I used to maintain a playlist called Digital Analog which was essentially a playlist of all my vinyl and cassettes. It had a nice ring and was useful for tracking what I owned as I started V2 of my vinyl journey. That playlist is long gone, but I’ve been thinking a lot about it as I start to re-think my purchasing habits – there’s just not enough room in this house for what has built to just over 1,400 records in about six years. Especially with the new releases – most of these were recorded digitally, so ANY vinyl master is going to come from a digital source in most of those cases (I know, a few bands and starts still record analog, but that’s increasingly a rarity). So is there still a benefit? Maybe if there’s a specific vinyl master, but who knows who’s doing that?

Anyway, I’ve been thinking of that a lot lately. And how possibly the best sounding vinyl records the ones mastered to analog sources (again – usually. This isn’t an unbreakable rule). All of this is just me ruminating on cutting back on vinyl and only focusing on older used records and the occasional special edition: it’s not like I’m not still buying CDs and digital album from Bandcamp, you know? So this playlist is dedicated to that sweet, luscious 70s records I own where to my ears the vinyl vibe is the sweetest.¹ Crank it up.

• Atomic Rooster – “Breakthrough”
• Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band – “My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains”
• Curtis Mayfield – “Freddie’s Dead”
• Groundhogs – “Garden”
• Grand Funk Railroad – “Sin’s A Good Man’s Brother”

I think Death Walks Behind You with its iconic William Blake painting cover art is the quintessential Atomic Rooster release, and the prime proto-metal/stoner rock album a lot of people point to. If that’s the only album you know from these guys, check out In Hearing Of Atomic Rooster and this killer opening track. That piano, man…I had long thought of Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band as “those guys that Zappa produced”, basing my opinion solely on Trout Mask Replica, an album that – if I’m being honest – is fine. But everything else? Miles better IMO, and this track from Clear Spot shows a very different side of the madman…Curtis Mayfield was one of the first artists I pinpointed as needing to own on vinyl, and I was this close to selecting a track from his Curtis Live set, for me a pinnacle of the live album format. I wanted something that rocked hard and fast, so this well-known track from the stellar Superfly soundtrack will do just as well…

The first of a number of tracks I discovered from Scott Seward’s “Filthy 50” article for Decibel Magazine, the Groundhogs‘ 1970 classic Thank Christ For The Bomb was another early vinyl collecting goal. This track doesn’t get to the hard rock the rest of the album does, but man do I love it…Finally, I needed a punchy rocker to break the playlist up, and everyone for some reasons likes to make fun of Grand Funk Railroad. I have no idea why; their first three albums are fantastic hard rocking discs, sterling examples of what a power trio can do, and mark Farner is a killer guitarist and vocalist. So check out this rolling little rocker from their third album Close To Home and tell me I’m wrong.

• Pink Floyd – “Childhood’s End”
• Trapeze – “Makes You Wanna Cry”
• Captain Beyond – “Raging River Of Fear”
• Bloodrock – “It’s a Sad World”
• Dust – “Learning to Die”
• Isaac Hayes – “Walk On By”

Too few folks talk about Obscured By Clouds, the Pink Floyd album that came between the Goliaths that are Meddle and Dark Side Of The Moon. That’s a shame, because I love it, and “Childhood’s End” is only one of the 10 reasons why…Did Glenn Hughes always sound amazing? Based on Medusa, the 1970 album by Trapeze featuring him and Judas Priest’s Dave Holland on drums I’d say the answer is a resounding “yes.” Super fun rock album that will cure you of the doldrums…Oh Captain Beyond, why are you so damn good? Seriously, anyone who hasn’t heard the entirety of the band’s debut from 1972 is in for a treat. Super heavy, progressive, and prominent cowbell is all you need to know. Beautiful cover art and songs that segue into each other just add to the appeal. They never made an album like this again, so cherish it now you that you know of its existence (and if you already knew, listen again)…

Bloodrock is another discovery from the Filthy 50 article, and the Fort Worth, TX band’s entire discography is worth checking out, but the first four are essential rock gems. This opening track to the killer Bloodrock U.S.A. album from 1971 is a great starting place…We’re going to stay on the Filthy 50 train a little longer because Dust is another trio (yeah, I know I have a thing for power trios…) doing the hard rock thing with just enough to separate them from the pack of FM radio hits I had jammed into my brain from 1976 to, well…1991 I guess (thanks 101.5 WPDH!) and this track from their second album Hard Attack is heavy. How heavy? It works great with the cover art by Frank Frazetta…There’s probably a different version of this playlist that focuses on the R&B, soul, and funk classics of the era that sound superb, but for now we’ll close with the juiciest of tastes, the mammoth opening track from Isaac Hayes and his very own Hot Buttered Soul…

Be safe, and see you next week.

¹ With the exception of the Dust album, all of the above tracks are from album I own either original or same year pressings of. Not that it really matters to me – the Dust album came in a new 2LP set with their debut and sounds excellent.