nice account of a wonderful day for our beloved vinyl!
Record Store Day on Black Friday: A Firsthand Account
By Johnny Firecloud
Celebrating a ton of new releases and experiencing a little bit of the magic of the few independent record shops that remain.
Independent music stores and rare and potentially fantastic little nooks full of wonder and discovery. They were a cultural hub of our youth, an escape, a place to meet with friends or make new ones through a shared common love of music and the legend surrounding it. Then, throughout the nineties, they were co-opted by the big box retailers - countless generic CD Warehouse and Sam Goody sorts of stores which cropped up in every town with a population over ten. The romance dissolved, the magic suffocated by bright florescence and life-size cardboard Britney Spears cutouts. Eventually, the time-honored ritual of going out to pick up new music became a venture into enemy territory, rather than an immersion into enrichment. It meant having to deal with the corporate interpretation of "cool," according to the market-tested demographic in which you fit.
Read the rest at craveonline.com
=============
Mobile Fidelity Announces Major New LP/SACD Reissue Program Featuring Dylan and Davis
Mobile Fidelity announced today a new reissue program featuring iconic albums from Miles Davis and Bob Dylan, all mastered from the original analog tapes. Contractual issues mean some titles will be at 45rpm and some at 33 1/3, but either way this will return to the reissue catalog some of the most important albums in 20th century musical history.
From Miles Davis will come Kind of Blue, Milestones, In A Silent Way, Sketches of Spain and two others. The Dylan releases will include Blood on the Tracks, Bringing It All Back Home, Blonde on Blonde (a 45rpm box set), Another Side of Bob Dylan and Freewheelin'. Also, the first audiophile remastering of The Basement Tapes
All titles will be in stereo.
=============
Doors at 45rpm Coming From Analogue Productions
Analogue Productions announced today a Doors reissue project that will include all six studio titles on 45rpm LP and Hybrid Multichannel SACD. With the exception of the first Doors album, where the master tape is missing and will be cut from "the best tape copy," the project will use the original analog master tapes cut by Doug Sax at The Mastering Lab.
Door producer/engineer Bruce Botnick will work with Sax to assure a superb set up and execution that will be faithful to the original releases.
The originals were recorded and mastered on tube gear and tubes will be used for this reissue series, which will be pressed on 200g vinyl.
=============
music history for the 26th of november:
In 1955, "Sixteen Tons" by Tennessee Ernie Ford tops the Billboard singles chart, becoming the fastest selling single in recording industry history up to that time.
Also in 1955, Bill Haley's "Rock Around The Clock" reaches #1 in the UK and is considered to be the first Rock and Roll record to accomplish that feat.
In 1956, trombonist/bandleader Tommy Dorsey died at the age of 51. Dorsey had started taking sleeping pills regularly and died from choking in his sleep after a heavy meal, so sedated that he was unable to awaken.
In 1958, Johnny Cash, made his debut on the US country chart when “Cry! Cry! Cry!” made it to #14. His next seven singles would all make the country top 10, with “I Walk the Line” and “There You Go” both hitting #1.
CVR Blog 45rpm Singles Spotlight:
In 1962, at EMI's Abbey Road studios in London, the Beatles recorded "Please Please Me" and "Ask Me Why." "Please Please Me" was a re-recording of the song in a more uptempo style after producer George Martin told the band that their original ballad version was "too bloody boring for words."
John Lennon, who was a big Roy Orbison fan, wrote this in the style of Orbison's overly-dramatic singing. Beatles producer George Martin suggested it would sound better sped up. In 2006, Martin told The Observer Music Monthly, "The songs the Beatles first gave me were crap. This was 1962 and they played a dreadful version of 'Please Please Me' as a Roy Orbison-style ballad. But I signed them because they made me feel good to be with them, and if they could convey that on a stage then everyone in the audience would feel good, too. So I took 'Love Me Do' and added some harmonica, but it wasn't financially rewarding even though Brian Epstein bought about 2,000 copies. Then we worked for ages on their new version of 'Please Please Me', and I said: 'Gentlemen, you're going to have your first number one'."
Lennon was partly inspired by a line from a Bing Crosby song that read, "Please lend a little ear to my pleas." He recalled: "I remember the day I wrote it, I heard Roy Orbison doing "Only The Lonely", or something. And I was also always intrigued by the words to a Bing Crosby song that went, 'Please lend a little ear to my pleas'. The double use of the word 'please'. So it was a combination of Roy Orbison and Bing Crosby." Lennon was a great fan of Bing Crosby and when in 1978, Yoko gave him a vintage '50s Wurlitzer jukebox for his birthday he loaded the machine with as many 78-rpm records by the easy-listening vocalist as he could find.
