Big Brother and The Holding Company

3-31-09 Big Brother & The Holding Company

Couldn’t find a Big Brother or Janis Joplin blog, so here goes…

LP BIG BROTHER & HOLDING CO. featuring JANIS JOPLIN MAINSTREAM US S/6099

1966 10 TRKS stereo, original issue

LP BIG BROTHER & HOLDING CO. featuring JANIS JOPLIN CBS/SONY JPN 25AP 1242

1966 12 TRKS re-issue (2 x bonus tracks)

CD BIG BROTHER & HOLDING CO. featuring JANIS JOPLIN SONY JPN SICP-1665

1966 14 TRKS ('07 issue) (4 x bonus tracks) kami sleeve

CD BIG BROTHER & HOLDING CO. featuring JANIS JOPLIN COLUMBIA US CK 66425

1966 14 TRKS ('99 issue) (4 x bonus tracks)

LP CHEAP THRILLS CBS UK 63382

1968 7 TRKS U.K. pressing

CD CHEAP THRILLS SONY JPN SICP-1666

1968 11 TRKS (4 x bonus tracks) ('07 issue) kami sleeve

CD CHEAP THRILLS COLUMBIA US CK 65784

1968 11 TRKS re-mastered (4 x bonus tracks)

7" DOWN ON ME / CALL ON ME MAINSTREAM US 662

1967? 2 TRKS no pic sleeve

7" LAST TIME, THE / COO COO MAINSTREAM US 678

1966? 2 TRKS no pic sleeve

CD LIVE AT WINTERLAND '68 COLUMBIA US CK 64869

1998 14 TRKS Live 4/12/68

Janis solo:

CD I GOT DEM OL' KOZMIC BLUES re COLUMBIA US CK 65785

1969 11 TRKS re-mastered

LP PEARL COLUMBIA US KC 30322

1970 10 TRKS original issue

CD PEARL re COLUMBIA US CK 65786

1970 14 TRKS re-mastered (4 x bonus tracks)

CD RARE PEARLS (Collection) COLUMBIA US CK 65936

1999 5 TRK EP Collection

I believe my older sister Marilyn let me hear “Cheap Thrills” by Big Brother, probably towards the end of 1968. Straight-forward San Francisco rock music. I loved the Robert Crumb cover art on “Cheap Thrills” I think my brother had their debut LP, and I really liked that one – “Blind Man”, “Down On Me” etc.

I thought enough of these two albums to get Japanese kami sleeve (paper sleeve) CD’s of them. I was always pleased that they added the “Last Time” b/w “Coo Coo” 45 to this CD. Never so fond of the live songs or out-takes that usually grace Janis Joplin releases. The best stuff usually made the original LP.

I was about 12 when she died. I knew it had been a ‘drug death’. I felt a sense of loss, but I got over it. But I always kept my Big Brother 45’s & LP’s. I am less fond of her two solo albums, “Pearl” and “I Got Dem Ol’…” – Big Brother were sure good in the “Monterey Pop” film. And I really enjoyed the “Live At Winterland” CD. I read a few of the books, too.

I remain a fan, if only for the two Big Brother LP’s / CD’s.

