Lunch Break Lacquer: Cajun Blues, Searing Slide, A California Girl and Bull Run (um, I mean, Manassas)
Stephen Stills: Manassas (texture and I own this on CD)
I just got back from a jaunt over to one of Soho's (London) vinyl graveyards. I use my lunch break to seek out old records that need new life breathed into them. Today I feel like a regular Dr. Fronkensteen (not Frankenstein!).
Neil Young's three consecutive early 1970's albums "Time Fades Away", "On The Beach" and Tonight's The Night are considered by many fans the Rosetta Stone to understanding his entire body of work. Because of their dark, haunting brilliance, the albums are known as "The Ditch Trilogy".
In the often quoted hand written liner notes of Decade, Neil writes: " 'Heart of Gold' put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore so I headed for the ditch." Hence, the origin of the "Ditch" term -- which is sometimes also referred to as the "Doom" period or "The Wilderness Years".
I played each one in its entirety front to back using my Sennheisser headphones. Those headphones plus this 180 gram super vinyl was a surreal experience. I don't think I could have enjoyed it more if I listened to it through my third friggin' eye...If I had one.
You are going to think I sound like a complete punter, but that first run through of these albums was like an ear-rebirth. The sound was so up in my head that it felt like Neil was in my face and was singing through it.
The depth in the music felt like aural topography. "Words" was another experience altogether. I have listened to that a couple dozen times since last Thursday. It is INTENSE. Has anyone else heard this out there? Am I wrong? Tell me otherwise.
Whew. I wish I could share it via this blog, but shit video won't do. In fact, nothing is good enough. I am spoiled rotten now.
Neil Young put out 17+ albums (including these reissues on vinyl) this year and I bought EVERYTHING. I even bought the BluRay Archives. I think this tops it for pure, I feel like I am falling through space and time, maybe I just died, someone pour me another drink, king-of-all sound listening experiences.
Thank you Neil's sound team. Thank you Neil's Muses. Thanks, Ol' Neil. These grooves rip.
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Lunch breaks aren't just for eating...unless you use them to gobble up the best of London's vintage vinyl.
I have recently discovered that there are almost one dozen vintage vinyl shops near my office in London. I work off of Oxford Street, near Soho. I went for a stroll the other day and realised that I was smack dab in the middle of my London Record Shop Search map (find it here)!
This is dangerous for many reasons. In the next few months I see three things happening as a result of my lunch break discovery...I will get skinnier, my wallet will get lighter and my vinyl collection will get much fatter. The other problem I see is that I will have to come up with excuses as to why my lunch hour has turned into a lunch hours.
Damn the problems! I have mass vinyl at my fingertips!
I am going to use this post as a photo album for my lunchtime vinyl hunt exploits. The album will keep updating as I send pics frm my iphone (via the PicPosterous app). I'll update the comments so that you can see when new vinyl haunts have been properly hunted.
To kick things off, let me tell you a bit about what I saw today:
The first shop I stopped in was"On the Beat". This shop has been alive and owned by the same guy for 31+ years! He not only had the coolest old vinyl, but he was playing great tunes...RL Burnside was blaring out from the shop into the streets when I approached the shop. He had all kinds of old Melody Maker, Creem, Rolling Stone original copies hanging on the wall; tons of artifacts and souvenirs, framed, autographed pictures; many racks of obscure, bootleg and special release vinyl.
I need more time in this shop. Too much to take in just thirty minutes. I found a gem here though: an original pressing of Bob Dylan & The Band's, "Basement Tapes". There'll be good rocking at my place tonight for sure.
The second shop I stopped in was "JB's Records". JB's was a bit smaller, certainly did not lack in volume of cool vinyl. The shop itself has been there for almost 30 years; the current owner has had it for the last ten.
Here I picked up two classics from two fave acts:
Stay tuned for more vinyl bin flipping fun...
Mother Earth kicked off this December with two full moons: December 1st and 2nd. For more than half a century, whenever two full Moons appeared in a single month (which happens on average every 2 1/2 to 3 years), the second has been christened a "Blue Moon." (source: Farmer's Almanac).
For those of you who do not know, I have been on my own World Tour of sorts as of late. In 1996 I lived in Newport, Rhode Island. In 1998 I moved up to Boston, where I met my wife (at a Tom Petty concert: find out how here). In 2002 we moved from Boston to Ft. Lauderdale, FL. In 2005, we made the big move around the globe to Sydney, Australia. This past September we relocated to London; ironically we now live on Sydney Street.
The music you hear in this clip is definitely not Charley Patton...it was what was playing in the store (I was wearing headphones). But, it is Ol'd Charley spinning round and round.
Here is the full truckload of music at Judd's Juke Joint
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The new vinyl addiction has gloriously manifested itself again, resulting in some fine new members of Judd's Juke Joint. This time around I picked up some new and used stuff. My Vinyl Buying Manifesto still rings true: choose rich classic albums, collect a lot and make it diverse. When I drop a record on the turntable, I want it to be from a well rounded collection of vinyl , I want it to be a great experience and I want it to be a repeat offender.
I don't think I have to worry about these suspects subjects; they are all repeat offenders.
The New (and by new I mean new reissues):
But tell me
How're you going to make your way in the world, woman
When you weren't cut out for working
And you just can't concentrate
And you always show up late
You said you were an actress
Yes, I believe you are
I thought you'd be a star
So I drank up all the money,
Yes, I drank up all the money,
With these phonies in this Hollywood bar,
These friends of mine in this Hollywood bar
Loneliness and frustration
We both came down with an acute case
And when the lights came up at two
I caught a glimpse of you
And your face looked like something
Death brought with him in his suitcase
Your pretty face
It looked so wasted
Another pretty face
Devastated
The French Inhaler
He stamped and mailed her
"So long, Norman"
She said, "So long, Norman"
Once you go black...
The new vinyl addiction has gloriously manifested itself again, resulting in some fine new members of Judd's Juke Joint. My Vinyl Buying Manifesto still rings true: choose rich classic albums, collect a lot and make it diverse. When I drop a record on the turntable, I want it to be from a well rounded collection of vinyl , I want it to be a great experience and I want it to be a repeat offender.
Each update will have a pic or two of the album, it's contents and maybe a vid or two.
Here is the complete Judd's Juke Joint list of music. Click on the "vinyl" tab to see what we stock in Black Beauties...
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