Spinning Vinyl: The Assignment

Spinning Vinyl is an occasional series where I document a vinyl listening session. There have been a dozen of them over the years. This time it's not an evening, it's a whole month.

I stream music with Qobuz and I had been going down streaming rabbit holes quite a bit. Listening to all the older records from an artist, exploring new music, listening to records recommended by bloggers or magazines. And I realized that I wasn't listening to much vinyl. So a month ago I decided that I would listen to at least one whole vinyl record a day for a month.

There were rules. First, I had to actually listen to the whole record front and back in one sitting. Not while cooking or reading or going in and out of the room, but actually sitting and listening. Come to think, maybe that was the only rule. Some days I got through more than one. 

And so, with occasional commentary, and links where appropriate, here's what I ended up listening to during the last month, day by day starting on October 7:

Day 1: Kirsty MacColl Titanic Days 1993 I love all of her work, but none 

more than this one.

Day 2: Frank Sinatra Moonlight Sinatra 1966 A little-known gem.
Day 3: Badfinger No Dice 1970 

Jon Cleary Dyna-Mite 2018 New Orleans treasure.

Day 4: Erin McKeown We Will Become Like Birds 2005

Day 5: Lee Dorsey Holy Cow! The Best of Lee Dorsey 1985 Allen Toussaint produced.

Day 6: Suede Bloodsports 2013 After ten years they come back strong.

Day 6 note: During days 4-6, I also listened to all four sides of Robert Palmer Collected 2016. It wasn't all in one day, so maybe it shouldn't count.

Day 7: The Hollies The Hollies Greatest Hits 1973

Savoy Brown Blue Matter 1969 

Day 8: The Jayhawks Back Roads and Abandoned Motels 2018 It doesn't sound like a bunch of songs Louris wrote for/with other artists.

Day 9: Allen Toussaint The Allen Toussaint Collection 1991/2017

Jennifer Warnes The Hunter 1992 A wonderful voice.

Jon Cleary So Swell 2020 Newvelle records gold.

Day 10: Moby Grape 20 Granite Creek 1971

Jennifer Warnes The Well 2001 Beautifully recorded beautiful record.

Day 11: Van Morrison Common One 1980 I stayed awake the whole time.

Day 12: Norah Jones The Fall 2009 

Day 13: Bonnie Raitt Just Like That 2022 Her late career work is splendid.

Ahmad Jamal Poinciana 1958 One of my two favorite pianists.

Bill Evans and Jim Hall Undercurrent 1962 The other one.

Day 14: The Grateful Dead Workingman's Dead 1970 Their best.

Day 15: The Isley Brothers 3+3 1973 The start of a great run.

Stacey Kent In Love Again- The Songs of Richard Rogers 2003 Stacey Kent never makes a bad record.

Day 16: Fiona Apple Fetch The Bolt Cutters 2020 Apple is one of the more interesting singer/songwriters working today.

Day 17:Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings I Learned The Hard Way 2010 

Day 18: Bunny Wailer Blackheart Man 1976

Nick Lowe Indoor Safari 2024 A collection of recent singles.

Day 19: Jefferson Airplane Surrealistic Pillow 1967 Why do I still have this?

Dr. John Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack 1981 Solo piano.

Hot Tuna Hot Tuna 1970 My favorite by the Airplane et. al. 

Day 20: XTC Black Sea 1980 The beginning of their greatness.

World Party Best In Show 2024 Nice two-record set. Front loaded with hits, the second record is just as good.

Day 21: Funkadelic Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On 1974 Not really on the verge, just gettin' it on.

The Rubinoos From Home 2019 

Day 22: Milt Jackson and the Monty Alexander Trio Soul Fusion 1977

Ellis Marsalis and Jason Marsalis For All We Know 2020

Day 23; The Pointer Sisters The Pointer Sisters 1973

Galatic and Irma Thomas Audience With The Queen 2025

Day 24: Poco From The Inside 1971

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers You're Gonna Get It! 1978

Tift Merritt Tambourine 2004 Talented artist deserves more success.

Day 25: Jethro Tull Benefit 1970 One of the two Tull albums I enjoy.

Day 26: Marti Jones Match Game 1986 

Delmar Levon Trio Close But No Cigar 2018 Hot organ jazz-funk.

Diana Krall This Dream Of You 2020 Dreamy indeed, and lovely.

Day 27: Spoon Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga 2007 My favorite by Spoon, and maybe the only one I really like.

Wes Montgomery The Incredible Jazz Guitar Of Wes Montgomery 1960 The title says it all.

Day 28: Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison Cheater's Game 2013

The Beatles Rubber Soul US mono 1965

Nick Lowe The Impossible Bird 1994 Lowe matures gracefully.

Stevie Wonder Music Of My Mind 1972 Wonder's best year, with this one and Talking Book.

Dave Edmunds Twangin' 1981 Just another fine Edmunds record.

Day 29: Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels Greatest Hits 1972 Devil With A Blue Dress.