The Doors

3-30-09 The Doors

I checked my “Index” and couldn’t find a blog on “The Doors”…

LP 13 (Collection) ELEKTRA US EKS-74079
1970 13 TRK Collection
CD AMERICAN PRAYER, AN ELEKTRA US 61812.2
1978 23 TRKS
LP AMERICAN PRAYER, AN ELEKTRA JPN P-10504E
1978 13 TRKS booklet
LP BEST OF quad ELEKTRA US EQ-5035
1973 11 TRK Collection, Quad LP
CD DOORS, THE ELEKTRA US 74007.2
1967 11 TRKS
LP DOORS, THE ELEKTRA JPN P-10334E
1967 11 TRKS insert
7" HELLO, I LOVE YOU / LOVE STREET ELEKTRA US EK-45635
1968 2 TRKS no pic sleeve - stereo 45
CD L.A. WOMAN ELEKTRA US 75011.2
1971 10 TRKS
LP L.A. WOMAN ELEKTRA US EKS-75011
1971 10 TRKS transparency cover
7" LIGHT MY FIRE / CRYSTAL SHIP ELEKTRA US EK-45615
1967 2 TRKS no pic sleeve
7" LOVE HER MADLY / (YOU NEED MEAT) DON'T GO… ELEKTRA US EK-45726
1970? 2 TRKS no pic sleeve
CD MORRISON HOTEL ELEKTRA US 75007.2
1970 11 TRKS
LP MORRISON HOTEL ELEKTRA UK EKS-75007
1968? 11 TRKS
LP OTHER VOICES ELEKTRA US EKS-75017
1971 8 TRKS no Jim Morrison
7" RIDERS ON THE STORM / CHANGELING ELEKTRA US EK-45738
1971 2 TRKS no pic sleeve
7" ROADHOUSE BLUES / YOU MAKE ME REAL ELEKTRA US EK-45685
1969 2 TRKS no pic sleeve
CD SOFT PARADE, THE ELEKTRA US 75005.2
1969? 9 TRKS
LP SOFT PARADE, THE ELEKTRA US EKS-75005
1969? 9 TRKS U.S. original issue
CD STRANGE DAYS ELEKTRA US 74014.2
1967 10 TRKS
LP STRANGE DAYS ELEKTRA US EKS-74014
1967 10 TRKS U.S. original issue
7" TIGHTROPE RIDE / VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE ELEKTRA US EK-45757
1971 2 TRKS no pic sleeve
CD WAITING FOR THE SUN ELEKTRA US 74024.2
1968 11 TRKS
LP WAITING FOR THE SUN ELEKTRA US EKS-74024
1968 11 TRKS U.S. original issue
LPx2 WEIRD SCENES INSIDE THE GOLD MINE (Collection) ELEKTRA US 8E-6001
1972 22 TRK Collection

I have a bit of an odd Doors collection – I bought some of as new releases.

I think the first Doors record I got was a 45 of “Wishful Sinful”, their newest 45 at the time. That was so long ago, I believe my 45 got broken while ‘rough-housing’! I also remember getting my first copies of albums #1 and #2 in white paper sleeves without covers. How did that happen in 1969? There was a hippie record store in (I think) Seal Beach, CA – typical store of the day, had bootleg 4-track / 8-track tapes, incense, a ‘store dog’, and used LP’s. Nice condition (as opposed to ‘beat up’) copies of the first two Doors LP’s were there, probably for 50 cents each. You can’t argue with the music, it’s good stuff. And do the economics of 1969: Ron is 11 years old, with little or no money.

Excited about “Love Her Madly” as a new release, I got a ‘window pane’ “L.A. Woman” LP as a new release. Great album, adult rock music – a good early 70’s U.S. LP. Jim Morrison always gets lumped in with Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix – an artist over-shadowed by an early death. I was bummed. I liked that Doors LP a lot. And I seem to recall a printed interview with one of ‘em saying, “If you like L.A. Woman – wait ‘till you hear what we’re gonna do next!” (which, of course – never happened, as it were).

Never got to see ‘em live, too young. I believe they were popular in my home, my brother certainly had all of their LP’s (maybe not the live album?) and both of my sisters liked them, too.

Towards the end of the 70’s, their stuff started to get re-issued. I remember getting a double 45 from England. I was blown away by “An American Prayer”, just loved it. I had a promo poster for it up in my young adult bedroom. There was a party at my house once, long ago (‘round that time), and some young woman wandered into my room, saw the poster and said, “He’s cute!”. I likely replied with “He’s also dead.”

