Record: The Next Day. Artist: David Bowie. Year: 2013. Standout Track…
Record: Mule Variations. Artist: Tom Waits. Year: 1999. Standout Track… (And the Audio doesn’t kick in until the 50 second mark)…
Record: The Dark Side Of The Moon. Artist: The Flaming Lips, Stardeath And The White Dwarfs. Featuring Henry Rollins & Peaches. Year: 2009. Standout Track…
Record: The Invisible Way. Artist: LOW. Year: 2013. Standout Track…
Record: The Doors In Concert. Artist: The Doors. Year: Various (Because it’s a compilation live album). Standout Track…
Record: The Capitol Recordings. Disc 1 (Of 6). Artist: Louis Prima, Keely Smith & Sam Butera. Year: Various. Standout Track…
Record: Lonerisim. (2012). Artist: Tame Impala. My Advice To You… I got ‘Lonerism’ after hearing the excellent taster single ‘Elephant’ a couple of months ago and honestly, the album is not nearly as good as that single.
I found myself just counting down the songs and minutes until ‘Elephant’ which is track 9.
Record: Addams Family Values. (2012). Artist: Battery Face. My Advice To You…This album is free so why the hell not?
Free music is always a good thing my friends!
It seems to be the way to do it these days. “Have my music for free just now and later, if you want to, buy it!”
- I really like that approach.
I read about Battery Face in some magazine. I liked their name and I liked the idea of an album called Addams Family Values but this has almost nothing to do with The Addams Family. A good way to get people to hear your music if a little sneaky.
Don’t expect creepy, kooky, spooky music. Expect noise. Loud noise! I like noise and I like my noise loud and I took the time to listen to this record but in the end it just didn’t do it for me.
Being a member of Battery Face is probably hugely satisfying but I’m not and so, “Addams Family Values” just sounds like a long, direction-less band jam in a garage which is locked off to the likes of me.
Record: Sally Can’t Dance. (1974). Artist: Lou Reed. My Advice To You… I like to take a chance and buy a record simply because I like the album cover. Okay, I know and love a lot of Lou Reed’s music but sometimes he can churn out downright rubbish so buying “Sally Can’t Dance” was a gamble for me. But it definitely paid off. I especially liked this number:
Record: Roseland NYC Live. (1998). Artist: Portishead. Why You Should Get It…I really wish I’d seen Portishead live. They were fucking mesmerisingly special!
Record: Louis Armstrong: Volume I & II. (Compilation). Artist: Louis Armstrong. Why You Should Get It…It’s Louis Armstrong. Just get it. You need it. Everybody does!
Record: Seed Of A Memory. (1976). Artist: Terry Reid. Why You Should Get It… Rob Zombie introduced me to this guy. Not personally of course but through his soundtrack for “The Devil’s Rejects” which doesn’t contain a bad song. It’s early days but so far, so far this is my favourite track from ‘Seed of Memory’:
Record: Raging Bull (OST). (1980). Artist: Various. Why You Should Get It… Martin Scorsese has exquisite taste in music and the “Raging Bull” main title theme is the icing on the cake of the films’ beautiful opening credits…
Record: 40/40. (2009). Artist: The Carpenters. Why You Should Get It…
Record: The Sophtware Slump (Deluxe Edition). (2011) Artist: Grandaddy. Why You Should Get It… The acoustic Demo for ‘Hewlett’s Daughter’ is worth the price of this Deluxe Edition alone.
Record: Re-Ac-Tor. (1981). Artist: Neil Young & Crazy Horse. Why You Should Get It… Like a lot of Neil’s records, Re-Ac-Tor is underappreciated…
Record: The Original Rumble. (1958). Artist: Link Wray. Why You Should Get It… One of the very first rock records. Not Rock & Roll, ROCK!
I’ve been a guitar player for almost 21 years now…
My very first guitar cost my parents 15 bucks. It was a 3/4 sized cherry sunburst acoustic and it came with horrible black nylon, plasticy strings which I replaced as soon as I figured out how. I’ve never ever seen black guitar strings since.
