The College Crowd Digs Me

"Pretties For You" - Alice Cooper (1969 - Rei 1970 )       "Pretties For You" is an unexpected Alice Cooper psych album.  The square is a widowmaker of surprises and louies from needle drop to label.  At times, the band rubs shoulders with The Beatles and shakes hands with the early Syd Barrett Floyd the next.  It gets heavy over here and goes jazz-trippin' over there.  Everything in good measure.  The harmonies are great.  The musicianship is solid.  And conviction is the rule of the school.  Not quite the dangerous, creepy, hard-rock sound the band would later create, but there is still a delightful strangeness here that hits the sweet spot.       And lest we forget, this was the band's debut!  And what they couldn't sell in the open market, I expect, would quickly change hands in the murkier alleys.  The album may be underrated or underappreciated; I can never make up my mind about which word to c...

"After The Gold Rush" (w/ Pink Text ) - Neil Young (1970 - Rei 1976)      I'm showing this Neil Young album because it's the rare-ish 1976 reissue with pink text instead of the usual yellow-gold.  I wasn't a fly on the wall when Neil found out, but apparently, he was plenty pissed and demanded that the albums be yanked from stores PDQ.  And that's what they did.  The pink text copies were pulled from record shelves faster than you can say 'hey-hi-you!'  How many actually got out is unknown, but it's safe to say not all that many.  I mean, they're out there, but...  So I guess in the whole Rock and Roll records scheme of things, these pink-text albums are like leprechauns.  I mean, they're around, but you don't see'em very often.       Some copies are known to fetch relatively high dollars.  Over $100 from time to time.  You're probably not gonna get rich, but there's still something cool about an album, "r...

" And Paul said,  'What are you doing for the next few years?'" ~ Laurence Juber ~ Hailing from East London, but now calling L.A. home, Laurence Juber has had plenty of days playing in the sun.  With a 30-plus discography of critically acclaimed CDs under his belt, the fellow definitely knows his way around a guitar.  Juber is recognized as one of the top acoustic guitar players of all time and was once voted Guitarist of the Year .  He has received two Grammys, and his fingers have never once left his hands.  The guy can play.       Since moving to California, Juber has put his guitar stylings to good use composing or co-composing soundtracks and scores for shows as diverse as Dateline NBC, Ken Burns documentaries, and even The Brady Bunch.  Juber has added his guitar to soundtracks and dozens of films and television shows.  From "Good Will Hunting" to "Dirty Dancing."  From Eric Carmen To Harry Styles.  The man walks throu...

Sandman Mystery Theatre: Vol. 5 Dr. Death and The Night Of The Butcher Matt Wagner /Steven T. Seagle (writers) Guy Davis/Vince Locke (artists) Vertigo Comics First published April 7, 2007 Graphic Novel, 208 pages   NO SPOILERS:       This is late-1930s, early 40s crime noir.  The two stories within are dusted with a delicious pulp flavor, making them all the more fun to read.  But don't be fooled by the time era; the violence is real and in your face.  One story is about someone who determines if a person's life is worth living; the other story is about a serial killer.  Much darker than one might expect.  The words and drawings within fill your senses with a wonderfully unsettling atmosphere.  Our hero, Wesley Dodds, aka The Sandman, is a pudgy, average social businessman who solves mysteries with his wits, donning a rather clumsy gas mask and carrying a sleeping-gas gun.  No superpowers whatsoever. Sandman Mystery Theatre: Vol. 5 ...

"Down To Middle Earth" - The Hobbits (1967)      The album name and cover art 'had me at hello.'  And as it turns out, the music is pretty good, too.  If you’re a fan of pop-psych that rubs shoulders with sunshine pop,  The Hobbits... ”Down To Middle Earth” will be your cookie.  There are ten songs…each oddly different and clever, as if the artist is having us on.  Not overly psychedelic, and yet it's there.      There are a few tracks that are obviously meant for the mind, but a lot of this has a “more than meets the eye” kind of vibe.  A grower by design.  There are a couple of weaker tracks, but no bad ones.  Not a whole lot is known about the album other than it's a Queens, NY Jimmy Curtiss project, and any other involvement is mostly speculation.  This album has been tagged with the “exploitation” label as if that’s a universal bad thing.  Well, it’s not.  Not always.  Sometimes the square ...

"Presence" - Led Zeppelin (1976 )      Believe it or not, I've never owned a copy of Led Zeppelin's "Presence."   In any media format.  Nor did I have any recollection of ever listening to the square front-to-back at any time.  So I was excited to find a nice used first pressing for $12.  It was at a garage sale.  Literally.  Everything for sale was inside the garage.  Anyway, the cover and spine were clean.  The embossed title on the front is still readable.  And most importantly, the vinyl was a strong VG+.       I have to admit, watching the needle drop on a Led Zeppelin album I knew very little about for the first time gave me a bit of a rush.  This was the follow-up to Zeppelin's tour de force, "Physical Graffiti,"  so, of course, "Presence" was obviously gonna pale in comparison.  No surprise there.  But after shaking hands with the square a few times, apart from one misguided dir...