I made a couple of trips to HalfPriceBooks this month. One trip was because I had a 50% off One Item coupon and the second trip was because I had a bunch of books to sell. Nothing crazy rare, but some collection builders.

What I bought:

Hard Promises – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (LP, Backstreet BSR-5160, 1981) ($2.99) This was with the 50% coupon. I got the incredible “Running Down A Dream” documentary DVD/CD set for my birthday in October and it got me thinking I should try to get more Tom Petty vinyl. My daughter bought me Southern Accents last year for one of the gift-giving holidays so I already had a start. There were copies of Damn the Torpedos in the bin, too, but this was in better condition than those. This is the second of the three albums produced by Jimmy Iovine starting with Torpedos and ending with Long After Dark. A pretty good album that shows Petty at the peak of his 80’s game. Of course, “The Waiting” is still a classic, but other standout tracks are “A Woman In Love (It’s Not Me)” and “Insider.” “Insider” is a duet with Stevie Nicks and one of my favorite songs from Petty’s catalog. I especially like the live version on Pack Up the Plantation.

Go Insane – Lindsey Buckingham (LP, Elektra E1-60363, 1984) ($1.00) Unfortunately, this is a Columbia House repressing, but it is really clean and for a buck I can’t complain. It is missing the record sleeve (I think). It has a plain white sleeve. I would have expected other artwork or something. Go Insane was Lindsey’s second solo release. This record was met with mixed reviews due to it’s odd use of sampled sounds like splashes and metal clangs. When Fleetwood Mac reconvened for 1987’s Tango In The Night, Buckingham produced the record and gave it the same sampled textures. When this record came out I listened to it a lot on my Walkman I remember. My family was and are still big fans of Fleetwood Mac and Lindsey Buckingham so when this record came out we bought it right away and it became part of family trips in the car stereo. The finale track– a celtic “D.W. Suite” is a tribute to the late Beach Boys drummer and vocalist Dennis Wilson. There is a sample of Ed Sullivan saying “Ladies and Gentlemen– The Beach Boys!” in it.

Gold – Ryan Adams (CD, Lost Highway P2 70256, 2001) ($5.98) Another one for the Ryan Adams collection. There isn’t much more I can add to what’s been said about Gold. It is probably the most consistent record in Adams’s catalog and likely most accessible. Brilliant and classic tracks like “New York, New York,” “Answering Bell,” “La Cienega Just Smiled,” “Rescue Blues,” and “When the Stars Go Blue” anchor the album and show Adams at the top of his songwriting.