In 1979, I went to France for the first time. All of the record stores had all of The Doors LP’s, like they were a new act. In L.A., you would’ve been lucky to find more than 1 copy of any of their albums regularly stocked (possible exception, their ‘best of’). I met Gilles Yepremian, who managed my favorite band of the day, Lard Free. His English is / was pretty good; he had met The Doors, right before Mr. Morrison expired. When I read the Danny Sugerman book, I saw Gilles’ name in it – I couldn’t believe it was the same guy I knew in Paris! (It was.)

I bought the CD’s of The Doors, probably the 2nd batch. The ones I got all say, “Re-mastered by Paul A. Rothchild”, so that’s good enough for me, at this time. No plans to buy ‘em all again. I do not really need alternate takes of their songs. The LP’s all sounded really good, really produced, like good ‘finished’ product. I do not need the stuff from the cutting room floor.

I was invited by a member of The Doors fan club to see the taping of the VH-1 “Storytellers” Doors episode, in Hollywood. This was before Ian Astbury of The Cult fronted the re-formed 90’s Doors. As I recall, Mr. Astbury was the best singer there that night.

The Doors have now had numerous re-mastered / best of / re-packaged CD’s. Jim Morrison lives on, in the 21st century.

= =

H.B. = K.K.

Bob Dylan

3-27-09 Bob Dylan

CD ANOTHER SIDE OF BOB DYLAN COLUMBIA US CK 8993

1964 11 TRKS stereo

CDx2 BASEMENT TAPES, THE (with The Band) COLUMBIA US C2K 33682

1975 24 TRKS ('67 recording)

LPx2 BASEMENT TAPES, THE (with The Band) COLUMBIA US C2 33682

1975 24 TRKS ('67 recording)

CDx2 BEFORE THE FLOOD (with The Band) COLUMBIA US C2K 37661

1974 21 TRKS Live

LPx5 BIOGRAPH (Collection) (5LP boxed set) CBS NL CBS 66509

1985 53 TRK Collection, boxed set

LPx2 BLONDE ON BLONDE mono COLUMBIA US C2L 41

1966 14 TRKS mono, original issue

CDx2 BLONDE ON BLONDE re COLUMBIA US C2H 90325

1966 14 TRKS ('03 re-master) SACD

CD BOB DYLAN (1st) SONY JPN SRCS 9239

1962 13 TRKS ('97 issue) Japanese pressing

CDx3 BOOTLEG SERIES, Vols. 1 - 3 (3CD Boxed Set) COLUMBIA US C3K 65302

1991 58 TRK Collection '61 - '91 reordings

LP BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME CBS UK 62515

1965 11 TRKS

LP DYLAN COLUMBIA US PC 32747

1973 9 TRKS

7" DYLAN (EP) CBS UK EP 6051

1963 4 TRKS with pic sleeve / EP, mono

CD FREEWHEELIN' BOB DYLAN, THE COLUMBIA US CK 8786

1963 13 TRKS

LP FREEWHEELIN' BOB DYLAN, THE CBS UK 62193

1963 13 TRKS

LP FREEWHEELIN' BOB DYLAN, THE COLUMBIA US CS 8786

1963 13 TRKS stereo

7" GEORGE JACKSON (Acoustic) / (Big Band) COLUMBIA US 4-45516

1971 2 TRKS no pic sleeve, promo

LP GREATEST HITS CBS UK 62847

1966? 12 TRK Collection, UK version

LP HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED COLUMBIA US CS 9189

1966 9 TRKS original U.S. LP

LP HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED AGAIN pirate PIRATE BD-1

1975? 6 TRKS pirate

CD HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED re COLUMBIA US CH 90324

1965 9 TRKS ('03 issue) SACD

7" I THREW IT ALL AWAY / DRIFTER'S ESCAPE COLUMBIA US 4-44826

1968? 2 TRKS no pic sleeve

LP JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY BLUES pirate PIRATE 411

