Fresno Famous

?

I'm genuninely sorry to hear that Spleece... I mean, I don't usually trawl the Reggae section, but they do have quite a bit of nearly everything else, (I just never looked at the Reggae stuff a whole bunch... -cool T-Shirts though...)

-I'd recommend David Lindley's 'El-Rayo Ex'... I mean, there are a lot of tunes that have a very strong Reggae-Cajun kinda thing to them, -and they wheeze along beautifully, (If nothing else, it will give you something to love on your quest for other more 'pure,' forms... I guarantee this thing will sneak up on you and make you quite happy, (though there is a dark song here and there.)

I can just see you shuffling around on a Saturday morning making breakfast for your troupe singing his rendition of 'Bye-Bye Love,' (very very reggae, actually.)

Trust me on this one.

-Have I ever steered your wrong on a decent platter o tunes yet? Eh???
(think of it as an early Christmas Present, from me to you...)

ho-ho-ho.

They still don't have...

...anything for me!

Oh well, I had hoped...

-s

Speakin' of Pizza...

Me fears that Mike Oz may be correct...

The stage is full of metal shelving (and the stage is supposed to be kinda? where the pizza joint is supposed to be going...

-When I asked the sharp-as-a-tack (and that was just his hair,) gentleman behind the counter when the 'za was going to start happening.'
'--Gee, I hope soon, 'cause I'm starving...'

(good comeback btw.)

I dunno...

Maybe it's good that the pizza is stalled out... I mean, good pizza is greasy pizza,
-and who wants to be flipping through the CD's with a whole bunch of oily-shlymi-ness all over the covers, (having to wipe yer hands on the sides of your jeans and stuff...)

still...

Da Update...

Rasputin's has been getting my sheckles of late (mostly,) for old VHS, (yep, I don't have a DVD...)

got some killer stuff in the visual department, (Men in Black, Tucker, MIB 2, Brother from Another Planet, Fried Green Tomatos, ---lotsa late 80's to early 90's stuff...
-All at great prices...

The tunage?

-It seems that the Used CD's have gone UP in price a buck or two (at least,)
and stuff you could get at 5.95,
-now is between 7 to 9.
?
(hmmmmmmmm.)

Selection is still good, the price uppage is just (ahem,) noticible.

Purchased on this pass?

1. Dusty Springfield:
Dusty in Memphis:
(1969 Atlantic)
(Rhino Reissue 1999.)

-Actually heard for the first time back in Phila, ---then 'reheard it,' recently on KFSR... -great great recordings of a lady who (well-i'll-be-goldarn) is English, -and does some killer standards on this, her first recording session with the Memphis Sound.
-Probably one of the greatest tracks (best known,) 'Son of a Preacher Man,' -has been eclipsed by 'I Can't Make it Alone.' ---one of those songs that just gets stuck in your head... (Hey, Julia Dawn, -hows abouts a cover of this??? (you'd do it justice... totally.)
great, great recording that kind of got overlooked during it's issue date in '69... (though it was big back across the pond.)
-The liner notes are great too. (gives you the feeling of actually holding history in yer mits.) Rhino re-release in 1999
2.95

2. Aimee Mann:
Bachelor No. 2.
(1999 SuperEgo Records)

--I am a massive Aimee Mann fan.
The woman can play, she can write, she can sing, ---probably one of the greatest 'unsung,' musicians of all time...
-This?
the CD with the DoDo on the cover, is great stuff, -with a lot of components and tunes actually used to make the movie 'Magnolia,' ---this is the CD that inspired the whole Idea (some of the characters are straight out of the tracks.)
-Wanna read one of the coolest and most honest lovesongs ever done (with a great great lead up and guitar work?)
'Deathly' -trust me on this.
3.95 (plus tax.)

3. Robert Palmer:
Riptide
(1985 Island Records)

-Regrettably one of the sadder situations, (we lost him too young, -this man could sing like nobody's business...
-I've been looking to snarf me up some Palmer over the past few months, (need to get Power Station, -had it in my hands a few months ago, -passed it up, now it's gone...)

