Adrian Chiles and DL – London HMV Forum September 2nd- Both with a lot to do on Monday…

Well after a whirlwind week, I’ve managed to make it to 54.

It was certainly some week with back to back Robert Plant shows and then the day in London on Friday. I personally thought Robert & the Band Of Joy live experience was pretty amazing as you will have read – though I respect that it won’t be for everybody.

Friday was spent in the company of my lifelong friends Dec, Tom, Phil and Max. Many a vinyl rack was flicked through at Spitalfields Market, beers were drunk and blimey even England won! The hangover was not good, but I was out on the pitch warming the Brickhill goalkeeper up at 9am the next morning. The boy Adam did well in the tournament and his team reached the semi finals. Have to say the toll of this hectic week has begun to tell as my back was a bit dodgy yesterday and is sore today. We were out with our good friends Terry and Marian last night for a meal – Terry was also victim of the dodgy back syndrome- though strangely we both felt a lot better after a few pints.

After all the running around of the past few days, my birthday today will be spent at home chilling out with the family. A chance to catch up with the good lady Janet and Sam’s news and Adam and Bet. Sam has completed her stint at The Sunday Times and goes back to Norwich in a couple of weeks.

Tomorrow I need to be back full on with a whole lot to do and deadlines to meet. TBL 27, Record Collector etc. There’s a daunting amount to get through and I need to be right on it.

Someone else who needs to be right on it tomorrow morning is Adrian Chiles. He begins his high profile role as co presenter of the new Daybreak breakfast ITV show rekindling his One Show partnership with Christine Bleakley. Adrian was in the crowd at Robert’s Forum gig – I spoke with him briefly. He told me he loved the the show and was genuinely pleased to be there having had a call from Robert earlier in the day to attend the gig. Adrian’s friendship with Robert was forged through their love of football of course with their respective West Bromwich and Wolves Midlands rivalry. Earlier this year Robert appeared on his last appearance on the One Show. I’m a big fan of Adrian’s man of the people approach to presenting and it was great to chat to him. I wished him luck for Monday and intend to get the next TBL to him.

Just had the added Birthday bonus of seeing Robert appear on the BBC1 Andrew Marr Sunday morning show. Great live romp through You Can’t Buy My Love from the Band of Joy album and good interview.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to making the Forum date another memorable TBL occasion and for all the many Birthday wishes. To paraphrase the evocative sleeve notes of the Frank Sinatra September Of My Years LP I have in front of me: ‘’September can be an attitude or an age or a wistful reality. For this man it’s a time of love. A time to sing’’

For this particular TBL editor it’ll be a time to write

Before all that that some Birthday reflections …..

54 at 54

54 Great Vinyl Albums From The DL Collection

As the years roll by, one of my increasing passions is the collecting of vinyl LP’s. There really is something very special about the smell of the vinyl, the reading of the sleeve notes and that initial crackle of the needle as it hits the record. I love CD’s and the i-pod but the beauty of an LP record is something to behold.

With that in mind and fresh from an afternoon spent wading through a ton of vinyl on Friday, I thought it would be a timely moment to round up a list of 54 long playing records that continue to inspire. The criteria for inclusion is a combination of musical content, sleeve design and the memories they revive. It’s not restricted to one act per list so there’s a fair few Zep etc.  Notreally  a list of myl absolute all time faves, though plenty of them are in there.

So this is 54 DL LP’s at 54 – and no doubt some of these will be echoing around these parts today….

Frank Sinatra  In The Wee Small hours

Amazing sleeve –Perfect after hours music

Led Zeppelin 3

Play the music – Play the sleeve – Purchased from Out Of Space Records, a short lived bargain priced shop situated in Bedford

Rolling Stones Let It Bleed

Maybe their best…and Delia Smith did a good job on the cover

The Who Who’s Next

This is their best…

Bob Dylan Planet Waves

Got in February  1974 – the day it came out from Harlequin Records – always a winter pleasure

Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti

THE best sleeve THE best album. Purchased at 12.30 pm approx. Tuesday February 25th 1975 in my lunch hour at WH Smith were I worked -first copy out of the box…

Glastonbury Fayre –Various artists

Bought this in ‘72 from Harlequin Records and then foolishly sold it to a second hand shop in Bedford – Recovered it a few years back (thank you Andrew R.)

Frank Zappa /Mothers Live Fillmore,June 71.

One of the first records I bought from my first pay packet –£2.15 immediately disappeared form my £11.50 wages. Did not realise that the Mud Shark track was a reference to that famous Zep red snapper story until years later.

Family Old Songs New Songs

Got this on Ebay a few months back – love the Strange Band single too with Weavers Answer which I also got on Ebay for a £1 recently

Miles Davis Kind Of Blue

I have it on blue vinyl in the box set as purchased

on Christmas Eve 2008,an n hour after we’d been told Zavvi was in administration.

Jimi Hendrix  Hendrix In The West

Bought in in ‘72 from Carlows Records sold in 74, bought in back in 2009 from Hitchin Market.One of the great live albums.

Fillmore The Last Days  Various Artists

Brought this box set from WH Smith in 72 –it was wrongly priced at £3.69 should have been £5.50 – a small fortune in those days. Santana’s Incident In Nehshabur still sounds awesome form this.

George Harrison & Friends Concert For Bangla Desh

3 LP box set. Got this from WH Smith – saved up the £5.50 from my paper round. Anything beatles related had to be had back then.

Led Zeppelin Live On Blueberry Hill

£6 from the mail order advert in Sounds that said ‘’Live LP’s for sale’’. I’d entered the exclusive world of bootlegs and my bank balance was never the same after that! Probably the best live album of all time.

Nick Drake Five Leaves Left

In 1987 the Island records rep who called on the shop had a cassette with some Nick songs on….I was hooked –still am. Got this at a Bedford Record Fair.

