April 30, 2014

101 Reel-to-Reel Tapes 63: ELO (Electric Light Orchestra) ~ A New World Record







ELO (Electric Light Orchestra) ~ 
A New World Record






In addition to my 20,000 Vinyl LP collection I'm selling, I have reel-to-reel, pre-recorded tapes for sale as well (see link below). If interested, contact me by email please, not by a comment. 

~ ~ ~

The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) was a once in a lifetime experience to see and hear in concert. I remember seeing the group at the Oakland Arena (this was before Oaklnnd started naming it after various corporations) during The Big Night tour in 1978. I bought the souvenir program from the concert.

I have A New World Record, the reel-to-reel tape, as well as the program up for sale on eBay. Links to the eBay postings and the program below.

A New World Record is the sixth studio album by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO); it was released in 1976. The intro to the album, Tightrope, snags you and the album keeps you locked into the journey it takes and doesn't let go until the final song, Shangri-La, has finished.



Electric Light Orchestra ~ A New World Record
reel-to-reel tape box cover
photo by Styrous®



From the book, Unexpected Messages

The tour, dubbed "A New World Record Tour Of America" toured North America only, running from October 1976 to April of 1977 with a break in December. The reason the tour was only in North America can probably be attributed to the band's high success rate in the USA. If so, it's somewhat ironic given that late in 1976 Livin' Thing was ELO's breakout hit in England. The book, Unexpected Messages, states that it was a 40 city tour, but as the book only mentions the second leg of the tour (January to April 1977), it is unclear if the 40 cities was for the entire tour or the second leg only.

Another explanation for the tour being only in North America (and brief compared to previous tours) could be simply due to scheduling issues. The band may have had the tour booked without consideration for when an album was to be released, thus the timing was that the A New World Record tour only happened in North America.



Electric Light Orchestra ~ A New World Record
reel-to-reel tape box cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®





As in previous shows, Mik Kaminski and Hugh McDowell performed solo violin and cello performances during the show. Mik performed a self-written and unnamed solo piece which merged with the drums, bass and keyboards joining in on a modern arrangement of the traditional Jewish folk song Hava Nagila. Hugh performed his own self-written and unnamed solo piece which similarly merged with bass, drums and guitar joining in for a modern arrangement of the traditional Hungarian folk song Csárdás and more of Hugh's self-written piece. This information is drawn from the one an only bootleg recording of a performance from the A New World Record tour, so it is also possible that the performance varied from show to show. 

Beyond these small bits and one bootlegged performance from New York City's Madison Square Garden on February 11, 1977, very little else is known about this tour.





Electric Light Orchestra ~ A New World Record
reel-to-reel tape box cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®




The band's frontman Jeff Lynne regards his own songwriting at this point to have reached a new high.
"The songs started to flow and most of them came quickly to me. To have all those hits, it was just ...I mean amazing really. Going from doing okay for probably three or four years to suddenly being in the big time, it was a strange but great thing."
– Jeff Lynne 2006; A New World Record remaster
ELO spent a staggering 225 weeks in the singles charts and 393 weeks in the album charts, worldwide sales were in excess of 100million records, in the UK they had 27 top 20 hits and 11 top 10 albums, including two number ones – Discovery and Time.








The band and crew on the tour were:
Jeff Lynne: vocals, guitar
Bev Bevan: drums
Richard Tandy: keyboards
Kelly Groucutt: bass, vocals
Mik Kaminski: violin
Melvyn Gale: cello
Don Arden: Business and personal management
Dave Arden: Business and personal management
Sharon Arden: Tour manager

Other crew is uncertain, although probably Jake Commander, Brian Jones and Phil Copestake were involved as engineers or technician as they were known to be good friends with the band and involved in most of their tours.




