As I previously wrote, I had the great fortune to work with Prince during the 90’s, while an executive at Warner Bros. Records. I art directed a number of his album covers (pictured throughout this post*) and oversaw much of the marketing for his records. We weren’t friends by any means; nobody at Warner Bros. […]
This week Third Man Books (part of Jack White’s Third Man Records) announced a book I’ve been working on for quite some time. Here’s their press release. As the winter release comes nearer, I’ll be posting some updates, but for now, this tells the story. THIRD MAN BOOKS ANNOUNCES TOTAL CHAOS: THE STORY OF THE […]
An hour ago I learned that Prince has died. I had the very great privilege of working closely with him during the 1990’s, while I was at Warner Bros. Records, his record label. At Warner Bros, and before that A&M Records, I had the good fortune to work with many extraordinarily talented artists . But […]
Today I’m listening to David Bowie’s first 8 albums in chronological order, and thinking about one my all time musical heroes. When I heard he’d died, I was shocked, but not surprised. There were rumors of ill health, and he hadn’t looked well in recent videos. But still… In the 1970’s, I was obsessed with […]
I’m sorry to report that the great Bruce Langhorne is in hospice care and dying. I visited him a few days ago and he is in a good place and at peace. But the 24 hour care he needs is expensive, and so I suggested letting his fans know, in case anyone is able to […]
I love set lists–the list of songs an artist puts together to perform at a particular concert. To me, they’re among the most compelling of all music collectibles — ideally, handwritten by a musician, used on stage during a performance, and documenting a specific moment in that artist’s evolution. Some artists play the same songs […]
In May, my wife Jody and I drove across the America, coast to coast, from Los Angeles to Savannah, Georgia–a bucket list dream of mine. And much to my wife’s delight, I ended up driving the whole 3000+ miles. We spent about 19 days, stopping in 10 cities, seeing the sights, visiting friends and for […]
There’s been a lot written about Bob Dylan’s new album of songs sung by Frank Sinatra, Shadows in the Night. People seem to love it or hate it, and I can’t understand why. I think it’s a masterpiece. I’ve listened to Shadows more than any new Dylan album since Time Out of Mind. I play […]
UPDATE: All have been identified, and very quickly at that. See results at the bottom of this post. Thanks to everyone who helped out. Here’s an experiment in crowd-sourcing. We recently acquired two original Frank Zappa music manuscripts, and a lead sheet for a third composition, all of which were handwritten by the great man […]
Sorry to have been away so long, and I promise to post more frequently in the new year. Today, I want to write a bit about the reaction to my last post, detailing my discovery of the 149 Bob Dylan Houston Street Studios Acetates. I assumed this would be a big story in the Dylan […]
Treasure hunting. It’s what I love most about my work as a music historian, collector and dealer. Nothing matches the rush of discovering something previously unknown and historically significant, which adds to the collective understanding of a great musical artist. And three months ago I made one of the great finds in a lifetime of […]
On April 30, the news broke that Sotheby’s would be auctioning Bob Dylan’s original handwritten lyric manuscripts for Like A Rolling Stone and A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall in June– big news in the Dylan community. As someone who’s written more than his fair share about Dylan and his manuscripts, I’ve gotten many calls and […]
Last year I posted Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland—Exposing the ‘Blue Type’ Hype, about people’s mistaken notion that the UK version of Hendrix’s masterpiece with the blue type was the true first pressing. If you’re one of the 98% of collectors who couldn’t care less about this, I invite you to move on to something more […]
I was in London two weeks ago when my daughter texted the sad news that Lou Reed had died. She was very upset, which was surprising as I never knew she was a fan. But the real surprise was how the rest of the world reacted. As a huge Velvet Underground fan, I know how […]
If you’re a record collector and don’t know Dust and Grooves, you should. Eilon Paz’s site documents record collectors from around the world, telling their stories via interviews and his fantastic photographs. I’m a huge fan of Dust & Grooves, and was honored to be featured this month. And here are a few more links […]
If you’re a record or memorabilia collector, don’t miss last month’s Wall Street Journal article on Atlantic Records chairman Craig Kallman. Craig, who I first met in the 90’s when I was an executive at Warner Bros. Records, has 750,000 records. That’s right, three quarters of a million albums. That’s got to be the largest […]