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Rock ‘n’ Roll Music by the Beatles (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Rock ‘n’ Roll Music
  • Group name: the Beatles
  • Year: 1976
  • Number of discs: two
  • Label: Capitol Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Hole drilled through top right of album
    • “SKBO – 1 – 11537 – F9 #5” scratched into side 1 of LP
    • “SKBO – 2 – 11537 – F9” scratched into side 2 of LP
    • “SKBO – 3 – 11537 – F2” scratched into side 3 of LP
    • “SKBO – 4 – 11537 – F9 #6” scratched into side 4 of LP
  • Buy it on Amazon: $49.95

Rock 'n' Roll Music by the Beatles

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’m familiar with all of these songs because they’re all previously released Beatles songs, but I’ve never known about the existence of this compilation. Nor would it have occurred to me to group these songs together as a “Rock ‘n’ Roll” compilation.

Here are previous Beatles records that I’ve reviewed:

What I expected

28 Beatles rock ‘n’ roll songs.

What it was actually like

I had a huge amount of fun listening to this. I’m not normally a big fan of compilations, especially when it’s a group that made great records and I can just listen to each of them according to what I want, but this compilation was very solid.

Side 1

Best: Twist and Shout

This recording is legendary, and it’s no accident that it got used in a legendary movie scene (for my generation, at least).

Honorable mention: I Saw Her Standing There, because it’s the first song on the first Beatles record, so I listen to it more than almost any other, and I always want to remark that Paul is a dirty old man for coming onto a seventeen year old girl!

Worst: You Can’t Do That

This would be a lot of bands’ best song, but it’s one of the worst of the early Beatles era – just not a catchy tune at all, and while it sounds exactly like them, it completely lacks their energy and personality.

Side 2

Best: Rock and Roll Music

Did you know that Albert Einstein, a Tasmanian apple farmer, invented rock and roll music as a byproduct of putting bubbles into beer via splitting an atom? There was a whole documentary about it.

Honorable mention: Roll Over Beethoven

Worst: Slow Down

Side 3

Best: Drive My Car

Honorable mention: Revolution

Worst: I’m Down

I don’t think they were trying to do surf rock or mimic the Beach Boys, but that’s what the guitar sounds like, and it’s just never worked for me.

Side 4

Best: Taxman

It was strange hearing this in the middle of a record instead of at the beginning, and I expected Eleanor Rigby to follow.

Worst: Helter Skelter

This song is rubbish.

Honorable mention: Back in the U.S.S.R.

Grade

5/5: love it

13 by the Doors (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: 13
  • Group name: the Doors
  • Year: 1970
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Elektra Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • “WAMU-AM” written in pen on front of album
    • Hole drilled through lower left corner of album
    • “WAMU-AM” written in pen on side one of LP
  • Buy it on Amazon: $31.57

13 by the Doors

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

This is a compilation record and I’ve never listened to it, but I’m pretty sure that I’ve listened to all the songs on it.

What I expected

A bunch of hits from the Doors, but missing Break On Through (To The Other Side).

What it was actually like

Here is how I rank all thirteen of the songs in order of most excellent to least, with their track numbers in parentheses:

  • Light My Fire (1)
  • Roadhouse Blues (6)
  • Love Me Two Times (8)
  • Hello, I Love You (10)
  • People Are Strange (2)
  • The Crystal Ship (5)
  • Back Door Man (3)
  • Touch Me (7)
  • Land Ho (11)
  • Wild Child (12)
  • You’re Lost Little Girl (9)
  • Moonlight Drive (4)
  • The Unknown Soldier (13)

The best part of the record was the harmonica on Roadhouse Blues.

The worst part of the record was the saxophone solo on Touch Me.

I still don’t understand why Break On Through (To The Other Side) was missing.

I had not heard Land Ho before, and it wasn’t bad at all, even though parts of it hinted at being slightly Oompa Loompa.

Grade

4/5: would listen again

Running on Empty by Jackson Browne (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Running on Empty
  • Artist name: Jackson Browne
  • Year: 1977
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Asylum Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Buy it on Amazon: $39.99

Running on Empty by Jackson Browne

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I have no familiarity with this record, but I’ve previously reviewed two others by Jackson Browne:

What I expected

The other two Jackson Browne records were folk rock and country rock, and I was not that impressed. This one appears to be a live record, so maybe I will enjoy it better.

