on 3/16/03 9:13 PM, Chris Selvig at selvig@earthlink.net wrote:
I think you have the mistaken impression I'm a cheerleader for critically acclaimed records only, which is understandable based on my last post. I'm not - for one thing, I'm a big fan of the 45RPM single, not really the format for jazz at all & Important Rock Critics generally only bother with LPs, preferably double LPs. Beatles records aside, my parents' record collection was HORRID when I was a kid - Anne Murray, fer chrissakes - but I've certainly stumbled across great stuff at random thumbing through record store racks.
I feel your pain. My parents were all about Neil Diamond and John Denver. As for the 45, singles were a great format for jazz until people decided that anything that came in at less than seven minutes somehow lacked credibility. As a child of punk rock, import and indie singles often were my lifeblood, and I totally miss the mystery they had about them. I wish the single would come back.
On the other hand, if you're a serious listener, you should be familiar with the important recordings in the genres you love.
True, true.
Tough work with jazz, given that Ellington alone has around 200 records in print.
But you could really have a representative Ellington collection with about 20 of them in your racks.
A lot of people just don't care about "Revolver," or only like a song or two (isn't that the usual rationale for P2P users?).
To be truthful, the Beatles catalog is one of the few that people at large seem to be interested in all of.
And someone with an informed distaste for a critically beloved record is fine - I'd guess any serious music fan hates a few of them, and thinks some other records are criminally underrated, if not ignored outright.
That's a thread you probably DON'T want to suggest around here, unless you want Joseph Neff and I nominating the whole 79-82 Rough Trade catalog... -- skip h http://www.skipheller.com