Hot Ptah

Yeah, I listened to the whole thing. Every second of it. It was a few years ago, so I don't remember exactly how long it took to do it (a month maybe?). And yes, I did go crazy by the end of it... like I said, it turned me off of the Beatles for a bit! Still, I'm glad I did it! If I had the time and the inclination (and I don't!), I'd cull that 83 CD set down to maybe 15 CDs of just the highlights. Cheers, Shane And I thought that the 5 CD set of Bob Dylan's "The Basement Tapes" was a lot to wade through! I have the complete Basement Tapes and with a few exceptions, I find it a delight almost from beginning to end. I think the big difference between the Let It Be sessions and the BT sessions that Dylan and the Band were having FUN. They were delighting themselves and each other, which makes it equally fun to listen to. By contrast, the Beatles were in the process of breaking up while recording what eventually became "Let It Be." For that reason, the documentary is hard to watch. I can imagine that listening to the tapes would be equally hard to do... Actually, on my nine CD set of Let It Be sessions (on Vig O Tone), I hear very little in the way of fighting or arguing among the Beatles. They seem to be having fun most of the time. The sessions are boring though. They get little productive work done, and waste a lot of time goofing around with short fragments of old rock and roll songs, and their own earlier songs, sung and played very poorly. Still, there are some interesting aspects to the sessions. I had not known that the Beatles worked on songs for years sometimes before recording them in their final version. On the Let It Be sessions, they perform All Things Must Pass, The Back Seat of My Car, Jealous Guy (titled "Child of Nature"), Mean Mr. Mustard, She Came In Through the Bathroom Window, Octopus' Garden, Another Day, Give Me Some Truth. (Child of Nature also appears on the early acoustic demos for the White Album). It seems that All Things Must Pass, Mean Mr. Mustard, and She Came In Through The Bathroom Window, were serious contenders for the Let It Be album, as they worked on them repeatedly. Mean Mr. Mustard was often sung by Lennon together with a song of his titled Madman, which is short but catchy. Too bad he did not finish it and record it at some point. Two of Us was much more of a rousing rockabilly number at first. Get Back was more of a hard driving rocker in its early rehearsals too. But the earlier takes are so rough and full of mistakes that they could not even be edited into shape for release. It's too bad that the vitality of these songs was somewhat lost by the time they got a decent take on tape. I cannot imagine what it is like to listen to 83 CDs of these sessions. Nine CDs was boring enough.

Ray Washburn Curt Simmons Ernie Broglio

Steve McCall Fred Hopkins Charles Clark

Clarence Peaks Dick Hoak John Henry Johnson

Thanks, Chuck. It's all great music which everyone should own one or more copies of.

Well, now I am confused. Chuck, is there any music on these new Roscoe Mitchell and Lester Bowie releases which is not on the Art Ensemble 67/68 box?

From listening to the album, my subjective impression is that Howard Roberts was put in the middle of a producer's vision and played well in it. It does not strike me as a sell out, either as a common street whore or high priced escort. The album does not seem very commercial to me. If anyone involved thought that this was going to be a big seller, a huge payday for the participants, they were deluded, I think. This was always destined to be a very minor cult favorite at best. To call this a commercial sellout reminds me of the criticism Miles got for his albums like "Live at Fillmore" and "Get Up With It'--no way was the rock audience of the time going to buy them at gold or platinum levels. They were electric and loud, but not commercial. The talking part on Roberts' album reminds me a lot of Zappa's spoken word sections on the original "Lumpy Gravy" and "Uncle Meat"--staged, scripted talking which was supposed to seem like mere "slices of life" in real time.

I have now received the copy of this album which I bought on ebay. To me, it sounds a lot like other rock albums from the 1971 period. It is unusual that it was released on a jazz label. It is not derivative of any other 1971 rock album or artist, I think. It is unique, but fits in well with the FM rock of that time. The spacey sound effects were common then, for example. The spoken word section, in which the men are supposed to be traveling in a truck or car and talking and playing the radio, is not all that different from what was done on other rock albums up to that time. There is some good guitar playing on the album, more in a blues based rock vein than a mainstream jazz style. If this had been released on Warner Brothers or Atlantic in 1971, it would have seemed interesting and in the rock mainstream, although many listeners would have yearned for vocals. We are not used to an album like this coming out on Impulse, or Blue Note, or Prestige. I listen to a lot of 1967-74 rock with my autistic son, who truly loves a lot of the rock music of that time, so this album does not seem unusual at all to me--especially if I listen without thinking, this is a jazz album on a jazz label.

We just bought a Sony 350, our first Blu Ray player. I don't know if this was the best choice possible, but we are enjoying it a lot. Blu Ray discs are pretty much incredible to watch. We have also been quite surprised at how much better our DVDs look on it. It is worth it.

Billie Holiday with Lester Young--I Must Have That Man

Forgot about The Peacocks as well. Jimmy's vocals are WONDERFUL! Plus, with Buster Williams and Elvin Jones... can't go wrong... in my book! Rowles' vocals are not the only ones I like on the album!

Cap Anson Pudge Galvin Tim Keeffe

Another favorite Stan Getz album of mine is "The Peacocks", from the late 1970s, with Jimmy Rowles on piano. This album contains some very beautiful, lyrical Getz soloing. I like the vocals on the album!

John Ore

Robert Northern

Richard Davis

I join her in wishing you a Happy Birthday, Jim!

Bev, I love your list of favorite albums, because it matches my own so well. I must have good taste! Anniversary and The Steamer are two of my all time favorites, and they don't get mentioned that often. I have to get Mickey One. I have never heard of it before. I saw your father live many times. He always played beautifully and memorably. One of my favorite times is when he followed Mary Lou Williams, and the Max Roach Quartet, and was followed by Archie Shepp/Max Roach, on the opening night of the 1978 Ann Arbor Jazz Festival. He played the best, and most memorable set of the evening, by far.

What is arborio? If anything can make these even tastier than the ones I have tried, I want to know!

OR.... We could all be more respectful and post with more consideration, good manners and common sense.