Chris Zehnder is back with a spectacular new CD

                                                                

                                                       Chris Zehnder

                                Meaning Making and Going Back to the Future

Chris Zehnder has been a compelling presence in the Music Scene in the Great Lakes Bay Region of Michigan. He cut his teeth with the Avery Set, a great band that was done too soon. College, travel and life itself intervened to give Chris a wanderlust that served him well. As a result, Zehnder matured and blossomed as an artist. He can do rock, country, alternative and acoustic solo without blinking. He’s earned his stripes the hard way, moving out and moving forward but never leaving us behind. This disc is the proof that great music continues to be crafted. Thank god for Andy Reed, Donny Brown and the host of musicians that created this living document of great music.

Donny Brown - Drums/co-production

Hank Horton - Bass

Jim Alfredson - Organ, Wurlitzer

Ron RoscoSelley - Harmonica

Scott Vandell - Lead Guitar

Andy Reed - Bass on "Cold Water Blues"

Me - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Organ, Piano, Rhythm Electric Guitar

                                                         

Goin’ Through the Motions–

Opens in a high pitched howl, like a green manalishi with a two pronged crown; segues into a country guitar like Don Rich admiring Porter Waggoner’s doo. The guitar slices, moans, bends the e-string and comes back for a cool bass line. He sounds like Red Rhodes from Michael Nesmith’s Ist National Band. Zehnder is an exceptional singer. He’s matured as a vocalist and is able to hit the notes strong and pure with cool vocal asides that help tell the story. Sample the lyrics

I got ghosts that are changing my luck

Sacrifice as a symbol of love

Sign me up as a candidate and cast your vote

Spill my blood on the parish lawn

Flatter me with a eulogy song

If you’re note broken hearted something's wrong

Baby I'm just going through the motions

Watching love from behind the gates

Step inside, you get flooded with devotion

I guess the devil says what he needs to say

Tablets roll down a lost highway

We shattered stone that should never break

Be my witness, but don't give me away

But now my baby's got a criminal past

She treads lightly on the capitol grass

Leave your footprints mama, I'm coming back

                                          
                                                           

                                                

Charlie's Smile begins with a staccato piano chords and the high hat signals the rhythm section to kick it in, bass, guitar and organ and hand claps for emphasis. Electric guitar solos, sweet as cornbread. Zehnder sings with feeling and a deeper sense of who he is and will be. He’s come along way

We're paying off the fisherman to catch us a note

A stranger to the faces that have made up that band

But native to the feeling of compassionate hands

But I don't know if we'll ever feel it again

And we been righteous so long,

All our disciples are gone

And I've been swimming the lengths of the river

Living it Down

The song opens with a cool circular guitar pattern followed by a high pitched ooh that signals the band it kick it in with some righteousness. Tambourine and drums pound out the heavy feel as circular guitar patterns give it a lift. The e-string gets a workout with a sweet unencumbered sustain

Escapist heart road a western wind

On a weak handshake for love to begin

Put faith in dirt if you wish to bloom

And the pouring rain fell none too soon

And your bags are packed with all you've got to prove

I'm living it down

I can't hold on

When you’re running around

We Ride Again. This is another countrified chestnut, acoustic struming, moaning guitar trills that sound like a pedal steel. The music is rich, layered, beautiful…and sad. Roscoe Selley fills it out with his evocative harp patterns, perfect! Zehnder sings with a cry in his voice like George Jones coming off a bender. It all coalesces at the end with a brush of organ, harp and guitar. I’ve been waiting for music like this since the Band called it quits

They said I'd never live to see tomorrow

They said my heart was gonna storm

And I will return what I have borrowed

The souvenirs that I've adored

But I never understand what you gave me

Like I never understand what it means to be a man

But holding it now makes me feel lucky

But I never understand what you gave me

Like I never understand how I vanish through your hand

It's only the living who could feel lonely

When all our time amounts to nothin

Round and again, round and again, we ride again

Cold Water Blues. The song opens with a false beginning followed by guitar and vocals. An organ screams and gives the music a punch. A slide guitar sneaks in, tough and provacative. The guitarist is a master, using economy as he goes from e-string to the bass string like ringing a bell. You can tell these cats are having the time of their lives.

