Album Cover Stories

As always, I want to thank Michael Goldstein over at www.RockPoPGallery.com for the exclusive reprint rights to his marvelous album cover art stories:



Cover Story - The Rolling Stones' "Exile on Main Street", with artwork by John Van Hamersveld
Cover Story for April 25, 2008

Subject: Exile on Main Street, a 1972 release (on Atlantic Records) by The Rolling Stones, with cover artwork & design by John Van Hamersveld



When the Rolling Stones released Exile on Main Street in 1972 - a double album of songs representing the many different genres of music that shaped Stones music at the time - fans and critics found themselves having to spend a lot of time trying to “get it”. It required a number of listens to gain an appreciation of what, on the surface, often seemed to be a collection of studio out-takes and Richards/Taylor/Watts jams than a freshly-recorded musical offering.

Many critics of the era failed to appreciate the Stones’ explorations of R&B, Soul, Country and roots Rock that were spread over the 4 album sides. In fact, the record was comprised of a series of recordings done during the previous four years and, as such, they featured a variety of mixes (some better than others) and showed the band building on top of these influences in their own inimitable style to the point that, now over 35 years later, the package is considered by many to be the band’s most-authentic offering. It is always listed near the top of most of the “Best Of” and “Greatest” lists (#7 on the Rolling Stone Magazine 2003 list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”, #22 on VH-1’s survey, and even impressed the younger generation enough to be ranked #11 on Pitchfork’s 2003 list of Best Albums of the 1970s).

In a similar fashion, when the buying public took their first look at the design and imagery of the sprawling record cover, most people admitted that they didn’t “get it”. Having just soaked in Warhol’s ultimately-iconic "cover with a zipper" for Sticky Fingers, fans should have been ready for anything, but John Van Hamersveld’s designs seemed to confound them, asking them to digest a rough, anti-establishment, punk-before-there-was-punk collage of images that may have, initially, combined with the unfamiliar musical stylings to impact sales (don’t worry, as the record was supported by the now-famous 1972 American concert tour and songs such as “Happy” and “Tumbling Dice” got some significant radio play, the record went on to top the charts in the U.S. and the U.K.).

And so when Van Hamersveld, who’d established his industry cred via his poster and package designs for Hendrix, The Beatles (Magical Mystery Tour), Jefferson Airplane (Crown of Creation) and others, was approached by the Rolling Stones (who were in a studio in LA putting the finishing touches on this new album) to work on the graphics and packaging for a songbook project the band wanted to release, he joined in on an interesting series of events on the day of their initial meeting had a profound impact on the course of album art history. And so, Ladies and Gentlemen, on center stage, here’s today’s Cover Story…

In the words of the artist, John Van Hamersveld (interviewed in March 2008, with additional text provided* and used with his permission) -

I had been a multimedia artist and rock promoter during my Pinnacle Rock Concerts in the 60's and I was returning from the Kings Road Scene in London to LAX in 1971 in an effort to use my music business promotions experience to connect with Hollywood again. One day, from the new Chapman Park Studio Building on 6th Street in Los Angeles, I left to meet with a friend who would introduce me to Norman Seeff, the art director and photographer for United Artists and Blue Note Records.

Norman was an art director and photographer of personalities and had worked as the photographer for Bob Dylan's The Band package with Bob Cato, the famous art director for Columbia Records. I had skills that I had developed in art school and I could apply them to this medium. I could draw, do typography, illustrations and could combine design with photography. I also had printing and publishing experience from my famous rock posters of the 60's. After the meeting, Norman and I started a creative relationship built around packaging albums.

Norman had 65 projects to package over the first year, so he and I created an artistic design process for the packaging of music and band identities. We became a design team that worked hard to lead the industry by creating a professional style that was envied by all the major labels. After each release of record packages to retail, other companies began to follow our UA style.

One day Norman and I met the Rolling Stones here in Hollywood. A beautiful girlfriend I had met earlier on “the scene” in London – Chris Odell - was now Mick Jagger's personal assistant, and so in early 1972, The Rolling Stones approached Norman and I to work on the design of a songbook with photographs for Warner Brothers. At this stage, I don’t know that I will be packaging Exile On Main Street. The Stones are in Los Angeles at Sunset Sound studios, finishing the record. Our first meeting was set to be in Bel Air, where they were staying.

As I drive to the meeting, I think about the times I am a captive to Jagger's enigmatic voice on the car radio, clarifying themes of the day with his lyrics, as if they were an advertising slogan for today's lifestyle. His words strike like an axe to my forehead. The Bel Air mansion where the Stones are living is a sumptuous Mediterranean-style villa, surrounded by lush foliage, and soon I am standing on a Persian rug, looking into the eyes of Jagger. He extends his pale, soft hand – limp from a life of wealth, decadence, and privilege.

The rest are talking at the large dining table. We greet each other and sit down in a seating plan orchestrated by Jagger. I am directed to sit next to Mick, and Marshall Chess (son of Leonard Chess of Chess Records and President of Rolling Stones Records) stands on the left. Norman is taking pictures of the band, and Keith is sitting on the couch across from me. He is looking at me in his mirrored sunglasses while smoking a joint. He looks so healthy, handsome and rested.

Then, to my surprise, Robert Frank (the photographer and film-maker well known for his late 1950's book The Americans, with a foreword by Jack Kerouac) walks into the room with a small Super 8mm Canon camera. Jagger and I smile. "This is a very hip day," I say to myself. I knew Robert from a meeting in New York in 1968. He takes Jagger to downtown Los Angeles to film him on the seedy parts of Main Street later in the day. Norman and I leave after the shooting to edit his photographs.

At the request of Marshall Chess, Norman and I arrive for a second day of meetings. We walk through the living room of the villa down to the far wall into the dining room where Mick and Keith are waiting with Marshall. As Marshall starts the meeting, Norman hands another album cover by another designer to him. The cover is passed to Jagger for approval. He rejects it. Marshall then hands me a Robert Frank front photo collage across to me. The tattoo-parlor-wall cover image is from Robert's photo documentary “The Americans”. Mick, on my right, looks on for both of us to agree, so I nod. This then becomes the famous photo-composition for the Exile On Main St. album cover. As the meeting progresses, the other pieces of the package are handed to me.

