Vinyl Record Architect
Paul Rosenblatt's weblog on vinyl records, music, and architecture.
Vinyl Record Architect

Album Review: Jake and the rest of the Jewels - A Lick and a Promise


Back in the 1960s, Bunky and Jake was a gentle Greenwich Village based pop/folk duo - more in the Loving Spoonful mode than Kweskin Jug Band, if that means anything to you. Sweet, happy, soulful. Old and new simultaneously. Hard to categorize except to say that they embodied the laid back, Greenwich Village spirit of the day. Jake - Allan Jacobs - had a sweet fingerpicking guitar style and Bunky - Bunky Skinner - sang harmonies and the occasional lead. The arrangements were simple and straightforward, vocal harmonies with strings entering unexpectedly at times. They wrote the songs together. 


He was a huge Skyliner fan, Laura Nyro, too. 


I missed them completely at the time but they had a following and shared the Bitter End stage with many of their more famous contemporaries like Joni Mitchell. They were written up in the Rolling Stone - the issue fronted by Taj Mahal in 1969. 


I have their eclectic debut, Bunky and Jake. I found it in Johnstown, PA, and snapped it up. I like their vocal harmonies and the jazzy little 1:25 instrumental, Mongoose, on side two. Maybe you can find it online. Worth a look and listen.

Jake first came to my attention when I heard him play Toad's Place in New Haven in the late 1970s as the leader of a band, Jake and the Family Jewels. The Family Jewels included Mike Rosa on drums, Jeremiah Burnham on Bass, and Dan Marsolino on piano. Their album of the same name is one of my favorites and includes a great Dylan cover:

http://blog.vinylrecordarchitect.com/2010/03/06/playing-a-les-paul-junior-with-p90-pickups-rediscovering-jake-and-the-family-jewels.aspx 


Many years have passed since these records came out. I'm not sure what kept Jake and Bunky going over the years, but it turns out they and their relationship survived, although the Family Jewels did not. 


So, when I heard that Jake had put together a new Jake/Jewels album I was eager to hear it. The album, A Lick and a Promise, actually picks up where Bunky and Jake left off, seemingly skipping over the heavier Family Jewels sound. It is credited to Jake and the rest of the Jewels, in acknowledgment of the one original Jewel, Dan Mansolino, on pianos, and some relative newcomers, the aforementioned 'other' Jewels.


Rather than being a new 'Family Jewels' project, A Lick and a Promise is really a Bunky and Jake revival. Gentler, happier. The years didn't diminish their voices, their melodies, or their wonderful, soulful, optimism. My favorite tunes are Stay in Shape, Willy and Toots, For No One But the Moon, Guitar, Guitar, and Don't Let Go. I prefer the tracks that drummer Bernie Soroko plays on - not the drum machine, Jake. Sorry, I like the sound of Jake's vocals against the foundation of Bernie's drumming and Bobo' bass - real instruments in a real context. The somewhat heavier, roots-ier production of the 'real' drum tracks help to ground those tunes. The drum machine sounds too smooth and artificial.


The album grows on the listener as the unfamiliar songs begin to sink in. I think a cover or two would help to create a connective narrative for the project, relating influence to creation. Throughout, Jake's distinctive voice is clear and strong, remarkably unchanged despite the passage of decades. 


His melodies are similarly timeless.


Sadly, Bunky passed away before A Lick and a Promise was released to the public at the end of 2011. The album is a tribute to her enduring spirit, to love, to sincerity - and survival. You've got to hand it to Jake. After all these years, he hasn't lost his vocal chops, his guitar licks, or the promise of a song's power to lift the spirit - and make one dance...
Posted by Vinyl Record Architect at 1/25/2012 4:23 PM | Add Comment

Album Review: Mace Ballard's 'The Next Time You See Sky'

Hailed in 2010 as Pittsburgh's favorite band (that is not the Clarks), winner of band contests and local polls, pop punk foursome Mace Ballard have released their first full length album - and it is truly an album. From the first notes of A Beginner's Guide to Beginnings to the last vestiges of Remainder, Mace Ballard rocks hard and smart. Each song is distinctive, but the 13 tracks on the group's debut fit well together to form an intriguing whole, the way albums used to be constructed in the golden album era of the 1970s. This resulting collection is greater than the sum of its parts, as good albums can be, positively betraying the musicians' ambition, intelligence, humor - and musical tastes.

