What are you listening to?

I'm laying myself wide open to some withering scorn from Tony here, but I'm already on the record as a long term Jefferson Airplane listener so what the heck:

Hot-Tuna-Relix-Collection-471378.jpg


This recent acquisition is an utter delight to me actually, basically a couple of hours of lo-fi Rev Gary Davis style ragtime and delta blues with intermittent appearances from Papa John Creach on the fiddle. Lovely warm hearted stuff. I've always really rated Jorma Kaukonen, and like the way he's managed to stay just the same over the years, referring to his fellow musicians as "cats" and generally being a fine old summer of love West coast relic. Now, if anyone has a clean vinyl copy of this tucked away, I'm in the market:

51IBi%2BEsTeL._SS500_.jpg
 
106b677d0385ea55bf1301ebe3fe92c0743a7c1d27a695c688fda9775e1d48066g.jpg


Bassist Eldee Young and drummer Isaac "Red" Holt attended the American Conversatory of Music in Chicago together, and played together in a dance orchestra called the Cleffs, where they met pianist Ramsey Lewis and formed a popular jazz trio in 1956. After a decade as Lewis' rhythm section, Young and Holt split to form their own act in the wake of the trio's breakout pop hit "The 'In' Crowd." Hiring pianist Hysear Don Walker and christening themselves the Young-Holt Trio, they scored a quick Top 20 R&B hit with the infectious and silly "Wack Wack." Most of their material, recorded on several LPs for Brunswick, cut an invigorating soul-jazz groove that explored the territory between Jimmy Smith and Junior Walker, with dour bass, Ray Charles-inspired keyboards, faint scat vocals, and a live party ambience. In 1968, Walker was replaced by Ken Chaney as Young and Holt tightened up their sound, added some funky rhythms, and renamed the group Young-Holt Unlimited. They scored a left-field smash with the instrumental "Soulful Strut," which was actually the backing track from Brunswick soul singer Barbara Acklin's "Am I the Same Girl." Although the actual Young-Holt group was rumored not to have even played on the track, it went all the way to number three in 1969, driven by a bright, indelible horn riff. Attempts to duplicate its success met with indifference, and although Young-Holt Unlimited remained a popular concert attraction on both the R&B and jazz circuits (sometimes with pianist Bobby Lyle in place of Chaney), their recording career was on the wane. They cut LPs for Atlantic (1972's Oh Girl) and Paula (1973's Plays Superfly) that failed to restore their commercial momentum, and disbanded in 1974. Both Young and Holt reunited with Ramsey Lewis in 1983. - Steve Huey

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/young-holt-unlimited-p21950/biography
 
Most common at the moment (and I tend to come back to the same things):
Grover Washington
Steely Dan
MGMT
Groove Armada
Dr. Who Big Finish audio plays
Sophie Ellis Bextor (guilty and now not-so-secret pleasure)

Also a big fan of British Sea Power, Idlewild, The Thrills, and the two solo careers from the main men in Steely Dan: Walter Becker and Donald Fagen.
 
Gordon Lightfoot - United Artists Collection

[attachment=3856]

This double CD contains all four of the Toronto singer/songwriter's '60s studio albums (the live LP Sunday Concert, not included here, was also released in the '60s). On these records, his resonant vocals, lyrical ambition, and melodic strengths produced as close a rival to Bob Dylan as Canada ever fashioned during that decade, and foreshadowed work by other major Canadian singer/songwriters of the late '60s, such as Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, and Leonard Cohen. "Early Mornin' Rain" (covered by fellow Canadian folkies Ian & Sylvia), the folk-rock protest number "Black Day in July," the epic "Canadian Railroad Trilogy," and his cover of Ewan McColl's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" are all present, and are among the most popular tracks Lightfoot has issued during his long career. Featuring both acoustic and folk-rock recordings, this neatly bundles Lightfoot's early work into a listenable and fairly inexpensive package.

by Richie Unterberger - AllMusic.com
http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-united-artists-collection-r189383

Personal notes: A fantastic album made before his Sundown and Edmond Fitzgerald fame.

Two songs along are worth the price of admission

Way I Feel (A beautiful Lightfoot composition)

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (This is my favorite version of this song because Lightfoot treats it like a love song instead of a funeral dirge!)
 

Attachments

  • Gordon Lightfoot UA Collection.jpg
    Gordon Lightfoot UA Collection.jpg
    88.7 KB · Views: 2
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom