The Chi-Lites - A Letter To Myself

Americans have been singing since the first Europeans and Africans began arriving in North America in the sixteenth century. Work songs, hymns, love songs, dance tunes, humorous songs, and parodies, such songs provide a record of American history, serving both as historical sources and also as subjects of historical investigation. During the colonial, revolutionary, and federal periods, 1607-1820, most American songs were strongly tied to the musical traditions of the British isles. Hymn tunes, ballads, theater songs, and drinking songs were imported from England or based closely on English models. The main exceptions were the hymns of German speaking communities in Pennsylvania, the music of African American slave communities, and the songs of New Orleans, which were closely linked to the French West Indies and to France. Those exceptions aside, the most distinctively American songs were patriotic ones, like Yankee Doodle and the Star Spangled Banner, and even these were adaptations of English originals.

American song in the second half of the nineteenth century underwent a tremendous commercial expansion, which extended into the twentieth century and indeed has not abated today. Initially, sheet music and pocket songsters were the primary means of circulating songs, since many Americans played and sang music in their own homes. The music publishing industry was increasingly concentrated in New York City’s famous Tin Pan Alley by the 1880s. After that point, however, songs also came to be bought, sold, and preserved in a succession of new media, sound recordings and player pianos in the 1890s, radio in the 1920s, movie sound tracks in the late 1920s, television in the 1950s, cassette tapes in the early 1960s, CDs in the early 1980s, DVDs in the mid 1990s, and MP3s in the late 1990s. This commercial expansion meant that more songs were composed, performed, produced, and consumed in the United States, as well as exported to, and received from, the rest of the world.

Sources: Making Sense of American Popular Song by John Spitzer and Ronald G. Walters*

The Chi-Lites - A Letter To Myself

• Released in: March 1973
• Written by: Eugene Record
• Genre: Chicago Soul, Psychedelic Soul, Soul

"The group formed in the late 1950s when Eugene Record, Robert Lester, and Clarence Johnson, teamed up with Marshall Thompson and Creadel Jones to form The Hi-lites. They changed their name to the Chi-Lites in 1964  to add a tribute to their home town of Chicago."

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* Making Sense of American Popular Song by John Spitzer and Ronald G. Walters

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Magic Sam - Chi-Town Boogie

Dancing in Your Head their refusal to abide by traditional values, their racy lyrics, the sexual innuendo of their rhythms, the goings on where they perform, their references to black magic and other vestigial descendants of African belief systems. In their turn, the feelings of blues folk toward their religious brethren have run an apparently bewildering gamut. Many blues greats shuttled between the sacred and the profane. Some of them, like Skip James, lapsed into silence for decades because they wouldn't sing the devil's music once they returned to the church... Interestingly, there's also a small but dynamic tradition of spiritual blues singers. Some are collected on Preachin the Gospel.

This meeting of the sacred and profane has flowed in the other direction as well. The '40s harmonies of groups like the Mills Brothers and the Ink Spots were gospel derived, and paved the way for the '50s doo woppers who likewise crossed gospel into pop. Sixties soul music and soul jazz also grew directly out of gospel, which turns on pyrotechnic vocal exhortations and improvisations.
Source: Dancing in Your Head Jazz, Blues, Rock, and Beyond  by Gene Santoro

Magic Sam - Chi-Town Boogie

• Genre: Blues, Chicago Blues
• Recorded in: Unknown

"Magic Sam he was signed by Cobra Records and became well known as a bluesman after the release of his first record, "All Your Love", in 1957. He was known for his distinctive tremolo guitar playing."

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Richard & Linda Thompson - Did She Jump or Was She Pushed?

The most noticeable characteristic of African music is the heavy emphasis on rhythm. Many in our culture have mental images of the savage drumming from old movies shot in Africa, but in reality, the rhythmic content of the music is very sophisticated. Often contrasting, syncopated rhythms, each played by a different musician, are superimposed on each other, creating a polyrhythmic effect that is so complex that it cannot be written down using standard music notation.

African harmony and melody is equally complex, although to European trained ears, it often is characterized as simple and primitive. Once again, part of the problem rests with the urge to interpret one culture through the standards of another. One commonly observed quality of African melody is the strong reliance on a five note pentatonic scale, on a piano, this can be approximated by playing the black keys only.

Another important aspect of African music is the importance of improvisation. Many instrumental performances are comprised of short melodic phrases that are repeated for long periods of time, sometimes hours, with slight variations that are introduced at the whim of the player. Improvisation is perhaps most notable in vocal performances, where a commonly used technique is call and response, with one lead singer issuing the call, and the rest of the participants providing the response. The very nature of call and response lends itself to much variation and improvisation.

African music is also characterized by the close relationship between instrumental music and speech. People in every culture talk using countless inflections and variations of pitch and tonality to enhance their delivery. Most African instruments are played in a way that imitates the human voice, using tonal inflections, slurred attacks, and bending of pitches. The talking drum, which when played by an experienced musician can produce an almost perfect copy of human speech, is found throughout Africa. Other instruments such as xylophones, flutes, and trumpets are also played in this way.

Source: History and Tradition of Jazz by Thomas Larson

Richard & Linda Thompson - Did She Jump or Was She Pushed?

• Released in: 1982
• Genre: Rock, Folk Rock
• Written by: Richard & Linda Thompson

"From 1973 to 1982, British folk legend Richard Thompson recorded as a duo with his wife Linda Thompson. This period saw a great amount of critical praise for Richard's songwriting and Linda's voice."

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Jim Morrison - An American Prayer

Live performances show an equally important, but typically neglected, side of smooth jazz. Live performances enable performers to extend solos, interact with each other, and communicate directly with the audience. While recordings are a useful source for musical analysis, smooth jazz, like other styles of jazz, is an improvisatory music that utilizes multiple sites of production and cannot be accurately judged on recordings alone.

Each of these performance sites hosts specific kind of dialogues. Using genre studies borrowed from literary, popular music, and jazz scholars, I examine these unique interactions based on audience expectations. I argue that audiences expect different musical, social, and physical gestures according to each performance site. These expectations can be complied with, bent, or broken.

Many critics, scholars, and musicians have dismissed smooth jazz as a distant and unappealing offshoot of mainstream jazz, a synthetic and soulless commercial enterprise, or simply as a style not worthy of consideration. My experience with this style has shown that there is as much validity in smooth jazz as there is in any other jazz style. In fact, the disdain that mainstream critics and scholars have for smooth jazz has fueled my interest. After all, the mainstream jazz community has historically expressed contempt for swing, bebop, soul jazz, hard bop, funk, rock and roll, and fusion. My intent is not necessarily to place smooth jazz within the standard jazz narrative but to show that peripheral or scorned jazz styles merit examination.
Source: Caught Between Jazz and Pop: The Contested Origins, Criticism, Performance Practice, and Reception of Smooth Jazz by Aaron J. West

Jim Morrison - An American Prayer

• Release Date :November, 1978
• Written by: Jim Morrison
• Genre: Pop/Rock, Spoken Word

"The Doors were born when Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek who met again, unexpectedly, during the summer of 1965. Morrison was invited to join Manzarek’s group, Rick and the Ravens, on the strength of his poetry. Robby Krieger and John Densmore, who’d played together in the band Psychedelic Rangers, were recruited soon thereafter."

