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Gord’s Gold by Gordon Lightfoot (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Gord’s Gold
  • Artist name: Gordon Lightfoot
  • Year: 1975
  • Number of discs: two
  • Label: Reprise Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Scratched into side one of LP: 2RS 2237-31958-3 X
    • Scratched into side two of LP: 2RS 2237-31959-B
    • Scratched into side three of LP: 2RS 2237-31960-2 X
    • Scratched into side four of LP: 2RS 2237-31961-B
  • Buy it on Amazon: $25.00

Gord's Gold by Gordon Lightfoot

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never listened to this Gordon Lightfoot compilation before, but it will be the fourth of his records that I review. The previous three were:

What I expected

Soft rock, folk rock, country.

What it was actually like

This compilation was far too long, but some of it was actually good, especially the parts that had more of a country sound. For example, I liked I’m Not Sayin’/Ribbon of Darkness, For Lovin’ Me/Did She Mention My Name and Bitter Green better than most.

I also enjoyed Sundown, a country song with an electric guitar solo that was pretty good, and Steel Rail Blues, a folk style country song that was the record’s most Dylanesque, particularly its Dylan-style “hee ee hee” laugh.

Old Dan’s Records was an ok country song with banjo that I liked, but its bad drumming ruined it. Summer Side of Life also made good use of banjo.

The record’s best song was Cotton Jenny, an up tempo country rock track that had almost an R&B quality to it, with solid harmonica.

Song for a Winter’s Night used jingle bells and sounded like a folk Xmas carol.

Affair on 8th Avenue was quite a boring folk song; Beautiful was probably the most boring on the record; Softly, as could be surmised from its name, was soporific.

If You Could Read My Mind was probably the worst song on the record because of its orchestral violin-dominated backing sound.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

The Best of Carly Simon (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: The Best of Carly Simon
  • Artist name: Carly Simon
  • Year: 1975
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Elektra Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Sticker on front of album: PROMOTIONAL COPY NOT FOR SALE
    • Printed on both sides of LP: RADIO STATION COPY
    • Scratched into side one of LP: 7E 1048 ARE 2CP
    • Scratched into side two of LP: 7E 1048 BRE 1CP
  • Buy it on Amazon: $9.98

The Best of Carly Simon

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I previously reviewed No Secrets (1972), but did not like it very much; several of the songs on this compilation appear to come from that record.

What I expected

More easy listening with a slight country sound.

What it was actually like

When I reviewed No Secrets, I wrote:

You’re So Vain was catchy, and had maybe a bit more of a country sound than I remembered it having, but I think it was probably too clever by half.

And also:

Night Owl, a bluesy cover of a James Taylor song, was about ten thousand times better than his version, which was awful.

All of that was still true today, though I might add that Night Owl had a terrible saxophone solo.

The record’s most interesting song was Mockingbird, a cover of this Inez and Charlie Foxx song, that’s based on the lullaby Hush, Little Baby. This version had a country and blues sound and was a duet with James Taylor[1], and it was decent until its saxophone solo.

Attitude Dancing, a disco song, was the worst on the record.

Grade

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

References

References
↑1 How bad does a record have to be overall for its most interesting song to be a duet with James Taylor?

Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy by Elton John (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
  • Artist name: Elton John
  • Year: 1975
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: MCA Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Clipped top right corner of album
    • Scratched into side one of LP: MCA734 W14
    • Scratched into side two of LP: MCA735 W19
  • Buy it on Amazon: $27.97

Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy by Elton John

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never heard this record before, but I have previously reviewed five by Elton John:

And also:

What I expected

The “Captain Fantastic” cartoon motif seems to have been taken pretty far, and it also seems pretty different from Elton John’s usual aesthetic, so maybe this record will be the Elton John record that I think is excellent?

What it was actually like

This was not excellent, but parts of it were tolerable, despite Elton John’s really annoying vocal style and abuse of the piano.

The record’s best song was the title track Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, which started as an acoustic country-folk song, then got more electric, becoming a good rhythmic rock song (and the piano was absent).