--What's so wild about this particular CD?
-Well, I don't think it's a bootleg, -but it's got this weird hardboard cover, (sort of like album cardboard,) it's two sided, -has the photo on the front cover, then only half of the songs printed on the back of the cover-card.

-Further?
It's obviously been cut down from a larger package (part of the labels cut off,) ---and the cuts are wavy and crooked...
Reeeeaaaallly Wild?

-Sticker on the back (black on yellow) that says:
'Prosecution Exhibit 52'
out of Bayonne NJ
(Bayonne, to those of you who don't know from Jersey, is directly below Jersey City, and across the harbor from Manhattan, -with the Statue of Liberty in betwixt...
---So, not only has this particular CD been 'around a bit,' it was also part of a trial at one point, AND is shady and from the Garden State, (just like moi.)
--gave this little beauty a good home for 3.95

The Espensivo:

(Every once in a while I buy new stuff, like for rarities and things)

These two are hands down two CD's that are among the absolute
'desert Island Discs,' that you will find clutched in my clammy dead fingers when that magic time comes to head to heaven...

4. David Lindley:
El Rayo-Ex
(1981 Warner Brothers)

-This is one of those situations where, if you don't know who David Lindley is?,
I can't quite explain him.
-All of Jackson Brownes 'Slide Guitar,' work?
-That's David Lindley.

---this guy is waaaaaay ahead of his time, this album is one of the coolest funk-raggae-twang, and killer slide guitar pieces on the planet as we know it...
-Personally?
This thing almost single-handedly got me through my Jr. Year of HighSchool, -and possibly my senior one two.
One song? (alone,) has got to be one of the greatest renditions of the song ever committed to vinyl: 'Mercury Blues,'
---(redone in a LOUSY version by Alan Jackson some time ago,)
THIS,
---(are you listening?,)
THIS is the version you want to hear...
Never before has a fast moving slide (almost sounding like an electric dobro) ever been incorporated...
-percussion tracks (by Ras Babboo) also are a complete winner (at times playing on 5gal metal 'jerry,' (gas) cans.)
-Music nerd? Need Friends? Wanna impress people with your amazing taste in good music?
Pop this puppy in, and no bullies will kick sand in your face ever again, (and you get to dance with the girl, too...)
-A must for any collection.
(14.95 or something...)

(and the Pizza d'Resistance)

5. Ian Hunter: Welcome to the Club (2CD Deluxe set (with unreleased cuts,) 1980, (reissue) 1994 Chrysalis Records

Don't know who David Lindley is? that's bad.
Don't know who Ian Hunter is? much worse...
-Ever hear of Mott the Hoople? (All the young dudes? -actualy a Bowie Song,)
Ian Hunter fronted Mott...

This is a double record (in it's orig. format,) recording of an L.A. concert that had to have been one of the coolest flat out
'..yep, it's gonna be live, but we're gonna record it, because who knows HOW long this guy is going to be up and about.
(he still is, I think.)

--There are so many good songs on this (live,) set that it was well worth the price.
-Probably worth the ticket price alone?
'Once Bitten Twice Shy.'

---Now, look, for those of you who were raised with that anemic 80's-90's (what was it, 'Great White,' GNR wanna-be 'moussed' hair band version...? (wanna hurl just thinking of it....)
-look, I'm really sorry,,,
I should have issued a warning to the general populace, -but I didn't have a computer.
I'm about to make it up to you.)

-'Once Bitten Twice Shy,'Orig. was done by Mick Ronson (who plays guitar on this,) with Ian.
--and, as all songs on the CD,
he completely owns the tune, the stage, the audience, the night...
there is such a severity and perfect 'spot on,' delivery of this tune, (as is the whole album,) you will, again, realize that there was a time where 'Live,' was meant to be a documentation of something amazing... -At times exceeding the studio versions.

Learn this version of 'Once Bitten..' and I promise you, you will be up there, on a bar someday, beltin' yer little heart out, and winning over the most jaded of swat teams (and suicide prevention negotiators,,,, -just begging you to come down, once finished...)
-This thing has hair on it.

