Category Archives: records

Emmylou Harris – Pieces of the Sky

The first thing that strikes you about this album is the cover. It is loaded with sentiment. Emmylou looks pensive, alone, wistful on the front. She is lost in thought – what would Gram think of this album and why isn’t he here? Above the photo is maybe a nod to Gram – an angel looking over her as she starts on her musical path alone. On the reverse she is dreamlike in a flowing light dress. Emmylou is in the desert, the scene of her unhappiness and the loss of her dreams. Was she there as the fire raged in the canyon? As James Taylor said ‘This is not a time for levity’. It is a heart-breaking cover, but does she move on with the music?

Neil Young – Time Fades Away

Carole King – Tapestry       1971

I was not one for spending money, of which I had little, on music. Music came in and out of my life, but sport was my main interest. I do recall though cycling around the whole town, visiting every newsagent, to try to buy a copy of a music magazine that was offering full lyrics of the latest hits. A girl I adored as a ten-year-old loved the Walker Brothers and I thought she would be truly impressed if I knew the lyrics. I failed to get a copy as all were sold out – so back to football instead.

My Vinyl LP Record Collection – a life through Music

Today, as I listen to the Bruce Springsteen ‘River’ album, I am wondering what it is that shapes our love of music and particularly a genre that we seem to stay with for life. To be fair I did come to Springsteen a little later in life although the seeds were already there for him to step into my collection. My reason for starting this journey through my past, to paraphrase Neil Young, was my father’s vinyl collection. My father died recently, and he left a vast collection of vinyl including 78’s which I suppose are technically shellac. His CD collection was even more extensive, but it was the vinyl that fascinated me.

Carole King – Tapestry

Carole King – Tapestry       1971

I was not one for spending money, of which I had little, on music. Music came in and out of my life, but sport was my main interest. I do recall though cycling around the whole town, visiting every newsagent, to try to buy a copy of a music magazine that was offering full lyrics of the latest hits. A girl I adored as a ten-year-old loved the Walker Brothers and I thought she would be truly impressed if I knew the lyrics. I failed to get a copy as all were sold out – so back to football instead.