Mace Ballard is a pop oriented punk band, like Green Day, but with other quirkier influences that give them substance and edge. For instance, the second track, Close Reading, starts off like  a Yes outtake before shifting gears and settling into a melodic but insistent punk jam. Time Machines Exist could be a Monster-era REM track, at least at first, before riding guitarist Brandon Lehman's chunky guitar into a Green Day-esque punk anthem. Then, just when you think you've got that track figured out, Lehman lays out an extended prog-rock guitar solo.

Are they a pop/punk group? Yes, and no. In their best moments, they transcend genre, creating a distinctively eclectic sound.

I don't want to give you the impression that Mace Ballard is derivative because they are not. But they do know their music. Do these guys have big music collections? I'll bet they do. Do they listen to an eclectic mix of music. They must. In fact, I hope they listen even more broadly than they do now! You can hear it in the tracks and the tracks don't lie. I love the fact that the songs often veer off into unexpected territory - ballads, harmony vocals, chunky punk guitar, power pop, anthem rock, prog-rock - you name it. In fact, I wish they'd do MORE of that. 

Mace Ballard knows their music and has the chops to prove it. 

Chris Daley's voice fits the band's melodic punk approach. Drummer Steve La Russa's ferocious drumming drives each song as rock drummers should. Brandon Lehman's guitar work is skillful and varied, a strong counterpoint to Daley's vocals. 

Perhaps bassist TJ Angelo's rhythms get a bit lost in Steve Soboslai's polished production which mixes the drums, guitars and vocals almost all equally on top, but the sound of the record is extremely convincing and well produced. I'd be curious to hear more from Angelo next time out - what would a more bass heavy, polyrhythmic Mace Ballard record sound like?

Ultimately, what makes The Next Time You See Sky so listenable is the partnership between Daley's literate and intelligent lyrics and Lehman's melodies and chords. I hope these guys continue to explore their songwriting and push their sound envelope further, beyond the given pop punk genre, into new and more varied places. Bright future ahead.

Now if only it were on vinyl...


Posted by Vinyl Record Architect at 1/17/2012 11:13 PM | Add Comment

Euclid Records, Dollar Bins, and Jeff Tweedy


I'm in St. Louis for final reviews at Washington University of St. Louis's School of Architecture, the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts. I arrive on a Sunday, a day early, so I have time to visit the Arch, the City Museum, and Euclid Records.

You have to have your priorities. So, first on my list is Euclid Records.

I have researched record stores online in anticipation of this trip and two record stores come up, Euclid Records and Vintage Vinyl. While neither is purely a vinyl store, both sound really promising: large footprints and good online comments.

For some reason I decide that Euclid Records is my focus. Don't remember why, but my notes hardly mention Vintage Vinyl. I don't even think about Vintage Vinyl. Well, more on that later.

So, its early Sunday morning and my host, the Dean of the school, Bruce Lindsey, picks me up at the airport and takes me out for breakfast to a wonderful little neighborhood cafe, the Soulard Coffee Garden. http://soulardcoffeegarden.com/ I have an enormous bowl of delicious hash and eggs - as does my host - and a steaming hot cup of coffee. 

Ready for the day now.

Bruce asks me what I want to see and I recite my list. What first? Euclid Records? No problem! And we are on our way. Thanks, Bruce.

Not exactly nearby but a few minutes later we arrive, park the car and approach the corner store. Euclid's website advertises 7,500 sf of retail space and the store does not disappoint. While CDs fill the front the third of the store - the day light filled end - the rear two thirds of the store are filled with vinyl. 

I mean filled.

Bruce peels off to dig into the CDs - he ends up with a couple of nice used Neil Young CDs - while I march to the rear of the store.

Whenever I enter a record store that sells used vinyl, I always look for the 'New Arrivals' bin first. Euclid's has a lot of interesting disks in their recent arrivals bin, some fairly pricey, however, like a three disk set of a live Yardbirds concert for 50 bucks. But there are many other interesting more reasonably priced titles, plenty of temptations. I am interested in the Bonzo Dog Band's Urban Spaceman record, co-produced by Apollo C. Vermouth, otherwise known as Paul McCartney. The Bonzo Dog Band was a favorite of the Beatles' and even feature on the Magical Mystery Tour film.