1970? 12 TRKS Pirate

CD JOHN WESLEY HARDING COLUMBIA US CK 9604

1968 12 TRKS

LP JOHN WESLEY HARDING CBS DE CBS 63252

1968 12 TRKS stereo

7" LIKE A ROLLING STONE / RAINY DAY WOMEN #12 & #35 COLUMBIA US 13-33100

1980? 2 TRKS no pic sleeve, re-issue

CDx2 LIVE 1966 (Bootleg Series No. 4) COLUMBIA US C2K 65759

1998 15 TRKS Live 5/66

CD NASHVILLE SKYLINE COLUMBIA US CK 9825

1970 10 TRKS

LP NASHVILLE SKYLINE CBS UK 63601

1969 10 TRKS

CDx2 NO DIRECTION HOME (Bootleg Series No. 7) COLUMBIA US C2K 93937

2005 28 TRKS collection (mostly 60's recordings) I also have the DVD of this film

LP PLANET WAVES ISLAND UK ILPS 9261

1974 11 TRKS UK original issue

7" POSITIVELY 4th STREET / FROM A BUICK 6 CBS UK 201824

1965 2 TRKS no pic sleeve

7" RAINY DAY WOMEN #12 & #35 COLUMBIA US 4-43592

1966 2 TRKS no pic sleeve

CD SELF PORTRAIT COLUMBIA US CGK 30050

1970? 24 TRKS

LPx2 SELF PORTRAIT COLUMBIA US C2X 30050

1970? 24 TRKS

CD SUBTERRANEAN HOMESICK BLUES CBS EUROPE CDCBS 62515

1965 11 TRKS aka Bringing It All Back Home

CD TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN', THE re COLUMBIA US CK 92240

1964 10 TRKS ('05 issue)

7" WIGWAM / COPPER KETTLE (THE PALE MOONLIGHT) COLUMBIA US 4-45199

1970? 2 TRKS no pic sleeve

Been thinking a lot about Bob Dylan again lately. If I were to write the “Definitive 60’s Collection” down, it would contain at least 4 albums by Bob Dylan. After “Self Portrait”, I really lost track of his work, and I never fully ever regained – until the last few years, when I have found myself very pre-disposed unto Bob’s work (uh, up to & including “Self Portrait”).

So, was “Bringing It All Back Home” the first important rock album to feature “session musicians”? I have been very surprised to see how highly-regarded Bob is to the Japanese fans – seems they just love “Blonde On Blonde” and “Highway 61 Revisited”.

I got “John Wesley Harding” when it was a new LP – and I was totally unaware that he had been hanging out and playing with The Band…I just took it at face value. And I bought my 2LP of “Blonde On Blonde” so long ago…that an inexpensive (new, sealed) mono copy was available to me, in a long-gone hippie record store. Just got under my skin, that one. But I guess I am not alone, there.

I only ever got to see Mr. Dylan perform once – his “Jesus Show” @ the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, where he didn’t play anything but his new album (the first of the religious ones). I am too young to have seen his 1966 tour, which would’ve been a hoot – as the 2CD set attests.

I recommend the DVD “No Direction Home”, directed by Martin Scorsese.

= = =

Oh, I just got the SACD of “John Wesley Harding”, too. Now I just have to find an SACD of “Bringing It All Back Home”! At least the Dylan SACD’s are hybrid discs which will play in CD players!

