from our friends at SoundStageDirect
Immediately distinguished by the you're-either-with-us-or-against-us messages of the landmark title track, Bob Dylan's The Times They Are A Changin' sounds an unmistakable clarion call on behalf of progress and its unstoppable advancement. One of the Bard's trademark songs, it remains a timeless anthem with a clear sense of common purpose, a musical line in the sand that helped unite various social movements and multiple generations. The reverential 1964 record feeds off the opening tune and its unmistakable sentiments, marching forward to confront racism, poverty, injustice, and upheaval in a stark, immediate manner unlike few albums before or since.
Mastered on Mobile Fidelity’s world-renowned mastering system and pressed on 180 gram LP at RTI, this restored 45RPM analog version delivers the landscape-shifting music in reference-quality sound that practically transports you to Columbia’s Studio A. Reflecting the austerity of the topics and Dylan’s mood, the sonics are direct and unadorned—each word hitting with weight, each phrase lingering until it pulls you under, each storyline echoing as fact. The hollow body of Dylan’s guitar, internal mechanisms of his harmonica, and graininess of his throat come across in full-on detail. Wider grooves mean more information reaches your ears.
Marking a shift from the looseness and comedy that pepper the preceding The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, The Times They Are A-Changin’ skirts any attempt at humor, sarcasm, or goofiness in favor of utmost seriousness and severity. Seemingly anticipating the dark events surrounding President Kennedy’s assassination and the turmoil that followed, Dylan eliminates with conjecture and disguise. Akin to dispatches from the typewriter of literary icons John Steinbeck and William Faulkner, his songs give voices to the voiceless, challenge cultural precepts, upend traditional beliefs with rapier wit and truths, and underline tragedies swept under the rug.
In doing so, Dylan creates stinging protest music that rallies against unchecked authority, discrimination, brutality, and division. A testament to the power of great art, The Times They Are A Changin' is a righteous assault on ignorance and agent for sweeping action, a necessary impetus for transformation and enlightenment. Via bold originals such as the nonfiction “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll,” assertive “Restless Farewell,” and semi-autobiographical “North Country Blues,” Dylan casts hardships, greed, and victimization in such relatable terms it’s impossible to turn away and ignore their implications.
As correctly relayed by Dylan expert and cultural critic Greil Marcus, “[The record] forever fixed Bob Dylan in the popular imagination: the protest singer, the young man ‘able to see through metal’ (again, from Chronicles), to see through the lie and find the truth, then to hammer the truth into words and send them out with a voice that would never break.”
- The Times They Are A-Changin' on Numbered Limited Edition 180 Gram 45RPM 2LP from Mobile Fidelity
- Stark, Austere, Acoustic Record Dylan's First With All-Original Material
- Title Track, "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll," "With God on Our Side" Establish Dylan as Voice of Social Consciousness
- The Bard Addresses Issues Such as Equality, Racism, and Poverty and Helps Ignite 1960s Political Movements
- Faithful to the Source: Information-Rich 45RPM Pressing Brings the Simple Sounds of Dylan’s Voice, Acoustic Guitar, and Harmonica into Lifelike Perspective
1. The Times They Are A-Changin'
2. Ballad of Hollis Brown
3. With God on Our Side
4. One Too Many Mornings
5. North Country Blues
6. Only a Pawn in Their Game
7. Boots of Spanish Leather
8. When the Ship Comes In
9. The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
10. Restless Farewell
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The final Santana album recorded with the leader’s famed Woodstock lineup, one of the most capable and explosive bands ever assembled, Santana III (commonly referred to as The Third Album) is a beacon of Latin-tinged rock, melodic creativity, and cohesive interplay. The record also marks the debut of young guitar virtuoso Neal Schon, who functions as the ideal foil to Santana, whose playing on this 1971 set rivals that of the finest in his career. If not for arriving after the monumental Abraxas, it is likely Santana III would be mentioned in the same breath as groundbreaking psychedelic classics such as Bitches Brew. It’s that good.
Embracing the concept that all of the members should share their musical ideas, Santana added two crucial components to his band: Schon, discovered at the age of 15 playing in a Palo Alto club, and Thomas “Coke” Escovedo, who during the sessions temporarily replaced ill percussionist Chepito Areas, and whose percussive assistance helped define the album’s feel. With Schon in the fold, Santana strives for the unknown, and yet, manages to stave off the numbing excesses that define much of the period’s output.
From the opening “Batuka,” peppered with Schon’s stirring guitar lines, to the sensitive “Everything Is Coming Our Way,” infused with a mesmerizing Hammond organ underpinning that supports Santana’s vocal pathos, the record teams with inventiveness. Involving albeit accessible concoctions of funk, jazz, rock, blues, and soul run throughout the set. Spanish-styled flavors infuse a majority of the material, ranging from the salsa piano on “Guarjira” to the distinctive “No One to Depend On,” a lively take on the cha-cha-cha.
