Copper

Who are WE?

Arcade Fire: WE Jon Batiste: WE ARE If you asked me up until a few months ago what my favorite band of the 21st century is, I’d say “Arcade Fire.” But after...

The Secret History of Tribute Albums, Part One

Are there two Americas? Are they red versus blue, conservative vs. liberal, conspiracy-minded vs. reality-based? The answer is yes, but the divide is not along these lines. The two Americas...

The Joys of Monophonic Recordings, Part Two

In my previous article (Issue 162), I discussed the early monophonic recordings of the violinist Nathan Milstein. He was a very popular artist in his day, and his recordings are easy to...

Shelby Lynne – An American Original, Part Two

Part One (Issue 163) covered singer/songwriter Shelby Lynne’s career from her first release with George Jones in 1988 to her 2007 landmark, Just a Little Lovin’. Tears, Lies and Alibis (2010) was the...

A Pressing Decision

Rallying With Lemons, Part One

I’ve liked cars back since my days as a youngster and have been involved in various activities most of us perform with our cars – commuting, road trips, maintenance, detailing,...

Around the World In 80 Lathes, Part 13

Previous installments discussed various design approaches to record lathe cutter heads. In terms of sound, floating record lathe cutter heads actually are at a disadvantage. The floating of the cutter...

Shelby Lynne: An American Original, Part One

The tale of actress Kim Novak is one of Hollywood’s greatest walk-away stories. As a rising “blonde bombshell” starlet, she epitomized intelligent women who possessed an underlying sadness but could...

The Muffs’ Ronnie Barnett: Really Really Happy ...

You probably know the Muffs from their 1995 cover of the song “Kids in America,” originally done by Kim Wilde in 1982. It added a bit of roar to the Clueless soundtrack,...

How AXPONA Got Its Groove Back, Part Two

Part One of this report appeared in Issue 162. To recap my usual caveats: it was impossible to cover everything even in three days. I never make definitive judgments about sound...

Back to My Reel-to-Reel Roots, Part 15

Producing what one considers to be revelations from what is the “bloody obvious,” as the British would say, is a waste of anybody’s time. What could I possibly tell Copper’s audience of...

Ambient Music

The Luxman L3 integrated amplifier, sporting one of the coolest logos of all time. Howard Kneller paid $395 for it at New York’s Harvey Electronics in the 1970s, quite a...

Pristine Classical: Preserving Priceless Histor...

In Issue 162, we profiled Pristine Classical, a company dedicated to improving the sound of historic classical music recordings, many of which were recorded using primitive equipment under less-than-ideal conditions. However, during...

Lightning Strikes

Customer Relationship Management: Give it Some ...

Almost 20 years ago, my family and I took over a guitar shop business. It was a fantastic opportunity and represented some of the most rewarding, fun and enjoyable experiences...

Public Access TV, Part Two: Ken Gets Pranked

As time progressed, I added two more public access television shows to my resume. (See my previous article, “Public Access TV: A Perfect Soapbox” in Issue 160.) My newest show, Speak Out launched in...

Octave Records Releases The Audiophile Referenc...

PS Audio’s Octave Records has released two more titles on vinyl LPs: The Audiophile Reference Disc, created to help listeners get the best out of their stereo systems by providing reference-quality music and test...

Across the Great Divide

Monarch Pass, near the United States Continental Divide, Colorado.

Live Versus Recorded Music

I went to a rock concert a couple of weeks ago. This was only my second such show since the pandemic began (not counting a few bar gigs involving local...

Cathal Coughlan: From Microdisney to Telefís, A...

Acclaimed Irish singer-songwriter Cathal Coughlan, formerly of Irish rock bands Microdisney, The Fatima Mansions, and others, is always progressing, with an eye on setting trends, not following them. If ever-interesting,...

The Big Bang Theory

As I’ve mentioned before in this column, when I was very young and first started listening to music I was initially fascinated by “big” music – stereo recordings of large...

The Everly Brothers: In and Out of Harmony

With their boyish good looks, energetic and hummable tunes, and perfectly-matched voices, the Everly Brothers enraptured the American public and the world. While they were at it, they turned the...

James Reese Europe: Jazz Rhythm in Army Boots

There are great bandleaders, great composers, and great organizers, inventors, and advocates. And then there was James Reese Europe (1881 – 1919), who excelled in every one of those endeavors....

Gazing Back Into the Abyss

This past May 2 marked the ninth anniversary of thrash metal guitarist Jeff Hanneman’s (1964 – 2013) passing at age 49. He was a founding member of Slayer, which formed...