Capitol Records, EMI's United States label, was offered the right to release "Please Please Me" in the US, but turned it down. Instead, it was placed with Transglobal, an EMI affiliate that worked to place foreign masters with US record labels. It was told to find an American outlet for the record as quickly as possible, in order to appease Martin and Beatles' manager Brian Epstein. "Please Please Me" was then offered to Atlantic, which also rejected it. Finally, Vee-Jay, which had released the top-five hit "I Remember You" by Frank Ifield in 1962, another record Capitol had turned down, was offered the right to issue "Please Please Me" in the States, and chose to do so. The exact date of the US issue was lost for decades, but research published in 2004 showed that the single "Please Please Me"/"Ask Me Why" was released by Vee-Jay on 7 February 1963. Coincidentally, this was exactly one year before The Beatles' plane landed in New York on their first visit as a band to America.
Dick Biondi, a disc jockey on WLS in Chicago and a friend of Vee-Jay executive Ewart Abner, played the song on the radio, perhaps as early as 8 February 1963, thus becoming the first DJ to play a Beatles' record in the United States. Art Roberts, legendary DJ and Music Director at the time tells how the record came to be played first at the station:
"Let me tell you the story of "Please Please Me". The record was released on the Vee-Jay label. It was a local Chicago recording company. The owner, Ewart Abner, brought a copy of the record to W. L. S. I was the music director at the time and listened to his story about a group, and looked at pictures in teen magazines he brought back from England. I figured, what if this group would get as popular in the United States as they were in England and Europe. So I added the record to the list."
Rolling Stone ranked the song at number 184 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
In 1964, the Zombies recorded "Tell Her No."
In 1966, "I'm Losing You" by The Temptations enters the US R&B chart where it will become the group's fourth straight number one. The record peaked at #8 on the Pop chart. The tune will return in versions by Rare Earth in 1970 (#7) and Rod Stewart in 1971 (#24).
In 1969, at EMI's Abbey Road studios in London, John Lennon spent the afternoon mixing the Beatles songs "What's The New Mary Jane" and "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)" with the intention of releasing them as the two sides of a Plastic Ono Band single. When this plan fell through, "Number" was released as the b-side of the Beatles' "Let It Be" single, making this the last time John Lennon was in the studio working on a Beatles song.
In 1973, John Rostill former bassist with The Shadows died after being electrocuted at his home recording studio. A local newspaper ran the headline, “Pop musician dies, guitar apparent cause.” After the break up of The Shadows Rostill worked with Tom Jones and wrote songs covered by Elvis Presley and Olivia Newton-John.
In 1974, Elton John's 'Greatest Hits' became his fifth consecutive number 1 album in the US. The record spent 10 weeks at the top and followed "Honky Chateau", "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and "Caribou".
In 1976, the Sex Pistols released the single “Anarchy In The UK.” It peaked at #38 on the UK charts.
Also in 1976, Lol Creme and Kevin Godley left the group 10CC to work as a duo, and to concentrate on their other projects, including the development of the Gizmo, a device used to make orchestral sounds on a guitar.
In 1989, the Rolling Stones played a concert at Death Valley Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina to help raise money for the victims of Hurricane Hugo.
In 1991, country singer Garth Brooks asked fans to bring 10 cans of food to a grocery store in exchange for a lottery envelope, some of which contained tickets to see Garth at a forthcoming show. Over 10,000 cans were donated to charity.
In 1994, when "Hell Freezes Over" was the answer that former Eagles members would give when asked when a reunion would take place. When they finally gave in to financial pressures, the band titled their album just that, and it hit the top of the Billboard album chart on this day. The effort was a combination of live versions of earlier hits and studio cuts of newly recorded material.
In 2000, Frank Smith of the Monotones, who reached number 5 in 1958 with "Book Of Love," died of cancer. He was 61.
In 2003, rapper (Slow Motion) James Tapp, Jr., whose stage name was Soulja Slim, was shot to death at age 26. His killer has never been brought to justice.
In 2008, the parents of missing Manic Street Preachers guitarist and lyricist Richey Edwards were granted a court order for him to be declared presumed dead, after he disappeared nearly 14 years ago. Despite alleged sightings all over the world many believed Edwards, whose car was found near the Severn Bridge, took his own life at the age of 27.
In 2009, Paul McCartney told a BBC interviewer that his concerts are a way of helping him "revisit" other members of the Beatles and his late wife Linda. "If I'm doing songs by the Beatles, I obviously remember the sessions when we recorded. Similarly with John and Linda - in a way you're kind of in contact with them again and it's sad, it's emotional."
birthdays today (among others) include: Tina Turner (72), Jean Terrell (Supremes) (67), Alan Henderson (Them) (67), John McVie (Fleetwood Mac) (66), Adam Gaynor (Matchbox 20) (47), John Stirratt (Wilco) (44) and Ronald Jones (Flaming Lips) (41)
Record Store Day on Black Friday: A Firsthand Account
By Johnny Firecloud
Celebrating a ton of new releases and experiencing a little bit of the magic of the few independent record shops that remain.