Electric Light Orchestra ~ A New World Record

reel-to-reel tape box back detail
detail photo by Styrous®





Tightrope, recorded in 1976 at Musicland, Munich, West Germany), has a dramatic and spacey but reverent feeling intro with its orchestral (real strings, not synthesizers) sound and chorus. It goes into a bouncy but delightful and grand tune that is truly wonderful.




Electric Light Orchestra ~ A New World Record

reel-to-reel tape box back detail
detail photo by Styrous®






Telephone Line became their "biggest single success in the US and was their first UK gold award for a single. With ELO's continuing success in America it seemed obvious to Lynne to use an American ring tone during the song.

Writer/guitarist, Lynne explained:

"To get the sound on the beginning, you know, the American telephone sound, we phoned from England to America to a number that we know nobody would be at, to just listen to it for a while. On the Moog we recreated the sound exactly by tuning the oscillators to the same notes as the ringing of the phone."

The song charted in the Top Ten in both the UK and the US, peaking at number 8 in the UK and number 7 in the US. The tune was on the Hot 100 for 23 weeks, nearly a full month longer on that chart than any other ELO tune. In 1977, the song would reach number 1 in New Zealand and Canada. As was the norm, many ELO singles were issued in different colors, but the US version of this single was the only green single ELO issued. It became the band's first single to achieve Gold sales figures.

It opens with the typical telephone sounds of the day with vocoder processed vocal at the start by Lynn. It goes into a slow, dreamy ballad about loneliness and and possibly lost love.







Rockaria! opens with a short but beautiful soprano (Mary Thomas) intro that is glorious, then the song bursts into a delightfully ambitious romp with the soprano making an appearance throughout the song. To me, it has a sort of Little Richard feeling to the rhythm.

Thomas flubbed the first take of the introduction by starting the vocal too early. However, Lynne elected to use the take (complete with her interjection, "Oops!") anyway (later pressings of the album are missing this part). During live performances, the 'aria' was provided by the band's bassist Kelly Groucutt, illustrating his wide-ranging vocal talents.








Mission (A World Record) is about an alien who has been charged to watch over us poor earthlings; he watches and does nothing other than observe. A slow, dreamy melody that strolls along wondering about life in general.

Livin' Thing has a great, gypsy-sounding violin intro that is beautiful. The gypsy violin returns from time to time.

Above the Clouds opens with a male vocal with a blues feeling and goes into a moderate tempo, syncopated, staccato tune that is fascinating. It has a theremin which adds a very nice touch.

Shangri-La, the final track from the abum, is a slow, dreamy and lovely melody and the longest on the album. Once again, the voice of the soprano (Mary Thomas) makes its appearance. The steel guitar intro is reminisant of the 1959 song, Sleep Walk by Santo & Johnny Farina.

Rockaria!  and Shangri-La are my favorite songs from A New World Record.






Track listing

All songs written by Jeff Lynne.

Side one:

    "Tightrope" – 5:03
    "Telephone Line" – 4:38
    "Rockaria!" – 3:12
    "Mission (A World Record)" – 4:25

Side two:

    "So Fine" – 3:54
    "Livin' Thing" – 3:31
    "Above the Clouds" – 2:16
    "Do Ya" – 3:43
    "Shangri-La" – 5:32


Personnel:


Additional personnel:




Recorded on July 1976 at Musicland Studios, Munich 
Released on 11 September 1976 (UK)
Released on 12 September 1976 (US)

Label: Jet, United Artists- 1R1 6588

Producer: Jeff Lynne


Music videos on YouTube:

Tightrope
Telephone Line (live)
Rockaria!
Rockaria! (original recording with "Oops!" mistake}
Mission (A World Record) 
So Fine
Livin' Thing (live 1977)
Above the Clouds
Do Ya (live)
Shangri-La 






ELO 1987 World Wide Tour souvenir program 

ELO program on eBay
 
reel-to-reel tapes on eBay 



Styrous® ~ Wednesday, April 30, 2014
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April 28, 2014

101 Reel-to-Reel Tapes 62: Judy Collins ~ In My Life

Reel-to-Reel tape box cover
front cover photo & design by William S. Harvey
photo of front cover by Styrous®



In addition to my 20,000 Vinyl LP collection I'm selling, I have reel-to-reel, pre-recorded tapes for sale as well (see link below). If interested, contact me by email please, not by a comment. 

