10 more albums #65

Belinda Carlisle - Her Greatest Hits (1992, CD)
Fleetwood Mac - Behind the Mask (1990, CD)
Johnny Cash - Classic Cash (1988, LP)
Dennis De Young - Back to the World (1986, LP)
Elvis Costello and the Attractions - The Best of (1985, LP)
Don Williams - Listen to the Radio (1982, LP)
Various Artists - Country Cruisin' 1964 (1982, LP)
Roy Buchanan - Second Album (1973, cassette)
Jimmy Smith - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1964, CD)
Tommy Dorsey - The Best of (1962, LP)

The Belinda Carlisle CD is one my wife bought. I thought I'd rip it for a little 80s nostalgia, but the verdict is still out. At one time I had referred to this as "cotton candy music" but lately I've been thinking it's more like rice cakes sprinkled with saccarine. This one might yet get deleted.

The Fleetwood Mac CD isn't all that great, either. Even the Stevie Nicks songs don't catch my ear very much. I might delete this one too, except for Stevie's songs.

Back to the World was Dennis De Young's second solo album after Styx broke up. It's okay. One song that has always stood out for me is "Southbound Ryan," a song about a train and which has a smokin' harmonica part. Perfect rip.

Elvis Costello. Well, I realize his talent and his musicianship. It's just that his music has never done much for me. This old "best of" collection is all I'm ever going to need from him, I think. Another perfect rip.

Don Williams is another childhood favorite and this album is from the inherited records. Not a perfect rip on this one, although there weren't any skips or any serious pops or clicks. I deleted track 2 for being redundant with my "greatest hits" CD, and treble-boosted the whole album because the recording sounded very dark and somewhat murky.

Country Cruisin' is another inherited record. Perhaps interesting to me personally because it's a collection of hits from the year I was born, and most of all, has the original version of "Give Me 40 Acres" by the Willis Brothers (my favorite truckin' song). Since this is probably one of those obscure out-of-print records, here's a full track list.
1. Lonesome 7-7203 - Hawkshaw Hawkins (murky sound--I might re-rip this one and treble-boost it)
2. I Love To Dance With Annie - Ernie Ashworth
3. Sam Hill - Claude King
4. Gonna Get Along Without You Now - Skeeter Davis
5. Sittin' in an All Night Cafe - Warner Mack
6. Cross the Brazos at Waco - Billy Walker (this is the original, I think--Marty Robbins' version came later)
7. Second Fiddle (To An Old Guitar) - Jean Shepard
8. Give Me 40 Acres - Willis Brothers
9. Take My Ring Off Your Finger - Carl Smith
10. The Belles of Southern Bell - Del Reeves
Perfect rips on all except track 4 which came out with one faint artefact. Pretty good for such an old record.

I had read about Roy Buchanan somewhere long ago, but I don't remember where. He was a blues guitarist and singer who had achieved a somewhat legendary status among musicians but wasn't that well-known to "outsiders," despite having released a score of albums before he died in 1988 (he did have two albums go gold, according to Wikipedia). This tape was the only thing of his I ever came across in a music store. I have a compilation CD of his in the queue at yourmusic.com.

The Jimmy Smith album is from the great jazz organist who I am avidly buying everything I can find by him. This album is different, in that he's backed up by a big band rather than his more usual small jazz combo.

The Tommy Dorsey record is another inherited album, with lots of great big band jazz. Faint artefacts throughout, but still listenable.

Album count: 660.