The Beatles
Magical Mystery Tour
1967
Capitol Records (US)
The so-called “big news” this week of The Beatles library becoming available through streaming services makes me shake my head. No big deal…they’ve been streaming from our turntables for years!
Here’s one of my favorite pieces. From Christmas 1967, it’s Magical Mystery Tour. This is the US version of the LP.
Happy Christmas!
Muddy Waters
Hard Again
1977
Blue Sky Records
This record reintroduced Muddy to a new generation of blues fans and was produced by Johnny Winter. It features my favorite version of “Mannish Boy,” mostly because it’s the version WXRT in Chicago played throughout the 80’s and 90’s.
Stone Temple Pilots
Purple
1994
Atlantic Records
Remembering Scott Weiland this week with my favorite STP album, Purple. The vinyl LP of Purple was a limited release and pressed in clear purple vinyl in the US and marble colored vinyl in the UK.
Alice in Chains
Jar Of Flies / SAP EP
1994
Columbia Records
Alice in Chains’ 1994 Jar of Flies was released as a rare vinyl EP packaged with their earlier EP from 1992, SAP.
Even more rare is this colored orange and blue version.
Since the SAP record had only 5 tracks, it was a one-sided record with a cool vinyl etching on the back!
Arlo Guthrie
Alice’s Restaurant
1967
Warner Bros
Thanksgiving tradition: give Alice’s Restaurant a listen once each year.
The title track itself was 18 1/2 minutes long. Note, the missing Nixon White House tapes were also 18 1/2 minutes long. Coincidence? Or was some listening to Alice in the Oval Office? Hmmm…
David Bowie and Bing Crosby
Peace on Earth / Little Drummer Boy
1977, released 1982
RCA Records
Surreal television. Weird team-up in entertainment. Perfect musical moment.
In 1977 glam rocker David Bowie appeared as a guest on Bing’s long-running annual Christmas TV special, and they sang a duet after an awkward scripted setup. The song was a medley of “Peace On Earth” with the standard “Little Drummer Boy”.
Bing died a month after this was recorded, and a month prior to the airing of the TV special. The song was finally released as a single in 1982. Also that year, MTV added the clip to its rotation as a stand-alone video.
After decades of forgettable holiday TV specials and variety shows with uninspired duets with artists from different genres, this performance stands out. At first you may think it’s due to the shock factor of the pairing: it’s the tiny point on the Venn Diagram where The Golden Age of Hollywood overlaps with Modern Rock. But shock value alone doesn’t hold it up this long. Two great voices do.
Steve Martin
A Wild and Crazy Guy
1978
Warner Bros
I always heard about the great stand up comedy records from the 60’s by George Carlin, Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, and others. For me, stand up comedy started in the late 70’s on SNL and its name is Steve Martin. Or King Tut.
The Kinks
Shape of Things to Come (10″ Import)
1983
PRT
This rare 10″ was issued in the UK in 1983 during The Kinks comeback and featured the band’s biggest hits from 1964-1970. Love this record!
Foo Fighters
Exhausted (12″ Single)
1995
Capitol Records
The “No. 1” on the cover says it all – “Exhausted” was the very first release by Foo Fighters. This was a radio promotion-only 12 inch single released a few weeks before the first Foo Fighters album.
It’s really a Dave Growl solo record, as he played every instrument and hadn’t yet actually hired band members!
Kiss
Rock and Roll Over
1976
Casablanca
While not a huge blockbuster like Kiss’ previous LP Destroyer or the next release, Love Gun, this record had several great rockers and top 20 hit in “Hard Luck Woman”. The LP included a cool mini-album cover made of stickers – check out the photo above!
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