vinyl

Beyond Classic… Little Richard – Here’s Little Richard

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Some music transcends genres in both its artistry and influence. It stands out as a pillar that helps construct everything that comes after. This may sound like hyperbole but when it comes to those artists in the 1950’s that built the foundations of what would be both today’s popular music and rock ‘n’ roll, most descriptions come off as mere euphemisms.

One can point at Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly and a few others and pontificate for days about the significance of these artists. Yet they may never capture the real depth and importance.

Then you have Little Richard.

It just isn’t enough to say he laid down the foundation of rock ‘n’ roll, because he works on so many more levels. It’s rock, r&b, soul, funk,  and subsequently how pop music has sounded for the last 60 years.

When I listen to Richard I hear Motown and Stax a couple years before they even existed. I see Elton John’s glitter, James Brown dance and the Ramones screaming out a four count. Oh and let us not even get started on the all out performance.

This is why I say that this record is beyond classic.

Had Richard’s not left Rock ‘n’ Roll for religion immediately following this record, his reputation might very well have risen into the upper echelon of “Rock Gods”, instead of a guy standing around  schlepping fast food deals for Taco Bell.

Forget for a moment that Rolling Stone has this album ranked at #50 in it’s top 500 all-time, and that it made the list of 1001 Albums you must hear before you die. The only important thing is the music itself.

This album is early rock at its most powerful and a blue print to almost every sub-genre off rock since. Yes, it is that good.

Luckily, it is readily available across all formats right now with new re-mastered vinyl editions being released just back in December 2014.

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You can pick up a 180 gram black vinyl edition at your better record retailers, or a limited edition opaque orange (only 500 copies made) copy here.

#1 in so many damn ways… Big Star – #1 Record

/ ds barrett / 7 Comments

History is fluid and changes with interpretation and the times that follow. So, something that was once dismissed or missed can be re-examined and pulled into the light in a way that perhaps it wasn’t before. Such was, is and may forever be the story of how Big Star and their debut #1 Record are considered.

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It is one of the planets greatest rock ‘n’ roll records, and still almost no one beyond critics and hipsters has truly given it the time of day. Sure Rolling Stone has it in their 500 Greatest Records of All-Time, but that doesn’t really result in the kind of record sales and recognition that should be afforded this band.

Obviously, the information is out there, in different formats and many stories told; so I’m just going to point out a few in hopes that you see an opportunity to get yourself some great music.

First, if you have access to Netflix than you can catch the Big Star biography Nothing Can Hurt Me. It is a great examination into the history of Big Star, and also offers an awesome soundtrack of alternate takes from Big Star and their principle songwriters Chris Bell and Alex Chilton.

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Next there is a new biography on Alex Chilton named A Man Called Destruction. It is pretty eye opening and well worth the read.

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Finally, the one album I was here to tell you about on this day, #1 Record. While it would be easy for me to sit here heaping praise, it is easier to just point out its influence. Matthew Sweet, Teenage Fanclub, The Posies, Lemonheads, Wilco and much of the 90’s alt rock pantheon were influenced by #1 Record.

Some of the songs you may recognize from are:

“In The Street” – It became the theme song to That 70’s Show.

“The Ballad of El Goodo” – Has been covered numerous times by acts such as Evan Dando, Mathew Sweet, Counting Crows, Zeus, Wellspring and Wilco.

“Thirteen” – Picked by Rolling Stone as one of the 500 Greatest Songs of All-Time, and I’ll just add, one of the most amazing songs ever.

Anyway, your opportunity is that as vinyl goes, there have been some recently released re-masters that are available. First a little company called 4 Men with Beards was given permission to re-release #1 Record on 180 gram black vinyl. I haven’t found an exact number printed, but it must be at least sizable enough to fill demand.

The second release is a little more exclusive, Newbury Comics with permission of Big Star’s record label Ardent have released 1000 copies of #1 Record on translucent gold vinyl. Trust me when I say, it is awesome!

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In fact, that is kind of my point; #1 Record is one of the greatest albums one can have in their collection. If I printed my version of the top 10 records of all time it would be among them. More importantly, if I was to take off my critic hat and just list my favourite 10 records, again it would sit amongst the top. In fact, it just might be a contender for number one.

Dear God Stop Me; But Which Band Wagon Should I Jump Upon or Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit…

/ ds barrett / 5 Comments

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Weeks now have gone by and ‘buzz’ is still everywhere about Courtney Barnett. In one day as I trolled only those blogs that have similar interests to my own I found six people writing about her. That was without typing her name or even trying to find anything out. Once you jump into the world of both paper and online publications, well, the raves don’t stop. So I listen and find good reason for all the accolades, but now that I know, what the hell should I buy?