Independent music stores and rare and potentially fantastic little nooks full of wonder and discovery. They were a cultural hub of our youth, an escape, a place to meet with friends or make new ones through a shared common love of music and the legend surrounding it. Then, throughout the nineties, they were co-opted by the big box retailers - countless generic CD Warehouse and Sam Goody sorts of stores which cropped up in every town with a population over ten. The romance dissolved, the magic suffocated by bright florescence and life-size cardboard Britney Spears cutouts. Eventually, the time-honored ritual of going out to pick up new music became a venture into enemy territory, rather than an immersion into enrichment. It meant having to deal with the corporate interpretation of "cool," according to the market-tested demographic in which you fit.
Read the rest at craveonline.com
=============
Mobile Fidelity Announces Major New LP/SACD Reissue Program Featuring Dylan and Davis
Mobile Fidelity announced today a new reissue program featuring iconic albums from Miles Davis and Bob Dylan, all mastered from the original analog tapes. Contractual issues mean some titles will be at 45rpm and some at 33 1/3, but either way this will return to the reissue catalog some of the most important albums in 20th century musical history.
From Miles Davis will come Kind of Blue, Milestones, In A Silent Way, Sketches of Spain and two others. The Dylan releases will include Blood on the Tracks, Bringing It All Back Home, Blonde on Blonde (a 45rpm box set), Another Side of Bob Dylan and Freewheelin'. Also, the first audiophile remastering of The Basement Tapes
All titles will be in stereo.
=============
Doors at 45rpm Coming From Analogue Productions
Analogue Productions announced today a Doors reissue project that will include all six studio titles on 45rpm LP and Hybrid Multichannel SACD. With the exception of the first Doors album, where the master tape is missing and will be cut from "the best tape copy," the project will use the original analog master tapes cut by Doug Sax at The Mastering Lab.
Door producer/engineer Bruce Botnick will work with Sax to assure a superb set up and execution that will be faithful to the original releases.
The originals were recorded and mastered on tube gear and tubes will be used for this reissue series, which will be pressed on 200g vinyl.
=============
music history for the 26th of november:
In 1955, "Sixteen Tons" by Tennessee Ernie Ford tops the Billboard singles chart, becoming the fastest selling single in recording industry history up to that time.
Also in 1955, Bill Haley's "Rock Around The Clock" reaches #1 in the UK and is considered to be the first Rock and Roll record to accomplish that feat.
In 1956, trombonist/bandleader Tommy Dorsey died at the age of 51. Dorsey had started taking sleeping pills regularly and died from choking in his sleep after a heavy meal, so sedated that he was unable to awaken.
In 1958, Johnny Cash, made his debut on the US country chart when “Cry! Cry! Cry!” made it to #14. His next seven singles would all make the country top 10, with “I Walk the Line” and “There You Go” both hitting #1.
In 1962, at EMI's Abbey Road studios in London, the Beatles recorded "Please Please Me" and "Ask Me Why." "Please Please Me" was a re-recording of the song in a more uptempo style after producer George Martin told the band that their original ballad version was "too bloody boring for words."John Lennon, who was a big Roy Orbison fan, wrote this in the style of Orbison's overly-dramatic singing. Beatles producer George Martin suggested it would sound better sped up. In 2006, Martin told The Observer Music Monthly, "The songs the Beatles first gave me were crap. This was 1962 and they played a dreadful version of 'Please Please Me' as a Roy Orbison-style ballad. But I signed them because they made me feel good to be with them, and if they could convey that on a stage then everyone in the audience would feel good, too. So I took 'Love Me Do' and added some harmonica, but it wasn't financially rewarding even though Brian Epstein bought about 2,000 copies. Then we worked for ages on their new version of 'Please Please Me', and I said: 'Gentlemen, you're going to have your first number one'."
Lennon was partly inspired by a line from a Bing Crosby song that read, "Please lend a little ear to my pleas." He recalled: "I remember the day I wrote it, I heard Roy Orbison doing "Only The Lonely", or something. And I was also always intrigued by the words to a Bing Crosby song that went, 'Please lend a little ear to my pleas'. The double use of the word 'please'. So it was a combination of Roy Orbison and Bing Crosby." Lennon was a great fan of Bing Crosby and when in 1978, Yoko gave him a vintage '50s Wurlitzer jukebox for his birthday he loaded the machine with as many 78-rpm records by the easy-listening vocalist as he could find.