I'm goin down to the cold water

Gotta bring my soul to life

Whatever’s in the river gotta get me in your graces on time

Well I'm goin’ down to the cold water

Gonna dress myself in white

Clean these evil urges gotta hide em from a Saturday night

I've never been a stranger to touch

Your medicine is never enough

You hope for liberation and end up getting caught in the mud

All these sounds that pass for rhythm

They sit crooked in my bones

Wave your flag and take me home

A Note from Chris Zehnder: I did most of the arrangements, Donny Brown also helped with arrangements and production. 

I was lucky enough to work with so many amazing musicians

The Bee Gees Odessa

 

                                             


                                                                                  

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Lost Masterpiece Series

                                                           The Bee Gees

                                                               Odessa

 

In conceptualizing this article I followed references to Odessa in various publications including the “The Ultimate Biography of the Bee Gees; Tales of the Brothers Gibb. It is a 700 page barn burner and page turner written by Melinda Bilyeu, Hector Cook and Andrew Mon Hughes. It’s a little more than I wanted for the article yet it gave me an insider’s view about their sibling relationships and how it influenced their one true masterpiece. Odessa was a double album that ran about 65 minutes; Robin Gibb even declared that it was not commercial; Maurice Gibb felt it had depth and obscure lyrics. Barry Gibb had mixed emotions about Odessa as the group was breaking up during the sessions and post production. He felt the band was in crisis…with each other. Perhaps it was the conflict itself that drove the creative spirit in the band. 

 

                                                                    

 

 

The disc opens with Odessa (City on the Black Sea) , it is wordless and awash with acoustic guitar, cello andthe swoon of wind, rain and an echo that gives the song a sense of foreboding. Robin Gibb intones the words in a stream of consciousness that reveal the story of the doomed British Ship;

“February 1899 the British Ship Veronica was lost without a sign…bah, bah, black sheep you haven’t any wool. Captain Richardson. Kept a lonely wife in Hull”

The instrumental part included flamenco guitar by Maurice Gibb and cello by Paul Buckmaster segues to Robin’s incredible vocal;

Cherub, I lost a ship in the Baltic Sea/I’m on an iceberg running free

Sitting-filing this berg to the shape of a ship/Sailing my way back to your lips

One passing ship gave word that /you have moved out of your old flat

That you love the vicar more than words can say

Tell him to pray that I won’t melt away/And I’ll see your face again

Odessa how strong am I

Odessa how time does fly

SPOKEN:

Fourteenth of February eighteen ninety-nine

The British ship Veronica was lost without a sign

Odessa is an incredible work of art, obscure lyrics, breathtaking harmonies and masterful orchestration. It’s a powerful reading by Robin Gibb especially when you realize he was only twenty years old at the time.

You’ll Never See My Face Again is a pop gem by Barry Gibb. It has a three chord acoustic strum that comes on like a pop song. But the lyrics are angry

Every single word has been spoken/ it’s much to late to change your ways

 Far to many vows have been broken/ You can’t expect a soul to stay

 It makes me laugh you’ve got no friends/ It took a thousand words to find out why

You’ll never see my face again.

 The soaring violins, insistent piano, aggressive acoustic guitar and the deep moans of the cello gave the music more color to the anger.

 

Black Diamond is all Robin Gibb at his most ambiguous and soulful. He sings

Where are you, I Love You (twice)/Where are you to keep me warm

I had a dream of a place far away/ I followed a river where the dead man would play

And I’m Leaving in the Morning (twice)/ And I won’t die so don’t cry

 I’ll become those big black Diamonds/that lie there for me

By the tall white mountains which lie by the sea/ If I come home and my woman has gone

Big Black Diamonds that lie there for me/By the tall white mountains that lie by the sea

I knew a man whom was as tall as the sky/Followed a river where thousands have died

And he was leaving in the morning (twice)

Say goodbye to Auld Lang Syne; Say goodbye to Auld Lang Syne (six times).

Another masterpiece by Robin Gibb

 

                            

 

 

Marley Purt Drive is a whimsical tale by Barry Gibbs. He’s at his very best in this tale of a post-modern orphanage. Gibb’s has his hands full meeting the needs of his children. It starts with a perfectly concise drum intro, followed by acoustic guitar and a clip of a pedal steel and just a bit of banjo.

