V.A. -"History of British Rock" Compilation, 2 x Vinyl, 1974 (Sire)

Music became a force for me during my childhood. I was nine or 10-years old when The Beatles made their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, and the impact of that event or spectacle had made a great impression for me. I wasn't aware that there was British English in the landscape until I heard them speak Liverpool English. The Beatles, for me, besides being a great band, also were the heavenly gate to the entrance of British music culture for yours truly. The Stones came upon me at the same time as the Fab Four. However, it was the Honeycombs that made an impression on me in a very insightful manner that still gives me goosebumps when I hear their recording "Have I The Right." In 1974 when I turned 20, I purchased "History of British Rock," due that they have The Honeycombs' hit song on this compilation.

Alas, this collection brought memories back to me in the same manner as Marcel Proust's character taking a bite of the French cookie. Billy J. Kramer, The Mindbenders (great name for a band by the way), Troggs, and so forth had a magnificent presence in my childhood. Therefore even in my 20's and thinking of the present, I was taken to my childhood in a pleasant manner. The album also introduced me to new music that wasn't popular in Los Angeles in the early 60s, such as Cliff Richard's "Blue Turns To Grey," a remarkable song by Jagger/Richards and an excellent recording. Also, Status Quo's "Pictures of Matchstick Men," Dusty Springfield's "I Only Want To Be With You," and The Pretty Things "Don't Bring Me Down." Those were new songs for me. I have read about these artists in teenage magazines, but never had the opportunity to hear the songs, until I purchased "History of British Rock."

Over the years, I lost this compilation but recently purchased a copy at Rockaway Records, which was under $5. Now, the album not only takes me back to the early 60s but also 1974, when I originally bought the album. A record is not only a listening experience but also an entranceway to one's past.

V.A. - "James Bond Greatest Hits" Vinyl, LP, Compilation, UK, 1982 (Liberty)

As our deeper pleasures are being taken away from us, James Bond is a treasure of passions that are buried deep into the cinema goers consciousness.  The appeal of Bond is a man who serves a common good for his culture, but also never eliminates the joys of the flesh and the alcohol.  In other words, he has a win-win situation.   Most of us customers only have a win-lose-win something in our lives, and Bond can express one who has it all.  The treatment of the world is not based on fact, but on desire, and therefore seeing a Bond film is like being on a vacation.  But one that only lasts for two hours or so.   Equally important to the entire Bond package, is the music.  John Barry served his master (Bond) as well as to the customer.  It's hard not to hum or whistle the Bond theme or whatever the main title song was of that time of that particular Bond film. 

The truth is, the best part of a James Bond film is the first 15 minutes.  Here you get the action sequence that is usually fantastic, and then the great montage that announces the title, and of course, the mixture of Monty Norman's Bond theme, mixed in with Barry's music.   To be honest, one can leave the theater after the opening and be pleased like after having a great meal.  The rest of the product is tourism, women, fight scenes, and the character (each different by various actors playing Bond).  The next best thing after seeing the film is having the soundtrack albums.  In 1982, Liberty Records put together a great compilation of Bond theme songs as well as some of its wonderful incidental music used in the films.   My personal favorites are "From Russia With Love" by Matt Monro, with lyrics by Lionel Bart (one of the more fascinating characters to come out of the 1960s music world) and John Barry.  And of course, "Goldfinger" sung by Shirley Bassey, written by Anthony Newley, Barry, and Leslie Bricusse.  Which by the way, I strongly recommend that you find Newley's recording of "Goldfinger," because it's incredible.

There are other in-depth Bond compilations out there, but this one is a favorite because it was the first for me, and second, Barry and others have done their best work, regarding serving the master, that is James Bond. 

V.A. - "Sounds of New Music" Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Limited Edition, Reissue, 2017/1957 (Modern Silence)

A remarkable album (document) from 1957, but recently reissued by the excellent record label Modern Silence.  Folkways Records put together a compilation of new experimental music, mostly focusing on the work of Vladimir Ussachevsky, who had a sound studio in Columbia New York, where he and fellow composer Otto Luening experimented with organic and electronic sounds to make music.  I have a small collection of both of these composers, and they never fail to give me great listening pleasure.  

The album is divided by the two sides.  The first side is focusing on experimentation but with real instruments, but often played in a new way.  For instance, the big two stars here are John Cage and Edgard Varese.  Cage is of great interest in this package because of "Dance" which is work on a prepared piano.   The composer attached rubber, metal and wooden objects to the piano strings which gives it a gamelan orchestration sound.  It's a beautiful piece of work that borders on exotica.  Varese is an orchestration ("Ionization") which uses siren but with different pitches.  The work here that really turned my ears around is Henry Cowell's "Aeolian Harp" which is a work for piano, but him or the performer playing the instrument by leaning fists, arms and palms across the keyboard, as well as plucking the piano strings.   This is the only work here that has a strong sense of melody.  Listening to "Aeolian Harp" reminds me of The Yardbirds' "Still I'm Sad."   Almost the same melody and I wonder if the band was familiar with Cowell's work.  

On this side is a work that I know of, and that's Otto Luening's "Fantasy in Space."  It's a flute piece that is manipulated by tape recorder.   It reminds me very much what Brian Eno did with Roxy Music, but this is twenty-something years earlier.    It's a piece that borders on exotica (now that's a genre that mixes quite well in experimental music) and of course, deals with the thought of space travel.  Perhaps finding that utopia that we can't have here on Earth.  Side one starts off with an early piece of music from Russia that sounds very much like Spike Jones, but more animated sounding - like Warner Brothers cartoon music.  And then there are orchestrations where they imitate the sounds of the factory, for instance, a steel mill.   There is nothing gimmicky about any of this music.  The roots of industrial music, recorded in the Twenties. 

Side two is more instructional where we can hear how a tape machine can change a sound, either by pitch or other filters.  Most of the work here on side two is by Ussachevsky, and like Luening's work, it's a remarkable set of beautiful sounds.  The album ends with an actual narration explaining how the composer Henry Jacobs made his "Sonata for Loudspeakers."  I'm not a huge fan of recorded lectures but this of great interest to anyone who's into the recording as a craft or art form.  Surely the first strains of sampling here.  And the final product (the composition) is really fantastic.