B-Sides in the Bins #55 – Around Memorial Day Weekend 2011

Over the long weekend, I was hoping to get in on some of the sales that were going on– specifically Guitar Center in Cedar Rapids, and the full-weekend 20% sale at Half-Price Books. While I didn’t actually get over to Guitar Center, I did hit HPB, but also managed to see David Lowery and Johnny Hickman tape a Java Blend session in Iowa City with my friend Erik, which also resulted in a great trip to The Record Collector. I also visited Moondog Music in Dubuque on Thursday and picked up some “missing titles” and hit a Half Price Books in Chicago on Saturday (whew!)

Record Collector, Iowa City:

Bob Mould – Workbook (LP, Virgin Records 91240-1, 1989)($8.00) HUGE SCORE! Found in the “Recent Arrivals” bin (much to Erik’s dismay). Promo-stamped and notched cut-out with a “When You PLAY IT, SAY IT!” sticker prominently on the front cover. The record is in overall good condition, but there was a very visible scuff on tracks 3 and 4 on side 2. It doesn’t affect the play a lot except for a slight tick. I heard this album being played at a party in college and went out and bought it the next day. The first time I ever heard Mould, incidentally. Though I was a fan of Minneapolis bands like Soul Asylum and The Replacement, I hadn’t dove into the Husker Du catalog. I started getting into their catalog posthumously after this album. This is still my favorite Mould record, though Black Sheets of Rain is a close second.  (Note to self: add Black Sheets of Rain to my vinyl wishlist).

Van Morrison – Moondance (LP, Warner Brothers 1835, 1970)($12.00) Also in the “Recent Arrivals” bin. Amazingly clean copy and early pressing! Well worth the slightly more expensive price. Not much to say about this release other than it is probably the most consistent record in Van the Man’s catalog. Nice mellow jams for early evening consumption of red wine.

I had also grabbed a collection of Talking Heads records which were on my wish list, however, when I got to the counter to check out I spotted a copy of Neil Young’s Zuma in the glass case for $20. Realizing that this is a tough one to find, I put the Talking Heads back…

Neil Young with Crazy Horse – Zuma (LP, Reprise Records MS 2242, 1975)($20) Brilliant record all the way through. Of the “bigger songs” in Neil’s career, this has “Cortez the Killer” on it. First album following the “Ditch Trilogy” of Time Fades Away, Tonight’s the Night and On The Beach. I guess it is a little crazy for me to pay $20 for a record that will allegedly come out on the next Neil Young Archives LP box (cue laughter from die hard Neil Young fans). Cover in good shape with some slight staining which is typical of the matte covers of this vintage. Includes lyric sheet.

Big Star – Radio City (LP, Stax/Concord Music Group ADS-1801, 2009)($13.00) New. Wasn’t planning to pick this up, but I entered into a conversation with Kirk about the $50 original pressing of Big Star’s #1 Record that has been on display for a while. I mentioned the reissues that had come out and he went back to the bins and came back with this. I’m a big fan of Big Star and had been planning to pick these up at some point. This is a reissue done by Concord Music Group which owns the licensing of the Stax and Ardent catalogs. Interestingly, aside from the very small “Licensed By Concord Music Group” at the bottom of the back of the jacket, you couldn’t tell easily that this was a reissue. Recorded and mastered at Ardent Studios in Memphis and mastered by Larry Nix whom I worked with on the vinyl pressing of The Right Now’s 2010 album Carry Me Home. Nix told us stories about working with Big Star and how Chris Bell nearly destroyed the plates for the vinyl version of #1 Record! I’m thinking I need to get that #1 Record

Moondog Music, Dubuque, IA:

Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here (LP, Columbia PC 33453, 1975)($12.98) Hot stamped with “For Demonstration – Not For Sale” on the back cover. Sleeve in VG condition with some slight ringwear and the LP is VG condition– no scuffs or scratches, but seems to need a thorough cleaning as it has a some crackles. The recording sounds great other than that. BL 33453-3F 1T matrix information on both sides. Also came with original “Monosee Lake” postcard!

R.E.M. – Murmur (LP, IRS Records, SP 70014-1, 1983)($5.98) According to the internet, this is a later repress as the catalog number changed and it has a barcode on it. Vinyl just needed a quick brush with the anti-static brush and a wipe with 91% isopropyl alcohol. Cleaned up with no surface noise! Sounds great and reminds me why I loved them so much back then. R.E.M. has always been a band that changes its sound every few albums, and the Chronic Town, Murmur, Reckoning set of albums defined that Southern jangly sound that so many bands that followed emulated.

Greg Brown – Freak Flag (LP, Yep Roc YEP 2244, 2011) ($19.98) 180g vinyl! Cool that the man who lives analog would get his new album on new label Yep Roc pressed into virgin vinyl. Produced by Bo Ramsey and recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis after a lightning storm destroyed the original recordings done in Minneapolis! Read my review of Freak Flag in Little Village Magazine.

New Order – Movement (LP, Factory FACD 05, 1981)($12.98) Still sealed! Was in the bins there since 2004. Has the light blue cover indicative of the non-US Factory Records versions. Looks like a Canadian pressing I guess, but the matrix information looks like it is based on the original UK pressing. I need to look into this a bit more. Not my favorite New Order album, but still worth having in the collection.

