Good Music from the G Spot of my Collection ( #AtoZChallenge ) ( #BOTB Results )

        Good music is what I search for and that is mainly what I have kept in my collection after over fifty years of accumulating vinyl LPs.  Of course it's all a matter of opinion, but I don't think there is a bad album in this post--or any of this year's posts.

        Gershwin is gone from my vinyl records, but he's been amply replaced in my CD shelves.  Same with Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, one of the greatest albums ever in my view--I've added the deluxe CD version of that one.  I never replaced my copy of the first Grand Funk Railroad album, which I like a lot.   But there is still a healthy representation of good albums under the letter G.  Just look and listen...

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

  Groundhogs  "Thank Christ for the Bomb"  (1970)  After the Groundhogs caught my attention when I heard them on a local radio station (kind of surprising to hear them on a Knoxville area broadcast), I checked out the University of Tennessee bookstore to see if they had the album that I had already sampled and there it was.   I bought the album at full price and never regretted it.  This is a dynamite group that certainly should have gotten more recognition than it did.  But at least I added one of their albums to my collection and have no intent on getting rid of it.

Grapefruit  "Deep Water" (1969)  Once I had purchased my copy of Lillian Roxon's Rock Encyclopedia in 1969 it became a guide for me to find interesting rock albums.  This now limited scope compendium provided me with hours of reading about rock music at the time and led me to purchase albums like this one by Grapefruit, the first group signed to the Beatles' Apple label.  I used to think that maybe they actually were the Beatles or maybe Badfinger undercover.  They weren't and they didn't last as long as Badfinger.  Still, they were a good group.  My friend Marvin scored their first album in a cut-out bin and that was a decent album.  So when I saw their second album in cut-outs, I grabbed it.  This is a decent album with some psychedelic sounds that found an appreciative audience with me.

Stephane Grappelli and Yehudi Menuhin  "Jalousie"  (1973)  I first heard about this album on an NPR show on the Knoxville university radio station.  As a violinist and aficionado of string music, I had become well aware of the legendary jazz fiddle player Stephane Grappelli who had achieved international acclaim with his work with the great guitarist Django Reinhardt.  Likewise, Yehudi Menuhin was well-known to even a young violin player like me.  The team of these two pairing up to play classic standard pop tune by the likes of Gershwin, Porter, Kern, and others seemed like a must have for my collection.  I paid a premium price for this one brand new and it's well worth keeping.

Guess Who "American Woman" (1970)  I found this album at a used record store on Cumberland Avenue in Knoxville sometime in the eighties.  Naturally I was very familiar with the hits from this album and like the music well enough to buy this album.  Definitely worth owning a copy because this is great rock and roll music.

Grateful Dead  "Anthem of the Sun"  (1968)  Before I really knew much about The Grateful Dead I found this album in a cut-out bin (in Big K I believe) and bought it for 99 cents.  It had a pretty cover, some long songs, and I figured it must have some kind of status.  Even though I didn't know their music at the time, I had heard about the group.  It's kind of a weird album even for me.  It's the only Dead album I have on vinyl though I've gotten a few since on CD.  Not that I'm a "Dead Head" by any means, but I like a good music library.

Good Rats           The Good Rats (1969)  One day in spring of 1970 when I was attending the University of Tennessee, I was in the Undergraduate Library perusing about and ran across a magazine that focused on classical music.  Oddly, in the review section, they had a piece about the first Good Rats album and gave it some high marks.  Since it was coming from a classical music magazine I figured the album was respectable enough for me to seek out.  I checked the University Bookstore, where I typically went to look for the more obscure albums, and sure enough they had a copy which I bought and enjoyed for several years.  Never heard anything more about the group until 1981 when I started running across many of their later albums in the cassette cut-outs.  Now obsessed, I found every other album they made and discovered that they were all better than that first album I had purchased ten years earlier.  Later I acquired LP versions of many of those cassettes as well as one on CD.  I haven't purchased many albums in recent years, but the most recent one was the "Good Rats...Live at Last" album which I bought at a used record store that my youngest daughter Angie took me to maybe 5 years ago or so.  When I saw this double album still unopened and for only $5 I figured I should spring for that.  This is one of the best live albums ever and the Rats are one of the best rock groups ever.  Many who have discovered this group are likely to agree with me.  You can listen and make up your own mind.

