Comments for livingwithmusic.com

Comment on Status Quo by Colin

Colin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:25:43 +0000

Quite simply Steve, check out Ma Kelly’s Greasy Spoon, Dog Of Two Head, Piledriver, Hello!, Quo (my fave), On The Level & Blue For You… those are their best albums by miles…

oh, and check out Status Quo Live! too – recorded in Glasgow in 1976, it’s a fantastic live album – and perfectly demonstrates what they were all about :)

Comment on Universal Deluxe Editions by Richard Adam Hendricks

Richard Adam Hendricks — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 20:57:49 +0000

Just recently, I just saw on Hip-O Records’ website that the two first
great albums by Diana Ross And The Supremes were released in a
2-CD deluxe edition each–they are Meet The Supremes (1963) and
Where Did Our Love Go? (1964). I read about them in that website
and on the All Music Guide where I was surprised and impressed of
the way they were remastered in their deluxe format. Although they
would be limited CD editions and likely to stay on MP3 websites as
long as they please with great results, many said it could never had
been done, but they certainly gave these historic R&B masterworks
the grand-scale restoration they deserved. Plus, Hip-O even made
the same deluxe restoration on several solo masterworks by Diana
Ross herself: they are Everything Is Everything (1971), Touch Me In
The Morning (1973) and Last Time I Saw Her (1974). However, we
may come to believe that Motown might have plenty of more great
albums from it’s golden age (1960-71) that are likely to recieve the
deluxe edition red carpet treatment, so I would like to give you this
special list of the other timeless R&B masterworks that Motown
and UMG needs to check up on, and on this request I will present
some of the classics from this groundbreaking period from music
history. They include other classic titles by Diana Ross And The
Supremes: A Bit Of Liverpool (1964), the band’s honoured tribute
to The British Invasion, as well as More Hits By The Supremes,
The Supremes At The Copa (Both 1965), I Hear A Symphony,
The Supremes A ‘Go-Go (Both 1966), Reflections, The Supremes
Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland (Both 1967), the thought-provoking
socially-conscious Love Child (1968), Cream Of The Crop (1969)
and even the superb duet album they made with The Temptations
titled T.B.A. (Also 1969). Plus, they can make a check with two
blockbuster albums by Diana herself, they are Ain’t No Mountain
High Enough (1970) and The Boss! (1979). But there is more to
choose from. They can check on a set of great titles by Smokey
Robinson And The Miracles: Hi, We’re The Miracles (1961), The
Fabulous Miracles, The Miracles Doin’ Mickey’s Monkey (Both
1963), Going To A ‘Go-Go (1965), Away We A ‘Go-Go (1966),
Smokey Robinson And The Miracles Live (1969), Tears Of A
Clown (1970) and One Dozen Roses (1971). Plus, you can also
check with several classic solo hits by Smokey himself, as they
include A Quiet Storm (1975), Where There’s Smoke… (1979),
Warm Thoughts (1980) and Being With You (1981). Also on the
special list are Martha Reeves And The Vandalas, which include
Heat Wave (1963), Dance Party (1964), Nowhere To Run (1966),
Watchout! (1966) and Sugar ‘N’ Spice (1969). Well this should
conclude the special request for now, even though not all of the
albums from the golden age will recieve the deluxe edition midas
touch, but there is a possibility that a majority on this list will
get the deluxe treatment by Motown and the UMG, so what you
can do is hope that an agreement is made on giving these works
of art the deluxe edition treatment, which fully deserves with just
and special honour.

Comment on Ed Thigpen: Gentleman of Jazz by Volkher Hofmann

Volkher Hofmann — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 05:09:41 +0000

Frank,
sorry, I have no idea where you could locate a copy. A few years ago I saw a digital *.pdf file floating around, but a quick search turned up nothing.

Comment on Ed Thigpen: Gentleman of Jazz by Frank Hansen

Frank Hansen — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 01:08:22 +0000

I am looking for a copy of Thigpen’s book, Be Our Guest. Any thoughts?

Comment on Universal Deluxe Editions by Richard Adam Hendricks

Richard Adam Hendricks — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 20:59:21 +0000

Anybody interested in some classic keyboard-driven rock and R&B
music from the 1960′s and 1970′s? Well I just happen to have a list
of some great titles that The Deluxe Edition Series needs to look up
for their next check-up of classic albums that are likely to receive a
deluxe seal of approval and they will include a chosen few by Jerry
Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, Alan Price and Billy Preston. From Jerry
Lee Lewis: Rockin’ With Jerry Lee Lewis (1963), this one seems to
be worth a check-up; The Greatest Live Show On Earth (1964), now
this is likely to get the red carpet treatment from the Deluxe Edition
team; Live At The Star Club, Hamburg (1965); Memphis Beat (1966);
Soul My Way (1967); The Killer Rocks On (1972); Radio Special
(1973) and The Session (1974). From Fats Domino: the self-titled
classic from 1965 (Fats Domino ’65) and Southland, U.S.A. (1966),
From Alan Price: A Price On His Head (1967), Price Is Right (1968),
Performing Price (1975), Shouts Across The Street (1976) and even
A Rock ‘N’ Roll Night At The Royal Court (1981). And finally, from
Billy Preston, who was a highly creative wizard on the keyboards–
both acoustic and electric–and one of the greatest R&B stars ever
lived. They include: I Wrote A Simple Song (1971), Everybody Like
Some Kind Of Music (1973), European Tour Live (1974), A Whole
New Song (1977) and even a delightful duet classic with Syreeta–
Billy Preston And Syreeta (1981). Now that I have given you this
special list of classic titles that deserve to be part of the celebrated
Deluxe Edition Series library, let us hope that an agreement will be
made on giving these modern masterworks the deluxe check-up
they truly deserve.

