Bill Nelson

The LP 'Heart and Center' (1979, Arista/Novus) by Michael Gregory Jackson (guitar, vocals). The record stiffed on impact. I've only seen promo copies with cut corners -- and usually for $5. It was too slick for the Novus jazz hardcores and way over the heads of everyone else. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqsz38Frxm8 with: Pheeroan ak Laff, drums Marty Erlich, soprano sax Baikida Carroll, trumpet Jerome harris, electric bass Barry Harwood, organ

When hosting a party with vinyls in play, one might either charge admission or levy a damage deposit in advance. That should chill 'em down.

If I were Mosaic, I'd order-up and number 1,000 copies and then sit on 'em for a year or two. After the initial release, I see the Hines shifting units at the same pace as tectonic plates.

She worships at altar of Our Lady the Out-of-Tune, Astrud Gilberto. And she doesn't seem to care.

After re-coring the center, I end up holding the record down firmly and moving my hips from side-to-side.

Soothing, hey, glad it worked for you. I find Nelson's string arranging tepid and uncertain. Maybe these charts are sketches for a movie score that never happened. This obscure Verve album from '63 is easily topped by Rabbit's 1970 reunion with Nelson on Flying Dutchman's 'Three Shades of Blue'.

The first Singers' LP clinker was 'Just in Time' recorded in April '77 with L.A. big band charts arranged by Roger Kellaway. The prior two albums arranged by Pat Williams in '75 and '76 have enough redeeming moments I'm satisfied with. By the mid- 70s, Gene Puerling, having already created six stunning albums, seems to have eased his artistic control or interest. However, An exception to this malaise is the stunning 'SU With Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass' of June, 78 with the band recorded in Toronto. It's one of the best vocal ensemble with big band albums I've ever heard.

Those early Vanguards in mono (maroon label, silver print, 1955-63) and stereo (black label, silver print, 1958-63) have always been hard to find in any condition. Not because they're 'holy grails' but primarily due to channels of distribution beyond NYC. Speaking for the Southeast, it's a rare thrill to find an LP by The Weavers.

Side 1, track 1 is usually the arbiter of wear-n-tear because of: 1. getting scuffs cause it's protruding from the sleeve in the jacket 2. oil deposits from handling 3. vinyl edge warps are most pronounced on the first track 4. dropping the tone arm with unsteady hands 5. the track 1 song is ususally the 'hit' companies want DJ's and customers to hear first

Order the Ronco Disc Cleaner for $24.99 -- only available from our special TV offer! After you're done with your discs, use it as a floor wax AND a dessert topping! Call now and we'll throw in a special lint-free buffing cloth!

If you start knocking back beers at 2:30 pm, you'll be juiced when the game starts at 4:07 pm. Maybe there's a 90-minute pre-game show on your local channel?

Get this cut-out from 1973 which Atlantic over-pressed and dumped. It's even better than Atlantic's previous 'Soul Makossa' and findable at $8-10.

Perhaps Shawn has dis-invited you to his Birthday Party due to a prior tiff.

Two years ago, the Atlanta Braves got a hip new organist. Braves hitters have got their usual musical 'themes' but opponents are fair game for inside jokes. When a Phillies player had been hit by a pitch, the tune for his next at-bat was 'All Blues'.

If your Willis album still has lipstick on the cover, then "you got some 'splainin' to do".

Their pronouncement the Jazztet CD was no longer fit for free access by the public didn't go far enough. The Library could've placed it with other 'rejects' on their paved parking lot and had it crushed by a bulldozer. By selling it instead, they raised some money. And this sample of culture is safely in the British home of a Forum member. What a long, strange trip it's been.

"For the remainder, it will be divulged on a 'need to know' basis." "If I told you the whole story, I'd have to kill you." "Shut up", he explained.

The following premise of this published book, provided by mjzee, somehow fills me with inertia: "For every song by a jazz composer there is one by a Broadway or Hollywood songwriter."

My copy of Reys' 'Cool Voice' was in a batch of minty vocal LPs which Nic Barber had just brought in thru the rear door of his record shop in Marietta, GA (next to Rocco's Pub). Even though I'd never heard of her, the cover photo of Rita standing behind Blakey's drum cases was all it took. "This Reys album goes for something...so I'll have to get $18 for it." From the same collection I got a Julie London ('Around Midnight' with her 'stems' as clock hands) and a Mel Torme on Bethlehem ('Sings Astaire').

Frank Sinatra Jr. might've had an open date to play the The Angry Gull on the St. Johns. ("Just a stone's throw from the pulp mill. Call ahead for a tour.") Instead, he was held over at the Ramada Express in Bradenton.

Spot on. That's the part I DON'T GET. Consider how the slightest bump will slice your inner sleeves. The only advantage mentioned is for quick retrieval of a single LP if you leave 'em boxed for awhile.

Your question about a possible 2nd Jap pressing is PERFECT for the SH Forum. They'd fall over their keys speculating who remastered your disc and from which source. If you write them, include the code etched in the aluminum just outside the center spindle. Once they decipher the secret code, we'll know if it's a 1st or 2nd pressing...and more!

"I'll take 'What Is a Leading Cause of Death' for $500, Alex."

All the news that's fit to print out. And the reader is patronized as a confused wife or girlfriend -- wrangling a gift for that difficult, hard-to-fit, dilettante hipster. And if she comes up short? "Oh the horror, the horror."

During the 'golden era' of the LP, Mercury certainly issued smart, laminated jackets with some of the most eye-catching graphics and photo subjects. Too bad their actual recordings rarely matched the sizzle -- at least with Mercury's early stereo releases. For 'Rhythm Meets Rugolo' (SR-60119), as TTK wrote, two mikes seem to be placed in the left and right corners of a cavernous studio. On record playback, the channels get wide separation (hard left and hard right) and yet all the instruments seem distant. Even the piano (left channel) rings with the studio wall echo. The overall image gets centered better in Patti Page with the Rugolo All Stars 'In the Land of Hi-fi' (SR-80000), though Rugolo's charts never shined brighter than for June Christy's 'Something Cool'. The stereo Capitol re-recording of 1960 has a more natural balance of voice and instruments, with a warm bass in the center. While we're talking about Pete Rugolo on Mercury, they finally got the recording right on 'Percussion At Work' (SR-80003). The track 'One Plus Four' is a favorite, with brass and reeds call-and-responding amid alternating time signatures.