Sunday Morning woke up yawning filled the pool for a swim

Pulled down the head and looked in the glass, Just to see if I was in

Went upstairs to kiss my woman, to make her come alive

‘Cos with 15 kids and family on the skids I gotta go for a Sunday drive (2 times)

That’s how they are so I grabbed out the car convertible ‘59

Headed to the freeway, tried to find the Pasadena sign

Ten miles and three quartersmore I wasn’t feeling any more alive

 ‘Cos with 15 kids and family on the skids I gotta go for a Sunday drive

Jose Feliciano had a moderate hit with it. He deleted some of the verses and added his own delicious guitar work

Melody Fair was Barry Gibbs Beatles tribute. He felt it may have been too heavily orchestrated though it retained a basic rock & roll vibe with some country flavors as well, this was Barry’s soulful side. He mentioned in an interview that Melody Fair was influenced by McCartney’s Eleanor Rigby, “I was trying to make the same kind of statement.”  It was a popular song with a top forty construction of verse, chorus and middle eight. It was perfect!

Lamplight was another incredible stream of consciousness lyrics, soaring harmonies a perfect bridge between pop songs and the sound of a full orchestra written by Robin Gibb. A few people who attended the recording noted that Bill Shepard had his hands full doing the charts on such lavish orchestrations and larger than life arrangements. Despite all the rumination and misgivings of the principal players, Lamplight was an incredible piece of music that merged melody and harmony with sorrowful and obscure lyrics as well as Robin’s emotive four octave range. It was slated to be the Bee Gee’s next single but it was scrapped due to its length and obscure lyrics. First of May (a great song) got the nod. This led Robin to quit the band.

Sung in French:

Alors viens encore cherie/J’arrendrai ans après ans sous la lampedans la

vieille avenue

Then I may end/she had things to buy

I closed my eyes/yet I don’t know why

I gave her money; said she knew someone

And she said she won’t be long

Lamplight keep on burning while this heart of mine is yearning

I sat alone with my thoughts and laughed

Then saw your face in an old photograph

I didn’t think that I could live without you but what Am I to do?

Come back home Dear

 I have waited year after year under the lamp of our old avenue

I Laugh In your Face

Barry Gibbs sings this one at his most Beatle-ish. It is multicultural gem that evokes issues of state and church before it was fashionable. The harmonies are exquisite and the instrumentation is inspired. It opens with a minor chord piano trill is insistent and signals the chorus and it segues into a dramatic orchestral flourish that reveals the anger underneath

The circus is coming to see you/The elephant smiles

Everybody can hear you/ say that’s out of style

My brother is friendly for reasons/If I am the same

Just for 400 seasons we all live in vain

So I laugh in your face/your only one race

And I’m Right

I’ll pull out your plug so your small/You’ll slide down the drain

On the steps of St. Peters you all look the same

 

 This next group of neglected songs is composed of incredible little gems that have an avuncular spin, gentle and tolerant. The music is layered with piano, mellotron, orchestration, string arrangements, imaginative composition and instrumentation

Edison is about Thomas Edison, each of the Gibbs brothers take a verse with Barry hitting stride on the middle eight. Maurice gives the piano a workout, Robin on vibes accompanied by a full orchestra.

Whisper Whisper (Keep it Quiet). Barry Gibb is doing his best John Lennon vocal. The Gibbs are down to a 4 piece that includes original Bee Gee Colin Peterson on drums. This was Barry Gibbs reaction to drugs, sexuality and freedom of expression.

Give Your Best. This is Barry teaming up with drummer Colin in an attempt at to deliver a country western song and it worked wonderfully. It’s a square-dance with fiddles and guitars. Peterson described it as the best recording session he’s ever been part of. It included two anonymous bluegrass musicians to make it real.

Sample lyrics include:

I’ve done my shows, everybody knows

I nearly sold all my clothes

One man can give, another has to lend

So I just give my best to my friends (and so you should)

Suddenly is a quirky little tune written by Maurice Gibb. It fits his personality to a “T”.  He performed the song only once on the BBC2 on May 17^th 1969. Sample lyrics:

How can you tell looking at me

How can you tell you like what you see

Suddenly there’s a boy in the rain alone

Suddenly there’s a girl in the rain alone

 

Sound of Love may contain some Barry Gibb’s most cloying and angst ridden lyrics, it misses the mark:

See the children play ball, see them play along the hall

It makes me cry to see them smile

I see the moon I see the sky, I see reflections in my eyes

And there’s no one to share my life

 

