Vinyl Record Architect
Paul Rosenblatt's weblog on vinyl records, music, and architecture.
Vinyl Record Architect
A Sad Day in London
I came across this moving account about the closing of two, side by side London record shops.
http://recordmecca.blogspot.com/2009/09/sad-day-for-record-collectors.html
Moral of the story: support your local record store. Thank God, I have one of the best -- Jerry's -- just down the street from my house.
Give your money to stores like Jerry's rather than Amazon.
http://recordmecca.blogspot.com/2009/09/sad-day-for-record-collectors.html
Moral of the story: support your local record store. Thank God, I have one of the best -- Jerry's -- just down the street from my house.
Give your money to stores like Jerry's rather than Amazon.
Reading Patti Smith's Just Kids
My photographer friend, Stan, a New York based photographer who I have known since I was about 16, recently told me that he showed Robert Mapplethorpe how to use his Hasselblad. Its a great story, one of those classic New York brushes with fame/six degrees of separation stories. It intersects with my reading of Patti Smith's wonderful new memoir of her time with Mapplethorpe, Just Kids.
We were having dinner with Stan, talking about books and Petra mentioned that she was reading Patti Smith's new book, which I have since started as well. That was when Stan told us of his encounter with Mapplethorpe. In about 1972, when Stan was living in a loft at 24 Bond Street, Mapplethorpe was his upstairs neighbor. He would see him, in passing, quite often. This was before - but not by much - Mapplethorpe became a household name in the world of photography. One day, as Stan's story goes, Mapplethorpe came downstairs and, knowing that Stan was a photographer, knocked on Stan's door and asked him to show him how to use his camera. The rest, as they say is history.
"(Mapplethorpe's) Hassleblad was a medium format camera fitted with a Polaroid back," Smith writes in Just Kids. "Its complexity required the use of a light meter, and the interchangeable lens gave Robert a greater depth of field. It allowed him more choices and flexibility, more control over his use of light. Robert had defined his visual vocabulary. The new camera taught him nothing, just allowed him to get exactly what he was looking for."
I can't remember exactly when I bought Patti Smith's 1975 debut album, Horses, or exactly why, but mapplethorpe's cover image - taken with this camera - surely helped to sell it. Maybe it was John Rockwell's rave Rolling Stone review in February, 1976. Maybe it was in the Village Voice. Maybe a friend told me about it. I can't remember. But what I do know is that by the early '76, it was on heavy rotation on my stereo. I had never seen or heard anything like it and I loved it.
First there is the album cover, which is like no other, the archetypal, androgenous image of Patti Smith as shot by Robert Mapplethorpe.
"There was never any question, "Smith writes in Just Kids, "that Robert would take the portrait for the cover of Horses, my aural sword sheathed with Robert's image. I had no sense of how it would look, just that it would be true. The only thing I promised Robert was that I would wear a clean shirt with no stains on it....I went to the Salvation Army on the Bowery and bought a stack of white shirts. Some were too big for me, but the one I really liked was neatly pressed with a monogram below the breast pocket. It reminded me of a Brassai shot of Jean Genet wearing a white monogrammed shirt with rolled up sleeves."
The music inside is even more sensational, still one of my favorite records, essential on vinyl with every trace of its replaying audible in the pops and scratches of my vintage copy. Somehow, for me, those traces of my reckless overplaying add to my listening experience today. The songs are vivid and raw and poetic and mysterious and the recording of the songs lets Patti's vocals and Lenny Kasye's lead guitar take center stage. No frills.
Legendary critic Lester Bangs wrote a memorable review of the album, which included these lines:
"Horses was one of the greatest records I've ever heard. Like all true art, it drew you into recognizable situations and illuminated, poetically heightened them ...rather than just preaching at you and ranting that its creator was an Artist...Horses changed my life, but I've recognized that there was something almost supernatural about the powers it tapped, that no artist or audience can expect that kind of baptism in the firmamental flames every time."
