Early MILES DAVIS Vinyl-Record - "Sketches Of Spain"

Title: "Sketches Of Spain"



Recorded between November 1959 and March 1960 -- after Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley had left the band -- Davis teamed with Canadian arranger Gil Evans for the third time. Davis brought Evans the album's signature piece, "Concierto de Aranjuez," after hearing a classical version of it at bassist Joe Mondragon's house. Evans was as taken with it as Davis was, and set about to create an entire album of material around it.

Artist: Miles Davis Along with Kind of Blue, In a Silent Way, and Round About Midnight, Sketches of Spain is one of Miles Davis' most enduring and innovative achievements.

The result is a masterpiece of modern art. On the "Concierto," Evans' arrangement provided an orchestra and jazz band -- Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, and Elvin Jones -- the opportunity to record a classical work as it was. The piece, with its stunning colors and intricate yet transcendent adagio, played by Davis on a flügelhorn with a Harmon mute, is one of the most memorable works to come from popular culture in the 20th century. Davis' control over his instrument is singular, and Evans' conducting is flawless.

Also notable are "Saeta," with one of the most amazing technical solos of Davis' career, and the album's closer, "Solea," which is conceptually a narrative piece, based on an Andalusian folk song, about a woman who encounters the procession taking Christ to Calvary. She sings the narrative of his passion and the procession -- or parade -- with full brass accompaniment moving along. Cobb and Jones, with flamenco-flavored percussion, are particularly wonderful here, as they allow the orchestra to indulge in the lushly passionate arrangement Evans provided to accompany Davis, who was clearly at his most challenged here, though he delivers with grace and verve. Sketches of Spain is the most luxuriant and stridently romantic recording Davis ever made.

To listen to it in the 21st century is still a spine-tingling experience, as one encounters a multitude of timbres, tonalities, and harmonic structures seldom found in the music called jazz.

Performers: Miles Davis - Flageolet, Flugelhorn, Trumpet; Jack Knitzer - Bassoon; Billy Barber - Tuba; Earl Chapin - French Horn; Eddie Caine - Flugelhorn, Flute; James Buffington - Horn, French Horn, Fender Rhodes; Janet Putnam - Harp; Jimmy McAllister - Tuba; Joe Singer - French Horn

By: Thom Jurek, Rovi

The Pretty Things - "S.F. Sorrow"

Title: "S.F. Sorrow"Artist: The Pretty Things
Who could ever have thought, going back to the Pretty Things' first recording session in 1965 -- which started out so disastrously that their original producer quit in frustration -- that it would come to this?

The Pretty Things' early history in the studio featured the band with its amps seemingly turned up to 11, but for much of S.F. Sorrow the band is turned down to seven or four, or even two, or not amplified at all (except for Wally Allen's bass -- natch), and they're doing all kinds of folkish things here that are still bluesy enough so you never forget who they are, amid weird little digressions on percussion and chorus; harmony vocals that are spooky, trippy, strange, and delightful; sitars included in the array of stringed instruments; and an organ trying hard to sound like a Mellotron.

Sometimes one gets an echo of Pink Floyd's Piper at the Gates of Dawn or A Saucerful of Secrets, and it all straddles the worlds of British blues and British psychedelia better than almost any record you can name.

The album, for those unfamiliar, tells the story of "S.F. Sorrow," a sort of British Everyman -- think of a working-class, luckless equivalent to the Kinks' Arthur, from cradle to grave. The tale and the songs are a bit downbeat and no amount of scrutiny can disguise the fact that the rock opera S.F. Sorrow is ultimately a bit of a confusing effort -- these boys were musicians, not authors or dramatists.

Although it may have helped inspire Tommy, it is, simply, not nearly as good. That said, it was first and has quite a few nifty ideas and production touches. And it does show a pathway between blues and psychedelia that the Rolling Stones, somewhere between Satanic Majesties, "We Love You," "Child of the Moon," and Beggars Banquet, missed entirely.

The CD reissue on Snapper adds four valuable songs from their 1967-1968 singles ("Defecting Grey," "Mr. Evasion," "Talkin' About the Good Times," and "Walking Through My Dreams"). This version of "Defecting Grey" is the original, long, uncut five-minute rendition, and not of trivial importance; it's superior to the shorter one used on the official single.

Performers: Dick Taylor - Guitar, Vocals; John Povey - Sitar, Percussion, Organ, Vocals; Phil May - Vocals; Twink - Drums, Vocals; Wally Allen - Wind Instruments, Piano, Vocals, Guitar, Bass; Wally Allen Waller - Woodwind, Piano, Guitar, Guitar (Bass), Vocals

By:  Bruce Eder & Richie Unterberger, Rovi

Jerry Lee Lewis - Original Sun Singles '56-'60

Title: "Original Sun Singles '56-'60"Artist: Jerry Lee Lewis
Collections of Jerry Lee Lewis' Sun singles are a common occurrence: sometimes it seems as if Sun licenses out the hits to any label that comes calling, so there's a surplus of comps that cover the same territory, some in more detail than others, some providing a better experience -- both as listening and history -- than others.