Comment on Universal Deluxe Editions by Richard Adam Hendricks

Richard Adam Hendricks — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 20:33:15 +0000

Do you know that some of Black Sabbath’s greeatest albums have
got the Deluxe Edition treatment by The Universal Music Group?
Late last year, I checked on a number of MP3 albums on Amazon.
com and found that a good number of their classic albums the band
released in the 1970′s and early-1980′s had been released in their
complete deluxe form with the help from both Philips and Mercury
(mainly because they were released outside North America under
the record label Vertigo, Philips’ answer to the Prog-rock market).
These timeless heavy metal masterworks include Black Sabbarth,
Paranoid (Both 1970), Masters Of Reality (1971), Sabbath, Bloody
Sabbath (1973), Heaven And Hell (1980), Mob Rules (1981), Born
Again and Live Evil (Both 1983). They just got this special deluxe
edtion treatment just a decade ago. However, there are a couple
classics by the band that really deserves to get the deluxe edition
check-up, and they include Sabotoge (1975), which still sound as
nerve-shattering and fascinating as ever; Technical Ecxtasy (1976)
and Never Say Die (1978). So if you have any chance, which you
in the Deluxe Edition re-issue department often does, let us give
those three classic hits from Black Sabbath the deluxe check-up
they deserve and see what happens.

Comment on Physical Formats Death Watch (Part 36) by Volkher Hofmann

Volkher Hofmann — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 16:29:19 +0000

Yeah, it seems the original article (again) was written by someone who wasn’t prepared for the repercussions around the Net. To me it seemed like one just “thrown out there” by someone who didn’t think anyone would actually read it. I mean, those kinds of “news” items have been around the Internet for years.

Store sales around Karlsruhe, just around the corner from here, are abysmal (aside from one single specialty shop with rather deep storage that caters mostly to the wealthy … hardly anything cheap to be had there).

Obviously, sales have moved online. Because not much is stocked around here anymore, I usually buy everything online … aside from the odd spontaneous purchase of drastically reduced single items around larger chain stores in the area.

On top of that, I find that my own purchasing habits have reached a saturation point of sorts. I’m not the type to buy the fifth “Wish You were Here” reissue, no matter how good it supposedly sounds. Other things I might be interested in are just not being released (from the vaults) and I am actually hoping that the move to digital formats might alleviate that problem somewhat.

Finally, were the labels to stop selling CDs altogether, I’d have more than enough of them to tie me over until I drop dead … twice. :)

Comment on Physical Formats Death Watch (Part 36) by MissD

MissD — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 02:40:22 +0000

We (here at Amoeba) have seen this latest article floating about, and this is our take on it:

“- it is a u.k. based on-line “publication” with little credibility and no discernible readership; perhaps there’s someone in uk label upper management that feels this is a good move for them. doesn’t translate at all to u.s. sales/retail/physical outlets
- they quote no actual individuals, nor give a real timeline
- they make no mention of the fact that cd sales still account for 60-66% of the record industry’s revenues and how they’ll replace that in a year
- we asked jackie at emi and she said it’s a laugh. emi only generates 52% of their income from cd sales, and though it’s not jackie’s decision (she’s just a sales rep that’s been around many years), she pointed out that it’s not feasible for labels to abandon cd’s right now

We don’t doubt that this may some day come to pass, and maybe even in the next few years, based on how store sales are being impacted by the economic bullshit. but cd sales ytd are actually up over last year (thanks in large part to adele, whose cd sales are breaking records, and a couple of other biggies like lil wayne), even though revenues may be down by year’s end, it won’t be a freefall over last year.”

Amoeba’s two cents, for what it’s worth. Peace.

Comment on Recent Acquisitions (October 2011) by Volkher Hofmann

Volkher Hofmann — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 06:11:30 +0000

Dave, you caught this one before I proofread it (now done). It wasn’t really supposed to go “live” until today. I guess I pressed the wrong button. :)

Yes, the Thigpen CD/DVD was a must-have for me. The film is excellent and Ed was quite frank about each and every step of his personal and musical life. I’m glad that a film like this is around as it was produced “just in time”.

Vince Gill and Derek Trucks are both excellent musicians. I was just surprised at seeing them together with Johnny Winter. It’s not a pairing-up that immediately came to mind when I heard about this CD, although Winter has firm roots in Nashville. Nevertheless, this release is the better for it.

On a side note, I feel myself drifting more and more into the Blues corner of things. When on holiday these past weeks, I discovered that – unconsciously – 98% of the music I had packed onto my Cowon S9 to take along was Blues. The rest were some golden oldies. Plus one jazz album.

How about you? What are some of your recent purchases? Any recommendations, no matter what it is?

Comment on Recent Acquisitions (October 2011) by DSK

DSK — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 17:36:57 +0000

Looks like a good haul!
The The Ed Thigpen disc sound particularly interesting.
Why the surprise at Vince Gill and Derek Trucks? While I find Gill’s albums to be generally pretty dull affairs, he is an amazing guitar player. I’m not as familiar with Trucks, but I was under the impression that he is also quite impressive.