DJTees Blog

This is where I indulge in my passions - VINYL & ROCK 'n' ROLL

Unusual formats, well worth collecting...

Unusual formats, well worth collecting...

Authored By John Nicholson

Singles are 7”, albums are 12” right? Well, most of the time, but there are exceptions that are well worth collecting. I have a 6” single by Spirit. I have no idea why it’s 6 inches, it provides a little bit of extra time, and that’s it. In the 1930s, some transcription discs were 16″s, cut onto aluminium and used to broadcast radio shows. As far back as the ’50s there were 6″ and 8″ children’s stories and nursery rhymes that spun at 78rpm, sometimes on splatter or sunburst coloured vinyl.In the 1960’s there was a fad for ‘pocket-sized’ 4” records,...

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The funniest gig...

The funniest gig...

Authored By John Nicholson

The funniest thing I ever saw at a concert was at Middlesbrough Town Hall in the mid-70s. Camel were touring their Snow Goose album. I really liked Camel, though it has to be said that they were very serious po-faced boys and they played this concept album with all due solemnity. This made what was to happen even funnier.We had seats on the balcony. To our right were some empty seats with ‘reserved’ pinned to them on sheets of paper. We thought nothing of it until the encore, when a team of half a dozen roadies arrived as the band took...

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The curse of having hit records...

The curse of having hit records...

Authored By John Nicholson

I have everything Steve Miller has ever released including the first not-on-album single as a demo, so when I saw him live it was a special moment. It was a Konocti Harbor resort in northern California about 15 years ago.It was an open air gig and came after a hot summer day. As a big fan I wanted to hear pre-Fly Like An Eagle songs, but most of the set was drawn from Book Of Dreams and Eagle, although they are great, popular albums, they’re quite middle of the road AOREven so. The crowd liked it. At least until he...

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Do you remember the first record you ever bought?

Do you remember the first record you ever bought?

Authored By John Nicholson

Do you remember the first record you ever bought? There's usually a lot of stretching of the truth because a naff single is most people’s choice of record. Mine was Manfred Mann’s Do Wah Diddy which my parents bought for little Johnny in the mid 60s. But as we know, that doesn't count because I didn’t buy it with my own money. So I had to wait until 1971 when I bought Best of Status Quo which I absolutely loved and which set me on the path to loving blues-rock.Later, the first single I bought was by The Kinks, Supersonic...

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When did you begin to collect records?

When did you begin to collect records?

Authored By John Nicholson

It’s one of the most asked questions from people, once they know of my 10,000+ collection. The truth is I never ‘started’, I just bought a lot of music because I loved educating myself about it, devouring and collecting as I went. I've always bought second hand records which were cheap. In fact I still buy stuff because it’s cheap. You’ve not much to lose if it's rubbish.One of the first bands I collected was Ten Years After. I used to love finding an old record by them, the copy of Recorded Live, a particular passion. I only had maybe...

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Do we have any big bands anymore?

Do we have any big bands anymore?

Authored By John Nicholson

Do we have any big bands anymore? When we were kids it was clear. Bands like Sabbath and Purple and Zeppelin were at the top of the tree. They charted in the top five and the demand for tickets was huge and you had to sleep on the streets to get one.These days it's different. Tracks by bands get downloaded millions of times, but they have little presence or cut through. Sometimes the downloads are free so the figure does not represent desire or support for the band. It all feels very disposable.Vinyl sales were the largest since the early...

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The Day I Almost Met Robert Plant...

The Day I Almost Met Robert Plant...

Authored By John Nicholson

I don’t recall why we decided to go to Banbury, the time it wasn’t held in Banbury but at Broughton Castle, but we decided to build it into a holiday. Anyway, we set off doing what hippie people did back then; we hitch-hiked. Imagine getting into strangers' cars? You never see hitchhikers now, but back then it was very common.We always thought our chances of getting a ride were good as boyfriend and girlfriend. We didn’t appear to be obviously murderers. I don’t recall any of the lifts we had or any of the generous spirits who gave us a...

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Bootleg Banter...

Bootleg Banter...

Authored By John Nicholson

Bootlegs. They ain't what they used to be. Remember what a hip credibility they had in the 1970’s? If you knew someone had one they had real cred. My pal Russell had a few including Led Zeppelin at Kezar Stadium 1973. It was a Flying Pig recording. I'll tell you what, that recording was a bit rough and ready but it showed Zep as a killer band.And that’s the thing. I never understood the hostility to them from bands. It was obvious that only big fans wanted what was sometimes a hand held live recording. I get that the band...