As the music itself sounds good no matter how it's heard, all that matters is the quality of the presentation, and Sundazed's 2009 set Sun Singles Collection ranks among the best comps of this material presented.

Arguably, it may be the best, as it serves up the 24 A-sides the Killer released at Sun, running through them all in chronological order, giving the consumer all sorts of bang for their buck. Naturally, this doesn't have all the great music Jerry Lee recorded at Sun, and some may miss "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee" that appeared on the previous Sun standard-bearer, Rhino's 1984 18 Original Sun Greatest Hits, but Sun Singles Collection is six tracks longer, adding such killer rock & roll as "Let's Talk About Us," "Break-Up," and "Hang Up My Rock & Roll Shoes," plus country sides like "I Could Never Be Ashamed of You" and "Old Black Joe" that hint at Lewis' range.

Much of this can be heard elsewhere, either in truncated or complete form, or in editions that go further into his Mercury work (whether it's Universal's Definitive Collection and Gold or Bear Family's Rocks) but this serves up the best and biggest dose of Jerry Lee at his prime. ~

By: Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

New Vinyl-Record Listings

DIRECTORY

of Vinyl-Record Sources

………..

NEW ADDITIONS

Generation Records 210 Thompson Street New York, NY 10012-484

Vinyl Road Rage
Chicago to San Antonio

Recycled Records, Springfield, Illinois

Vintage Vinyl St. Louis Missouri

Record Exchange St. Louis, Missouri

Stick It In Your Ear, Springfield Missouri

Forever Young, Grand Prairie, Texas

Waterloo Records, Austin, Texas

The Clash - "London Calling" - CLASSIC CLASH

Title: "London Calling" Artist: The Clash

Give 'Em Enough Rope, for all of its many attributes, was essentially a holding pattern for the Clash, but the double-album London Calling is a remarkable leap forward, incorporating the punk aesthetic into rock & roll mythology and roots music.

Before, the Clash had experimented with reggae, but that was no preparation for the dizzying array of styles on London Calling. There's punk and reggae, but there's also rockabilly, ska, New Orleans R&B, pop, lounge jazz, and hard rock; and while the record isn't tied together by a specific theme, its eclecticism and anthemic punk function as a rallying call.

While many of the songs -- particularly "London Calling," "Spanish Bombs," and "The Guns of Brixton" -- are explicitly political, by acknowledging no boundaries the music itself is political and revolutionary.

But it is also invigorating, rocking harder and with more purpose than most albums, let alone double albums. Over the course of the record, Joe Strummer and Mick Jones (and Paul Simonon, who wrote "The Guns of Brixton") explore their familiar themes of working-class rebellion and antiestablishment rants, but they also tie them in to old rock & roll traditions and myths, whether it's rockabilly greasers or "Stagger Lee," as well as mavericks like doomed actor Montgomery Clift. The result is a stunning statement of purpose and one of the greatest rock & roll albums ever recorded. [In 2000 Columbia/Legacy reissued and remastered London Calling.]

Performers: Irish Horns - Brass; Varren Steadman - Voices; Joe Strummer - Guitar (Rhythm), Guitar, Vocals; M. Jones - Piano; Mick Gallagher - Organ; Mick Jones - Guitar, Piano, Vocals; Paul Simonon - Vocals, Bass; Topper Headon - Drums (Snare), Percussion, Drums

By: Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi


View More Details About This Classic Vinyl-Record:  

Blues Magoos - "Psychedelic Lollipop" Album

Title: "Psychedelic Lollipop"   Artist: Blues Magoos

 The Blues Magoos sound less like psychedelic visionaries than a solid garage band with a taste for the blues on their debut album, Psychedelic Lollipop, though the lysergic reference of the title certainly put them ahead of the curve in 1966, when LSD was still obscure enough to be legal in much of the United States.

The album leads off with the group's first and only major hit single, "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet," and unlike most albums released by one-hit wonders of the mid-'60s, the single isn't the most exciting song here. That honor goes to the Magoos' cover of J.D. Loudermilk's "Tobacco Road" (which Lenny Kaye selected for his iconic garage rock compilation Nuggets), featuring some gutsy guitar work from Mike Esposito and Emil "Peppy" Thielhelm and impressive organ swells from Ralph Scala as the tune leans into a major rave-up midway through.

Outside of that, Psychedelic Lollipop rarely sounds like a classic, but it's solid stuff -- the covers are chosen and played well (including a committed take on James Brown's "I'll Go Crazy"), the originals show the band knew their way around rock & roll, R&B, and blues with no small aplomb, and the band could stretch out on numbers like "Sometimes I Think About," "Worried Life Blues," and "Tobacco Road", while generating excitement and not losing the plot.

