Perhaps it is the start of a trend for me: April 20, 2013 was the second Record Store Day (RSD) I have celebrated outside my home base of San Francisco. Last year I found myself in Los Angeles at Amoeba Records and that was a great experience, a model of organization and fair treatment for all the fans who lined up outside the store for hours. This year, I found myself in Las Vegas's Zia Records on RSD and while the experience there was far less organized than Amoeba, it all turned out pretty well and was ultimately a whole bunch of fun music mayhem!
I showed up about an hour before the store's doors were to open -- according to the store's website -- only to find out that they were opening early at 9:00 a.m.! So I got in at the tail end of the crowd and found myself amidst the "traditional" RSD feeding frenzy as people swarmed around to different stations to find their most desired discs.
Fortunately, the scene wasn't like some of those reports of discount store sale madness over the past couple years -- no, the Zia crowd were a pretty cool-headed bunch of folks, so there were no torn limbs or clothing, no blood or tears shed. The staff were very helpful and supportive, trying to help everyone find the rare records they wanted most.
But the real living proof that it is worthwhile to spend some time in record store on RSD, about an hour and a half into my visit, after much of the crowd had dissipated, one of the staffers appeared, boxes in hand announcing they'd discovered some 45s that hadn't been put out yet! "Woo hoo!," said the remaining group of us there in a collective burst of new energy. A mini feeding frenzy quickly came together among the 10 or so of us who were there at that moment.
Coolest still was the unidentified "Side By Side" single (marked only by a question mark ?) which I grabbed based on the knowing rumor of one other buyer who happened to be near me who knowingly encouraged me to get it saying "It's The Grateful Dead!" Indeed, it turned out to be a THREE track EP featuring versions of the New Orleans classic romp "Iko Iko" as performed by Dr. John, The Dixie Cups and the Dead. A three track EP! How cool is that? Kudos to the good folks at Warner/Rhino for those gems. I also grabbed Bob Dylan's "Wigwam" picture sleeve 45 with unreleased demo recordings on it.
Also fortunately for ME, I had my own unique tastes working in my favor -- there apparently weren't as many locals in Vegas looking for the kind of things I was seeking. Sure, I lost out on the Husker Du and Pink Floyd reissue singles. But I did get one of the 2500 gold vinyl pressings of the new Big Star movie soundtrack two-LP set ("Nothing Can Hurt Me").
And, I DID get the groovy 10-inch 5-song Binary Mind EP by Ra Ra Riot, pulled from their new album Beta Love -- I may have gotten one of the only copies in the store because several people asked me if they could have it. Only 1,000 copies of this were pressed. I'm glad I kept it as the album is really good as are the four non-LP songs found on this EP.
I also easily obtained the reissue of Van Dyke Parks' first album Song Cycle in Mono (#181 of 2500) as well as the re-creation of the 12-inch promo single supporting Paul McCartney and Wings' 1976 live Wings Over America album ("Maybe I'm Amazed" in mono and stereo version with two different edits for airplay).
I was able to get many 45s I had hoped for including split singles by:
I also grabbed cool looking discs by bands I'm not familiar with:
We only live once, right?
Things I didn't even SEE were the ELP Box set (reportedly they only got one copy), the Cheech and Chong 45 picture sleeve and the Beak 10-inch EP. Also didn't see A Place To Bury Strangers' "Strange Moon." Maybe I'll find them elsewhere in the weeks ahead...
To that point, my RSD adventure didn't end on Saturday however, but I will save my tale of other goodies found -- and so my shopping tips for you music travelers out there -- for next week's column.
Now, onto some music news for the here and now:
FAREWELL TO RICHIE
He went down in music history for his jaw dropping opening performance at Woodstock in 1969 but he was around long before -- and after -- that. Richie Havens passed away at 72 last month. In tribute, Wolfgang's Vault has posted a 1978 show of Richie at The Bottom Line in New York.
Of course, if you have never heard Richie before you should listen to his Woodstock performances which are pretty amazing. Check out his cover of The Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever" and then watch his set closer from Woodstock below. But before watching it, understand it in context: the show organizers urged him to keep playing as the other artists could not make it to the show due to traffic jams (and were all ultimately airlifted in via helicopter). So, this was improvised on the fly. After performing for nearly 3 hours and having run out of songs he improvised this jam on the old standard "Motherless Child."
Watch how the crowd reacts.... he clearly hit a chord (no pun intended) that resonated with them and still does to this day.
BEATLE BLOWOUT
If you don't think you are going to want to buy The Beatles' Mono catalog on LP when it (supposedly) reissued later this year, now may be a good time to look for sales on the great Mono CD set from a few years back. A WAYYY better set than the stereos in terms of audio quality (uncompressed masters used) and packaging (glorious mini reproductions of the album art and period-accurate original British labels), the Mono mixes were in fact the preferred way The Beatles wanted their music to be heard, at least up through Sgt. Pepper.
Music Direct has them on sale now for $179 but I have seen it going for less even, such as at Barnes & Noble for $149. So, keep an eye out for sales! The label clearly pressed too many copies of these sets -- or, probably more accurately -- priced them too high to begin with, thus resulting in a surplus at retail. Their loss is your gain.
ORGANIC BEEFHEART
Captain Beefheart's legendary 1969 masterwork, "Trout Mask Replica," is getting some love from the archives of the Frank Zappa Estate. From their website: "We here at UMRK determined that the TMR Master was damaged somewhere in the years of it's return orbit. The Vaultmeister created almost in its entirety a new Master from our own Vault safety copies. And as if that wasn't enough chocolate for your Sunday sundae, we had Bob Ludwig remaster the Work for you. What you now have available to you is the definitive TROUT MASK REPLICA. Be the judge. Be the jury. Be the bongo. Be the fury!!!"
The album is available now for pre-order.
ELO REISSUES GLOW ANEW
Electric Light Orchestra Live (how do they think up such catchy titles?) is taken from the PBS special recorded in Los Angeles in 2001 to coincide with the release of ELO's then new Zoom album. This collection includes four special tracks ("Secret Messages," "Sweet Talkin' Woman," "Confusion" and "Twilight") that weren't on the original Zoom live DVD plus two new unreleased studio tracks ("Out of Luck" and "Cold Feet")!
Armchair Theatre is ELO leader Jeff Lynne's first solo album, also unavailable for the last decade. It now includes two previously unreleased bonus tracks. If you are wondering, this sounds like a cross between an ELO record and a Traveling Wilburys album. Great stuff here.
Zoom is the 2001 release that most people didn't hear (I did and loved it!), back in print for the first time in 10 years, remastered and featuring a brand new unreleased studio track as an added bonus. Well... sort of ... it appears that one track from the original album, "Long Black Road," has been deleted! Online you can find ELO-related release information on ELO.biz and also check out Jeff's Facebook page
Until next time, remember... music matters!
