Time Machine #6

1-21-10 Time Machine #6

I have been ‘reading’ the Japanese magazine “Strange Days” for a while now. A regular feature of this magazine has been “Time Machine – 40 Years Ago” – listing many records released in 1969. Last year, I wrote 5 blogs on the releases of 1969. I have another one for you today!

Strange Days 2010.01 lists “November 1969 Albums” as David Bowie “Man Of Music, Man Of Words (Philips UK SBL 7912), Deep Purple “s/t” (Album #3) (Harvest UK SHVL 759), Pink Floyd “Ummagumma” (Harvest UK SHDW 1-2), Kevin Ayers “The Joy Of A Toy” (Harvest SHVL 763), The Moody Blues “To Our Children’s Children’s Children” (Threshold UK THS 1), Manfred Mann’s Chapter 3 “s/t” (Vertigo UK VO 3), Mott The Hoople “s/t” (Island UK ILPS 9108), The Allman Brothers Band “s/t” (Atco / Capricorn US SD 33-308), and Captain Beefheart “Trout Mask Replica” (Straight US STS 1053). An honorable mention appears to go to Juicy Lucy “s/t” (Vertigo VO 2).

Today, I think I actually have all of these, except for the Manfred Mann album! The Bowie album is better known these days as the “Space Oddity” album. The Deep Purple album is known as the album that Warner Brothers never picked up for the US. I remember the Pink Floyd 2LP as being so expensive that I didn’t get a copy for years! I found the Kevin Ayers LP in San Francisco, at a place called “Sea Of Records” (on 8^th St.? 9^th St.?) – and have loved it ever since. And he was in Soft Machine! This isn’t my favorite Moody Blues LP, but I did recently get a 2CD deluxe edition CD / SACD of it – so I guess I’ll try again! I was forever intrigued by the M.C. Escher cover on the debut Mott The Hoople LP. I was fascinated by releases on the Island (UK) label, in the late 60’s / early 70’s. My brother turned me on to The Allman Brothers Band, so I heard this one at the time, but didn’t own a copy of it for decades. I knew about Captain Beefheart – but when I found out (in Rolling Stone?) that “the new album” was being produced by Frank Zappa, I knew I had to get it right away. Despite being a double album, as I recall – it was not super expensive – no more than $4.99 in the hippie record store. And the Juicy Lucy LP had an unclothed woman on the cover – and was on Vertigo! Of course, I was interested!

Another ‘Vertigo memory’ shelved away in my files – being in the hippie record store and hearing them play the debut album from May Blitz. That must’ve been the fall of 1970, however.

I never had the opportunity to buy an original Philips UK copy of the 2^nd David Bowie LP. To be honest, at the time I didn’t even know it existed! By the time anybody got interested in David Bowie, it was long gone. I saw my first UK copy of it in the late 70’s – I watched somebody at the Capitol Records (Hollywood) parking lot swap meet pay $100 for it!

And my original copy of “Trout Mask Replica” is autographed by Captain Beefheart, who I got to meet towards the end of the 70’s / beginning of the 80’s.