What are you listening to and WHY might anyone be interested? (Vol.IX)
Posted by: Richard Dane on 01 January 2013
With 2013 upon us, it's time to start a fresh thread. I've gone back to an earlier thread title because often the "why" is the most interesting part of the post.
Anyway, links:
Volume VIII: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...nt/12970396056050819
Volume VII: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...6878604287751/page/1
Volume VI: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/1566878604097229
Volume V: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/1566878605140495
Volume IV: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/1566878605795042
Volume III: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/1566878607309474
Volume II: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/1566878606245043
Volume I: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/1566878607464290
Original Blue Horizon vinyl.
Question;
What does this album have in common with this LP..
...... and what FangfossFlyer, Steve C and MDS were listening to yesterday evening?
Laura Shay "To A Place"
I bought this ABC (ABCD-931) pressing of the Dan's "Royal Scam" second hand back in 1994.
I'm guessing it's an early US pressing because the vinyl's quite thin, typical of mid-seventies.
I love playing his album because not only is it my fave Dan record but this particular pressing has a special magic. On the LP12 it has a gorgeous bounce with lovely fat (but firm, if you know what I mean) bass. But equally, the sheer propulsiveness of the playing (especially from the rhythm section and clavinet) is there too; it's really, really funky. And, just as importantly, this particular pressing - don't ask me why this is - brilliantly communicates the dark, wry cynicism that is the very essence of Dan.
Utterly compelling.
Original Blue Horizon vinyl.
Question;
What does this album have in common with this LP..
...... and what FangfossFlyer, Steve C and MDS were listening to yesterday evening?
That would be Kossoff and Kirke
Listening to vol 2, but couldn't find a pic on the internet. The set of four discs comprises the complete songs by Mussorgsky, in masterful performances by Sergei Leiferkus and Semion Skigin. Leiferkus' high baritone takes some getting used to, but having heard many versions of these songs by just about any voice type, he's my preferred interpreter for these songs.
Cheers,
EJ
What to couple with Elgar's unequaled cello concerto? Weilerstein opts for Elliott Carter's difficult cello concerto, while more recently Queyras went the other way and programmed Tchaikovsky's over-sugared Rococo-variations. Neither are ideal IMO.
Weilerstein's performance of the Elgar is brilliant. She is supported by Barenboim to take a lushly romantic approach. She is more lyrical than Du Pré but still with passion to spare.
Cheers,
EJ
Listen Same here
Early 1970s EMI pressing of a superb 1969 LP.
Bobbie only wrote two songs on this album, which, as any BG fan will tell you, is usually not the case. However the two songs "Seasons Come, Seasons Go" and the magnificent "Glory Hallelujah, How They'll Sing" are both of the highest quality. The latter in particular demonstrates the brilliance and economy of Gentry's lyric writing. As a storyteller with an ability to evoke whole worlds with just a few lines she is unsurpassed by anyone, I think, apart from Chuck Berry.
The rest of the material is well-chosen, and beautifully arranged by Hank Levine and Don Tweedy, and well-recorded by Kelso Herston in Nashville. Among the highlights - difficult to pick any out, because all 10 tracks on this album are stunners - are the title track, a version of "Son of a Preacher Man" which is even better than Dusty's IMO, and a superb version of Jimmy Webb's "Where's The Playground, Johnny".
My copy is a bit battered, but who cares? This album is a masterpiece. I don't think Bobbie's voice ever sounded better - here there's the right combination of sexy Southern huskiness, longing and melancholy.
First spin ....
Original Blue Horizon vinyl.
Question;
What does this album have in common with this LP..
...... and what FangfossFlyer, Steve C and MDS were listening to yesterday evening?
That's right Steve.
Paul Kossoff and Simon Kirke were part of Black Cat Bones who supported Champion Jack Dupree on side 2 of the LP above and on tour. During the tour they left to form Free. Kossoff's guitar work on the CJD album shows he was a good blues guitarist.
Steve
Suzanne Vega "Close-up: Vol 4, Songs Of Family"
Continuing with Champion Jack this is a German LP released in the early '80s with Jack on piano and Kenn Lending, a very good Danish blues guitarist. It's a very well recorded album with some great tracks. Interestingly my copy is also signed by CJD in the same year but on the inner sleeve. I picked this up for peanuts in the '90s.
Another Bobbie Gentry masterpiece on vinyl (battered US Capitol original), this time from Spring of 1968. Eight BG originals and four superbly-executed covers, including "Big Boss Man", "Tobacco Road", Mose Allison's "Parchment Farm" and Doug Kershaw's Louisiana Man".
The Bobbie originals are all exquisite examples of her storytelling gifts, being evocative tales of Southern life, from the big hit "Okalona River Bottom Band" through to the beautiful and dreamy "Courtyard".
Not as esoteric and cultured as some - but great fun 
CD - First play
Original Blue Horizon vinyl.
Question;
What does this album have in common with this LP..
...... and what FangfossFlyer, Steve C and MDS were listening to yesterday evening?
That's right Steve.
Paul Kossoff and Simon Kirke were part of Black Cat Bones who supported Champion Jack Dupree on side 2 of the LP above and on tour. During the tour they left to form Free. Kossoff's guitar work on the CJD album shows he was a good blues guitarist.
Steve
Well, I didn't know that. Thanks Steve(s)
John Hiatt "Crossing Muddy Waters"
minimalist acoustic JH, wonderful
"..... we rolled that Camaro like a cowboys cigarette, out
on that highway, in a puddle of beer"
Not CD
Double vinyl, for a complete change of pace and mood:
John Mellencamp "No Better Than This"
These two as I watch the storm thrash across the Lake District fellsides :