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Jimi Hendrix - All Along The Watchtower

Until approximately the 1960s, songs were marketed in print form primarily as sheet music, including a composed piano accompaniment. Beginning around 1930, chord symbols were often also provided, for guitarists and for pianists who did not read music well enough to play the written out accompaniments.

Jazz musicians have always tended to reduce song arrangements to a basic harmonic framework, in order to create the space needed for improvisation and chord symbol notation would have helped them to do this. In the early 1940s, a commercial product called Tune Dex Cards presented songs with just melody and chord symbols, suggesting a general acceptance by musicians of what we now call lead sheet format. When jazz musicians of the 1940s wrote their own tunes, they probably would have used lead sheet format, notating the harmonic accompaniment with chord symbols, rather than with a piano arrangement. Early, illegal fake books used this format as well.

Since the 1960s, jazz education, once nearly non existent, has become widespread. This has created a market for lead sheet versions of standards, intended for improvisers. At the same time, amateur music making no longer means gathering around the piano to read through sheet music arrangements. In the print music market, sheet music has now been almost entirely supplanted by fake books.

The quality of fake books has improved considerably over the last half century. In the 1950s and 1960s, fake books were generally encountered as poorly edited bootleg collections, they are now produced legally, and publishers usually make at least some effort at accuracy. The current approach to indicating harmony is the approach that jazz musicians favor, reduction to a basic functional framework. Chord progressions are often altered, and stated in terms of harmonic cliches, standard devices that are easy for improvisers to work with.

In the 1940s, our list of jazz standards shows a growing number of tunes composed by jazz performers. These compositions in many cases never appeared in printed form, but were marketed to the public only as recordings. If they ever were notated, it would probably have been in lead sheet form, for the benefit of the composer and his fellow musicians. The harmonic language was basically that of the previous decade, with the addition of some modern devices.

Source: Jazz Standards: Harmony and Form by Peter Spitzer

Jimi Hendrix - All Along The Watchtower

• Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Classic Rock
• Released on: Electric Ladyland Album
• Written by: Bob Dylan

"Jimi Hendrix was the recipient of several music awards during his lifetime and posthumously. In 1967, readers of Melody Maker voted him the Pop Musician of the Year, and in 1968, Rolling Stone declared him the Performer of the Year."

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Gerry Mulligan - Aren't You Glad You're You (feat. Chet Baker)

The strains of blues, gospel, and R&B that figured in the music of many hard bop musicians led to the development of soul jazz, which eventually led to the development of fusion and electric experiments in jazz.

There were developments such as the organ/tenor sax combo, which brought bluesy Hammond B-3 and the open sounds of a variety of hard driving R&B tenor sax players. Bebop had set jazz and R&B on divergent paths, and cool jazz further solidified jazz’s status as art music, but hard bop seemed designed to reconcile the two and to incorporate newly developing elements of black music into the jazz genre.

Many jazz purists deride the Hammond B-3 players, judging them to be playing blues or soul music and outside the parameters of jazz, but there’s no doubt that these organists were bona fide jazz players... Soul jazz may be seen as a further outgrowth of hard bop, but it should be noted that many hard bop players remained very clearly within the confines of mainstream jazz even while mining components of blues and R&B. Others, like Jackie McLean, Dexter Gordon, and Sonny Rollins, to name but three, were influenced by hard bop but continued to mine the more harmonically complex areas of bebop itself.
Source: Hard Bop, Post Bop & Soul Jazz by Marshall Bowden

Gerry Mulligan - Aren't You Glad You're You (feat. Chet Baker)

• First recording: September 6, 1945
• Written by: Jimmy Van Heusen
• Released on: Gerry Mulligan Quartet Album

"Gerry Mulligan is primarily known as one of the leading baritone saxophonists in jazz history. Mulligan's pianoless quartet of the early 1950s with trumpeter Chet Baker is still regarded as one of the more important cool jazz groups."

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Storing and Caring for Vinyl Records

Storing and Caring for Vinyl Records

The phonograph was invented in 1877 and played delicate cylinders wrapped in foil, later cylinders were wax, and now PVC vinyl. Vinyl records are one of the most stable physical sound recording formats ever developed. Vinyl records can last for decades if cared for properly.


Image by Mick Haupt


Environment For Storing Vinyl
Vinyl can withstand low temperatures very well. It’s the heat that you need to worry about. Anything above 120°F (50°C) and your records will begin to warp. When storing them, cooler is better. It’s fine if you keep your records at room temperature, or around 65 to 70°F (18 to 21°C). Long term storage, below 50°F (7 to 10°C).

The softer and more pliable texture used today withstands these cold temperatures, but unfortunately can cause this warping effect when placed in a heated environment. You can’t store your vinyl records in a garage, unless it is climate controlled. Garages tend to get too hot and humid in the summer months.

Protective Vinyl Sleeves
It wasn’t uncommon to see advice like keep your records away from sunlight, away from any known heat source, and upright without any additional or unnecessary weight on top of them. Paper is better than PVC, but polythene is better than paper. Paper releases its own dust, which can cause damage to records. Some paper sleeves contain dyes, which could also damage records. Paper will also retain moisture, which can cause mold to form on your collection. If you go for paper sleeves, you should get ones that have an anti static plastic lining.

Polythene is a plastic based product and does not react nearly as harshly to warmer conditions when compared to PVC. 

Keeping Your Vinyl Clean
Lightly using warm water or hot water are sometimes used but there is no real benefit. If at all possible, the water should be distilled and deionized, otherwise the impurities will remain on the surface of the record. If there are no fingerprints or other oily smudges on the record, you can get away with using just water, which is actually better for the record, otherwise a record cleaning solution is a better choice.

Carbon fiber brushes or microfiber cloths are ideal, they remove any static charge that keeps dust sticking to the record’s surface. A decent alternative are those cloths you use to clean glasses or cell phone screens.

Cleaning records by hand will be the go to method for most vinyl enthusiasts and cleaning by hand is more than sufficient for protecting your records.

Image by Cosmoh Love


Importance of proper vinyl storage
Keeping your records clean ensures the longevity of your records, your equipment and getting the best sound and listening experience.

Records collect dirt, dust and debris even when they are well cared for. Removing as much as possible on a regular basis is essential. Dust and debris becomes embedded in the grooves of the record affecting the sound quality over time.

For more vinyl storing information:
How To Store Vinyl Records (8 Tips To Protect Your Albums)
Why shouldn't you use PVC sleeves for storing vinyl records?
How To Clean Vinyl Records Without Damaging Them
The Safest Ways to Clean Vinyl Records: A Guide (With Pictures)

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The Clientele - These Days Nothing But Sunshine

Several terms, such as jazz rock, rock jazz, jazz funk and jazz rock fusion have been suggested for the various styles that ultimately became known by the generic term fusion. As was the case with the terms cool jazz, bebop and hard bop, it is likely that journalists initially established their widespread acceptance... Because this seems to be the most prevalent literary practice, I have used it throughout this text. Before proceeding however, a brief clarification of these terms and their actual meanings is in order.