~ ~ ~

In My Life is an album by American singer and songwriter, Judy Collins, released in 1966. It peaked at No. 46 on the Billboard Pop Albums charts in 1967.

Working with arranger Joshua Rifkin, many of the songs on the album featured dramatic orchestral arrangements, a departure from Collins' previous albums, which had all been more straightforward folk music. The album included work by Leonard Cohen, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Richard Farina. Collins' version of the song Suzanne is considered to be the recording that first introduced Leonard Cohen's music to a wide audience. 

I think the rendition of Suzanne, by Judy Collins is one of the most beautiful of all, although, I dearly love the version by Cohen. There is a sensational cover of the tune by The Flying Lizards, that absolutely should be heard (links to music videos below).




Reel-to-Reel tape box cover back
photo by Styrous®




It was the music of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, and the traditional songs of the folk revival of the early 1960s that piqued Collins' interest and awoke in her a love of lyrics. Her music became popular at the University of Connecticut, where her husband taught. She performed at parties and for the campus radio station along with David Grisman and Tom Azarian. While Collins' first few albums comprised straightforward guitar-based folk songs, with 1966's In My Life, she began branching out and including work from such diverse sources as The Beatles, Leonard Cohen, Jacques Brel, and Kurt Weill. Mark Abramson produced and Joshua Rifkin arranged the album, adding lush orchestration to many of the numbers. The album was regarded as a major departure for a folk artist and set the course for Collins' subsequent work over the next decade.








Reel-to-Reel tape box back detail
detail photo by Styrous®




The title track, In My Life, has to be one of the loveliest love songs ever written (lyrics below). The song by the Beatles was released on the 1965 album Rubber Soul. It is ranked 23rd on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" as well as fifth on their list of the Beatles' 100 Greatest Songs. The song placed second on CBC's 50 Tracks. Mojo magazine named it the best song of all time in 2000. Although it has a wistful, almost sad kind of feel to it, the depth and sincerity of love is breathtaking.

For sheer drama, nothing comes close to her renditions of La Colombe, Pirate Jenny and Marat/Sade. The songs are elegant protests against war and the injustice inflicted on the poor and downtrodden.

Pirate Jenny, with music by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Bertolt Brecht and arrangement by Marc Blitzstein, is a vitrolic statement of vengence due to those who mistreat others.

Marat/Sade, by Richard Peaslee, is a desperate but defiant prayer for justice for those who have nothing. The song is from the stage production, The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade, which was also made into a film by the same name which starred Glenda Jackson. Both songs really need to be listened to (links to music videos below).

 Of course, there are fun songs on the album. One in particular is, Hard Lovin' Loser., which was written by Richard Fariña, brother-in-law to Joan Baez. The lyrics are hysterical!





Reel-to-Reel tape box back detail
detail photo by Styrous®



Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins was born on May 1, 1939 in Seattle, Washington. Her father was a blind singer and radio disc jockey; he took a job in Denver, Colorado in 1949, and the family moved to Colorado. Collins studied classical piano with Antonia Brico, making her public debut at age 13, performing Mozart's Concerto for Two Pianos. 

Three years after her debut as a piano prodigy, she was playing guitar. Her music became popular at the University of Connecticut, where her husband taught. She performed at parties and for the campus radio station along with David Grisman and Tom Azarian. She eventually made her way to Greenwich Village, New York City, where she busked and played in clubs like Gerdes Folk City, until she signed with Elektra Records, a record label she was associated with for 35 years. In 1961, Collins released her first album, A Maid of Constant Sorrow; she was 22.






