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Showing posts with label Bob Lind. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bob Lind. Show all posts

Monday, November 27, 2017

Bob Lind - "Photographs of Feeling" Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono, 1966 (World Pacific)


The third album by Bob Lind that was issued in 1966.  This album like the previous "Don't Be Concerned" is produced and arranged by Jack Nitzsche.  Lind must have signed a record contract made in hell, nevertheless the key thing for me at the very least, is not Lind, but Nitzsche.  "Photographs of Feeling" is very much the ultimate folk singer doing a pop album circa 1966.  If there is no Nitzsche here, I wouldn't be interested in Bob Lind's songs on this album.  I much prefer "Don't Be Concerned."  Still, as I listen to this album, I'm struck by the idea that we don't have the classic arranger doing a pop album anymore.  Well, at least one who works in the recording studio, with strings, guitars, various percussion instruments, and magnificent strings.  Nitzsche doesn't overwhelm the songs,  he accents and beautifully back up Lind's voice.  There are no backup vocals, it's Lind and his guitar - and of course, the remarkable noise that is Nitzsche supporting Lind's performance/songs. 

There is the electric bass sound that is very Nitzsche like, and I really don't hear it on any other recordings of that time.  Everything is contained, and this is the most 'mono' sounding record I have ever heard.  I hear traces of Stones' "Aftermath," but it's very much of an afterthought here.  There are only ten songs on this album, and time goes by quickly.  If you use the restroom while playing this record you can easily miss two songs.   There is something very light and airy about Lind's songs.  He is clearly a folk singer in a pop format. Nitzsche brings in another element or ingredient in the soup.  For those who must have everything by Jack Nitzsche, this album is a must.  It's neither the best Lind or Nitzsche record, still, it is a marvel to hear the master arranger at work. 

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Bob Lind - "Don't Be Concerned" Vinyl LP Mono


Bob Lind – Don't Be Concerned
Vinyl LP Mono, US, 1966
World Pacific

As an 11-year-old, I could care less about “Elusive Butterfly” which was pretty much tattooed on AM radio during 1966. Now that I am 63, I can't get enough of Bob Lind and this album. For one, I always loved Marianne Faithfull's version of “Counting” not realizing it was a Lind song. I bought this album only because, for at the last ten years, I became a fanatic Jack Nitzsche fan. Noticing that he produced and arranged this album – well, I had to give the Bob Lind world a more serious listen. But I was warned about the upcoming storm due to Jarvis Cocker and Pulp's recording of a song “Bob Lind.” So to me being the ultimate Pulp and Nitzsche fan, it was time for me to dive into the pool of Don't Be Concerned.

The first thing that strikes me is the delicate arrangements that cling to Lind's music and voice. Nitzsche just had the talent to take a piece of music and make it better. The beauty of a song like “Counting” which moves in a pattern that reminds me of (Buzzcocks) Pete Shelley's circular list songs – it moves in circles that strikes me mechanical, but that is what makes it such a great song – both the Lind and Faithfull's version. The other great song is “Cheryl's Goin' Home” which is incredible.

The pleasure I get from Lind is the tension or the marriage of his folkish background meeting the pop master's (Nitzsche) approach, which equals a sweet little 'wow' for me.