Why bother with three phono preamps most of us can't afford? For the same reason the enthusiast automobile magazines cover the newest Ferraris and Lamborghinis: just reading about them is fun.
Elvis Costello took a quantum songwriting leap on his third album and with a generous six weeks in the studio following a world tour with new songs written, came up with intricate arrangements and sonically sophisticated production that while complex, was not detrimental to the intense propulsion of the music.
Rock ‘n’ roll historians invariably tracethe roots of the now-expansive, constantly morphing music to a Mississippi bluesman named Robert Johnson, a 1930s guitarist who ostensibly made a deal with the devil – trading his mortal soul for stellar talent - one night at a rural intersection (a “crossroads”). Johnson’s canon of songs, bolstered by his pioneer legacy and dark mythology, is embraced universally as being instrumental to the very structure of rock ‘n’ roll.
The Beatles made four unforgettable live appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, February 9, 16, 23rd 1964, and one more, over a year and a half later on September 12, 1965—forty five years ago this coming September 12th, which is five days after the re-release of this fascinating and endlessly entertaining 2 DVD set.
Clearly, releasing this as a double 180g vinyl set was an act of musical idealism and not because someone at Mobile Fidelity thought vinyl fans and audiophiles were clamoring for it.
It’s difficult to believe this November 18th, 1993 Sony Music Studios performance is almost seventeen years old. Though it aired on MTV a month later, it wasn’t issued on vinyl or CD until November 1st, 1994, six months after Kurt Cobain’s suicide.
Like Elton and Leon, Duke and Coleman were long-time mutual admirers but somehow had never worked together until late in their careers. This session, long in the making, took place on August 28th 1962 and was released the next February.