BOB DYLAN NEW ALBUM THIRD EAR MUSIC
April 30, 2009
Bob Dylan’s new album , Together Through Life , hit the record shops here in Dublin on Saturday. For over a decade now Dylan’s has been producing albums that are, lets face it , just not in the same league as Blood on the Tracks or Blonde on Blonde. As I type this blog post up it’s playing in the background on my record deck and that’s how it should be played , as background music. It’s essentially no different from his previous one which after a couple of years is still in its first pressingn and most of those still sitting on the shelves of Tower Records. It’s no worse than anything he’s done in ten years and no better. The vinyl version comes with a copy of the cd enclosed but at just 30 euros you could find better value for your money.
The Guardian newspaper has what I would consider a fair and balanced review that’s worth reading. Before you part with that 30 euros why not spend it on The Third Ear Band’s latest album , Raga Live. Third Ear used to record on the harvest label in the 60’s and 70’s and this double live album is them at their best. ……If you’ve never heard them then here’s the chance , but don’t bother downloading some 3 minute clip from the WEB, it’s not that kind of music. This is REAL …..This is what used to be known as pot smoking music……And this is strictly record player music ….two beautifull thick black slabs of vinyl….
Record Store Day 2009
April 17, 2009
This is just by way of a reminder to all collectors of vinyl that Record Store Day is upon us. To be honest I had never heard of this until yesterday …….Be that as it may , the fact is that Record Shops are now thin on the ground at least here in Dublin in spite of the fact that sales of vinyl are on the increase in the States…
As I’ve said this is just a reminder……so go out tomorrow and support your local record store…. And while I’m at it , Road Records is to remain open and they are having a sale just now.
THE GARDEN OF IZZIE KLINGELS
September 28, 2008
I’ve never met Izzie Klingels but I have a great fondness for Garden. In fact if it wasn’t for dear Izzie I wouldn’t even be aware of Garden. It was she who brought me ‘into the garden’….I’m listening to Agnes Bernelle as I write this , she’s spinning around on my record deck and it seems appropriate that I should be listening to her when writing of Izzie…
I am , I suppose , what might be best described as a sad old man with no friends….that’s not self pity just simple plain fact. I live on my own and sleep on the floor of a one room flat here in Dublin. I have better things to do with my money than buy a bed and apart from that I have not got the room for one and so I sleep on the floor…..and I sleep like an innocent……
When I get out of bed every morning , which is to say when I get up off the floor and have my morning coffee I find that I have nothing to do so I wander out my front door and head for the record shops of Dublin.. If it wasn’t for the record shops I would go mad…. I put one foot in front of the other and eventually end up in one of the few vinyl emporiums left in this city. I’m an old time record collector….My hair is grey and as the song has it ,” I ache in the places where I used to play”. My clothes are all worn and shabby as all my spare money goes on vinyl and I am I suppose well known in these shops…..and I’m always on my own. But then again , who needs friends when you’ve got the vinyl ? But who cares about any of this…
To get to what I wanted to tell you…There is a shop in Dublin called Road Records which specalises in independant (!!) record labels and I was in there one day about a year ago ( I’m in there every day of course ). It’s a small shop which sells a lot of unremarkable modern music. And it sells this to unremarkable people. People who live in modern apartment blocks on the river. You know the sort I mean. No lost rebels here . No rebels without a cause or otherwise. The economy is doing well (even with the recession) and so are they….they all want to be just like daddy ( and they are , they are ).
Well , like I say , I was in there one day looking for something special. I was leafing through the shelves of Indie (!!!!!) vinyl as I had done a thousand times when I came acrosss this 12 inch ep by someone called Garden. It was the cover that caught my attention of course. I held it in my hand. I turned it around and looked at it from different angles. I put it down and then picked it up……and then I looked at it again.
I bought the record needless to say. Four hippy/psych type songs that might have been THE hippy anthem if the record had been made 40 years ago. It’s a gem. A classic of the first order. Four wonderfull songs with titles like , Yew Tree and Dandelions…..
” I am the yew tree
I am the yew tree
I am the yew tree
yes.”
I play it over and over. And when I’m not actually playing it I’m holding it in my hand , wondering who that girl is. She has her back to us and yet seems somehow sad…… She’s the child , the brainchild of Izzie Klingels. She came out of Izzie Klingels head. How long was she there ? And how did she get there in the first place ? When Izzie was going about her business , standing in the supermarket checkout , chatting with her facebook friends , was this little girl locked up in her head all the time. And late at night when Izzie was asleep and all was dark and quiet was the little girl gently tapping , tapping … “Let me out , let me out “
And why Izzie , why do you abandon your children in indie record shops. There is a myspace and web site but these tell us nothing. Why have you sent this sad garden child out into such a cruel cruel world ?
TUBBY HAYES LONDON JAZZ QUARTET TEMPO/EMBER VINYL LP
September 25, 2008
This LP was originally released on the Tempo Label. This then is a reissue on the Ember Label. There is no date on this reissue but it would have been pressed within a few years of the original probably in the late sixties. I picked this up on Ebay just a few weeks ago but I have forgotten what I paid for it (I buy a lot of LP’s) but I’m sure I handed out a little over 100 euros.
