Dun Collectin'

[alyn]

I am a collector and, over the years, once I find an artist that I really make a connection with I like to track down everything of quality out there, often this can include things that really don't see the artist in their best light (usually just due to poor quality not poor performance) and they can be expensive mistakes, but I continue hoovering up stuff until I can hoover no more..!

I think I'm at my Linda Ronstadt limit and have enjoyed the journey very much and will continue to enjoy everything I have for a very very long time.

I've got to the point where I draw the line at audience recordings of shows, and TV clips (there seem to be 5 or 6 compilation DVDs out there), I just know I'd be spending (much) money for things I would either watch once or listen to once, probably giving up after 4 or 5 songs as the audience chatter over-rides a very muffled sound which does her no justice at all. For me live recordings have to be official, FM recordings or audio ripped from DVDs.

The best live recording I have found is Japan 1979 which is just outstanding, maybe 4 or 5 others from FM source are excellent. The Marian McPartland set is also amazing.

The best DVD is the 1980 TV special which I can watch over and over and came with a superb audio recording, but also the Yokohama show from 1984 is very special and was a great 'find' - I was so pleased when I found this. Live at The Summit 1978 DVD was a very rare find also and well worth the money. The guest spots on the Randy Newman DVD and Johnny Cash prison show were worth having although the latter wasn't the greatest in my opinion.

I know mostly these shows can be found on Youtube but for me I like to acquire to have in the collection. Always been that way.

And, ultimately, the albums to listen to : Hasten Down The Wind has been top dog for me since I bought it around 1978, but in the last couple of years has been seriously challenged by Mad Love which I only bought at that time, about 2 years ago - after buying HDTW all that time ago, I did follow it up and bought Don't Cry Now which was just too country for my rock taste and I just considered Linda Ronstadt a one-album 'hit' in my world...but I got older, matured and finally came round to a lot of music I hadn't considered way back then. Don't Cry Now is now probably third in my favourites of her albums (pre-Riddle).

Get Closer frustrates me because I feel it has some of her best work on it but is just too patchy, and apart from a selection of songs I can't really make it with any other studio albums from her later period of non-jazz albums, I just find the musical integrity was so much more to the fore on the 1970s and early 1980s albums. As for the Trio albums, I just prefer to focus on one singer on an album and I'm not really a fan of the other two, just my taste - things might change!

I love the all Nelson Riddle albums, and Humming To Myself, and of the 'Mexicano' period I find the compilation Boleros Y Rancheras a very neat selection and I enjoy it very much.

So, an awful lot of music to enjoy for a very long time, but just Dun Collectin' :-)

[Tony]

I gave up on the audience recorded bootlegs.. they are just horrible quality. Most of the DVDs have horrible quality. I will still buy the official releases-- the 1980 concert and What's New have never been released on DVD, and at this point, the profit motive may not be enough.

I am in the process of taking all the music I listen to frequently and putting it on a central server so I don't even have to grab a CD. I would sell them but I have found that any CD I want to get rid of is essentially worthless, and any one I don't already have is worth a small fortune.

[alyn]

I agree Tony, I have in the distant past collected audience audio recordings for bands or artists that I got my hooks into but it didn't take long to realise they are just dreadful and not worth having. The only ones I have kept are from some shows I went to, but even they don't get played. Yes, audience camera recordings are even worse.
My music listening time is by day (I have my own print shop business) so all my music is on an external hard drive and I listen through iTunes, I still buy CDs but they get loaded up in iTunes with one play and then sit on the shelf at home, I still find pleasure in that, seeing the collection still building but the discs don't get played again. It's kind of nice to know the rare CDs could be worth a healthy amount and I've only played them once. I also load up the DVDs on the computer but actually prefer to watch them the proper way on TV.

[the Scribe]

Aug 5, 2018 9:19:03 GMT -5 alyn said:

I agree Tony, I have in the distant past collected audience audio recordings for bands or artists that I got my hooks into but it didn't take long to realise they are just dreadful and not worth having. The only ones I have kept are from some shows I went to, but even they don't get played. Yes, audience camera recordings are even worse.
My music listening time is by day (I have my own print shop business) so all my music is on an external hard drive and I listen through iTunes, I still buy CDs but they get loaded up in iTunes with one play and then sit on the shelf at home, I still find pleasure in that, seeing the collection still building but the discs don't get played again. It's kind of nice to know the rare CDs could be worth a healthy amount and I've only played them once. I also load up the DVDs on the computer but actually prefer to watch them the proper way on TV.

We should all go to Alyn's house!

[Tony]

Even though I have cut back on purchases, I will still buy any Linda Ronstadt release that has a bonus track. And I was convinced to order that Bobbie Gentry set that is being released soon. I have exceeded my allotted storage space, so every time I buy something, some old CD that I haven't played in 10 years (Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers) will have to go.