Record Store Day

Peter Gabriel - 'New Blood.'

Another Record Store Day took place this weekend. I celebrated it on the day after and found the one record that I really wanted. Though not badly enough to stand in lines and deal with the numbers of people on Saturday. But I am a huge Peter Gabriel fan and attempting to be a PG completist. 

A live album .... three discs of blood red vinyl. 

I didn't expect to see it on a late Sunday afternoon and especially it being the day after, but I walked in the door of the record store, flipped through the second of two crates of remaining RSD releases, and just as I was beginning to lose hope, there it was, at the back of the crate!!. The only and/or last copy in the store. A thirty-five mile drive rewarded with a bit of good record collecting karma.

And tomorrow is 'Make Music Salem' day. Live music taking place all day over the downtown core. I'll try to get a few photos. 

Sneezing and Sniffling Playlist

Deep in the throes this evening, of a full-blown seasonal allergy attack and waiting with breathless anticipation for the forecasted rain showers to return and knock the pollen out of the air .... even that needs a playlist.

• Mark Heard - Lonely Moon ..... Who knows, maybe I'd never have discovered Mark Heard if not for hearing a cover version of his song, 'Nod Over Coffee' over thirty years ago.
• Kurt Vile - Like Exploding Stones
• World Party - Put The Message In a Box
• Joseph Arthur - Can't Exist .... My music listening over the years has been broken up into periods where I got deeply immersed into the sounds of specific musicians and bands. I had a Joseph Arthur period maybe fifteen years ago.
• Joseph Arthur and the Lonely Astronauts - Slide Away
• The Boxer Rebellion - If You Run
• Frightened Rabbit - Woke Up Hurting
• The Folk Implosion - Natural One ..... Great name for a band!! 

For Everyman

'For Everyman' from Jackson Browne. 

From 1973 on Asylum Records and on the original vinyl.

I've been listening to this album since I was a teenager. I was seventeen years old when it came out and I'm relatively sure that I bought it on the day of release. I followed Jackson Browne's career closely from his debut in 1972 through the mid-90's. My first act upon becoming connected to the internet was to seek out JB bootlegs. I just wanted to hear more. His music was my goto choice for many years.  

This record has his recording of the song he wrote, with a little help from Glen Frey and that The Eagles made famous, 'Take It Easy.' I may be in the minority, but I prefer this version. It also has his song, 'These Days,' which has been covered by several people over the years, including Gregg Allman. 

A fantastic record that still resonates in my thoughts and memories nearly fifty years later .... I Thought I Was a Child; These Days; Ready or Not; Sing My Songs To Me; For Everyman; Colors of the Sun .... and the lyrics became part of me.

A sidenote .... That initial search for bootleg recordings resulted in connecting with a lady who sent a box containing thirty-two cassettes my way. That was a great day to walk to the mailbox.

Opening

'Opening' by the Tord Gustavsen Trio. On compact disc and just released this year.

Piano Jazz on the ECM Records label. One of my favorites.

New directions in Jazz. Slow tempo, introspective and quiet explorations around the edges of modern-creative Jazz. 

Definitely a late Saturday night, with the lights turned out recording.

Morgen

A self-titled album from 1969 from the band, Morgen. 

A person I follow on Twitter and whose 'now playing' choices I've come to admire and trust for quality, posted this a week or so ago. Psychedelic Rock. I listened to a few song samples and knew that I needed it to increase the coolness factor of my collection. 

And just another example of every time I start to assume that I'd at least heard of every band and musician of significance in the music scene from the 1960's, 70 and 80's, I'm once again proven wrong. 

Hopefully, it's not the last time that I'm wrong.

Seasonal Allergy Avoidance Playlist

Thursday Night playlist. Though because of the Memorial Day holiday, it feels like a Wednesday. Even confusing days and weeks need a playlist.

• Jay Farrar & Benjamin Gibbard - Low Life Kingdom
• David Crosby - River Rise 
• Liquorice - Baby Would It Matter
• Daily Worker - Map of the Human Heart / Stars ...., Discovered Daily Worker not long ago, while blindly clicking on titles on Bandcamp. Incredibly prolific.
• The Bats - Steeley Gaze
• The Afghan Whigs - Crazy
• Daniel Lanois - Still Learning How to Crawl
• Pedro the Lion - Bad Diary Days / Big Trucks

There's no theme here. I'm just working my way down my iTunes library, choosing randomly and going for second helpings here and there. It was the warmest day of spring today with high pollen counts. I felt hints of an attack in my eyes but was able to resist the urge to rub them into oblivion. A reason to celebrate.

• Beirut - Santa Fe
• Lucero - Everything Has Changed
• Say Hi - The Stars Just Blink For Us
• Thieving Irons - So Long
• Spoon - Everything Hits At Once
• Ages and Ages - How It Feels

Vinyl Finds Today

I've been attempting to increase my coolness factor (that may be a lost cause, I may be stuck in nerdsville), by updating my 1960's and 80's vinyl holdings. 

Towards that goal, I drove down I-5 a few miles to an antique mall in downtown Albany, Oregon, where I found and took home (after a stop for fish & chips):

• The Mothers of Invention - Freak Out! (1966)
• Dexy's Midnight Runners - Searching For the Young Soul Rebels (1980)
• The English Beat - I Just Can't Stop It (1980)

It's only taken fifty-plus unexplainable years but I've recently become a fan of Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention and this record was a recent addition to my mental 'holy grail' list for badly wanted records at an acceptable price. I had to stretch the limits of what is acceptable but .... What if tomorrow turns out to be my last day on earth? Then at least I'll have listened to and seen this spinning on my turntable. That's unless I burst tonight from the fish & chips.

