The following interview with Glenn Berger ties into the release of his new book about working at the legendary A&R Studios in New York City during the golden age of the studio. Readers are encouraged to first read the accompanying review of Berger’s book, “Never Say No To a Rock Star In the Studio with Dylan, Sinatra, Jagger and More. Glenn Berger, after he had moved on from A & R Studios You got the job at A&R Studios when you were 17 years old. Did you have any sense of the caliber of artists and production work going on there when you started? GB: Oh,... Read More
Never Say No To a Rock Star In the Studio With Dylan, Sinatra, Jagger and More by Glenn Berger
Inside A&R Studios in its Heyday-Glenn Berger Recounts the Golden Era Working with Phil Ramone This is the rare “insider” book on the rock music business in its heyday: rare because unlike the name-dropping, image-burnishing autobiographies of many fabled artists and engineers, often told from the vantage point of age and (sometimes faded) celebrity, we are in the studio—Phil Ramone’s to be exact—witnessing the performances and engineering craft of the best in the business through the eyes (and ears) of a young intern/apprentice/assistant engineer. The author, Glenn... Read More
Prog Rock Obscurities – by Ken Golden
Prog Rock Obscurities – by Ken Golden Any list of recommended albums is simply a snapshot representing a momentary state of mind. Here are 10 prog rock albums that will require some digging but if you are a fan of the genre you will be rewarded. Don’t think of this as a definitive “top 10” just 10 great ones in no particular order: Spring – same (RCA Neon). Neon was RCA’s answer to Philips Vertigo label. In fact they poached Vertigo founder Olav Wyper and he set up shop offering similar fare. Spring was from Leicester in the UK. Their sole album was released... Read More
Digging Deeper into Progressive Rock with Ken Golden
I am delighted to include a piece by Ken Golden, entitled “Prog Rock Obscurities” on some of the more obscure, but still accessible, masterpieces of “prog” rock. Ken has not only become my “go to” guy on matters “prog” but has an interesting history: After years of crate digging and buying some of the most obscure (and ultimately valuable) period “progressive rock” records (when they were still obscure, but far cheaper), Ken launched a company, The Laser’s Edge, in 1987 to distribute digital copies of rare progressive rock... Read More
JOSH WHITE: JOSH AT MIDNIGHT REMASTERED (Ramseur Records Ram 1-811)
Blues is both some of the simplest and hardest music to play: I don’t care if it’s played on a Les Paul pumped through a stack of Marshalls or a beat down acoustic guitar from an old ’78—it isn’t the notes, it’s the feeling, the tone and rhythm that convey the emotion, not pyrotechnics. Josh White is somewhat of an enigma to me- he was around in the earliest days of the rural blues, learning his chops from street performers in the South where he grew up. White helped popularize a regional style of “Piedmont blues,” known for its distinctive fingerpicking and alternating... Read More
A Nice Note from a Reader~
The expertise Mr. Hart freely shares in his thoughtful reviews and compelling articles through The Vinyl Press should be required reading for any serious collector. Besides publishing informative interviews with recording artists like Ian Anderson, the record reviews in The Vinyl Press provide an important guide to filling those obscure niches every collector has. Any worthwhile LP collection should include examples of the excellent but underappreciated recordings by artists such as Bloodwyn Pig, Captain Beyond and Terry Reid – albums that likely never would have entered my ken without... Read More
Lucifer’s Friend self-titled
If you mixed Zep riffs with Uriah Heep vocal parts, played by Black Sabbath and added in some organ parts ala Deep Purple, you’d be describing the debut album of Lucifer’s Friend. No surprise about the vocals- John Lawton later went on to sing for Heep, but already had that full-throated wail on this record. The band is essentially a German heavy rock band that has been labeled, after the fact, as “proto-heavy metal.” That’s fair, in the same sense that early Sabbath and Deep Purple (and even the Iron Butterfly) anticipate some of the “heavy” rock that followed, before speed... Read More
Dead Can Dance’s INTO THE LABYRINTH: A COMPARISON OF PRESSINGS
Into the Labyrinth: Comparing Three Vinyl Pressings Dead Can Dance’s Into the Labyrinth is probably the most accessible and well-known album by the group/duo of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry. For those familiar with the album, it is a striking blend of aboriginal polyrhythms, Celtic spiritualism, with mid-Eastern influences, medieval chants and powerful electronica/ rock, all pulled together and made coherent by the haunting sing song of Gerrard’s ethereal voice and the contrasts of Brendan Perry’s more conventional, but distinctive, vocal style. For those unfamiliar with Dead... Read More
BLIND MELON Self-Titled
These guys were not on my radar during the ‘90s- and after two albums, the lead singer died of a drug overdose in the band’s tour bus outside a venue. Vinyl releases of the first album were extremely limited, and are now very costly. Music on Vinyl (“MOV”) has done a reissue worth buying. That label, which presses through the old CBS plant in the Netherlands, is a prolific reissue house, but source material is often digital files, making it less desirable than other, more “audiophile” reissue labels that promise full analog reissues. (Though astute readers are aware that... Read More
Warps, Budget Ultrasonic Cleaning and Surface Dust: An Introduction
Warps, Budget Ultrasonic Cleaning and Surface Dust: An Introduction I buy a lot of used records and encounter some “challenged” copies in the process. This is hardly deliberate but comes with the territory: sometimes, the records are purchased in “lots” or more often, over the Internet, where physical inspection is impractical if not impossible. Even new, sealed records have problems. (Older “sealed” records can be the riskiest in my estimation- a complete unknown and if too tightly shrink-wrapped, are prone to warps over time). But, through a combination of... Read More
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