Devo

3-26-09 Devo

DAY MY BABY GAVE ME A SURPRISE VIRGIN UK VS 265 7"
1979 2 TRKS with pic sleeve US
DUTY NOW FOR THE FUTURE INFINITE ZERO 14501.2 CD
1979 15 TRKS (2 x bonus tracks) ('94 issue) US
DUTY NOW FOR THE FUTURE WARNER US BSK 3337 LP
1979 13 TRKS 2nd US
FREEDOM OF CHOICE WARNER US BSK 3435 LP
1980 12 TRKS 3rd US
MECHANICAL MAN (EP) ELEVATOR UK NICE 1 7"
1978 4 TRK EP; pirate? US
NEW TRADITIONALISTS WARNER US BSK 3595 LP
1981 10 TRKS poster US
OH, NO! IT'S DEVO WARNER US 23741.1 LP
1982 11 TRKS easel back cover US
PEEK-A-BOO WARNER US 29906-0 12"
1982 3 TRKS with pic sleeve US
POST POST-MODERN MAN ENIGMA US 75551-0 12"
1990 7 TRK EP; with pic sleeve US
Q: ARE WE NOT MEN? WARNER US BSK 3239 LP
1978 11 TRKS 1st US
Q: ARE WE NOT MEN? A: WE ARE DEVO! WARNER US 3239.2 CD
1978 11 TRKS US
SATISFACTION / SLOPPY BOOJI BOY US 72843 7"
1977 2 TRKS with pic sleeve US
SMOOTH NOODLE MAPS ENIGMA US 73526.2 CD
1990 11 TRKS US
UNCONTROLLABLE URGE / SATISFACTION WARNER US WBS 8675 7"
1978 2 TRKS no pic sleeve US
WORKING IN THE COAL MINE / PLANET EARTH ASYLUM US E-47204 7"
1981 2 TRKS no pic sleeve US


Seems like Devo has been in my “to be gotten to” stack for about 30 years now…


Odd, I’ve met and talked with Mark Mothersbaugh; he was kind enough to ‘introduce’ me to Hajime Tachibana (when I went and interviewed Tachibana in Tokyo). I love Mothersbaugh’s “Muzik For Insomniaks” CD set.


But Devo never were my thing at the time – maybe I felt competitive with them? When my band’s first album was being pressed in 1978, the same pressing plant was also working on Devo’s first album – and you could definitely tell who was getting more attention (i.e. it wasn’t us!). And when we took our record into KROQ, they were more interested in the test pressing of the first Devo album that our manager brought with him (I think they played “Praying Hands” instead of anything by us). So maybe that’s what killed it for me…


And then they got so popular…with those hats etc. Too popular – it seemed like every idiot in the world had a Devo T-shirt or button. Yuck, yuck, yuck – I’m going to stick with British acts!


But three decades hence, I have some time for Devo. I recently obtained their first two albums on CD, which means that I will get to listen to them in my car real soon.

= = =

Thanks for the almost-a-whole-month of topics, Jim-san!

Most expensive music purchases

3-25-09 Most expensive music purchases

Everything’s relative. In Japan, even normal CD’s in shops are $30+! But please understand, I didn’t get to be known as Mr. Mega-Collector by sheer tonnage of spenditure. I bought all those $200+ LP’s when they were still $4.99! But I can certainly spill the beans on some of my youthful folly.

I’d only been working for a few days, maybe didn’t even have my first paycheck (If I didn’t already have it, it was imminent). A friend took me to a long-gone South Bay record store where the erratic owner was selling his ‘rare records’ ostensibly to fund a drug binge. I paid US$50 cash for the 45 “La Tua Casa Comoda” by the Italian progressive rock band Il Balletto Di Bronzo. “$50!”, you say. I’ve still got the only copy of it I’ve ever seen – I got mine in the summer of ’76. Both songs are now ‘bonus tracks’ on re-issues of their “Ys.” album.

I believe I paid US$60 for a German pressing of “Sort Of” by Slapphappy, towards the end of the 70’s. Another one you don’t see everyday. Took ages for it to get issued on CD, which thankfully it has (in Japan, as a kami sleeve CD).

In Udagawa-cho in Tokyo, I was once in a tiny record store (that no longer exists) that had three of the “Major Force” (Toshio Nakanishi) Japanese 12” singles that I was after, for about US$60 each – I bought all three.