The music is not quite typical of Hayes. It’s not driving heavy jazz or anything like that. It’s the sort of music you might have heard on the soundtrack of many British kitchen sink movies of the sixties. If you were not a fan you might brush it aside as library music. All the tracks are arranged by Tony Crombie and as far as I can remember about half are written by him also. The line up is….Tony Crombie , Tubby Hayes , Alan Branscombe and Jack Fallon.
The music is ‘tight’ and very sixties and distinctly British and as I’ve said it’s not unlike British film music of the period….but it’s quality stuff and if you like classic ‘modern’ jazz you will love this. It’s the sort of album that will grow on you. You might feel it’s rather conservative for sixties jazz and that it’s not particularly exciting but you will find yourself putting it on the turntable more and more…..just to try to make up you mind if you like it or not…and it will grow on you in spite of it not being ‘progressive’……
Check out my other posts on Vinyl HERE.
Rare Vinyl Tubby Hayes LP Ebay Caveat Emptor
March 18, 2008
I got this Tubby Hayes vinyl album from Ebay today. It cost me a little over 100 euros but when I took it out of the sleeve to check it I felt like killing the guy who sold it to me. Like many of the LPs that I get from Ebay it was in pretty bad condition. Apart from a liberal sprinkling of scratches it also had the track-marks of several bad needles on it.
I suppose that 3 out of every 4 LPs that I get on Ebay go straight into the bin , which means that in real terms those albums that I actually keep are costing me about three times what I paid for them…if you get my drift. If , like me your buying 5 or 6 albums a week this can involved throwing a hell of a lot of money into the bin…..
……..so let the buyer beware…..
The album shown above is quite rare so it’s nice to have a copy in any condition. In fact if someone were to offer me twice what I paid for it I would turn them down , but still ….it’s in dreadful condition….The other side of the coin however is that without Ebay the chances are that I would never have come across a copy in the first place. British jazz of the Hayes period is a specialised maket and a small one at that and the print run for these LPs would have been very small.
One small point while I’m here….This LP would have a catalogue price of something in the region of 25 euros but to buy a mint copy on Ebay you would have to bid up to 500 euros or even more so don’t put too much reliance on the Record Collector Price Guide. It is , as the title says a guide only…..
The Couriers of Jazz London LTZ -L 15188
PS: If anyone out there has LPs like this to sell please let me know.
Peggy’s Leg Grinilla LP Vinyl Album Irish Rare Vinyl
February 18, 2008
Peggy’s Leg , Grinilla a 1970’s piece of rare Irish vinyl is the latest addition to my collection. One of those handful of collectible Irish LP’s that is actually worth the high catalogue price. The UK catalogue price is around £250 but in Ireland it changes hands for up to 600 euros. While your here why not check out my other post on Irish vinyl.
NIRC New Irish Recording Company LP. Bernadette Greevy Brian Boydell Gerard Victory. Irish Classical Vinyl.
December 2, 2007
These two LP records are the latest addition to my record collection.
Record1 Bernadette Greevy .Berlioz “Le nuits D’dte” , Berkeley “Four Poems of St. Teresa of Avilia”.
New Irish Chamber Orchestra. cond. Andre Prieur. Nir 013. LP
Record 2. Brian Boydell , “Symphonic Landscapes”. Gerrard Victory “Inscapes”.
RTE Symphony Orchestra.
NIR 011. LP
The New Irish Company ( NIRC) issued a number of LP records in the 1970’s by Irish composers and musicians such as Boydell , Victory , Bodley and Duff. They are long since out of print and are very rare and almost impossible to find. If you have any information about this label please let me know through the comments and the end of this post.
Wynton Kelly GREAT LP Top Rank 35-107 Lee Morgan Vinyl Jazz
November 29, 2007
Today a copy of Wynton Kelly’s album “Great” arrived in the post. I got it on Ebay and it’s yet another wonderful piece of jazz vinyl for my collection. For some reason or other his name is misspelled as “Kelley”. This is a UK pressing on the Top Rank label. It features , among others , Lee Morgan and Wayne Shorter. It’s a good but rather bland album which does not stand out from the crowd in any way. Morgan is his usual self here and what little merit the album has is due to his presence.
I also picked up a copy of Charlie Parker , “….’plays Cole Porter”(Colombia Clef Series 33cx 10090) which reminded my of his Dial recordings. More MOR than hard bop it’s nevertheless an excellent record.
Elvis Presley Last Concert Fat Elvis Video
November 26, 2007
I suppose this youtube video has been posted many times before but never mind. Elvis ‘s last ‘official’ concert and he’s in pretty bad shape , but his voice never let him down He was dead within a few week of this performance. There will never be another like him.
NB. THE ORIGINAL VIDEO POSTED HERE WAS PULLED FROM UTUBE.
If your looking for video of Blues singers or Prison Work Song or Appalachian or anything of that sort there is an excellent web site that I cannot recommend highly enough. I have a link to such a site and I notice that no one has clicked on it since I first started this blog. So for the best , the very best movies (archive) on everything folk and blues just look in the side bar and click on the link that says , Folkstreams. You will find it in my Blogroll on the right on this blog. Apart from music there are also films on American culture , archive stuff that is nothing short of brilliant. You’ll find films featuring Alan Lomax and such people so if it’s Sonny Terry or stuff like that just click on the link. Or if your a bit lazy just click HERE. You’ll find archive films such as Appalachian Journey where you can see and hear real Appalachian music and people like Frank Proffit’s son singing ‘Tom Dooley” which was written by his father… wonderful stuff.
