The most incredible record store, VILLAGE MUSIC, in Mill Valley, CA (just north of San Francisco) is closing its doors for good at the end of this month. For decades it has been unchallenged as the most fascinating and wonderfully stocked place for actual VINYL records in the entire Bay Area. Maybe the world. For anyone who has always prefered the good old analog sweetness of recorded music, VILLAGE was like an oasis in a rapidly changing, technology-driven universe of synthetic sound. So we trudged over there yesteday for one last spree. But the sight of the place, under the pall of extinction, was too sad to bear for much longer than a half hour. Mrs. Dewey found a nice old Charles Aznavour album and our friends found a Gato Barbieri they'd been looking for. And I found a nice, clean copy of this, one of my favorite LPs of the 60s - THAT WAS THE YEAR THAT WAS by TOM LEHRER. I loaned mine to someone about thirty years ago but can't remember who.
"So Long Mom" (I'm Off To Drop The Bomb)
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"Pollution"
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"National Brotherhood Week"
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R.I.P., Village Music.
Last edited by Dewey1960 on September 22nd, 2007, 8:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
Hi Tracey -
On behalf of the Record Party's intrepid staff, thanks for your kind kudos. A number of folks have told me that the going gets kind of slow when scrolling through all this fine music. It could be that your computer is slow. I don't know why the time of day (or night) should make a difference, but perhaps it does. Anyway, thanks again for checking out the Record Party! -Dewey
I think the animated "Silent E" was shown on the 1970s reading instruction show "The Electric Company," the show that introduced Morgan Freeman to the world as "Easy Reader." It was a terrific show that seamlessly melded instruction and entertainment.
In honor of tomorrows showing, I found a clip of Shawn Lane playing the beautiful ballad from Once Upon a Time in the West (1969). I have often heard people cover the main theme, but never the ballad which I personally think is one of the most beautiful peices of music, period.
Here is the ballad from the film so you can hear what the original score sounded like:
Here is Shawn's Version:
For those who have never heard of Shawn Lane, he was probably the biggest underground guitar player in the US. He won guitar contests at 13 and went on tour with Black Oak Arkansas at 16 in 1978.
He had amazing fluidity and dexterity and was also a master pianist. Shawn finally got a record deal in 1991. Powers of Ten was an interesting debut and Lane went on to work with other great musicians like Jonas Hellborg and Michael Shrieve.
Shawn suffered from Psoriasis and also had Psoriatic Arthritis. The drugs he had to take for these conditions caused him to gain a huge amount of weight and finally caused his death of Pulmonary Fibrosis at the age of 40.
This should be a radio station. At least this has variety. When you can get Sergio Mendes, Aaron Copland and people I've never heard of it can only be this side of heaven.
Mike Nesmith on his way to "Rio." (Just a fun song.)
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Chris
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!
This past week I launched (with a little help from some friends) my own new website, DEWEY'S TRAILER PARK! For anyone who has enjoyed the "Dewey's Record Party" and "Connie & Chet's Trailer Park" threads, it should provide hours of amusement and edification!
I hope you all take a minute to stop by and check it out. I'll probably be spending a little less time on these boards (at least for a while) but fully intend to keep posting on the wonderful Oasis site. I'd also like to thank everyone here who has supported (especially Moira) and participated (especially Ben) in these threads all summer long!
xox - Dewey
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