I got that guitar for my 10th birthday and I played it for about 5 hours every single day over the next few years. Regrettably, I gave that guitar away to a pal and the last I heard of it, it had been sprayed with silver or blue paint and as recently as 2004 it was still being passed around by kids in my home town interested in learning how to play.
I wish I still had it.
My second guitar wasn’t very much of an improvement on my first. Again, it was a nylon stringed acoustic costing 25 bucks from a catalogue. It was just like the kind of guitar used in Scottish high school music departments.
That guitar ended up falling off of a cliff and getting smashed into smithereens. Yep. A cliff.
I went through quite a few guitars after that and eventually ended up playing an electric Epiphone Les Paul. It was blue and sparkly and it really was a great guitar. I played it for years and by the time I was through with it, it was covered in scratches and dents and occasionally, blood. The paint below the scratch plate had worn away and the neck had even been broken and fixed but you know what? It didn’t matter because those scratches, dents, dings and breaks were made because of the way I play.
I took great care of that guitar but that doesn’t mean to say that I didn’t use it. Scratches and breaks are inevitable.
Whilst looking at Gibson Les Paul guitars on Ebay today I came across this:
Neil Young OLD BLACK Gibson Epiphone Les Paul Standard Gold Top – Bigsby Relic
Neil Young’s ‘OLD BLACK’!
Yours for only £1299.00!
- Except, that’s not Neil’s beloved Old Black because Neil has his beloved Old Black because it’s his. Nope, that’s a replicated version of Old Black and as you can see, it looks just like the real thing. Every scratch and modification has been painstakingly recreated exactly according to the original.
I have a problem with this kind of thing.
I think it’s a sad person who would spend money on this. Neil Young didn’t make or cause those scratches or (as I believe they are called in the business) ‘distress marks’. Some guy in a factory made those marks and besides, why would anybody want a new and unplayed guitar which is covered in scratches? It won’t make you sound like Neil Young my friend. Neil Young sounds like Neil Young because he’s Neil Young and because he does things like this:
That guitar is not beat up. It just looks beat up. It’s never been played and ironically it’s listed on Ebay as: “A new, unused item with absolutely no signs of wear.”
What we have here is simply an overpriced Les Paul Epiphone. The original ‘Old Black’ was and still is: (a) Old. (b) A 1953 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop which was crudely painted over with black paint and then heavily modified by Neil Young.
Do you see what I’m getting at here?
If your guitar ends up as beat up as this cheap imitation looks, it should be in that condition because you really used your guitar over the years.
I also have a problem with the money that is charged for shoddy items like this.
A beat up and broken VOX amp that Jimi Hendrix once pissed on and then set fire to?
- Nah. I’ll take a fully working and un-pissed upon VOX amp that hasn’t been set alight thanks.
A beautiful cherry sunburst guitar that has been defaced by the signature of Slash in thick black marker?
- I think you see where I’m going here don’t you?
I hope you do because this isn’t what guitars are for. Play your guitar every day and before you know it, you’ll have a style all of your own and if the Gibson Company one day approach you to authorise your very own signature brand?
- Tell them to EFF OFF!
“JAWS” (OST): Anniversary Collector’s Edition (2000) By: John Williams. Why You Should Get It… I feel that I should point out something about the soundtrack to the cinematic classic, “JAWS”.
If, like me, you have the original soundtrack on vinyl, you don’t have what you think you have. The original vinyl soundtrack was a re-recording of the film score specifically for the soundtrack. Make sense?
Basically, if you have the original soundtrack to the film “JAWS”, you don’t.
This my friends, is why you really need the ‘Collector’s Anniversary Edition’. It IS the same recording as used in the film without the 70′s tape hiss etc… and it sounds better than ever!
