Features

Beginning with his eponymous 1970 debut, and continuing throughout eleven Warner Brothers solo albums, Ry Cooder has demonstrated that in addition to being an extraordinary folk/blues guitarist- particularly on bottleneck, and a serviceable, though hardly distinguished vocalist, he is also a high caliber musicologist and A&R man. While Cooder’s specialty has been mining the more obscure tributaries of the rich vein of American music deposited during the Great Depression, he has also unearthed musical riches from around the world, particularly the Caribbean and Mexico.

His solo albums are sprinkled with unknown and out-of-the-way delights like Dickey Doo's "Teardrops Will Fall" and the calypso "F.D.R. In Trinidad"- as well as some better known songs like "One Meat Ball", Woody Guthrie’s "Vigilante Man" Huddie Ledbetter's "Teardrops Will Fall", The Drifter’s 1954 hit "Money Honey", and Johnny Cash’s "Hey Porter".

In the context of the sorrow and suffering of those who lost loved ones on this day five years ago, the loss of a pet dog is rendered insignificant but it was our dog and our loss and we feel it deeply.

Legendary photographer Jim Marshall recently said that of all the magazine spreads that have used his images over the years, the one appearing in The Tracking Angle issue 13 was one of a “handful” of the finest ever.

Table Toppers is back in full force! As you may recall, we recently asked you, the AP faithful, to quite literally “show us your turntables!” for an all-new feature section titled Table Toppers — and ever since then, we’ve been combing through a treasure trove of your many great submissions. Here in Part 2, we introduce you to the fine, fine analog-centric system owned by Jake Juros, MD, a psychiatrist based in Los Angeles. Read on to see some cool pics of the good doctor’s fabulous setup, plus see what his favorite LPs are, gain some insight into his record-cleaning rituals, and learn the “real reason” why he loves vinyl more than streaming or CDs. . .