Head to the Vinyl Beat website to check out extensive LP label guides and wild cover galleries!
Eric Christensen has made an entertaining and informative documentary called The Cover Story about iconic album covers and how they came to fruition. There are interviews and stories with a number of the photographers and designers such as Bob Seidemann (Blind Faith), Henry Diltz (Morrison Hotel, Crosby Stills & Nash, Eagles), Mouse (Grateful Dead), and Jim Marshall (Allman Brothers and hundreds of others). Along the way he also interviews such rock luminaries as Nick Lowe, Ray Manzarek, Huey Lewis, Elvis Costello, and Sammy Hagar. There’s also a very intimate chat with Yoko Ono where she talks about John’s blood smeared glasses, etc. It is also a hoot to see a psychedelic Amoeba SF in the introduction.
In case you missed the live stream of last night's big 12-12-12 Sandy Relief Benefit concert from Madison Square Garden in New York City that benefited the Robin Hood Relief Fund to continue their aid to the victims of Sandy, above care of Fuse TV is the non US encore / replay stream of the concert highlights. Included are Billy Joel (yes his set included the classic "New York State of Mind") Alicia Keys, (the only woman performer of the night), Michael Stipe (last minute surprise performer), Chris Martin (who joked about been one fourth of Coldplay since it was well past boy band One Direction's bedtime) Bruce Springsteen (whose set suffered sound issues), The Who, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney (whose late set, with the surviving members of Nirvana, included rousing renditions of the Beatles' "Helter Skelter" and "I've Got A Feeling"), Bon Jovi, Roger Waters, and The Rolling Stones. Unfortunately, in addition to some sound issues during the show, about halfway through the event the 12-12-12 website crashed and the phone lines got so overworked that they could not connect. Consequently many folks could not get through to donate. However anyone can now via the info in above video or directly via the Robin Hood Relief Fund website.
As with Record Store Day, the list of exclusive releases this year for Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving, typically the biggest shopping day of the year) is staggering. A list of the available titles is here. I’ve pulled out 10 releases that are particularly interesting — to me, and perhaps to you. Show up at Amoeba Nov. 23 for your chance to own any one of these.
Lee Hazlewood – You Turned My Head Around: Lee Hazlewood Industries 1967-1970 (11 x 7 box set)
Named after an awesome duet ’60s psych-folkie Lee Hazelwood did with singer/actress Ann-Margret, this set collects forgotten records issued on Hazelwood’s label, Lee Hazelwood Industries. The singer-songwriter was also a notable producer, perhaps most famously writing and producing Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Were Made For Walkin.’” The set includes 11 45s from such artists as Suzi Jane Hokom, Honey Ltd., Kitchen Cinq and Hazlewood himself. From psych to country-pop, the set offers a view of Lee as an aesthetic director of sorts, setting forth a cultish sound that would come to be oft mimicked and appreciated far greater in later years than during its initial run.
Captain Beefheart – Abba Zabba; Plastic Factory; Upon The My-Oh-My
Things had not changed much from 1990 to 1991. I was still obsessed with all things British. Still listening to a lot of Depeche Mode and The Smiths. Still very much living in the '80s. I had only just been introduced to Morrissey the year before. I listened to Viva Hate and Bona Drag all the time. I was a fan of Morrissey first since The Smiths had broken up before I even knew who they were. So it was fun to go back and discover The Smiths' albums for the first time. I started with Louder Than Bombs which was a fantastic way to introduce myself to the band. I then went back and discovered their studio albums one by one. Queen Is Dead, Meat Is Murder, Strangeways Here We Come and then The Smiths. I was hooked on Morrissey and The Smiths and there was no going back. I became a vegetarian in 1991. I started reading magazines more obsessively and trying to find out as much as I could about my favorite bands.
Both Morrissey and Erasure had new albums in 1991. These albums would both be a big part of my life that year. I can't really think about 1991 without thinking about Kill Uncle and Chorus. Nirvana released Nevermind in 1991. This album would change everything. Not everything exactly, but it did change a lot! I still remember my dad having the conversation with me about grunge. He asked me if I was "grunge." I probably answered "sort of." It was like me coming out of the closet. I also listened to so much Erasure in high school that I should have never really had to come out to my mom! I was still very much obsessed with my British bands. I was still into the goth, shoegaze, grebo and indie bands of the UK. But I also became a huge fan of Nirvana. I really had no choice. I didn't really notice Nirvana until Nevermind came out. But I listened to this album probably more than anything in 1991. Although I was probably still a bigger fan of my UK favorites then all the bands coming out of Seattle. Brit pop was just around the corner and would completely take over my life in the years that followed. But it was nice to actually be into a band from the US for a bit. Nirvana are actually one of three bands on my top ten of 1991 from the US. But the other two I actually always thought were British! They may have come from the US but they fit more into the British sound of the era. Nirvana sort of don't really fit in. But this album was too big to ignore and not put on this list. I couldn't deny its place on this list. I was quite obsessed with it. A lot of us were.
Rock music has way too many incredibly memorable guitar riffs to limit a best of list to just one hundred, but the 100 riffs that guitarist Alex Chadwick of The Chicago Music Exchange came up with for the above video performance ain't half bad, and it is a nice informal overview of the history of rock n' roll. Sure it's a subjective selection that includes a lot of mega hits of the genre, and no doubt every rock fan could come up with their own unique list of a hundred best guitar riffs. But I like what Alex has done: from his playing to his choices of riffs, and from how he segues from song to song, to how he plays it on his 1958 Fender Strat all in chronological order. Below is that list of songs and artists in order with the artist names that are blue highlighted linking back to the Amoeba Online Store. where you can find their respective music (CDs, LPs, DVDs) including (in near all cases) the song played by Alex.
3 "Words of Love" Buddy Holly
4 "Johnny B Goode" Chuck Berry
5 "Rumble" Link Wray