That would be nice to have.

With the Urban Spaceman disk under my arm, I proceed to the back of the store and pause. I am somewhat overwhelmed. Bruce asks whether there is anything particular I am looking for. That's a hard question to answer. I don't really have a 'list' - my collecting approach is more free-flowing and associational. So, I begin to rifle randomly through the alphabetized bins.

At some point, Bruce asks me whether I have found the dollar bins which I haven't. He points at my feet and there I see a long, long line of boxes on the floor filled with records. I kneel down and that is where the fun really begins.

Dollar bins are a mixed bag. Sometimes its just Air Supply, Neil Diamond, Barbara Streisand - and Polka. But, sometimes - like here it turns out - you can find some interesting curiosities. none probably 'worth' more than a dollar, but a lot of fun nevertheless.

Records that get put in dollar bins are often there because of the condition of the album cover and or the vinyl inside. So, you might find a badly scratched copy of something good, or a clean copy of a something good in a beat-up cover.

But, sometimes its just a record that doesn't have a very big audience. those are usually the records that attract me!

So, what did I find? In addition to the Bonzo Dog Band, I found these 'treasures' in the dollar bin at Euclid Records (and Euclid has turntables, so I could audition everything before purchasing!):

Jim Kweskin  - Relax Your Mind (1966). A stripped down solo effort by the Jug Band leader. 

Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band - Jug Band Music (1965). I like The Jug Band and have a few of their other albums but not this one.

The Souther Hillman Furay Band (1974). Guilty pleasure, the first cut, Falling in Love, a minor hit in 1974. But, the last cut, Deep, Dark, and Dreamless is worth the price all by itself. And then some - a great, great song.

Gilbert O'Sullvan - Himself (1972). Another guilty pleasure: Alone Again (Naturally).


The Rip Chords - Hey Little Cobra (1964). Classic example of the 'surf frat' genre. Title tune has uncredited falsetto solo by Beach Boys' Bruce Johnston. Song co-written by producer Terry Melcher, of Monterey Pop Fest fame.

Michael Parks - Closing the Gap (1969). Debut album by country artist turned actor. Parks is probably best known these days as Earl McGraw in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill. Also featured prominently in Twin Peaks as drug runner, Jean Renault. Oh, and the record is pretty good, too.

The Happenings - Bye Bye, So Long, Farewell...See You In September. Features the title tune, one of their biggest hits.

Oh, so what about Jeff Tweedy. Turns out He used to work at Euclid Records! I knew that...now I remember why I wanted to see this store more than Vintage Vinyl

He actually worked in the store's old location, but hey.

Works for me.


Posted by Vinyl Record Architect at 12/27/2011 9:42 PM | View Comments (1) | Add Comment

Black Moth Super Rainbow

My friend, Donna, is the drummer in a band. Our dogs, Bean and Ginger, are buddies, too. They like to mix it up, some long stride running, some wrestling, some roughhousing, some good natured fun. Donna's band Black Moth Super Rainbow (BMSR) likes to mix it up, too. A little psych, folk, and pop in a big rich electronica stew.


They opened for Flaming Lips on their 2007 tour and have been featured performers at SXSW. Here is a sweet taste in a low tech clip from one of their performances of 'Sun Lips' in Austin. 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=vwn6g_s7UVY&NR=1


I want to hear them here in Pittsburgh.

Please. Asking nicely.

I have been listening to their 2009 release, Eating Us, for weeks and again ever since I got home from the park today, where Bean and Ginger mixed it up big time. Its not the first time for Bean and Ginger and its not the first time I put the heavy vinyl Eating Us disk on my turntable --- and it won't be the last. Beautiful, hypnotic and funky. From the first keyboard notes of side one to the last chords of side two BMSR create an ethereal and melodic groove - warm, lively, psychedelic and rhythmic. Really cool, stuff, readers, you should check them out. What I especially love about BMSR is how they connect the dots for me between the the late sixties psych music I like so much - from Blues Magoos' Electric Comic Book and Iron Butterfly, for instance to late sixties proto-electronica like Beaver & Krause's In a Wild Sanctuary. 

Do you know THAT awesome 1970 Moog infused record? Oh, man. You should!

