Music Junkies: Original Album Series is Your New Drug of Choice!
Recently, I fell down a rabbit hole. You know that, when you’re in a rabbit hole, or any other kind of hole, the best advice is to stop digging, then work at getting out.
I am so good at ignoring advice.
I am obsessed with music, with 5000 LPs and 3000 CDs cluttering my house. Wait! Did I say cluttering? I meant adorning. Anyway, I am always on the lookout for music new and old.
The rabbit hole adventure began when I was looking for more music from Man, the amazing Welsh jam rockers who began at the end of the ’60s and had a robust career through the ’70s with numerous reunions after that. (We just posted an obit on one of the band’s founders, Deke Leonard.) I have most of their albums on vinyl and many on CD.
Suddenly, up popped Man: Original Album Series. FIVE albums in a box set. For about $15. And that set had three albums I did not have digitally. And then I found Man: Original Album Series Vol. 2! I didn’t have THREE of those in any format!
And I was hooked. Then I saw a set from Bonzo Dog Band (affectionately known as Bonzo “Doo-Dah” Dog Band. All five original albums! On the way to me now: Kevin Ayers, Passport and The Meters.
You can find these box sets anywhere in the $10 to $22 range. There are, as always, caveats. The CDs are in cardboard sleeves that are faithful reproductions of the original albums. There are no gatefold covers and no liner notes of any sort. The back of the box clearly lists all of the tracks on each album.
If you are looking for extensive extras, this is not the place for you. If, however, you just want to enjoy the music, then this is the rabbit hole for you.
On the official website, I found 131 of these box sets. They are “Made in the EU.” Parlophone and Warners have their logos on the boxes. In a cursory search, I found sets released from 2010 to 2013, but I suspect the range is wider than that. AND HOW DID I MISS THESE UNTIL NOW?
So what sorts of artists can you find on Original Album Series?
The Byrds, Fleetwood Mac, Jethro Tull, Ten Years After, Neil Young, The Doobie Brothers and Little Feat
Modern Jazz Quartet, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Charles Mingus, Herbie Hancock, and Wayne Shorter
King’s X, Judas Priest, Dr. Feelgood, Ministry, X, Alice Cooper, Yes, and Stone Temple Pilots
Carly Simon, Randy Newman, Al Stewart, Linda Ronstadt, Emmy Lou Harris, Bette Midler, Bonnie Raitt, and k.d. lang
Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack, Chic, Curtis Mayfield, Margie Joseph, Missy Elliott, and Wilson Pickett
Not esoteric enough? How about a-ha, Aztec Camera, Tim Buckley, Roy Wood, Brinsley Schwarz, Mike Oldfield and Incredible String Band?
They have 49 vinyl releases (single albums), including The Madcap Laughs by Syd Barrett, the first album from Crazy Horse, Joni Mitchell’s Court and Spark and Kick Out the Jams from The MC5.
And there are BIG box sets of CDs. 18 disks from Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Ten covering Joni Mitchell from ’68 to ’79. A dozen from Ry Cooder’s ’70 to ’87 recordings. Ten from Chicago.
There are also compilations such as Psychedelia, German Rock Classics, Kraut Rock and more.
Here is an example of what you can expect (and all track listings are available for every release). The Fleetwood Mac set includes what are probably five of my very favorites: Then Play On, Kiln House, Future Games, Bare Trees and Mystery to Me. Those are five brilliant recordings that many people may not have (although you should, said the music pusher). RadGumbo: The Complete Warner Brothers Years 1971-1990 has all dozen albums from Little Feat.
THIS IS A RABBIT HOLE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
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