--Anything by Ian Hunter is amazing, the guy has one of those 'well it ain't pretty, but that hasn't stopped me yet,' singers who had been belting out and fronting bands for a good twenty years by time this set was recorded.

Many other great tracks reside here: (opening cut,) FBI, All the Way from Memphis, Just Another Night, Cleveland Rocks (where the crowd initiall insists on singing 'LA ROCKS,' -but finally caves in the chant as he covers most of the major US cities, Standing in my Light, Bastard, and one of the most crowd particpating 'All the Young Dudes,' ever done.
-price: 21.99
(steep, yess, kitten, but worth it.
-it was also an English Pressing, so I guess I had to pay it's airfare or something, (album was listed as 'Out of Print,' in the US...)

There are some albums recorded (example:
Cheap Trick: Live at Budhokhan
Supertramp: Paris,
Genesis: Seconds Out,
Peter Gabriel: Plays Live,
Lynyrd Skynyrd: One More From the Road,
Dire Straits: Double Live Alchemy,
Joe Walsh: Live- 'You can't Argue with a Sick Mind,')
Neil Young: Rust Never Sleeps
--where an entire era and electricity of not just a band but a venue are captured forever,
-and remain willing, like a series of Prehistoric critters,
more than happy to come back to life,
dance all over your furniture,
shred the carpet,
and threaten nasty things on the floor,
(only to leave the scent of Sweat, Jack Daniels, and half-tone shades,) -as they rumble off like a happy bunch of eternal vikings, just glad to have been invited to the party.)

-It was completely understood, (and was taken woefully for granted,)
-that music meant something,
-and paying good money for a show?,
-meant you were going to be a part of something that you'd be talking about for decades...

(Ian Hunter: 'Welcome to the Club,' is one of those magnificent couple hours.)
(with wonderfully awkward edit/cuts between tunes, and the odd outtake and studio cut circa early MTV.)

...yes, yes, I know it's the music your parents probably listened to at one time or another, try to ignore that, it all works out good in the end, I promise...

goodies to be had, fer sure...

Okay...

the place is starting to come along, (inside wise... great rolling carts that hold CD's and such on sale, (metal) dirt cheap too... btw...)

Found in the Bins this lovely afternoon:

'Magnolia' (soundtrack from the film,)1999 Reprise:
music by Aimee Mann, (other artists on this: Supertramp, Gabrielle, Jon Bryan
--For those of you who have NOT seen this film... oh boy are you missing out..
(warning: adult themes, nudity, etc.)
-The entire soundtrack was created by Aimee Mann for the film, and verse-visa, with one spectacular moment in the film, (among many,) where the entire cast sings one song at once...
(just watch it, you'll get it... I HATED this film the first time I saw it, then fell completely in love with it...)
Brilliant Soundtrack.
-3.95

---Still there on the racks (closeouts,)
'City of Angels' Soundtrack (Gabriel Yared, among others,) ---Brilliant Brilliant soundtrack, and Yared's work is worth the price of admission, (though the rest are stellar...)

the Innocence Mission: 'Glow' (1995 A&M)
Music suitable for any time of year, but particularly well received at twilight, with the 'christmas lights,' on (yes, the ones you leave on all year,) and you get swirled away by one of the most distinctive female vocalists to come from (Pennsylvania??? think so..)

-1.95

KD Lang: 'Drag' (1997 Warner Brothers)
-You like voices? You wanna fall in love? You got somebody to dance with...?
-well fer cryin' out loud, grab someone and throw this CD on... (dim the lights.)
---this and 'Engenue' (though this is covers, for the most part,) total gorgeous torch, (even if she does look eerily like Bryan Ferry (another fav.) on the back cover.