“Banga” (2012). By: Pattis Smith. Why You Should Get It… The really (un or intentionally) freaky cover of Neil Young’s ‘After The Gold Rush’:
Which leads me on to…
“Americana” (2012). By: Neil Young & Crazy Horse. Why You Should Get It… Hands in the air? Honest engine? I don’t think you should get this album. Not because it’s bad, just because as far as Neil Young & Crazy Horse standards go, “Americana” is just not that good. It also has a lot do with Neil’s choice of songs. See, there are hundreds of better versions by other people and bands out there.
That said, every single video for the album is old timey and brilliant!
This is my favourite:
“Rock Around The Clock” (1954). By: Bill Haley & The Comets. Why You Should Get It… Whenever I think of Rock & Roll, I think of Little Richard, Berry, Jerry Lee and then Presley. I almost never think about Bill Haley and yet he was the one who made it all popular.
“Rock Around The Clock” is a peach of a song and the album is brilliant too with none of the filler you’d expect from an old Rock band like this BUT! Sadly, this record was deleted from circulation some time ago.
I found a mint condition copy in Glasgow’s Panopticon Shop and it only cost me ₤1! I was lucky that day and that night, I danced around my house to the sound of this:
“The Complete Million Dollar Quartet” (2006). By:The Million Dollar Quartet. Why You Should Get It… This is one of the greatest records I own. The Million Dollar Quartet was the name given to a one-off chance jam session at Sun Records in 1956 between Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins. The results are GOLDEN! I’ve spoken to hardcore Elvis fanatics and they don’t even rate this record! That’s how good it is!
Never trust an Elvis fan who loves his entire discography!
See, The Million Dollar Quartet session was an unplanned jam. There are bum notes, studio chat, giggling and false starts ALL OVER THE PLACE!
It’s an utter joy to listen to and you feel like you’re right there in the room with these people.
Elvis is obviously the star of the show here and you can actually hear the awe coming from the other 3 whenever he says something.
The Million Dollar Quartet session actually highlights how amateur Presley was as a guitar player and how mesmerisingly fiery Jerry lee Lewis was as a piano player.
There’s a great moment where Elvis explains how he saw some unknown and unnamed singer do a song called “Don’t Be Cruel” and how he himself took some of Wilson’s mannerisms for his own version. The singer Presley was talking about was Jackie Wilson and you can hear it here:
Johnny Cash is particularly quiet during the entire session and Carl Perkins is…Carl Perkins but for me, Jerry Lee Lewis is the main man of the quartet and you can easily pick up on him silently plotting to wipe the floor with Elvis and as far as I’m concerned, that’s exactly what he does when he rattles this off on his piano at the end of the record:
“The Chess Story 1947-1975” Volume 1 (1999). By: Various Artists. Why You Should Get It… I’ve mentioned this 15 disc set before and I’m sure I’ll talk about it more in the future because it’s ASTONISHING! It’s probably the greatest collection of popular and rare blues music that exists. I keep being caught off guard by little tracks that I’d maybe missed before and a few days ago, this wee shiny gem had me cracking up right in the middle of the street…
I couldn’t get enough of the 15 Chess Story discs. I needed more! I dug around and discovered THIS:
“The Complete Stax/Volt Singles 1959-1968” Volume 1 (2003). By: Various Artists. Why You Should Get It… I managed to get my hands on Volume 1 of 3 which is 9 Discs worth of some of the greatest music that’s ever been!
So far, my favourite track is ‘Last Night’ by The Mar-Keys and the Rik Mayall fans among you may find it to be very familiar…
All of these albums and records come highly recommended from me to you!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
…Of course, you could spend a lot of time and money tracking all of those records down OR you could spend 11 bucks on a 12″ vinyl copy of “Love Lust Tales” from HERE which I designed the artwork for…
“A Night To Remember” (Audio Book). (2010). Artist: Written by Walter Lord. Read by Martin Jarvis. Why You Should Get It: This is a complete and compelling moment by moment account of The RMS Titanic disaster as told by the survivors themselves.
I bust my audio book cherry with “A Night To Remember” last week and it has left me completely stunned.
