Love might be an extreme word to use when describing things like record albums, but I did spend a lot of time in my life seeking out music, listening to it, and, for lack of a better term, loving it. There were times in my life when music seemed like the main focus of my life. Now a collection of vinyl records is what remains. I'm not going to say that I "love" those records, but they do mean a lot to me.
I may have let go of my one Led Zeppelin album that I had on vinyl but what the "L". It wasn't one of their biggest classics and I still have some Zep on CD. I never had that many albums in the L category and of the ones I did have I kept most of them. Here's what's left in L...Links to the music are included throughout the post if you want to hear the music.
David Laflamme "White Bird" (1976) As I mentioned in my post for the letter I, my vinyl collection is now devoid of any albums by the violin driven group It's a Beautiful Day. However, I did keep the "White Bird" album that was later released by that group's leader David Laflamme. It's almost like having the original "It's a Beautiful Day" album without most of the songs. This is a decent album, not great, but a nice footnote to the San Francisco psychedelic rock days. Laflamme is a good singer as well as an outstanding violin player and he has written some pretty good songs. His song "White Bird" is a classic.
Nils Lofgren "Grin" (1971) & "1 + 1" (1972) Okay, so legitimately these albums might belong under G for Grin, but to me this group is really Nils Lofgren with back up musicians. I first heard of Lofgren through his association with Neil Young and Crazy Horse. Currently he is part of the line-up of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band with whom he has been playing since the eighties. These first two Grin albums contain probably his best work. I "love" them both. Excellent songs performed by an outstanding trio.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono "Double Fantasy" (1980) I was a big Lennon fan back in the day, but his music fell out of favor with me over the years. I dumped his "Imagine" album in one of my vinyl purges. However I did keep the "Double Fantasy" album he recorded with Yoko Ono and released right before his death in 1980. Somehow there seems to be some historical significance connected to this album. And personally it takes me back to a time I was living in Richmond VA with the woman who would later become my second wife.
Linn County "Til the Break of Dawn" (1970) The link provides a sampling of their style that is representative of the entire album which I couldn't find on YouTube. This was an album found in a cut-out bin in the long gone Green Acres Discount Store on Alcoa Highway in Louisville TN. After the store closed it became a sprawling flea market also called Green Acres. Now I'm thinking of the TV show theme song which is nothing like the music of Linn County. This band plays blues rock, which is not my favorite genre, but they do a credible job. For some reason I managed to keep this album.
Do you know any of these artists or albums? Are there any artists who you don't like as much as you once did? Who are your favorite artists in the L category?
I like Lennon's music and definitely remember Double Fantasy. I'm curious why his music fell out of favour with you.
ReplyDeleteKalpana, Lennon's music with the Beatles is some of the best. And a lot of his solo stuff was pretty good to great. I enjoy his music when I hear it. I just don't bother listening to it much. But actually I don't listen to music like I used to.
DeleteLee
I remember Double Fantasy but never a fan of Lennon.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I have a lot of L bands either.
Alex, John Lennon now belongs to history and the ages.
DeleteLee
Linn Country only new one to me here ;)
ReplyDeleteJamie, it's a group I don't recall ever seeing in any other record bins, but I was never looking for them anyway.
DeleteLee
Double Fantasy is still a great album but you might be right in that it's importance was amplified due to Lennon's death. Though at the time it was released it was still a big deal for it's release; less so for it's content.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe we are 40 years away from that moment now and 20 from Harrison's death.
--
Tim Brannan
The Other Side | A to Z of Conspiracy Theories
Tim, I still enjoy listening to the album. Yeah, a lot has gone by in those 40 years. For me 3 kids grown and 7 grandkids growing fast. Wow!
DeleteLee
The only L CD I found in my little CD library was the John Lennon Collection. I only recognize a couple of songs on the list.
ReplyDeletePatricia, if you weren't listening to Lennon post Beatles you probably wouldn't have known many of those songs at all.
DeleteLee
The night Lennon got shot (or the night the news broke, I guess) a couple of friends and I went out so the one could buy this lp as a memorial, I guess. I never listened to the whole thing, but always loved the singles...
ReplyDeleteCW, my wife and I were in our apartment listening to NPR and getting dinner ready when we heard the news. I still can visualize the scene vividly. I've listened to the entire album several times and have enjoyed it. Even Yoko's songs have a charming weirdness that draws me.