My white label mono promo “We’re Only In It For The Money” LP by Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention set me back about US$30, when they was a heck-of-a-lot to pay, even for a rare rock LP (a friend spotted it at a swap meet in the mid-70’s, and called me, woke me up, and asked my permission to buy it on my behalf. I’m still glad he did. Thanks, Ed!). I’ve passed by more “too expensive for me” Zappa records that I care to recount ($500 promo 45’s etc.)

I impulsed The Who “Ready Steady Who” original EP, when I saw it on the wall of a collectible record store (no longer there, of course) – mint mint mint, and US$50. I bought many original British EP’s from this dealer, but most of them were in the $8 - $15 range (at that time, the early 80’s).

I recently paid US$25 for the 2nd Heebeegeebees LP, “20 Big No. 2’s”. In fact, another spoken word / comedy LP, Barry Humphries “Sandy Agonistes” set me back about US$35…on eBay. Not many big buck purchases on eBay, however. Too much chance of it getting squashed / crushed in transit. Crazy Casey “The Beast & I” ($40), the first Bo Hansson (“Hansson & Karlsson” original LP, $40). But, believe it or not, those are the only above regular retail purchases from eBay that I can even remember!

I remember mail-ordering LP’s from Switzerland was extraordinarily expensive, at least in the late 80’s. I think two different Thomas Diethelm LP’s set me back about $60 (for both) – and they were just regular new ‘in print’ LP’s + postage.

"Historic period of your collecting..."

3-24-09 Was there a historic period of your collecting that you like best?

Why?

Well, one can never recover one’s innocence or youth…walking into a well-stocked hippie record store, looking at all the psychedelic covers for the first time. Or my first visit to England (“Look at all these English records!!”). Or my first visit to Japan (“Oh my God! Every record on Earth!”). Or my re-awakening to vinyl, about ’97 or so (I needed some sort of arcane info from the liner notes of “Home” by Procol Harum, I went to my remaining LP wall, and it was absent. My heart sank. I got in the car and drove to a store that no longer there and bought a used LP of “Home”, just to get the info. Ad infinitum.)

I like my 1980’s New Zealand collection a lot. I went to NZ 7 x times in the 80’s, and I used to have a ‘standing order’ of “1 of each, all local product” with one distributor! I got to see a lot of those bands, I visited both of the main record companies (EMI & Polygram) as well as some of the owners / operators of indie labels (Flying Nun, Propeller etc.) Some great acts: Blam Blam Blam, The Swingers, Coconut Rough, The Crocodiles et al).

Toward the end of the 90’s, I was going to Japan a lot. I knew several record label people, and I was really into the Shibuya-kei wave of acts (Pizzicato Five, Cornelius, Les 5-4-3-2-1’s, Hideki Kaji et al). I have about 130 of the 250 Trattoria label titles; many of them were sent to me as promos by kind record label employees. I visited several major labels in Japan, and was usually given huge stacks of new promo CD’s, many of which I greatly enjoyed. I think in 1997, 8 of my 10 favorite records were of Japanese origin.

And in the early 70’s, I decided that I wanted to hear every hippie psychedelic band from 1967 / 8. Tomorrow, July, Family, Skip Bifferty, The Iveys, Eire Apparent – you get the idea. You could actually find some of the original LP’s for next-to-nothing, in the early 70’s. Seemed like people were real ready to forget about the hippie / psychedelic music. Great, I’ll buy anything you have for $3! Of course, I continue to work on this collection – re-issue CD’s now afford me new audio delights of this nature.

I worked at an importer from 1981 – 1987. When I like best about this period was my almost unlimited access to record catalogues and release sheets. There wasn’t a lot (that I knew about) that I missed in these years. At that time, I was mostly interested in New Zealand artists (see above), but I still saw Music Week from England, and regularly read (English language) release sheets from Japan.