Highly recommended!
“Cape Fear” (Original Score). (1991). Artist: Bernard Herrmann & Elmer Bernstein. Why You Should Get It: Click HERE.
Ah, Bernard Herrmann. I’ve listened to his work every week ever since I got the “Taxi Driver” soundtrack last year! Did Herrmann ever write something that wasn’t completely brilliant? I can’t find any evidence if he did.
This is of course the soundtrack to the 1991 Martin Scorsese film “Cape Fear” and not the original 1961 film of the same name and so, what we have here is Bernard Herrmann’s original score adapted and arranged by Elmer Bernstein.
And it works!
It’s gloriously ominous.
“Left My Blues In San Francisco”. (1967). Artist: Buddy Guy. Why You Should Get It: Click HERE.
“A Wasteland Companion”. (2012). Artist: M. Ward. Why You Should Get It: Click HERE.
I had to get M. Ward’s “A Wasteland Companion” because last month he supported the brilliant Leslie Feist in Glasgow all by himself and I thought he carried it all off well. When he opened for Feist, Ward only used an acoustic guitar and (I think) a loop pedal and it was really great y’know? He’s a magical guitar player with really interesting and unusual chord patterns.
“A Wasteland Companion” is a very nice album but it’s mostly full-on band material instead of the stripped down bare bones I saw at the Feist gig. It’s probably one of those albums which I’ll listen to a few times before forgetting BUT!
- As I was typing this, I asked my pal Sean if he’d ever heard M. Ward’s material and he said that he has his first two albums which are bare and stripped down so maybe I should go and dig those up before I go any further with M. Ward.
“Grinderman”. (2007). Artist: “Grinderman”. Why You Should Get It: Click HERE.
I like Grinderman much more than I like Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds and despite what everybody I know told me, I thought that “Murder Ballads” was a fucking terrible album. SO THERE YOU GO!
“Romeo And Juliet”. (2001). Artist: Sergei Prokofiev. Why You Should Get It: Just click HERE.
“Deja Vu”. (1970). Artist: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Why You Should Get It: Click HERE.
“Deja Vu” (or as I’ve come to call it, “Davie Who?”) is a complete classic of an album and I guess now is as good a time as any to explain how I have an almost mint condition vinyl copy in my house.
Basically, I stole it.
Way back in the mid 1990′s my girlfriend’s Dad had “Deja Vu” on vinyl and he never played it. It was such a hard to find album back then and I could not wait to hear it. I couldn’t even believe that he had a copy nevermind a mint conditioned vinyl copy.
I constantly asked him for a loan of the album or if he could even see his way to playing the album for me. Just once. It wasn’t a lot to ask but he wouldn’t do it so one day I just removed it from his house and moved it into mine. I still have it and I play it all the time but I am sorry that I stole it.
No really, I am!
“The SInking Of The Titanic / Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet”. (1975). Artist: Gavin Bryars. Why You Should Get It: Click HERE.
I don’t really have any words to describe how great and profound this music is. If I think of any, I’ll come back and write them down.
“The Godfather PART II” (Original Score & Soundtrack). (1974). Artist: Nino Rota. Why You Should Get It: Click HERE.
“L.A. Woman” (40th Anniversary Edition). (2012). Artist: The Doors. Why You Should Get It: Click HERE.
I’ve always loved the “L.A. Woman” album and I’ve always loved The Doors. I think every single song on the album is a belter and the remastered 40th Anniversary version sounds AMAZINGLY clear.
Jim Morrison recorded his vocals for this album in a bathroom and you can really hear it in this version. Matter of fact, unless you have “L.A. Woman” on vinyl, you should pick up a copy of the 40th Anniversary Edition.
- But make sure you get the correct edition because strangely, this is the second 40th Anniversary Mix of this album. It was first remixed, remastered and released in 2007. Weird eh? I really don’t know why that was.
The version I’m recommending to you contains 2 discs and was released in 2012.
