This Sunday’s Boston Symphony Orchestra concert in the Music Shed at Tanglewood in Lenox, MA is one that I sorely wish I could attend, for both of the musical selections. But being here in Sun City West, AZ, I will have to settle for listening to the live stream from WCRB, with my little Oontz Angle speaker. Given the time difference, that means tuning it at 11:30 AM MST.
“Mrs. Bluebird” by Eternity’s Children is one of my top 10 favorite songs from Andrew Sandoval’s “Come to the Sunshine” podcast. How can anyone not love this? So if you don’t, please don’t tell me!
This video is everywhere else, but what the heck, I may as well add it here too.
I’ve been picking away at writing a rather long article called “Back to Mono,” but rather than waiting for that, here is part of it. The entire Rolling Stones in Mono box set is available for free on YouTube! It appears to be official from Universal/ABKCO, so it isn’t some fan offering, and at the moment I’m the only one in the world who has subscribed to this incredibly great channel. How can that be?
Decades ago I enjoyed searching for musical vinyl at a long-defunct store called For the Record in Amherst, MA. They carried used records along with new releases, including imports. I bought most of my British Parlophone Beatles albums at For the Record, and some Beatles bootlegs too.
A lot of budget-priced reissues of Sixties music were coming out, and for $4.29 I bought an LP called “Tommy Roe Collectibles,” an MCA reissue of Roe’s recordings for ABC. Playing it this week for the first time in ages, I am stunned by the superb stereo sound most of the tracks have, with the exception of “Everybody,” which is presented in fake stereo. My favorite track is “It’s Now Winter’s Day,” which is nothing like the Bubblegum style that Roe is known for. “Baby It’s Cold Outside” has nothing on this one.
The best retrospective of Roe’s underrated career can be heard in outstanding mono on Andrew Sandoval’s “Come to the Sunshine” podcast at this link. Any performer who can have a #1 Pop hit in 1962 (“Sheila”) — the year the Beatles signed with Parlophone — and then have a #1 record again in 1969 (“Dizzy”) — the last year the Beatles worked together — deserves attention.
This music was composed by Ryan Dann for a Joe Pera video with a Wintertime theme. But I’m finding it works just fine in 90-degree weather, as I run my fingers along the deep scar on my head from skin cancer surgery, and I think about my late father and everything I need to do to sell his house in Arizona.
