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Santana (1969) (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Santana
  • Group name: Santana
  • Year: 1969
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Columbia Records
  • Collection: Brenner / Gessner
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • “GESSNER” written inside album sleeve, indicating that my father owned it
    • “GESSNER” written on LP, indicating that my father owned it
  • Buy it on Amazon: $31.83

Santana (1969)

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I don’t recall ever listening to this Santana record, but I did listen to Abraxas (1970) last summer and rated it 4/5. Santana also played guitar on The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper (1969) that I reviewed yesterday and thought was quite good.

What I expected

Psychedelic rock, hard rock.

What it was actually like

This was a great psychedelic rock record that was pretty jazzy, but unfortunately this copy was quite scratchy. My father must have listened to it a lot.

Most of the songs were instrumental, and since the style was very consistent from track to track, it was sometimes difficult to tell when one ended and the next began. That did not bother me so much, however, because I liked the style: extensive and great guitar solos, lots of elaborate percussion, organ (without abusing it), laconic and languid vocals.

I did recognize a few of the songs: Evil Ways, Treat and Soul Sacrifice.

If I had to choose a favorite, I would go with Persuasion, which had vocals and which was relatively up tempo.

Grade

4/5: would listen again

The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper
  • Group name: Mike Bloomfield & Al Kooper
  • Year: 1969
  • Number of discs: two
  • Label: Columbia Records
  • Collection: Brenner / Gessner
  • Who owned it: my father
  • Buy it on Amazon: $6.00

The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never heard of this record before, but I recalled Al Kooper’s name from when I reviewed his solo record I Stand Alone (1969) four months ago. I did not like it.

What I expected

This is a live double album, so I’m optimistic that it will not annoy me in the way that Kooper’s studio record did, with all the absurd sound effects and whatnot; it’s pretty difficult and generally perceived as a waste of time and money to recreate all of that crap at an actual concert.

The back of the album also states: “Also featuring Elvin Bishop, Carlos Santana”. Last summer, I reviewed Let It Flow by Elvin Bishop (1974) and thought it was excellent, as well as Abraxas by Santana (1970) and thought it was very good, so that’s promising.

What it was actually like

This was a really excellent hard rock and electric blues record. In general, most of the songs were pretty slow, with minimal or no vocals, multiple (and sometimes elaborate) electric guitar solos, riffs, bass lines, &c, &c.

Several of the songs were too long: I’m not sure, for example, that Her Holy Modal Highness needed to last for nine minutes and eight seconds, that No More Lonely Nights needed to be 12 minutes and 27 seconds, or that Don’t Throw Your Love on Me So Strong needed to be 10 minutes and 56 seconds. Besides being too long, the latter two were also too slow, though I was satisfied with the length of Dear Mr. Fantasy (eight minutes and four seconds), because apparently that was how long it needed to be to incorporate a great guitar solo and the weirdest, most psychedelic (and superior) version of Hey Jude that I’ve ever heard.

On that note, I listen to Green Onions pretty often, but the version on this record was the most rocking one that I’ve ever heard. I also really liked the Simon and Garfunkel song The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy), which I would have heard it when I listened to Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme by Simon and Garfunkel (1966) half a year ago, but I guess it didn’t make an impression on me then. It sure impressed me now, though (and just think of how lucky we all are that it was not “the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge song”).

The Band song The Weight was quite strong, but I wish that they had done it with vocals. I also really liked the outstanding electric blues version of the Elvis Presley song That’s All Right.

Another great one was Sonny Boy Williamson, and Finale-Refugee was pretty short, but it had the best guitar riff on the record.

Overall, despite the excessive length of some of these songs that easily could have been cut in half, I was very positively surprised by this.

Grade

5/5: love it

The Soft Parade by the Doors (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: The Soft Parade
  • Group name: the Doors
  • Year: 1969
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Elektra Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Scratched into side one of LP: ESR TD5 2876 EKS 75005 A-SP 8
    • Scratched into side two of LP: ESR TD5 2876 EKS 75005 B-SP 5
  • Buy it on Amazon: $35.99

The Soft Parade by the Doors

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’m pretty sure that I’ve never heard this record before. A couple of its songs were also on the Doors’ compilation 13 (1970) that I rated 4/5.

The other Doors record that I’ve reviewed was The Doors (1969) and I rated it 5/5.

What I expected

Probably this will not be one of the Doors’ stronger records.

What it was actually like

This was much jazzier than other Doors records, with lots of brass on (I think) every song.

I had always thought of Doors songs like Touch Me as a kind of parody of pre-rock and roll pop music (like, for example, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass), but after listening to an entire record that was much more like that, I wasn’t sure what to think about it.

The saxophone solo on Touch Me was fine, by the way, but I did wonder while listening to it if, in the event that Morrison had lived, the Doors would have become one of those crappy Vegas acts, and the string section on Wishful Sinful was similarly weird and gave me the same thoughts.