In My Life lyrics

There are places I remember
All my life, though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain

All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends
I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all

But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new

Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more

Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more
In my life I love you more

Songwriters
LENNON, JOHN / MCCARTNEY, PAUL

Published by
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC






Reel-to-Reel tape label detail
detail photo by Styrous®



Track listing:

Side 1:
  1. "Tom Thumb's Blues" (Bob Dylan) – 5:03
  2. "Hard Lovin' Loser" (Richard Fariña) – 2:37
  3. "Pirate Jenny" (Marc Blitzstein, Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill) – 4:02
  4. "Suzanne" (Leonard Cohen) – 4:21
  5. "La Colombe" (Jacques Brel, Alasdair Clayre) – 5:03
Side 2:
  1. "Marat/Sade" (Richard Peaslee) – 5:33
  2. "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" (Randy Newman) – 2:46
  3. "Sunny Goodge Street" (Donovan) – 2:55
  4. "Liverpool Lullaby" (Stan Kelly, aka Stan Kelly-Bootle) – 2:57
  5. "Dress Rehearsal Rag" (Leonard Cohen) – 5:19
  6. "In My Life" (Lennon–McCartney) – 2:53 

Personnel:


Credits:
     Arranged By, Conductor – Joshua Rifkin
    Photography By [Front Cover Photo], Art Direction – William S. Harvey
    Producer – Mark Abramson

Recorded at A&R Studios, New York, 1966.

Elektra - EKC 7320 reel-to-reel tape  



Music links on YouTube:
 
Suzanne 

reel-to-reel tapes on eBay


Tom, in my life I love you more!



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April 25, 2014

101 Reel-to-Reel Tapes 61: Donovan ~ Greatest Hits



In addition to my 20,000 Vinyl LP collection I'm selling, I have reel-to-reel, pre-recorded tapes for sale as well (see link below). If interested, contact me by email please, not by a comment. 

~ ~ ~

Donovan's Greatest Hits is the first of the greatest hits albums from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the United States in January 1969 (Epic Records BXN 26439 (stereo)), and in the United Kingdom in March 1969 (Pye Records NPL 18283 (monaural) / NSPL 18283 (stereo)). On reel-to-reel tape, Epic - HN 658 (Re-channeled for stereo).

The Greatest Hits album marked the high point of Donovan's popularity in both the United States and United Kingdom. Sunshine Superman reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, and subsequently became the title track of Donovan's third album, Sunshine Superman. It was the first product from the highly successful three-year collaboration between Donovan and producer Mickie Most and is generally considered to be one of the first examples of the musical genre that came to be known as psychedelia.







On every album, no matter how many good or great songs there are, there is always one that is THE favorite for everyone. For me, that song is Sunshine Superman. The Greatest Hits album presents the unedited Sunshine Superman (one minute, fifteen seconds longer than the original 1966 single and album release).

There have been many covers of Superman; a sort-of-punk version by Husker Du, Jewel, a VERY mellowed-down one by Mel Tormé, and many others; even Hungarian jazz quitarist, Gabor Szabo, took a turn at it. Links to music videos below.










Donovan's Greatest Hits contains three singles that were previously unreleased on any album, Epistle to Dippy, There Is a Mountain and Laléna.          












Donovan's follow-up single, Colours, was also a hit, and after making his American debut at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, he issued Fairytale, his second and last LP for the Hickory label. Signing with Epic in 1966, he released his breakthrough album, Sunshine Superman, which in its exotic arrangements and pointedly psychedelic lyrical outlook heralded a major shift from his previous work; the title track topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, with Mellow Yellow reaching the number two spot a few months later. Donovan remained a chart fixture throughout 1967, generating a series of hits including Epistle to Dippy, There Is a Mountain, and Wear Your Love Like Heaven; that year he traveled to India alongside the Beatles to study with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a journey which inspired him to renounce drug use and encourage his listeners to turn to meditation. The ambitious double album A Gift from a Flower to a Garden followed, and in 1968 Donovan resurfaced with The Hurdy Gurdy Man, scoring a Top Five smash with the hallucinatory title cut; the record also yielded the hit Jennifer Juniper. 