The terms jazz rock and rock jazz have been used loosely as synonyms to describe music containing elements from jazz and rock. Following the linguistic logic in which the first word of a compound defines an overall category determined by the second word, jazz rock would be comparable to terms like heavy rock, punk rock and others that subcategorize rock music. Following this analogy, the term rock jazz would be parallel to terms like soul jazz, free jazz and Indo jazz that define subcategories of jazz. The term jazz funk only applies to a fraction of the styles within jazz rock, mainly those typified by certain works by Miles Davis and John McLaughlin, that took their rhythmic frameworks from funk music.

The term fusion was generally used in the early days of jazz rock as a broad category. It has later been used widely, particularly in the USA, to describe commercially oriented music containing elements of rock and jazz, sometimes also called pop jazz. The term fusion also refers to other musical combinations than those of jazz and rock. Jazz and rock were themselves originally fusions of elements from several musical traditions. The common denominator for the applicability of the term fusion is the simultaneous presence of elements from the traditions of both rock and jazz that clearly dominate an overall sonic picture occasionally embellished with elements from other musical traditions. In conclusion, jazz rock fusion is a fusion of fusions. What fusion music fused was the atmospheric tendencies of modal jazz with the rhythm patterns of rock.

Source: Early Jazz-Rock : the music of Miles Davis, 1967-72 by Jarno Kukkonen

The Clientele - These Days Nothing But Sunshine

• Written by: Alasdair MacLean and Pat Sansone
• Genre: Pop Rock, Indie Rock
• Release Date: May 8, 2007

"Alasdair MacLean on vocals and guitar, Mark Keen on drums, James Hornsey on bass and Mel Draisey on Keys and Violin. Mel Draisey joined the band in 2006 just in time for band's second tour."

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The Rolling Stones - Come To The Ball

Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated as R&B or RnB, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when urban, rocking, jazz based music with a heavy, insistent beat was becoming more popular. In the commercial rhythm and blues music typical of the 1950s through the 1970s, the bands usually consisted of piano, one or two guitars, bass, drums, saxophone, and sometimes background vocalists. R&B lyrical themes often encapsulate the African American experience of pain and the quest for freedom and joy. Lyrics focus heavily on the themes of triumphs and failures in terms of relationships, freedom, economics, aspirations, and sex.

The term was used in Billboard as early as 1943. It replaced the term race music, which originally came from within the black community, but was deemed offensive in the postwar world. The term rhythm and blues was used by Billboard in its chart listings from June 1949 until August 1969, when its Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart was renamed as Best Selling Soul Singles. Before the Rhythm and Blues name was instated, various record companies had already begun replacing the term race music with sepia series. In 2010 LaMont Robinson founded the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame Museum.

The term rhythm and blues has undergone a number of shifts in meaning. In the early 1950s it was frequently applied to blues records. Starting in the mid-1950s, after this style of music contributed to the development of rock and roll, the term R&B became used to refer to music styles that developed from and incorporated electric blues, as well as gospel and soul music. In the 1960s, several British rock bands... were referred to and promoted as being RnB bands, This tangent of RnB is now known as British rhythm and blues. By the 1970s, the term rhythm and blues changed again and was used as a blanket term for soul and funk. In the 1980s, a newer style of R&B developed, becoming known as Contemporary R&B. It combines elements of rhythm and blues, soul, funk, pop, hip hop and dance.

Source: Rhythm & Blues Historia Dicográfica by German Hinojosa

The Rolling Stones - Come To The Ball

• Vocals overdubs: Spring 2021
• Written by: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
• Released: August 24 1981

"The Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically driven sound that came to define hard rock. Their first stable line-up consisted of vocalist Mick Jagger, multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones, guitarist Keith Richards, bassist Bill Wyman, and drummer Charlie Watts."

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Mary Mary - Somebody

Thus, it can be said that there is no general definition for popular music. From the historical view, popular music was any non folk form that gained incredible popularity. Popular music reflects the mutual enrichment of styles and it represents a combination of visions. The term popular music hides a wide range of musical endeavours and originates like other types of music for a long time. Popular music has a high spectrum from folk music through operetta to jazz or country and musicals on Broadway to current music. Kinds of popular music have their roots in social music and go back to film and pop in industrialized countries. Popular music features focus on entertainment, relaxation or dancing. Basically, all kinds of music have a clear purpose, and it means to entertain the listeners. Throughout history, a number of popular musical styles have evolved, growing gradually with time and with new artists. Popular music is one of those musical styles that mostly distributed commercially and the growing success of this music among listeners has attracted the attention of music publishers. The most important styles of popular music include, Jazz, Country and Western, Hip-Hop, Rap, Pop, Rhythm and Blues, and Rock and Roll.

The development of American popular music in particular was influenced by race, social status, culture, and gender. Not all artists were treated equally, some were not respected at all. However, the conditions for artists from different backgrounds were not the same... All in all, the range, depth, and quality of popular musical styles that have developed in the United States over its lifetime is truly amazing. These styles could not have arisen anywhere else, but are the unique products of the mixing of cultures, geography, technology, and sheer luck that helped disseminate each style. Popular music in America: The Past and the Present by Tereza Vybíralová

Mary Mary - Somebody

• Released on: Thankful album
• Produced by: Warryn Campbell
• Genre: Contemporary R&B

"Mary Mary consisting of sisters Erica Monique Campbell and Trecina Evette Campbell, and are often credited for broadening the fan base of contemporary gospel in the 2000s by introducing elements of soul music and hip hop."

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Duran Duran - Thank You

African American musical genres, the different varieties of blues as well as soul and funk since the 1960s and rap music since the 1970s, also offer novel modes of design with regard to harmony and melody that were adopted by and, in some cases, developed further in other popular music styles. This was already evident in 1950s rock 'n' roll, which was founded on rhythm & blues, and has also been apparent in rock music, which was heavily influenced by rhythm & blues and older varieties of blues since the 1960s. Drawing on this observation, the British musicologist Allan F. Moore derives far reaching conclusions for the harmonic analysis of rock music.

In general... popular songs as hybrid forms of music as their mode of design derives from two traditions: African American musical traditions and the traditions of American Popular Song... While harmony in popular song tradition can be described in terms of functional major minor tonality, with cadences involving the dominant or at least descending fifths, harmony in African American music... opposes such an interpretation. In order to be able to compare songs from the two different traditions in terms of harmony, Moore advocates the use of an overarching modal interpretation framework. In it, the major scale becomes the Ionian mode, the natural minor scale becomes the Aeolian mode. The Mixolydian and Dorian modes are also widespread, while Lydian, Phrygian and Locrian are less common. This understanding of modality is based on a concept of diatonic modes, so called church modes, which is also common in jazz theory, but rather problematic. Moore emphasizes that the assignment of a chord pattern to a mode does not apply to the entire song, but often only works for the duration of the respective chord pattern. This is due to the songs' regular changes of modes, especially with contrasting parts.

Since the chord patterns often include both major third and minor third chords, the semantics of major and minor are barely significant in the analyses presented by Moore. Still, if they are brought into play, the attribution of meaning follows the conventional semantics of bright dark or positive negative. Moore draws on these semantics when it comes to determining the tonal center of a chord pattern... identification of the song's tonality is supported in a rather roundabout way by the semantics of the song's statement, which are probably derived primarily from the lyrics.

