Tag: vinyl
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The Runaways, The Runaways, 1976 on Mercury
Debut album from Joan Jett, Lita Ford, Cherie Currie, Jackie Fox, and Sandy West, aka The Runaways – though apparently Nigel Harrison actually plays the bass on the album. Currie published a memoir (Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway) on which the 2010 biopic The Runaways was based, with Kristen Stewart playing Joan Jett,…
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May The Circle Remain Unbroken: A Stribute to Roky Erickson, 2021 on LIght In The Attic
Posthumous tribute album for Roky Erickson by the same producer who assembled Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye, which was a 1990 tribute album that introduced my to many of his songs (though I also knew the 13th Floor Elevators LPs). Tracklist and participants: Plus a “Record Store Day only” 7″ flexi-disc single with Erickson…
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Merle Haggard & Willie Nelson, Poncho & Lefty, 1983 on Epic
Another Willie Nelson duet album, this one from 1983 with fellow “outlaw” Merle Haggard with title track from Townes Van Zandt. Great collection of songs, including Nelson’s own “Opportunity to Cry,” the title track, and the pairing of “Reasons to Quit” with “No Reason to Quit.” My copy—via Electric Fetus in Minneapolis MN—is a Columbia…
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Junior Wells, Southside Blues Jam, 1970 on Delmark Records
Junior Wells with Otis Spann, Buddy Guy (on sixe tracks), and Louis Myers (on 2 tracks), recorded Dec 30th, 1969 and Jan 8th, 1970. This was Spann’s last session before he died in 1970. We have tried to capture on this album what a listener would hear any Monday night at Theresa’s blues bar at…
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Bob Dylan, Planet Waves, 1974 on Asylum
Dylan’s first album after leaving Columbia for Asylum Records, with The Band as the backing group, and his fourteenth overall. (The only other was Before the Flood – both were later reissued by Columbia). Includes not one but two version of “Forever Young” – fast and slow – along with “Going, Going, Gone” and “On…
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Fleetwood Mac, Jumping At Shadows, 1985 on Varrick
This release is also known as Live in Boston, and first surfaced in the mid-80s. It is labelled as “Live in Boston 1969” but it was actually recorded at The Boston Tea Party (which used to be at 15 Lansdowne Street, where the House of Blues Boston now sits) in February 1970. It was professionally…
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John Mayall, Lots of People, 1977 on ABC Records
Mayall live from The Roxy in LA, recorded November 24th, 1976. This was Mayall’s eighth live album, with supporting band including a horn section with Red Holloway, Ann Patterson, David Li, Jimmy Roberts, Bill Lamb, and Nolan Smith. That’s lots of people on stage. I’m something of a Mayall completist – this mid-seventies California Jazz…
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The Housemartins, Me and the Farmer, 1987 on Go! Discs
Released as a 12″ single from The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death, including the b-side of the 7″ single “I Bit My Lip” but also “He Will Find You Out” and “Step Outside.” Norman Cook (who later became Fatboy Slim among many aliases), Dave Hemingway (also later in The Beautiful South), Stan Cullimore, and…
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The Smiths, Meat is Murder, 1985 on Rough Trade / Sire
Released on Rough Trade in the UK and Sire in the US, this was the second studio album from the Smiths. The US version of the LP included “How Soon is Now?” which did not appear on the UK edition. but was issued as a single. The version I knew growing up was the US…
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Everything But The Girl, Night and Day, 1982 on Cherry Red
Another one that originally came out as a single in the early eighties (1982) but was reissued in 2022 on Record Store Day, in this case with the same three tracks (“Feeling Dizzy” and “On My Mind” on the b-side) but as a 12″ 45rpm record. I’m a massive fan of EBTG so was super…
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Madness, Baggy Trousers, 2022 on BMG
While the original single “Baggy Trousers” came out in 1980 on Stiff Records, this 2022 six song EP is the first 12″ version. It was released for Record Store Day 2022 on 180g vinyl by BMG / Union Square Music. Six generously proportioned tracks together for the first time This includes a French cabaret style…
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Bruce Cockburn, The Trouble With Normal, 1983 on True North
Cockburn’s 13th (I think) studio album, as he transitioned from old school folkie into new wave / alternative with more electric guitar and synthesizers but carrying forward the same politics and attitude. (“The trouble with normal is that it always gets worse”). True North was an independent Canadian label founded by Bernie Finkelstein (who gets…
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Sarah Vaughan, Duke Ellington: Song Book One, 1980 on Pablo Today
First of two records of Sarah Vaughan doing Duke Ellington songs recorded in 1979 and released in 1980 (there is a Song Book Two, also released in 1980). Produced by Norman Granz, and engineered by Val Valentin and Bob Simpson. Supporting artists include Waymon Reed (trumpet), J. J. Johnson (trombone), Frank Foster (tenor sax), Frank…
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Lou Rawls, The Best From Lou Rawls, 1976 on Capitol
2xLP collection of previously released Lou Rawls tracks I picked up during a trip to Montreal last year. What a fantastic set of songs – I think Lou Rawls is underestimated as a singer and vocal stylist across the 60s and 70s. My copy, via Beatnick Records (Disques Beatnick) in Montréal Québec, is a Canadian…
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Count Basie and Oscar Peterson, Night Rider, 1980 on Pablo
One of my favorite Pablo records, bringing together two legends: Count Basie and Oscar Peterson, with support from Louis Bellson and John Heard. Produced by Norman Granz and engineered by Val Valentin, with liner notes by Nat Hentoff. Basie plays organ on “Memories of You” and Peterson plays electric piano on “Blues for Pamela.” The…
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Weird Al Yankovic, Dare To Be Stupid, 1985 on Scotti Bros.
This was the third studio LP from Weird Al, produced by Rick Derringer. Mixture of paradoes and “style parodies” which don’t copy specific songs but a generalized look and feel – like “Dare to be Stupid” which is in the style of Devo. Apparently he approached Prince about doing a parody of “When Doves Cry”…
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Peterson 6, The Oscar Peterson Big 6 at the Montreux Jazz Festival 1975, 1975 on Pablo
Titled as The Oscar Peterson Big 6, this is Peterson with Milt Jackson, Joe Pass, Toots Thielemans, Louis Bellson, and Niels Pederson – produced by Norman Granz, and recorded at the Montreux Jazz festival on July 16th, 1975. My copy—via Fin Du Vinyle in Montréal Québec—is a Canadian pressing (Made in Canada by RCA Limited…
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Mose Allison, Middle Class White Boy, 1982 on Elektra Musician
First of two Mose Allison LPs out on Elektra Musician (the other was Lessons in Living) and (per the jacket notes) the 19th Mose Allison album. Allison plays Yamaha electric piano as well as traditional acoustic piano. Allison is supported by Joe Farrell (tenor sax, flute), Phil Upchurch (guitar), Putter Smith (bass), John Dentz (drums),…