Pilgrimage to Sturgis, Part 21

There’s something about a garage that makes guys feel comfortable. Perhaps, deep down in our primordial brains, it reminds us of the protection and safety of caves. All the light...

We All Belong...

Thanks, mom. For everything. “La, la la la, la la la, la la la,Sing a simple song,We all belong,Only to Time…” – Jim Dawson, “City Song/Simple Song" (click below to...

Running Hot and Cold

95 Tears

I cried a little bit when Jerry Garcia died. I saw the Grateful Dead for the first time in 1967 and was in awe. I became a Deadhead and saw...

In Search of the Real Nick Drake

Who exactly was Nick Drake? Nicholas Rodney Drake was born June 19, 1948, in Rangoon, Burma, where his father Rodney served as an engineer with the Bombay Burma Trading Company....

A Pre-Entry-Level Analog MP3 Killer

This is the first in a series of semi-serious reviews – unabashedly replete with unsubstantiated speculations, hyperbole, unverified assumptions, conjectures and barely logical conclusions. But first, a story: In the...

Beethoven Trios: Beyond Archduke

One of Ludwig van Beethoven’s most beloved works of chamber music is the so-called Archduke Trio, named after the Austrian nobleman it was dedicated to. But the Archduke is only one of over 20 pieces...

Warren Zevon: Exceptional Boy

Warren Zevon could never have been a standard, mainstream rock star. His life started out with too many extraordinary elements to allow him to be mainstream. He was fated to...

The Joys of Monophonic Recordings, Part One

The development of modern stereophonic recording technique is generally credited to British engineer Alan Blumlein, who started experimenting with it during the first half of the 1930s, even though some...

How AXPONA Got Its Groove Back, Part One

One man. More than 150 rooms and 200 exhibitors. 25 seminars. 22 hours. AXPONA 2022. There’s a reason why audio-show coverage is almost always incomplete: no one person can cover...

Crowning Achievements

A Fisher 440-T receiver circa 1964. By this time, transistors were starting to supersede tubes, and this 40 watt-per-channel model is the first Fisher transistor receiver. It’s known for having...

Pristine Classical: Preserving Priceless Histor...

Historical performances don’t get a lot of love from audiophiles. And let’s face it: many historical performances were recorded using primitive equipment, under less-than-ideal conditions. To modern ears, accustomed to...

Mickey Finn of Jetboy: Glam Metal Lives!

The 1980s glam metal scene is retrospectively revered by some and derided by others. While it ultimately may be diplomatically viewed as a mixed bag, one thing is certain –...

Hearing Loss - Now It’s Getting Personal

After recently interviewing Scott Newnam of Audio Advice (Issue 161 and Issue 160), I reflected on the answers to one of the questions I had asked him: What question do audiophiles very...

Tiny Dancer

This dashboard hula dancer is a traveling good spirit.

Showgazing

As you might have seen or heard, AXPONA 2022, Audio Expo North America, was a big success. Literally, with more than 7,500 attendees visiting more than 150 rooms. It felt good to...

The A&M Records Story, Part Three

Our last installment (Issue 161) found A&M in transition, moving away from the vocal and instrumental pop and vocal sounds into some British rock and domestic rock and folk acts, as well...

Back to My Reel-to-Reel Roots, Part 14: Origina...

Like vintage watches, pre-owned tapes are best appreciated with mint, original packaging. Ken Kessler finds they often disappoint. It was our friend Jeff Dorgay at TONEAudio who first identified me as an...

Paying the Price

Separation Anxiety

Phil Ramone: Making Records: The Scenes Behind ...

I’ve been reviewing the autobiographies of many of the producer/engineers who are responsible for a great many of the records that Copper readers and music fans around the globe have loved for...

Around the World In 80 Lathes, Part 12

In our previous episode (Issue 161), we discussed the “lightweight” category of monophonic cutter heads made from the 1930s through the 1960s. These moving-iron record-cutting heads, manufactured by RCA, Presto, Rek-O-Kut, Fairchild,...

Jack Tempchin: Songwriter to the Stars

There are a thousand reasons why Jack Tempchin is in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Of course, some of these reasons are tied to the timeless tunes he has written...

Pilgrimage to Sturgis, Part 20

  The early morning sun blasted through the shade of my window like a World War II searchlight mounted on the neighbor’s roof. I tried to avoid it by turning...

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 –...