Category ART AND ABOUT
THE SHOW THAT NEVER ENDS…
Easter 1972. The rambling gambolling bead-strung throng that was The Grateful Dead tribe arrived in Europe for a major tour. Musicians, technicians, kids and consorts; amps and desks, instruments and condiments, the Dead family was primed and ready for a leisurely trundle around the continent… and Britain too. Naturally the shows were recorded; obviously there […]
WELCOME BACK MY FRIENDS…
During the wildly exciting process of compiling the new Vinyl Connection Index page it was noted by the VC auditor that many months have elapsed since we last ventured into the sweaty mosh pit of live recordings. How better to remedy that lamentable oversight than by tackling that monster of vinylosity, the triple live album? […]
CAN WE STILL BE FRIENDS [COVERART PAIR #36]
Ideal “Bi Nuu” [Warner Bros, 1983] / W.H.Y. “Woman of Steel” [IC Records, 1983] W.H.Y. was a short-lived side-project of Aussie music legend Mike Rudd (Spectrum, Ariel) Ideal were a German electronic pop/rock outfit “Can We Still Be Friends” Todd Rungren [1988] * When I originally hung this pair of covers on the wall (in […]
FULL SHELVES AND WILD TALES
Dear Vinyl Agony Aunt I have a problem. It’s a space and time problem. Yes, I know, I should just call Dr Who but I’ve lost the piece of psychic notepaper with his mobile number and you’re my next best guess. Also, you have helped me before. Being such a busy virtual confidante you won’t […]
IT’S JOHNNY’S BIRTHDAY [COVERART #34]
All Things Must Pass was released on 27th November 1970 It consisted of a double album plus a third LP of jams recorded during the sessions When the album was re-released in March 2001, the original sepia cover photograph was colourised. Reflecting Harrison’s environmental awareness, the CD sleeves and booklet carried a rather sardonic story […]
OPEN SESAME [COVERART PAIR #33]
OST “Saturday Night Fever” [RSO, 1977] / Sesame Street “Sesame Street Fever” [Polydor, 1978] * Kool & The Gang “Open Sesame” [Saturday Night Fever, 1977] * Mr John Travolta, born February 18th, 1954 * The Heebeegeebees “439 Golden Greats” [RCA, 1981]
ETERNAL WARRIOR RETURNING
One of the tell-tale signs of the activated Vinyl Hunter-Gatherer is how their speed increases when they approach a Record Store. Up on the balls of their feet, there is a pronounced spring in the step as the shortest possible distance from here to the records is calculated with pinpoint precision. Breathing may be more […]
OFF THE WATER, BACK TO LAND
There are a number of interesting things about San Francisco’s Wooden Shjips, not least their idiosyncratic approach to spelling. Here are a few others: They were formed in 2003 by Ripley Johnson with the express purpose of creating innovative music and not being famous. Following a Captain Beefheart tradition, they explored playing instruments with which […]
TOUCH THE DISTANT BEACHES
Eric Clapton and girlfriend Charlotte Martin were at London musician’s club The Speakeasy in Spring 1967. It was the same club where, not long previously, Eric had his first taste of LSD in circumstances that were probably not your average first trip, even in that much mythologized year. The way Eric tells it, ‘the Beatles […]
MAGIC & LOSS [COVERART #19]
“Lou Reed” [RCA 1972] “Magic & Loss” [Sire 1992] Lou Reed [March 2 1942 – October 27 2013] * (Reflective piece here)
BIRTH AND DEATH OF A WORLD
Not long ago I wrote about an unscheduled month in the UK in the late 90s. A side trip to Wales was mentioned and that is where our story begins today. Every music tragic knows that it is not civic architecture or religious edifices that get the music hunter-gatherer’s pulse a-quickening; it’s record shops. We […]
THE DRIVING OF THE YEAR NAIL [COVERART #13]
Leo Kottke “Chewing Pine” [1975] “My Feet Are Smiling” [1973] “Burnt Lips” [1978] “Live in Europe” [1980] B: September 11, 1945 in Athens, GA Happy Birthday Mr K. Leo Kottke [1971]
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