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Now Spinning: Bill Black’s Combo – Plays Tunes by Chuck Berry
What an absolute blast this one is to listen to, which somehow serves as a pinnacle, last gasp and tribute to early rock ‘n’ roll all at once. Bill Black, of course, is legendary for teaming with Scotty Moore to back Elvis on his first sessions at Sun Studios. Black would remain with Elvis until…
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Now Spinning: Herbie Mann – Memphis Underground
Funky Friday music with this classic from Herbie Mann and a frighteningly loaded cast of supporting musicians. Few, if any, musicians can compete with the constant musical open-mindedness and curiosity of jazz flutist Herbie Mann. He would quite literally explore a different genre or set of influences with every single album – Impressions of the…
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In Defense of the Humble Record Changer
A couple of weeks ago, I repaired the record changer function on my Garrard A70 and shared a video of the record changing mechanism in action with a vintage HiFi Facebook group I belong to, and was amused by a few scattered comments like ‘If you are too lazy to change the record yourself, you…
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Now Spinning: Plant And See
Plant And See was a very short-lived but extremely unique late sixties group that mixed the standard psychedelic rock sound of the day with a wider palette of influences than your typical garage rockers, leading to a southern gumbo of sound featuring an earthier, swampy funk edge. The band had only very minor success, and…
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Exploring Tom Petty’s Stereo Setup
I’m a fierce advocate for everyone enjoying music however they like, the key words are joy and music, not gear. So I’m not one to judge, but as someone with a deep passion for the gear, I’m always fascinated by how people listen to music. So I loved this look into Tom Petty’s 1978 stereo…
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A Return
After taking a couple of year blogging hiatus, it’s time for a relaunch of Box Full of Records, same as before, but with an additional focus on vintage audio gear to accompany all the records. Just over a year ago, I lost my full-time job and, feeling a little unsatisfied after a long and expensive…
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Now Spinning – Blue Grass Get Together
The Charles River Valley Boys are a largely forgotten band in the history of bluegrass, despite having a significant impact during their all-too-brief 1960’s heyday. As students at Harvard, the members of the Charles River Valley Boys hardly fit the typical rural bluegrass demographics, but word of their impressive skill spread, reaching the ear of…
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Rosanne Cash & Ry Cooder Honor the Man in Black
Rosanne Cash & Ry Cooder performing a set of Johnny Cash songs together sounds like an imaginary collaborative set out of dreams, but for a series of five shows wrapping up last week at The Met Philadelphia, Ry convinced Rosanne to visit her father’s colossal catalog. During between-song banter, Rosanne admitted that it did take…
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Now Spinning: John Mayall – USA Union
Once John Mayall’s latest guitar hero departed for the Rolling Stones, Mayall risked sharing a legacy much like The Yardbirds: more famous for the guitarists he employed than his own talents, as Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor graduated from Mayall’s blues school on their way to classic rock titans. But instead of fading…