Copper

The A&M Records Story, Part Two

In our last article (Issue 160), I presented some of A&M Records’ earliest recordings beginning in 1962, featuring the breezy California pop and instrumental music styles they ultimately became associated with. (A&M...

The Year Was 1977

In 1976, I began using an engagement calendar as a sort of shorthand diary to keep track of the things I’d done and people I’d met and been with –...

The Global Supply of Vacuum Tubes: What Happens...

Several weeks back, Jay Jay French discussed in his article, “Nero Fiddles while Rome…” (Issue 158), that the atrocities still taking place in Ukraine make our pastime of audio seem frivolous in...

Lester Young: President of Jazz

In 1909, a jazz master was born, one whose legacy should get more attention than it does. Maybe it’s because Lester Young played with Count Basie for so long that...

Pilgrimage to Sturgis, Part 19

  Chip’s 2-1/2-car garage was a corrugated steel building facing the alley, and was insulated with orange, expanded foam spray. The place was lit up like a gymnasium with two...

Fest for Beatles Fans Gets Back

I recently attended my first Fest for Beatles Fans in 20 years. I needed to recharge my Beatles batteries, which I did on April 4 and 5 at the New...

From Small Things, Big Things One Day Come

No, this is not a review of the great Springsteen-penned and Dave Edmunds-performed tune, although perhaps I will do an article on Dave Edmunds in the future as I just...

Still Singing! A Bit of Talking! A Little More ...

This month’s article, Part Two of “All Singing! Some Talking! A Little Dancing!” (Part One appeared in Issue 156), includes additional choral music selections in a variety of forms – and...

Back to My Reel-to-Reel Roots, Part 13: Re-Educ...

After the last two issues’ litanies of sins, by both the tape manufacturers and the end users (but not the vendors), I tried to place myself back in the 1950s...

Geoff Emerick’s Here, There and Everywhere: Rec...

Artistic geniuses at a young age are not entirely uncommon, as prodigies from Mozart to Derek Trucks bear witness. When the Beatles broke out with their first record in 1962,...

Like a Picasso: Bonnie Pointer’s Lost Album, Re...

The Pointer Sisters were a musical force of nature. Across 20 years beginning in the 1970s they released fifteen albums, delivered 13 top twenty hits, and won three Grammys. Songs...

Grazing in the Grass

This was an amazing moment. We had just arrived at this New Zealand farm/hotel/sheep ranch with only six guest rooms and their own restaurant. Terri and I unpacked and walked...

Take Me to the Pilot

Look at this beauty! Toshiba AM radio, 1955. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Masaki Ikeda (talk).   A late 1950s or early 1960s Pilot Radio Corp. SA-232 stereo amplifier. These were high-quality amps...

Chris Haddox: A Decades-in-the-Making Debut

Chris Haddox’s journey through music is like no other. Having dropped out of college at the age of 21, Chris Haddox moved to Nashville to stake his claim amongst an...

Outstanding Digital Downloads, Recently Added t...

This issue, I’m taking a listen to some digital downloads I’ve recently acquired. These include some interesting catalog albums that I’ve either never had on compact disc or any digital...

More Speaker Setup Tips From Audio Advice's Sco...

In Issue 160 we covered the useful Home Theater Designer loudspeaker setup software developed by Audio Advice, an audio/video retailer and systems integrator with showrooms in Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina. This free online interactive utility...

Around the World In 80 Lathes, Part 11

Cutter heads for record-cutting lathes have come in various shapes and forms throughout the years, from the mechanically-damped moving-iron designs of the early monophonic era, to devices using oil and...

Reality Check

Wardrobe Malfunction