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One of These Nights by The Eagles (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: One of These Nights
  • Group name: The Eagles
  • Year: 1975
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Asylum Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Buy it:

One of These Nights by the Eagles

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’m familiar with the Eagles, but not with this record or any of the songs on it.

What I expected

1970s stadium rock.

What it was actually like

I actually did know the title track One of These Nights, a pretty bad disco-inspired rock song. Other songs on the first side were a little better, with parts channeling Crosby, Stills and Nash.

Lyin’ Eyes was also a familiar-sounding country song, the best song on the record by far. The worst by far was I Wish You Peace: slow, boring and whiny.

Grade

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

The Best of Arlo Guthrie (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: The Best of Arlo Guthrie
  • Artist name: Arlo Guthrie
  • Year: 1977
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Warner Brothers Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
  • Buy it:

The Best of Arlo Guthrie

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve been to Los Angeles about five times, and listened to Coming Into Los Angeles on the airplane every time. I also know Alice’s Restaurant Massacree, but I don’t know the other songs.

What I expected

Joke-folk-rock.

What it was actually like

Alice’s Restaurant Massacree and Coming Into Los Angeles were just as I remembered. Most of the rest of the record was decent, but nothing special.

When City Of New Orleans came on, my first reaction was: I know this song! And my second reaction was: wait a second! I’d never heard City Of New Orleans before, but it took me just a minute to realize that Israeli folk music icon Yehoram Gaon used that melody for his song שלום לך ארץ נהדרת (music, lyrics), one of my favorites!

So that was pretty cool, and reminded me of a certain biographical detail of Arlo Guthrie’s Jewish education when he was a child, and I imagined him, his teacher and Yehoram Gaon all chilling in New York City in the early 1960s.

Grade

4/5: would listen again

Chicago IX by Chicago (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Chicago IX
  • Group name: Chicago
  • Year: 1975
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: CBS
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Clipped corner (top right)
    • Sticker on front: “Demonstration / Not For Sale” (with track list and “Suggested Cuts,” including “Intro Time” and “Length Of Cut” for each track)
    • Stamp on back: “DEMONSTRATION / NOT FOR SALE”
  • Buy it:

Chicago IX by Chicago

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve heard of Chicago, but don’t know anything about them and don’t think I know any of their music.

Also, this album is just labeled “Chicago,” so I thought it might have been a self-titled debut record, but it was not, and in fact, this group had something like 15+ records that are all called “Chicago,” making it extremely difficult to figure out which one this was. What an obnoxious thing to do.

What I expected

Maybe soft rock?

What it was actually like

I did recognize one song on this record, Saturday In The Park. I didn’t hate it, but I also wouldn’t make any effort to listen to it again, either.

25 Or 6 To 4 had a pretty good blues rock / hard rock vibe with a strong guitar riff, though I wasn’t sure how the brass section fit into it. Make Me Smile was also ok.

Everything else on the record was pure filler, which was pretty distressing as this was meant to be a sort of greatest hits collection.

Grade

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

“You had to be there” by Jimmy Buffett (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: “You had to be there”
  • Artist name: Jimmy Buffett
  • Year: 1978
  • Number of discs: two
  • Label: ABC Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Buy it:

"You had to be there" by Jimmy Buffett

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

Jimmy Buffett and I go way back! I remember my parents playing his music on a very frequent basis (when I was far too young to understand the lyrics – not that anything in his songs is that complex); it was him, the Beatles the Beach Boys, the Grateful Dead, Neil Young and maybe a few others that were synonymous with music to me.

I have never listened to Jimmy Buffett on my own, however – not once in my entire adult, music-listening life – and don’t think I’ve even heard any of his songs in decades. I still remember and know a lot of his hits, though.

What I expected

Definitely all the classic Jimmy Buffett hits.

What it was actually like

I was a bit let down by this record.

A bunch of the classic hit songs that I expected were included, like Son of a Son of a Sailor, Pencil Thin Mustache, Margaritaville, Changes in Attitudes, Changes in Latitudes and Come Monday, so that was great.

Where, however, was Cheeseburger in Paradise? I don’t even like cheeseburgers and I never have, but to paint a picture of the significance of this song to my life, imagine that you’re four or five years old and your parents blast that song all the time and sing along to it. The line between “music” and “children’s music” gets blurred, doesn’t it? And that leaves an indelible mark, doesn’t it? Omitting it from this record was a weird and bad decision.

And where was Brown Eyed Girl? I never even heard of the name “Van Morrison” until I was probably a senior in high school, so to me, Brown Eyed Girl was always a Buffett song (even though, if I’m being completely fair, Morrison did it way better). The real answer, of course, is that Buffett didn’t even record the song until five years after this album was released, so fine – but it still leaves a gaping hole.

Besides the classics, I was not that impressed with the remaining material, either.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

The Road Goes On Forever: A Collection of Their Greatest Recordings by The Allman Brothers Band (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: The Road Goes On Forever: A Collection of Their Greatest Recordings
  • Group name: The Allman Brothers Band
  • Year: 1975
  • Number of discs: two
  • Label: Capricorn Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Sticker on front: PROMOTIONAL COPY / CAPRICORN RECORDS / NOT FOR SALE
    • All four sides say PROMOTION and NOT FOR SALE
  • Buy it:

The Road Goes On Forever: A Collection of Their Greatest Recordings by The Allman Brothers Band

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve had an Allman Brothers playlist in my regular rotation for two decades.

What I expected

Blues rock, country rock, rock.

What it was actually like

I almost panicked for a moment when, at a glance, it didn’t look like this two-record compilation album included Jessica, my favorite Allman Brothers song – but I’d just overlooked it and it was right there on side 4, between Wasted Words and everyone else’s favorite Allman Brothers song, Ramblin’ Man.

Not surprisingly for anyone who’s ever listened to the Allman Brothers or been a fan of their music, this was a fantastic collection and every minute of it was excellent.

Grade

5/5: love it