Capitol Records, EMI's United States label, was offered the right to release "Please Please Me" in the US, but turned it down. Instead, it was placed with Transglobal, an EMI affiliate that worked to place foreign masters with US record labels. It was told to find an American outlet for the record as quickly as possible, in order to appease Martin and Beatles' manager Brian Epstein. "Please Please Me" was then offered to Atlantic, which also rejected it. Finally, Vee-Jay, which had released the top-five hit "I Remember You" by Frank Ifield in 1962, another record Capitol had turned down, was offered the right to issue "Please Please Me" in the States, and chose to do so. The exact date of the US issue was lost for decades, but research published in 2004 showed that the single "Please Please Me"/"Ask Me Why" was released by Vee-Jay on 7 February 1963. Coincidentally, this was exactly one year before The Beatles' plane landed in New York on their first visit as a band to America.
Dick Biondi, a disc jockey on WLS in Chicago and a friend of Vee-Jay executive Ewart Abner, played the song on the radio, perhaps as early as 8 February 1963, thus becoming the first DJ to play a Beatles' record in the United States. Art Roberts, legendary DJ and Music Director at the time tells how the record came to be played first at the station:
"Let me tell you the story of "Please Please Me". The record was released on the Vee-Jay label. It was a local Chicago recording company. The owner, Ewart Abner, brought a copy of the record to W. L. S. I was the music director at the time and listened to his story about a group, and looked at pictures in teen magazines he brought back from England. I figured, what if this group would get as popular in the United States as they were in England and Europe. So I added the record to the list."
Rolling Stone ranked the song at number 184 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
In 1964, the Zombies recorded "Tell Her No."
In 1966, "I'm Losing You" by The Temptations enters the US R&B chart where it will become the group's fourth straight number one. The record peaked at #8 on the Pop chart. The tune will return in versions by Rare Earth in 1970 (#7) and Rod Stewart in 1971 (#24).
In 1969, at EMI's Abbey Road studios in London, John Lennon spent the afternoon mixing the Beatles songs "What's The New Mary Jane" and "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)" with the intention of releasing them as the two sides of a Plastic Ono Band single. When this plan fell through, "Number" was released as the b-side of the Beatles' "Let It Be" single, making this the last time John Lennon was in the studio working on a Beatles song.
In 1973, John Rostill former bassist with The Shadows died after being electrocuted at his home recording studio. A local newspaper ran the headline, “Pop musician dies, guitar apparent cause.” After the break up of The Shadows Rostill worked with Tom Jones and wrote songs covered by Elvis Presley and Olivia Newton-John.
In 1974, Elton John's 'Greatest Hits' became his fifth consecutive number 1 album in the US. The record spent 10 weeks at the top and followed "Honky Chateau", "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and "Caribou". In 1976, the Sex Pistols released the single “Anarchy In The UK.” It peaked at #38 on the UK charts.
Also in 1976, Lol Creme and Kevin Godley left the group 10CC to work as a duo, and to concentrate on their other projects, including the development of the Gizmo, a device used to make orchestral sounds on a guitar.
In 1989, the Rolling Stones played a concert at Death Valley Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina to help raise money for the victims of Hurricane Hugo.
In 1991, country singer Garth Brooks asked fans to bring 10 cans of food to a grocery store in exchange for a lottery envelope, some of which contained tickets to see Garth at a forthcoming show. Over 10,000 cans were donated to charity.
In 1994, when "Hell Freezes Over" was the answer that former Eagles members would give when asked when a reunion would take place. When they finally gave in to financial pressures, the band titled their album just that, and it hit the top of the Billboard album chart on this day. The effort was a combination of live versions of earlier hits and studio cuts of newly recorded material.
In 2000, Frank Smith of the Monotones, who reached number 5 in 1958 with "Book Of Love," died of cancer. He was 61.
In 2003, rapper (Slow Motion) James Tapp, Jr., whose stage name was Soulja Slim, was shot to death at age 26. His killer has never been brought to justice.
In 2008, the parents of missing Manic Street Preachers guitarist and lyricist Richey Edwards were granted a court order for him to be declared presumed dead, after he disappeared nearly 14 years ago. Despite alleged sightings all over the world many believed Edwards, whose car was found near the Severn Bridge, took his own life at the age of 27.
In 2009, Paul McCartney told a BBC interviewer that his concerts are a way of helping him "revisit" other members of the Beatles and his late wife Linda. "If I'm doing songs by the Beatles, I obviously remember the sessions when we recorded. Similarly with John and Linda - in a way you're kind of in contact with them again and it's sad, it's emotional."
birthdays today (among others) include: Tina Turner (72), Jean Terrell (Supremes) (67), Alan Henderson (Them) (67), John McVie (Fleetwood Mac) (66), Adam Gaynor (Matchbox 20) (47), John Stirratt (Wilco) (44) and Ronald Jones (Flaming Lips) (41)
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