 Never Say Never Again was collaboration between Barry and Robin. They did disagree with some of the lyrics especially about declaring war on Spain. Here’s a sample:

Your lips could never show a smile

You never tried you just put me in a pile

I never lived inside your hole, child

I thought you needed me I never had no style

 In an interesting note the Bee Gees with Bill Shepard writing out the charts and hiring the orchestra decided to include three orchestral pieces, songs without words. The triad was a fascinating glimpse of the Gibbs Brothers growing musicality, possibly genius that was unlike released in 1969. It demonstrated the band’s versatility and total command of difficult orchestral passages. It was non-commercial music for the masses. Seven Seas Symphony, With All Nations (International Anthem), and the British Opera

First of May was the last song written for Odessa and it is perfect , a great vocal by Barry, a strong arrangement and a wistfulness about childhood and a lost love.

 When I was small and Christmas trees were tall

We used to love when others use to play

Don’t ask me why, but time has passed us by

Someone else moved in from far way

Now we are tall and Christmas trees are small

And you don’t ask the time of day, but you and I, our love will never die

But guess we’ll cry first of May

 The album was originally entitled Masterpeace or The American Opera. At the time people regarded it as the Bee Gee’s Sgt Pepper. Maurice Gibb thought it was heavy. I agree; it deserves another look

 

Addendum:

Over fifteen years ago I began to pour through archival material about the Bee Gees through magazines, books, Wikipedia and my own remembrances of their Concert in Detroit. I attended with my brother on March 20^th, 1973 @ the Masonic Temple ticket prices ranged from 4.50, 5.50, 6.50.  I admit that I loved their music yet I was disheartened by the low energy performance. The Bee Gees seemed to be stuck in their own made time warp, sticking to mid-tempo ballads and never straying too far from all their hits.

It was four years before that concert when I enrolled in both the RCA Record Club and Columbia House. The deal was I would get like 10 records for a penny and from then on I was required to pay the full price of the other albums that I purchased. I went hog wild, buying up all those goodies by The Small Faces, Beach Boys, the Kinks and The Bee Gees. I bought Odessa, a two album set that had a cool flocked cover. I listened to the Bee Gees baroque orchestration and vocalizations without words and I was totally astounded. I had never heard anything like except for my brief visit with Brahms and Beethoven in grade school. I put Odessa away in the junk bin and left it abandoned and forgotten, that is, until I found a deluxe CD version of Odessa. It contained Stereo and Mono mixes as well as a third disc of unissued “Sketches For Odessa.” I was totally blown away. I even looked through my crates of record albums and found my copy of Odessa just to feel that cool cover and to listen to this masterpiece with fresh ears.  It was worth the effort.

 

 

Book Review: Johnny Cash

                                                                       

                                                                  
                                                                             

 

 

 

 

 

Johnny Cash

The Biography

By

Michael Streissguth

The author of this definitive tome is a long time chronicler of all things country. He authored books on Jim Reeves, Eddy Arnold. But his focus has been on Johnny Cash. He authored Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison: The Making of a Masterpiece. He is also the editor of Ring of Fire; The Johnny Cash Reader. This time around the author digs deep and comes up with gold, 18 chapters over 290 pages. He also includes a Notes section, an Index section and a Bibliography. No stone is left unturned.

He begins his narrative in 1932 but the sentinel event for young Johnny (J.R.) Cash was the death of his brother Jack In 1944. Jack was repairing tents and was trying to cut a board on a big Dewalt bale arm saw. Someone had taken the guard off and put an oversized blade on it and it hit the wood and the blade came right at him. The blade sliced through Jack’s stomach and abdomen. It was reported that Jack died slowly. It was a tragic death made more tragic when J.R.’s father said, “Too bad it wasn’t you instead of Jack.” Perhaps it was this sense of not belonging that led Cash into the armed services and the use of alcohol and recreational drugs. According to the author, Cash became a stoned addict for most of his life. It was in the service that Cash refined his musical skills and developed his expressive baritone.

