My college roommate, Mark, is getting married in less than a month. Another one bites the dust. He came up last weekend to put his wedding playlist together. This also gave us ample time to go vinyl diving and drink fine bourbon (Maker's 46, so nice). I hadn't taken him to CD Depot yet, and was excited to make the trek myself.
You tend to find three different types of gems when vinyl diving (at least they are for me).
- The Rare Find: As you would guess, these don't pop up all that often. Price doesn't really come into play when you find one of these, you just grab it! Sometimes you don't stumble on a dics like this for months at a time, but it's why you keep diving. As luck would have it, the stars aligned and Mark was able to find a really good first pressing of Sticky Fingers by the Rolling Stones, a vinyl that is not easy to find in good condition, due to the Andy Warhol working zipper design cover art.
- The Bargin: This might not be a album you put on all the time, but it helps flush out the collection. Maybe it's a easy to find standard you don't have yet or a disc with just one song you want. The only reason not to buy it is if the price is too high. And by too high, I mean like two or three dollars.
- The Art Piece: Cover art has never been the same since vinyl took back seat to the cassette. And while artists will still come out with some interesting things from time to time, it's just not the same. Vinyl just provided so much real estate. Sometimes you'll be flipping through a box and the art just speaks to you right away. That's what happened with the Billy Cobham/George Duke Band find. And that's what happened with this one.
I tried to do a little research on this album when i got home, but there's not much on it. It was released in 1977, in the midst of about 20 other albums that Johnny Watson released. Watson seemed to inspire a lot of other artists to become guitarists. Very cool. The craziest fact: He died on stage while performing in 1996 mid guitar solo. He collapsed on stage and apparently his last words were "Ain't that a bitch?". Thanks freakin awesome!
So how about the disc...... It's as funky as you would expect, but the mix is better than i thought it would be. It's super clean and tight. A lot of other funk music in the late 70's sounds really crowded to me. With the advent of digital tech and synthesizer, artists tend to try to do to much. Besides the thumping Moog bass, the sound has a very live "acoustic" feel to it. The first track on each side open up really well. I get hints of Stevie Wonder and Parliament Funkadelic.
It's funny too. Many of the tracks have some spoken word in the intro or outro when Johnny plays a stereotype of himself. It's bigger than life. Really good stuff. Not sure what my favorite track is yet, but "It's a Damn Shame" and "Barn Door" are pretty amazing cuts.
