Caravan “In the Land of Grey and Pink” -The “Canterbury Scene” Caravan’s “In the Land of Grey and Pink,” released in 1971, is generally considered one of the best representations of the so-called “Canterbury Scene.” What, you may ask, is the “Canterbury Scene”? To me, it is a very imprecise label for an offshoot of progressive rock that had no specific style, and was not necessarily even linked to the cathedral city from which it drew its name. Commentators often point to the pastoral aspects of the music, or the peculiarly English sense of whimsy associated with... 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
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
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
Featured Book Review: The Godfather of the Music Business: Morris Levy
This book—an in-depth biography of Morris Levy, a legendary music business figure with reputed “mob ties” —is long overdue. We seem to have a collective fascination for scoundrels, thugs and gangsters. But Levy was no mere thug: from his Birdland, a midtown jazz club where Charlie Parker, Coltrane, Monk, Miles, Bud Powell and Count Basie played, to his mass marketing of pop music in the decades that followed, Levy had a keen sense of where the business was headed and capitalized on it. Yet Levy always remained a shadowy figure, even decades after his death.... Read More
Ageless Troubadour: A Chat with Ian Anderson
Few popular artists have remained as relevant or inventive as Ian Anderson over the course of nearly fifty years. Best known as the flamboyant front man of Jethro Tull, Anderson is a gifted songwriter, showman and performer. He is also someone who has repeatedly redefined himself throughout his professional career. Transitioning from electric blues to minstrel-tinged rock, Anderson established an identifiable sound that became uniquely associated with Tull: drawing on medieval motifs, hard rock, folk and other elements, Anderson and the band invested the troubadour’s ballad... Read More
One Year of TheVinylPress
One Year of TheVinylPress.com Self-congratulatory pieces are usually distasteful to me. But, I wanted to mark the first anniversary of TheVinylPress.com for several reasons. This all started rather innocuously- and for entirely selfish reasons. I got serious about hunting for the best sounding vinyl LPs- “ordinary” records, not necessarily “audiophile” releases — of hard rock, folk, psychedelia and offbeat stuff that didn’t always make “best of” lists, wasn’t necessarily reissued or remastered and in many cases, might prove... Read More
The Art of Recording: A Conversation with Brooks Arthur
The Art of Recording: A Conversation with Brooks Arthur Janis and Brooks at the board-Between the Lines sessions, courtesy Peter Cunningham Brooks Arthur still dreams of the little studio he owned in Blauvelt, New York in the early ‘70s; a converted gas station on a suburban highway next to an all-night diner in “upstate” New York. 914 Studios (pronounced: “nine-one–four,” the telephone area code there at the time) may have been one of the best sounding rooms Arthur recorded in. He ought to know: a songwriter and performer with ties to the Brill Building era, Arthur... Read More
LYNYRD SKYNYRD: Revisited
Given the current cultural antipathy toward symbols of the “old South,” I admit to a moment’s pause before diving into a piece about Lynyrd Skynyrd. In popular culture, the band is often associated with the glory of the South and, perhaps unfairly, some of the pejoratives. Is it possible to enjoy the band without endorsing any negative symbolism? I don’t know about others, but I can. I’m not making any sort of cultural statement here. I just really dig their music– they were originals – superb players and well worth exploring beyond the stereotypes. Back in the... Read More