice up your jazz record collection?
The Complete Art Pepper At Ronnie Scott's Club (reissue/new issue)
Art Pepper
Pure Pleasure PPAN012 7 180g LPs
Produced by: Peter Bould Engineered by: Peter Bould, Peter Ball and Graham Ward Mixed by: N/A Mastered by: Ray Staff at Air Mastering
SOUND
MUSIC
Art Pepper Ronnie Scott Stand Issued Complete by Michael Fremer April 01, 2011
Alto sax bop legend Art Pepper (1925-1982) had accrued a lot of mileage but few OnePass points when he blew into London with his trio in June of 1980 to play a fortnight gig at the famous Ronnie Scott’s Club.
The group consisted of the hard charging classically trained Bulgarian émigré Milcho Leviev on piano, Tony Dumas on bass and Carl Burnett on drums. The latter two had worked in a trio with pianist George Cables and so already played in lockstep.
If you have any interest at all in Pepper the musician (and if you’re considering purchase of this pricey but astonishing 7 LP set chances are good you do), you should read “Straight Life The Story of Art Pepper” by Art and Laurie Pepper (Schirmer Books).
The autobiography is a can’t-put-it-down read wherein lays it all out: the junkie life, prison, playing jazz with the greats from Sonny Stitt to Benny Carter and most of all his unremorseful look at his own flawed character revealed without an ounce of self-pity.
“So between the Percodan and the Dexamyl and the Cosanyl and pot and juicing very heavy I was doing good because I wasn’t using heroin,” he writes about half way through the book. When that’s “doing good” you can only imagine his descriptions of “doing bad.”
If ‘50s jazz is your bag this book gives you an inside look at the lifestyle of the musicians who played and lived it from a white-hipster’s POV, written with charm, sincerity and most especially brutal honesty.
But we’re here to review the music and records not the book and even if you don’t buy the book, this package gives you plenty to chew on musically and in the written text that's included in the Mosaic style booklet that accompanies the seven LPs.
Pepper and his group arrived at Ronnie Scott’s not knowing how they would be received. To their great surprise, the response, not to mention the attendance, was overwhelming.
Appropriately, as word of the superb sets spread through London, the owners of Mole Jazz, then the city’s pre-eminent jazz record show, inquired about a live recording.
Arrangements were made and recordings were made of the Friday and Saturday sets June 27 and 28 1980. For some reason the credits on the original LPs claim Sunday night the 29th was also recorded.
The multi-mike analogue recording was mixed live to two track stereo without noise reduction, limiting, compression or equalization and when Ray Staff cut the original lacquers back in 1980 he used no noise reduction, limiting, compression or equalization (other than RIAA of course!).
Mole issued Blues For the Fisherman (Stereo Mole 1) a single LP containing two tracks per side as The Milcho Leviev Quartet since Pepper was then signed to the Galaxy label in America. Pepper wrote the liner notes extolling the virtues of Leviev’s piano playing and while they provided legal cover for the enterprise, they ring true as you’ll hear if you take the plunge and buy this set.
In 1981 Mole issued True Blues (Stereo Mole 5), a four tune follow up from the same date that included “Straight Life” but soon both records went out of print. Linn Music, a division of the audio manufacturer that makes the Sondek turntable briefly brought the first album back into print in the early ‘90s, as I recall it, pressed using the original metal parts and then that went out of print as well.
Art’s widow Laurie recently found the original tapes. She’d never played them but when that finally happened, she discovered they contained the complete recordings made over the course of those three evenings, complete with Art Pepper’s between song song.
Pure Pleasure licensed the material, a flat transfer was made and the tapes once again were given to Ray Staff, who edited where appropriate. Staff left all of the music and the between song patter, to produce this seven LP set that’s never less than fully riveting even though four tunes were repeated on the second day of recording, perhaps to assure there would be good takes for the final original LP and as is always the case in live performances there’s some time filling and vamping.
Nonetheless if you’re a Pepper fan, you’ll treasure every moment here that includes seventeen previously unreleased performances along with the eight already released on the two Mole Records releases.
Pepper plays throughout with the high energy enthusiasm, virtuosity and creativity of someone half his age, while his lyricism and gorgeous, sensitive ballad playing could only come from someone of his age.
Pepper picks up a clarinet—his first instrument—and plays a memorable take on Parker’s “Ornithology” and though he mumbles an apology afterwards, clearly none was needed.
You’ll agree that his enthusiasm for the sparkling playing of Leviev was well-deserved. The rest of the rhythm section plays with equal precision and sympathy.
The live recording quality is superb (though as with any live recording there are occasional glitches): intimate and closely miked, it presents a small club front row perspective that’s long on power, timbral accuracy and dynamics and short on room ambience. Given a choice, I’ll take the former every time. Pepper stands center stage in front of bassist Dumas, while Leviev’s piano is stage left and drummer Burnett’s kit is stage right. Sufficient mike leakage produces a coherent, well-integrated three-dimensional picture.
The Pallas pressing quality is high, the packaging, including a cloth textured box first class and the annotation, complete. There are four interviews with Pepper from 1979 and 1980, an illuminating essay written last year by Alun Morgan who provided the liner notes for the second original Mole album, nice photos and complete Mosaic-like credits.
As you listen you’ll hear Pepper at one point towards the end of the three-night stand single out a patron who attended every performance. Pepper hands him a magnum of champagne.
After you’ve gone through this seven LP set for the first time you’ll feel like popping the cork on a bottle yourself to celebrate Art Pepper and your good sense in buying and consuming this set that a decade ago would have been impossible to think could ever be issued on vinyl LPs cut from analogue tape.
Thanks to Pure Pleasure’s Tony Hickmott for having the guts to proceed with such a costly set that sounds considerably richer, fuller and more natural than the Linn reissue I have and that sounds plenty good too. It was worth the risk and is worth every penny of its considerable cost.
Thanks to Michael over at http://www.musicangle.com/ for the exclusive rights to reprint this material. Stop by MusicAngle.com for more reviews and features.