During the meeting, Marshall asks me what we will do with Norman's photos, given that Frank's are the agreed ones for the cover. Marshall has Norman's images from the late night photo shoot. They are the sequences where Keith arrives at the very last minute for the shoot. Everyone had been waiting for him to show, and then he arrives with his pants hanging off his butt. With Keith's arrival, the group is now ready to go on with Norman's session ("This is a one-time shot!" someone says). Lights, smoke, and confetti is readied, it all begins and a sequence is attempted but then, by accident, Keith began to fall all over the set, creating a disaster. All else fails and our budget has now been used up.

Suddenly Keith says from across the edge of the table, "Make some postcards," showing us with his hands an accordion-folded-style collection of postcards. He then proceeds to almost lose his balance and fall over onto the rug. I say to Mick, "Let's take that as an idea and do it." He agrees and Marshall says, "Done". Marshall and Jagger hand me a stack of photos made by Frank over the weekend. I leave with the visual “ingredients” and arrive back my place at the Chapman Park Studio Building.

In my studio, I play the song 'Sympathy For The Devil' and I think about how to design, in a "Beat style", the concept of a “pop art” package. I have to make it so it will work as an image in a competitive market place. I envisage the package as a painter's fine art print. I had been using various kinds of mediums like brushed inks, crayons, markers, paint and airbrush tools with complicated layered stripping and printing tricks to gain the effects I needed, but in this case I need just the basics - drafting tape and ripped paper.

I select the pictures from the ones Frank took. After our meeting, I organize the images as per Jagger's instructions while Marshall looks on. I am able to step back as an artist and see the opportunity in front of me. Jagger is really a pop artist, too. With all the images in place, I'm satisfied with my work. Upon the label’s approval, Exile will soon hit the streets.


The last step of the approval process stopped at Ahmet Ertegun’s office at Atlantic Records. He was the label’s ultimate authority and so when this kind of art and esthetic made it past his eyes, I knew that all would be okay. In the eyes of the many in the industry, they were all shocked by the ugly, rough, tuff, beat look of the package and that it was not funny or real humorous (to anyone but a Johnny Rotten).

So, as the result of Jagger and I sitting side by side in 1972 at our meeting, my arrangement of materials that would go beyond Frank’s photo style, creating an identity that would becomes the basis of the PUNK FASHION MOVEMENT. To the spectators, critics, and others in the Establishment, I had made a package that was not glamorous. It was not a friendly image to put on display in the record stores, but it was THAT image that established the anti-establishment look of PUNK. It took years to recover from the cover’s graphic statement, with new generations of punks exploiting the graphic concept to this day - still ripping and tearing and drawing all over things with their own graffiti.

The album cover art images from the past, as part of our culture, were styled for fashion and archetype. In 1984, my friend John Lydon said to me "The Stones’ Exile package set the image of punk in 1975 - we used that graphic feel to communicate our message graphically".

In the 70's, I do feel that 12x12 album covers were an all-inclusive image of cultural style in the visual fashion of the sixties and the seventies. I was, therefore, a well-known designer of cultural images which were created as reflections of that culture. These were then watched closely by other design teams and designers who copied me their pursuit to find new images. Today more than 100,000 artists are using a "Ripping and Tearing" style and graffiti in their work.

At least Johnny was nice enough to explain what his intention was then…JVH

About the artist - John Van Hamersveld -


John (b. 1941, Baltimore, MD) is an artist and designer who’s responsible for an enormous catalog of well-known music industry and pop culture-related images. From his early works on the promo poster for the soundtrack for 1966’s ground-breaking surf-culture movie The Endless Summer and his cover work for The Beatles (Magical Mystery Tour) and Jefferson Airplane (Crown of Creation), to his iconic 70’s covers for the Rolling Stones (Exile on Main Street), The Grateful Dead (Skeletons from the Closet), KISS (Hotter than Hell), and Steve Miller (The Joker and Fly Like an Eagle), and then on to his imagery that helped introduce the world to Punk Fashion, such as the cover for Blondie’s Eat to the Beat and Autoamerica and John Lydon’s post-Pistols solo efforts (This Is What You Want, This is What You Get), Van Hamersveld’s images set the path that the rest of the industry followed for style and substance.


His recent posters and graphics for the Cream Reunions in New York and London have been fan and collector favorites, and who but JVH could have so appropriately designed Led Zeppelin’s recent Mothership package?

Van Hamersveld also created the famous "grinning Johnny" image in 1969, a version of which is said to have been the inspiration for John Pasche’s designs for the Rolling Stones' “Lips & Tongue” logo.

To learn more about John and visit his site, please follow this link –
http://www.johnvanhamersveld.com/vhmoa/museum/index.html

To see more of John’s works in the RockPoP Gallery collection, please follow this link –
http://rockpopgallery.com/items/john-van-hamersveld/list.htm?1=1

To see all of the Rolling Stones-related items in the RockPoP Gallery collection please click on this link –
http://rockpopgallery.com/items/rolling-stones/list.htm?1=1

*Adapted from the JVH interview found in book by Genesis Publications, titled EXILE: The making of EXILE ON MAIN ST. by Robert Greenfield. Copies of this book are available from the publisher on their web site at
http://www.genesis-publications.com/books/exile/green.html

All images featured in this Cover Story are Copyright 1972 and 2008, John Van Hamersveld - All rights reserved. Except as noted, all other text Copyright 2008 - Mike Goldstein & RockPoP Gallery (www.rockpopgallery.com) - All rights reserved.

CATTLE DECAPITATION: 'The Harvest Floor' To Be Released On Limited-Edition Picture-Disc Vinyl


Metal Blade Records will release the limited-edition, picture-disc vinyl version of the new CATTLE DECAPITATION album, "The Harvest Floor", on April 14.

