Pete Wingfield Breakfast Special

Been a while since I last blogged about a record and boy do I have a good one to blog about here. Pete Wingfield's album "Breakfast Special" is without a doubt the find of the century. I have no idea where this guy came from but his music is so unbelievably beast. I don't even know if a blog praising the beastness (a word?) of it is going to be enough. The cover alone is enough to make you want to pick this one up. The guy looks like the love child of Bob Ross and Justin Timberlake. Check it:


If the cover doesn't get you, just turn the record over and look at the title of the second song. Whole Pot of Jelly (for one slice of toast). I don't have to hear that song to know that it's beast. Of course, then I did and words cannot describe. I'll just let The Wing take care of it:


So Beast!!!!! Kind of sounds like he has a sewing pin up his dickhole but who cares. I think Leo Sayer wishes everyday of his life that he was Pete Wingfield. Again, this album is just another example of why collecting records is so great. My life has surely improved since I found this record. Not even the best lox, the boldest coffee, the fluffiest flapjacks, the freshest juice, the sweetest scone, or the crispiest bacon can compare to this Breakfast Special.

War Platinum Jazz

"Never Pass on a War record." Those were the words uttered to me by my friend Bill Shag as we listened to this very album a month ago. He had recently purchased it and I was very envious of him because I had passed on it a few months back mainly because I had just bought a couple War records and wanted to take a break on my War purchasing. I really wanted to buy the record but on that particular day War was not the answer. But as soon as the opening song "War Is Coming" came on over at Shag's apartment, I felt so stupid for passing on it. However, the vinyl, and perhaps Holiday, gods were looking out for me two weeks ago when I came across it in a dollar bin!! So happy to have this record. It is unbelievably, incredibly, bbbbbbbb bb b b b b beast!!! War is a sick band. Outside of "Low Rider," I really don't hate any of their songs. I mean Low Rider was great the first time I heard it but now it's a tad played out. In fact, that song sounds nothing like War in my opinion. I used to think it was Los Lobos or one of those other mexican "Los" bands....All in all, War is a perfect example of why I love collecting records. I knew about Low Rider and later came across "Why Can't We Be Friends" (thanks Lethal Weapon 4 and Dazed and Confused) but some of these other songs thay they recorded which never really shared the limelight with Low Rider are beast. I guess you could call me a War Monger.


Make War part of your New Year.

Rush Caress of Steel

Right now, I am listening to the album Caress of Steel by Rush. This record is so unbelievably b b b b b b beast!!! The story of how I came to purchase this record is pretty funny. I was home in Canandaigua, NY and I went to a thrift store up there called Volunteers of America. As I was sifting through their records, which are all a dollar a piece, I came across Countdown to Ecstasy by Steely Dan. I am a huge fan of Steely Dan and immediately pulled it out with full intent of purchasing it. However, because I was at a thrift store I had to go through each record that I picked out just to make sure they weren't broken, too scratced or not even in the sleeve. When I got to Steely Dan, I pulled out the record and much to my surprise and delight, I found Caress of Steel!!! Woah!!! How Bizarre (as that shitty band from the 90's used to say) that the two nerdiest bands in the history of music are mixed up like that. It seemed so appropriate. I tell you the vinyl gods were smiling on me that day. From this moment on I will always refer to that experience as The Caress of Steely Dan. Now do you people realize how amazing they are?!?!?! Not only does their music kick ass but they also give you Rush albums!

Waylon Jennings Waylon Live

Right now I am getting my dose of country with Waylon Jennings album Waylon Live. You really can't go wrong with Waylon Jennings much like Willie Nelson. I have about 4 or 5 Waylon Jennings records and they are all b b b b b beast! Much like Willie Nelson, he has a great voice. His voice has this sound of a guy who has drank, smoked, fucked, snorted, drank some more, smoked some more, fucked some more and then snorted some more. So basically he has a country music voice.

The Fame Gang Solid Gold from the Muscle Shoals

Right now I am listening to a record called Solid Gold from Muscle Shoals by a group known as the Fame Gang. Apparently they were the session musicians at Fame Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama thus the Fame Gang (a name that is both lame and awesome). The album is a blend of funk, soul and jazz and the songs are all instrumental covers ranging from Sweet Caroline to It's Your Thing. I had never heard of the Fame Gang, Fame Recording Studios, or Muscle Shoals, Alabama but these guys are really great. It's a combo of four white guys and five black guys so it appears that Fame Recording Studios was doing the same thing as Stax Records in Memphis as far as integrating whites and blacks. Although Stax was clearly more famous than Fame since Stax was in Memphis. I find it weird that they would use the word Fame in naming the studio and band being from Muscle Shoals, Alabama and all. I can't imagine a whole lot of Fame coming from there. I sure as shit know we didn't experience a whole lot of it growing up in Tendon Sandbar, Mississippi.

Check 'em out:


Doing what you do in Muscle Shoals. Hanging out on an abandoned bridge.

Here's a sample:


Pretty Beast!! probably the most interesting thing to come out of Muscle Shoals since the name Muscle Shoals.

The Blues Brothers Made in America

I am currently listening to the Blues Brothers album "Made In America." As I listen to this record, I think for the first time, I realize how fucking brilliant the Blues Brothers were. I always appreciated the sketches on SNL and the movie is one of my personal favorites but the fact that they also turned it into a touring band, which was composed of some of the best session players in music history, opened for the Grateful Dead and put out albums is what Brilliance is to me. It's very similar to Paul Rubens and what he was able to accomplish with Pee Wee Herman. I'll admit, the Blues Brothers swing and miss sometimes on these albums that they put out, i.e. covering the Perry Mason theme and Paul Shaffer doing Booker T. Jones' organ riffs in the cover of Green Onions (disgraceful. I don't know what irritates me more: Paul Shaffer doing Booker T or John Goodman replacing Belushi in Blues Brothers 2000) but still their version of Soul Man in my opinion smokes Sam and Dave's. Yeah I said it. It's the first version of Soul Man I ever heard and personally I think they bring it a little harder than S&D. Now if it's Hold On I'm Coming that we're talking about then it's S&D in a landslide but perhaps that is the reason the Blues Brothers didn't cover that song, who knows. Overall, I've realized that this blog entry is lacking Vinyl Bloggers usual jokes and squibs but it's because all of the comedy and brilliance here is courtesy of the Blues Brothers....But seriously, Paul Shaffer doing Booker T's part in Green Onions? Talk about Onions that made me cry.

Willie Nelson Collectors Series

Listening to a new Willie Nelson record that I got, although it's hardly "new." 1985 to be exact and like every other Willie Nelson record that I own or have heard, it's beast. Even when the songs are slow and a little mopey it's still great to listen to Uncle Willie. His voice makes up for it. Much like Curtis Mayfield, Jerry Garcia, Van Morrison and Geddy Lee, the background noise could be sheep getting raped but if any of those guys were singing along with it, especially Willie, the song would still be totally listenable and straight beast!! I usually never pass up a Willie Nelson record. Even if an albums cover art was a leper orgy but I then saw that the album was called Willie Nelson Solid Gold, I'd still buy it and probably blog about how much it ruled. Then again, if I saw an album with such a cover, I'd probably still buy even if it was a Soul Asylum record only because you gotta admire someone for ever putting that on a cover. Short blog short, Willie Nelson has the best voice in the history of music.


Merle Haggard is no slouch himself but he might not fit in with the scenarios that I wrote about above.