Guy Clark Better Days 1983 His early work is good but not as great as he became in the 90s.

Day 30: Boz Scaggs Out Of The Blues 2018

Paul McCartney Chaos And Creation In The Backyard 2005 His best?

Day 31: The Kinks Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire) 1969

There it is. 31 days, 58 records. I did listen to other things not vinyl, but I enjoyed the vinyl challenge and I hope to remember how much fun it was. Plus I got my steps in.

David Mead No One Roxx This Town No More 2011

way back when there were leather skirts and wet t-shirts jiggling to the beat of the toms we rocked it in our acid jeans with torn-up seams played that music louder than bombs they said it was a country town but we knew how to kick out the fuckin' jams rockin' with our Marshall stacks and pots that flashed just like we was made in Japan I balled the ladies down on Elliston Place high heels came off deep in the dawn they looked so bitchin' with their tits in your face tattoos inside a lycra thong but mama now that's all gone 'cause no one roxx this town no more no one roxx this town like it needs to be rocked no one roxx this town no more so baby call me, call me when you're ready to roll I used to hang with Government Cheese and F.U.C.T. parties every night on the roof but these days no one gets their kicks in apartment 6 no one wants to pound any brews they're probably fuckin' married now but I'm holding out it's looking like I'm up here to stay my neighbors pass me on the stairs and they stop and stare then get the hell right out of my way I saw the Scorchers back in '86 rockin' the Exit/In like they was gods these little indie bands just play with their dicks they never get to shootin' their wads 'cause no one roxx this town no more no one roxx this town like it needs to be rocked no one roxx this town no more so baby call me, call me when you're ready to roll I saw Threk Michaels in the grocery store he said the music's dried up and died paid for my magazine and walked out the door and shouted to the traffic lights no one roxx this town no more no one roxx this town like it needs to be rocked no one roxx this town no more so baby call me, call me when you're ready to roll

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes Better Days 1991

 

Southside Johnny's first three records are a real trifecta. Then, between The Jukes 1979 and At Least We Got Shoes 1986, things were less exciting, and sometimes downright disheartening. In 1991, Steven Van Zandt returned to writing and playing guitar on Better Days. 

Bruce Springsteen even showed up to do a vocal trio with Southside and Van Zandt on It's Been A Long Time. It's a good slice of buddy nostalgia that works, and Van Zandt can write a Springsteen song just like the boss. The rest of the record is a vast improvement on his work without Van Zandt in the eighties. It might not be Hearts of Stone 1978, but it is a solid return to form, and was the comeback Southside needed. Coming Back, Soul's On Fire, Better Days, I've Been Working Too Hard, All Night Long, and Shake 'Em Down all rock hard, and Southside is in fine voice. It's a good, dense recording that sounds big on every song.

Messin' With The Blues 2000 was a fine return to form, and saw Southside writing with Gary Tallent, longtime Springsteen bass player. Messin' With The Blues is not to be missed, and rivals his first three. In the 2000s, Southside teamed up with keyboardist/songwriter Jeff Kazee to produce a string of very good records. Into The Harbour 2005 and Pills And Ammo 2010 are both good. 

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes never again reached the height of fame that they began with, but they toured endlessly and always put on a great show. Southside Johnny Lyon is a fine singer and a showman that always left it all on the stage. If you saw them live you know.

The Isley Brothers 3+3 1973

In 1971 younger brothers Ernie and Marvin and brother-in-law Chris Jasper began recording with the trio of older brothers. This 1973 release is the first time that the group officially expanded to six members. It is also their breakout that ushered in a decade of top ten record releases.

It kicks off with That Lady, Ronald's voice and a funky arrangement make for a great single. James Taylor's Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight is the first of several seemingly odd cover choices. Of course Ronald nails it over Ernie's acoustic guitar. The fast-paced If You Were There sounds like Stevie Wonder, clavinet and all. The brother's harmonies light up You Walk Your Way. And then the Stevie Wonder funk is applied to the Doobie Brothers' Listen To The Music, with wah wah guitar and more clavinet. It sounds crazy wrong, but they pull it off again. That's one perfect album side. It used to be a thing.

What It Comes Down To features Chris Jasper's piano and a hot guitar solo. Then Johnathan Edwards' Sunshine (Go Away Today) (it's funky) and Seals and Crofts' Summer Breeze (saved by an outro guitar solo) are adapted quite well to Isley style. The pretty, mid-tempo ballad The Highways Of My Life closes out a solid record. The secret weapons are the infusion of youth with the new members, and Ronald Isley's voice that should be listed among only the finest. 

It deserved to be the biggest break of their career, and they kept good records coming for quite some time after this one. 

Ernest Ranglin Below The Bassline 1996

Maybe you're a jazz fan. Maybe you're a reggae fan. Maybe you're both. I was not aware that Jazz-Reggae fusion was a genre. 