But, lets get back to 2011. Just listen to this track - featuring a banjo - from Eating Us and tell me you don't think BMSR rocks post-millennial big time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4CazYAWgHw

How often do you get to hear a banjo on a psych / electronica release?

So, Donna, please Donna, play a gig in Pittsburgh. 

Soon.

Please.


Posted by Vinyl Record Architect at 12/4/2011 3:32 PM | Add Comment

This Is Music Website's Ryan Hogan Puts Vinyl Record Architect Blog in Top 20



Thank you, This is Music! Thank you Ryan Hogan!

The website This is Music put together a Top 20 blog list and lists this blog, blog.vinylrecordarchitect.com in the top twenty.

Her is the link: http://this-is-music.com/?p=61

Ryan Hogan writes: "Vinyl records may be a relic of the past but that doesn’t mean they’re still not popular with collectors, audiophiles, and music lovers. That’s probably because nothing beats the sound of a record player, the feel of a vinyl disc, and the comfort of an album cover. Compact discs sound better and mp3s take up less room but they can’t match the corporeal and sensual qualities of vinyl records. Let’s face it, vinyl records are flat out cool".

Tell us something we don't know, Ryan! Just kidding, man. I am very grateful to you for including us in your rankings, Ryan. Readers: Check out Ryan's This is Music website and keep on rocking....to the vinyl beat.
Posted by Vinyl Record Architect at 11/18/2011 12:02 PM | Add Comment

The Modern Lovers is real, too.

I moved to Pittsburgh in 1988, and started buying CDs in the early 90s. A few years later, Jerry's Records moved to my neighborhood and I brought a box of records in to sell since I thought I wouldn't want to listen to records any more. Okay, big mistake. I never should have stopped listening to records, but I wasn't alone. A whole generation like me moved from records to CDs and now to MP3s. I did too, but then I came full circle. These days, a day doesn't go by that I don't listen to a record, a CD (in my car) and an MP3 (on my IPod).

But, back in the day, before I knew any better, I sold a few records. Some of them I have bought again because I missed them, like Jesse Colin Young's Lightshine, and Neil Young's On the Beach, and some I haven't, for a variety of reasons. Too expensive, hard to find, not important to me any more. One I just picked up again on CD because I really missed the music on it. Its great, but I really miss the vinyl copy I owned. The record is the first Modern Lovers album called The Modern Lovers, released in 1976. This original version of the band was led by Jonathan Richman and featured Jerry Harrison on guitar years before he left Richman to join Talking Heads. 

My wife asked me what made me buy this record back in the day and I'm not sure I know the answer. I may have heard the opening track, Roadrunner --- "Roadrunner, Roadrunner, going faster miles an hour, with the radio on." --- on FM radio at the time and gotten hooked or I may have read something about it in the Village Voice, I don't know. But, in any event it was one of my favorite records. And I sold it a long time ago.

Listening to it in my car to day, it sounds as fresh and real as the day I first heard it 35 or so years ago.

A few days later, I was listening to some other music on a playlist with my son in the car. Riding shotgun on the cold fall day with the heated seat turned up and the heat blasting warm air in his direction, he skipped several of the playlist's great songs until he stopped on John Lennon's Imagine. 

He turned up the volume and listened silently, rapt.

I asked him why he rejected so many other great songs in favor of Imagine.

"Its real, Dad, " he said.

I get it.




Posted by Vinyl Record Architect at 11/12/2011 12:17 AM | View Comments (2) | Add Comment

Fitz and The Tantrums Collect Records



To call Fitz and The Tantrums derivative would not be fair, but their music is knowing. You can hear that they are music lovers, fans of vintage soul and old school instrumentation. They must have vintage records, right? You can't write tunes like these and belt them out without having at some point internalized the likes of Otis and Tina and Marvin. In fact, Fitz has been quoted as saying,"We [the band] all have a love affair with soul and funk music. For me, it’s obviously Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, the Supremes, all that stuff. My musical taste runs the gamut from Radiohead to Zeppelin to Major Lazer. My older brother was really into 80s new wave, so a lot of the first records I got to borrow and steal were his." 

Fitz, what do you have in your record collection? Next time you are in Pittsburgh, let's go to Jerry's together and you can stock up on soul and r&b from his vast stock.

