What's In My Bag?
Records I've Scored Recently
I go digging. I don’t spend hours and hours in the stacks because I’m not producing music, but I AM an enormous fan. As such, I keep my weather eye open and my Spidey Sense on full. I’m drawn to places through intuition, happenstance, and sheer coincidence. This also happens to describe my mother’s sense of religion. Shit! I guess crate digging is my religion. This is about records I’ve found recently that I needed for my personal stacks.
A recent trip to San Diego for a Navy buddy’s retirement (Well done on 25 years, Lee Roy) provided me with the chance to visit a kind of Valhalla for record junkies - Folk Arts Rare Records. It is my favorite place in North America to blow a week’s pay. Founded in 1967 by Lou Curtiss, Folk Arts Rare Records is a holy place, a sacred temple, and as Tom Waits (Who Lou discovered) said, "Where you go to light your torch. All the secrets of the universe are there"
Ivory Joe Hunter - Ivory Joe Hunter, 1957, mono, first pressing
Here’s what you gotta do: grab your sweetheart, your main squeeze, your number one, put Ivory Joe’s Since I Met You Baby on, and sway. It’s just that easy. Everything else will take care of itself.
The Impressions - People Get Ready, 1965, first pressing
Curtis Mayfield's smooth voice riding the gospel train, preaching about faith and deliverance like he's leading a soulful sermon. Sam Gooden and Fred Cash added their magic with those harmony vocals, sprinkling heavenly vibes on top. This tune wasn't just beautiful, it was and remains the kind of soulful medicine that could heal the world, one groove at a time.
Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, 1967, mono, first pressing
Pink Floyd’s debut is a deranged trip through the depths of your mind. It's the pleasure of expanding your perception juxtaposed with the looming threat of ending up in the madhouse. With Syd Barrett's subsequent breakdown, it's almost as if the album predicted its own madness. Call it a psychedelic prophecy and British as a cup of tea… with a side of LSD.
Small Faces - Itchycoo Park, 1966, 7” single, radio station promo
A headfirst dive into the whimsical wonderland that is a British park. The band's chirping away about this park like it's the most innocent place on earth, but listen closely, and you'll catch those nods to some mind-altering experiences. "What did you do there?" the backup singers innocently inquire, to which lead singer Steve Marriott proudly declares, "I got high!" Itchycoo Park isn't just a figment of some hippie's imagination – it's a real place, tucked away in London's East End. Not your typical tourist hotspot, mind you, but a playground of nostalgia and a pinch of mischief.