Copper
Audiophile Science
There is one consistent misconception that non-scientists have about science, and that is the Albert Einstein problem – the idea that major scientific problems can be solved by a lone...
Fairchild, Part 4
The last three Vintage Whine columns have looked at the pro and consumer audio companies owned by Sherman Fairchild, with a side-look at his many other holdings. We began in Copper #75 with Part 1; Copper#76...
Andrea Brinkmann, RIP
Brinkmann Audio is a highly-regarded German manufacturer of turntables and electronics. From the Brinkmann USA newsletter— In Memoriam: Andrea Brinkmann 1977-2019 “It is with great sorrow that we report the passing...
Stay Hot!
Last week I finally signed up for a streaming service. First two albums I clicked on were Yuja Wang: The Berlin Recital and Nemanja Radulović: Baïka, both DG releases. Not sure why I chose them,...
The Most Remarkable Man, Redux
I’ve discussed a few of the heavyweight characters I encountered in my initial years as a player. But I didn’t yet talk about the man whose influence on me is...
Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre
There was never a more promising time than the late 17th century to be a musician in France. King Louis XIV, after all, loved music and dance as much as he...
Audio Love
I know exactly when my love of audio began ̶ maybe not the day, date, or hour, but the man who gave me the priceless gift. It wasn’t a salesman,...
Paradise by the Dashboard Light
It was his High School football coach who christened Marvin Lee Aday “Meat Loaf” due to his weight and general physical attributes. Little did his coach know, he had created...
Eurythmics
Singer Annie Lennox and guitarist David A. Stewart began working together as members of a London-based punk band called The Catch (later The Tourists), which split in 1980. Soon thereafter,...
Motherwell
In the mid-sixties, I managed a furniture store in Motherwell, Scotland. Motherwell, in those days, was a steel town of about 37,000 people and when business was good, the Ravenscraig...
John Lennon: Come and Gone
[Portions of this story were originally published in Goldmine magazine—Ed.] February 7th was the 55th anniversary of the Beatles’ arriving in America. To commemorate this date in Beatles history, I present this true story of fate...
Quantum Theory
Quantum Theory troubles many people, even some of those who actually understand it. That would include such luminaries as one of its founders, Albert Einstein, who expressed serious concerns with...
Music is the Space Between the Notes
Depending upon whom you believe, that statement was made by either Claude Debussy or Miles Davis. I’m certainly no authority on Debussy, but it seems to me that his stuff...
Fairchild, Part 3
As I’ve indicated in the previous installments of Vintage Whine in Copper #75 and #76, the story of Sherman Fairchild goes far beyond the realm of audio, and at some point really should be detailed in...
Issue 77
Welcome to Copper #77! I hope you had a better view of the much-hyped lunar-eclipse than I did---the combination of clouds and sleep made it a non-event for me. Full moon or...
Vade’s Recommended Reviewer Guidelines
Part of the fun of being an audiophile is reading reviews of audio gear. I’ve read audio reviews for 60 years, starting with Stereo Review, leading to Gordon Holt’s Stereophile and Harry Pearson’s The...
Arthur “Another Blind Guy” Blake
I’m not going to apologize for that. Think about it. I didn’t start this shit about blind guitar heroes. And the Lord said “So you got everything?” Moses. “Yes Lord.”...
Piano Man
By 1972, William Martin Joel’s career was, pretty much, over. He had released his debut album, Cold Spring Harbor, to a crushing silence. The record had been mastered at the wrong speed, which...
An Interesting Day
“You should visit the Yakeshi Factory in Foshan,” my friend Richard said. “They make really good products, and after every one of my visits, they send me back to my...
Giles Martin Interview
[Originally published in Goldmine magazine—Ed.] While at the listening session for the new Giles Martin remixed White Album and associated demos, I experienced how much Giles sounds like his father, George. In manner, style,...
Stay Warm
It’s cold, it’s gray, it’s wet. Time for comfort food: Dvořák and German lieder and tuneful chamber music. No atonal scratching and heaving for a while! No earnest searches after our deepest,...
Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
There are days for haute cuisine, hipster toy food, meals that challenge and provoke and lead one to question the nature of food itself: nourishment? Art? An act of rebellion...
The Life of Brian
Havergal Brian was one of the most prolific English composers of the 20th Century. Many of you will be thinking “Havergal Brian”? Very few have actually heard of him, but that...
96,000 People Can't Be That Wrong, Redux
As I write this, I’m listening to the early Flying Burrito Brothers. I love this stuff. I first got “turned on” to music like this by hearing the very first...
Steely Dan
Steely Dan has such a smooth sound, it’s easy to imagine them appearing fully-formed from the musical ether. Needless to say, that wasn’t the case. Singer/keyboardist Donald Fagen had met...
Sears: the Last Gasp?
We’ve written about the decline and fall of Sears a zillion times in Industry News, most recently in Copper #45, Copper #69, and Copper #70. The dual themes of all these stories have been “how are they staying...
Joan Rivers: Yutz, or Audiophile Hero?
More often than not, it used to be that weekday mornings I would be rushing around, behind schedule, trying to get out the door to get to work. Since I...
It’s the End of the World As We Know It
Athens, Georgia has always had a very specific musical sound. The colleges in that area were a breeding ground for tangential thought and musical insurrection. R.E.M. came to exist from...
Richie Havens
Born in 1941 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, with heritage from the West Indies and the Blackfoot tribe, Richie Havens always loved to sing. He had a neighborhood doo-wop group and joined...
Fairchild, Part 2
In Copper #75, we began the story of the remarkable business empire created by Sherman Fairchild. Fairchild started over 75 companies, and as much as possible, we’ll focus on those directly involved in...
Citizenship
“Oh, you speak English? Thank God. You’re the first one today,” said the immigration officer. I came to the U.S. in 1970, following the love of my life. We spent...
You Know It Ain’t Easy, Part 2
….unless you really wanted to meet John & Yoko. New York City, 1979 This one really came out of left field as Doug Kleiman, the person whose story it is,...
Audiophile Haiku
A haiku is a traditional Japanese form of poetry, although it is now appreciated worldwide. A Haiku comprises three lines of verse structured around a 5-7-5 pattern of syllables. The first and...
Steve Reich: Drumming, Redux
When I was 17, I discovered the compositional style called Minimalism. I remember the moment very well. It was 1974, the spring of 11th grade, and my mother was downstairs teaching...
Without CES, Does January Exist?
Welcome to Copper #76! ---here we are, halfway through January already, and I guess I'll find out if January actually exists without the mania of CES. I've attended since 1989, I'm done....
No CES For You!
Yes, it’s that time again. Time for Leebs’ annual rant about CES—after the fact, as the show took place last week in Las Vegas. Way back in the very first...
Telling the (Vocal) Story
In TMT #75 we talked about narrative in instrumental music. Today, let’s consider narrative in vocal works. But really, what’s to consider? Reminds me of that exchange in the 1988 film Big Business when...
A Tale of Two Praetorius(es)
No, they’re not related, but Michael Praetorius (1571-1621) and Hieronymus Praetorius (1560-1629) co-existed in Germany, composing mainly Lutheran sacred music as the Renaissance was giving way to the Baroque. Each...
Records as Time Machines
After years of experience as a producer and engineer, I’ve come to expect the unexpected—even with something as familiar as the sound of my own grandfather’s voice. Astute listeners...
Gibson: Missed It By That Much
Believe it or not, it’s not over yet. Reports of Gibson Brands’ emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy were, as it turns out, premature. In Copper #72 we reported the news that thanks to agreements between the...