Streissguth captures the yearning in Cash’s early forays music with his good friends Luther Perkins and Marshall Grant. By 1949 Dewey Phillips was broadcasting at WDIA rhythm and blues shows. It aired black oriented public affairs programs, black music and black voices. In the 20’s and 30’s marketed cut rate blues and jazz records to black buyers.  It was Sam Phillips; a 26 year old white man from Florence Alabama began working for WREC. He discovered that different classes and races could make music together. SUN Records was established in 1952, it  was the early seedlings of  rock & roll - white artists such as Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash made a big wave, more of a typhoon of musical greatness, though it is quite evident that the legacy of BB King, Bobby Bland  and Ike Turner made it all possible. By 1955 Cash & the TennesseeTwo was touring with a roster of SUN Records artists including Elvis Presley. By 1956 Cash was on his way with hits like Get Rhythm, I Walk the Line, and Folsom Prison Blues (early version). Cash datedhis drug use to 1958 though may of his colleagues disputed this, it was much earlier and it was speed, benzos. It became a lifelong habit with the most intense years were from 1958 to 1967, though he was never free from drugs for the rest of his life. In 1958, Cash-composed songs sold more than six million records.

In 1960 Cash added a drummer to fill out the sound. He was in high gear, touring and making regular television appearances on the Jackie Gleason Show, Jimmy Dean Show, The Country Music Jubilee and American Bandstand. He was hot.

Cash was married for several years to Vivian Liberto. They had four daughters and a rocky marriage. Johnny was in the first phase of his incredible journey to fame and he was often absent. Vivian once revealed that Johnny left home for over a year and she had no idea of his whereabouts. One year he came home in January loaded down with Christmas gifts for his daughters. It was a dark holiday.

Some of the highlights in the life of Johnny Cash include:

There are songs recorded by Cash that documented a fading part of American life. It was his way of promoting American Folk Music; My Grandfather’s Clock; Don’t Take Your Guns to Town, Cool Water and the incredible Five Feet High and Rising.”

In 1961, Saul Holli a promotor from London Ontario and Johnny’s manager was instrumental in hiring June Carter for the Johnny Cash Show. This merger of souls lasted 42 years. June and Johnny proved inseparable, a lifetime of love. Johnny In 1964 Cash and Bob Dylan met and became lifelong friends. Cash recorded several of his songs including It Ain’t Me Babe and Mama You’ve Been on My Mind. The Johnny Cash Show debuted in 1969. It was a counter-culture take on musical forms from folk and jazz to rock and country. Besides Dylan (doing songs from Nashville Skyline), Joni Mitchell, Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie and Ramblin’ Jack Elliot graced the stage of The Johnny Cash Show

The 1968 Folsom Prison Concert proved to be one of the highlights in Cash’s illustrious career. He opened with “Hi, I’m Johnny Cash” which became his pat introduction for the rest of his performing career. The set list included Folsom Prison Blues, Dark as a Dungeon, Orange Blossom Special, Cocaine Blues, The Long Black Veil, Green, Green Grass of Home and Greystone Chapel and Jackson.

Rick Rubin recorded several songs for Rick Rubin’s American Recordings. The video of Hurt was a masterpiece and considered to be Johnny Cash’s epitaph.

The Final Chapter of the Book is the Gloaming it details the love and suffering this famous couple endured. It details the decline and fall of one of our most celebrated unions, a love that endured addiction, pain and loneliness. It is a masterful rendering by Streissguth in his powerful yet sensitive narrative style

The true love of Johnny Cash’s life was June Carter. They were married on March 1^st, 1968. The lived and toured together for 35 years until June’s Death in May 2003, Cash died four months later.

Michael Streissguth has fashioned a fascinating chronicle of an American Icon. The warts are revealed right beside the triumphs of love, forgiveness and family.

 Johnny Cash: The Biography can be found at Amazon.com or eBay.com or Barnes & Noble.  It is worth the time.

 

 

Book Review: Hendrix Setting the Records Straight

                                                                         

Hendrix

Setting the Record Straight

John McDermott with Eddie Kramer

 

 This incredible volume was released in 1992, yet resonates like yesterday, twenty three years later. McDermott goes back in time when Jimi was known as John Allen Hendrix.  He was fresh out of the military and freelancing as a working musician, taking gigs whenever he could. He learned his chops from watching others whether it was Curtis Knight or an Vaudeville trooper. His early influences were Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Muddy Waters, and B.B. King. By chance Linda Keith was at the Cheetah Club in New York and she was mesmerized by the guitarist in Curtis Night’s band. They had a few drinks and became fast friends. Later on Chas Chandler of the Animals saw Hendrix at the Café Wha. It was a confluence of circumstances that these two musicians would meet. It started a long time friendship that would scaffold the initial stirrings of genius in Jimi Hendrix. Chandler embraced Jimi like a brother and took him back to England in 1966. It was a fortuitous union of souls.