"The Harvest Floor" sold around 1,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The CD debuted at No. 16 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

The drum tracks for "The Harvest Floor" were laid down with Zach Ohren (ALL SHALL PERISH, DECREPIT BIRTH) before the rest of the instruments were recorded and the entire thing was mixed with producer Billy Anderson (MR. BUNGLE, MELVINS, SWANS) at Sharkbite studios in Oakland, California. The CD features guest vocal appearances by Ross Sewage (IMPALED, LUDICRA) and Dino Sommese (DYSTOPIA, ASUNDER). There is alsoa special appearance by Jarboe (SWANS), lending her beautifully haunting voice to the epic death dirge "The Harvest Floor". Jackie Perez Gratz (GRAYCEON, AMBER ASYLUM) graces a couple tracks with her electric cello and Los Angeles noisician John Wiese also lends his electronic/atmospheric expertise to the album, further separating the band from the typical "cookie-cutter" approach applied all too often by today's extreme acts.

=============================

Thin Lizzy News

The new Thin Lizzy live album Still Dangerous is out today (CD, Digital & limited edition vinyl) on VH-1 Classic Records.

Still Dangerous: Live At The Tower Theatre Philadelphia 1977 is a newly discovered live album, featuring the quintessential Thin Lizzy lineup.

The album contains two songs not found on their landmark Live and Dangerous LP: 'Soldier Of Fortune' & 'Opium Trail.' Still Dangerous was remixed/remastered by producer Glyn Johns (Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones).

Buy it Here: Thin Lizzy Vinyl

Scott Gorham, guitarist for Thin Lizzy, was interviewed by rushonrock.com and addressed the state of the music industry:

"I just feel the whole download trend is capable of really damaging the music I love. Suddenly musicians and bands have no control over who can get hold of their music and often there’s no financial return. There’s this misconception that rock stars spend all their royalties on Ferraris and big houses with swimming pools. But the majority of us are just regular guys who want to buy the kids a new pair of shoes or go on a holiday from time to time. And we need an income like the next man. A lot of good bands won’t be able to afford to do this for much longer if illegal downloads continue at such a pace. For me Lizzy is my regular day job and I have to pay the bills. I really hope a new regulatory system comes into place sooner or later."

=============================

Chris Darrow Collection Now Available

Chris Darrow may not be a household name - yet. But throughout the history of Southern California country-rock, folk, surf, psychedelic and world music, he has cast a welcome presence. His trail-blazing, country-rock-leaning pair of solo albums, Chris Darrow (1973) and Under My Own Disguise (1974), soon will be released by Everloving Records, the home of Inara George & Van **** Parks, Cornelius and Herman Dune . The Darrow collection, titled Chris Darrow/Under My Own Disguise, will be available as a deluxe two-CD, two-LP (180 gram vinyl) with a 48-page 12' x 12' photo book.

The music will also be available through digital retailers without all the fancy stuff.

The Chris Darrow story begins with Kaleidoscope, a late '60s L.A.-based band cited by Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page as his 'favorite band of all time.' Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman wrote in his book Follow the Music that the first Kaleidoscope album, Side Trips, is his favorite album of all time.

Buy Your Copy Here: Chris Darrow Collection

=============================

U2 World Tour

U2 is set to announce a massive stadium tour on Monday that will start on June 30 in Barcelona and run through the end of 2010, according to Billboard.

Early reports say that the group will play at the center of stadiums and will feature a cylindrical video screen.

"It's hard to come up with something that's fundamentally different, but we have. Where we're taking our production will never have been seen before by anybody, and that's an amazing thing to be able to say," detailed the Edge.

=============================

Guitarist Passes Away

David Williams, guitarist on Michael Jackson's Off the Wall and Thriller albums along with a huge resume of work with Madonna, Phil Collins, Stevie Nicks, Earth Wind & Fire, Bryan Ferry, Diana Ross and many more, passed away on Friday at Sentra Hospital in Hampton, Virginia. According to an article in the New York Post, he was without health insurance and his family battled the hospital over his care.

His ex-wife Deborah told the Post before his death, "During this very difficult time where our focus should be on the nurturing and care of David, we are battling with hospital officials just to get and maintain the care he deserves, a hospital whose main interest lies in his ability to pay for his care."

Album Cover Framing

I was thrilled to be contacted by Mike at "offthewallart," a Canadian firm that specializes in vinyl and framing these wonderful albums covers we all love. Here are the specifics:


Not only do we have a great selection of old, and not so old, pre-owned, record albums spanning five decades, from the ‘50s to the ‘90s, but we also give you the opportunity to showcase them properly inside your home or business. We’re putting a new twist on an old spin you might say. You can even present them as the perfect gift idea for family and friends, unusual and unexpected. The truth is, all we do other than shipping day-in and day-out lately, is take art that’s OFF the WALL and make sure that ARTwurx before we find it a permanent home. That’s where you come in! Take a few minutes and visit our showroom. When it comes to albums, 8 times out of 10, we sell lower than Amazon.com or just about anyone else out there for that matter – AND – we treat each one like the art-form it truly is. Basically, ‘collectible posters you can play!’ So find a favourite album with a great cover, throw a frame on it and get our MINIMUM 20% discount. But shop around, some albums have far better deals than others, up to 75% off in some cases.

Using our 100% Canadian, side-loading cradled frames, designed to cover up those slightly worn, rough edges, we make the rest of the Album Cover look like a masterpiece. You see, our goal is simple, to sell frames that promote decades of, what can only be described as, remarkable works of ART and, yes, even a little music along the way.

Mike and his crew offer a variety of package deals, stop by and tell them Robert sent you over! Visit them today: http://offthewallartwurx.ca

Classic Rock Videos

The Beatles - Nowhere Man

Album Cover Art

Exciter - Long Live the Loud


Original name was Hell Razor, and it was changed to Exciter in 1980. They took the name "Exciter" from the Judas Priest song.

