During the month of December I made a number of stops at HalfPriceBooks in Cedar Rapids– while I was out Christmas shopping, waiting for an oil change. So, rather than break these up into separate posts, I’ll put them all together.
Prince – Controversy (LP, Warner Bros., BSK 3601, 1981) ($2.98) This was a real find. I haven’t seen much Prince vinyl in my digging so I was pretty happy to pick this one up. The cover is in good shape with little ringwear. The vinyl is in great shape. The poster of Prince in the shower in a bikini was still intact (and returned permanently to the sleeve– yikes!). When I was in high school I was a big fan of Prince, and really that was the best period of his music. My first exposure was 1999 and Purple Rain like most people I suppose. A friend of mine was also a big fan and we sort of collected all of Prince’s albums between us. I really haven’t listened to this album since then. Interestingly, this is credited only as a Prince album, but the backing musicians would eventually become The Revolution– Bobby Z (drums), Lisa and Fink (keyboards). There is a small tribute to Joni Mitchell in the cover art. The back cover has a bunch of fake headlines like “President Declares Uptown New U.S. Capitol,” “Do You Believe in God,” and “The Second Coming.” One of the headlines says “Joni.” He also contributed a cover of “A Case of You” to the Nonesuch Records tribute album to Joni.
Liz Phair – “Carnivore” b/w “Carnivore (Raw)” (7″ single, Minty Fresh mf-4, 1993) ($.98) Groovy pink and blue vinyl. I was never really a big fan of Liz– I liked Exile in Guyville, but didn’t continue to follow her career. She’s now flirting with the Avril Lavigne fans by creating guitar pop. This release was while she was still edgy, I guess. This will probably end up on eBay.
Pearl Jam – Christmas 2005 “Little Sister (with Robert Plant)” b/w “Gone” (7″ single, fanclub release, 2005) ($1.00) In the tradition of The Beatles and REM, Pearl Jam has been releasing Christmas singles since 1991. The only way you can get these (other than eBay) is being a member of the “Ten” fan club. This one is in really great shape other than an edge dent in the sleeve. There is a live version of “Little Sister” with Robert Plant from 10/5/05 at the Chicago H.O.B. Hurricane Katrina Benefit show. The flipside is a demo of “Gone” performed by Ed in a room at the Borgata in Atlantic City. Since I don’t have any of the other singles and can’t afford to pick them up on eBay, I’m going to eBay this as well. One went for $15 recently, so we’ll see.
Gov’t Mule – High & Mighty (CD, ATO Records, ATO0028, 2006) ($7.98) Well, I guess I was curious having seen them in Des Moines with Grace Potter. Warren Haynes is undeniably one of the great guitarists on the Jam scene today although he tends to stick to the tried-and-true blues progressions that give Mule releases that vintage 70’s classic rawk feel– I think some experimentation could breathe some life to the studio recordings. Recommended if you like Molly Hatchet, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers, Blackfoot, big sweaty dudes playing Gibson guitars. BTW: Warren has some of the most impressive Gibsons I’ve ever seen and he plays quite a few during a live show. Visit this YouTube clip to see a cool interview with Warren’s guitar tech talking about the guitars used in High & Mighty.
Madlib – Shades of Blue : Madlib Invades Blue Note (CD, Blue Note Records, 7243 5 36447 2 7, 2003) ($5.98) This is a BMG Music Club release. I love all of the back catalog digging that Blue Note has embraced over the years. I have a lot of the releases like the US3 album, the Rare Grooves series, and a couple of others. While a lot of publishers would resist this sort of thing, I think the brand identity of Blue Note was rescued by it. The fantastic Madlib has his way with the Blue Note catalog creating some remixes. A really mellow acid-jazzy record.
