The Highwaymen "Michael" (1961) (single)

Michael, 7'' single

release date: 1961

format: vinyl (67 007)

[single rate: 2 / 5] [2,16]

producer: Don Costa

label: United Artists - nationality: USA

Tracklist: A) "Michael" - - B) "Santiano"

Single release by American folk quintet The Highwaymen is a recording of a traditional spiritual, which had already been recorded by several other artists but this version peaked at number #1 on the national Billboard Top 40 singles chart, as it repeated on the UK singles hit list - a triumph they were unable to repeat later on. The title song is also known as "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore".

This record was part of my parents' record collection, and it's single I never really took any pleasure from.

~ ~ ~

This post is part of MyMusicJourney, which enlists key releases that have shaped my musical taste when growing up and until age 14. Most of these releases come from my parents' and / or my older brother's collection.

Bill Haley and His Comets "Rock'N'Roll Stage Show Vol. 1" (1956) (ep)

Rock'N'Roll Stage Show Vol. 1, 7'' EP

release date: 1956

format: vinyl (BME 9278)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]

producer: Milt Gabler

label: Decca - nationality: USA

Tracklist: A) 1. "Hook, Line and Sinker" - 2. "Rudy's Rock" - - B) 1. "Calling All Comets" - 2. "Rockin' Through the Rye"

EP by Bill Haley and His Comets with four tracks from the band's '56 album Rock'N'Roll Stage Show with which it shares same front cover.

This seven inch comes from my parents' record collection. It's an ep I used to play on a portable turntable when 6-8 years old, and already then, I found it strangely oldish, although, still quite party-like.

This is one of my very first music memories that wasn't purely children's songs.

👉 Another one from that earliest stage.

~ ~ ~

This post is part of MyMusicJourney, which enlists key releases that have shaped my musical taste when growing up and until age 14. Most of these releases come from my parents' and / or my older brother's collection.

Pink Floyd "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" (1967)

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn [debut]
release date: Aug. 5, 1967
format: digital
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: Norman Smith
label: EMI Columbia - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Astronomy Domine" - 2. "Lucifer Sam" - 4. "Flaming" - 7. "Interstellar Overdrive" - 8. "The Gnome" - 10. "Scarecrow" - 11. "Bike"

Studio debut album by Pink Floyd formed and consisting of Syd Barrett on lead guitar and vocals, Roger Waters on bass and vocals, Richard Wright on organ, piano, and vocals, and with Nick Mason on drums and percussion. 8 out of 11 tracks here are composed and written solely by Syd Barrett, which basically was the case at the early stage of the band at a time when psychedelic rock was the predominant style of the band. The remaining tracks are credited the band and Waters (#6). The album is enlisted in a number of best of albums, and is alongside the bands second album A Saucerful of Secrets (1968) lauded for being the the first real psychedelic rock albums where Pink Floyd takes experimental rock to new territories. The US version of the album also included the band's first huge single success "See Emily Play", although, that track seems very much out of sync with the rest of the compositions except perhaps from "The Gnome". Today, the album is music history. I don't find it great nor very interesting but in a musical perspective, the album is outstandingly original, and therefore enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". Needles to say, the album has been reissued in a number of editions - most noteworthy, I recon, is the "40th Anniversary Edition", which comes in a 2 and 3-disc version of the album with disc 1 containing the mono mix and with disc 2 containing a stereo version of the original European edition of the album. The bonus disc edition (disc 3) also contains the band's first three singles alongside several outtakes.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone Album Guide, Q Magazine 5 / 5, The Daily Telegraph 4 / 5 stars ]

<  show alt. cover >

40th Anniversary Edition