Exciter's Current line-up

Kenny "Metal Mouth" Winter - Vocals (2006-)
John Ricci - Guitar (1980-1985, 1992-93, 1996-)
Rob "Clammy" Cohen - Bass (2004-)
Rik Charron - Drums (1996-)

Speed Metal Violence, Metal, Hate, War, Death
Canada (Ottawa, Ontario) 1980 Massacre Records Active

U2 Take Over Letterman Show

Music News & Notes

No Record Was Issued


Despite previous reports that SEBASTIAN BACH's "Angel Down" album was to be released on vinyl, the records were never pressed. The former SKID ROW singer has issued the following statement, calling out one eBay auction in particular.

"This is fraud. Unfortunately Angel Down was never released on vinyl, and there are absolutely no plans now whatsoever to release it on vinyl. I was lied to by DR2 Records in the UK about this coming out, and I apologize personally to anyone that paid for a record that never came out. After spending hours designing the double-gatefold album cover sleeve, doing countless interviews hyping the release of Angel Down on vinyl, I was told months later that DR2 decided not to put the record out after all.

==============================

Steve Earle to Release Townes Van Zandt Tribute Album


On May 12, New West will release Townes, Earle's tribute to his friend and mentor. The album will also be available as a deluxe two-CD set and on 180-gram vinyl. That's the cover above.

According to a press release, Earle and Van Zandt first met when Van Zandt heckled an Earle show in 1972, the sort of thing that must be a total nightmare for most singer-songwriters. But the two stayed tight until Van Zandt's death in 1997.

Dust Brother John King, who produced Earle's 2007 album Washington Square Serenade, mans the boards on one song, "Lungs". On that same song, Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello guests on guitar. (And yes, he does play one of those wikki-wikki turntable-scratch solos, but it sort of works.) Singer-songwriter Allison Moorer, Earle's wife, sings backup on "To Live Is to Fly" and "Loretta". Earle also recruited a backing band of bluegrass all-stars to play on several songs. And duetting on "Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold": Earle's son Justin Townes Earle, appearing on record with his dad for the first time. (Earle really must've loved the guy if he named his kid after him.)

In the album's press release, Earle has this to say: "This may be one of the best records I've ever made. That hurts a singer-songwriter's feelings. Then again, it's some consolation that I cherry picked through the career of one of the best songwriters that ever lived."

==============================

Whitney's Baaaccckkkk

Songwriter Diane Warren has written the comeback record for Whitney Houston, "I Didn't Know My Own Strength," and is impressed with the outcome.

"I don't usually write music with someone in mind," she told Parade magazine. "But I set out to write this song specifically for Whitney. It definitely touches on her life, but I think a lot of people will relate to it because they've gone through hard times too."

"She sang the shit out of that song. Seriously, it was amazing. I'll tell you something, Whitney is back. Let there be no doubt."

==============================

Eurythmics Not Getting Back Together

Annie Lennox has stated that there will be no future Eurythmics reunions.

"Dave [Stewart] and I talk to each other only rarely these days, and I can't see another reunion. He lives in America and I'm over here [Britain]. We're both working on our own things. For me it would be like a step backwards and I want to keep moving forward."

==============================

Devo News

Devo are set to perform their debut album, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, in it's entirety at a May 6 performance in London. This is the first time the group has performed the 1978 album from start-to-finish. The original album, produced by Brian Eno, contains classics like "Jacko Homo" and their fantastic cover of the Rolling Stones "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction."

==============================

Faithfull Still Not Liking Jagger

Marianne Faithfull stated that she still is not on good terms with former flame (from the 60's) Mick Jagger, but that Keith Richards helped her on her new album, Easy Come, Easy Go, because of the guilt he felt about the way Jagger and the band treated her.

"Yes, of course (I felt used), probably by the Stones and by Mick. That's maybe why Keith helped me out with this album. He's no fool. He knows I was used as an ornament, that I was great for their image. So he's given me something back."

==============================

Kings Of Leon, Jane's Addiction Among Lollapalooza Headliners

Kings of Leon are scheduled to be among the headliners of both this year's Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits festivals, according to Billboard . Depeche Mode, the Beastie Boys, and Jane's Addiction are also playing Lollapalooza, which takes place in Chicago's Grant Park Aug 7-9, the Chicago Tribune reports and Billboard's sources confirm. Both events are produced by Austin, Texas-based C3 Productions.

The full Lollapalooza lineup announcement is expected in April.

==============================

Waking Up With U2

U2 performed an early 8 am show on Friday morning at Fordham University in New York. Bono joked to the students, “I joined a rock and roll band so I could get out of going to college.” The show was broadcast on ABC's Good Morning America.

The show was divided into two three-song sets (most likely to accommodate the ABC show). The first half included songs from the new album: Get On Your Boots, Magnificent, I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight. The second half was Beautiful Day, Breathe and Vertigo.

Today’s Music Ain’t Got The Same Soul

Longtime readers know how much I like to feature local stories about record stores, here is another. I want to thank http://www.seemagazine.com/ for allowing me the reprint rights.


Today’s Music Ain’t Got The Same Soul

Two ounces of vinyl's Terry Primrose is passionate about preserving rock music's vinyl legacy

by Jeff Holubitsky

Whether the soundtrack of your early life was, like mine, dominated by the oddly respectable coolness of The Beatles, the cynicism of street punks like The Stones, and the drinkin’ music of The Band or The Dead, old vinyl records will always occupy a special place in the heart. Analog records may be outdated, but music just sounds better when you hear it in the medium it was originally designed to be heard.

Terry Primrose, owner of a small company called Two Ounces of Vinyl, is in tune with the lasting appeal of the disc and turntable. They have provided the soundtrack of his own 51 years. When he listens, he sits in a basement room with one chair and, yes, tube stereo. Music is not background noise in his mind. When he travels, he always goes to cities with an abundance of record stores. He doesn’t gamble, but record vendors in Las Vegas know him by name.


