For those readers new to this column, please read the introductory comments in Part 1 HERE.
I thought this time I would explain a little about my record shopping habits and how my collection grew to what it is now. After collecting a hundred or so 45-singles as a kid in the 60s, I started with LPs in the mid to late 60s when I was about ten or eleven years old, usually bugging my parents to buy me something when we were out shopping at The Boston Store in downtown Utica, NY. Some of those earliest LPs included:
- The Rolling Stones, Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) 1966
- The Beatles, Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 1967
- The Rolling Stones, Between the Buttons 1967
- The Doors, The Doors 1967
- The Association, Insight Out 1967
- Vanilla Fudge, Vanilla Fudge 1967
The first LP I bought with my own money was the Mike Bloomfield/Al Kooper/Steve Stills, Super Session in 1968 when I was eleven years old. That album meant the world to me. My first album of classical music was also from 1967, E. Power Biggs, Bach Organ Favorites which was my first introduction to "serious" music. I still have that LP and I still listen to it and love it. My first orchestral LP was Ormandy conducting Dvořák's 9th Symphony on Columbia, also around 1967 or 68, which my mom bought for me. Though I have found several superior performances of that symphony since (Kubelik on DG being my favorite) the piece itself remains one of my favorite symphonies.
When my brother left for college in 1971, we split up the record collection, and he got a lot of what would now be the "classic rock" LPs. I drifted towards prog rock and classical in my high school years, and by the time I left for college in 1975, I had about 50 LPs to bring with me.
One of the best things while in college was discovering the Great Great House of Guitars (645 Titus Ave, Irondequoit, NY!!) with their massive selection of records, including imports and the best prices in the Rochester area. For the next four years I made weekly trips there and sometimes cut back on food to be able to buy at least one record on each trip. By the time I graduated I had over two hundred records, maybe closer to three hundred. That was probably why I weighed only 148 pounds at the time!
The biggest changes in record buying came after I moved to California in 1980 immediately after graduation. Local record shops, Tower Records, Moby Disk, and several others meant weekly additions to the collection, in all genres. But it was about 1984, after buying my Linn LP12 where things really changed. The dealer I bought the table from introduced me to another of his customers, Judy Davisdon, who was the classical music reviewer for the Long Beach Press Telegram. She also did equipment reviews for Hi Fi Heretic and later TAS, and I became her setup technician. Through her I also met Neil Levenson (classical music and audio equipment reviewer for Fanfare magazine) and Enid Lumley, of TAS fame. It was also through Judy that I was introduced to Art Dudley while covering CES for our audio society's newsletter. That would become a very significant introduction for me more than ten years down the road.
Anyway, as a group we would plan day long used record shopping sprees, hitting all the big used record stores in Los Angeles and Hollywood - Aron's, Record Surplus and a few others I can't recall the names of right now. Hours were spent digging through used record bins and buying anything of almost any genre that seemed in any way interesting. After going out for dinner as a group, I'd head home with anywhere from twenty to fifty records, rarely spending more than $50 or $60 dollars total. For me, it was tough to try unknown or new things when spending full price for a new record, but for one or two dollars each, used LPs open up a world of new musical opportunities.
By the end of the 1980s I had over two thousand records, maybe closer to twenty-five hundred, but then I started a long sabbatical from audio and record collecting that didn't end until 1997. That story will be told in a future edition of this series.
The B-52's, The B-52's
Label: Warner Bros. Records – BSK 3355
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Repress, Jacksonville Press
Country: US
Released: 1979
Genre: Rock
Style: New Wave
I bought this as soon as I could find it at my local record store after they appeared on SNL in January 1980. Probably at the small record shop I passed on my way home from work. I stopped at that shop every Thursday to buy a new record until midway through 1981 when I moved to the west side of the Valley and started shopping at Tower Records and Moby Disk.
Still a crazy good album and my favorite of all their releases. I was shocked at how good the record sounded, too. As long as your system doesn't tend toward too much upper midrange presence it sounds spectacular! Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson were possibly the two coolest women in rock!