Led Zeppelin Bonzo’s Birthday party

Another bootleg delight

The Beatles Sgt Pepper

I have it on a very scratchy mono pressing –which only adds to the effect.

Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers

Another prime Stones release and what a sleeve.

Free The Free Story

Limited numbered double album. Got in 1974 from Harlequin Records. Great band they were.

Bad Company –Straight Shooter

Great sounding 1975 prime classic

The Groundhogs Split

Saw them do Cherry Red on Top of the Pops – superb.

The Beatles White Album

Their best – and wonderfully packaged with the lyric insert and four photos. Another one from Carlows in 1973. I remember buying band On The Run and Mind Games the day they came out came out in late’ 73 on the same day.

Alice Cooper Schools Out

Had a real Alice phase in 1972/3 –sadly lacking the paper panties that came free with the album –cant think what happened to them!. I interviewed Alice for the local paper Reading Festival in 1987 –very nice man too.

Television Marquee Moon

Purchased solely on the strength of Nick Kent’s NME review. He got it spot on – still sounds amazing

The Yardbirds Golden Eggs

Fantastic bootleg that I got in ‘74 – first time I heard a lot of the  Jimmy with the Yardbirds stuff.

Oh La La  The Faces

Another beautiful sleeve and a wonderful set of songs from Rod ,Ronnie and co. My friend Max brought this along on Friday.

Led Zeppelin Fourth album

Iconic sleeve that holds a thousand memories. Purchased from WH Smith record department in 1971 where 4 years later I would find myself behind the counter kicking off a near 35 year stint of selling music.

Santana Lotus

Expansive 3 LP set with a sleeve that folds out as big as our garden. A bargain buy from Hitchin Market about a year ago

Elvis Presley  From Memphis  To Vegas

Has to be an RCA Victor in there – his last great work. Another Hitchin market acquisition .

Joni Mitchell The Hissing of Summer lawns

Pure Class

Crosby Stills Nash & Young Déjà Vu

Another classy sleeve – and of course what rock harmony is all about

You Can All Join In Various Artists

My first LP 19 shillings from Carousel Records near the bus station in Bedford. They had a regular window display of island Records artists. I remember  King Crimson, Mott,Jethro,Spooky Tooth,Free all being in there. Years later we had the Island promotions girl come and put the displays up in W H Smith. Wish I’d kept a lot of that promotional stuff as it would fetch tidy sums on Ebay.

Led Zeppelin Presence

Visually incredible, musically phenomenal- Wish I had a pic of the amazing display we had in the side window of WH Smith.

Led Zeppelin The Destroyer

Bootleg box set great soundboard quality. Brought from an early 80s record  fair in at Bedford Boys Club in Luton.

Rolling Stones Exile On Main Street

Got this in 1974 second hand in David’s Records Letchworth. Another classic package.

Yes Yesterdays

Single album compilation with Survival my fave Yes track. Roger Dean sleeve of course

Led Zeppelin In Through The Out Door

I was lucky I worked in a record shop  and could wade through the brown paper bags until I collated all six designs.

Frank Sinatra September Of My Years

Wistful Reprise Sinatra One of the best sleeve notes ever

Burt Bacharach Hit Maker

Great 1966 Burt showcase – love his archetypical 60’s melodies.

Richard Dimbleby The Voice of

One of the finest ever braodcasters  – captured on this LP are his classic BBC broadcasts such as the Coronation. I have a similar album with John F. Kennedy’s key speeches.

Bob Dylan Blood On the Tracks

The early sleeve version has intensive sleeve notes. Musically this is Bob laid bare.

Frank Zappa Hot Rats

Another summer of ’72 purchase when I’d just started work –brought it from Calows Records – it was quite a trial to get to Z  as the racks were quite high!

T Rex Electric Warrior

Loaned from a school friend in late ’71 –the man was a star and the sleeve and Fly label design are just exquisite.

The Who Live At Leeds

With inserts of course – had to purchase this back off E-bay when I was working on the Record Collector article.

James Patrick Page Session man

Love this double album bootleg which I got around 1979 I think from Mark Hayward’s Hanway Court shop in London . First time I heard Jake Holmes version of Dazed – interesting…!

Robert Plant Pictures At Eleven

It kick started a new era and it’s on the magnificent Swan Song label

The Honeydrippers Vol 1

Authentic ten inch on the Es Paranza label.

Dave Clark Five Having A Wild Weekend

First band I ever saw live – this is the US version of their Catch Me If You Can soundtrack. Got it for £1 at a Victoria Record Fair

Led Zeppelin Grand Levitation

A wonderful vinyl souvenir of that night of nights at the 02.Thank you Graeme H.

Melody Soundtrack

1971 film starring Jack Wild and Mark Lester of Oliver fame– soundtrack has The Bee Gees and Crosby Stills Nash and Young. Lovely period piece from the  early 70s.

Man & Friends Christmas at the Patti

Another ebay recovery purchase. Double ten inch pressing featuring Welsh band Man. I’m also looking for their Live at Padget Rooms Penarth LP .

Miles Davis Plays For Lovers

Superb mid 60s Miles on the Stateside label brought it in St Albans market before a Zep fan gathering late 90s.

Led Zeppelin Earls Court Vol 1

Purchased in in the shop off Carnaby Street that sold bootlegs I think it was in Marlborough Court.  Ace colour cover with some rare photos from the May 23rd date. Most of the common photos are from May 17th and 18th.

Led Zeppelin Whole Lotta Outtakes

Finally the latest addition – An LP delight on the Swinging Dog label –as purchased on Friday in the market . One of the new series of Zep vinyl bootlegs. Has various  previously released on CD Zep 1 and Zep 3 outtakes. Great sleeve