Excellent!! I am liking their new stuff as well - the Sessions especially. I think it is a return to the old improv days which is good news as far as I am concerned.
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Never get fed up with this album, brings back memories of my first holiday with the lads back in early seventies.
Another goto album, remember being at school and someone played Maggie Mayā¦ went straight out and spent paper round money on the album.
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The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced.
The Rolling Stones - 1st. Album.
Ah, school days! 
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These are the covers of discs 30 and 31 from Dylanās 36 CD box set āLive 1966ā covering May 27th Royal Albert Hall, the last gig of the entire 66 European/World tour. Disc 30 is acoustic and what we punters wanted and 31 is āelectricā and the reason for all of the booing and outrage, the acoustic set is sublime the electric second half a delightful train wreck of a gig and somewhat life changing for me as a 16 year old at the time. Dylan has finally after months of touring and being booed for the electric set had enough and itās time to make that clear. Anyone interested in rock and roll has to hear this recording at least once!
Hereās an excerpt from a piece I wrote some years ago before the āLive 66 ābox set was released which has appeared in several publicationsā¦ā¦ warning itās a longish read:
Living in Surrey I was only an hours journey to London, so I got on a train and bought a ticket from the RAH box office, it cost Ā£1 and was the top price, the man in the booth told me that āit was a good ticketā. He was right it was a stalls seat, for those of you who donāt know the RAH, the stalls are the slightly raised area encircling the arena the area in front of the stage which traditionally would be called the stalls in any conventional theatre. My seat was at about the 2 Oāclock position and had great sight lines.
There is no curtain in front of the stage at the RAH so you could clearly see the amps and drum riser even for the acoustic part of the show, so even if you hadnāt read any of the press reports you knew that something was about to happen.
The lights dimmed and a spotlight hit the stage, Dylan entered stage right wearing the hounds tooth check suit (which I would refer to as Rupert Bear check for many years after!), my side, clutching a handful of harmonicas making his way to the stool positioned at the microphone. His hair was amazing and where was the leather sports jacket that Iād lusted after and finally found a version of?
All goes very well until the start of a new song,( āVOJā) where we got the āthis is not a drug songā rap, someone shouts āweāre with you Bobā from way up above me, in fact you can just hear this on the Gelston acetate recording, after which our hero answers āyes all right.ā
He drops a harmonica before one of the songs and does a funny Chaplinesque stoop down to pick it up, the audience laugh at which Dylan says ādonāt do that., thatās terrible again clearly audible on the Gelston recording.
The harmonica solo in āBaby Blueā is spellbinding, it floats around that huge hall which in those days had quite an echo depending upon where you sat, long before the saucer structures were hung from the ceiling in an attempt to ācureā this. The security in those days consisted of elderly gentlemen in slightly military uniforms and hats, the one at the door nearest to me looked totally mesmerised by this song. Then it was āMr T Manā lots of applause and intermission.
Now remember that the amps and drums have been visible throughout. When Dylan and The Hawks hit the stage (Robbie in the white striped suit) there is mixed applause and derision, the atmosphere has changed, Dylan has changed, heās pumped up now in complete contrast to the quiet reservation of the first half. Itās loud, but no problem to me as Iāve been going to rock gigs since I was 13 years old, Little Richard at Kingston Granada anyone, and been fed a diet of Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters by my brother.
When they do āOne Too Manyā and I Donāt Believe Youā I start to get a bit agitated, I didnāt see why he had to amp up what I perceived to be āfolk songsā that Iād been besotted with for a year or more, yes I wasnāt totally ready for the electrification, I loved the already familiar new rock songs though.
Dylan is very animated he keeps throwing his arms around Robbieās neck, which for a Surrey boy of 16 is quite shocking!
Someone struts forward at each chorus to share the microphone in āOne too Many Morningsā, with hindsight probably Rick Danko.
There is a lot of booing and shouting and people do leave. Iām totally shocked that people could buy a ticket to someone they wanted to see and then boo.
Two girls next to me are worried that āheāll walk off in a minuteā, it was clear to me that he wouldnāt, he seemed to be almost enjoying it and was in a way in control. Now of course with the knowledge of he Pennebaker footage in āNo Direction Homeā we can assume that he was part elated at the thought of it being the last gig and he was going home.
āLARSā is long and then itās all over, it all passed very quickly. I wish I could remember more.
I do remember walking along Exhibition Road (I may have levitated) back to the tube station that I really didnāt know if I loved or hated the man. It was that good.
I dreamt in colour that night, something I rarely ever did or do.
Chris
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Dory Previn - a legend.