Living at 33 Revolutions Per Minute | Vinyl aficionado Terry Primrose shows the correct way to handle a disc


His personal collection holds more than 100,000 albums and he has about 15,000 more on sale for $10 and up at a large stall at the Flea Market on 123 St and 111 Ave, where the married autobody shop man earns the money to finance his serious, serious passion.

Some of his records are from obscure regional artists. Many come from downsizing empty-nesters and estate sales from the days a decade ago, when people just wanted to get rid of junk. Sometimes they’re still wrapped in their original cellophane. Most are rock, but he also sells jazz, blues, country, and even a few of those ripoff Living Strings collections.

SEE caught up with Primrose at the flea market on a recent Friday afternoon as he prepared for another busy weekend.

SEE Magazine: When did you start collecting records?

Terry Primrose: I’ve always bought records, but I got serious about it in 1979. I thought I would collect all of the Hendrix records. I didn’t realize what I was getting into, but one thing leads to another.

SEE: But Jimi Hendrix only put out three studio albums, right?

TP: By the time I quit and went onto something else, I had 100, anyway. There are European versions, all kinds of compilations and bootlegs, particularly when it comes to Hendrix. Electric Ladyland has a different cover in Europe. In England it was released as two separate albums, Part 1 and Part 2, with two different covers. But I tracked them down.

SEE: What are you into now?

TP: Mainly progressive rock. It is a big genre and I have seven or eight thousand of that. There are so many obscure bands. You find that a lot of these prog bands have 15 or 20 albums, but only in Germany or only in France. The European scene for that stuff is much bigger than in North America.

SEE: What about The Beatles? You have a lot of compilations and solo projects here, but none of their actual albums.

TP: There are a lot of copies out there, but most of them are destroyed. What makes an album valuable is condition. People bring them in here but once it’s trashed it is worth zero. It’s hard to find a mint White Album from the ’60s. A mint Beatles album might be $100-$150 for a ’60s pressing. It has to be pristine. But everybody played them to death.

SEE: What is the most rare album here?

TP: I have a Sgt. Pepper’s picture disc and that’s $75, but a lot of the rarer stuff doesn’t make it onto the shelves. I know a lot of guys who collect The Beatles or ’60s rock and I just phone them when one comes in. I search for records for people.

SEE: Do you listen to all these albums?

TP: When I’m grading them, yes.

SEE: Have you always been into vinyl?

TP: Always, but there are a few of us diehards. I don’t know if it is a trend, but a lot of kids are buying records that weren’t born when vinyl was deceased, about 1989 or 1990. Back then, if you wanted to find something you had to be serious, because the record companies tried to kill it. They wanted people to buy CDs or whatever they were pushing.… Now the major labels are realizing there is a pretty big demand.

SEE: What difference is it making in your business?

TP: I hear all of the time about people bringing their turntables out of the basement. Lots of people my age are going back to it. This is my youth and to tell the truth, most people collect what they grew up with and what they knew as teenagers.

SEE: So if someone wants, say, a Fleetwood Mac record before Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, you can tell how old they are?

TP: Frankly, most other people don’t even know that exists.

SEE: What about younger people?

TP: I sell a lot of albums to younger kids 16 to about 22. They are looking mostly for ’70s rock, Ten Years After, Pink Floyd, or whatever.

SEE: Why do you think that era appeals to them?

TP: I think the problem now is that bands put out albums every two days and there is no quality control. It is easy to get stuff out there. I like new stuff too, so I don’t want to sound like I’m 75, but I listen to whatever is out there. The only thing I don’t listen to is the Top 40.

Source: http://www.seemagazine.com/

This Date In Music History-March 7

Birthdays:

Songwriter Townes Van Zandt was born in Fort Worth, Texas in 1944. Artists like Willie Nelson and the Tindersticks have covered his songs.

Peter Wolf- J. Geils Band (1945)

Songwriter Jules Shear was born in 1952. He's written "All Through the Night" for Cyndi Lauper and "If She Knew What She Wants" for the Bangles.

Chris White- Zombies (1945)

Little Peggy March (1948)

Ernie Isley- Isley Brothers (1952)

Procol Harum’s Matthew Fisher was born in 1946. His Hammond organ dominates the group’s ’67 international hit, "A Whiter Shade Of Pale.”

Taylor Dayne (1962)


They Are Missed:

Sixties rocker Adam Faith died of a heart attack in 2003 (age 62). In 1965, he scored a Top 40 hit with "It's Alright," and later produced Roger Daltrey's first solo album.

Born on this day in 1945, Arthur Lee, guitar, vocals, Love. Lee died on Aug 3, 2006 in Memphis at the age of 61 following a battle with acute myeloid leukaemia.


History:

The first jazz record was released in the US in 1917. Nick LaRocca's Original Dixieland Jazz Band calls it "The Dixie Jazz Band One Step.”

In 1962, the Beatles cut their first-ever session for the BBC in Manchester, England, performing "Teenager's Turn (Here We Go)," "Hello Little Girl," "Memphis Tennessee," "Dream Baby," and "Please Mr. Postman." It's also their first appearance in their trademark Beno Dorn suits.

The Dave Clark Five bring their Tottenham sound to The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time tonight in 1964, two weeks after the Beatles made their third appearance on the show. The DC5 went on to appear 18 more times on Sullivan's program.

Carl Perkins’ “Blue Suede Shoes” entered the Rhythm & Blues charts in 1955. It’s the first time a Country & Western artist lands on the R & B charts.

The Who’s “Pinball Wizard” was released in the UK in 1969. It’s the first song from the Rock opera “Tommy.”

While working on their next album in 1967, the Beatles recorded additional overdubs for “Lovely Rita,” including harmony vocals, effects, and the percussive sound of a piece of toilet paper being blown through a haircomb.

Foreigner’s self-titled debut was released in 1977. “Feels Like The First Time” and “Cold As Ice” make an immediate impact.

