Copper

Borrowing (Stealing?) from the Classics

Cov•er•ing: in music, performing a song that has been written or recorded by the original artist Bor•row•ing: obtaining or receiving something with the understanding that it will be returned (or,...

Nearly $400 Poorer, Here Are My 2022 Black Frid...

File under, “inside the head of a Record Store Day consumer.” Since 2014, it’s been like clockwork. Twice a year I download the Record Store Day (RSD) upcoming titles list...

Confessions of a Record Collector, Part Three

We record collectors are a compulsive bunch. I talked about some of the not-quite-rational lengths to which we will go in order to acquire vinyl in Issue 137 and Issue...

Exploring CTI Records, Part One: 1969 – 1971

At the end of the A&M 60th anniversary series in Copper (in Issue 176)I featured recordings released as a collaboration between A&M Records and Creed Taylor’s CTI imprint. This CTI...

Why I'll Stick with FM Radio and Won't be Strea...

Over the past year or so I’ve noticed an increasing use of streaming services to supply the music at audio shows and other audiophile events. This article explains why I...

Hear, There, Everywhere: Part One

One of the many wonderful things about music is its ability to help us discover and appreciate musical styles from around the world. Some composers and performers assimilate styles from...

Andrew Daly's 15 Best Rock Albums of 2022

In the early wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the music business was left in shambles. The outlook on touring seemed bleak, and artists’ ability to sustain themselves through new albums...

Chet Baker: A Rough Life Full of Smooth Trumpet...

Chet Baker’s life was as rough as his vocal and trumpet sounds were smooth. His vibe is unmistakable and had a big influence on some of the biggest stars in...

Dwight Yoakam: Country Music, His Way

Dwight Yoakam fans are mad. Not at him, of course. They’re frustrated that, five decades into his career, Yoakam has still not been inducted into the Country Music Hall of...

An Interview With Mobile Recording Innovator Da...

We began our interview with mobile recording pioneer David W. Hewitt in Issue 178. Hewitt and his mobile trucks recorded thousands of concerts from hundreds of artists across the United...

Audio Up Close: the Magico A3 Loudspeaker

“From the Listening Chair” is a new column that will focus on picturing current audio components and loudspeakers, as opposed to the vintage photography that Howard contributes to “Audio Anthropology.”...

Sincere Flattery

As a fortune cookie connoisseur, I may have found the best one yet: “Listening, not imitation, may be the sincerest form of flattery.” Especially when it comes to audio gear!...

Holiday Warmth

Some serious “wow” factor here – a 1950s McIntosh C-104 mono tube preamplifier. It used three 5751 tubes and could accommodate five (mono) audio sources.   Detail shot of the...

An Interview With Mobile Recording Innovator Da...

David W. Hewitt is one of the pioneers in designing remote multitrack recording studios. He and his mobile trucks recorded thousands of concerts from hundreds of artists across the United...

Around the World In 80 Lathes, Part 28

Having visited the Great British disk recording industry in our last episode (Issue 177), it is now time to ask where it all began. How did they start eating beans...

Lou Reed’s Spirit Remains in New York, On Recor...

Lou Reed passed away on Oct. 27, 2013 but interest in him remains high, as evidenced this past June by the opening of an exhibit at the New York Public...

Back to My Reel-to-Reel Roots: The Cassette Str...

As noted in previous installments, including my report on the recent AudioJumble in the UK (Issue 164) and a later column (Issue 175) about the emergence of a new generation...

Wrapping Presence

How I Learned to Stop Kvetching and Make Nice W...

Christmas is approaching with all the subtlety of a runaway tanker train. Pop-up ads, doorbuster sales, inflatable plastic figures on people’s lawns, and the Christmas music machine, starring saints, snowmen,...

Lossless Audio

Eric Gales: A Blues Guitar Force of Nature

The only people who don’t think being nominated for a Grammy is still a big deal are those not being nominated for a Grammy. This is particularly true when you...

Pilgrimage to Sturgis: Epilogue

The next morning, I rolled over, kissed Melody on the cheek, and told her that I felt the need to hit the road. “I know,” she said, “you’re a rolling...

Some Holiday Music Favorites

I might be a bit of an outlier. I typically don’t play Christmas music all that often during the holidays, since we are bombarded with it daily from November 1...

Stuffy Shmitt: Portrait of an Artist

In the 1990s I worked at the North Star Pub in Manhattan’s South Street Seaport, a stone’s throw from the East River and in view of the old Fulton Fish...

Buy The Audio Gear Your Room Needs: Some Thoughts

Have you ever eaten in a restaurant and noticed something along the lines of: “Chef’s Special – Deconstructed Steak Pie,” or perhaps, “Exploded Fish Pie?” OK, I admit, I made...

