I’m listening to Les Paul in 1948. His tone is big, rich, and woody- with added percussive accents when he slaps the body of the guitar. What I’m hearing is vivid, real and alive- in a room thousands of miles and more than half a century away from the garage where these recordings were made. We sit in a studio that looks like a cross between an old time record mastering suite and something from the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. There is nobody else in the room but the preservation engineer. Nearby stands a library cart full of old discs, each one holding a single track, or... Read More
Exploring Island Records (Pink Label and Pink Rim)
Island Records in the late 60’s had an incredibly rich catalog, musically, along with amazing sonics. We will be getting some in-depth insights into the early days of the label and exploring some of the many wonderful records that appeared during the the golden (pink label) era. Stay tuned! ... Read More
Hellfire: The Jerry Lee Lewis Story, (Tosches, Nick)
There is a great endorsement that appears on the back cover of one of Ben McIntyre’s books about WWII; it reads, simply, “The best book ever written.” This book, by Nick Tosches, may actually come close. Written in a schizophrenic style which alternates between a straight narrative and the hellfire and brimstone voice of religious guilt and condemnation, Jerry Lee Lewis is reconstructed in this book as one of the first great rock and roll stars- screaming drunk, waving a handgun, at the front gates of Graceland, yelling for Elvis to come out; one-upping Chuck Berry, who... Read More
Amina Claudia Meyers, Salutes Bessie Smith
When I heard this record by jazz pianist, composer and singer Amina Claudine Meyers on the radio back in the early 80’s in NY, I wrote down the title and went to Tower Records on Broadway and bought it. It is not something I play often but I do come back to it when I want to hear what a real piano sounds like. The record has a spare, underproduced quality, Ms. Meyers can wail with the best of them, but her piano work is superb; she captures a sort of forgotten sound- of a big instrument being played at full tilt with majesty and power, but singing in a mournful voice. The vocals... Read More
Taste, On the Boards
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