Re-mastered and expanded editions of five mid-'70s Grateful Dead studio albums, "Wake of the Flood," "From the Mars Hotel," "Blues for Allah," "Terrapin Station" and "Shakedown Street" hit stores in 2006. All have added demos, live cuts and studio outtakes. Meanwhile, Cheap Trick's ‘79 "Dream Police" and ‘80 "All Shook Up" re-mastered albums arrive with live cuts and outtakes.

In 1994, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that parodies that poke fun at an original work can be considered "fair use" that does not require permission from the copyright holder.

The Tune Weavers record "Happy Happy Birthday Baby" in 1957.

In 2007, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" topped the National Association of Recording Merchandisers Definitive 200, a list of "great, classic albums." Rock artists with discs landing in the Top 10 include Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, U2, the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan.

Vinyl: In The News

Record Stores: Gone But Not Forgotten

By Raanan Geberer
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

BROOKLYN — The news that the Virgin Megastore on Union Square will be closing soon is shocking, but not totally unexpected. Just a few years ago, the equally large Tower Records closed all its outlets. And what of the giant record-store chains of yesterday? There is apparently one Sam Goody’s in New York City, a far cry from the chain in its heyday. King Carol doesn’t exist anymore, and neither does the Record Hunter. And let’s not forget that at one time, every major New York City department store had an active record department.

It appears that in the near future, I’ll do all of my CD buying online, except for occasional trips to specialty, used-CD stores such as the Princeton Record Exchange in Princeton, N.J., or Academy Records in Manhattan.

Read the rest of this interesting article here:

brooklyneagle.com

=========================================

ABC Nightline Piece

In a segment titled "Vinyl: The Last Track," the ABC News program Nightline took a look this past Wednesday at the recent and, in many ways, unexpected resurgence of vinyl, an analog format in an otherwise digital world. "Those big old discs are back in a big way," says Nightline anchor Terry Moran.

Moran, who reports that LP sales were up 89% last year, wonders why this vinyl revival is taking place and stops by Washington, DC's Crooked Beats record store, where vinyl makes up 70% of store sales, to talk to some vinyl enthusiasts about the format's appeal and to give a few records a spin for himself.

The shop's owner, Bill Daley, shows Moran Wilco's Sky Blue Sky LP as an example of a recent innovation in the field: the inclusion of the complete album on CD, inside the LP sleeve. Wilco was an early pioneer in offering both formats in a single package with the release of that record in May 2007.

You can watch the complete Nightline segment online here:

Vinyl Video

========================

For some, vinyl records are the best way to listen to the music

By CHRIS JORDAN

There's something happening in the music industry.

"There are people who are stepping back and trying to reconnect (to vinyl records)," said vinyl man Cory Nyberg of Rahway. "Something has been missing in life and it's the old turntable and the way you'd bring a vinyl record home."

Check the numbers. There were 1.9 million new vinyl albums sold last year, a figure up nearly 90 percent over the previous year, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Groups like the Beastie Boys, Coldplay, Radiohead and Metallica are releasing new works and old favorites on vinyl.

Vinyl also is the choice of hip-hop DJs and indie rockers, like New Brunswick's Thursday, who continually release vinyl versions of their albums.

Nyberg and business partner Mitch Ross of Bridgewater will host their quarterly Greater New Jersey Record & CD Show show from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 8, at the Holiday Inn in Springfield.

A big part of the vinyl resurgence has to do with sound quality. Proponents of vinyl say the medium's warmer tones produce a better sound when compared with that of CDs and MP3s. That may be, as each vinyl record has a continual groove carved into it that replicates the original sound. It's called analog. Digital recordings, such as CDs and MP3s, capture soundwaves in parts, not continually. It's a difference that matters to music enthusiasts.

Also, vinyl lovers prefer the packaging of a vinyl album.

"People are using albums as displays," Nyberg said. "I've had teachers come in and they're working on a school project and they buy 30 to 50 copies of records to make displays for dances. Then there are people buying records to decorate dens and gamerooms in their homes."

The Greater New Jersey Record Shows in the Springfield Holiday Inn dates back to 1989, when the late David Lenz of Linden, aka Izzy to area music fans, started holding them there. Nyberg and Ross took over the business when Lenz died in the early 2000s.

The shows attract more then 70 dealers with all kinds of music.

"From classical to speed metal to death metal, every genre of music," said Nyberg, who has about 500,000 records in his collection. "Even Enya and Celine Dion."

SOURCE: http://www.mycentraljersey.com

Classic Rock Videos

The Beatles - 'You got to hide your love away'

Album Cover Art

CHASTAIN THE 7TH OF NEVER

The 7th Of Never was the third album for the group CHASTAIN.

Critically acclaimed world-wide for their powerful brand of music, the band is comprised of lead guitarist DAVID T. CHASTAIN, vocalist LEATHER, drummer KEN MARY, and bassist MIKE SKIMMERHORN.

David T. spurs his band mates on, and undertakes the responsibility of traveling from coast to coast to record the albums. Rarely is one man totally involved and dedicated to every aspect of his craft. The members of CHASTAIN originally came together under the aegis of heavy metal guitar expert and record executive Mike Varney, who had been receiving demo tapes form the guitarist for several months. It was Varney who encouraged Chastain to form a recording unit, and offered to release an album on his Shrapnel Records label.

Michael Fremer Review

I am very proud to continue our new feature (look for this every Friday), music reviews that are written by the senior contributing editor of Stereophile magazine- Michael Fremer. It has been a pleasure to speak with Michael and learn more about audio sound and equipment. In fact, his new DVD, "It's A Vinyl World, After All" has hit the shelves and is selling out very quickly. This is a must have for anybody who loves vinyl, it is a true masterpiece.