-1.95

Amazing find of the day?
Sonia Dada: A Day at the Beach (1995 Capricorn.)
--THIS band, if you ever get a chance to see them live will blow your mind... completely.
-Imagine Little Feat with Lowel George still alive, and three incredible black vocalists fronting it up... (yes, this is a truly funky multi-racial band... Chicago'ns I think.)
-This is with the orig. vocalist line up, (one of the guys later on had to be excused due to nose-candy problems...)
---This is one of the coolest CD's that has (admittedly slightly tamer renditions, on studio,) ---but is a real gem worth any price...
-(This has the album cover that I just don't often wear the tour shirt from... it's of an african american gentleman tied in a sack, with ropes, being thrown head first off of a pier into the water... (Yes, it's the lead singer, Yes, it's tongue and cheek, and No... wearing the thing is not worth the aggrivation of explaining,,, '...but these are black people making fun of racism...'
---Still a tremendous tremendous CD..

-1.95

But the absolute kicker..

(and I mean, I've not even SEEN this thing in stores, like Ever...)

AT&T Presents: 'Stormy Weather'
(concert for the benefit of the Walden Woods Project and the Thoreau Institute (Produced by Don Henley) 1998 (AT&T Promo CD.)

---So here's the deal:
-This concert was FULL orchestration with the following songs sung by the following artists:

'Almost Blue': Gwen Stefani
'You've Changed': Paula Cole
'But Beautiful': Shawn Colvin
'Good Guy': Trishia Yearwood
'Is That all There Is?': Sandra Bernhard
'Good Morning Heartache': Sheryl Crow
'They Can't Take That Away From Me': Natalie Cole
'At Last': Stevie Nicks
'Gloomy Sunday': Bjork
'Stormy Weather': Joni Mitchell

-Again, the girls are fronting full (as in 'murder incorporated' style,) big band,
-and each of them but on their own little steamroller performance (even if it's one of the most heartbreaking renditions of 'Good Guy, (Yearwood,) or Stevie Nicks (all 4'6" nanny-goat vocals beatin' the tar out of the county with 'At Last...' (probably one of the most powerful readings of the song in the last 4 decades,)

---Everybody's in evening gowns,
(except Bjork... -but at least she's not wearing waterfowl...)
---her rendition of 'Gloomy Sunday' will devestate you, (nice muted horn lead in, too btw...)

-This CD could not be bought..
It was initially a mail out by AT&T and is one of the most gorgeous live concerts ever caught,,,
(rivals SuperTramp: Paris, Roy Orbison's: A Black and White Night, Genesis: Seconds Out, (even) Little Feat's: Waiting for Columbus...)
There is just not a bum cut on the album...)

-This little gem, (which I lost my copy of in the WTC tower attack, figured... oh well..)

-I snagged for: (again,) 1.95

(I like this place, this Rasputins...)

Nice talk with Mr. Kawasaki from the Bee too...

Still on the racks (left for someone else to find???)

An extremely rare (origional) pressing of:

The Blue Nile: A Walk Across Rooftops (I think A&M)
-Long out of print, ---now back in (but only as a re-issue,)

--I can't remember if these guys are Scots, Irish, or Welsh,)
---A band that was formed specifically to demonstrate the clarity of particular sound equipment in the early 80's,,,
They were given a contract when this 'demo,' was heard...
-Amazing very atmospheric small band, great combo's of Percussion with brief orchestration, unreal rhythms, and a guy who has one of the most distinctive male voices,,, almost like Elvis Costello, --just a deeper and more mournful...
---If you find this thing? You will be in love with them,,, (and ye best act fast...
I think they released all of 3 or 4 CD's ---and they took breaks of upwards of ten years or so in between...

--This is, by far, one of their greatest works, and one of the coolest 'low-fi,' almost accoustic, semi-new-wave, 'found music,' bands you will ever find..
---the little beauty is going for under 5 clams as well maybe under 3...

...I'm happy.

I dig Tony's too

Good calzone's
Diablo

...Coming from the Tri-State Metro Region of NY, NJ, PA, CONN.

...okay, that's not Tri-State, it's 'Quad-State,' but I'm on a mission here...

Pizza is to be respected...
Good pizza is to be adored, revered, and given it's own plastic dashboard saint...
(I don't know who the patron St. of Pizza is... I'll call get on the horn with the vatican and get back to you...)