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Be Bop Deluxe Delights...

Be Bop Deluxe Delights...

Authored By John Nicholson

Unless you were a dedicated groover in the mid-seventies, BBD could have passed you by. From ‘74 to ‘78 they released 5 studio albums, a brilliant live album and compilations. Four albums made the charts, but the first Axe Victim didn’t.Initially they were part of glam rock’s more musical wing. Leader, Bill Nelson was and is a smoking guitarist, more lyrical than most. But it was the third Sunburst Finish which first charted and stands as their primo studio offering.The live album was recorded during the Modern Music tour and shows a tight band with a unique sound. Nelson is...

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Early Dead Albums...

Early Dead Albums...

Authored By John Nicholson

It all depends on which door you come into the Grateful Dead. If you're later to the party, and joined after Live/Dead, especially if your first exposure is Wake of the Flood (one of my personal favourites) you might love the jazz/folk tinge to their work, or if your point of entry is Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty they were a kind of more adventurous hip version of CSNY. But if you started your journey at the beginning, and you love the acid rock days, you will have had to go through a lot of assumptions of what the band...

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Quadraphonic Failure...

Quadraphonic Failure...

Authored By John Nicholson

For a time in the mid 1970s you were not taking audio seriously if you were not also releasing your albums in quad. It acquired status. The serious audiophile ensconced in a stores’ listening booth, stroked their chin and confirmed the superiority of the sound. I’ve got, by accident, some quad albums, including Chicago at Carnegie Hall. Despite claims to the contrary, now and then, I can't tell any difference. Admittedly I’ve always found those blokes (it’s always blokes) in the listening booths to be over precious. I have never been an audiophile wanting to listen to a perfect recording...

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Seeing Led Zeppelin Knebworth Festival August 4th 1979...

Seeing Led Zeppelin Knebworth Festival August 4th 1979...

Authored By John Nicholson

I don’t think I quite realised the full import of seeing Led Zeppelin at the Knebworth festival. The fact it was their first appearance in the UK since 1975 was a big thing. I was 18, four years seemed a hell of a long time to me, but I was too young to appreciate the rock n roll significance of the day. It should also be remembered that it was assumed they were back and would tour Europe and USA into 1980 and 1981. The death of John Bonham was on nobody's radar. It was widely assumed not that we...

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A Short History of Folk Rock...

A Short History of Folk Rock...

Authored By John Nicholson

Folk rock is a dangerous genre. Before you know it you’re dancing around the maypole singing hey nonny nonny, but rock fans shouldn’t worry, there is much to be enjoyed. The crucial lynchpin album is Liege and Lief by Fairport Convention. It's their third album and is a magical record that blends traditional song with a very modern rock sound. There’s songs which are long workouts like Matty Groves, an adaption of a traditional song which shows offRichard Thompson’s innovative playing. This album invented folk rock which subsequently took several different journey’s. Steeleye Span were initially more folky, but changed style...

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The Grateful Dead’s Terrapin Station...

The Grateful Dead’s Terrapin Station...

Authored By John Nicholson

For a bunch of acid heads Terrapin Station is on the face of things, unlikely. For a start it’s got Paul Buckmaster strings on it. Not a very acid rock thing to do. But the Dead played by their own rules. Many Deadheads think it’s a poor album, but I disagree. It’s different and has a lovely grandiose theme. It’s not really what you’d expect and is all the better for itUnusually it was produced by Keith Olson. The first side is brilliant songs like Estimated Prophet, which they play live regularly and expand the sax part with a stellar...

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Brand X: The jazz rock noodle you need

Brand X: The jazz rock noodle you need

Authored By John Nicholson

In the second half of the seventies, jazz rock, characterised by fast guitar and wonky rhythm's, enjoyed a few years of popularity. One of my favourites is Brand X. Almost totally instrumental, their line up featured Phil Collins for a period. Everyone has chops to burn and they deployed some exciting dynamics. Their debut was Unorthodox Behaviour. It featured Euthanazia Waltz which was a statement of intent. John Goodsall’s guitar was remarkable for speed and rhythm.If you wanted songs to sing along to, this wasn’t that. But if you wanted a blur of lead guitar played against a mellow background,...

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