Rick Grech  "The Last Five Years"  (1973)   "Second Generation Woman" with Family  &  "Sea of Joy" with Blind Faith.   I couldn't find the entire album on YouTube but I've linked to a couple of tracks.  This is a compilation of some of the best songs by a virtuoso who has played with a number groups and artists.  I was familiar with his work as violinist and bass player for the supergroup Blind Faith.  This album has some excellent songs taken from other albums.

Benny Goodman "Trio, Quartet, Quintet"  (reissued 1968)  Of course I'd heard of Benny Goodman my whole life, but I didn't have that much of a deep interest in his music until I started college.  When I saw this album listed in a discount cut-out catalog that I used to get in the mail I figured it would be a worthy addition to my record collection.  The bargain price was definitely an incentive to buy.   A lot of great songs performed by Benny's small ensembles.  

Battle of the Bands Results

     My Battle was "Stormy Monday" as done by The Candymen and The McCoys.   I really like both of these.  Listening after over 50 years, The Candymen sounded much better than I remember.  Going in I figured I'd be voting for the McCoys, but in the final analysis I decided I liked the Candymen a tad better.

Final Vote Tally        

 The Candymen       5 votes

The McCoys            6 votes

Next Battle on May 1st

        But there's still more alphabet to go for the A to Z.  Tune in tomorrow!

 

Fantastic Music and Far Out Albums ( #AtoZChallenge )

 

       Fantastic music resides in my vinyl collection though some might think that some of my albums are pretty far out.  And some are indeed "far out" as we used to say back in the hippy dippy sixties and seventies.  I was striving to achieve an eclectic interesting collection of music that might have something to appeal to many listeners, but most of all I was looking for music that I could enjoy. I think I was successful in my quest for a broad ranging collection of record albums.  

         Flo & Eddie, Full Moon, and the Four Tops have left my building and now reside in some other collection unbeknownst to me. The Graham Nash produced album by The Fool was maybe one of the worst albums ever made so I felt no great urge to keep it. However, as bad as my three albums by Frankie Stein and his Ghouls may have been, I probably should have hung on to them just for the novelty and for the fact that they were albums purchased during my early adolescent years.  But I didn't keep them.  Here are some albums in the F file that I did keep in my collection...

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

The Four Seasons "Gold Vault of Hits"  (1965)  was given to me as a Christmas gift from my mother in 1965 while we were still living in northern Indiana.  They were one of  my favorite groups at the time and this album has some great tunes, all big hits.  Nothing really bad on this album and it is worthy of any collection.  Well worn after years of play, it was worth keeping for the sentimental personal nature if not for the music.

Federal Duck (1968)  Don't know where I obtained this cut-out, but this album is very weird at times while being interesting and occasionally oddly beautiful.  I've never seen another copy, but since it has been written about on various internet sources I know I'm not the only one who has a copy.  Still it has a uniqueness that I think makes it worth keeping.  So I kept it.  And did I say it is weird.  I mean the band has a tuba player as well as other assorted musicians.  I like it and that's what matters to me.

Dan Fogelberg "Nether Lands" (1977)  I used to listen to this album so much. Listening now transports me to that time.  My first wife Cathy was a Fogelberg fanatic and through her I gained a great appreciation for his music.  This album came out while Cathy was pregnant with our son who we named Daniel Neil in honor of her favorite artist and mine (Neil Young).   I own several Fogelberg albums on cassette and CD, but this is the only one I have on vinyl.  

Peter Frampton "Wind of Change"  (1972)  I was well aware of Frampton from his work with The Herd (I used to have their album) and Humble Pie (I listened to them a lot on albums owned by friends).  After his Wind of Change album came out I heard it at a friend's house--frequently.  They were playing it every time I was there it seemed.  The album grew on me to the extent that I went out and purchased a full price copy of it.  This is some of Frampton's best work.

Function  "Play It Maestro" (1979)  This prog rock Christian album comes from a Swedish group.  It's a bit run of the mill, but I find it to be okay listening.  Actually I haven't listened to it much.  I found it at a Books-a-Million store in West Knoxville around 1988 or so and it was cheap.  It also has a violin player pictured on the cover as well as a violinist playing in some of the music.  I guess I'd say that I kept this for the album art, but the music could grow on me if I listened enough.

The Fourth Way (1969)   If I remember correctly, I found this album in the cut-out bin at the University of Tennessee Bookstore.  The attraction for me about this album was the violin player. This jazz music was a bit alien to me at first, but soon took hold of me.  It's funky electrified jazz rock by top notch players.  Of course I'd keep this album--the violin you know.