Simple Minds – Sparkle in the Rain (LP, A&M Records SP-6-4981, 1984)($4.99) This is one of my favorite Simple Minds albums, second probably only to New Gold Dream. Sparkle in the Rain is considered Simple Minds’ breakthrough release in the US. Side A has a fantastic procession of songs– “Up on the Catwalk,” “Book of Brilliant Things,” “Speed Your Love to Me,” “Waterfront” and “East At Easter” most of which are on the excellent live album Live in the City of Light.

Steely Dan – The Royal Scam (LP, ABC Records ABCD-931, 1976)($5.98) This is an “upgrade” from a later MCA Pressing I had of this. Great record, though it doesn’t have the big hits on it. It also seems to embody the snideness of Steely Dan. Sometimes Steely Dan hates the subjects and characters in their songs, and never more than they seem to on The Royal Scam. Classic Dan songs on here, though. “Kid Charlemange,” “Don’t Take Me Alive,” “The Fez” and “Haitian Divorce.”

Half Price Books, Village Crossing, Niles, IL

Derek & The Dominos – Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (LP, Atco SD 2-704, 1970)($14.99) While Sherry was doing makeup for a wedding in Chicago, I busied myself with a trip to the closest Half Price Books. They had a lot of “essential” titles in the bins of varying quality and I nearly picked up a couple of Who titles, but ended up finding this really clean original pressing of the classic Derek & The Dominos album.

Neil Young 180g Vinyl “Official Release Series” Box of First Four Albums; Speculation On The Next Box

With the eventual release of the Neil Young Archives Volume One  this year which spanned the years 1963 to 1972, that meant that it was time for Warner’s to work on the remasters of Neil’s releases on vinyl. Most of his popular (sold lots of) back catalog and all of his recent releases have been in print in vinyl for a number of years, but with the work done to release the Archives releases it was time to revisit the vinyl.

On December 1st, a limited edition (3000 worldwide) box set of 180g LP’s entitled Neil Young Official Release Series Discs 1-4 will be released and is a remastering of the first four solo Neil Young albums: Neil Young from January 1969, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere from May 1969, After the Gold Rush from August 1970, and Harvest from February 1972. These four albums are from the same period of time represented by the Archives Volume One.

The records were mastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering (source) and pressed by Furnace MFG by their German partner Pallas Group (source) on 180g vinyl. Furnace MFG handled the packaging of the LPs and the box, lovingly recreating the cover art and gold-foil-stamping the serial number on each. In the case of the Harvest LP, they located the last manufacturer in the US that can still make hand-glued gatefold covers to carefully reproduce the original cover. According to the press release, “once the box sets are gone, this limited edition configuration will no longer be available,” which I would take to mean that there will be individual 180g pressings of these releases available. Confusingly, a couple of online retailers seem to be touting that they have the individual 180g LP’s for sale, but I’m also seeing a “standard” vinyl release, which seems to be a 140g pressing, which is confirmed by the Musicangle.com article referenced above.

In keeping with the  perpetual delay of the original Archives series, we’ve already experienced one delay with the vinyl box– the original release was going to be 11/24, however there was an e-mail sent out by Warner Brothers late last week that said the new ship/release would be 12/1. Not a big deal, but with all of the press given to the delays surrounding the Archives, this announcement seems ominous– hopefully for no reason.

In any event, this is a respectible effort on the part of Warner/Reprise and really appealing to vinyl collectors. Clearly, Neil Young’s catalog is an important one, and these four albums are landmark releases for him establishing him as one of the great songwriters of our time. At $149.98 plus shipping it is a significant investment. If you break down the 180g individual releases– all of the records are around $22 except for Harvest, which is $34– the box set adds a $50 premium on top.

The Archives Volume 2 is reputed to be released in 2010 and should represent the second decade (1973-1982) if they stay with the established pattern. Interestingly, this would mean that the subsequent box would be a real lunker at ten LPs if he chooses to keep Time Fades Away unreleased. I would suspect that he will leave it unreleased based on the first Archives. There was a soundtrack associated with the 1972 film Journey Through The Past which he opted not to reissue, which isn’t a huge loss. The film exists as a disc in the Archives, however. This is further substantiated by the fact that Time Fades Away was remastered with HDCD in 1995 according to the Wikipedia article, and was subsequently shelved.

The recorded output represented by Archives Volume 2, then would be On the Beach (1974), Tonight’s The Night (1975), Zuma (1975), American Stars n Bars (1977), Comes A Time (1978), Rust Never Sleeps (1979), Live Rust (1979), Hawks & Doves (1980), Reactor (1981), and finally Trans (1982). Trans will be the first appearance of Neil’s controversial Geffen years. I’m not sure if any of these releases were gatefold, so I’d estimate this box to cost over $220. Live Rust was two LP’s so it will likely cost more than the other releases.

Likely, though, the sheer weight of a 10-180g-LP box would prevent one monolithic box and will probably come out as two 5-LP boxes. This is possible since the contents of the current box is designated simply by “Discs 1-4,” so there could be an Official Release Series Discs 5-9 and Official Release Series Discs 10-14.

Click Here to order the Neil Young Official Release Series Discs 1-4 from BecauseSoundMatters.com