Bill Nelson

"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.

As 'Duck' was doing a three-night stand with Stax buds Steve Cropper and Eddie Floyd at Tokyo's Blue Note -- I can surmise he played the final Saturday set, retired to his hotel, went to bed and died in his sleep. When it came for his 'check-out time', Duck went out in class. Here's the May 10-12 gig: http://www.bluenote.co.jp/jp/artist/stax/

Regarding TOCJ-9348, the 24-bit remaster from 2001: I've played tracks 4-7 and then once again. Listening intently, I couldn't detect the 'bell rattle', but wished someone had answered that damn phone.

And I've got TOCJ-9348 (mono) from 2001. Is it because of the 24-bit remaster by 'mad scientist', Dr. Van Gelder? (It sounds right to my ears.)

Here's TOP doing 'Squib Cakes' on Letterman -- back when Paul Shaffer still had hair. (Before Shaffer's band got lazy doing warmed-over Booker T & the MG's hits every night.)

If you want to follow Joe Albany's 'track' record (pun intended) read his daughter's autobiography: 'Low Down' (junk, jazz, and other fairy tales from childhood), Amy (A.J.) Albany, Bloomsbury, 2003. Unless 'horse' tranquilizers is another pun, there's no mention by her of when daddy went out to score.

"CREVICE... now there's a perfectly disgusting word!" Stephen Fry as General Melchett in 'Black Adder Goes Forth', during WWI.

RE: Hartford -- How can we order advance tickets? General or reserved admission?

Back to Addison Farmer -- from Down Beat, April 11, 1963: "Following his doctor's orders, bassist Addison Farmer had taken a prescribed anti-depressant tablet the evening of February 19. Later he complained of feeling especially drowsy and swallowed an energy tablet, sold without prescrption in drug stores. The combined effect of the two medications produced a fever that ultimately reached 106 degrees. Farmer was taken to New York City's Knickerbocker Hospital, where he was treated, but the fever did not abate. On Feb. 20 the bassist died of the fever produced by the accidental combination." BTW, 1963 was the Grim Reaper for another bassist: Curtis Counce, 37, heart attack, July 31.

This vast LP score means you'll have to use a special 'long form' when doing your taxes for 2012.

Tunes Most Disliked at Piano Bars: 'Over the Rainbow' and 'A Child is Born'. Their circular melodies are so cloying -- I'd confess to any crime if you promise to stop playing them NOW.

I'd love to throttle TCM's schedulers. The Rene Clair masterpiece they show at 3 am. "Our research shows you arty types are still up a that hour." At the prime time 8 pm. slot they book grist starring Andy Griffeth and Walter Brennan. (The demos must be strong for the meat-and-potato brigade.)

Exact same experience. LP cover photo and line-up promising and the sound was muddy. Was glad to unload it at ATL record show.

My other MM purchase of Elvin was 'Genesis' ...not 'Gemini'. Can't say enough about how Gene Perla meshes with Elvin. And the three-horn front of Farrell, Foster, and Liebman is heavy.

Just got Elvin's 'Puttin' It Together' and 'Gemini' 45 rpms from MM and am blown away. This accolade stems from me as a 15-year-old who bought 'Puttin' in 1969 as his first jazz LP purchase. These 45 rpm Blue Note pressings are amazing in how they reveal the bass and drums 'right there' in front of you. Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray worked hard to break RVG's secret recording 'code' which had been a cloaking device for bass and drums. When I hear Elvin on these MMs, his playback shouts, "Free at last! Free at last!"

Dumped 'Eleventh Hour' at the last Atlanta Record Show. It's irritatingly uneven. Eight years later, Nelson and Hodges reunited for the masterpiece, 'Three Shades of Blue'. (Less than two months afterwards, Hodges checked out in May, 1970.)

Funny you should mention Charlie Brown. Last year the HOF Committee selected Schroeder for Best Blues Piano.

Yes, Legrand is among the top composers of standards during the 60's: Michel Legrand/Marilyn & Alan Bergman Tom Jobim & Joao Gilberto Lennon & McCartney Henry Mancini I'll bail out now without entering the Brill Building for more. Gotta go to the Brill for Bacharach and David -- they wrote so many 60's standards.

"The Summer Knows". (Y'all should've seen this coming.)

Yes, Legrand is among the top composers of standards during the 60's: Michel Legrand/Marilyn & Alan Bergman Tom Jobim & Joao Gilberto Lennon & McCartney Henry Mancini I'll bail out now without entering the Brill Building for more.

Jim, speaking of your time at North Texas, I'm curious if you took a class with the 'real book' himself, Don Gillis. My brother had him for Composition and said he was brilliant and funny as hell. (You posted his 'Man Who Invented Music' LP last June in the 'Album Covers That Make You Say Uhh'.)

Don't bother asking Q -- ask Rod Temperton. Check the composer creds for 'Off the Wall', 'Rock With You', and 'Thriller'. You'll see just one name: 'Temperton'. Having previously written the hits for Heatwave, RT arrived with his copyright shit down pat. With RT's gift for providing Michael a string of platinum hits, Q may have played nice and only skimmed all he could as producer.

Replying to the New Face of Scheming for Record Money: We're asked to pledge in stages up to $3,000 for these clever boys to visit record stores? The only 'pledge' I ever got was from my old man, who promised to kick my ass if I came home with more records.