What was found 1/12/2021
The Riverside Records Story
K T Oslin-Greatest Hits: Songs From An Aging Sex Bomb
Elvis Presley-Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite
Duke Ellington's Greatest Hits
A Créole Christmas
Wicked Swing
The Blues Brothers-Definitive Collection
Monty Python Instant Record Collection
Ahmad Jarmel- Ahmad's Blues
Four Trombones-The Debut Recordings
They Sang Praises
Martha Reeves/Vandellas-Ultimate Collection
The first fifteen days in January and I already found about 25 cds and box sets. Funny how we can never have enough time to find the time to listen to what I have, I need to find more. And I know someday soon my car is going to rebel against me and my bargain hunting ways of places an hour away. And usually Waterloo ranks up there with the most disappointing, tho I do think the last couple times I got lucky.
With St Vinnies a memory, Goodwill and Money and More are the two places i frequent. And then Independence, which Goodwill store has a big surprising bunch of decent CDs and Lps. For 45's, nothing was found, the Crossroads Goodwill is always a bust and the University Goodwill, they moved the CDs over to the other side of the building. The Grateful Dead's Terrapin Station was the only thing that looked interesting but I didn't pick it up. The Indee Goodwill had a sealed copy of Interstate Gospel from the Pistol Annies but I didn't care for it when I first bought it and then donated it. But I have noticed a lot more jazz CDs have been popping up, to which Ahmad Jarmal is always welcomed and the Four Trombones on Debut would be a interesting listen as well. But I sat there and debated if the Pistol Annies should be bought again, the Goodwill guy informed me that they close at 7 and he was gracious enough for me to have an extra ten minutes. The tip off should have been them turning the radio off at 6:50, but of course they had the insufferable KDAT on (even up there, they listen to that shit station) and somebody at KDAT knows that I'm a hostage when I go into these places. They had to play that fucking A Ha Take on Me song. Corporate radio sucks.
With St Vinnies a memory, Goodwill and Money and More are the two places i frequent. And then Independence, which Goodwill store has a big surprising bunch of decent CDs and Lps. For 45's, nothing was found, the Crossroads Goodwill is always a bust and the University Goodwill, they moved the CDs over to the other side of the building. The Grateful Dead's Terrapin Station was the only thing that looked interesting but I didn't pick it up. The Indee Goodwill had a sealed copy of Interstate Gospel from the Pistol Annies but I didn't care for it when I first bought it and then donated it. But I have noticed a lot more jazz CDs have been popping up, to which Ahmad Jarmal is always welcomed and the Four Trombones on Debut would be a interesting listen as well. But I sat there and debated if the Pistol Annies should be bought again, the Goodwill guy informed me that they close at 7 and he was gracious enough for me to have an extra ten minutes. The tip off should have been them turning the radio off at 6:50, but of course they had the insufferable KDAT on (even up there, they listen to that shit station) and somebody at KDAT knows that I'm a hostage when I go into these places. They had to play that fucking A Ha Take on Me song. Corporate radio sucks.
Since the passing of K T Oslin, I decided that I needed to get her album to see what the fuss was about. I wasn't that big of a fan when her songs made country radio in the 1980s, namely Hold Me, or 80s Ladies. And to be honest, she was more MOR soft rock than country, plus having Glen Ballard's name on the production, that didn't get her into my good graces either. The record gets better, when K T goes uptempo like Hey Bobby or You Can't Do That. Like Restless Heart's Greatest Hits, it gets you a good example of how she sings, if Restless Heart was watered down Pure Prairie League, KT is more like Phoebe Snow or, to a lesser extent, Melissa Manchester. Like Restless Heart, I may forget about it and file it away before donating it back to Goodwill, or I may revisit it again.
Money N More, the Pawnshop of choice, somebody bought in two tubs of like new and sealed CDs of varying degree and for a quarter a piece, the worth of the trip in itself, but finding the 4 CD boxset Riverside Records Story, part of a series of boxsets that Fantasy put out in the 1990s to take advantage of the CD era, that was in full swing back then. Box sets are too expensive, too exhausting and are certified dust collectors, but I somehow managed to acquire some of the box sets that Fantasy put out, most of them from FYE as cutouts, the Prestige, Debut and Specialty sets full of forgotten faves but the Riverside box set was a luxury, to which I couldn't pass up. A sealed copy that cost a dollar. In this day and age while collectors have abandoned their CD collections in favor of going back to vinyl, the CD finds have been beyond belief. Most of the sealed stuff were BMG and Columbia House copies, I tend to shy away from them, except if they're off an album that is hard to find. The Motown Story, was a 2 CD BMG product but I already had that one, and the Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley Chess best ofs, were Columbia House product. The last two I already had. They had plenty of Hawaiian music, a lot of opera or new age crapola Pure Moods volumes 1 through 3, and plenty of gospel numbers, to which They Sang Praises is a gospel compilation from the Gospel Spirit series from Columbia, and plenty of big band music too, Wicked Swing was the one I picked. And, wouldn't you know it, another Ken Burns Jazz condensed version from the 5 CD box set, that I found at Stuff Etc last week and played most of that album on the way to and back from Waterloo. Wasn't much for rock, I did find the 1973 Hawaii show to compliment the alternative version of outtakes that I found last year. In fact another Elvis comp, Elvis By The Presleys was found close by last week as well, plus the High Fidelity DVD. I could probably live without that comp but since it was only 2 dollars, I figure if nothing else I can always put it in my mom's collection next time I visit her. A Creole Christmas (Epic 1990) updates the New Orleans sound for the digital age (electric drums? Not exactly creole like) and by the numbers remakes of the Christmas Classics. Luther Kent's Came Upon A Midnight Clear put me to sleep. Only Frankie Ford and Allen Toussaint and Dr John added enough effort to their songs to make me at least listen to this one more time before Santa comes.
Upon listening to the Elvis In Hawaii, it's Elvis live 1973, for better or worse. Elvis goes through his rock and roll song in Ramones like time, (under two minutes tho he goes all out on Big Hunk O Love). The grandiose over the top versions of My Way and of course American Trilogy shows his pompous sides and it's debatable if the lineup of James Burton and Ronnie Tutt and the rest were better than the Scotty, Bill, DJ band. Elvis at this point went all out all the time and probably put off more rock and rollers with the OTT TCB band. I certainly doubt had Elvis lived on, he would return to his rock n roll roots, he would have stayed Vegas anyway. Elvis the balladeer, pop act never did much for me and his Little Richard covers, were no match for Mr. Penniman, who may have been the REAL THING. Till Elvis's 1977 passing I kept interest just to see where his rock and roll may live. His last album Moody Blue was a mess with his Kung Fu pucking around on Little Darlin and other live versions of that hodge podge album. He could rock Let Me Be There tho. Aloha from Hawaii, tends to disappoint rather than thrill me, but once THE KING got to rock out, then I paid attention.
Los Jinites is gone, replaced by Mr. Pete's Mexican Grill in downtown Independence. They didn't serve the bean dip that Los Jinites was good for and the salsa was a bit runny, but the waitress was kind and the encheladitas (sic) meal was edible. Not much of a crowd tho, it was quite dead on a Monday Night. But it didn't give me Montezuma's Revenge.
