Rory Gallagher is another legendary guitarist whose playing is recognized not just for his skill, but for his ability to play inside of the song: – no boring, self- indulgent solos, or mind-bending exercises of guitar wizardry, this guy was musical! The album, from his band Taste, captures one of many high points in Gallagher’s career. Songs range from beefy rockers, like “What’s Going On” to lilting folk ballads (“If the Day Was Any Longer”). The tunes stay with you; the musicianship is something you can go back to again and again and hear... Read More
Cleaning and Archival Standards of Care
My visit to the Audiovisual Conservation facilities of the U.S. Library of Congress was prompted by a desire to learn about the steps a first class archival facility uses to preserve and store recorded media, in particular, vinyl records. There is a wealth of products available to the consumer for record care and cleaning, but very little concrete information about the processes or their effectiveness, apart from what is supplied by the various product manufacturers; most of what I learned was based on personal experience, experimenting with different cleaning methods, machines and... Read More
Free, Tons of Sobs- Island ILPS 9089
The band “Free” now has legendary status, in good part because of the deft guitar work of Paul Kossoff, another giant talent who died young. This album, their first, is a heady mix of blues and psychedelia, with the distinctive voice of Paul Rodgers- the band achieved fame with their later hit, “All Right Now,” and eventually morphed into Bad Company, which was a driving hard rock act immediately identifiable by Rodger’s voice. But, in this early incarnation, the elements of rock, psych and blues are more evenly balanced. Kossoff’s playing is lyrical and... Read More
The Turning Point (Piermont, New York)
This place is a throwback in time and musical history. Located about 30 miles north of Manhattan, in the quaint and quirky village of Piermont, the club has been a draw for musicians old and new, for decades. Hubert Sumlin played here, as did Junior Wells (with Buddy Guy), along with Dave Mason, Janis Ian and Arlo Guthrie. The list of serious players that have graced the stage in just the last couple years includes David Lindley, Jim Messina, Terry Reid, Johnny Winter and James Hunter. I’ve discovered talent here that was new to me: Alexis P. Sutter, an unbelievable gospel... Read More
Record Cleaning- An Introduction
Introduction: For decades, I had a pretty casual relationship with record cleaning. I own a lot of records, bought my first vacuum record cleaning machine in the mid-80’s and didn’t give record cleaning much thought: I’d use one brand or another of commercially available fluid (there were fewer options in those days and occasionally I’d mix up some home brew), apply it, vacuum it using the “cleaning machine” and done. Clean is clean, right? What started me down the path of exploring vinyl record cleaning in more depth over the past couple years was... Read More
Entering the World of the Vertigo Swirl
I will be devoting some attention to the records released on this label during its heyday- starting in late 1969 and ending in 1973. Some are extremely expensive now owing to their rarity, but others can be had for a reasonable price if you are willing to do a little digging. Rather than start in sequence, with the first release, or pick a well-known record, it makes sense to take advantage of the Vertigo sampler that was released in 1970 as an introduction to the label. It contains a number of noteworthy tracks, including some that appear on the extremely collectible records; as this two... Read More
Trixie Whitley- I’d Rather Go Blind 45rpm 10″ single- Belgian pressing
Not to be confused with the famous Etta James song, Trixie Whitley (daughter of legendary Texas blueman, Chris Whitley) cut this track early on in her career. Produced by Daniel Lanois, with Brian Blade on drums, the opening drum beats suck you in immediately. Ms. Whitley has the same quality that her father did- an utterly authentic, very musical voice that is the opposite of stylized; instead there is a ‘rip’ in her voice that just grabs you. Do not confuse this with her EP that contains several tracks including this song- find the 45 containing just this one track- it... Read More
James Gang, Best of-
This old ABC Dunhill compilation (look for the ‘children’s blocks’ logo on the label) sounds great, gives you the hits from the first three albums; some copies even contain the Ravel Bolero passage (in the song ‘The Bomber’) that was excised from later pressings although it is not easy to tell whether it is included in a given copy based on the deadwax or other indicia. Pretty low-rent album art that just adds to the gestalt. Start your Harleys! ... Read More
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