Additionally, make sure to stop by his site, www.musicangle.com and bookmark it for further exploration. I certainly want to thank Michael for the exclusive rights to reprint his fantastic material.
music8 sound8



Simon and Garfunkel (reissue)
Parsely, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
Columbia/Sundazed LP 5232 LP

Produced by: Bob Johnston
Engineered by: Roy Halee
Mixed by: Bob Irwin
Mastered by: Bob Irwin (LP cut by "WP/NRG")


Review by: Michael Fremer
2009-03-01





Note: After this the posting of this review, Sundazed's Bob Irwin sent a correction. I've chose to leave the original review intact, prefaced by Irwin's comment:

"Yes - some of Parsley, Sage... was remixed for the boxset Old Friends that I did for Sony (and Legacy's i>Parsley, Sage... "expanded edition" CD)— but our LP was sourced from the original 2-track stereo masters, which I unearthed a few years ago (by accident) in Sony's vault. Amazing, as they were marked as being "scrapped" in the system. The reels were marked "do not use"—as many original masters were, once they were safety'd either to an analog copy or to digital. The stereo masters sounded great, not at all used up— and that was what prompted our LP edition!!!"

When Sundazed’s Bob Irwin produced Sony/Legacy’s Simon and Garfunkel recordings for CD, he found the master tapes of the first two albums in such poor condition they were unusable.

What to do? Fortunately, the original unmixed 4-track work tapes were in excellent condition, making a remix possible. Irwin literally rebuilt the original mixing suite using vintage gear procured for the project and mixed down to ¼” analog tape.

Now, years later, Sundazed gets to make use of those labors to reissue this classic Simon and Garfunkel album, which is arguably their best and their first coherent work after a confused and fitful start.

Columbia issued the folky first album,Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. in the fall of 1964. It included an acoustic version of “The Sounds of Silence” that Simon had written to express what he saw as the increasing isolation and lack of communication among people.

Imagine what he might have written had he traveled to the future instead of splitting for the U.K. before the album's release.

Garfunkel’s liner notes consist of an affected letter to Paul and equally affected song commentary. While Garfunkel was correct, his writing “The Sounds of Silence is a major work” probably should have been left to others.

The album stiffed while Simon, in the U.K., played clubs, wrote songs and recorded The Paul Simon Songbook (orange label CBS 62579). The album has a publisher’s demo-like feel about it, but it makes for fascinating listening. It will set you back at least $50 last time Iooked.

It’s just Simon playing acoustic guitar doing “I Am an Island,” “Leaves That Are Green,” “April Come She Will,” “Patterns” and many other familiar songs that even now sound remarkably mature and seemingly beyond the grasp of a 22 year old. In the liner notes Simon says he’s included some tunes he “..wouldn’t write today…” because they present evidence of his “transition.”

Among them is a lame PPM-like protest song called “A Church is Burning,” on which Paul Simon retroactively “jumps the shark.” The album also contains a solo acoustic version of “The Sounds of Silence,” the duo’s version of which had been added by spring 1965 to some AM Top 40 playlists.

With Dylan plugging in and folk rock taking hold, Simon and Garfunkel’s producer Tom Wilson (who also produced The Mothers of Invention) took the vocal track to the acoustic version of “The Sounds of Silence,” added a rock drum, bass and guitar trio backing to it and, unbeknownst to either Simon or his ex-partner Garfunkel, released it as a single. It went on to be an unlikely number one Top 40 hit.

That meant going back in the studio quickly (with Bob Johnston producing) for a follow up album that included the electrified “The Sounds of Silence” and equally electrified versions of many of the songs originally recorded for the Paul Simon Songbook, including “Leaves That Are Green,” “Kathy’s Song,” “A Most Peculiar Man,” “April Come She Will,” and “I am a rock.” Wisely not included: “A Church is Burning.” But there is a nice version of the late Davy Graham’s “Angie.”

Many great songs but a merely good album, not a great one. That had to wait for Parsely, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme also produced by Johnston, with the great Roy Halee engineering. Yes, there’s the embarrassing “7 O’clock News/ Silent Night” at the end and a few other moments of maximum pretense but precious, poetic and perhaps pedantic is where these guys were pushing. There’s no denying the classic power of “Homeward Bound,” “Cloudy,” “The 59th Street Bridge Song” (the epitome of precious) and “The Dangling Conversation,” among others and even the filler like The Everly Brothers-like “The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine” and the aforementioned “7 O’Clock News/Silent Night” fit where they were placed, like interlocking pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

So how does this Sundazed reissue hold up next to an original 1A Columbia pressing that I bought new when it originally was released (it still has the Sam Goody “C” Valley Stream sticker on it, with the $2.49 markdown written in pen)? Well, for one thing, when people say records wear out, I don’t know what they are talking about! Since it was first released more than forty years ago, I’ve played this record a hundred times at least, in Ithaca in my fraternity house, in Boston, in Los Angeles, in Hackensack and now and it still sounds fantastic. It’s quiet, it’s detailed, it’s three-dimensional and it still has extended, clean high frequencies.

No reissue could possibly touch an original 1A pressing of just about any Columbia title and that goes for this reissue, which is very good, but not as open, spacious, wideband, transparent and “tubey” as the original. While the reissue lacks the original’s spaciousness, extension and transparency, and is somewhat darker and less expansive overall, it offers outstanding image solidity and overall, features excellent tonal balance.

The heavyweight pressing quality is decent but not up to RTI quality (then again, Sundazed doesn’t charge $30 a record), with a bit of audible non-fill at the beginning of side one. The record definitely benefits from a good cleaning and demagnetizing. I haven’t been perusing the used record bins lately so I don’t know how scarce used Simon and Garfunkel originals are these days. If you can find a clean, reasonably priced used original 1A pressing, it’s definitely going to sound better, but if you can’t, this reissue sounds very good and you’ll not know what you’re missing.

By the way, in case you're interested in the accuracy of the remixes, they are remarkably so. For instance at the fade out of the original "Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine," the electric bass suddenly comes up in level and moves from the left channel to the center. It's identical on the remix.

SOURCE: http://www.musicangle.com Reprinted By Permission


Pick up Michael's DVD's Here:

Music News & Notes

Michael Jackson Says London Concerts To Be 'Final Curtain Call'

Michael Jackson has confirmed that his July concerts London's O2 arena could be his last, describing it as the "final curtain call."