I like it all. My youthful purchases of 45’s at hardware stores, my bike riding to far-flung hippie record stores, the clandestine drives to Los Angeles in search of 99 cent promos, the international travel – beginning at age 21, rubbing shoulders with Japanese music business, swap meet customer for 30+ years…

Sales and distribution...

3-23-09 What is your vision for the sales and distribution of music?


It’s already really sort of falling into place: only the biggest / strongest survive, and anything kooky has to be mail-ordered. And even that isn’t easy / foolproof! What? The November ’08 A Certain Ratio CD “Mind Made Up” is only order-able from Amazon.fr?!? Ever order from Amazon.co.jp? Better have deep pockets, babe.


I always hate it when another record store closes. I was heartbroken at the time that Tower Records closed in the U.S. – it was more than a record store, it was a way of life that I was leading. Have a nice dinner somewhere, then go and look in Tower Hollywood or Sherman Oaks for an hour or so – you might spot something you didn’t know about! L.A. has a few indie stores left – Freakbeat, Record Surplus, Poo Bah’s, CD Trader – but around here really only the giant Amoeba Music is decent with new releases.


I suppose, for myself, I could eventually see mail-ordering everything. Four plus decades of retail therapy, a thing of the past. They’ll have to figure out how to do on-line what stores always used to be able to do: get you to find something else while you were looking for whatever it was you were after. I know Amazon tries to do this – “If you like this title, you will also enjoy…” – but it really isn’t the same.


So, if really the only place locally to look at new releases is Best Buy, Wal Mart, Target et al…yuck. Not much of a future in store for the retail of music.


I also am a tad uptight about some of the music websites I have looked at – Pitchfork, for example. They “know everything”, but not how to write an intelligent review of a re-issue CD by Can. Darn it, I can’t read the Japanese music sites I bookmark…


In L.A., I have a circuit of about 5 stores I can now go to regularly – each with a varying degree of inventory. I also rely on occasional visits to places that are not record stores to get stuff (such as thrift stores, which can be surprisingly interesting). How does one find music outside of a big city? Well, anybody can order from amazon.co.uk et al. I just feel sorry for anybody who wants to look at stuff more closely before shelling out the cash.


Ah, the future…with no artifacts – only ‘files’. Yuck. Pop culture artifacts are amusing, one of the joys of life. How dare the retail sector take that away from us? Or do we take it away from ourselves? Turn off the TV, turn off the radio. Refuse to buy magazines. Do something other than listen to music.


Sorry, I will buy recorded music as long as it is possible. And I’ll read magazines and websites and whatever the hell I want.

Brickwalling

3-20-09 Where do you stand on brickwalling? I notice you seem to like Re-Masters with LOUD sound / reduced dynamic range.

It’s not so much loud CD’s that I like, it’s truly “low level” CD’s that I do not like. Such as if you are making a sampler CD from assorted discs, and one track has a much lower level than all the others – oh, it’s a late 80’s mastered Euro CD. I’ll buy a re-mastered CD if it adds anything to the original issue – of if it ‘rights a wrong’ (i.e. the original CD did not look like the LP package, the new one does and has bonus tracks). If you do not want bonus tracks, program them out, folks.

I now forget what was the first really loud CD that I heard – maybe in the early 90’s, possibly a re-master of “Surrealistic Pillow” by Jefferson Airplane. At the time, it seemed about 10 times louder than anything else I owned. I recoiled in horror. But many new CD’s I was buying at the time were becoming louder, too. How to make a various artist compilation using both old and new artists? I really do like to try and keep the levels good, on compilations. Alas, not everyone has a minidisk – no ‘scale factor edit’ feature on CD-R that I know of.

I am not Mr. Golden Ears. I have not noticed any audio loudness level on CD’s that has resulted in reduced clarity etc. I run everything through a board, before it goes to MD or whatever – so, sometimes I hear the clicking of the needles, when something pegs in the red. Hey, I can just turn down the level of my CD player, if necessary. There is definitely some adjustment required (on either CD or MD) when trying to match levels, when making a “DJ Style” ‘mix tape’.