Tracklist
A1 - Planet Claire 4:35
A2 - 52 Girls 3:34
A3 - Dance This Mess Around 4:36
A4 - Rock Lobster 6:49
B1 - Lava 4:54
B2 - There's A Moon In The Sky (Called The Moon) 4:54
B3 - Hero Worship 4:07
B4 - 6060-842 2:48
B5 - Downtown 2:57
https://open.qobuz.com/album/a78ttg3bp2whc
Jan Peerce, Jan Peerce on 2nd Avenue
Label: Vanguard – VSD 79166
Series: Vanguard Stereolab
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
Country: US
Released: 1964
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Yiddish Theater
When you decide to listen to everything in your record collection, you play things you might likely otherwise overlook. This is a 1964 recording on Vanguard of songs from Yiddish Theater. I've had this since the mid/late 1980s but can't ever remember listening to it before. Probably got it during a day of mass LP shopping at Record Surplus or Aron's back in the day…
I'm sure I picked it up thinking of my grandfather on my mother's side who was an actor in the Yiddish theater before and after the war. He continued acting after emigrating to New York City. He did have a record (multi disk set actually) of him giving a speech at Madison Square Garden but again, it was in Yiddish so I'm not sure what it was about. He was one cool guy, and listening to this record made me think of him. Now I just wish I understood Yiddish…
Peerce's voice is amazing, and he was also the tenor on the famous Toscanini Beethoven 9th (with the NBC Orchestra) from 1958, which will show up in a future column.
Tracklist
A1 - Mein Shtele Belz (My Little Town Belz) 4:13
A2 - Mirele 4:22
A3 - Eishes Chayil (A Woman of Valor) 3:03
A4 - Ich Hob Dich Lieb (I Love You) 3:33
A5 - Ich Sing (I Sing) 3:38
A6 - Mein Yiddish Maidele (My Yiddish Sweetheart) 3:25
A7 - Malkale Dem Reb'Ns (The Rabbi's Daughter) 1:55
B1 - Ich Hob Dich Tzu Fil Lieb (I Love You Too Much) 4:26
B2 - Du un Ich (You and I) 3:01
B3 - Liebes Shmertzen (Pangs of Love) 2:48
B4 - Fargess Mich Nit (Do Not Forget Me) 3:46
B5 - Ein Mol In Leben (Once In A Lifetime) 3:02
B6 - Gib Mir Liebe (Give Me Love) 3:48
B7 - Oib S'Iz Bashert (If It's Meant to Be) 3:04
https://open.qobuz.com/album/0015707916653
The New Jersey Percussion Ensemble, Raymond DesRoches, Varèse, Colgrass, Cowell, Saperstein, Oak, Percussion Music
Label: Nonesuch – H-71291
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo, SP Pressing
Country: US
Released: 1974
Genre: Classical
Style: Modern, Contemporary
This is from my college days, and I'm sure a lot of readers here have this, too. It was on Harry Pearson's list in TAS for many years, though I had not yet heard of either Harry or the magazine when I bought it. It was mastered by Bob Ludwig. I used to love this "white cover" series from Nonesuch as it was a great source for 20th century composers and I still buy them if I find any in good condition when shopping for used records. They generally had excellent sound and music you would not find anywhere else. Varèse's "Ionization" is probably the best-known piece here. Not an everyday listen, but when the mood hits me, it is very good.
Tracklist
A1 - Edgard Varèse– Ionisation 5:20
A2 - Michael Colgrass– Fantasy-Variations 11:07
B1 - Henry Cowell – Ostinato Pianissimo 2:58
B2 - David Saperstein – Antiphonies For Percussion 5:47
B3 - Kil-Sung Oak – Amorphosis 9:14
https://open.qobuz.com/album/0603497186860
Camel, Rain Dances
Label: Janus Records – JXS-7035
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, GRT pressing
Country: US
Released: 1977
Genre: Rock
Style: Prog Rock
A generally underrated prog rock band from the classic prog era, with their first LP being in 1973. I discovered them with their fourth album, Moonmadness, in 1976, near the end of my first year in college. This one is their fifth album, where replacing Doug Fergusen with Richard Sinclair on bass and adding Mel Collins on sax certainly changed their sound, though Andrew Latimer on guitar and Peter Bardens on keyboards still lead and dominate the sound. Still, they remained one of my favorite bands from the 1970s. It was also their last album where they focused on their prog sound, as their next album tended towards shorter, more pop and commercially oriented songs. Rain Dances was for me their last great album.