Just Kids is a snapshot of the period leading up to this epic recording. It describes New York's art world, Warhol's Factory, and life at the Chelsea Hotel in words that somehow describe Smith and Mapplethorpe's struggles and ambitions - and magic.
They Had Dylan Covered: Jake and the Family Jewels
When I come across this record album in the used vinyl rack at a favorite NYC record store, it reminds me of the first time I saw Jake and the Family Jewels perform. It was Toad's Place in New Haven, 1978 or 1979. This is the sign my classmate Charlie Hunter made for their dressing room. Charlie had a way with lettering and made all the painted window posters for Toads from about 1977-1981. Sometimes, I would go with him to see a show or he would tell me to see a certain band that - despite or maybe because of reading Rolling Stone religiously in those days - I had never heard of and would have missed. I saw Elliott Murphy this way, Root Boy Slim, NRBQ, and many others. Charlie also made beautiful illustrations for the magazine I edited back then.
There were two albums, I think, and that was it. I don't know why, but Jake receded into the background of my brain for many years only to be pushed to the forefront by a chance encounter in a record bin.
My wife - everybody - teases me about these musical adventures.
Walking west on Fourth street, I pass the hi-fi store, In Living Stereo - www.inlivingstereo.com - that my friend Stan has recommended to me a few times. I turn back and think of the question I have about the anti-skate mechanism on my Rega turntable. I see a Rega in the window and walk in. Maybe someone will be able to answer my question. There are two guys talking in the front room. I ask one of them if he can help me and within half an hour the three of us are sitting in the back room sharing stories and listening to records. Steve Cohen, one of the resident experts at In Living Stereo, puts Spirit's 'Clear' album on and we talk about one of my favorite underrated bands. Then, I pull out my just purchased 1970 'Jake and the Family Jewels' release, which I have NEVER heard, and ask Steve if he would mind playing it for me. It is a revelation. The disk is phenomenal, better than I would have expected, reminding me a little bit of Dan Hicks, or The Insect Trust, or Quicksilver...but really they don't sound like any of these bands. Steve studies the album cover and exclaims, "He's playing a Les Paul Junior with P90 pickups..."
Mostly originals, the disk includes covers of Jimmy Driftwood's 'Tennessee Stud' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Driftwood) and Dylan's 'Open the Door, Homer,' from Dylan and the Band's 1967 unreleased Basement Tapes...Jake's version comes out fully five years before Dylan decides to release it on Columbia's 'The Basement Tapes' album, although bootlegs started circulating almost immediately. For a list of all the Basement Tapes songs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Basement_Tapes_songs. The Columbia release is not complete. Maybe someday Bob and his Band-mates will release everything....
It turns out that Jake's choice of Dylan covers was a popular one. According to 'The Dylan Covers Database,' there are at least 24 cover versions of this song that have been released, including versions by Fairport Convention and Robyn Hitchcock. And in 1970, Jake's cover version wasn't even the first, having been scooped by John Walker, The Floor, Jack Downing and the Other Side, and several others.
But, really, you only need two: Bob's and Jake's.
http://baseportal.com/cgi-bin/baseportal.pl?htx=/dylancov/main&db=main&TrackCode==homer
Wolfman Jack's Forty Five 45's (and the Covers that Followed)
I recently came across this obscure collection put together in 1977 by legendary DJ Wolfman Jack. I discovered the Wolfman like many others when George Lucas' American Graffiti featured him. Do you have the American Graffiti soundtrack? Wolfman Jack's patter is all over the tracks! He had a distinctive gravelly voice and a great ear for music.