        I'm sure you recognize some these, but do you have a favorite among them?  Do you keep any albums because of the artwork?   What is your favorite artist with an F name?  

Edification Etcetera ( #AtoZChallenge ) ( #IWSG )

         Edification, education, enlightenment, entertainment--this post is all about the E's...and the ears.  Reading is fine, but hearing can be sublime.  Sitting back and just listening to a person reading or to a musical artist singing or playing can be a truly relaxing experience.  It's also a great way to pass time while driving.  Believe your ears!

The Insecure Writer's Support Group

Join us on the first Wednesday of each month in Alex J. Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group--a forum of writers who gather to talk about writing and the writer's life. For a complete list of participants visit Alex's Blog. 

The co-hosts for the April 6 posting of the IWSG are Joylene Nowell Butler, Jemima Pett, Patricia Josephine, Louise - Fundy Blue, and Kim Lajevardi!

April 6 question - Have any of your books been made into audio books? If so, what is the main challenge in producing an audiobook?

      This question doesn't apply to me, but it is certainly related to my A to Z Theme for 2022.  Audio is where I'm at this April.  My collection of vinyl records has provided me so much listening pleasure throughout the years.  The process of recording music or the spoken word is an art in itself.  Pleasing sound is what keeps a listener engaged. Even unpleasant sound can serve some purpose--but I won't bother going there.

       So skipping the writing topic, let me think about my vinyl collection.  Not much E-ticket action here (a Disney reference a lot of folks might not understand).  I got rid of Ellington, but kept Ellis.  Also I sold my Edin-Adahl album and now don't even recall what they sounded like.  But I did hang on to a few records by artists beginning with the letter E...

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

Don Ellis Orchestra  "Autumn" (1968) and "At the Fillmore" (1970)---  When I heard "Variations for Trumpet" from Ellis's Autumn album played on the Knoxville NPR station late one night I knew I had to have that album.  Soon after hearing it,  I found the album in the bookstore at the University of Tennessee where I was attending at the time and added it to my collection.   Later for my Christmas list in 1970 I included the Ellis At the Fillmore album and my mother delivered as she so often did. I think my sister helped her find some of these more obscure albums that I would ask for, but whatever the case my mother was amazing when it came to giving me things I asked for.  Maybe I was kind of spoiled too?   Well, I'm not going to go into that since this is about Don Ellis.  These are two great jazz rock albums that I felt hesitant to give up.

Easy Rider  "Ride On" (197?)  Here's an album that I can almost guarantee that no one reading this post owns--that is unless you're an old friend from East Tennessee.  This was a band from the Maryville TN area that consisted of some friends and other guys I remotely knew.  I'm not sure how many copies they pressed, but my friend Lonnie Carver (who was in the band) gave me a copy.  I'm certain that not too many copies remain so it is likely a rarity.  Not bad music from some capable musicians who continued to play over the past many decades up to this present day.   For a sampling of some music from a couple of the members of the band you can check out these links:   Captain Suck & the Mediocre Band   and  Lonnie Carver "Let's Run"  (singing a song that I wrote). 

Earth Opera  (1968) is a vinyl album I picked up from a used record store sometime in the eighties.  In the early seventies I had their album  Great American Eagle Tragedy (1969) on 8 track cartridge and liked it a great deal, but as with most 8 tracks it met its doom somewhere along the way.  When I saw the earlier Earth Opera album in the bins for a cheap price I claimed it for my vinyl collection.  Albeit strange sounding, it's a good album will some excellent musicians who went on to have illustrious musical careers in other realms.  This is a weird psychedelic relic of the sixties--just my kind of thing.

Roky Erickson is one of those artists who became a quest for me as I scoured record stores across the country.  I became a fan of his group 13th Floor Elevators in the late sixties, but didn't begin my quest for more of his music until the late eighties.  I've found several CDs and cassettes of Roky's music as well as all of the albums by the Elevators.   I think I found both "The Holiday Inn Tapes" (1987)   and "Casting the Runes"  (1987) at a record store in Texas.  Since the latter is a picture disc I figured that made it extra collectable.  Whatever the case, for raw rock and roll music Roky rocks.

   

          Is there anything in this post that you remember?   Do you have any albums that were made by people you know?    Did any of them achieve a decent level of fame or fortune?