Well here we are, a couple of days from the new year and all is … warm?

Yes instead of a white Christmas it’s been a white hot Christmas with temperatures hovering around 60 degrees (a rare occurrence in these parts at this time of year) which is just fine by me.

I’m dreaming of a warm New Year’s Eve filled with laughter, good food, good times and of course music.

And to close out this fine warm week I can think of no better way to celebrate  a new  year coming than to highlight a brand vinyl new acquisition.

Before I do I must say how much it warms my heart to see the younger generation grab onto some physical media music. I was in a local record store a couple of days ago and was floored to see it filled with younger shoppers all with stacks of vinyl albums to buy.

Not only that but yesterday I was at a family gathering and lo and behold a groovy teenager there (Hi Zoey!) excitedly got a new turntable and several new vinyl albums (one was the new 2019 Beatles “Abbey Road” pressing – LOVE that). Warmed my heart, it really did! I thought all forms of physical media were passe but this week has brightened my outlook a bit.

Anyway, today I want to highlight an early birthday present I received yesterday as well – a most groovy picture disc vinyl pressing of one of my all-time favorite Elton John albums “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”.

This new gem is a Walmart exclusive apparently (at least it says so on the hype sticker) and on the back has a copyright date of 2014. I have loved this particular album since I first heard it in the late 1970’s when I got a beat up original copy at a local flea market.

Since that time I’ve owned this album on a few different CD pressings but haven’t owned it on vinyl in years since that beat up copy bite the dust and was traded in years a go in one of my vinyl purges at the dawn of the CD era.

It;s nice to have this album again on vinyl and who would have thought that Walmart of all places would have such a fun exclusive like this.

I must say that Walmart does seem to have an abundance of cool vinyl exclusives. They also have five Fleetwood Mac colored vinyl albums (their big five sellers including “Rumours”) that are only available otherwise in a more expensive box set online.

So when I saw this groovy new pressing of “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” come my way as an early present (my birthday is in just over two weeks) I was tickled to err, yellow?

Now picture discs notoriously don’t sound the best. They look pretty but most times lack in sound quality as compared to normal black vinyl pressings.

I am happy to report though that after playing these two beauties I was pleasantly surprised to find that they sounded pretty darn great! They weren’t the quietest pressings I’ve ever owned but aside from a few clicks and ticks here and there the mastering on this set sounds superb.

Everything is nice and full bodied sounding with great bass and clean and crisp vocals that really is one of the better listening experiences  I’ve ever had with this album – go figure!

Both discs in the set are picture discs (see above) and of course the cover is an exact replica of the original 1970’s pressing I owned once upon a time which really gets the nostalgia wheels going in my head.

All in all this is a great pressing to track down if your an Elton John fan or a fan of cool and unusual pressings like picture discs. In fact the price of the set is the same as a normal pressing of the album so really not a bad deal.

I may have to wander to some other Walmart stores to see if there’s any other cool exclusive vinyl I’ve missed but until then this new Elton John set will do just fine. Pardon me while I take a spin on the the way back machine before the New Year festivities later this week.

As usual you can take a gander above at some photos I took this groovy set.

Until next time and possibly next year be safe, have a great end of the holidays and be well!!!

 

 

 

 

 

You realize it’s only ten days until Christmas, right?

As I’m sure you’re frantically getting ready (or maybe frantically avoiding) for the mad rush to buy Christmas gifts, meal planning, etc., I thought this might be a good time to do my annual Christmas post.

And in my neck of the Internet world Christmas time means music. Not only music but taking a dip into physical media music – naturally, what else?

Last year around this same time I posted a Christmas blog featuring my vinyl albums of  “The Partridge Family Christmas Album” (from the UK no less) and “The Waltons’ Christmas Album” just to bring a decidedly ’70’s Christmas vibe to your family’s Christmas table.

Well this year I’m still in a ’70’s mood so why not have a ’70’s Christmas Part II! This year I’m also highlighting a Partridge Family vinyl album as well – their 1971 U.S. album “A Partridge Family Christmas Card” which was released on Bell Records (along with the first CD version just for grins).

Ahhhh Christmas 1971. I would be lying if I said I remember it well but oddly enough (or not so oddly if you know me at all) I do remember getting “A Partridge Family Christmas Card” as one of my Christmas presents that year.