The three album set I found is jam packed with original hit songs, many later covered to become hits for other artists. Some of my favorite pre-covers on this record include:
Betty Everett's You're No Good, which was later famously covered by Linda Rondstadt on her best-selling album 'Heart Like a Wheel;'
The Leaves' Hey Joe, which Jimi Hendrix made famous;
Lieber and Stoller's Kansas City, which was a massive hit in 1959 for Wilbur Harrison and which appears on The Beatles' 'Beatles For Sale' album of 1964;
Bob Dylan's It Ain't Me, Babe, here covered by The Turtles who had a big hit with it; and
Endless Sleep by Jody Reynolds (who?) who sold a million copies with his recording of it in 1958 and which was later covered by more than 65 artists including Hank Williams Jr. and Billy Idol.
Yes, Billy Idol.
Do you love vinyl, too?
I am always interested in hearing about why people love vinyl. Probably because it helps me to better understand why I do. So, I was delighted to come across a great essay on the top 'eleven' reasons why - nod to 'Spinal Tap' - thanks to Rob Paterson, a new reader to this blog. Here is the list in reverse order:
11. They Are Just Plain Cool
10. The Concept Album
9. The Machinery
8. The Memories
7. They Make You Slow Down
6. Fewer Anti-Piracy Restrictions
5. More Music For Less Dough
4. You Can Raid Your Parents' Collection
3. Better Sound
2. They Are Fun To Browse Through
And the Number 1 reason why Rob Paterson loves vinyl is:
1. They Are Fun To Look At!
For Rob's complete essay, check out HIS great blog: http://robpaterson.wordpress.com/2008/08/23/the-top-eleven-reasons-why-i-love-vinyl/
11. They Are Just Plain Cool
10. The Concept Album
9. The Machinery
8. The Memories
7. They Make You Slow Down
6. Fewer Anti-Piracy Restrictions
5. More Music For Less Dough
4. You Can Raid Your Parents' Collection
3. Better Sound
2. They Are Fun To Browse Through
And the Number 1 reason why Rob Paterson loves vinyl is:
1. They Are Fun To Look At!
For Rob's complete essay, check out HIS great blog: http://robpaterson.wordpress.com/2008/08/23/the-top-eleven-reasons-why-i-love-vinyl/
Phish Covers 'Ride Captain Ride'
When is a one hit wonder just a very good blues band that happened to have one hit?
One hit wonders tend to have bad reputations. The rap on one hit wonders is usually that they were BAD bands that made one annoyingly catchy pop hit that sold a gazillion copies. Never had another hit, so couldn't have been any good. Or so the theory goes.
Who are your favorite one hit wonders, anyway? Guilty pleasures....
Flicking through my albums this evening, listening to music while catching up on work, and I come across an album that I have no recollection of ever buying! It is Blues Image's 'Open' and it is GREAT. After side one introduces me to a series of great Latin tinged blues rock tracks, I flip the disk, cue up side two, and there it is: Ride Captain Ride.
Ride Captain Ride is one of those songs that shows up on almost every single compilation of late 1960s rock. Just turn on the TV after 11 pm and if you wait long enough, you'll hear it. It was a HUGE hit in 1969 and on these compilations has an infectious and somewhat cheap kind of quality. When you hear it late at night and in this corny context the song seems to oversimplify and slickly package alot of psychedelic effects for a pop audience.
But that is late at night in the corny context of one of these compilations.
As the first cut on the second side of 'Open,' after a full side of really great blues rock, Ride Captain Ride sounds somewhat more convincing. And the rest of the record is good... Very listenable and enjoyable, played by a number of veteran rockers who played with Steppenwolf, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and many others.
The cover, as you can see above, is terrible. How much did the perceived integrity of a band have to do with the album art. In the age of MP3s and ITunes, does this issue go away? When this record came out, the 'image' of Blues Image was based in part on the cheesy drawing on the cover. Compare to Blues Magoos, Blues Project, and any number of other contemporaneous bands....
But, definitely check out this record some time....if you ever come across it, give it a chance.
It figures prominently in a couple of movies, including 'Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.' Well, there it is the butt of a joke.