A globe-spanning armada of percussive instruments—timbales, congas, drums, vibes, tambourines, and more—as well as the existence of a three-person percussion team that fits in harmoniously with Santana, Schon, and company makes Santana III a masterful accomplishment in musical chemistry and the exploration of true world craft.
The Silver Label LP of Santana III breathes with sumptuous warmth and you-are-there realism. The tension of Schon’s guitar lines, the album’s open sound, and extensive use of studio echoes (check the presence of the backward echo on “No One to Depend On”) fill the soundstage, replete with the kind of depth and dynamics one expects from a first-rate audiophile recording.
- Santana III on Numbered Limited Edition LP from Mobile Fidelity Silver Label
- Last Santana Album Recorded With Famed Woodstock Band
- With Guitar Virtuoso Neal Schon in Fold, Santana Makes Musical Magic That Truly Spans the Globe years Before “World Music” Became a Genre
- Mastered on Mobile Fidelity's World-Renowned Mastering System and Pressed at RTI: LP Breathes With Sumptuous Warmth
1. Batuka
2. No One to Depend On
3. Taboo
4. Toussaint L'Overture
5. Everybody's Everything
6. Guajira
7. Jungle Strut
8. Everything's Coming Our Way
9. Para los Rumberos
Buy at SoundStageDirect
This Week's Bestselling Vinyl Records at SoundStageDirect
1. Crosses - EP ++ (Pre-Order)
2. Crosses - EP +++ (Pre-Order)
3. Crosses - EP + (Pre-Order)
4. Rush - Spirit of the Airwaves (Grey Vinyl) (Pre-Order)
5. Santana - Santana III
6. Bob Dylan - The Times They Are A-Changin'
7. Miles Davis - Blue Train (Mono)
8. The Who - Who's Next (Colored Vinyl) (On Sale)
9. MFSL Original Master Record Sleeves (50)
10. Atmosphere - Seven's Travels (10 Year Anniversary Edition) (On Sale)
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The Velvet Underground - Velvet Underground - 180 Gram LP
The original overview/collection from the legendary band. On Sundazed compact disc and 180gm vinyl, from the original masters. Originally released as part of MGM's "Golden Archive Series," this 1970 album (simply referred to as Velvet Underground) is a terrific sin-and-salvation selection from the first three VU albums – just the kind of thing to take along to a desert island or to the end of the world. It's essentially their earliest greatest hits collection, and the perfect encapsulation of their Verve/MGM run. Long prized by collectors, Sundazed presents it on compact disc and 180-gram vinyl from the original master tapes, with new liner notes by Rolling Stone's David Fricke. Track List: Candy Says Sunday Morning Femme Fatale White Light White Heat Jesus Heroin Beginning To See The Light I'm Set Free Here She Comes Now Afterhours
Buy at Sundazed
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Record Store Day 2014 Releases by Wax Poetic
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LONE JUSTICE - THIS IS LONE JUSTICE: THE VAUGHT TAPES
12 tracks of prime Lone Justice recorded in 1983, 9 previously unissued performances! LP’s first pressing on limited-edition translucent red vinyl and download card!
Order HERE
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Kelley Stoltz returns with a 300 copies only 7" on Stroll On. The single is a follow up to last years album 'Double Exposure' which was released on Third Man Records. 'Cross Your Mind' is a real pop pounder that's driven by a fantastic bassline - it's part Postcard Records and part power pop. The flip 'Anarchist In Me' is a great late 70's style track that recalls Nick Lowe or Costello. Limited to just 300 copies with copies on black or clear vinyl.
Get it RoughTrade
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Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra Plot Record Store Day 12-Inch and New EP
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Spin Connection brings vintage flair to Waco
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Amazon's Top Ten Best Selling Vinyl
1. Morning Phase ~ Beck
2. Acoustic at the Ryman ~ Band of Horses
3. After the Disco ~ Broken Bells
4. Pure Heroine ~ Lorde
5. +++ (Crosses) ~ Crosses
6. Violator ~ Depeche Mode
7. Music For The Masses ~ Depeche Mode
8. Love Death Immortality~ The Glitch Mob
9. Warpaint ~ Warpaint
10. Mind Over Matter ~ Young the Giant
Amazon's Top Ten Best Selling Music
1. Frozen ~ Demi Lovato
2. The Outsiders ~ Eric Church
3. Lent at Ephesus ~ Benedictines of Mary Queen of Apostles
4. Unorthodox Jukebox ~ Bruno Mars
5. 2014 GRAMMY Nominees ~ GRAMMY Nominees
6. Now 49: That's What I Call Music ~ Now Music
7. High Hopes ~ Bruce Springsteen
8. After the Disco ~ Broken Bells
9. Doo - Wops & Hooligans ~ Bruno Mars
10. Night Visions ~ Imagine Dragons
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The Resurgence of Vinyl
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Upper Darby record store owner keeps vinyl spinning, music playing