The fleeting memory that pops into my head is of me thinking how cool it was that the album came with an actual Christmas card (the first pressing of the album indeed had one tucked into a slot on the front cover) and also an irritating memory of one of my older brothers disgust at a Partridge Family album as he thought they weren’t cool.

(Note: I’m sure The Partridge Family still aren’t cool in many sectors but hey there’s no accounting for people’s lack of taste lol!)

Seeing as I was only five years old at the time I’m surprised I remember anything at all from 1971 but whenever I take a glance at the cover of “A Partridge Family Christmas Card” those memories come flooding right back into my mind.

I also remember that for the next two or three years at Christmas time I would see the “A Partridge Family Christmas Card” album flooding record bins at my local Kmart or Ayr-Way stores. The funny thing was I also distinctly remember being amazed that the cool Christmas card that was on my copy had been replaced by a photo instead – ahhh.

I thought it was so strange that they would do that and remember being glad I had the first issue copy with the actual Christmas card.

Fast forward a few decades or so to last week when I finally came across this 1972 pressing of “A Partridge Family Christmas Card” (with just the photo of the
Christmas card on the cover) once again. Lo and behold not only was this beauty still sealed but it seemed to be a record club pressing to boot (I think anyway – notice the R113816 on the lower rear cover).

At the time I thought this pressing was lame but since I haven’t seen this reissue cover in over 40 years or so I was overjoyed to see a copy and one on such perfect condition was hard for me  to resist buying it.

Of course I bought this new/old pristine copy (shocker) since it wasn’t too expensive and decided to do this blog featuring all the U.S. pressings I own of this album plus the CD version.

As you can see from the photos above the new copy is immaculate and you also see the first vinyl pressing as well plus the Razor & Tie CD version of the album from 1992.

Of course I have some major nostalgia fueled feelings about this record but it is a really fun Christmas album and it contains what I think should have been a stone cold classic Christmas song “My Christmas Card to You” which is one of the best songs ever released on a Partridge Family record.

Written by Tony Romeo, who also wrote The Partridge Family’s biggest hit the No. 1 “I Think I Love You”, “My Christmas Card to You” contains an irresistible and catchy hook and as well as a terrific David Cassidy vocal and some charming lyrics which equals pure pop Christmas bliss.

Too bad it”s not heard on the radio at all anymore as it really should be part of any pop music fans Christmas playlist.

The CD pictured above sounds pretty good as well and has been reissued once again by Sony Music (this version is long out of print) but I don’t own that copy so I can’t say how it sounds but it does look pretty similar to the Razor and Tie CD I own (see above).

Well there you have it.

Another groovy early 1970’s Christmas present for those who remember or those who have the urge to discover some ’70’s Christmas music magic.

Until next time be well and …

“To you and all your family, your neighbors and your friends, may all days be happy with a joy that never ends” (from “My Christmas Card to You” by Tony Romeo and recorded by  The Partridge Family)

Merry Christmas!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Well, well. In the dying embers of physical media there burns a distant light.

For music lovers that light would be a small boutique record label called 7a Records.

Recently I reviewed another 7a CD package, “Davy Jones – Live in Japan”, and couldn’t say enough positive things about it. Everything from the sound to the packaging and the overall presentation were superb.

Now 7a Records have outdone themselves again with their latest release the equally superb, and possibly better, “Cosmic Partners: The McCabe’s Tapes” CD by Michael Nesmith with Red Rhodes; a live set recorded in McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, CA in August of 1973.

Though Nesmith was at a crossroads in his career at the time and feeling somewhat lost, you would never know it by listening to this sparking live set of some of his best solo work.

You see, 7a Records has been issuing terrific CD and vinyl packages of music by members of ’60’s music phenomena The Monkees, and/or those associated with them, for the past few years and have cultivated a quite impressive collection of releases.

No one, and I mean no one, would have expected a small label could survive releasing obscure solo recordings by ex-Monkees let alone release them in such lovingly produced packages and with such superb sound.

But survive they have as at least someone must be buying their products and I’m here to tell you it’s so worth taking the time to track these releases down as each and every one of them has been a welcome surprise filled with great music that has been neglected through the mists of time.