A quick check around and you find out that that not only has she released her stuff across several formats, but when it comes to vinyl, she has multiple versions within the same format.

Option A – Good old fashioned plain single disc black vinyl

Option B – Special Edition single disc orange translucent vinyl with a  lp slipmat

Option C – Deluxe Gatefold two disc orange translucent vinyl with bonus 7”

Option D – Limited Edition gatefold cover two disc heavy weight white vinyl

Now of course your options are somewhat, but not entirely, dependent upon your geographic location. Also, your choice may be dictated to by the amount of paper in the wallet, and how quickly you decide you want it. You see, the U.S. record company only printed 100 of that double orange, but in Europe, I see some for sale. The white version is only in Australia and New Zealand and the shipping is more than the cost of the record – IF – you could find a copy.

My prediction is that buying any of the limited colour vinyl stuff now would save you from quadruple that price later if it is something you want.

The music is great, mucho sarcastic, witty and fun, but I can’t decide which version I’m wanting and how much I’m willing to pay for it…

And some things that should not have been forgotten… are Found! RSD and Husker Du – Warehouse: Songs & Stories

/ ds barrett / 1 Comment

As the weeks become days and the information begins to flow, the list for Record Store Day grows, grows and grows. Things that I didn’t know I even wanted get underlined in red, and some things I had forgotten jump out at me from the shelves themselves on that very day.

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Such was the case on Black Friday/RSD 2014 when I turned to see Warehouse: Songs & Stories by Husker Du sitting on a cart. I had not heard Warehouse since my University days as my “infamous roommate” was a big fan of Husker Du and Bob Mould. Suddenly my brain was straining to remember. Sure I have a CD copy of Candy Apple Grey, but, I couldn’t remember Warehouse until I saw the cover.

This might have been due to the fact that unlike other Husker Du records, it had not been re-issued since its initial release in 1987. It was if Warner had decided it wasn’t worthy of even being remembered.

Well, they were wrong. Two glorious pieces of vinyl, one coloured fluorescent yellow and the other fluorescent green sound absolutely fantastic. Maybe hindsight is leading me a bit, but you can definitely hear the development of Mould’s guitar work and song writing as he drifts towards the more accessible material he would write later with Sugar. Mould himself has stated that Warehouse might have benefited from being pared down to a single record, but it is honestly impossible to figure out where such a cut could be made.

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I couldn’t find out how many of these vinyl editions were made, but it is still available. Discogs have it listed for $38.16, Amazon.ca at $55.60 and E-Bay at $28.04.

What can I say, they both look and sound great, and can still be had for a good price.

 

Always lookin’ good! David Bowie and RSD 2015

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Having just written about Bowie a couple weeks back I didn’t think I’d be mentioning him again so soon, but here we are. With only a week until RSD 2015 it seems he notes another little column, so to speak.

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As early as February it was announced that Bowie would be contributing two 7” singles for Record Store day in the form of a “Changes” picture disc, and a split single with Tom Verlaine on the song “Kingdom Come.” These releases are cool, but somewhat expected as David Bowie has been releasing a series of 7”picture discs over the years to commemorate the various 40th anniversaries of his work as they come up.

However, a limited release of his first album has also popped up in the most recent North American lists for Record Store Day. However, there also seems to be some confusion. I’ve seen some web sites refer to his debut album which was recorded in ’66 but released in ’67, while others have referred to the ep 1966, which contained some early rare tracks by Bowie. It seems more likely that the ep is what is being released as the source gave far more details in explaining that it was re-mastered comes in white vinyl and limited to 2000 copies.

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Regardless, Bowie fans who insist on vinyl and collectors in general should be pretty happy… if they get their hands on it. I pretty much can guarantee you that they will sell out.

 

Dreams of RSD past (FOUND!) and future: Social Distortion – Hard Times & Nursery Rhymes and eponymous

/ ds barrett / 1 Comment

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Occasionally, as you walk through your local record store, and you try to put together a coherent thought, you just see it, a record you wanted badly, but never thought you would get, just sitting waiting to live a new life on your turntable. That is how I found a copy of the 2012 Record Store Day edition of Hard Times & Nursery Rhymes by Social Distortion.

Since its release in 2011, Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes have had four different editions put out all in limited quantities. The pre-orders from their web site were yellow and limited to 1000. The next 2500 to hit store shelves were red, and the last 5000 were black.