Source: Beyond Major and Minor? The Tonality of Popular Music after 1960 by Martin Pfleiderer

Duran Duran - Thank You

• First release by: Led Zeppelin
• Written by: Jimmy Page, Robert Plant
• Release Date: April 4, 1995

"Duran Duran's career has seen more than 100 million record sales worldwide, six Platinum selling records, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And, in 2022, an induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame."

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Vinyl Record Terms

A List of Vinyl Record Terms

A collection of vinyl record terms. A glossary of terms that may be helpful when talking about vinyl records.

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A vinyl record is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near the edge and ends near the center of the disc.


Image by Umberto Cofini


10” - At 33 RPM they hold around 12 - 15 minutes per side and at 45 RPM they hold around 9 - 12 minutes per side. 33 RPM is the most common speed for 10 inch records. Over 15 minutes per side is possible, but may require further adjustments to EQ and/or levels for it all to fit nicely and sound great.

12” - At 33 RPM they hold around 15 - 22 minutes per side and at 45 RPM they hold around 12 - 15 minutes per side. 33 RPM is the most common speed for 12 inch records. Over 22 minutes per side is possible, but may require further adjustments to EQ and/or levels for it all to fit nicely and sound great.

16 2/3 RPM - 16 RPM records were too slow for proper high fidelity sound. Because good quality reproduction was not possible they were mostly used as outlets for the spoken word although there were some exceptions. Radio stations often used the discs for pre recorded radio shows containing interviews, dramas, and documentaries. They became the first Talking Books for the blind.

180 gram - 180 gram gives vinyl a higher implied sound quality. Itis just one aspect of a vinyl's overall quality and sound characteristics. Other factors, including mastering, pressing quality, and playback equipment, also contribute to the listening experience.

200 gram - So called audiophile records, these heavier records are noticeably heavier, thicker and stiffer than lightweight records. The grooves retain their shape better, even with repeated plays. Some even claim that the stiffer vinyl produces a more realistic sound with less distortion than a standard record.

33 1/3 RPM - 33 1/3 RPM vinyl is one of the most common vinyl speeds. These are the standard 12 inch vinyl LPs that you often see in the music aisle or record store. Columbia Discs began selling 33 1/3 RPM records in 1948 as devices to listen to whole classical concerts and symphonies without flipping the record. At that point, these records started to affect the commercial market.

45 RPM - Around 1950, the 45 RPM vinyl record was released, and its size was smaller than others. 45s are only 7 inches in diameter and made to hold just a couple of songs, usually 2, one on either side. RCA Victor released the 45 RPM to compete with Columbia’s 33 1/3. Many radio stations used 45 RPM vinyl records to play artist singles since each side offers one song.

78 RPM - The 78 RPM was widely used before the 33 1/3 became the new standard in 1948. Before the 33, 78s were limited to only 3 minutes of playback per side. Additionally, they were extremely fragile since they were made with shellac material. The grooves on these records are significantly larger than those in later records since they were designed to be played on gramophones, necessitating a larger needle to play the music. Because of this, playing 78s on modern turntables can damage your stylus.

7” - At 45 RPM they hold around 4 - 6 minutes per side. 45 RPM is the most common speed for 7 inch records. Cutting 7 inch records at 33 RPM sound quality is not as good as at 45 RPM.

8ban - The name 8ban derives from the record being approximately 8cm in diameter, with the suffix ban meaning disc or platter. Each record can hold over four minutes of audio and is spun at a 33 1/3 RPM.

Acetate - Acetate records, also known as lacquer discs, are often created during the mastering and recording process by cutting grooves onto a lacquer coated aluminum disc using a lathe, capturing the audio signal directly from the mastering console. They are delicate and prone to wear due to their soft material and lack of protective coating, making them less durable than vinyl. Acetate records offer a unique sound due to their direct cutting process, capturing nuances and imperfections that can be lost in the mass production process.

Album - Is one or more recordings produced as a single unit.

Audiophile Record - Audiophile records are pressed on heavy, virgin vinyl, and the experts pretty much agree, these records sound better than the standard, lightweight records, less than 180 grams. Plenty of jazz, classical and rock selections are available in this heavier format.

Barcode - Barcode or UPC is the way a retail sale is identified, inventory levels are tracked, and sales are credited. Additionally, to participate in the Billboard Charts, your sales must be tracked in the SoundScan system. SoundScan requires you to have a UPC number to record performance.

Binaural Record - Binaural recording is a method of recording sound that uses two microphones, arranged with the intent to create a 3-D stereo sound sensation for the listener of actually being in the room with the performers or instruments.

Bootleg Record - Recordings may be copied and traded among fans without financial exchange, but some bootleggers have sold recordings for profit. Recordings may be copied and traded among fans without financial exchange, but some bootleggers have sold recordings for profit.

Cartridge - This component has a coil that gets hit with vibration inside a magnetic field in the vinyl. These vibrations are converted to a weak electrical signal and passed up the tonearm to a pre amplifier called a phono stage.

Catalog Number - Also known as record number, this is the letter/number combination used by labels or bands to identify releases. This is assigned to every release by the record company to identify that particular release. This is true for vinyl records, compact discs, cassettes, 8 track tapes and DVDs. The number is used to track sales through distributors and for the label's in house accounting purposes. To music sellers, disc jockeys, record collectors and music junkies, a catalog number can identify whether or not a record is rare, imported, out of print or of a certain historic value.

Cheesecake - Cheesecake refers to those albums with covers that prominently feature attractive women for eye-catching purposes. Covers from the ’50s and ’60s feature some of the most beautiful ladies and most creative designs. The cheesecake genre is one which is very popular amongst many in the vinyl community and the covers are collected as much for their visuals as for their music.

Colored Vinyl - A vinyl record pressed onto a colour other than black, which is the standard colour for a vinyl record.

Cover - The cover or outer sleeve is usually cardstock, it hold and contains the artwork of a record.

Cover Mouth - Is the pocket opening of the cover where the record is inserted.

CSG Process (also known as Haeco-CSG) - The Haeco-CSG process was designed to make stereophonic vinyl LP records compatible with mono playback equipment. These recordings were intended to make the two channel stereo mix automatically fold down properly to a single mono channel.

Cut Corner - When LPs were the primary medium for the commercial distribution of sound recordings, manufacturers would cut the corner, punch a hole, or add a notch or saw mark to the spine of the jacket of unsold records returned from retailers. These might then be resold to record retailers or other sales outlets at a discounted price.

Cutout - In the recording industry, a cut-out refers to a deeply discounted or remaindered copy of an LP, 45 RPM single, cassette tape, compact disc or other item.

Dead Wax - The Dead Wax or Run Out Area is the part between the end of the music on the record and the centre label. Almost on every Vinyl Record there is a text inscription in the dead wax usually the catalog and/or matrix number and initials from the cutter.

Deep Groove - A long, narrow hollow cut in a surface with a tool, as the track cut in a phonograph record for the stylus to follow.

Die Cut Sleeve - A die cut sleeve is simply where there is a hole in the middle of the sleeve where the record label can be revealed. These are regularly used 12 inch records where there is no or minimal artwork so that the label itself forms part of the art.