Chandler was wise beyond his years and brought in two white English musicians to provide the rhythm section, it was an incredible insight to have one of the first interracial bands. Mitch Mitchell was a superb, jazzed inspired drummer and Noel Redding would double on bass guitar and vocals. The first album Are You Experienced was total Gold and the second release Axis: Bold as Love was inspired. Electric Ladyland and Smash Hits were pure gold. Hendrix could do no wrong. His performances at Monterey and Woodstock were historic and would forever freeze frame his identity as a superb one-of-kind guitar genius.

McDermott weaves a compelling narrative of exceptional talent, lucky breaks, swindlers, substance abuse, heroes and villains. It is real life story that will keep you reading way past midnight.

 Jimi Hendrix died on September 18th 1970. The authorities confirmed that Monika Dannemann found Hendrix at 11am. He had gotten sick in his sleep. He went without medical attention for at least twenty seven minutes. By the time the ambulance reached the hospital, Hendrix’s heart had swelled and the spinal column was congested. He simply could not recover. Jimi Hendrix died at the age of 27.

The life and times of Jimi Hendrix is colored in shadows, innuendo and half truths. After Hendrix died there was a flurry of law suits and counter law suits that left Hendrix’s legacy in the hands of the contracts and court judgments that did more damage to the Hendrix image than anyone at the time could realize. Alan Douglas come across as a charlatan and opportunist as he plundered the Hendrix musical archives. He ended up releasing several posthumous recordings with dubious value to the overall Hendrix canon. This includes Loose Ends, Crash Landing, Nine to the Universe, Kiss the Sky and Midnight Lightning. As an aside Flo & Eddie (Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman) mentioned Douglas owning the rights to Hendrix recordings on their incredible album Illegal Immoral & Fattening. It was a form of Kidding in the Square wherein the humor hides a darker meaning.

At the time this book was released the Hendrix legacy was in the process of renewal as another generation discovered the incredible genius of Jim Hendrix. It has not been diminished or grown out of date. Prince was inspired by Hendrix. He even cut his own rendition of Purple Haze. Graffiti Bridge’s Tick Tick Bang was inspired by Hendrix. His imprint runs the gamut of many well-known artists such as The Time, Cameo, Niles Rodgers, Living Colour and the Gap Band

McDermott’s volume clocks in at 324 pages. Appendix A is a diagram of Electric Lady Studios, the first submission by architect John Storyk. Appendix B included letters from the law firm of Steingarten, Wedeen & Weiss that included counseling about Hendrix’s financial problems. The volume includes ten pages of candid black & white photos taken by Linda Eastman (later married to Paul McCartney) and Eddie Kramer. However, the author’s narrative is fact filled and riveting at the same time. It is a light in the forest for the legion of Hendrix fans who may not know the whole story.

 

Check Amazon.com or eBay.com for this or other books about Jimi Hendrix. The Hendrix LP and CD catalog is available locally at Electric Kitsch (Midland), Records & Tapes Galore (Saginaw),  Record Conventions (Bay City)and at Barnes & Noble.

 

Vinyl Lives, Record Stores are Helping Lead the Way

                                                                              

 Warm Analog Grooves

&

 The Resurgence of Vinyl

 