DeleteLee
I had the original It's A Beautiful Day album, so I am familiar with Laflamme. Good fiddle.
ReplyDeleteI got turned on to Nils with his solo album, after Grin fell apart. I was glad to see his addition to Crazy Horse.
Was a fan of Lennon, but wasn't one for the Plastic Ono band, their direction didn't match where I was heading.
Craig, I liked just about everything Nils put out on record.
DeleteYes, the Plastic Ono Band was way too weird and chaotic for my tastes. But I don't recall listening to many of their albums for that reason so I can't say for sure what they were like.
By the way, do you have a blog in the Challenge (or elsewhere)? Your profile is pretty vague.
Lee
Hi Lee,
ReplyDeleteNever was a fan of later Beatles. Just when I thought I didn't know anyone else I remembered "Whitebird" and of course, "Its a Beautiful Day" great songs! We've still got Led Zeppelin and Lynyrd Skynyrd albums and CDs.
Diedre, I liked the Beatles up until their break-up and then I enjoyed their individual music after that. To me the best period of the Beatles was from Yesterday & Today, Rubber Soul, and Revolver.
DeleteI've got a lot of Led Zeppelin on CD and maybe one Skynyrnd album on CD. It's a Beautiful Day was such a favorite of mine back in the seventies that I'm rather shocked that I got rid of the albums by them that I owned.
Lee
I enjoy exploring so much music through your posts. I am just curious - when did you start collecting vinyl records?
ReplyDeleteHope you check out my A-Z challenge posts in which I am trying to have every sentence of the story (one chapter a day) start with the letter of the day https://momandideas.com/
Mom, I got my first album somewhere around 1963 or '64. Prior to that I always listened to my parents albums, but then my musical interests starting going in other directions which meant I had to get albums of my own.
DeleteLee
Double Fantasy is one of the albums in my vinyl collection, and was my second of John Lennon's solo albums (after Plastic Ono Band). I bought what was available at the record store and the indie CD stores in Amherst, and luckily loved almost everything I bought there, even if it wasn't always in the best order. It's a solid 4-star album for me, and holds up very well.
ReplyDeleteCarrie-Anne, I would agree about the Double Fantasy album. As I've been listening to it again in doing this blog series I realize how good it was.
DeleteLee
I might be wrong, but back in the day when vinyl was the main format, I believe we put a lot more effort in to finding and listening to music than we do today.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I love about vinyl is the intentionality of putting a record on and then listening to it. Playing a record demands attention and it means the music is far less likely to just be background noise.
Dino, I think you are right to a great extent, although I probably spent far more time looking for cassettes in the eighties. But then I had more money to spend on music as well as a lot more opportunities to go to music stores. In the nineties as well as the first decade of this current century I bought many CDs mostly through the record clubs and Amazon--so easy to buy things online!
DeleteYour description of the listening process is so spot on. I used to have this obsession about listening to every vinyl from the beginning and then flipping it over to the end. It did require attention to keep the music going and as it played I often would peruse the album jacket liner notes and other extras. Listening to an album was like an event.
Now music seems so disposable but partly because it is so easy to access. And a lot of it is really not very good in my opinion.
Lee
I have never seen this David Laflamme album. I loved the It's a Beautiful Day long play... Ware there not a thousand covers of their song "White Bird" ???
ReplyDeleteMichael, I really cannot recall how I came upon this album or where or when I bought it. I have not seen it in very many places. I used the song "White Bird" in one of my BOTB posts and did find quite a few covers of the song--maybe not a thousand, but it's been recorded by a number of artists.
DeleteLee
I only know of John Lennon and I have this album as well. I love that song, "Imagine" and wish it could be so but we deal with human beings. I have the Lord of the Rings soundtrack which I love.
ReplyDeleteBirgit, "Imagine" is a beautiful song, but now I have some problems with certain lyrics in this one. However, I get the sentiment he was conveying in the song.
DeleteI have the Lord of the Rings DVD set, but so far I've only watched the first two. They're so long! And now I feel like I'd have to start watching the trilogy from the beginning again.
Lee
Lee
We heard some of John Lennon's music in our college days. What about Lobo for this alphabet? I enjoy his songs even now.
ReplyDelete