Weirdly enough, the demise of physical media has probably helped this 7a produce these wonderful packages as I’m sure the big labels have no interest in this stuff and if they did certainly would not put the time and effort to make these releases look and sound as good as 7a does.

So what do we have with this new Michael Nesmith release? I’d say we have pure gold.

First off, let me state that I’ve been a fan of The Monkees since I was well practically a fetus. I grew up a tried and true pop music fan and The Monkees project certainly produced pure gold not only literally but aesthetically as well as their music is a treasure trove of pop classics.

Now I know Mike Nesmith has been fond of saying that his solo career is a different kettle of fish from his work with The Monkees but I have to disagree somewhat.

Anyone who is familiar with The Monkees music at all would be very familiar with the country music leanings of Nesmith’s songwriting as most everything he produced with the group was soaked in his love of country music.

In fact I, like many others I’m sure, was introduced to country music aesthetics through Nesmith’s Monkees music. Songs like “Papa Gene’s Blues”, “What Am I Doing Hangin’ Round” (written by Michael Martin Murphy and Boomer Castleman), “Listen to the Band” and “Good Clean Fun” really brought that genre of music to life for me and primed me for that style of music as I grew older.

Nesmith’s solo career right after the Monkees was highlighted by a string of terrific albums on the RCA Records label that took Nesmith’s country music leanings and built them into some of the best country/rock music of the decade rivaling, and truthfully bettering. that of the more widely heard works by groups like The Eagles and Poco.

Nesmith even had a Top forty hit with the song “Joanne”, a 1970 song that I played to death on 45 even at the tender age of five years old.  There was a melancholy to Nesmtih’s voice in that song that really appealed to me even as a child – I loved and still love songs reeking with melancholy.

I didn’t end up buying Nesmith’s RCA albums until much later in life but when I did I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved the music and how much a lot of it seemed quite familiar to me as they seemed like logical extensions of Nesmith’s writing with The Monkeeas.

I have to say listening to this new “Cosmic Partners” may now be my go to disc when I want to delve into Nesmith’s early solo work.

For starters this may be one of the best sounding and most intimate live albums  I’ve heard in ages. There’s a clarity and languidness to the music that is just entrancing.

In fact the first full song on the album “Tomorrow and Me” feels like an aural ride through the desert at night. It feels like the moon is highlighting the scenery in crystal clear shades of defused white light as you ride through the stillness and warmth of the lonely yet absorbing desert night.

A little dramatic perhaps but I tell you the steel guitar paying of Red Rhodes throughout this live set is mesmerizing. I have never honestly heard anyone else play the pedal steel guitar quite like Rhodes does or who draws me in as much as he does in this recording.

Kudos to Nesmith’s son Christian who co-produced and mastered this disc as it sounds even better to me than Nesmith’s original RCA recordings.

I must also say that Nesmith was at the height of his vocal delivery as he has never sounded so good as he does in this performance.

Of course Nesmith also has some terrific banter with the audience in this show and none more entertaining than “The Great Escape” track which comes across as a mini encapsulation of his whole Monkees experience and a nice precursor to his recent autobiography “Infinite Tuesday: An Autobiographical Riff”.

Other highlights of the disc for me are Nesmtih’s superb renditions of “Joanne”, “Some of Shelley’s Blues”, “Grand Ennui”, “The Crippled Lion”, and one of my all-time favorite Nesmith songs “Propinquity (I’ve Just Begun to Care)”.

In fact hearing “Propinquity (I’ve Just Begun to Care)” come to life in this live set really highlights how far the song had come from the early demo of the tune which resides on “The Monkees” 2006  Deluxe box set.

This new live version is the definitive version of this song for me as Nesmith really breaths new life into this performance in a way that transforms the song into something really special.

Of course as with all 7a Records everything about this CD set shows the loving care that went into it’s production – the cover, the booklet and the packing are all as superb as the sound of the disc itself.

In fact this has to be my favorite sounding 7s recording as I’m amazed at how well this set was recorded.  The fact that it’s from a soundboard recording and not remixed from a multi-track tape is quite something.

