JSngry

Technically, Live At The Village Vanguard Again came out while Coltrane was alive, before Expression, which was the first posthumous release.

Obviously they are.

At least not for a fee. Hell, I bring my sense of humor, simplicity, and fun to the World Wide Web several times daily, and I don't ask for one fucking dime in return, nor should I, nor will I. Just who does Nick think he his, and why can't he overeat on his own dime? I do!

Cyrus Vance Major Lance (that girl over there, with the) Hot Pants (on)

The one I got from them was a $29.99 Japanese import (w/obi!), manufactured by BMG, part of the "Baystate Spiritual Jazz Series", and came in hardcore Japanese packaging (inserts, sleeve, etc.). What I've not seen (or hear of) is the MPS side ever being on CD. Hell, I never even knew of the LP until a few years ago. It never saw American release, and, as is typical with most of Billy's work, was never "heralded" by the circuit who thrived on pimpng "obscure" gems. I mean, I love those people, but Billy Harper's work outside of his American releases has never made it into their view, and that's a damn shame.

As long as you definition of "real" includes CD-Rs and photocopied artwork... If it's made and sold through legit channels, I consider it real. What it's not is "original", since these were all done as LPs. So if we want to get hardcore about it, only the LPs (and whatever tape parallel was released by MPS & Denon) are really real. I was actually a little shocked to find out about Love On The Sudan, becuase his other two Denon LPs had reasonable contemporaneous American distribution. Not so this one. I wonder why?

I'd not have a problem thinking it was a young Harris on a not so good piano, which makes me wonder if maybe this didn't spring from the same Cleveland(?) studio that recorded that Four Sounds demo.

Broke-Dick Dog The Big Unit Unfit Parent

Yeah, Nick wants you to pay him $15/yr for bringing his "sense of humor, simplicity, and fun to the World Wide Web", which to me is basically saying "if you're a total tecniphobe, I'm here to take your money!". I think Nick is making me feel just a tad fuquitous!

Can Oil Can Boyd Squeaky Fromme

The internet is your friend...

Hank Mancini Hank Bauer Joe Mauer

Tower of Power Power Hitter Frank Hittner

Clint Hurdle has the mojo.

I'm very thankful that I've just had them die but never actually be dead. Wish I could learn how to do that myself!

Great news indeed, finally able to get "real" copies of these two! GOOOOOOOOOOOOO BASTIDS!!!!!!!!!

Arthur Brown Fire Chief Geronimo

Maybe I'm just lucky to have a daughter who knows the right people, but reading that link that jostber posted above, it seems like if you're smart enough to understand those directions, and sensible enough to not be stupid/careless/daredevil-y (a too-rare quality!) in the face of clearly stated things to not try to do, then it's not really any kind of a high-wire act. I'd not attempt it, but that's because I'm kinda chickenshit when it comes to tackling HD issues. Also reading that same link, it does seem that, yeah, if you get somebody who is stupid/careless/daredevil-y, somebody who thinks that they know more than they do, then yeah, you're screwed. But that goes to character & work ethic a lot more than it does to the inherent danger level of the task. Knowledge and good sense don't always go hand in hand, and therein lies the excitement! And I guess it's fairly "common knowledge" by now that Geek Squad's hiring standards in terms of proven skill sets are not nearly as high as they'd like you to believe...

Best Buy/Geek Squad wanted to charge me $150 just to look at it. I got all my data back for about half of that.

Yeah, the problem with a lot of the geek/whizzes (besides the problem with anybody's whizzes...) is that a lot of them think they know more than they do (or have otehr people who think they know more than they do). You gotta screen your referrals, if you know what I mean. The guy we use is a CompSci major at UTD, so he's both intuitive and trained. He's with this stuff like I was with music when I was his age, just naturally attracted to it, new what he knew, knew what he didn't know (but knew several layers of where to go to find it out), the type of guy who's not happy without some kind of problem to solve, you know the type. I'd like to think that he's "one of a kind", but ya' know, I've met about 4 or 5 of his friends/fellow students, and they're all like him. The thing about computers (and everything, really, these days), is that pretty much all the answers are out there online somewhere, you just have to know where to go (and be able to "speak the language"). It's not like our generation, where repair work in general was kind of a closed circle of people who knew the details, and if you wanted to get to it, you either had to become one, marry into the family, or else get them drunk to spill their secrets. I mean, I've seen this young man exhaust all his known solutions to a problem, get on his laptop, check out a discussion forum ran by his professors(!) and come back with a fix. Eating a sandwich the whole time! I really do think it is as straightforward as just calling the nearest geek/whiz. Just maybe not the nearest, if you know what I mean. There really are no "secrets" or "mysteries" in this day and age when it comes to repair. But,as always, there are huge variances in personal character/work ethic, and that's where it gets sticky!

Ed Motta RULES!!!!

:g:g:g:g:g:g:g:g:g

Sambo's Sam Butera Billy the Mountain

Now see, that's the kind of thing that I would not even attempt by myself (maybe as a hobby when I retire, but not now!)...but I'd pay some young & hungry "kid" who I knew I could trust $100 or so to do for me, maybe more if the data was that critical. And I'd not hesitate to offer to give the person some future referrals if they'd like them. Every young and hungry "kid" I've known doesn't mind being young, but they sure as hell hate being hungry! But $700-$1900? That's for people who either have "sensitive" data or else don't even know they have other options!

If you network amongst your family and friends long enough, you're going to fins some "kid" who's a total geek about this type thing, is either a student, or underemployed, and who will relish the challenge of putting your Humpty-Dumpty back together again (if in fact it can be, and it sounds like maybe yours can't be, David, which really sucks. but don't give up just yet!). But you're not going to find these people among the "pros". These are people who either looking to someday will become pros, or who scoff at the pros for various reasons and would never sully themselves to enter their ranks (that's what they say now...that's what we all say when we're young, gifted, and idealistic, right?. They're out there, trust me. And they'll do you right for not very much money if you do them right in return.