Direct Metal Mastering (also known as DMM) - Direct metal mastering is a similar process to lacquer mastering but utilizes a copper metal disc vs a lacquer coated one. This process creates a stamper directly from the metal master disc.

Direct to Disc - Direct to disc recording refers to sound recording methods that bypass the use of magnetic tape recording and record audio directly onto analog disc masters.

Disco or Euro Sleeve - Used primarily for 7” and 12” singles, this is similar to a regular cover but doesn’t have a side spine and the record goes directly inside without a protective sleeve. You don’t need a spine at the disco. These are usually printed on lighter weight paperboard and can also be used as a printed outer sleeve.

Double Album - A double album or double record is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium, typically either records or compact disc.

Drill Hole - A drill a hole would mark a record as a discontinued. These might then be resold at a significant discount.

Dubplate - Is a ten inch disc used for test recordings by music studios. They create music samples using dubplates. Some record companies choose dubplates for their music before formally storing them on a different vinyl record and assuring the sound quality of a piece using dubplate records resulted in its high profit in the market.

Duophonic - Duophonic sound was a trade name for a type of audio signal processing used by Capitol Records on certain releases and rereleases of mono recordings issued during the 1960s and 1970s. In this process monaural recordings were reprocessed into a type of artificial stereo. Generically, the sound is commonly known as fake stereo or mock stereo.

Dynaflex - Dynaflex is a thin, lightweight vinyl record introduced by RCA Records in late 1969. Rather than using the stiff plastic material used by conventional vinyl pressings, Dynaflex records were softer and pliable, using less material, saving money and also making the record appear to lie flatter on turntables.

Dynagroove - Dynagroove is a recording process introduced in 1963 by RCA Victor that used analog computers to modify the records audio. In theory, the record would have a tonal balance closer to what the listener would hear in a live performance but at louder volumes, records were reproduced with little tonal change.

Extended Play - An extended play or EP record may be cut at both 45 RPM and 33 1/3 RPM, but the run time still varies depending on the size and run time and could store up to five songs. EP records could hold a run time shorter than a long playing vinyl record but longer than vinyl singles. It doesn’t have a standard format like other records.

Flexi Disc - It is a vinyl record made with a flexible, thin material. The audio quality is poor and not as great as other regular vinyl records. Magazines often use flexi disks for giveaways containing popular tracks.

Foxing - Foxing is derived from the chemical Ferric Oxide, which what can cause paper and pulp to deteriorate over time when exposed to oxygen. Record covers with paper backings like those popular in the 60’s, often suffered from turning yellowish brown or reddish rust colored.

Gatefold Cover - Gatefold album covers are those which open up like a book and reveal some interesting visuals and text that can not be seen when the vinyl and cover are still sealed in the store bought shrink wrap. The majority of multi disc vinyl albums used this type of jacket/cover.

Gold Record Award - A Gold record is a song or album that sells 500,000 records, tapes, or compact discs. The award was launched in 1958. Originally, a Gold album represented $1 million in sales, at wholesale value, around a third of the list price.

Hot Stamper - A hot stamper or hot cuts is valued more highly on the basis of a particular combination of lacquer cut, mother and stamper, resulting in a superior sounding record.

Hype Sticker - These stickers can vary in content and purpose. They may include promotional stickers with information about the album, such as hit singles, special features, or limited editions. They can also include pricing stickers, record store promotional stickers, or other markings used to identify the album or provide additional information to potential buyers. The presence of a sticker on the back cover can sometimes affect the collectability and value of the record.

In-House Record Award - In House Record or Record Label awards are, despite the prominence of RIAA Gold and Platinum Awards in the record industry. Record companies still make and present special in house awards to their artists for all sorts of achievements not covered by those RIAA awards.

Inner Sleeve - An Inner Sleeve is the thin paper sleeve where your Record is being placed in for protection. This Inner Sleeve is ussualy put inside the Outer Sleeve. Inner Sleeves can be made of paper in black, white or brown kraftpack, Polylined Inner Sleeves made of paper and lined with a thin plastic layer to preserve the record even better, Printed Inner Sleeves.

Insert - Anything printed onto paper that is going inside your cover is called a printed insert. This could be a liner notes, a multi paged booklet, a folded insert, poster, or flyers. All inserts meant to fit inside a record jacket have to be or folded down to be slightly smaller than the pocket opening.

Instrumental - An instrumental or instrumental song is music normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. 


Image by Joyce G


Jukebox EP - Jukebox EPs were commonly known as compact 33s or little LPs. It was played at 33 1/3 RPM, issued in stereo, pressed on 7 inch vinyl and frequently had as many as six songs. Some songs were omitted for time purposes, and the tracks deemed the most popular were left on.

Label - A label is the round piece of specially produced paper, not a sticker, which is pressed into the middle of the record. This can be a standard white or black label or offset printed with a design of your choice.

Lacquer - Is a lacquer coated aluminum disc, larger than the finished product, that contains all of the grooves that represent the final mastered sound of the recording.

Lead In Groove - The very edge of a vinyl record is free of any music and is dead space to allow the needle to catch when it drops, leading it gently in to the music.

Live Album - A live album is one that was recorded at a concert with a public audience, even when the recording is overdubbed or multi tracked. Recordings that are done in one take without overdubbing or multi tracking are called live, even when done in a studio.

Living Stereo - RCA first stereo recordings were initially issued in 1955 on special stereophonic reel to reel tapes. These records were issued with the Living Stereo logo. RCA has continued to reissue many of these recordings on CD.

Long Play - A long play or LP record is a format for storing and playing music that was introduced in the late 1940s. It quickly became popular and remained the dominant music format for several decades until the rise of digital music in the 1980s and 1990s. Despite its decline in popularity, the LP record remains a beloved format among audiophiles and music collectors.

Marbled Vinyl - Marbled means that multiple colors of PVC for a pressing is used and melted together into the pucks of which vinyl are pressed and made.

Matrix Number - The matrix number is the number etched into the record in the space between the grooves and the label. In most cases, this will be the same as the record number.

Monaural - Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction or mono is sound intended to be heard as if it were emanating from one position. When played through multiple loudspeakers or headphones, identical signals are fed to each speaker, resulting in the perception of one channel sound.

Multicolor Vinyl - Is made of colored PVC mixed with the necessary additives, melted together into the pucks of which vinyl are pressed and made.

Needle - A needle, also referred to as a stylus, is made out of a hard, natural material, often diamond or sapphire. The needle is cone shaped and connected to the cartridge with a thin piece of metal called a cantilever. The needle is the one that is in contact with the record and transmits the vibrations into the cartridge. The needle reads the patterns or grooves in the record so they can be converted into music everybody is familiar with.

Obi - A thin paper strip wrapped around the outside of the sleeve of the LP. They originated in Japan and are usually used to contain information about the record or a track listing. Records with Obi strips are deemed collectable.

Off Center Pressing -  Is when the spindle hole is not central to the grooves stamped on the vinyl. A pressing error that will result in small speed discrepancies as the disc spins. When a record is pressed off center, the stylus can’t track the groove accurately. The most obvious side effect is pitch variation as the record rotates.

Original Cast Recording - Is a recording of a stage musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. Cast recordings are studio recordings rather than live recordings. Like any studio performance, the recording is an idealized rendering, without audible audience reaction.

