The Now Spinning/Recent Purchases Thread

[Rudy]

Another song for today's munchies festivities...



No words, but chill...

 

[Michael Hagerty]

I guess I could say I'm a Beatles "acquaintance" as I'm not overly fond of sitting through their records. (I do appreciate the music though.)

Refreshing to hear someone actually say that out loud.

For me, in order of listenability:

Rubber Soul
Revolver
Abbey Road

That's the top tier. From there it's a drop to:

Sgt. Pepper
Magical Mystery Tour

And then, I can listen all the way through, but please don't make me:

Let It Be
The Beatles (White Album)


Any Beatles album (original releases, not compilations) not listed above, I don't want to listen to in one sitting.

 

[AM Matt]

The EW&F "Got To Get You Into My Life" 45 version was different. Go to the 3:40 mark till the fade!!

 

[AM Matt]

Also Blood, Sweat & Tears (featuring David Clayton-Thomas) also did the song from 1975 "New City". Song went to # 62 (Billboard Hot 100).

 

[AM Matt]

Joe Pesci remake from 1968.

 

[AM Matt]

The late Lou Rawls from 1971:

 

[AM Matt]

The Arbors from 1969 including "Good Day Sunshine" also done by The Beatles from 1966 "Revolver":

 

[AM Matt]

The late Ella Fitzgerald from 1969:

 

[Kilgoretrout74]

Released a couple of days ago. Shades of cinematic jazz with a loungey vibe.

 

[Michael Hagerty]

Bruce Cockburn's Big Circumstance didn't do anything for me, so it was on to Blossom Dearie's self-titled album from 1957, Blossom Dearie sings Comden and Green and now to Blossom's Planet (from 2000), all of which are just wonderful.

 

[Rudy]

Refreshing to hear someone actually say that out loud.

I've always liked the Rubber Soul/Revolver duo, but in the UK versions. I actually like Magical Mystery Tour since it has some great songs on it, and it's not as overblown/overrated as Sgt. Pepper...which is good, but nothing I can really sit through. For two earlier touchpoints, I like the two UK versions of the soundtrack albums Hard Day's Night (as there are no covers on it) and Help!. I can take some of Abbey Rd. in the right mood. The rest? I wouldn't go out of my way to hear them, or cherry pick the few tracks I might like among them. Two anomalies might be the two Past Masters sets--they combine all the non-album tracks into one place, so I've enjoyed those, especially the earlier volume.

I've always said the white album would have been best released as a mediocre 4-song EP. ("Beatles fans HATE this one simple trick!")

 

[Stevenj]

Same here. I like the Bang! era recordings (basically two LPs worth), am lukewarm on the Uni output (it varies between brilliant and, um, not so brilliant as the years went on), yet the Columbia era recordings I can't tolerate listening to. (There's your "syrupy.") I seem to gravitate towards the music he made when he was hungrier. Which kind of makes sense, as even his earliest hits on Bang! are ones that he still performed in concert decades later, whereas the most recent albums were almost always forgettable.

Hot August Night is probably his towering achievement--his best material, a nearly perfect presentation, plus the concert and album established him as a top tier entertainer who became a perennial major concert draw in decades to come. I don't listen often, but it's always an experience like no other, one of the few live albums I like.

I'd read a few reviews saying his "back to roots" Rick Rubin-produced record 12 Songs was good, but even that one didn't grab me. Sony's copy protection crippled sales of the CD, however, and copies were recalled. By the time Sony rereleased the album on a standard CD at the end of that year, the momentum was lost. I need to give this one another spin one of these days.

I'm like that with every Neil Diamond album, some I like and some not so much. I always find a track to love. In the more syrupy years, his cover of God Only Knows is a stand out for me, as well as Lament in D minor/Dance of the Sabres, and Front Page Story.

 

[Rudy]

I'm like that with every Neil Diamond album, some I like and some not so much. I always find a track to love. In the more syrupy years, his cover of God Only Knows is a stand out for me, as well as Lament in D minor/Dance of the Sabres, and Front Page Story.

His later albums are good sources for home-brew compilations or playlists.

There's a reviewer I usually don't agree with, but I know what he's talking about when he says that at times it felt like Diamond wasn't as interested in recording in his later years. He could still pack arenas (my ex's mother was a fan and never missed one of his concerts) and I'm guessing he probably did a cursory few songs from his most recent record or two, but laid into the classic hits (which is what everyone went to one of his concerts for).

But I guess we could say that about most major, popular artists.

And like @Harry put so well...I could do without hearing "Sweet Caroline" in public ever again. We encountered that over at one of the restaurants on the lake several years ago--a table of loud, obnoxious, drunk boaters were wailing all those parts over the already loud din of the restaurant. Soooooo yeah, I'll play that one quietly at home so the neighbors don't notice and want to join in...

 

[AM Matt]

Alex Hassilev of The Limeliters has died at 91 years old. Alex Hassilev - Wikipedia

 

[AM Matt]

Sportscaster Bob Cole of CBC's Hockey Night In Canada has died at 90 years old. Bob Cole (sportscaster) - Wikipedia

 

[Stevenj]

His later albums are good sources for home-brew compilations or playlists.

There's a reviewer I usually don't agree with, but I know what he's talking about when he says that at times it felt like Diamond wasn't as interested in recording in his later years. He could still pack arenas (my ex's mother was a fan and never missed one of his concerts) and I'm guessing he probably did a cursory few songs from his most recent record or two, but laid into the classic hits (which is what everyone went to one of his concerts for).

But I guess we could say that about most major, popular artists.

And like @Harry put so well...I could do without hearing "Sweet Caroline" in public ever again. We encountered that over at one of the restaurants on the lake several years ago--a table of loud, obnoxious, drunk boaters were wailing all those parts over the already loud din of the restaurant. Soooooo yeah, I'll play that one quietly at home so the neighbors don't notice and want to join in...

the drunks can't manage Done Too Soon. LOL