But still.
-There is NOTHING like chomping on a hot greasy
-thrown in the air by a guy with major five o'clock shadow (at ten in the morning, a heavy accent, white T-Shirt, and a pack of Marlboro's tucked in the sleeve,)

-While listening to
Joe Walsh: Rocky Mtn. Way
Edgar Winter's: 'Free Ride,'
Grand Funk Railroads: 'Locomotion',
Bowie's 'Ziggy Stardust,'
or,,,
the ultimate pizzaria diddy:
Zepplin: 'Immigrant Song'...

(Pizza and guitars... it's a messy fingerboard, but somebody's gotta do it...)

Danny Federici (keyboard for Springsteen's E Street Band,) His familiy OWNS one of the best 'talian joints in Freehold, NJ, has AMAZING pie...
(...'Federici's'... makes sense, don't it...)
-And Miami Steve VanSant was (also from the band,) was in the Sopranos,
---AND it's the final season... (sniff, sob...)

Pizza, Guitars, ...Hoods...
you just can't DO one without the other. (It's a cosmic ethical-moral thing...
I'm surprised nobody has gotten a citation yet...
It might be why we're down on rain, in fact...)

I don't care if I have to drive to 'Jersey and get a pie to go... quality tunes demands quality pie... dassit.

(mean time?)

TONY's on FRUIT and SHIELDS

get ye there hence, and straighforward...

not cheap,
but you will NOT find a better pie on this coast
from Alaska all the way down to that little pointy thing at the bottom of South America is called...)

(The Big Family Special (you need a furniture dolly to get it out the door,) is a thing of Beauty...

Guess I have to represent

those who grit teeth to Dense Fe. Also known as heavy metal. I stepped in only to grab up the new Modest Mouse, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, for Corazón. Their CD holds up compared to their previous work. Ended up swooping up Machine Head's new CD The Blackening. Word on Machine Head, they recently came to town and rocked the house at the Ballroom. This new album, pure fury. They picked up a common missing element in today's metal, a lead guitar. This new CD eclipses their previous work.

This is the first place I go get CD's and they can get me to find a rhythm to want to mosh to. They play real metal, back it up with good hip hop, good R&B, rap and great trance and techno. You don't get that too often, the air in there suites me. Can't wait to walk the aisles with Corazón.

Diablo

I'll say this about the

I'll say this about the whole cafe/pizza thing. I'll believe it when I see it.

And I mean that in the nicest way possible.

Rasputin opened in Fremont (where I'm from) in about 2000 or 2001, with promises of a cafe -- and Internet cafe then, cuz ya know, that was cool then -- and to today, nothing.

The area where the cafe is supposed to be is still there, full of junk.
Someone told me they're still saying they're gonna open it.

I laughed.

And when someone told me the same thing about Fresno, I laughed again. Maybe they will. Maybe they'll surprise me.

I hope they do.

I'm just not betting on it.

...not quite, there,,, meinst hairs...

I think it's a bunch of portly old rockers like yours truly, (and other unnamed folk,)
who said:

'..they BUY OLD CD's????'
'MABLE!!!, get the DODGE, we're goin' to FRESBURG.'

-went and sold off their stash,
and now have been struggling through the directions of Jr.'s IPOD, having shredded all possible versions of EVERYTHING for free... (oops,)
I meant,
whatever they charge per song...

Hey, gas is expensive, and Starbucks ain't cheap either...
(Though, having bought my coffee at Cafe-Corazon??? I ain't never going back, and they ain't never taking me alive...

no suh...)

(I'm just waiting for the pizza...
that and a good cheap copy of the Pixie's 'Doolittle,' to come in... (that or Townshend's 'Scoop,' and (maaaaaaaybe,) Lennon's 'Rock-n-Roll.'

priming the pump ?

Used record stores sometimes have Beatle albums--but usually they aren't the *prime* stuff---it'll be like the Anthology series or BBC or "the early tapes" or whatever. I too was surprised at seeing Rasputins stalked nicely with classic albums from their standard catalogue. I *think* though, that there MUST have been some sort of stock to start with. Right? Not ALL of the albums in that store, in fact, given how recently they opened, I'm sure very few of those albums came from Fresnans. I think they maybe start out by priming the pump with good stuff?