Hundreds of screaming fans and not screaming media turned up for the announcement, after promoters AEG Live posted a message on the 23,000-capacity venue's Web site inviting people to attend.

"Thank you all... this is it," said the weird gloved one. "I just wanted to say, these will be my final show performances in London. When I say this is it, it really means this is it. I'll be performing the songs my fans want to hear. This is it, this is really it, this is the final curtain call."

Good, I say, good.

===========================

Phish Plans

It's reported in the New York Times that seminal jam-band Phish have recorded demo versions of 20 new songs for their next record. However since they are no longer signed to a major label, the band is mulling an independent release for the to-be-recorded album.

Phish is likely to perform one of the tunes, "Backwards Down the Number Line," at its first reunion concerts this weekend in at the Hampton Coliseum in Vermont.

The band plans to make high quality recordings of all three of this weekend's shows available as free MP3 downloads from its livephish.com website.

===========================

Who's Not A Band Anymore


With half of his bandmates dead, Pete Townshend has said in a recent interview that the rock band is no longer an entity. Here are some of the remarks from The New Zealand Listener:

“I used to be in a band called the Who. It does not exist today except in your dreams. I am a songwriter and guitarist who – if I create the right setting – can walk on to a stage with my old buddy Roger Daltrey and evoke the old magic of the Who in the dreams of the audience.”

“The fact of the matter is that the Who as a band stopped working when I quit in 1982. However, the brand would not die. That was partly a record company hanging on to a catalogue asset, but also partly Roger’s passion for what he believed we had achieved, and could one day do again. I let go, and I think John Entwistle did too, but Roger never gave up trying to bring the band back to harmony with the brand. I might seem to be talking about the name, and just the name. But the brand had been identified very strongly with the technique we stumbled on – which was providing music for people, mainly young men, to use as a kind of therapy. They put themselves into our songs, and sometimes even into us, and we found ourselves acting as alter-egos, or myth figures. We felt quite passive in this role, and focused on our performances most of all."

===========================

This from Rolling Stone:

According to a new study conducted by medical researchers, thirty-three percent of popular songs contain explicit content and forty-two percent of songs hint at substance abuse. Rap was the most frequent offender, with seventy-seven percent of songs making reference to drugs or sex, with country music a surprising silver medalist with a thirty-six percent explicit content rate.

The study also proves the old war cry “sex, drugs and rock n’ roll” to be factually incorrect, as only fourteen percent of rock songs contain offending lyrics. So how did the medical researchers come to their conclusion? They analyzed the lyrics of a total of 287 songs from 2005 that encompassed all musical genres. This reminds us of that Russian study that proved heavy metal’s subject matter is heavy. To further cement how useless this new study actually is, the researchers failed to draw any conclusions on how hearing all these drug references affects young listeners.

My Take: Now, I wonder if they were to back up in time to the 60's, or even the 50's and do the same research. I have a feeling the numbers would be quite similar, or even above what they have reported here.

Vintage vinyl: LPs live on locally

Another great story about vinyl, I want to thank Sharon and The Reporter for allowing me to reprint this material:

By Sharon Roznik • The Reporter

To never know the feel of an album cover, the smell of a new vinyl record placed gingerly on the turntable, or the face of Barry Manilow — larger than life — staring back at you …

While iPod owners download digital tunes en masse, record aficionados expound on the higher quality of original sound, called analog recording.


City residents | Dale and Pat Luther have had a long time love affair | with record albums. Their collection of vinyl, numbering in the hundreds, in cludes several very rare editions. More than half of the | collection has been sold off because, Dale says, “You just can’t take it with you.” (The Reporter photo by Justin Connaher)

According to www.sickoftalk.com, a digital recording takes snapshots of the analog signal at a certain rate and does not do a very good job of replicating the original signal. This means that, by definition, a digital recording is not capturing the complete sound wave.

"With the horrible quality of digital music online, many of us have adopted the passions of our parents," said 24-year-old Nick Ciontea of Fond du Lac, who has a growing collection of vinyl albums. "It's considered by some to be the only music medium that will continue on."

A vinyl record has a groove carved into it that mirrors the original sound's waveform. No information is lost and the sound is fed directly into an amplifier with no conversion.

City residents Dale and Patty Luther have a stash of 500 recordings, including 45s, that contains some hard-to-find gems produced by local garage bands that once played venues around the Fox Valley.

"Some were one-hit wonders, recorded only one song, and never made it big," Dale said.

He mentions the obscure Appleton band, the Lord Beverly Moss and the Moss Men, with their 1968 single "The Kids are Alright," and the well-known Brownsville wildlife artist Don Kloetzke who was a member of the band White Ducks, along with other locals. The group worked as the backup band for Jimmy Buffet.

Signed album covers by Judy Collins and John Kaye of Steppenwolf decorate the walls of the Luther home.

"In many cases, the album (sleeves) were more important than the album," Dale said. "It was a way to connect with the band, find out what they looked like and who they were."

The Mad Hatteur Music on South Main Street has used albums for sale from the collection of store owner Charlie Rhodes. The $9.99 purchase comes complete with the original rice paper sleeve and no scratches. A new vinyl release runs around $25, he pointed out.

"I cut my teeth on vinyl growing up, so it holds a special place in my heart," he said.

His favorite album covers include "Stand Up" by Jethro Tull, which included a pop-up character, and an album by Oblivion that opened from the center with two wings.

A disc jockey for decades, Stance Bergelin of Fond du Lac said he owns about 500 records, each one filled with memories that cover "just about my whole life," he said.

"I play them every day. The Four Aces, Four Lads, the Ames brothers. I like those (harmonic) singing groups from back in the day," he said.

Like many youth of his generation, Bergelin, now 69, said he grew up with a transistor radio attached to his ear. Later, neighborhood kids hung out at the music store and tried out the latest records in little listening rooms that held a person or two.

"For many of us growing up poor, music became our friend," he said.


Source: http://www.fdlreporter.com
Reprinted By Permission