The Now Spinning/Recent Purchases Thread

Hi Rudy. I just wanted to update a Recent purchase or needle doctor thread.
Glad it worked out. I'm using a Nagaoka MP-500 at the moment, the top one in their line. Quite good! A moving iron design similar to Grado.
 
A curious album, dating to circa 1973...

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There is a lot of Puente percussion but it seems to lean more towards ensemble jazz than his other albums. Puente's arranging skills come to the forefront on the charts here.
 
Some days you have to go back to the basics. 😁

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This is one that takes me back to my days of standing on a chair next to the hi-fi in the basement, loading up the changer with all sorts of records.

The mastering on this newer 24bit / 96kHz digital version is sublime. I've never heard a good digital version of many of Mancini's albums until these recent remasters came along (and of course, the Analogue Productions remasters of three of Mancini's titles set the bar even higher).
 
Some days you have to go back to the basics. 😁

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This is one that takes me back to my days of standing on a chair next to the hi-fi in the basement, loading up the changer with all sorts of records.

The mastering on this newer 24bit / 96kHz digital version is sublime. I've never heard a good digital version of many of Mancini's albums until these recent remasters came along (and of course, the Analogue Productions remasters of three of Mancini's titles set the bar even higher).
One of my personal favorite Mancini albums i still have my CD copy and I'm sure its out of print by now and its been ripped to my computer long ago but the music is delightfully varied and still enjoyable Rudy You have Good taste
 
It's usually in print since it has been one of the more popular titles. Although his biggest selling album had to be The Music from Peter Gunn, the first jazz album to sell a million copies. It sold so many and so fast that they ran out of jackets to put the records in, and had to use a generic RCA jacket until the printers caught up.

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Latest arrival is Technicolor by Cuban rockers Sweet Lizzy Project. I posted a couple of clips earlier. This limited edition signed Technicolor-splattered vinyl version is only available directly from their website.

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Happened to spot a reference to "Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds" in another thread, so I was spinning their first (self titled) album on Amazon Music today. It's got that Lambert/Potter vibe, similar to the mid-period Grass Roots LPs. A lot of great songs on it -- my faves are the big hit "Don't Pull Your Love," plus "Annabella," "Goin' Down" and a jazzy mostly instrumental called "Nora."

Their album later album "Fallin' in Love" is available for streaming (albeit with a different, uglier cover than I remember), but their later single "Light Up The World With Sunshine" which was recorded under the name Hamilton, Joe Frank & Dennison, is apparently lost to the ages, at least as far as Amazon Music is concerned.

According to Wikipedia, HJFR is among the groups whose music was lost in the Universal fire.
 
Their music was OK, but their group name should have been better thought out. When you heard it on the radio, it seemed like four guys, two who were using their last names and two who were using their first names. Then if you happened to catch their name in print, you would realize that Joe Frank was just one guy.

I think I have a few of their singles at home.
 
Played this last night from the 2-LP 45 RPM Impex set.

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That pressing is so good that Belafonte's right in the room. It's a quiet album, with sparse jazz combo accompaniment. We had this in the house when I was growing up but I was always into the faster, happier songs back then. This one would have been too laid back.

 
Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds are still available on iTunes including their 1971 self - titled, "Hallway Symphony" (1972) & "Greatest Hits" (1993). The Playboy albums are not on iTunes though.
 
Though I picked up an LP of it a few years ago, and I've had a copy someone made for me digitally, I've never really listened to Dave Lewis' LITTLE GREEN THiNG, one of those early A&M albums that had a short shelf life. But today I decided to explore it.

When I first sampled it, the organ made me thing of roller-rink music, but after giving it a more serious listen, I think it's better than that. It's still rarely going to be my choice of an album to listen to, but a couple of tracks caught my ear like "Fly Me To The Moon" and "Around The World".

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That is pretty much a classic organ trio lineup---guitarist, drummer and organ, with the bass being played by the bass pedals on the organ. Jimmy Smith had a similar lineup in his jazz combos from the later 50s onward, sometimes with an added soloist.
 
Today was apparently the second Record Store Day of the year. That was a well kept secret. :shrug:
Some of the wind is out of RSD's sails this time around, since they split it into three Saturdays. A friend of mine went to the August RSD and the store handled it well--you received a number when you arrived. When it was your turn, you'd fill out a sheet of RSD titles you wanted, and they would fill the order so you could pay for it.

There's only one title I want (which will be in the October RSD), and I will probably just get one via Discogs after it's out. Knowing how poor Universal's pressings are, I am prepared to be disappointed...unfortunately.
 
It certainly beats going there and fighting the swarms in person. I only experienced Record Store Day once in my life and won't do it again. I really don't like what RSD has become--a cash grab by the major labels. There were maybe a dozen or two new releases for RSD back when it started. Now it's hundreds, and in my opinion most of them seem to be bottom-scrapings and novelty releases. We get a few worthwhile long-lost rarities but still, I'll save the frustration and order them online. Few titles are that desirable that they actually sell out on RSD...
 
I was hearing the following on my Pandora channel and gave it a thumbs-up. I'm normally not a fan of this sort of thing, but in this case the whole album for the most part is so well done that it's worth a listen, especially if you're into Bossa Nova and samba.



The idea behind this is to take existing vocal parts and create an entire new musical backing behind it. The recordings all seem to be sourced from the Columbia Records catalog, based on the artist listings. The Bill Withers "Lovely Day" above comes off really well. Even more interesting is how the Isley Brothers' "It's Your Thing" is and Sly & The Family Stone's "Family Affair" are both transformed, as are tunes by Marvin Gaye ("Sexual Healing") and Dave Brubeck with Carmen McRay ("Take Five").

The backing band includes such notables as Marcos Valle and Roberto Menescal. Production is by brothers Christian and Frank Berman.







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For some reason I read that as Dave Brubeck and Carmen Miranda, which is a whole different deal. :biglaugh:
True--Carmen McRae does not wear half a dozen fruit salads on her head. 😁

Copy/paste this for an official playlist of the entire album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2iGGTZIRrc&list=PLWdioCx-8Qy4XxMgfHNOEQL5JIoZ_po23
 
I just saw the latest RPO release will be with Johnny Cash on November 13, 2020. You can hear a snippet of Ring of Fire on iTunes. Lots of horns and strings. Might be worth a listen.
 
The LP of this album arrived today, which I've posted earlier. This is the Andy Williams track (and if you know his original version, the vocals will sound very famliar):




Bob Crewe Generation? Try Al Hirt instead. Listen closely. Other than his all-too-brief solo, this one could have been mistaken for someone else we know. In fact, it seems to be a bit of a nod to someone else famous on trumpet. (Why am I smelling some green peppers? 😁)

 
The late Ray Conniff & The Singers "Music To Watch Girls By" (from either late 1967 or early 1968 "It Must Be Him") My late parents had that album & that was the first time I heard that song when I was a baby!!
 
While locating an Al Hirt LP, I came across this one:



Los Indios Tabajaras, "Maria Elena." (Same album title on the copy I own.)
 
Last night, I was diving back into the Polydor Isaac Hayes albums: Don't Let Go, And Once Again, and New Horizon. I also gave Hot Buttered Soul a spin but honestly, I still can't warm to it, despite the "experts" claiming it was one of his best albums. It would have benefited from a lot of trimming--two of the four tunes just amble on for too long and don't really go anywhere.
 
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