On the subject of the piano, (Gotta Get a) Meal Ticket was good example of a rock song that was made worse by the piano, which should have been left out, and I stand by what I wrote when reviewing Goodbye Yellow Brick Road:

… I was… distressed at the amount of piano. I really think Elton John could have created much better music by focusing on a rock style and minimizing non-rock instrumentation.

Tell Me When the Whistle Blows had a disco sound and was pretty bad, but its guitar solo was ok.

The record’s worst song was Writing, which had a terrible calypso style.

I did recognize one song, Someone Saved My Life Tonight, but it was awful.

Grade

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

Still Crazy After All These Years by Paul Simon (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Still Crazy After All These Years
  • Artist name: Paul Simon
  • Year: 1975
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Columbia Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Clipped top right corner of album
    • Track list sticker on front of album: Columbia Records / Demonstration / Not For Sale
    • Sticker on both sides of LP: DEMONSTRATION / NOT FOR SALE
    • Scratched into side one of LP: PAL 33540-3A
    • Scratched into side two of LP: PBL 33540-3A
  • Buy it on Amazon: $20.47

Still Crazy After All These Years by Paul Simon

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I recognize a couple of these songs by name, the title track and 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, and I expect that I might recognize another one or two when I listen, but I’ve never listened to this record as a whole. Here are the other six Paul Simon records that I’ve reviewed:

What I expected

Folk rock, soft rock, singer-songwriter.

What it was actually like

Still Crazy After All These Years is a very bad song, with totally unnecessary use of organ, and Kenny G. level saxophone that made me want to turn the music off and listen to silence instead. When I reviewed Paul Simon’s greatest hits, I wrote about it:

Still Crazy After All These Years was terrible, slow and boring – and that was before the saxophone. It could have been the worst Paul Simon song.

In the same review, I wrote:

50 Ways to Leave Your Lover was half a good song, and half crap easy listening, but the good part, which was the chorus, was excellent, and I especially loved the bass guitar.

I felt exactly the same way today, but also want to add that the marching style snare drum made the song worse than it needed to be.

My Little Town had the the vocal harmonies of Simon and Garfunkel’s early work, but in the context of a bad and uninteresting song.

Have a Good Time was totally bland and ignorable, up until its abysmal saxophone solo at the very end.

Silent Eyes had the indulgent style of an awful Faul McCartney piano ballad.

Gone at Last was the most interesting track on the record, an up-tempo soul song with an Oompa Loompa sound.

Grade

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

Illegal, Immoral and Fattening by Flo & Eddie (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Illegal, Immoral and Fattening
  • Group name: Flo & Eddie
  • Year: 1975
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Columbia Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Stamped on back of album: DEMONSTRATION / Not For Sale
    • Scratched into side one of LP: PAL 33554-1A
    • Scratched into side two of LP: PBL 33554 1A
  • Buy it on Amazon: $54.55

Illegal, Immoral and Fattening by Flo & Eddie

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never heard of Flo & Eddie, either collectively or individually.

What I expected

I guess rock?

What it was actually like

This was not actually a rock record in the sense of being primarily about music; in fact it was a comedy record, or maybe novelty, but the point is that it was full of jokes that mostly were not funny at all. Some of them were moderately funny, though; I’m sure racial humor had quite the edge in 1975 that just does not move me to laughter in 2023. By and large, though, the lyrics were vacuous and the most common theme was references to other songs.

The Kung Fu Killer, for example, was all about how that song is terrible, which is true, and their version of There’s No Business Like Show Business was somewhat scarring.

The high points of the record were the hard rock songs, like the title track Illegal, Immoral and Fattening and Cheap. The Pop Star Massage Unit was the dumbest point.

Kama Sutra Time was a bit Oompa Loompa, and Livin’ in The Jungle was slightly funk. The Sanzini Brothers Return (With The Tibetan Memory Trick) was the most comically enjoyable.

Some of the songs were recorded live, and it did also sound like Flo & Eddie put on a really fun performance, but this is not a review of that.

Grade

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