I buy records. I don’t seek out particular titles or pay more than a buck or two per LP; I go to estate sales and flea markets and dig and dig and dig for stuff that i have not heard yet (or not heard in years). I pick up a few hundred per year. It gets more difficult (but also more rewarding) with each passing year to find music that i have not heard. I generally look for rock and soul recorded between 1965 and 1975.
I like this way of experiencing new music because there is a bit of a folk-music quality to it. As in: whether I like it or not, I am limited to listening to music that other people in my community were listening to some time ago. It’s all music that shaped the hearts and minds of people who drove these same streets, lived in these same houses, played in the bars of my town many years ago. Anyhow, of the 800 LPs that i buy each year, 60 will have a track that I like.
Those 60 end up on these seasonal compilations. Tracks gets transferred from LP through a Proton preamp and into Protools for trimmin.’ I use a Benz MC20E2 cartridge, which I highly recommend if yr in the market for a new cartridge.
Here’s the list for this season. Link through for the details…
Cochise “Home Again”
Alive and Kicking “Tighter, Tighter”
Fairport Convention “Meet on the ledge”
Mark-Almond “Speak Easy It’s a Whisky Scene”
Dave Mason “We just disagree”
Mel and Tim “Starting all over again”
Jay and the Americans “Since I don’t have you”
Marvin Gaye “Troubleman”
Bobby Whitlock “Song for Paula”
Flaming Ember “Westbound #9”
Sandy Denny “It’ll Take A Long Time”
Macondo “Never thought I’d See You Go”
David Lannan “Morning”
Otis Clay “A House Ain’t a Home”
Steve Marcus “Tomorrow Never Knows”
Tufano-Giammarese “I’m a Loser”
Kevin John Agosti “Lighthouse Madness”
Jerry Jeff Walker “LA Freeway”
Al Green “Together again”
Gene Clark “1975”
Cochise “Home Again” from the LP ‘SWALLOWS TALES.’ Perhaps most famous for putting a woman’s naked breast on the cover of their first LP, Cochise was a largely unsuccessful British hard rock band of the early 70s. I really dig this record. It reminds me of Free with a pedal-steel player added in. Allmusic.com describes them as ‘an uneasy 60’s-turning-into-70s-sound’ but shit, that’s just what i like. The ‘unease’ of the 60’s turning into the 70’s is pretty much the saddest and darkest moment of the late 20th century. Idealism laid to waste ETC. This track in particular has a bass gtr sound that is 20 years ahead of its time.
Alive and Kicking “Tighter, Tighter.” From the 7” single. I was shocked at how cool this side was until i learned that it was a Tommy James reject that he gave to his bridge&tunnel buddies Alive and Kicking to record. I could say so much about this. Love the echo on the horn parts. The surprisingly ‘acid’ gtr solo. The unusual ‘mid’-tempo. This will end up in a Tarrantino film someday.
Fairport Convention “Meet on the ledge” from the s/t LP. This album is fantastic, and this track is so powerful. A great band. Their producer Joe Boyd recently published a book called ‘White Bicycles.” He has an incredible story to tell. One of the best books about the 60s that has ever been written. Check it out.
Mark-Almond “Speak Easy It’s a Whisky Scene” (exerpt) from the s/t LP. Not to be confused with Marc Almond, this was a duo of ex-John Mayall sidemen. The LP is dense and (likely) conceptual, reminds me a bit of Penguin Cafe. This is a killer groove. Yes i said it.
Dave Mason “We just disagree.” From the 7” single. This falls firmly in the category of songs that a friend terms ‘some grown man shit.’ As the rock audience matured in the 70s, there were, for the first time, rock and soul hits that were not intended for a teen audience. This soft-rock classic def fits that bill. Mason’s traffic bandmate Steve Winwood would have even greater success mining this same terrain in the 80’s.
Mel and Tim “Starting all over again.” From the 7” single. WOW listen to that rhythm section. The song is pretty mellow but… that gigantic bassline and hypnotic drum part…so hip-hop. The echo’d out guitar… this is a great example of a good tune made GREAT by an inspired arrangement.
Jay and the Americans “Since I don’t have you.” From the 7” single. Feel like i am really gravitating toward the heavy bass-gtr feels these days. This is a recording in which ½ the band has been ‘turned on’ and ½ the band is still living in the Pre Rock Era. but it works. Also: “‘XXX’ and the Americans” is a guaranteed killer band name. And AHH shit i bet you didn’t see that Association-style coda coming…
Marvin Gaye “Trouble Man.” From a later Motown 7” single. This was a non-album track from Gaye’s classic era. WOW dude liked reverb on his voice didn’t he. From wiki: “Marvin called it one of the honest recordings he ever made. Gaye played drums and piano on the record as well as performing all the vocals himself.” I engineered two albums for the record label ‘Trouble man’ in the early 2000s. A band called “The ABCs” and a band called “Touchdown.” Funny that the label found its inspiration here (these were avant-garde instrumental bands).