What it was actually like

This was mostly a country rock record, and for the most part, although I could generally tell that the songs were recorded outside of a normal studio setting, they did not sound like songs recorded live at concerts, and generally had the “produced” sound that comes from a studio.

Undoubtedly, the best song by far on the record was the Stay cover, but that’s really because it’s just an incredible song, and everyone should just listen to The Zodiacs doing it.

The title track Running on Empty was not a bad song at all and I was pretty sure that I had heard it before. I liked the droning background sound.

Cocaine was acoustic and the guitar and vocals made it sound folk, but then the violin gave it a bit of a country sound, and to me, it did not really sound much like a song about cocaine, but fortunately Eric Clapton‘s is a banger, and the Grateful Dead’s Casey Jones also fits.

Rosie was mostly piano and was bad enough to be an Elton John song, but still sounded a little country.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

James Taylor (1968) (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: James Taylor
  • Artist name: James Taylor
  • Year: 1968
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Apple Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Buy it on Amazon: $32.50

James Taylor (1968)

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never listened to this record, but I’ve previously reviewed two other James Taylor records:

What I expected

Maybe folk rock.

Also, the label is Apple Records and there’s a song on the record called Something in the Way She Moves, but the lyrics are included in the album and it’s not the same song as George Harrison’s song Something.

What it was actually like

I think I probably liked this record a little better than James Taylor’s others, but not much better.

One interesting thing about it was the extensive use of harpsichord and violin. Songs with harpsichord included Brighten Your Night With My Day and Taking It In, which had a good, lively tempo also. Violin songs included Knocking ‘Round the Zoo, Sunshine Sunshine and Carolina in My Mind.

Rainy Day Man was more of a normal folk rock song in the style that I had expected.

Something in the Way She Moves was 100% forgettable, so here is George Harrison performing his completely different song that only suggests a similarity.

Don’t Talk Now was a totally boring folk rock song with a repeating “nah nah nah” line, but did have great electric guitar in the background, especially towards the end.

Something’s Wrong sounded like it started with Greensleeves, but was otherwise bad. Night Owl sounded like a marching band song, with a horrible atonal horns part.

Circle Round the Sun was Taylor’s version of I Know You Rider, but I don’t know why anyone would choose his version over another.

The Blues Is Just a Bad Dream had an intro that sounded like a Moody Blues song, but turned into a pretty standard good blues song.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

Hunky Dory by David Bowie (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Hunky Dory
  • Artist name: David Bowie
  • Year: 1971
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: RCA Records
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • “APRS-5947-35-A3E” and “R” scratched into side 1 of LP
    • “APRS-5948-35-A21” and “R” scratched into side 2 of LP
  • Collection: Selman
  • Buy it on Amazon: $49.99

Hunky Dory by David Bowie

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never really gotten into David Bowie at all and never listened to any of his records, but I do know the song Changes that’s the first track on this record, and expect to recognize one or two others, as well.

What I expected

Bowie changed his musical style a lot, so I’m not really sure what kind of music he was making in 1971. Maybe soft rock?

What it was actually like

There was a lot of piano in this record, and it reminded me of Elton John (not in a good way).

Changes was about as I remembered it, which is sort of a piano-driven lounge-inspired pop-rock pop. Its piano and vocal parts are pretty distinctive and I guess it’s representative of David Bowie to me. One thing I realized about it, listening to it now closely for the first time, was that it’s really just a chorus that’s repeated a few times, punctuated by some totally useless verses.

That pattern of a song having quite a strong chorus, but very weak verses, was repeated a few times throughout the record, such as on Oh! You Pretty Things and on Andy Warhol, which also was a generally good acoustic guitar folk rock song.

Eight Line Poem was essentially just rambling with some piano chords, and Quicksand was similarly meandering.

Kooks sounded like Faul’s granny shit, and Fill Your Heart was in that same category, and was also a bit Oompa-Loompa, and had some terrible saxophone.

Song for Bob Dylan did have some Dylan style vocals, but with too much piano, and also not enough melody. The Bewlay Brothers had a bit of that same vocal style as well.

Queen Bitch was almost proto-punk, and I thought it was the best on the record.

Besides Changes, the only other song I recognized was Life On Mars?, from this television series. It was a pretty bad song, and more or less had zero musical value.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me