I've been a fan since the mid-1980's of the band, General Public, with Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger, after viewing on MTV, their video for the song, 'Tenderness.' 

Prior to General Public, both were in the Ska band, The English Beat. I've been hoping to come across this recording on vinyl in my record digging excursions and today, there it was!

The English Beat - 'I Just Can't Stop It.' From 1980.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

From 1980. I purchased their, 'Too-Rye-Ay' album back in the early 1980's when the video for the song, 'Come On Eileen' was being played all over MTV. I never gave much attention to The Dexy's after that. I came across this while flipping through the New Wave bins. I wanted it, even if I end up not caring for the music, for the cover photograph. But from what I've read, I expect the music to be great also.

Dexy's Midnight Runners - 'Searching For the Young Soul Rebels.'

Swinging Ella

Saturday evening vinyl find enhancing my collection. Ella Fitzgerald Sings Sweet Songs for Swingers. Hopefully most people know who Ella Fitzgerald is but just in case, these are Jazz vocals.

A 1961 pressing of a record originally released in 1959, a mono version on the Verve Record label and the beautiful black vinyl, in near pristine shape. The store owner commented that I had just pulled off a great discovery. I was initially taken in by the cover photo. 

I was flipping through a random stack of albums on the counter of the record store, finding nothing special, when suddenly near the bottom of the stack, there was this!! Proving once again, that you never know what you might find. Had I come across this record two or three years ago, I'd likely flipped right on by. Fortunately, I've grown and advanced when it comes to music appreciation.

The Stray Birds

The self-titled album from 2012 by The Stray Birds. 

Newgrass, Americana, Appalachia, Woodsongs. If there's an acoustic guitar, mandolin, upright bass, banjo, fiddle and great vocals involved, I'm listening. 

My introduction to The Stray Birds was through their song, 'Feathers and Bone.'
 

Claire Austin

When Your Lover Has Gone by Claire Austin.

Torch singer!! I stumbled across this gem at my local record store. A new name for my collection. Jazz and Blues vocalist from the 1950's. This album recorded in 1956. I'm always intrigued by anything from the year I was born. The cover photo and that it's a part of the Original Jazz Classics Series were also huge draws. 

The store owner told me that if I was unhappy for any reason, to return it. I sure hope he's not waiting for the return 

Another Playlist

Tired and partially confused by life, so why not another playlist? Sometimes it feels like all we have is music.

• The Stray Birds - Third Day In a Row .... "Now it's the third day in a row, seeing the sun come up. Some things take a lifetime to learn, so you make em up."
• Greensky Bluegrass - Old Barns .... Saw them one chilly January evening in McMinnville, OR. Afterwards drove the 25 miles home feeling like I was on a cloud, with this song playing, volume up, head bobbing, available fingers and toes tapping. My idea of heaven on earth.
• Mandolin Orange - Golden Embers

It's feeling like a Newgrass - Americana type of playlist. Seems to be going in that direction. Some evenings just call for an acoustic guitar, violin and mandolin. Not that there's anything wrong with that. In fact there's much that's great with that.

• Nickel Creek - When You Come Back Down .... Sometimes all it takes is a great song title to suck me in. Or a great line of lyric: "My greatest fear will be, that you will crash and burn and I won't feel your fire."
• Nickel Creek - Reasons Why
• The Mammals - Ashokan Farewell .... If anyone reads this and checks this song out and it's the first time you hear it, well it's the first time for me as well. Instrumental, bittersweet and yearning.
• The Infamous Stringdusters - Walking On the Moon .... Their take on The Police song.
• Steve Noonan - Buy For Me The Rain .... An oldie, from the 1960's. I first heard it on a Nitty Gritty Dirt Band record. Being a longtime Jackson Browne fan from his first album onward, eventually I would read of songwriting friends and contemporaries, Greg Copeland and Steve Noonan, who wrote the song.

Sometimes one thing leads to another. Especially true with YouTube music videos .....

• Jorma Kaukonen - Hesitation Blues ..... This started playing after the previous song. 

A Playlist For You

A Wednesday night ..... errrr, I mean Thursday night playlist. My consecutive days of blood draw and doctors appointment earlier this week, messed up my perception of what day it is. With that out of the way and out of my thoughts, I've felt free and not overly concerned with time.

• The Jayhawks - Sound of Lies .... So many great songs. These days, my consistent goto band.
• Joseph Arthur - Can't Exist
• Daniel Lanois - Still Water
• Vertical Horizon - Everything You Want
• Toad the Wet Sprocket - Windmills / California Wasted
• Aimee Mann - Pavlov's Bell
• Beth Orton - Stolen Car .... Had this dream recently where I walked out the door to discover that my car was gone. Had it happen on several occasions in real life but that was because I had forgotten where I parked.
• Jay Farrar - Still Be Around .... I still hold without wavering in my opinion that Son Volt was the better band that emerged from the Uncle Tupelo breakup. 
• Patti Griffin - Rain .... "Now I don't want to beg you baby, for something maybe you could never give, I'm not lookin' for the rest of your life, I just want another chance to live."