Very Interesting and Very Eclectic V Albums ( #AtoZChallenge )

Very interesting that there should be so many V entries in this post.  This was unexpected, but when it comes to A to Z we shouldn't be too surprised about what some of the letters have to offer.

      Vanilla Fudge should have been a keeper for me but I let that one go. Likewise I vacated the space for Vivaldi in my vinyl shelf, but that has been replaced amply in my Vivaldi CD section.  And what about all of the "Various Artists" album compilations that I used to have?  Mostly gone.  Still, I'm somewhat surprised about how many V albums still remain...

 

Links to the music are included throughout the post if you want to hear the music.

Vox Boxes

     When I frequented the bookstore at the University of Tennessee when I was attending that school in the early seventies, I usually gravitated to the cut-out bins to see what new treasures had been added.  One of the more outstanding products to be found in their cut-outs was a series of classical boxed sets called Vox Box records.  They had many composers represented and now I wish I had bought them all.  These were outstanding music overviews that included three discs and detailed booklets about the music and the artists.  Alas, I only bought two of these.  It was a time of limited funds for me as a college student so it was difficult to come up with the $5.99 or whatever it was those boxes cost at the time.  At least I got two of these sets by two of my favorite classical composers.  

Vox Box set  String Quartets and Quintet of Franz Schubert by the Endres Quartet (1960's).   "Death and the Maiden"    As you've probably learned if you've kept up with many of my A to Z posts, I'm a fan of string music.  I especially like string chamber music such as quartets and quintets, etc.  This box has a fine selection of two quartets and two quintets that I've grown to love over the years.  I've spent hours listening to the music in this set.   

Vox Box Sets  (@1968?)  Frank Glazer plays music of  Eric Satie on Piano.   Includes the well known "Three Gymnopedies"  In my S post I wrote about my appreciation of the music of Eric Satie.  Now Satie makes another appearance in this very fine Vox Box of Satie's almost complete piano works.  For many years this was considered the definitive collection of Satie's piano music.  It still remains a wonderful compilation of Satie's work.  This album led me to a greater appreciation of solo classical piano work.  

Velvet Underground  "Peel Slowly and See"  (1995) CD box set      My friend Vernon had bought a copy of Velvet Underground's 1969 album in the early seventies.  I had read about the group, but was never interested enough to seek out one of their records to buy.  We were both mildly interested in the record he had bought.  I think I only listened to it once--not sure how many times Vernon listened to it.   Years later when I ran across this boxed CD set at a good price through a CD club I went ahead and added it to my collection. By now they were considered legendary and my musical tastes had become more inclined to listening to their style of music.  It's a nice set to have in my music collection, but not something I have listened to often.  

Martha Velez  "Hypnotized" (1972)   I didn't find the entire album on YouTube but here's the title song.   This is another album I found in a Knoxville discount book store that had a large cut-out record section.  I liked the cover and the song titles--especially "Hypnotized".  This is a nice album though maybe not a knock-out.  An actress and singer, Velez has put out a number of albums as well as having appeared in a number of movies and television shows.  Years after buying this album I married my third and present wife of 24 years--her maiden name is Velez.  

Greg X Volz   "The River Is Rising"  (1986)  For many years Volz was the lead singer for the Contemporary Christian Rock group Petra, who you can read about in my P post.  I was a big fan of that group and I thought Volz was one of the best rock singers around.  The River Is Rising was released after he went on to a solo career.  In 1988 I booked a concert at the Knoxville Civic Auditorium with Volz as the opening act and Mark Farner as the headline act.  It was a great concert aside from me losing a lot of money on it.  At least I got to meet Volz and hear him live.  And now I have this album to remember his music.

The Ventures   "Ventures in Space"  (1964)   This was among the first albums I ever bought.  It was 1964 and I was 13 years old at the time.  This was just the sort of thing one would have expected a kid like me to buy.  Since I loved all things Sci-fi and "Twilight Zone" back then, this album seemed like a must have.  Evoking those adolescent more innocent times, this really is a great album of fine guitar rock music.   After all these years, this album still sounds pretty good.

       Are there any albums or artists here that you recognize?  Do you buy many box sets or artist retrospectives?   What artists starting with the letter V can you recall?