Recently (likely due to the recent re-issues), I found original late 80’s Alice Cooper CD’s for “Easy Action” and “Pretties For You”. I do not have the re-mastered CD’s, but these two Rhino CD’s from the late 80’s sound terrible, like whoever mastered them didn’t know or care what they were. Maybe they weren’t the best recordings, but…these CD’s sound terrible: low level, no bass to speak of, and almost no high frequencies. Couldn’t re-mastering help these titles? Maybe. But – as I have original LP’s of both, I am unlikely to go for the re-masters unless really inexpensive copies walk down the pike. We’re talking $3 copies.

Sometimes, the re-mastering of a CD gives it a very harsh sound. Hey, I have a mixing board, I can ‘turn it down’. But for the type of stuff I buy – re-mastering usually helps. Always looking for CD’s that get re-issued with bonus tracks, too. You never know when an unreleased single will turn up – on John Foxx “Metamatic”, you get the not-released single “Young Love” – and that wasn’t even a re-mastering! That was how it was originally issued. I guess one’s expectations of CD’s differ from LP’s. Strictly speaking, I was never a big fan of re-issue LP’s (in the 70’s, 80’s etc.), as I always wanted the original packaging etc. But these days, I don’t mind having a re-issue, particularly on CD. There are even re-issue LP’s that are preferably (in addition to) an original release, such as the Big Brother & The Holding Company debut album. Even the Columbia Special products LP has the “Last Time & “Coo Coo” single added!

Best Re-Mastering packaging

3-19-09 Best Re-Mastering packaging [see: Epic UK Stranglers, which are what I would have done with the project had I been in charge]

An entire genre! For me, the best re-packaged CD’s are the Japanese little paper album cover CD’s (known as “kami sleeves”), with such careful attention to detail that (in some cases) it poses an acceptable substitute to owning an original vinyl pressing (Billy Nicholls album, folks?). And, darn it, re-mastering guys – use single mixes, when possible. I hate getting an otherwise competent compilation on an artist, only to find that they’ve used the common LP version, and not the glorious 45 version (Donovan, Mamas & Papas et al).

With the Japanese re-issues, so many are really that good…some of the packaging re-production is astonishing – Santana “Lotus”, for one. Full triple gatefold, with about a dozen (or more) inserts, and at least two booklets. Or the debut Soft Machine album – the Japanese CD re-issue has the little wheel in the cover (I bet “Led Zeppelin III” does too, but I do not usually write about LZ at all).

So, the perfect re-mastering for me would any album where they identically re-produce the original packaging, using the ‘mix’ that I am familiar with, and supplement it with the relevant B-sides (or live tracks etc.) Preferably with artist involvement. And, please – no digipaks! (I mean, what do you do if the teeth break? Huh?)

I recently sorted my database by whether or not something was “re-mastered” or not. To get all the way to the end of 1990, then the database only had 932 titles in it. So, I haven’t bought many re-mastered CD’s of titles that I felt were mastered OK to begin with. Not many at all.

In 2009, I think I am ‘all done’ if I have a) an original LP issue and b) a recently-mastered Japanese kami (paper) sleeve CD of a title. Yes, I have artists that I collect all the (mostly vinyl) variants – Split Enz, Frank Zappa, Gruppo Sportivo…of these three, only Sportivo does not have “re-mastered” CD’s.

But we come back to the triangle – I bought the LP, then I got the CD, then I bought the re-mastered CD. I hate it when a step gets added: I bought the LP, then I got the CD, then I bought the re-mastered CD, then I got the Japanese paper sleeve CD of it. I really do try to not go through all four steps! If I know there’s a UK re-mastered CD out, I will try and be patient and get a Japanese issue of it to start with! Not always possible…(I wish I had the Japanese Magazine paper sleeve CD’s – but I already have the UK re-masters). Ugh.