Last night's sold-out show - thanks Kay and Tom! - was absolutely authentic and electrifying. Fitz and soul swinger side kick Noelle Scaggs had the enthusiastic crowd on their feet - no choice, no chairs at Mr. Smalls! - and rocking from the very first notes of the first tune and hardly let up for the rest of the evening. The guy next to me kept yelling 'Fitzburgh' to Fitz and Noelle who have been here to perfom three times in the last year. It felt like Fitzburgh by the time they were done.

The picture above is from the F&TT website and was taken by drummer John Wicks of the crowd. I am there in the front right of the picture. Can you find me?

Posted by Vinyl Record Architect at 11/8/2011 12:42 PM | Add Comment

Jerry's Records 2011 Giveaway - Part 1

Hi, Readers: Did you make it to Jerry's this weekend? If so, what did you buy and what was in your free box? I made it there twice, once on Saturday and once on Sunday. On Saturday, the store was packed and it was a party atmosphere. On Sunday morning, I walked down the hill at around 11 in the chilly morning drizzle to find Jerry himself sitting under a personal-sized tent, spinning 45s from his personal stash. Rarities and old favorites - a great mix, to be sure. Sitting in his Jerry's T-shirt, he didn't seem to be cold.

In this and upcoming blog posts, I'll be sharing some of the 'treasures' I discovered in the unmarked and sealed box of 100 LPs that was my share of the 33,000 records Jerry and his crew gave away this past weekend. Guinness, this must be some kind of a record! 

My box revealed a load of records that I don't know WHAT do with - any fans of Hungarian dance music out there, I have your records! - and some strange discoveries. For example, the record pictured above was in my box, Jonathan King's 1967 release 'Or Then Again...' King is the guy who discovered and recorded Genesis for the first time as well as other bands like 10CC. He had a hit with a song included on this record called 'Everyone's Gone to the Moon' from 1965...
Posted by Vinyl Record Architect at 10/3/2011 7:46 AM | View Comments (1) | Add Comment

Jerry's Records Gives Away 33,000 Records!

test4Jerry's Records to give away 33,000 records this weekend

Kevin Lorenzi's photograph, above, in the Beaver County Times shows Jerry Weber, owner of Pittsburgh's Jerry's Records, with a few thousand of the 33,000 records he will GIVE AWAY this weekend. Yes, that's right - Jerry is giving away alot of vinyl. First come, first serve. In sealed boxes of 100. One per customer - and all of that.

So make your way to see Jerry this weekend and say that the Vinyl Record Architect sent you.

I'll probably be hanging out with Jerry on Sunday morning with a supply of my '100 Best Albums of the 70s.' So, if you don't want to say hi to Jerry - and why wouldn't you?! - at least come and say hey to me.

They'll be spinning tunes  and giving away records. What is not to like?

By the way, this was one of the 100 records that I found in my box of 100. What will you find in yours????

[LP Record] Square Dances with Calls, - Emery Adams & The Corn Huskers


Posted by Vinyl Record Architect at 9/30/2011 11:00 PM | View Comments (1) | Add Comment

Wilco - The WHOLE Love


I pre-ordered the new Wilco and it arrived yesterday, on CD and Vinyl. Slid the CD into the car stereo this morning on the way to work and the car filled with percussion and noise and melody. First impressions are really good - much more varied and edgy than the last two of their releases (Sky Blue Sky and Wilco (The Album)). Those two sounded like holding patterns, nice songs, well played, but safe for a band that you expect more PASSION from. This one appears to have it - at least on first listen, I want to hear it again. Which is always a GOOD sign.

Also on first listen, it sounds like an ALBUM. My favorite WILCO album is Yankee Hotel Fox Trot and on that one, they got the sequence of the songs right. Not so much on Being There or Summerteeth or the last two. But The Whole Love sounds like an album, greater than the sum of its parts, like the best Beatles albums. The Whole Love starts with electricity and friction and risk taking and ends with a 12 minute meditation on life that you don't want to end. In between, well, I haven't listened to everything yet -- and not more than once, my drive to work is pretty short! -- but it sounds really promising. I'll keep you posted, but you might want to check it out as well. 
Posted by Vinyl Record Architect at 9/27/2011 7:50 AM | View Comments (3) | Add Comment
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