Portland 3-14-09

Headed down to Portland this weekend for some engagement ring shopping and ended up finding some record stores to shop at as well (I'm pretending I didn't know they were there). So as you can see above I came away with 5 albums.

Beatlemania! With The Beatles

This one was new for me. I'd never seen it and after looking at it and quickly realizing it was a Canadian Beatles album, I took a shot. Turns out it was the first North American Beatles album (I would have thought Introducing the Beatles was first). The front is interesting with numerous reviews of The Beatles phenomenon. Including the following:

"A new disease is sweeping through Britain...and the doctors are powerless to stop it....it's Beatlemania! This Liverpool group play to packed houses wherever they go..."
- Sandy Gardiener.

I don't know who Sandy is but she nailed it. Anyway, the album is basically just a Canadian issue of the British "With the Beatles" album with all 14 tracks included (so basically only Capital America decided to go lop off 2 tracks each album). Since everyone has heard it I won't bother going into detail reviewing it, but it is a great album.

Vinyl VG/ Cover VG /Mono

Magical Mystery Tour

Another album that needs no review. The British EP with the singles tacked on makes for a marvelous album. Is side 2 much better than side 1 though? Maybe that's just me. Either way this was the mono press with the book inside (Mono on this one is much more rare). Awesome.

Vinyl VG+/Cover VG+/Mono

You Really Got Me

I love The Kinks. I think they're one of the most underrated bands to come out of the 60's (maybe only second to The Zombies). This is their first US album. It continues the tradition of mangling British albums to create their US counterparts. This album features 11 of the 14 tracks off the British The Kinks album. This album sounds alot like the early stuff from the Stones and The Who with that Kinks flair. So early R&B rock. Besides the title track "Bald Headed Woman," "Stop Your Sobbing," and "So Mystifying" are great tracks. I love this early stuff from these British Invasion bands. This album is great and serves as a great starter as you work your way up to gems like The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society and Muswell Hillbillies. God save the Kinks!!

Vinyl VG+/Cover VG-/Mono

Percy

This is an interesting one. This is a soundtrack that The Kinks recorded for the film Percy. It never came out in the US and never really did much in the UK. I managed to find an original copy awhile back. This one, however, is a reissue from 2000. The album is more interesting than amazing. It features a number of pretty good songs and then some instrumentals. The standout song being the lead off track "God's Children." This is a great song and it's a shame that it isn't heard more. The instrumental version of "Lola" is also interesting to hear. Overall it's not The Kinks best work. But being released the same year as Muswell Hillbillies you know that it's still head and shoulders above what most bands were doing.

Vinyl EX/Cover EX/Stereo

Yesterday and Today (Butcher)

Now the find of the day. The Beatles Butcher Cover. I have one of these framed and hanging on my wall that my uncle gave me for Christmas years back. It's my favorite Beatles item. I love it. This one I pulled out of the "Over $20" Beatles box that 2nd Avenue Records has behind the counter to prevent theft. The guy working immediately made sure to keep his eye on me and told me "You can buy that," as if there was some reason I couldn't. Anyway, the price tag on it didn't lead me to immediately reach for my wallet and i put it back in the box. After about 15 seconds of thought, I checked my cash situation and decided to try the old standby. "Would you take X amount of dollars cash?" One of the workers told me "no" while the other one told him that they should call the owner and ask. After deciding that calling was the way to go, they made the phone call and got the go ahead. I handed over my hard earned cash and headed out the door with glee and a girlfriend who could not understand why somebody would pay that much for a record (I was able to convince her later that I significantly underpaid for it). No need for a review of this one either. If you don't know The Beatles then you probably should be heading to a record store as we speak.

Vinly EX/Cover VG/Mono