I’ve been a vinyl freak for most of my life. It all started when my older brother brought home groovy 45’s like Take A Look (My Friend) by the Bossmen, East Side Story by Bob Seger & the Last Heard and 96 Tears by Question Mark & the Mysterians. I liked Question Mark the best because he lived on the 800 block of Howard Street next door to my cousin Sally Rork.  She arranged a meeting between my idol and my brother and me. It was a prophecy and a promise for better things to come. Question Mark told us to buy all his 45’s so we did. We bought “I Need Somebody” “Can’t Get Enough of You Baby”,” Girl (You Captivate Me),” and  “Do Something To Me.” I then turned my attention to The Bossmen (On The Road, Baby Boy), Terry Knight & the Pack (Mister, You’re A Better Man Than I), the Excels (California on My Mind) and Bob Seger’s Heavy Music, salacious boner rock & roll. I was coming of age. The first albums I bought were “The Beatles 65 and the “Beach Boys Today.” They were Christmas gifts for my mother. She seemed really delighted my largesse. As I continued my quest for everything vinyl I bought albums by the Frost, The Beatles, Bob Seger System, the Dave Clark 5, the Tremeloes and the Beatles…loved those fabulous harmonies and that insistent big beat. I had it bad and though the seventies, eighties and the new millennium I collected thousands of albums from record stores, mail order catalogs, and garage sales. I bought so many albums from Who Put the Bomp, a mail order magazine that I had a first name relationship with the owner Greg Shaw. He was a true believer and so was I. But then I would get the itch and I would sell all that beautiful vinyl and start all over again, only to repeat this agony like a modern Sisyphus pushing the boulder up the mountain. I continued this pattern of behavior many times until I settled into a comfortable relationship with eBay for the long haul, purchasing back my last big collection until I was suitably embarrassed. My story is not dissimilar to anyone who loves music. To this day I do not regret a single moment in my quest for vinyl. It’s a hunger that cannot be quenched.

Fred Reif has been in the trenches and witnessed the guerilla warfare of the record collecting industry. He had his own store in Saginaw before he moved over to Ann Arbor to run Schoolkids records. He has bought and sold countless record collections in his time and he’s pretty savvy about how this industry appeals to teenagers as well as aging baby boomers. He scratches his head about the new age collectors buying habits. Recently Fred watched it happen in Frankenmuth where teenagers would buy albums by Kiss, Neil Diamond, Barbara Streisand, Willie Nelson as well as the Beatles and Jefferson Airplane. The younger generation is building their own collections, buying the easy ones first before diving into the more expensive collectable albums (and 45’s). At this stage in their collecting hobby they are primarily picking up the hits. The aging baby boomers are getting rid of the records, rock & roll became rock! Fred realizes that vinyl gets only a small percentage of the sales something like 2% to 6%. In the past few months Jazz recordings are so stalled out those classical recordings are doing better. The 55 and 65 year old demographic is still buying vinyl, but they are not playing the records. Fred listens primarily to Caribbean music but he sells lots of Rock & Roll and Blues 78’s. He sells on eBay but it’s a mixed bag, “It’s harder to sell on eBay because they raised their fees. I used to get 50 free ads a month, now it’s only 20 free ads, plus I’m charged 10% for the sale and 10%for the charge on shipping.” To Fred eBay is trying to get rid of the smaller dealer and Record Store Day promotes vinyl, it’s a free ad for record stores – like Sweetest Day. “I buy obscure stuff and I go to thrift stores everyday, says Fred, I buy collections, most are junk but if I’m lucky I’ll get my money back. I like 45’s the most, that’s all we needed to have, travelling bands would come into town the popularity of one song, like Incense & Peppermints.”

                                                                       

 

A long time connoisseur of vinyl requested anonymity. But his voice is heard loud and clear. “This is an energizing time period in the last three years, 50% of my sales are high school and college kids. In the 90’s Jack White pushed vinyl and it promoted interest in other records.”  By 2000 eBay changed this for the next 5-10 years.  Now people want to buy things. “Stores are seeing teens buy regular LPs like Hall & Oates and John Mellencamp. The classic stuff by the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Rush are gone, you can hardly find them anywhere (for a reasonable price). Young collectors want the original package. They want to hear the pops and clicks in the music.” In the last 15 years vinyl has been dumped, destroyed and thrown away. Millions of records ended up in the landfills. However on the other side of that equation were the grandparents of the new age collectors are giving their collections to their grandchildren or they would take their parents records and the parents didn’t care. Vinyl became HOT again! Now you see stores pop up from Flint and Frankenmuth to Detroit, New York, Los Angeles and even Brazil. For my anonymous connoisseur the lust for vinyl is growing, “kids buy vinyl, they have to take care of it, clean it and put it on the turntable,  it’s a whole vinyl experience, vinyl is something that you physically own but once it’s gone, it cannot be replaced. Music is a personal thing. Preserve your vinyl!”