The Beatles

John Lennon did not mean they were "bigger" then Jesus, just that they were "taller" then he was. Totally misunderstood.
Nobody should ever sell back Beatle albums. It should be a crime.

I think I'm gonna like this place,,, too.

(Purchased (5.95) each.)

The Pretenders:
Pretenders 2
(1981 Pressing: Sire/Real Records)

-whole album is a killer, initially bought it new twenty-five years ago,,, (yes, I have argyl socks older than a lot of the readers, I know... There was also a time when I was hoping to be reincarnated as Chrissie Hynde's eyeliner... (It's a long story.)

Tears for Fears:
Songs From the Big Chair
(1985 Mercury/London Phonogram Pressing.)

If you don't love this album, and it does not move you?
You are wrong.

-I got there fifteen minutes to closing. (probably a good thing, as I really didn't have the 6 bucks a pop for the two above... but it was such a deal...)

First Impressions:

Very nice staff...
It was the first time I have been in that building under any circumstances and have had someone come up to me and ask me if they could help me find something, ---and they weren't simply trying to get me out the door... (when it was Tower? forget it, they didn't freakin' come up to you at all... oh the memories of arrogance...)

Okay...
it looks like an incredibly cool collection of CD's, Records, DVD's, VHS, CASSETTES, (etc.) has 'squatted' in a gutted building...

Personally?
It doesn't bother me a bit...
a lot of the really great CD and Record houses in Manhattan are pits... so this is my sort of atmosphere...(The Bryan Setzer on the overhead... nice touch.)

I like the place... (but not everybody will... you may want to continue slugging it out in the clean up effort, or something...)

Yes:
They are going to have a Pizza by the slice place there, (I asked.) (HAH... Freakin' HAH!!!)
-as well as a cyber cafe-
cafe-cafe as well...

And please.... for the love of anything sacred...

STOP SELLING BACK ALL YOUR OLD BEATLES CD'S
(jeesh... half the used bin is Beatles stuff...
or freakin' Elvis...
(Elvis I need to pick up some more of... but what do thos liverpudlians think they are?
...Bigger than Jesus??)

my rasputin's fun

yeah!
Robyn Hitchcock "Globe of Frogs"
PJ Harvey "4-track Demos"
Regina Spector---a live 5 song EP
Creedence Clearwater--Cosmo's Factory

Gotta love it. There were plenty more in my hands, but
the need to survive 'til next payday helped me show *some*
measure of restraint.

Nerd spotted in Rasputins over the weekend

The store still needs a lot of work, but the used section is already filling out and is very popular. The sound of people fliping through plastic CD cases is almost defeaning.

Here's what a rock nerd got for his first used purchase:

http://www.dorktown.net

Why thank you for asking

Red House Painters
R.E.M.
Guano Apes
Ben Kweller
Harvey Danger

Hey day

I stuck to the five buck classics in the massive used CD section.Like "Let it Bleed" by the Stones," Led Zeppelin II", "Sirrealistic Pillow" by Jefferson Airplane, "Electric Mud" by Waters, "Aqualung" by Jethro Tull, "Magical Mystery Tour", and some Hank Williams. Compared to Tower Records, Rasputin sure seems cheap.

What did you buy at Rasputin's this weekend?

I walked in and noticed a guy who looked like he was in charge because I saw a clerk ask him when she could take her lunch break. I asked him when they were going to accept local band consignments, he said in about 6 months.

First Credit Card Sale.

I was in town for Rasputin's opening day a couple weeks back. I would first like to note that I was the store's first credit card sale. I bought Arcade Fire's "Neon Bible" and Midlake's "The Trials of Van Occupanther." I wanted some Girl Talk but they didn't have it... Have they taken down that banner yet?

buy?

I did not buy anything, sell yes, selling off all the crappy CD's i ever bought, after i make copies and rips of the ones i mildly liked at one time.