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Whats on your turntable tonight?

For me its the first or very early LP's of:
Allman Brothers - "Allman Joys" "Idyllwild South"
Santana - "Santana" 200 g reissue
Emerson Lake and Palmer - "Emerson Lake and Palmer"
and,
Beethoven - "Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major" Rudolph Serkin/Ozawa/BSO
slipknot1
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,788 posts
 

I loved Procol Harum's first three albums at the time of their release, and still do. Then organist Matthew Fisher left the group, and their style and sound changed dramatically. The fourth album---Home---was not at all to my liking, Robin Trower’s rather clichéd white-boy Blues style of guitar playing coming far too center stage for me. I saw them live in 1970, and they struck me as just another British Blues-Rock band, a genre I find dreadfully boring. It was a shame, because the Matthew Fisher-era PH was a unique, magnificently Baroque-ish musical group. I wrote PH off, never desiring to hear another of their albums.

Had Trower left by the time of Grand Hotel? I’ll look it up. Perhaps his departure for a solo career returned PH to their former glory. Art Dudley often mentions Grand Hotel in his reviews, and now with reubent’s endorsement---my musical taste aligns with his---I believe I need to hear the album.

slaw's avatar
slaw
21,396 posts
 
As far as sonics go, I have "GH" on a WLP and Sweet Thunder. The WLP is far superior.
loomisjohnson
1,941 posts
 
bdp, also check out exotic birds and fruit, which despite being post-matthew fisher and robin trower, is surprisingly great, with at least 3-4 classic tunes. keith reid's lyrics are more straightforward and less surreal than usual and gary brooker (a hugely underrated singer imo) sounds excellent.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,788 posts
 
Thanks fellas, I'll look for both. I agree loomis, Brooker is one of the better UK singers. He, Van Morrison, little Stevie Winwood, Steve Marriott, Paul Jones (Manfred Mann), and Paul Rodgers come to mind. All obviously indebted first and foremost to Ray Charles, as too are so many US singers. Brooker is sort of the British Richard Manuel (The Band, of course), not only singing similarly (though Manuel is very, very special to me, as he is to Eric Clapton), but playing piano in the same style---block chords, rather than laced with gratuitous arpeggios ala Elton John and Billy Joel (blech). 
loomisjohnson
1,941 posts
 
richard manuel's a real good analogy--i hear him as somewhat sweeter-sounding than ray charles, but he had in any event a great, soulful voice. i like all your other picks, too, but steve marriott was my main man--he's the great white soul shouter.
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