Sue Lyon, (Lolita (1962), The Night of the Iguana (1964), The Flim-Flam Man (1967) and Evel Knievel (1971), came into Donovan's life at the end of 1965. This was two or three years before he met his "Jennifer Juniper" (Jenny Boyd). Lyon had starred in "Lolita" and "Night of the Iguana" before meeting Donovan. The couple dated until 1967 when Sue ended the relationship abruptly. Donovan had evidently slipped LSD in Sue's and her friend's drinking cup at a party. Sue described her trip as "frightening and disturbing" and she "felt her self-control disintegrating". After this incident Lyon never spoke to Donovan again until 1975. The two are now good friends and Sue attended Ione Skye's (Donovan's daughter) marriage to King Ad-Rock (with the Beastie Boys)










When Donovan hit the scene he was called "Britain's answer to Bob Dylan,". However, where most  of Dylan's music is bleak introspection and bitter realism, Donovan embraced the wide-eyed optimism of the flower power movement, his ethereal, ornate songs radiating a mystical beauty and childlike wonder; for better or worse, his recordings remain quintessential artifacts of the psychedelic era, capturing the peace and love idealism of their time to perfection.











Donovan was born, Donovan Leitch, on May 10, 1946 in Glasgow and raised outside of London; at 18 he recorded his first demo, and in 1965 was tapped as a regular on the television pop showcase Ready, Steady, Go! He soon issued his debut single "Catch the Wind," earning the first round of Dylan comparisons with his ramshackle folk sound and ragamuffin look; the single nevertheless reached the U.K. Top Five, with a subsequent meeting between the two singer/songwriters captured in the classic D.A. Pennebaker documentary, Don't Look Back.









Sunshine Superman lyrics
 
Sunshine came softly through my a-window today
Could've tripped out easy a-but I've a-changed my ways
It'll take time, I know it but in a while
You're gonna be mine, I know it, we'll do it in style
'Cause I made my mind up you're going to be mine

I'll tell you right now
Any trick in the book now, baby, all that I can find
Everybody's hustlin' just to have a little scene
When I say we'll be cool I think that you know what I mean
We stood on a beach at sunset, do you remember when?
I know a beach where, baby, a-it never ends
When you've made your mind up forever to be mine

Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
I'll pick up your hand and slowly blow your little mind
'Cause I made my mind up you're going to be mine
I'll tell you right now
Any trick in the book now, baby, all that I can find

Superman or Green Lantern ain't got a-nothin' on me
I can make like a turtle and dive for your pearls in the sea, yeah!
A you-you-you can just sit there a-thinking on your velvet throne
'bout all the rainbows a-you can a-have for your own
When you've made your mind up forever to be mine
I'll pick up your hand and slowly blow your little mind
When you've made your mind up forever to be mine

I'll pick up your hand
I'll pick up your hand

--------------------------------------------------------------------
   






Track listing:

All tracks written by Donovan Leitch.

Side one:

1 - Epistle to Dippy – 3:08
2 - Sunshine Superman (long version) – 4:32
3 - There Is a Mountain – 2:33
4 - Jennifer Juniper – 2:40
5 - Wear Your Love Like Heaven – 2:23
6 - Season of the Witch – 4:54

Side two:

1 - Mellow Yellow – 3:37
2 - Colours (1968 version) – 4:10
3 - Hurdy Gurdy Man – 3:15
4 - Catch the Wind (1968 version) – 5:01
5 - Laléna – 2:54

Personnel:



Released; January 1969
Recorded; January 1966 – September 1968
Length; 39:07
Label: Epic - HN 658


Links to music videos on youTube:






Styrous® ~ Friday, April 25, 2014
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