Recent Acquisitions: 6-18-10

The following albums were bought for the princely sum of $20. I can have my cake and records, too!

B-52’s, B-52’s (Warner Brothers, original pressing). A dadaist masterpiece with lines like, “Why don’t you dance with me? I’m not no Limburger.”

Beach Boys, Sunflower (Brothers Records, original pressing). The album before my favorite BB album, Surf’s Up. Side 1 of Sunflower is as good as any side they recorded.

Beach Boys, Holland (Brothers Records, original pressing). The album after Surf’s Up. I didn’t become a BB fan until I heard Surf’s Up. They’re later albums, which didn’t do well commercially, have richness and weight to them that is lacking in their more exuberant early albums. It’s called growing up. Even Pet Sounds seems kind of adolescent to me.

Roxy Music, For Your Pleasure (Atco, second pressing). Brian Ferry, Brian Eno, Phil Manzanera, and Andy McKay trying to please rocky? Mission accomplished!

Astrud Gilberto, The Shadow of Your Smile (Verve, original stereo pressing, Van Gelder in dead wax). Do smiles cast shadows? Yes, in a bossa nova world.

Chico Hamilton, A Different Journey (Reprise, white label promo, original mono pressing). It’s a good thing Chico isn’t alive to see that they’re practically giving away his albums.

Charles Mingus, Mingus Dynasty (Columbia, 6-eye label, original mono pressing). This is almost as good as the masterpiece that preceded it, Mingus Ah-Um.

Shelly Manne, Shelly Manne & His Men at the Black Hawk, Vol. 3 (Contemporary, original stereo pressing). If I told you this was recorded in San Francisco, you’d probably guess by the title that it’s the soundtrack to a transvestite burlesque show at a gay strip club. You’d be wrong. It’s straight west coast jazz. So is their next live album, Shelly Manne and His Men at the Manne-Hole. I kid you not.

Michel Legrand, Le Jazz Grand (Gryphon, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab reissue). This 1978 album is like a bookend to Legrand Jazz recorded 20 years earlier.

Cannonball Adderly, 74 Miles Away (Capitol, original stereo pressing). The title begs the question, what’s 74 miles away? My guess: The last place Cannonball passed up a meal.