Time Warped
I love music. I come from a noticeably unmusical family, but have always hungered for music. Recently, I have acquired a number of 1950's and '60's box record players, and have re-discovered the joys of vinyl - you know, them round record things. In a fit of madness, I also purchased a 1956 Westminster Radiogram which has been renovated and adapted to play MP3/CD's, as well as vinyl. It is a grand looking piece of kit; has a soul, and sounds fantastic.
Oh yeh, in this fit of Retro, I have also acquired a 1958 TV, adapted to receive digital, etc. Together with our old books and vintage pottery, we are surrounded with old stuff.
Among the good old stuff I surround myself with, is the voice of the 1960's British blues legend, Long John Baldry. Oh man, what a fuck-off voice that cat had! (he died a couple of years ago, in his early sixties). I am also collecting 78's, which sound particularly fine on good valve record players. Bought one such by Jussi Bjorling, the great Swedish tenor, singing 'Nessum Dorma'. It caught my eye because - I am told - my long dead dad used to love his voice (so there was some musical enthusiasm early in my life). Upon closer examination I found that there was an advert on the sleeve for a cycle shop in Hornsey, the area of North London where my step-dad hails from. I phoned him up, and told him the geezer's name on the sleeve, and he remembered him from his own childhood. That pleased us both, and I feel the resonance of two of my dad's in this one object. And then there is the work of 'Whispering Jack Smith', the breathy proto-crooner of the 1920's, whose distinctive low decibel barritone was necessitated by the damage wrought upon his lungs from a gas attack in the First World War. In a funny kind of way, I am reminded of Bryan Ferry's vocal style as I listen to old whispering. Oh, my gravy runs over the edges of my blog plate. Must stop for now.
I'm off to listen to some more snap, crackle and popping vinyle... before the 1960's sofa and arm chairs I bought yesterday arrives, that is. What a goonatic!
Oh yeh, in this fit of Retro, I have also acquired a 1958 TV, adapted to receive digital, etc. Together with our old books and vintage pottery, we are surrounded with old stuff.
Among the good old stuff I surround myself with, is the voice of the 1960's British blues legend, Long John Baldry. Oh man, what a fuck-off voice that cat had! (he died a couple of years ago, in his early sixties). I am also collecting 78's, which sound particularly fine on good valve record players. Bought one such by Jussi Bjorling, the great Swedish tenor, singing 'Nessum Dorma'. It caught my eye because - I am told - my long dead dad used to love his voice (so there was some musical enthusiasm early in my life). Upon closer examination I found that there was an advert on the sleeve for a cycle shop in Hornsey, the area of North London where my step-dad hails from. I phoned him up, and told him the geezer's name on the sleeve, and he remembered him from his own childhood. That pleased us both, and I feel the resonance of two of my dad's in this one object. And then there is the work of 'Whispering Jack Smith', the breathy proto-crooner of the 1920's, whose distinctive low decibel barritone was necessitated by the damage wrought upon his lungs from a gas attack in the First World War. In a funny kind of way, I am reminded of Bryan Ferry's vocal style as I listen to old whispering. Oh, my gravy runs over the edges of my blog plate. Must stop for now.
I'm off to listen to some more snap, crackle and popping vinyle... before the 1960's sofa and arm chairs I bought yesterday arrives, that is. What a goonatic!
posted by Gerry Bunt at 5:58 AM
2 Comments:
Hey welcome back buddy. Love the old vinyl. I've still got a record player and if I'd been smarter at my party, I could have played some. No 78s tho. Not many people remember them or the 45s which used to be the singles I got as a teenager. I would love to visit your collection.
I am not alone in thinking that there is just something about records. Perhaps it is because their sound is not too tidied up, creating atmosphere and ambience. I think, also, that in a remote handset world, it is reassuring to see the process of sound production going on before your eyes - rotating record, grooves, needle, the clicks of the old record deck as the auto-arm works all herky-jerky like a manic 50's sci-fi robot...
Oh, I do speak some shit rosyM. You would laugh at some of the old crap I listen to, and I would love that too. Bye bye.
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