Outer Sleeve - An Outer Sleeve is the thicker Sleeve that usually contains the artwork of a record, but it can also be a standard black or white version. It can be ordered with or without the middle holes.

Picture Disc - A picture disc is a record which contains an image or the album art on the disc itself.

Picture Sleeve - A picture sleeve is a type of paper or cardboard cover that is used to protect and display a vinyl record. Unlike a plain paper sleeve, a picture sleeve features artwork or photographs.

Pirate Pressing - Pirate records are pressings which contain recorded music which has been previously and legitimately released, but are packaged in such a way as to not fool the buyer into believing they are buying the original item. Pirate pressings may have a different cover, a different title, a different label and record company mentioned on the product, and often may feature all of those things.

Platinum Record Award - In 1975, 500,000 units was added for Gold albums and the Platinum award was created for albums able to sell one million units, and singles selling two million units in 1976.

Promo Only - Is a special pressing of a record that was manufactured specifically for radio station or other promotional, non-retail use.

Promotional Copy - Promotional copy recordings are distributed to commercial AM and FM radio stations for airplay. These singles typically feature just the radio edit of the song, but may also include alternate remix edits, the original album version, or even call out hooks.

Promotional Stamp - Many companies currently offer promotional compilations to DJs, radio use and nightclubs alike. Typically a promo is marked with some variation of "Licensed for promotional use only," or "Sale is prohibited." It may also state that the promo is still the property of the distributor and is to be returned upon demand. However, it is not illegal to sell promotional recordings. 

Provenance - Is the origin of a recording or artwork. The Society of Professional Audio Recording Services developed the SPARS Code, which was common on the back of CD covers from the late eighties to the mid nineties. It specified whether analogue or digital recording mediums were used in each process of the recording for recording, mixing, and mastering. It was used to authenticate the origin of a record.

Punch Hole - Punch hole or promo hole is a hole which has been punched into one of the corners of an album cover to mark a discounted record.

Quadraphonic - Quadraphonic and sometimes quadrasonic sound is equivalent to what is now called 4.0 surround sound. It uses four audio channels in which speakers are positioned at the four corners of a listening space.


Image by Anthony Jacobson


Rechanneled Stereo - Electronically rechanneled stereo, Duophonic, or more often, fake stereo, was process of creating stereo records from mono recordings. It took a mono tape and split it into two signals, used filters to cut high frequencies slightly in one channel while cutting low frequencies slightly in the other, and a delay was added to one channel to give an artificial sense of space. Sometimes, echo or reverberation would be added to the recording.

Record Grading - It’s rare for two people to agree on the grade of any record. Grading will refer to the wear on the vinyl and/or cover itself. Any other problems with either the record or the cover should be noted in addition to the grade.

Reissue - A reissue applies to a wider variety of releases. Normally, a reissue shows variances from the original including the sourcing of masters, country of origin, packaging and even format. Literature about the album will use the term reissue as well as printing it on the packaging, hype stickers, inserts, etc. Reissues often come with extra stuff like bonus tracks, inserts and posters.

Remaster - A remastering of an album simply means the sounds has been reprocessed to enhance playback. The process is subjective and mastering engineers all have different objectives as do their clients. The results can be vastly different than the original in some cases.

Repress - A repress is identical to an original in that it is produced from the same source as the original. The term repress may be found in literature about the release from official sources like the label or artist, printed on hype stickers or discussed in formal reviews. The term has come to be used in reference to the rerelease of an album though the media in question may not technically constitute a repress.

Reverse Board Sleeve -  This is where the reverse of standard cardstock is used for the cover of the LP. This will give the quality of the sleeve a more grainy, vintage feel.

Ringwear - It is the imprint that a record has left on the cover over time, causing discoloration and an ugly stain. Along with foxing, there are no sure fire ways to remove ringwear, but you can prevent it with plastic outer covers for your album.

RPM - Vinyl RPM stands for revolutions per minute, or the number of times a vinyl record makes a full rotation in 60 seconds.

Run Out Groove - Is the bit at the end of the record before the needle hits the centre. Traditionally, the matrix number or subtle messages from the band or manufacturer are scratched into the run out Groove.

Sealed - A sealed records is wrapped in a cellophane wrapper or shrink wrapped which fits tightly over the record as to ensure the sleeve doesn't get damaged.

Seam Split - A seam split occurs when the cardboard of an album literally splits at the seams  or comes unglued, in the case of later records from the 70s and 80s. This can be a small issue, especially when the split is less than 1 inch. However if the split happens across an entire side of a cover, it may make it difficult or impossible for the cover to hold the record.

Shaped Record - Records can come in other shapes such as triangles, hexagon, square, or custom shapes.

Single - A single vinyl record, also known as a single, is a type of vinyl record format that typically contains one song on each side. Singles are commonly released as a promotional tool for an artist's latest song or as a standalone release featuring popular tracks. They often come as 7 inch records and are played at 45 RPM.

Slipmat - A circular piece of cloth that is placed onto the turntable instead of the standard rubber.

Soundsheet - Evatone created flexi discs, calling them soundsheets in 1960 making them available for direct mail campaigns.

Soundtrack - OST stands for Original Soundtrack, which is a recording of the music and or dialogue from a movie, television show, or other media production. The soundtrack is typically released as an album that includes songs and music featured in the production, as well as any score or music composed specifically for the production. They provide a snapshot of the music and popular culture of a particular era.

Spindle Holes - The spindle hole or play hole is the center hole of a records. The common size is a 1.5 inch center and a 0.25 inch center.

Spindle Mark - Is a trace of fine marks left by mounting the record on the spindle that bruised the paper label. This indicates how frequently the record has been played or indicate if a record was hardly ever played.

Splatter Vinyl - Splatter means that sprinkled colors of PVC for a pressing is used as an effect. It is melted together into the pucks of which vinyl are pressed and made.

Stamper - The metal stamper is exactly what it sounds like. The process creating this metal stamper is commonly referred to as the galvanic or electroplating process. The lacquer or DMM master is sprayed with silver nitrate. The nitrate fills all of the grooves in the master disc. This is then submerged into a nickel sulphamate electrolyte solution which allows nickel to deposit through a chemical process onto the disc plate. This takes about an hour or so, and when it’s done we carefully separate a perfect metal negative from your master disc.

Stamper Number - Record stampers could only be used to make a limited number of copies before they became worn, and a new cut was required. Each record contained an alphanumeric code or other symbols, stamped or handwritten, assigning a filing number to the stamper. As of the early 1980s, this was no longer true.

Stereo - Stereophonic sound stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi directional, audible perspective. The term stereophonic also applies to systems with more than two channels or speakers such as quadraphonic and surround sound.

Stock Copy - Is a special pressing of a record that was manufactured for the public instead of radio station or other promotional, non-retail use.

Test Pressing - Is a prototype version of the record used to test the sound quality of the pressing before hundreds if not thousands of the real thing is produced. They are usually just intended for artists and producers to approve the work before manufacture but like almost everything else have slid out to the world at large to become collectable.

Title Sleeve - Is the sleeve displaying general information on the record such as artist name, songs list, songs length etc.