The following April, Social Distortion released 2000 RSD editions in green and included with it a “machine gun blues” poster. The great thing is that besides being an awesome record, it still seems to be readily available at decent prices. Discogs have it listed at $37.75, but I picked mine up for less than thirty a few weeks back.

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I doubt highly that this will be the case after this Record Store Day 2015 when their eponymous record is reissued. This is the classic 1990 record (that actually hit the Billboard 200) that contains the stellar “Story Of My Life.” While it was recently (2012) reissued on 180 gram vinyl by Music on Vinyl over in Europe, it is only available here as an import. That is until Record Store Day, when 1500 split colour blue and white copies hit the shelves.

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It is definitely on my wish list and circled in red for high bloody priority find. I will be a disappointed record collector next Saturday if I don’t find it.

You have got to be f&%king kidding me! Van Halen – Live Tokyo Dome In Concert

/ ds barrett / 3 Comments

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I was introduced to Van Halen by a cousin who went to Hollywood High and used to see Roth walking the streets of L.A. pre-fame, and he brought their self-titled debut with him in the summer of ’78 when I was just turning eleven.

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It blew my young mind. I don’t know how many copies I blew through in my Walkman in the early 80’s, but it was on there a whole lot. Then for a few years you could count on a good Van Halen record to be the sound of your summer – even if it was released in December, Van Halen made things great. When “the change happened” and Sammy Hagar took over, it still rocked. Despite what hard core Roth fans say, 5150 was an awesome record for Van Halen and Sammy Hagar fans alike. It still gets pulled out on occasion and put on the old cassette player.

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Then it started to slip, not all at once, but they couldn’t carry you through a record the way they once did. Later the wheels came off all together. Hagar to Roth to Cherone to Hagar to Roth to… it’s irrelevant.

The recent press with Eddie and David and Alex and Wolfgang(?) would have you believe this is a return to those early glory days… it isn’t. As I watched that Jimmy Kimmel concert all I could think was that Roth can’t hold his voice together. Sure he’s lost none of his showmanship, but he can’t, well, um, ah… he wasn’t much of a singer before, and now well… he just can’t fuckin’ sing.

So now you get this Live In Tokyo Dome, which they are proud to say is authentic… no auto tunes or overdubs… the band is great. Eddie can play the way Eddie has always played, Alex sounds like Alex and well, it is all overshadowed by the fact that David can’t sing. Maybe if I was seeing it live in person the spectacle of a big rock show would compensate, but there is no way around it. They had vocal talent… but for whatever reason, they were exiled to Chickenfoot… which is now the better band.

So what you have here is more than two hours of songs you used to love being sung out of tune or just plain shouted. It’s rather depressing; Captain Roth steering the great ship Van Halen right into the iceberg. Just go out and buy the re-mastered vinyl from the Roth years which is all going to be out in the next few months. You don’t want this, it hurts too much.

You know what they say about blinking… Nirvana – Sliver/Dive 7”

/ ds barrett / 1 Comment

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So I put myself on a few mailing lists so that I don’t miss something cool when it comes out. Hence when Newbury Comics put out a limited run of the Strokes Room On Fire last week I scooped it up before it sold out the next day… it hasn’t even been shipped, yet e-bay re-sellers are already asking over a $100.00.

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Just yesterday morning I received an e-mail from Newbury Comics about a split coloured (pink/Blue) 7” of Sliver/Dive by Nirvana. It wasn’t two hours old when I got to it…

Gone

Sold out

e-bay resale has two listed already for over $95.00.

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Now you can still get a regular black 7” for around $15.00 which is pretty cool, and you can still grab the 2011 Record Store Day Nevermind Singles Box set for just over $60.00 through discogs or e-bay.

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The 2011 set has 4 10” discs and is basically a vinyl replica of the CD singles with b-sides included from the Nevermind era. It is a pretty cool set, but damn, the pink/blue is pretty sweet looking. Oh well…

GET IT NOW or forever hold…! The case of Aimee Mann & Mobile Fidelity

/ ds barrett / 1 Comment

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One of my favourite artists on this planet is Aimee Mann. Album for album there just hasn’t been a record she has put out that made me doubt where she is going. Even her latest effort with Ted Leo, The Both (which I wrote about a while ago), was an incredibly satisfying union that I hope happens over again and again. (Get it here)

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However, Aimee has also provided me with perhaps the greatest example of ‘buy it’ or miss out that I can get.

