*Crosby, Stills & Nash. 1990 Atlantic (CD) (1969). The one CSN album I can listen to. Of course not having the reprehensible Neil Young on board helps with that. As for the other guys, well, they are (or were) knuckleheads, but not so insufferable. What makes this debut successful is it's a far cry from your typical protest hippy folk rock album. A1 and B1 bring in early progressive rock ideas. A3 is beautiful. B4 is another solid effort. 'Wooden Ships' really is something special, and one is left wishing CSN had pursued this trek more often. The Ides Of March version is even more stunning. I've owned this album in one form or fashion since college (usually on LP). Just picked up this CD for a buck at an estate sale, and checking it out again. Might as well keep this first edition US CD unless I luck into an audiophile CD or LP somewhere. It's been happening a lot lately for both formats, much to my happiness (note America review below as but one example). (3/2)
Dando Shaft - An Evening With. 1970 Decca (LP). Picked this one up at an estate sale smack dab in the middle of the pandemic (2020) in a mountain town northwest of here. A most famous sale for UMR as that's where I scored my original Eden Ahbez for cheap. This was a good door prize though. I didn't write about it then, so thought I'd check it out one more time as I'm likely to sell the LP at the next record show. Though I'm usually averse to folk music, and generally find English folk as puzzling to why it's so highly prized. Comus and Jan Dukes de Grey (Mice and Rats), oh yea, sign me up. But most English folk sounds, you know, like English folk. With that premise, I find Dando Shaft better than most, which is why I kept it for the last five plus years. B1 is particularly nice. A3 is hauntingly atmospheric. I can live without the silly A4, but otherwise it's an inoffensive English folk album. Not bad at all, but sticking to my premise of selling it. (2/24)
*America - America. 2013 Audio Fidelity (SACD) (1971). This was part of that incredible audiophile CD collection I acquired back in November. Almost all of it already sold, and most went quick. I held this one back for myself to revisit. Though I doubt I ever gave it a serious listen prior, and certainly not an audiophile copy. As noted here on a journal entry about five years ago, I really enjoy a handful of America's songs, but have never really embraced one of their albums. This debut features 'A Horse With No Name' (though not to be found on first press original LPs), one of the greatest folk rock songs ever written, and I never tire hearing of it when it comes across the speakers at any store I may be visiting. The other two known songs here are the formidable 'Sandman' and the decent 'I Need You'. Is there anything else here? Ah yes, plenty as it turns out. The opener is excellent, and 'Three Roses' would have been worth adding to the Greatest Hits album, though I don't think it ever received much airplay. A6 is another excellent song. The hidden great track here is saved for the next-to-last 'Donkey Jaw', proving that America could have had a swing through the underground had they so desired. I can pass on A4, B3, and B6, but the rest is very good to great. Keeping this one. (1/3)
* - Keeping for the collection
No comments:
Post a Comment