But perhaps most interestingly, it has been covered by the jam band, Phish. If anyone can tell me how this came about, that would be great. In the meantime, here is a six minute YouTube clip of them jamming to it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxcSVXFvZkY
Bryan, check out Trey's guitar sweet little guitar solo mid way through the performance....
Music Can Change the World
Another snowy day. Kids home, working on colonial projects and civil rights reports. And coincidentally, in the New York Times a story about the White House concert celebrating the music of the civil rights movement.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/10/arts/music/10concert.html?hpw
Imagine if music could help to end the wars we fight, help to rally folks to become more environmentally sensitive in their daily lives, even, as Bob Dylan sang at the White House, help to hold our leadrers more responsible for their public trust.
Well, it can.
Now, musicmakers, get busy.
Don't Eat the Yellow Snow: Songs with 'Snow' in the Title
...and speaking of snow, we have had more than our share here in Pittsburgh. The fourth biggest snow fall in the city's history has left a beautiful, two-foot thick blanket of powdery snow.
So, I have begun to think of songs with 'snow' in the title. One site, http://www.fiql.com/playlists/songs_with_snow_in_their_title1/, has a pretty good list.
I can add Frank Zappa's "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow." http://beemp3.com/download.php?file=3480589&song=Don't+Eat+The+Yellow+Snow The song was the first Zappa song to hit the Billboard charts at #86. It was the opening track on his most commercially successful album, 1974's Apostrophe, which reached #10 on the album chart and became a gold record in 1976.
Apart from Bill Murray's Nick Winter character singing Gilda Ratner's cast "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" on Saturday Night Live, I don't know of any recorded cover versions.
I did come across a great recipe for yellow snow cupcakes!
http://aliciapolicia.blogspot.com/2009/02/dont-eat-yellow-snow.html
Because in a few days, the beautiful white snow here will be yellow, too.
Bumps, Skips, Records and Cars
My friend Stan is visiting from New York City this weekend. We are snowed in here in Pittsburgh - more than 24 inches fell overnight. Beautiful. But one of the fringe benefits of a big snow storm is that, after shoveling, and hiking, you sit around the living room, drinking coffee and tea, and talking!
So, naturally conversation bounces around and includes vinyl records and this blog. I read Stan the latest entry on car stereos record players and he says, I think there was a car that had a vertical slot for records, but I'm not sure when or which car.
Is Stan dreaming or was there a car that had a slot for records?
I think I found it: it was a Phllips.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/4kleuren/104338856/
Here is a link to a piece on the Chrysler's 1960 RCA 'upside down' car record player, too.
http://www.uaw-chrysler.com/images/news/phono.htm
None of the them seem to have to have woked to well...something about bumps and skipping!
Highway Hi-Fi Phonograph
My friend Jim has satelite radio and I am seriously considering putting it in my car, too. There is so little good programming to listen to on the terrestrial radio in my area, and the music shows I listened to on satelite as we drove to our daughters' soccer game a few weeks ago had real host/djs that told real stories and played real music, good music, real music. I was impressed.
But then I thought about my vinyl record obsession and felt like a traitor. I listen to CDs and my IPod in my car already, but no records.
Of course.
But when I mentioned this to another friend, he said, "Well you know....there were cars that had turntables in them, back in the old days."
There were? There were!
Growing up, we didn't have a car. My parents didn't drive - they were true New Yorkers. I didn't learn to drive until a few years ago myself!
So, I didn't know that cars used to have turntables in them! Well, not many did, apparently.
Columbia put record players in some Chryslers in 1956.
Apparently they didn't work too well...something about bumps.
'Crave' - the gadget blog on CNET - had a good piece on Chrysler's semi-exclusive in car turntable - see photo above.
And why do you think Motorola is called Motorola? Their first product was....(drumroll, please) ....an car stereo with a turntable!
Hence the name: Motor + Victrola = Motorola.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9687999-1.html
