Vinyl Finds

Hit the road yesterday for a short trip south to Corvallis, Oregon, home of Oregon State University (Go Beavs) and a place holding many memories from my days in college. I ventured out from my semi-hermit ways, on a long-anticipated hunt for vinyl records. When it comes to "long-anticipated' with vinyl, that might be defined as a month. There are two record stores, three blocks apart, in the downtown core. It was a nice walk from one to the other while taking in the murals that are all over downtown buildings.

Drove home afterwards with five records .....

David Friesen - 'Star Dance'. From 1976 on Inner City Records. 

An acoustic bassist with roots/connections in Oregon. I've had an obsession with acoustic bassists lately and I was thrilled to come across this title. I've been a fan of David Friesen for many years since first finding one of his recordings at Django's in Portland in the 1980's. I mistakenly thought he was a cello player back then. This is his debut recording.

Gordon Bok & Ann Mayo Muir - 'Seal Djiril's Hymn'. From 1972 on Folk-Legacy Records. The cover is what initially grabbed my attention.

Songs and spoken word poetry about seals, men and the sea. Gordon Bok's life and career was as a maritime worker. This record and the musicians are completely new to me. Cover art matters.

 

Fred Neil - 'Bleecker & MacDougal'. From 1965.

A folkie, Singer/songwriter type, who wrote the song, 'Everybody's Talkin,' which became a hit when it was recorded by Harry Nilsson for the 1969 movie, 'Midnight Cowboy'. Neil Diamond also covered it on his 'Touching You, Touching Me' album which I've identified before as the possible starting point of my record collecting years.

'Lifelines' by Arild Andersen. Released in 1981 on ECM Records. Contemporary Jazz in the ECM style of the 1970's and early 80's. The vinyl appears to be in mint condition. Arild Andersen is a bassist. There is also flugelhorn contributions from Kenny Wheeler, another recent discovery of mine.

I've been striving to become a completist with ECM releases.

'Mary's Garden' by Linda Waterfall. Released in 1976 on Windham Hill Records, one of the labels earliest releases. 

A singer/songwriter recording on a label that was known mostly for their solo acoustic guitar and piano releases. I had read previously about the labels history and knew there was this offering from the labels earliest days but had never seen it and assumed I never would. But there it was yesterday at a great price!!

From what I can tell, this is an original printing, and I don't think very many were ever printed. I hesitate to call it "rare" (though it may well be) but it's certainly not easily found.