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Dredg - El Cielo. Reckon I listen to it at least every other month and will do for everā¦
San Francisco band who started as faux ānu-metalā but then proceeded to release four further āconceptā albums with wildly different styles each time. To me this is the sweet spot of them all. I discovered them through Amazon who, years ago, suggested artists based on previous purchases and to this day have never met anyone else who has heard of them, which I guess is one reason this record is so special to me - I kind of see them as āmyā band who have made all this wonderful music just fo my own pleasure!!
OK, hereās a slightly odd choice:
Bobby Lyle - Ivory Dreams (1989)
I was a teenager trying to get into jazz without much idea of where to start. Browsing the racks in HMV one day in May, I bought this only because it had a keyboard on the cover and the list of kit in the liner notes was my kind of thing. I recorded it onto a TDK AD90 and spent most of the rest of that hot summer listening to it on my Walkman. I listened to it on and off over the years, almost always in summer. About ten years ago, without a tape deck in the car or at home, I finally got a copy on CD from fleaBay. I now listen to it at least once every summer, but itās got to be blisteringly hot before it sounds right. Even though quite a bit of the album sounds rather 80s now, it will forever be for me one of the sounds of summer.
If itās available on the streaming platform of your choice, crank up Loco-motion (track 4) - the bass is awesome.
Mark
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Itās just a wee bit patchy but the good stuff is very good indeed. And itās not the rather over-exposed Forever Changes. Lee is the only survivor here of the original Love. Indeed, post Forever Changes Love became a brand rather than a band; and this is the last truly great album they made.
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The English title is āThe French Albumā but we French-speaking Canadians call it āEntre la jeunesse et la sagesse.ā In English that means āBetween Youth And Wisdomā, but itās also a pun with a Montreal street (rue Lajeunesse) - the first track is called āEntre Lajeunesse (in one word) et la sagesseā).
Kate and Anna McGarrigle are well known folk musicians and songwriters (Linda Ronstatd, Emmylou Harris, and Judy Collins, amongst others, have sung their songs). Kate (now passed away) is also the mother of Rufus Wainwright.
Most of the sistersā albums are in English, with the exception of this one and La vache qui pleure. The music is beautiful, with an abundance of acoustic instruments and contagious rhythms. Lyrics talk about relationships in general, but also about the Eastern Townships (a beautiful region of Quebec), and the city of Montreal. Words and music are much more complex than one would think at the first listen, and they both carry deep and sincere emotions.
The track āEntre Lajeunesse et la sagesseā is about a neighbourhood that means much to me, as my first girlfriend lived and went to high school there. Listening to the song I recall the area quite well.
I bought that record in 1980 (I was 19!) and never stopped listening to it. My quintessential āFeel goodā musicā¦ and a truly genuine acoustic sound quality that makes it a perfect Upgrade Impact Monitor.
Claude
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Have you heard the recent vinyl reissue on Rhino which has Arthur Lees original mix of the album?
I have both and I find the Arthur Lee mix so superior I canāt figure out what the hell Elektra were thinking with their remix and loads of reverb.
Itās a great album for sure.
No, I had the original Elektra pressing but I sold my turntable many years ago.
And IMHO the more talented Martha.
Yes. I donāt know Martha, but she may well be more talented (Iām not too keen on Rufus)
In the spirit of the opening post (this could have been a long, dull list) Iāll pick one album that, if you threatened the lives of my loved ones, Iād admit to being the album that WAS me:
Caravan - In The Land Of Grey And Pink
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I was already a fan (liked the first S/T album, loved If I Could Do It All Over Again Iād Do It All Over You) so bought this on release in April 1971.
Itās perfection, great songs and wonderful (and lengthy) instrumental passages that over the years I swear I could scat my way through note by note. Nine Feet Undergroundā¦utter bliss.
I have the original LP, bought the various CD releases, and thoroughly enjoy the Steve Wilson Hi-Res version (though the alternate mix is wrong - I canāt scat along!). It has remained a touchstone for my system health ever since.
Saw them live in a Birmingham club at this time and they were magnificent.
P.S. the album was also so transcendent under an āaltered stateā that we swore never to listen to it under those conditions againā¦
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This always takes me back to summer nights in the mid 60ās, two of my favourite guitarists pity they didnāt make any more albums together, the complete album is under 27 mins. naturally they expanded it for CD release with a few bonus tracks. Still play this frequently.
Chris
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āAugustā is a terrific song and was played regularly at the 2003 Arthur Lee gigs with āBaby Lemonadeā.
Chris
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Two of my favourite guitarists. Iāve several of their albums together with Pentangle albums and still play them regularly.
Thanks so much to all who have replied. I am delighted! An unexpected bonus is that there are some records I have never heard of on here that I am going to look out and give a listen to.
Thanks again to all who have replied. Magic!
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