Tonearm - The tonearm allows the stylus and cartridge to stay afloat. It can be curved, straight, and S-shaped in variations, and all have a different sound quality effect on the record and feel. Tonearms sometimes have counterweights attached to the back to set the tracking force, which is the amount of pressure applied to the record itself.

Turntable - The turntable serves an essential function of a record player. This is the device that rotates vinyl records at a consistent speed. The turntable in a record player is powered by one of two primary drive systems: belt drive or direct drive.

Unipak Covers - Unipak covers were often used as a more cost effective option for albums that still had a variety of artwork to display. Unipaks consist of a thinner cover page, which opens up to a standard gatefold style interior. The big difference between Unipak covers and other album covers is the way the records are stored. The opening for inserting a record on Unipak covers is on the inside of a cover, next to the spine.

Vinyl - Vinyl records are the more common format for music distribution, created through a process involving the creation of metal stampers used to press grooves onto vinyl discs. Vinyl records are more durable than acetate records due to their sturdier composition and protective outer layer. Known for their warm, analog sound, although the sound can be influenced by factors like the quality of the mastering, pressing, and playback equipment.

Wax - Originally, all records sold needed to be recorded live on the softer brown wax, which wore out after as few as 20 plays. The type of wax used in records were improved and hardened, so that records could be played with good quality over 100 times. In 1947, wax records were replaced with plastic which cut a mechanical groove into a plastic belt instead of into a wax.

White Label Promo - A promotional pressing with a completely blank label denoting it is promo only. May also have unique black on white printed labels with just artist and  title information or A and B symbols. Some white labels have different catalogue numbers.

A list of additions information and sources used:
Standard Vinyl
Slower Than Slow: 16 RPM Records
HiFi Hippo
The Best Vinyl: 180g and 200g Virgin Vinyl
Acetate Records vs Vinyl
Vinyltimes
Deepgrooves Frequently Asked Vinyl Questions
Unified Manufacturing - FAQ's
Furnace Record Pressing FAQ
Vinyl Records: Jargon Buster
Vinyl Records and Album Cover Gallery
Vinyl Records 101: Grading
Understanding riaa gold and platinum record awards
Stereo Records or Mono Records – Which One to Buy?
Waxtimes
Flexi-Disc Flexible Record R.I.P.
How to examine vinyl
Threeinchrecords
Secrets from the dead-wax
Your sound matters

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Earth, Wind & Fire - Betcha

The early writings of Richard A. Waterman helped define hot rhythms in African music and the retention in the Americas of related musical elements. Waterman describes two very important rhythmic traits present in African music, percussion polyrhythms or mixed metres and temporal displacement of the melodic phrase or offbeat phrasing of melodies. Waterman also puts forth the theory that Africans enslaved in the United States were often not allowed to keep percussion instruments, so their use of African multi metered polyrhythms eventually disappeared. It can in fact be observed that there is generally less use of polyrhythms in the music of North America than in that of Central America, South America, or the Caribbean. Perhaps this caused the African American music of the United States to be more European than African, as Waterman states. However, it may be, as Oliver and others have suggested, that the black music of North America was more influenced by African music from another part of that continent, the savanna region of West Africa, than that of the rain forests of the Guinea coast where such polyrhythms were widespread.

In any case, the polyrhythmic drumming of the West African coast seems to have gotten much of the early researchers’ attention. Similarities exist between the complex West African polyrhythms and those present in much Latin American music. Particular rhythms found in Latin America, such as the rhythmic patterns of the habanera, samba, and other dances, have been identified in African music as well. Since at least the mid nineteenth century these beats have periodically been the vehicles for the reinvigoration of North American popular music.

Writers often use the term syncopation in discussing many types of American music, including ragtime, jazz, and rhythm & blues. The problem with using the term in our current discourse is one of accuracy. The Harvard Dictionary of Music defines syncopation as follows, A momentary contradiction of the prevailing meter or pulse. While this might be a good way to describe the occasional use of offbeat accents in the music of Beethoven, for example, it does not adequately account for music that regularly uses offbeat patterns.
Source: The New Blue Music: Changes In Rhythm & Blues, 1950-1999 by Richard J. Ripani

Earth, Wind & Fire - Betcha

• Genre: R&B, Funk, Neo Soul
• Released: May 20, 2003
• Produced by: Maurice White, Tim Kelley and Bob Robinson

"Earth, Wind & Fire was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, cementing their lasting impact on popular music. Their contributions to arts and culture were acknowledged in Washington DC with the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors in 2019."

See previous Song of the Day

Frankie Valli - We'll Be Together Again

The Jazz Age was an age marked by the uprising of jazz music, and the drastic change in American culture. Women called flappers were wearing shorter dresses and cutting their hair into bobs, dancing to the popular music in speakeasies and dance clubs. With prohibition in effect during this time period, alcohol had to be illegally made and served at places called speakeasies. One of the most popular speakeasies could be found at 102 Norfolk Ave, and was called The Back Room. While many speakeasies had fake fronts, this speakeasy had an actual business operating in conjunction with the speakeasy, Ratner’s Restaurant. This particular speakeasy was known for serving illegal alcohol and the criminals of the city as well... Today, the Back Room is accessed the same way it was during the 1920s. A secret staircase behind a bookshelf brings customers down to the speakeasy and transports them to the 1920s. With vintage décor and cocktails served in teacups, just like they were during prohibition to secretly drink, one trip to this hidden bar will make you feel like you are partying at the peak of the jazz age.

Aside from parties and illegal alcohol, the jazz age was known quite obviously for its music. Jazz was making its way into the limelight and became the music of the 1920s and 30s. Jazz music was not new in America, but was becoming more and more popular at this time than it had ever been before... There is an undeniable truth that jazz is a major part of the African American culture and many of its roots lie within the slaves that came to America hundreds of years ago. As the years went on, jazz began to spread to mainstream American culture and gave African Americans the opportunity to be in the spotlight. Jazz music was mainly performed by African Americans during this age at the listening pleasure of wealthier white citizens. One place where this jazz music was heard was at the Cotton Club, one of the most famous jazz clubs in NYC during this era. It was located in Harlem and owned by the infamous gangster Owney Madden. This club was the goto spot for illegal alcohol and entertainment from jazz musicians and dancers. The acts that performed at the Cotton Club became world famous musicians, such as Duke Ellington. Duke Ellington led the Orchestra at the Cotton Club from 1927-1930, and sporadically after that for 8 years. Ellington and his orchestra gained national attention and praise through weekly radio broadcasts that were sometimes recorded and released on albums.
Source: Jazz Age New York by Caelynn Robinson

Frankie Valli - We'll Be Together Again

• Written by: Carl Fischer, Frankie Laine
• Released on: June 25, 2021
• First recording and first release in: 1945

"Frankie Valli’s long lasting career has led to the overwhelming success of the Tony winning Broadway musical Jersey Boys, which chronicles Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons incredible career and features all of their greatest hits."

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Ahmad Jamal - Old Devil Moon

From the outset, the blues frequently deviated from its twelve bar form, and jazz musicians have similarly displayed a willingness to bend the blues to their own devices... Even more frequently, what is involved is the application of blue notes in a scale or blues phrasing to non blues material. Billie Holiday rarely sang traditional blues songs but performed every ballad with blues feeling. Charlie Parker, whose performance of Lady, Be Good with Jazz at the Philharmonic, is a textbook example of turning a pop song blue. These may be the ultimate examples of improvisers steeped in an aura of the blues.