Psychedelic Lollipop doesn't sound like the work of a great band, but certainly like one who were better than average, and considering how many bands who cranked out a single like "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet" ended up making albums clogged with filler, it says a lot that even the weakest tracks here show this group had talent, ideas, and the know-how to make them work in the studio.

Performers: Emil Thielhelm - Guitar (Rhythm); Geoff Daking - Drums; Mike Esposito - Guitar; Ralph Scala - Vocals, Organ; Ronnie Gilbert - Bass

By:  Mark Deming, Rovi


FOR MORE DETAILS ON THIS ALBUM -   
                                                                  Visit This Classic Rock Web Site

Vinyl Record Retailers - Few New Additions To Directory

DIRECTORY

of Vinyl-Record Sources

………..

FEW OF OUR LATEST NEW ADDITIONS

Michiana Used Music & Media

4609 Grape Road

Mishawaka, IN 46545-8257

( 574) 247-1188

Record Revolution

1828 Coventry Road

Cleveland

Hts, OH 44118-1692

(216) 321-7661

New West Coast Pop & Indy Artists, Funk & Soul, Blues

Music Saves

15801 Waterloo Rd Cleveland, OH 44110

Bent Crayon

11600 Detroit Avenue Cleveland, OH 44102-2320

(216) 221-9200

Jerry’s Records 2136 Murray Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15217

Mr. Mike’s

27 S 3rd St Harrisburg, PA 17101

Double Decker Records

808 St John St Allentown, PA 18103

How Colored Vinyl Records Drive LP Prices

As reported by "The Daily Weekly"

Jack White Challenges
eBay Flippers

Jack White’s Third Man Records produces a large number of standard all-black vinyl records for every album it releases—but those LPs and 45s aren’t the ones that drive fans wild. No, what the fans go crazy for are the limited-edition versions, made in two- and three-colored vinyl.

The trouble is, scalpers or “flippers” have been profiteering off of the fans’ insatiable appetite for these rare multicolored records, snatching them up and selling them on eBay for hundreds of dollars. Recently, according to Antiquiet, White decided to take matters into his own hands when Third Man Records put five copies of an extremely limited double-colored reissue of The White Stripes’ first album on eBay directly. One has already sold for $510, and odds are it will never see a turntable.
Fans, many of whom pay for special access to Third Man Records through The Vault fan club, expressed outrage. White responded: “We sell a Wanda Jackson split record for 10 bucks, the eBay flipper turns around and sells it for $300. If $300 is what it’s worth, then why doesn’t Third Man Records sell it for $300? If we sell them for more, the artist gets more, the flipper gets nothing. We’re not in the business of making flippers a living. We’re in the business of giving fans what they want.”

Who can argue with the fabulous Wanda Jackson getting paid (not to mention her hard-working engineers, mixers, and producers), over the opportunist guy lingering outside Third Man Records in his black SUV? Still the move has raised a lot of questions about who’s exploiting the collectors market, and how.
In our interview with Ben Blackwell, the head of vinyl production at the label, he explained, “The idea is to make music accessible. We do a limited run of these tricolor or split-color records to cater to the collectors, the people who crave that stuff. But if you’re a music fan, we’re also the place for you. [The music] will always be available.
“People sometimes complain, saying, ‘I couldn’t get your 8-inch records in Texas or your 13-inch records,’ or  ‘I couldn’t get the glow-in-the-dark records in London.’ Those records were made to celebrate an event. The point is that you had to actually be there.

We also get a little bit of a flack for not making this stuff available online to the worldwide market. To those critics, we just have to respond by saying that they are totally missing the point. One of the ideas behind Third Man is that not everything is just available with the click of a mouse. A lot of what we try to do is meant to be a part of a tangible, real experience.

The White Stripes reissue in question.

 “When we started out pressing the tricolor vinyl, we were pressing 100 copies of tricolor 7-inchers, and they were only available at our storefront. People were pissed—some of them are still pissed about it. Seeing how well it went over, but trying to respond to the complaints, we’ve tweaked it a bit. We still make 100 available in our storefront. People line up and wait overnight outside of our store to get them; some will get proxies in there, and people will flip them on eBay, all that stuff. But we also press 50 copies that we insert randomly into mail orders for that title. So you never know.”

DEEP PURPLE - Made In Japan - Vinyl Album

Metal LPs RULE

New York City – From notable artists like Metallica and Van Halen are hard to find limited release vinyl records meant to document live shows.

The record cover below has regular wear for its age. Vinyl plays well, expressing

the high energy generated by DEEP PURPLE in the shows performed

during their Japanese tour.

                                                                    

LIVE Deep Purple LP FOUND IN NYC

.

Select Vinyl Albums / LPs & Vinyl 45s

Vinyl Record Suppliers
   HARD TO FIND COLLECTIBLE LPs & 45rpm RECORDS

  Search through the inventory, see if you find some of your own favorites.