Coming off an Academy Award nomination for the soundtrack to Paul Thomas Anderson’s film Magnolia, Mann released what is probably her most well known record Bachelor #2 or, The Last Remains of the Dodo. The album also included several songs from the Magnolia soundtrack and was incredibly well received by critics and fans alike.

A couple years later Mann released the phenomenal Lost In Space, which was really well received by British critics, and dumped on by North American ones. Regardless, she would appear in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV) performing two songs from it. The art work for the project was done by award winning cartoonist Seth, which just added to the cool factor on this record. It still remains one of my favourite.

Of course both of these albums were put out before the recent vinyl revival, so they appeared only on the compact disc format…

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2006

Mobile Fidelity, which loves to re-release critically heralded records got together with Mann. Now I also wrote about MoFi a while back, but to briefly recap, they do awesome things with wax, and they do it all on audiophile grade vinyl (180 gram or higher), from original source tapes and in limited numbers. When the album is done right – it is a collector’s dream come true.

Bachelor #2 and Lost in Space were released at the same time and likely would have put you back anywhere between 30 and 45 dollars back in 2006.

Well, nine years later.

A vinyl copy of Bachelor #2 sells for $203.84 off of discogs, and between $226.38 and $320.69 on e-bay.

A vinyl copy of Lost In Space sells for $274.42 on discogs and also $226.38 + on e-bay.

I don’t know about you, but that is out of my price range. I mean maybe if I won the lottery, but, well, like so many other cool things – it’s a nice thought but reality is where I live.

So all I can say is this…

Hey Aimee, if you’re out there, maybe you could re-release these records on vinyl again, and maybe some others too. I promise to buy at least two or three copies of each as my sister is also a fan and they make great birthday and holiday gifts.

P.S. If I could also get ya to sign this poster I have for my kids; it was their first concert ever, and you know, that would be just kinda awesome and stuff, and maybe you know… well maybe bring your Christmas show north to Toronto once… and… well, thanks for considering, and putting out great music, and…

 

A Grand Illusion? Paul McCartney & Wings – Wings Over America & Rockshow

/ ds barrett / 2 Comments

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The fire would crackle and the camp director would pull out his guitar and play. Three songs would ring out of the gulley or over the lake and drift through the air toward nearby Waterloo… the songs were always moving. He would start with Simon & Garfunkel’s “Punky’s Dilemma” switch into an original called “Heroes” and finish with the Beatles “Blackbird.” Those songs have lingered in my memory for 35 years, and I suppose they’ll be with me for the rest of my life – it was just that powerful.

It’s also telling that I have always identified with McCartney’s live version over the Beatles original because of the illusion of immediacy; the idea of an acoustic guitar being played directly to you rather than through a set of speakers. Of course the reality is somewhat different.

Wings Over America/Rockshow is a performance piece, the show that solidified the conceit that a concert needed more than musicians and instruments to create a great ‘show.’ The set list itself is meant to bring about different moods throughout the performance in what was a grand spectacle. The background showing huge pictures of super villains and large displays of… well anything that was needed.  Even Wings themselves trading off vocals and playing the band camaraderie card comes off as forced when you watch Rockshow. In fact, individual songs are being spliced mid-performance to keep the illusion alive. Introductions taken from Seatle placed into a song played in L.A., horns from Seattle appearing in L.A. footage. Everyone appears as best friends. It doesn’t even matter if this was truth or not, as the illusion of Rockshow moves directly onto the recordings for Wings Over America which contain numerous studio overdubs. The entire package is rock ‘n’ roll in its greatest excess. It is selling the trappings of a spectacle as both a huge performance and an intimate live show. The thing is, does the reality change how you feel about listening/watching it go down?

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For me at least, it doesn’t. My cassette copy of Wings Over America is worn from the amount I listened to it between the ages 13 & 20, and I continue to hear it with teenage ears and sensibilities. Rockshow is a document of a 70’s stadium concert at the height of their power. This is a time when bands toured to support record sales rather than the current model of album to get interest in seeing bands live. Yes it is spectacle, but so is much of modern entertainment.

The Wings Over America vinyl is three records of 180 gram bliss lovingly taken from the original sources. It sounds fantastic. The blu-ray of Rockshow also sounds fantastic, and does its best to restore the movie to top quality taken from the original 35mm film and turned into stereo 5.1 surround sound.

Sure I would love to be in front of a true artist delivering an intimate performance by campfire. Yeah, I’d love to invite McCartney over for dinner and see what he does with the guitars hanging on the wall. Hell, I’d love to have that old camp director over. Anyway, we all know that isn’t about to happen, so at least I can put some vinyl on and dream my way into the past.