Tracklist
A1 - First Light 5:02|
A2 - Metrognome 4:14
A3 - Tell Me 4:06
A4 - Highways Of The Sun 4:29
B1 - Unevensong 5:34
B2 - One Of These Days I'll Get An Early Night 5:50
B3 - Elke 4:25
B4 - Skylines 4:23
B5 - Rain Dances 2:53
https://open.qobuz.com/album/0004228207252
Genesis, Trespass
Label: ABC Records – AB-816
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo
Country: US
Released: 1974
Genre: Rock
Style: Prog Rock
Even without Steve Hackett or Phil Collins, who wouldn't join the band until their next album, this is the first of the great Genesis albums of the Peter Gabriel era. Hard to believe they were all about nineteen or twenty when they recorded this. I have Classic Records reissues of the other Gabriel era Genesis albums, but they apparently never reissued this one. Not as refined or coherent as their next four LPs would be, but still, an essential album from one of the leaders of the prog rock genre.
Tracklist
A1 - Looking For Someone 7:00
A2 - White Mountain 7:00
A3 - Visions Of Angels 7:00
B1 - Stagnation 8:45
B2 - Dusk 4:15
B3 - The Knife 8:55
https://open.qobuz.com/album/rqgpm3737zj9b
King Crimson, Islands
Label: Atlantic – SD 7212
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo, PR - Presswell Pressing, Gatefold
Country: US
Released: 1972
Genre: Rock
Style: Prog Rock
Clearly the most underrated of all the early KC albums, it includes some of their most beautiful and intense music. If your system can play "The Sailor's Tale" and make sense of it, your system is doing something right! The title track that closes out the album is possibly the simplest and prettiest song they ever recorded. I was thrilled that they added it to the setlist when I saw them in concert at the Greek Theater in 2019. I bought this copy in 1975 for $3.98 from the surplus bin at Record Theater in Rochester, NY freshman year of college. Excellent sound quality.
Tracklist
A1 - Formentera Lady 5:46
A2 - Sailor's Tale 9:30
A3 - The Letters 4:23
B1 - Ladies Of The Road 5:29
B2 - Prelude: Song Of The Gulls 4:14
B3 - Islands 9:14
https://open.qobuz.com/album/zjkpkyb53vntb
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Stabat Mater
Label: Archiv Produktion – 2533 114
Format: Vinyl, LP, Repress, Gatefold
Country: Germany
Released: 1978
Genre: Classical
Style: Baroque
Baroque era vocal and choral music can be a tough one for me sometimes. This is well performed, very nicely recorded and hauntingly beautiful at times. Highly recommended for those who really like this type of music. Still, listening once every ten years or so is enough for me.
Tracklist
A1 - Duetto: Stabat Mater Dolorosa 5:02
A2 - Aria (Soprano): Cuis Animan Gementen 2:56
A3 - Duetto: O Quam Tristi Et Afflicta 2:56
A4 - Aria (Contralto): Quae Moerebat Et Dolebat 2:50
A5 - Duetto: Quis Est Homo, Qui Non Fleret 3:06
A6 - Aria (Soprano): Vidit Suum Dulcem Natum 3:33
B1 - Aria (Contralto): Eja, Mater, Fons Amoris 3:05
B2 - Duetto: Fac, Ut Ardeat Cor Meum 2:16
B3 - Duetto: Sancta Mater, Istud Agas 5:12
B4 - Aria (Contralto): Fac, Ut Portem Christi Morten 4:11
B5 - Duetto: Inflammatus Et Accensus 2:33
B6 - Duetto: Quando Corpus Morietur 4:30
https://open.qobuz.com/album/0002894271232
(Same recording of Stabat Mater, but from a reissue. No idea about the other pieces)
