I stumbled upon this record at Chester Records in Winchester, VA (my favorite record store – local or otherwise).

It’s a crime that music like this goes unnoticed. Read up on the man here, and take a listen to the title track below. Oh, and you can buy a copy for yourself at Chester Records (Nate’s still got one copy left at the time of this post), or at Augusta Heritage Records here.

Just A Dream

My mother-in-law dug out a new box of vinyl from her crawlspace this weekend (Merry Christmas to me!!!).
Ella Fitzgerald has always interested me, and her vocal prowess is even more apparent and lively on stage.
Take a listen to Goody Goody below, and if you like this, go ahead and pick it up (without all the pops and crackles) on iTunes or Amazon.

Goody Goody

I’m recording for a few people now, and my employer has a nice set of records that I’m (admittedly very slowly) getting through. But this one surprised the pants off of me. According to the Wikipedia article about the band, “During March 1981 the EP Extended Play was released, containing the UK and U.S. success “Message of Love” and “Talk of the Town” and a live version of “Precious,” recorded in Central Park.”

(read more about this record here)

Take a listen to my recordings of two tracks from the vinyl here:

Message of Love

I scored this 10″ on Record Store Day, 2010 (my new favorite holiday) at the Record & Tape Exchange in Fairfax. It contains live recordings from John’s last live appearance, as well as some things that aren’t John at all (Jimi Hendrix). Here’s an audience recording of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds from that last live appearance (w/ Elton John).

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

This is truly a gem.

Neil never re-issued this live recording to CD, for whatever reason, but it truly is worth a listen as the follow-up to Harvest. Take a listen to Last Dance below.

Last Dance

I’ve jumped back into the stack of dusty LP’s from Michele’s crawlspace, and finished re-touching my recording of Jimmy Smith’s The Sermon!

Take a listen to the entire first side (!) below.

The Sermon

I’ve been into this record pretty heavily as of recent. It’s one of the Beach Boys later albums, and showcases some of the Boys’ (not named Brian) finer lesser-known compositions.

Long Promised Road, almost entirely recorded by Carl Wilson, is at the top of my list, and I can’t stop belting out its uplifting refrain when I need a boost.

Most critics will swoon over Brian’s finale (the triptych of A Day In The Life Of A Tree, ‘Till I Die, and Surf’s Up) which ARE pretty fantastic, but in an heavy-handed kind of way. I tend to focus on the contributions from the rest of the group.

I’ve also posted Bruce Johnston’s Disney Girls (1957), which is slow and quirky, but a must-hear.

Mike Love’s Don’t Go Near The Water, while pretty heavy-handed on environmental friendliness, has a fantastic breakdown about toothpaste and soap that I keep coming back to.

The quality of my rips may not be the cleanest, but Capitol released a remastered version of this record along with Sunflower in 2000, so if you are into it, Amazon or iTunes has the high quality MP3′s. I’ll keep my poppy vinyl recordings, though, for the sake of “character”.

Long Promised Road

Disney Girls (1957)

Don’t Go Near The Water

I’ve been digging this ever since the sweet purple crushed velvet box of vinyl arrived at my office.
I’ve only begun to get into the material, but so far it’s pretty amazing, below are a few tracks from the first two records I’ve recorded from the vinyl. These include the outtake from the Are You Experienced sessions, Title #3 (Title #4 is better known as Are You Experienced), a ridiculously vicious live Dylan cover, followed by a live Beatles take, and an alternate version of the ever popular Little Wing. As I record more, I will post more for your listening pleasure. Enjoy!

[edit] Disc 3 is now done – check out Bold As Love and Fire.

Title #3

Like A Rolling Stone (Live)

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Live)

Little Wing

Bold As Love

Fire (Live)

Best. Album title / cover combo. Ever.

Found this LP not long ago at Earfood Records in Winchester.

This guy is actually certifiably crazy – but his mental state makes for some thrilling vampire tunes.

Buy It!