Ernest Ranglin is a guitarist from Jamaica. He was an early innovator developing the rhythmic guitar style associated with ska in the 1960s. He has played on a ton of ska and reggae records, but he has also played on a ton of jazz records, often with Jamaican jazz pianist Monty Alexander. Alexander is with him on this one, as is drummer Idris Muhammed, bassist Ira Coleman, and keyboardist Gary Mayone.

Ranglin's guitar is the star of the show, but it is a very talented group. Ranglin and Alexander have a special chemistry. The record serves up eleven instrumentals, each one with laid back reggae rhythm and solid solos from Ranglin and Alexander. It is casual cocktail music but it also holds up to repeated attentive listening.

You should give it a listen. I will warn you though that Ranglin has a lot of records to his name and at least nine more with Alexander. If half of them as good as this one, it may be a while before you're done with exploring Ernest Ranglin. I know it's going to be an issue for me.

Hat tip to Sal at Burning Wood.

Tim Shelton Jackson Browne Revisited 2015

Tim Shelton is a bluegrass singer/guitarist that played with Newfound Road throughout the oughts and more recently with The Tim Shelton Syndicate (and a 25th anniversary reformed Newfound Road). He's got a fine, exceptionally expressive, country voice. 

In 2015 Shelton made this Jackson Browne tribute. It's not bluegrass. It's not even country most of the time. It's a loving tribute to Jackson Browne, and while I can't track down who plays what on the record, it's clearly made with what sounds like a classic Southern California band not unlike Browne's bands. There's pedal steel guitar to echo David Lindley, great harmonies, and both the pianist and the organist are a stand-outs. 

The songs are not rearranged significantly. They are mostly true to the originals in tenor and tempo. So why is this record worth hearing, since these songs are all available on Jackson Browne records already? The best answer is that Tim Shelton is a great singer, and he clearly admires these songs. He actually sings these songs better than Jackson Browne. That yearning thing that is so common in Browne's songs comes through loud and clear in Shelton's voice. The backing band is a talented bunch, and the minor changes to the arrangements all seem to work really well.

Song selection is just fine, except he does Take It Easy. It's a perfectly fine version, but who really wants to hear that song again. Actually, the lead guitar break is very good, and different from the original. While early material is featured, there's songs from most of Browne's career. I didn't need to be reminded how fine Browne's songs are, but I none the less really enjoyed these versions, and especially Shelton's singing, which is terrific. Recommended.

Brian Auger Get Auger-nized! The Mod Years 2004

Brian Auger is a British organ player that has focused much of his career on jazz and jazz/rock with the Trinity and later with the Oblivion Express. His sixties sides with the Trinity were marketed to the pop/rock audience as well. He and the Trinity had a working relationship with Julie Driscoll (later Tippetts) that would seem unique even by the anything goes sixties standard. Between 1965-1970, Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and the Trinity made a series of singles and two LPs (Open 1967 and Streetnoise 1969). During the same time, Auger and the Trinity made two records without Driscoll (Definitely What 1968 and Befour 1970). This very fine compilation on 2 vinyl records was the first half of the two-CD set Get Auger-nized The Anthology (The Mod Years and The Jazz Years) and includes tracks from those four records as well as singles. The second CD (The Jazz Years), not being discussed here, was from his work with both The Trinity (three tracks) and Brian Auger's Oblivion Express post 1970.

The tracks with the Trinity include Mose Allison's Fool Killer, Booker T and the MG's Green Onions and Red Beans and Rice, Lennon and McCartney's A Day In The Life, Wes Montgomery's Bumpin' On Sunset, and five Auger originals. The Trinity were a talented group, and Auger's B3 organ is always front and center. 

With Driscoll, they play another set of interesting covers including Otis Redding's Tramp, Donovan's Season of the Witch, Danko and Dylan's This Wheel's On Fire, the Doors Light My Fire, Richie Havens' Indian Rope Man and Flesh Failures (Let The Sunshine In) from Hair. There are several other nice choices and Auger originals as well as the Auger/Driscoll composition A Kind Of Love In, a rocking frenzy of a song. Driscoll is a unique talent, and the cover songs are all transformed by Auger's organ and Driscoll's idiosyncratic voice and delivery.

The Trinity's organ-led jazz/rock is solid stuff, but for me the draw of this compilation is the work featuring Julie Driscoll. Driscoll has a powerful voice and a decidedly different approach that is unlike almost any other female singer. She makes bold choices that usually work, and in the organ trio setting she cuts loose. After this work in the sixties, she made two almost pop solo records, but since then she has made a career of avant-garde and free jazz vocalizing, frequently with her husband, jazz piano player Keith Tippett, but also with other collaborators. 

In 1978 Auger and Tippetts (nee Driscoll) made Encore, a great reunion that improves on their work in the sixties. It is essential listening in my book. Streetnoise is an excellent double LP to find used, and I can think of nothing that sounds quite like it. The good news is that all of this is available for streaming. There is a baffling array of compilations of both Auger and Driscoll's work, many of them covering the same material. Go ahead, Get Auger-nized!