UPDATED WITH FULL GATEFOLD IMAGE
Next to the music itself on The Stooges’ Funhouse, the most influential thing about that album is the shot of the band sprawled out on that Afghan rug when you open the gatefold sleeve.
Full image after the fold.
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Let me see if I can summarize a recent experience and then open the Halls for some thoughtful discussion on that great lost avenue to record buyers on a budget: cut-out bins.
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Before digital downloads and online stores, one had to physically visit a record store to purchase a record. If the record was really hard to find, such as an import, a whacked out independent release, or a bootleg, you might have to send money, through some complicated pre-PayPal system, to a complete stranger running a thumbnail ad in the back pages of Trouser Press. I was discussing all this with Townsman E. Pluribus Gergely over the weekend, and at this point in the discussion he grabbed the dinner table and uttered unmentionables at the memory of the hell and wad of cash he went through to buy bootleg cassettes of The Beach Boys‘ aborted Smile sessions.
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While driving to a client meeting this morning I heard “Interstellar Overdrive” on our local AAA station. As I considered just how much of a waste of time that recording is and began thinking about – as I often do, when faced with revisiting what was once a treasured find in my record collection – how much more I like the two solo Syd Barrett albums than Piper at the Gates of Dawn, I realized something else: I can’t listen to my Syd Barrett albums with anyone else. Years ago I’m sure I spun them with friends in my presence, but today, beside the fact that my closest friends and wife have never cared for those albums, I don’t want to spin them with anyone else around. They’re for me to listen to in private. I have my own feelings about them, and I don’t want anyone else distracting me from the relationship the albums and I have.
I’m not sure why I feel this way about these Barrett albums, in particular, and I’m wondering whether I feel this way about any other albums in my collection. Some albums I choose not to play for others because they may be grating or too intense – in no way do the Barrett albums satisfy the “it’s got a good beat and you can dance to it” objectives of much music we choose to play in social situations. Although the Barrett albums are loaded with backstory and a unique mood, they’re not the same as playing the third Velvet Underground album or some mystical folk-rock or ’60s jazz album that your beard-stroking friends might appreciate hearing played in the background. When I want to spin my Barrett albums, I do so alone. Maybe I don’t want to get caught sucking my thumb.
Do you have albums that shun company?
Last night I pulled out an old, 1976 Antilles Records sampler that was stashed in an odds and ends bin in my record collection. I remember buying this album long ago for a dollar or less because it was bookended by a Nick Drake song at the beginning (at that time I had not pulled the trigger on buying anything by him) and a Portsmouth Sinfonia track, a legendary Eno-produced conglomeration of art rockers playing instruments foreign to them, at the end. I liked the Drake tune and would go on to buy a sampler collection culled from his 3 albums that still does the trick for me. The Portsmouth Sinfonia thing was a one-trick pony of an artsy-fartsy joke. I’d been involved in funnier one-off art rocker jokes with my friend and fellow Townsman, General Slocum.
After not spinning this record for at least 10 years, I was determined last night to dig into the sampler’s midsection. This weekend’s Dugout Chatter is structured around a handful of this collection’s guts, so to speak. After listening to each track, please respond to the corresponding question. As always, your gut response is what we value! The songs and questions follow the jump.
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When you buy a digital version of an album you already own on vinyl, do you discard or keep the vinyl? If you keep the vinyl, why?
You may include your personal history with cassette and 8-track tapes in this discussion, if you feel that’s necessary.
Townspeople,
I know I’ve been tough on you the last few days. You had it coming to you. I’ve been tough on myself as well. It’s pretty stressful trying to be as fair an open-minded as I was in heaping that relative and appropriate amount of praise on George Thorogood these last few days. He had it coming to him. Remember when Spock would do that Vulcan Mind Meld thing to save someone’s life, how exhausted he would be for minutes afterward? That’s how I feel. To encourage a well-deserved period of healing for us all I offer the following tracks, burned from vinyl, with all the love and surface noise I can offer. You are truly the greatest!
This kick-off track from Graham Parsons’ GP album, like all these tracks, goes out to each and every one of you. But this one especially goes out to Dr. John. We still tight, right, bro?
Graham Parsons, “Still Feeling Blue”
Here’s a rare song written by Neil Young that shows a trace of his supposed Motown heritage. Has anyone ever verified the story of the band he and Rick James had as youngsters being signed to that label? This track goes out to any fans of The Byrds whose feathers I may have ruffled in the past. I’ll take Buffalo Springfield any day of the week, but we’re cool, right, Byrds fans?
Buffalo Springfield, “On the Way Home”
I’ve always dug this Everly Brothers track. This one goes out to no one in particular…OK, maybe myself. I’m feeling better already.
The Everly Brothers, “I Wonder If I Care As Much”
This next track, from The Turtles’ Ray Davies-produced Soup, is for HVB. We’ve gone through the fire more than once. I’m sure our latest bout won’t be the last time. And you know what? I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
The Turtles, “She Always Leaves Me Laughing”
I sensed that Alexmagic was trembling with a mixture of fear and disgust during our recent Steel Cage Match. I’m pretty sure this song from The Bee Gees’ Cucumber Castle lp will help calm his nerves.
The Bee Gees, “My Thing”
Years ago I turned General Slocum onto this Van Morrison tune. I believe he since bought the album, Veedon Fleece, in digital format. I’ve been keeping my eye out for a digitally remastered copy myself, but I bet the General sometimes misses the pops and scratches from my old vinyl copy. I bet you’ll miss it too, if you familiarize yourself with this version and then move on.
Van Morrison, “Fair Play”
Let the healing continue! Please share your experiences here. Thanks.