                                                                     

I contacted Jordan Pries from Electric Kitsch to get his view on the resurgence of vinyl. “Vinyl …it’s almost new again. Their parents got rid of their collections so their children grew up with CD’s and downloads. So it’s almost a new format again.” Pries cites the White Stripes and the Black Keys who were total vinyl heads, to the resurgence of record collecting. “Young people liked those bands and the bands pushed vinyl, it’s like a new way of approaching music. It’s not like reading a great book which is a different media, with the ascendance of the internet music became a something you download, not something you hold and place on a turntable. They could release one song at almost no cost for a physical format. For Pries there is more than music at stake, art work, credits and cool liner notes would be lost. Pries sees younger people buying newer records that aren’t cheap. “They will pay $15-30 dollars and it’s mostly newer music from artists like Arctic Monkeys, Black Keys, Amy Winehouse and Lana Delray. Some teens and adults will buy a record a week.” Reissues and Box sets have been very popular lately especially with classic rockers like Led Zeppelin, Beatles and Pink Floyd.  Jordan recalls his early days of collecting. “Tuesdays were usually the release date. We used to get in line at midnight to get the latest releases such as The Battle of Los Angeles by Rage Against the Machine or Pantera’s The Great southern Trend Kill.” Pries cites industry sales figures for vinyl – 3 million last year; 9.6 million this year so far and should reach 16 million! It should double production.   United Pressing is pressing hundreds of thousands of discs. A buyer from Wichita Kansas found 13 record pressing machines. He will now have capacity to produce huge quantities of vinyl LPs. For Jordan Pries record collecting is personal, “My dad was a record collector and he gave me his collection of classic rock & roll albums that included Del Shannon, The Byrds, The Beatles and Pentangle. My dad was also a musician; he played the organ and was in a popular band called the Coachmen. They released two 45’s on the Target label out of Wisconsin, Girl in the Wind and Hey Bulldog.” Pries cites Jack White and his Third Man Records for bringing some sanity to record collecting. “He wants record stores to survive. They will sell to stores like mine so I can sell LPs cheaper.”

                                                                  

In December of 1974 Bill and Judy Wegner opened Records & Tapes Galore. At that time the industry sold vinyl albums and 8 track tapes and cassettes were starting to gain a following. Bill Wegner explains, “We sold a lot of albums, several thousands. We had a one stop distributer who would get all the labels like Capitol, CBS, Warner Brothers and RCA. For a small store we did really well. They pushed hard and always had promos to give away. A particular rack jobber had an old beat up car, he was a bit frumpy and looked like Peter Falk.” Bill had an open invitation to take anything the man offered even if it was the latest, hot off the presses LPs from major artists like Deep Purple or Joe Walsh. The idea was that Bill would play the freebies in the store to promote sales. Bill’s business was booming though the seventies and eighties but it slowed down in the nineties. “CDs came out in 1984, Bill recalls, and it just exploded. RCA promoted CDs as the perfect sound forever…but it was actually the imperfect sound forever.” This led to a mass exodus of from vinyl, people got junked their turntables and bought CD players. Bill recalls, “At one point the industry jettisoned vinyl altogether. By the 1990’s very few albums were being produced and in the mid-nineties LPs ceased production except for a few boutique labels. In 2015 album sales have exploded again and companies are having difficulty keeping up with the demand. It is a marriage of technology and art.”

Bill admits that he sold a ton of CDs during a brief renaissance that emerged in 2010/11. “It is a tribute to several movies that had prominent roles for DJ’s and kids got interested and the DJ became a focal point. He would play the music loudly and use two turntables that could allow the DJ to mix one song into another. Discotheques were prominent and the DJ was the hero. Vinyl was featured in these films, it took the place of the record shop.” Bill has his pulse on the action, he knows that kids have MP3’s but highs and lows are chopped off . Bill says, “Its music but not all of the music.” There is no doubt that kids got into their father’s vinyl collection. It was like tasting forbidden fruit. The kids learned by watching dad dust off the vinyl, hold it  carefully on the edges and set the needle down on the grooves…heaven! Bill is knows that people from one era have an affinity for music from their time, makes sense. Bill reports that older folks are energized by the resurgence. “The LPs that are coming out now are 2/3 new releases and 1/3 reissues,” says Bill, “Is it a fad or will it sustain and grow. It’s hard to tell.”

“I love music and records do have power for me, it involves me more and compels me to drop my newspaper and listen intently to those beautiful sounds”

Peace & Love

Bo White