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Is Not Rock and Roll

The full telecast of the November 5, 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (RRHoF) induction ceremony is now available on HBO – all four hours of it. Although I...

Even More Rock Album Mini-Reviews

In Issue 150 I listed my 150 desert island favorite rock albums, and followed up with a selection of reviews from that list in Issue 151 and Issue 166. I...

Jack Daley: Rockin’ the Bass for Lenny Kravitz ...

Bass players are often the forgotten men and women on the rock and roll totem pole. If you think about it, the notion is unfounded given their importance in laying...

Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’?

Well, eh…no, according to my wife. A joke goes like this: My wife says to me, “You either have hearing loss or Alzheimer’s; you’re deaf and you don’t pay attention...

Pietro Locatelli: Rediscovering a Master of Vio...

Pietro Locatelli (1695 – 1764) is one of those gifted Baroque composers who somehow didn’t remain a well-known name through the centuries. He may not be a hidden Bach or...

Barbara Lynn: Electrifying R&B Pioneer

There was never anything ordinary about Barbara Lynn. A Black woman playing electric guitar professionally in 1960s Texas was extraordinary enough. And her technique was surprising: she plucked the melody...

Ascension

Staircase, New York City, overlooking Madison Square Garden. John Flory is an industrial designer who works for an architectural fabrication firm specializing in high-end staircases. He is an artist, designer,...

London’s Klooks Kleek: A Sixties Music Breeding...

1960s British music aficionados are likely familiar with many of the era’s historic music venues, including London’s Marquee Club and Saville Theater. Devout Beatles’ fans are likely to include in...

A Look At Ravel’s Works for Orchestra

One of the popular mantras in audiophilia is “garbage in, garbage out.” This is meant to say a piece of equipment is only as good as what comes before it....

A Most Dedicated Record Collector

If someone offered you $30,000 for just one out of the 20,000-plus records in your collection, would you sell it? Not Joe Bussard. If you aren’t familiar with the name,...

The Revolver Remix Project: Producer Giles Mart...

Jay Jay’s review of the Revolver remixes appeared in Issue 175. Producer/engineer Giles Martin, the son of original Beatles producer George Martin, speaks with Jay Jay here.  Jay Jay French:...

Small-Room Acoustics, Part Three

There are many reasons why recording studios exist – aside from the obvious, not least of all because they are purpose-built spaces with excellent sound reproduction quality in mind. Typically,...

The Grand Opening of the Long Island Music and ...

Long Island has always been a fertile musical breeding ground, and after almost 20 years of seeking a home, the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame (LIMEHoF) has...

A Safe Bet

A Dynaco SCA-35 vacuum tube integrated amplifier, a budget audiophile classic. It was introduced in 1963 and was rated at 35 watts per channel. It even had a "Spare" input...

John Lodge: Days of Future Passed and Present

When the Moody Blues released their follow-up to their 1965 debut album, the cover song-centric The Magnificent Moodies (released in the US as Go Now – The Moody Blues #1),...

Around the World In 80 Lathes, Part 27

Following one of the usual routes taken on several of my road trips, back when I was younger and the world made a bit more sense, our visit to France,...

Never Say Never: Rocker Dean Ortega of Neverlan...

The glam metal era is loaded with memorable personalities from heroic acts including Poison, Mötley Crüe, Ratt, and more. But peel back the onion, and layers of incredible music teeming...

AES Fall 2022 New York – The Live Event Returns...

After two years of only streaming of their biannual New York show online due to the pandemic, the Audio Engineering Society (AES) returned to their live event presentation format at...

Water Works

Street scene from Silver City, New Mexico. It borders the Gila Wilderness, the largest pristine wilderness area in the Continental United States.

The Great River Road Lemons Rally

The Great River Road Lemons Rally was one that I couldn’t decide on. In typical Lemons Rally fashion, the route would take us to historic and unusual landmarks along the...

Back to My Reel-to-Reel Roots: Noodge and Ye Sh...

If you recall my installment in Issue 171, I recounted how my incessant pestering of Kevin Root of RX Reels drove him to silence me by producing a 7-inch version...

You Made Listening Fun

We’ve lost another one of the greats with the passing of Christine McVie at 79. As singer, keyboardist and songwriter for the monumentally popular Fleetwood Mac, her voice has been...

Money for Nothing

Pilgrimage to Sturgis, Part 35

A group of seven boisterous young cowboys all wearing Western hats and boots walked into the bar as I conversed with Lonnie Many Bears. They were covered in sweat and...

The Heart of the Matter