Bobby Whitlock “Song for Paula.” S/T LP. Kinda in the 70’s Session-Dude-Makes-Solo-Record thing. I mean, shit, Leon Russell was a session player at one point. Whitlock played with Clapton ETC… Lots of great stuff in this genre (i just made it a genre). Jesse Ed Davis is another example. Check out the work of the guys who played on the records of the Famous Guys. That’s my advice.
Flaming Ember “Westbound #9.” from the LP of the same title. Flaming Ember makes a repeat visit here. Read a book recently by Dennis Coffey called ‘Guitars Bars and Motown Superstars.” Interesting tale of a Motown session gtr player. Ups and Downs etc. Coffey worked with Flaming Ember, who were considered the best white RnB band in Detroit back then. Which is kind saying a lot… Bob Seger System; MC5; Rare Earth…
Sandy Denny “It’ll Take A Long Time” from the LP ‘SANDY.’ Denny sang with Fairport Convention. And she was known to American audiences from her appearance on a Zeppelin track. This is a beautiful track from her solo LP ‘Sandy.’ Reminds me of the brighter moment of Bridget St John, who you should check out too…
Macondo “Never thought I’d See You Go” from the s/t LP. I don’t know anything about this band. Apparently they were marketed as a ‘Latin Rock Band.’ This is a cool track which sound way way ahead of its (1972) time. Atlantic Records, and there are some bird illustrations on the cover. They were somehow tied to Sergio Mendes (???).
David Lannan “Morning” from the LP ‘STREET SINGER.’ Man this was a weird thing to find at an estate sale in some random anonymous sad condo. Lannan was apparently some sort of busker in SF, and this record was supposedly tracked “on portable stereo machines using two hand held microphones.” Listen with headphones and consider this. There are a lot of buskers in NYC. Some of them (Freelance Whales?) even attain some profile. The most incredible busker I ever saw was many years ago at the 2nd ave F stop. It was maybe 1AM. An old (and i mean ancient) black man was sitting, barly moving, playing super-languid slide on an acoustic gtr with 2 strings, ALONG TO a raspy, echo-y, distorted vocal coming from a shitty old boom box. It was totally and completely mesmerizing. Never heard anything like it before or since.
Otis Clay “A House Ain’t a Home” from the LP ‘I CAN’T TAKE IT.’ I love Hi Records. At 34, I love Hi Records like i loved Matador when i was 18. I bought this LP because I listen to OV Wright, Ann Peebles, and Al Green all the time, and i was always thinking… who IS that drummer? Dude is so subtle he makes Jim Keltner sound like Lars Ulrich. Anyhow, looked into Howard Grimes and… he played on Clay’s Hi sides. Genius.
Steve Marcus “Tomorrow Never Knows” from the LP of the same title. EXERPT. is this jazz? yes i suppose it is. This is the guitar solo. Performed by Larry Coryell. Serious fuzz. I dig the drummer too. Feel weird about including this but… that fuzz…
Tufano-Giammarese “I’m a Loser” from the s/t LP. Shit I was so excited when i heard this… something about the ‘i’m a loser’ chorus lyric, and then i saw that Al Hansen was the string arranger credited… i thought that i had found the hidden source of Beck’s first hit. But alas this a Beatles song! Leave it to me to not recognize a F-ing Beatles tune. Anyhow this is beautiful and almost certainly better than any British recording of this song.
Kevin John Agosti “Lighthouse Madness” from the s/t LP. This is a super-obscure record. Made in Vermont in 1978. This particular blend of acoustic guitar and primitive analog synthesizer has always been a favorite of mine. The whole LP is good actually; I hope this album can see the light of day again. It might be Jesus rock? I can’t even tell anymore. U2 kinda blurred the lines on that one.
Jerry Jeff Walker “LA Freeway” from the s/t LP. Christ this is a good album. I had never heard of JJW before a friend gave me this LP. From what i gather, Walker was considered ‘outlaw country’ back-in-the-day, but this is just good rock music… also wow this is a good-sounding recording. The coda is just one of those magic moments that seems so simple but man when you are in a room playing and you get that feeling happening… it’s a rare thing. i like this album like most people like Townes Van Zandt… Walker’s voice is less annoying. Seems like a less-uptight dude.
Al Green “Together again” from ‘HEART FULL OF FIRE.’ Another Howard Grimes appearance. Man, Hi Records was great. It was nice to see Willie Mitchell (Hi main-man) get some coverage when he passed away earlier this year. I’d love to read some interviews with him. Such a singular thing he was doing in the 70s. By 1976, 99% of RnB had migrated towards disco tendencies, but Hi stayed the course. If you want to hear what 60’s southern soul music sounds like with another 10 years of development, craftsmanship, and sonics behind it, Hi is the source.
Gene Clark “1975” from the album generally referred to as ‘White Light.” This LP deserves its strong reputation. Another selection from A+M records. So much great stuff on A+M. Say what you want about Herb Alpert; he sure signed some good artists.