Little is known (by me) about theater organist Jesse Crawford. Big in the 1920s and 1930s, he received the “Decca treatment” on this 195? mono release of Over the Rainbow. Though I generally steer clear of organ-based wobblers, I couldn’t pass up the amazing cover art, depicting a sensationally colorful, and spectrum-spanning pipe organ. This copy is also signed by Mr. Crawford, so that helped matters.
Category Archives: art
London, USA
The American London Group. Simple. Elegant. Secure. They certainly don’t make ’em like they used to.
P&L
For good measure, let’s try Peace & Love.
The Bomb, Dmitri… the Hydrogen Bomb!
In 1964, the greatest film the world has ever known exploded onto the pale faces of Western civilization. Today, I obtained the closest thing to an officially released soundtrack from this, my all-time favorite film, Dr. Strangelove. Dropping the same year as the film, this various artist comp features a total of 13 tracks, with only one of them being featured in the aforementioned film. But that’s certainly ok, and completely without contention, for you see, this album, with all its 1964-infused Dr. Strangelove poster art, is for visual stimulation, instead of those more pleasing to the ear. I’m elated to welcome the most recent addition to my billowing record collection, Dr. Strangelove and Other Great Movie Themes.
Let the Art Speak for Itself: The Wall
Inner gatefold, The Wall, 1979 – Sleeve design by Gerald Scarfe and Roger Waters
MCA for the Save
So, what do you do when you’re halfway into work and the piercing notion strikes that, once again, you forgot to snap a few pics for the day’s post?! Some would veer their car off the next overpass, while others would make up some vague excuse, double back, and snatch the visual interpretation of one’s daily obsession. So… what did I do? I cursed myself, countless times, and left it up to “oh, well, we’ll figure it out” as a viable, and ONLY option.
So, here’s a photo of a mid-seventies MCA Records logo. Swallowed up by the mighty Universal Music Group, MCA Records gasped its last, fleeting breath back in 2003.
RIP MCA.
Missing Arts
Saw this in the kitchen at work yesterday and had to yoink it. An esteemed apology to my coworkers for a missing Arts section in Tuesday’s edition of the Times. (I’ll be more than happy to return it now that this has been posted.)
I’ve yet to fully read the article, but it looks as though Mr. Claas Brieler and his 25k collection made it into the new book, Dust & Grooves. Congrats to him and to record collectors everywhere. The bar has been set, if only momentarily.
The Prudent Groove 