The interaction between those considered blues and jazz musicians, respectively, has also been a constant... R&B then begat rock and roll, which ultimately fed the fusion movement in jazz, just as the soulful jazz of modernists such as Horace Silver and Bobby Timmons had its impact via funk on more contemporary blues.

With the passing of time, and as both the blues and jazz continue to evolve, the connection remains unbroken... The bond between the blues and jazz has only been strengthened by the many connotations beyond the musical definitions of these two art forms. When we view the blues as an attitude of facing the uncertainties of existence with a clear vision, a sense of humor and a spirit of resilience, and when we view jazz as a process for ensuring meaningful and spontaneous collective creation, it becomes even clearer that the blues and jazz only reinforce each other.
Source: The Influence of the Blues on Jazz by Carolyn and Bill Powers

Ahmad Jamal - Old Devil Moon

• Recorded on: September 5 & 6 1958
• Recorded at: The Spotlight Club, Washington, DC
• Genre: Piano Jazz, Jazz

"Ahmad Jamal was a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Jazz Master and won a Lifetime Achievement Grammy for his contributions to music history. He recorded as part of a trio or quintet."

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Stelvio Cipriani - Marea

With the advent of jazz during the 1920s, the popularity of the banjo declined. It was replaced by tenor banjos and plectrum banjos, and, with the advent of big band jazz, microphones, and pickups during the 1930s, by the guitar. The two principal blues banjoists to record, Papa Charlie Jackson from New Orleans and Gus Cannon from Mississippi, were bridging the gap between the nineteenth century songsters tradition and the country blues. Both musicians used the crossed notes technique involving returning to a chord, to facilitate finger picking patterns. In Jackson’s work, especially in his links between choruses, some of the fingering patterns that later emerged in the jazz playing of Lonnie Johnson are identifiable.

The decline of the five string banjo by the early twentieth century in America must have left countless banjos and banjo like instruments unused, a source of supply through junk and pawn shops for poor people who, for little cash investment, could experiment with such instruments and add them to their music making traditions.

During the late 1940s a new interest in folk music began that carried well into the early 1970s and was sparked by the civil rights movement in the South and the war in Vietnam. Seeger and Scruggs both introduced technological changes to the banjo and reaffirmed the role of the banjo in traditional and folk music after World War II. The tenor banjo also reemerged during the 1940s with the revival of traditional jazz. The banjo continued to be an almost exclusively white instrument.

Source: Encyclopedia of the blues by Edward Komara

Stelvio Cipriani - Marea

• Released on: Travel On a Melody (Romantic Music to Relax Together) album
• Release Date: May 15 2014
• Genre: Easy Listening, Light Music

"An Italian composer, mostly of motion picture soundtracks and pianist. Stelvio Cipriani became prolific in the Italian film world and was awarded a Nastro d'Argento for Best Score for The Anonymous Venetian in 1970."

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Nat King Cole - Embraceable You

Gospel music took form through the 1920s and emerged in the 1930s, propelled in part by the great migration of African Americans northward fleeing the oppressive south and the advent of radio. Historically, the black church has been the cauldron from which African American artists emerge across all jazz genres. It is where African American artists learn to let go and let God. The spiritual nature of the music permits what academics call improvisation. Improvisation is a necessary component of all forms of jazz.

The traditional structure of gospel music shifted in the late 1930s when Thomas A. Dorsey, considered the father of gospel music, began working for Pilgrim Baptist Church in Chicago. A former jazz pianist and composer who had worked with famous artists like Ma Rainey. Dorsey created a new style of gospel music called gospel blues, which infused blues into traditional gospel music. It was initially rejected, however, by the end of the ’30s, gospel blues won over acceptance as the new form of traditional gospel music.

At the heart of the gospel music tradition is the use of a choir. The gospel choirs followed the call and response format, similar to that used in virtually all forms of Black American music. The 1930’s also brought the rise of gospel quartets... many Black gospel musicians were performing in the 20s and 30s, usually strumming a guitar and singing in the streets of southern cities. Four main styles of gospel music evolved, quartet style, traditional gospel, contemporary gospel, and praise and worship. These styles remain prevalent today.

Source: Gospel Blues 1930 by Dakota A Pippins


Nat King Cole - Embraceable You

• Written by: Ira Gershwin, George Gershwin
• Genre: Vocal Jazz
• Released on: The King Cole Trio

"As a piano player, he formed a jazz trio in 1938 that played Los Angeles nightclubs, one of the first jazz trios featuring guitar and piano. Prior to this he had played music since he was a child and had worked with bands since he was sixteen."

See previous Song of the Day

The Pointer Sisters - Neutron Dance

The 1960s saw great acceptance of rhythm & blues by the American public in general. Although R&B in the 1950s had made substantial inroads into the mass market, it was its offspring rock ’n roll that enjoyed much of the financial reward. However, in the 1960s rhythm & blues, often appearing under the name soul music, took the popular market by storm. The music had such mass appeal that in late 1963 Billboard discontinued its rhythm & blues chart for over one year, apparently because it was similar enough to the more general Hot 100 music chart as to be redundant... However, beginning in early 1964 the British invasion had a major effect on the Hot 100 music charts. In that year, for example, nine of the twentythree number one singles were by British artists... The black record buying public was not drawn to this music, however, and none of these records was able to earn a position on the R&B charts. Much of the early music of the British invasion was derived from R&B and rockabilly styles of the mid 1950s, and by 1964 the musical tastes of black Americans had moved on. Some rhythm & blues artists of the 1960s figured out how to create a brand of music that appealed to a wide range of buyers, both black and white. To turn such a trick, these black artists and their record labels had to straddle a musical fence or risk losing their black audience entirely.

A few independent record labels were so dominant in R&B in the 1960s that they came to be thought of almost as majors. The Motown, Atlantic, and King record labels were all hugely successful during this period, they and their affiliates were responsible for an amazing 76 percent of the top twenty five R&B singles of the decade. Of these three labels it has sometimes been suggested that Motown created the whitest sound, and that Atlantic, with its affiliation with Memphis’ Stax Records, and King, with its mega star James Brown, kept much closer to the core style of rhythm & blues. There is little doubt that Motown had the greatest success of the three in the general market... some writers do not even consider the songs of Motown to be soul music but simply popular music performed by blacks that was aimed largely toward the white audience. Such generalizations do not tell the whole story of the music produced at Motown, however. Although the songs produced by Atlantic and Stax often exude a highly emotional, southern gospel based sound, a number of soulful records were also created by Motown.
Source: The New Blue Music: Changes In Rhythm & Blues, 1950-1999 by Richard J. Ripani

The Pointer Sisters - Neutron Dance

• Recorded in: 1983
• From the film: Beverly Hills Cop
• Songwriters: Allee Willis, Danny Sembello, Andy Goldmark

"Bonnie Pointer and June Pointer first formed a secular singing duo in the late '60s and began performing in clubs around the San Francisco Bay area, Anita Pointer and Ruth Pointer later joined the group."

See previous Song of the Day