If you’re a Nesmith fan or even if your a Monkees fan and have never dipped your toes into Nesmith’s solo career this CD is the perfect place to start to explore
Nesmith at the height of his songwriting and performing career.

In fact this disc sounds so good that I’d say it’s the perfect distillation of Nesmtih’s early solo career and really highlights all the strengths of Nesmith as a songwriter and performer.

As usual take a peek above at some photos of this new 7a Records collection. My copy was purchased directly from Nesmith’s Website (www.videoranch.com) and is personally signed to me which is a lovely bonus. (Note: the black and white sticker pictured above was an exclusive of his Website as well).

If you are in need of discovering some woefully overlooked timeless music from the 1970’s than look no further than “Cosmic Partners”, it’s truly worth your time to track down and enjoy.

See you next time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last week was the forty-eighth anniversary of one the most maligned albums of Paul McCartney and Wings short tenure together – “Wings Wild Life”.

Recorded very quickly, this was the debut album by McCartney’s follow-up band to The Beatles and because this new band, Wings, would be scrutinized mercilessly it was all out warfare on Paul McCartney in the music press of the day as most reviews were scathing.

Originally released on December 7, 1971, the debut album by one of the most successful pop/rock groups of the 1970’s sort of landed with a thud. It did okay commercially for most bands, it landed in the Top Ten in the U.S. and #11 in the U.K., but for an ex-Beatle this album didn’t set the world on fire that’s for sure.

Truth be told the first time I heard the album in the late 1970’s I was also less than enthused – at least by Side 1. I’ve always enjoyed the songs on Side 2 but could see where the sparse production and lack of polish would put people off especially having been released only a couple of years after The Beatles ultra-polished “Abbey Road”.

Fast forward many, many years later and I along with a number of critics have grown much fonder in their appreciation of this album’s rough and tumble charm.

Looking back this album seems like one of McCartney’s free form aural experiments much like his later more critically acclaimed excursions as the Fireman. I love the looseness and rawness of this album and McCartney was still at the peak of his vocal powers which is still a wonder no matter what he’s signing.

Last years reissue of this album (which included a terrific set of rough mixes of the entire album) has even further cemented this album as a fun experiment in McCartney’s catalog that along with McCartney II from 1980 stands as one of the few times McCartney got this loose on commercial product released under his own name.

So with all that aside, I thought it might be fun to take a look at the first issue of this album on CD – one from the UK and two from the US.

For me the first UK release of this album on CD may be the best issue of this album in digital. I love the 2018 remaster which sounds a lot like this first issue but the first UK CD issue is a more relaxed listen and sounds great.

The UK issue came out way before the US versions so by the time this album reached the states in CD form it had been treated to a bit of No Noise (a process popular in the late 1980’s in which tape hiss was removed from recordings) thus the timings of the two releases are different and they sound a bit different.

The first UK CD has a run time of 50:11 vs the two US CD pressings which have a timing of 50:02.

I actually think the use of No Noise on the US CDs was slight as I think they sound pretty good. The US CDs actually sound a tad louder than the first UK CD issue and a bit more muted on a couple of songs but they sound pretty darn good anyway. I still prefer the sound of the UK release but the Us version is fine as well.

The interesting thing about McCartney solo CDs releases in thew States is that the first issue Capitol CDS don’t contain the MPL clown logo (the logo for Paul McCartney’s McCartney Prodcuction Ltd) and have artwork, especially on the disc itself, that differs from the UK issues.

The later US McCartney CDs add the MPL logo and add artwork that is more in line with the UK CD releases (see photos above).

Some of McCartney’s MPL logo Capitol CDs really overhaul the artwork but as you can see above it’s mainly the disc itself that has a more stylized Wings Wild Life font that matches the original album artwork.

I just happened on the MPL Capitol CD pressing this week as a matter of fact so I thought it might be fun to celebrate the anniversary of this album with a look at the first CD issue.

I know, I know only the true blue Beatles/McCartney freaks will care about this but since I am one of them, what can I tell you? Enjoy! I’ll post more McCartney US CD releases in the future as some of them have drastic artwork changes between issues which is really fun to examine.

Anyway, that’s all for now.

Until next time be well and remember … it’s only 12 days until Christmas! Yikes!