I liked the organ on Shaman’s Blues, and strongly disliked the grating Wild Child.

Easy Ride was the most Oompa Loompa song and also the most up tempo, with good guitar and organ solos.

The most surprising part of the record was the bluegrass-style part of Runnin’ Blue, with a brief but excellent mandolin part. I hated that song’s trumpet part, though.

The title track The Soft Parade, which ran over eight minutes long, was multiple songs in one, which really should have been broken out into individual tracks.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

Kings of Comedy, narrated by George Burns (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Kings of Comedy
  • Narrator name: George Burns
  • Artist name: Various, including George Burns, Abbott & Costello, Will Rogers, Jackie Gleason, Jack Benny, Smith & Dale, Al Jolson, Groucho Marx
  • Year: 1969
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Longines Symphonette Society
  • Collection: Selman
  • Buy it on Ebay: $7.99

Kings of Comedy, narrated by George Burns

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never heard of this comedy record, but I previously reviewed all five discs of The Golden Age of Comedy: 50 Years of Great Humor… From Vaudeville to Video, which was also narrated by George Burns and produced by the Longines Symphonette Society.

What I expected

I guess the same style of humor as The Golden Age of Comedy.

What it was actually like

The first side was a series of snippets of comedy routines, presumably all famous enough to be recognizable to a general comedy-loving audience, lasting anywhere from around five to 45 seconds. The LP said:

Guess Who These Comedians Are? The answers are listed on the back of the album jacket.

I was not able to guess any of them.

Here’s a sample joke: “This town was so dull that one day, the tide went out, and never came back.”

Ha ha.

The second side started with Abbott & Costello’s classic Who’s On First and somehow, hearing it now was the least funny it has ever been (the crowd went wild for it, though). It was the only bit that I recognized, even though George Burns described another one as “the most famous Jack Benny scene of all time.”

Here’s another sample joke: “I once shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in them, I’ll never know.”

Ha ha.

Grade

2/5: bad, but I was able to listen to the whole thing

MORE get back session by The Beatles (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: MORE get back session
  • Group name: The Beatles
  • Year: 1969?
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: ?
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Sticker on back: “William H. Butler III”[1]
  • Buy it on Amazon: $70.00[2]

MORE get back session by The Beatles

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

This appears to be a bootleg recording of some songs from the Beatles’ studio sessions in early 1969. Like most people, I watched the Get Back documentary last year and loved it, so that music is more or less fresh in my memory, though Let It Be is one of my least favorite Beatles records.

Here are the other Beatles records that I’ve reviewed:

What I expected

There’s basically no writing on this album except the title MORE get back session, the track list, and the “William H. Butler III” sticker on the back – even the word “Beatles” never appears – so with no studio or record label information, no copyright and no explanation whatsoever, it feels very bootleggy. The only writing on the LP itself is “1” and “2” to indicate sides A and B respectively.

Some of the tracks are songs on Let It Be, but I’m not sure if these versions are the release versions (or if I’ll even be able to tell), and others are not.

What it was actually like

None of these were the release versions, after all, and many were pretty rough around the edges, relative to the eventual finished products.

The audio quality was also not terrific.

I believe that any Beatles fan with eight hours to spare should just watch the documentary, which spent plenty of time showing them putting songs together from idea to final version; much of that time consisted of a large amount of goofing around, teasing, reminiscing, disappearing for long periods (presumably to get high, or a fix) and, most importantly, pulling music out of thin air.

Some of that is captured in this bootleg, but it’s hard to do on a 13 track LP.

I thought the song Get Back was fairly complete and decently close to the release version, and I liked it. Dig a Pony was also pretty complete, but unfortunately it’s not a good song at all.

I might have been mistaken, but I thought I heard someone calling Ringo “Rich” at the beginning of Whole Lotta Shakin’, which was a surprise to me from the documentary, as I always assumed that he had used his stage name socially as well.

Suzie Parker sounded like it had some Ono level shrieking. She is awful.

The second Dig a Pony sounded remarkably like I’ve Got A Feeling (I think it was just mislabeled on the album).

Paul Raps was also pretty indecipherable; I could not make sense of what the hell was he was supposed to have been “rapping.”

Anyway, I may have mentioned them before, but Lake Street Dive did one of the coolest Beatles covers ever, an ode to the Beatles’ legendary rooftop concert that is also portrayed in the documentary. Here is Don’t Let Me Down, and also Two of Us.

And if you think that’s impressive, their best cover ever is Lola (but if you like it, you’d better download it right away, before it gets memory-holed by Google).

And while I’m at it, I still believe that Amir Darzi and Lital Regev (and sometimes Yoni Schlesinger) do an amazing job at their Beatles covers.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

References

References
↑1 I am not sure who William H. Butler III might have been. Perhaps he was nobody in particular, and it is a common name, but at least one William H. Butler was involved in music in the appropriate time period.
↑2 This is not exactly the same thing that I’m reviewing, but it looks pretty similar, and the track lists are nearly identical.