Friends of Twist & Shout Pick: the Best Albums of 2020

Andrea Paschal: CIMS/THINKINDIE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

1. Jarv-Is - Beyond the Pale 2. The Avalanches - We Will Always Love You 3. Haim - Women in Music Pt. III 4. Yelle - L’ere Du Versau 5. ARCA - KiCk I 6. Washed Out - Purple Noon 7. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Idiot Prayer 8. Caribou - Suddenly 9. Protomartyr - Ultimate Success Today 10. Disclosure - Energy

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Liz Boger: CIMS SALES & MARKETING

1. Haim - Women in Music Pt. III 2. The Strokes - The New Abnormal 3. Sylvan Esso - Free Love 4. Waxahatchee - St. CLoud 5. Glass Animals - Dreamland 6. Beabadoobee - Fake it Flowers 7. Wray - Stream of Youth/ Blank World 8. Washed Out - Purple Noon 9. Finneas - Blood Harmony 10. Purity Ring - WOMB

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Blake Wimberly: CIMS/THINKINDIE DO/KNOW-IT-ALL

1. John Carroll Kirby - My Garden 2. Andras - Joyful 3. Matt Karmil - STS371 4. Paradise Cinema - Paradise Cinema 5. Chip Wickham - Blue To Red 6. Turn On The Sunlight - Warm Waves 7. Roman Flügel - Garden Party 8. Anunaku/DJ Plead - 032 9. Ami Dang - Meditations Mixtape Vol. 1 10. WRAY - Stream of Youth/Blank World

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Scott Register: THINKINDIE A&R

1. Kathleen Edwards - Total Freedom 2. Sturgill Simpson - Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1: The Butcher Shop Sessions & Cuttin’ Grass 3. Whitney Rose - We Still Go To Rodeos 4. Matt Berninger - Serpentine Prison 5. Lianne La Havas - Lianne La Havas 6. My Morning Jacket - The Waterfall II 7. Laura Marling - Song For Our Daughter 8. Paris Jackson - Wilted 9. Nada Surf - Never Not Together 10. HAIM - Women In Music Pt. III

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Russell Cothran: THINKINDIE SALES & MARKETING

1. Afghan Whigs - Black Love & Gentlemen 2. Jellyfish - Bellybutton 3. Brian Eno - Ambient 1 Music For Airports 4. John Coltrane - Blue Train 5. Talk Talk - The Spirit Of Eden 6. Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen 7. Vince Guaraldi Trio - A Charlie Brown Christmas 8. U2 - The Unforgettable Fire 9. Steely Dan - Gold 10. Tame Impala - Lonerism

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Nick Campbell: THINKINDIE WAREHOUSE MANAGER

1. Protomartyr - Ultimate Success Today 2. Choir Boy - Gathering Swans 3. Moaning - Uneasy Laughter 4. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Sideways to New Italy 5. Nation of Language - Introduction, Presence 6. Hum - Inlet 7. Bambara - Stray 8. Wray - Stream of Youth / Blank World 9. Holy Wave - Interloper 10. En Attendant Ana - Juillet

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Ashley Vaske: CIMS/THINKINDIE ACCOUNTING

1. Poliça - When We Stay Alive 2. Haim - Women in Music Pt. III Monsters 3. Rhye - Home EP 4. Joe Wong - Nite Creatures 5. Tame Impala - The Slow Rush 6. Yelle - L’Ère du Verseau 7. Mourn - Self Worth 8. Run the Jewels - RTJ4 9. Khruangbin - Mordechai 10. Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters

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Jack Patton-Smith: ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVE REDEYE

1. Bendrix Littleton - Deep Dark South 2. Rival Consoles - Articulation 3. Wax Machine - Earthsong of Silence 4. Georgia - Seeking Thrills 5. Autechre - SIGN/PLUS 6. Jeff Parker - Suite for Max Brown 7. Osees - Protean Threat 8. Dead Ghosts - Automatic Changer 9. Dirtbike - Country Club Acres 10. Lance Bangs - Whammy

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Alex Ramsay: THIRTY TIGERS

1. Osees - Protean Threat 2. Loving - If I Am Only My Thoughts 3. Little Barrie & Malcolm Catto - Quatermass Seven 4. Jyoti - Mama, You Can Bet! 5. North Americans - Roped In 6. Cut Worms - Nobody Lives Here Anymore 7. John Moreland - LP5 8. The Heliocentrics - Telemetric Sounds 9. Hiroshi Yoshimura - Green (2020 Reissue) 10. Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammed - Jazz Is Dead 001

Twist & Shout Staff Picks: The Best of 2020

Paul Epstein

New Releases 1. Bob Dylan - Rough & Rowdy Ways 2. Ron Miles - Rainbow Sign 3. Khruangbin - Mordechai 4. Bruce Springsteen - Letter to You 5. John Hurlbut & Jorma Kaukonen - The River Flows 6. Sturgill Simpson - Cuttin' Grass 7. Lucinda Williams - Good Souls Better Angels 8. Jason Isbell - Reunions 9. David Bromberg - Big Road 10. X - Alphabetland Reissues 1. Joni Mitchell - Archives Vol. 1 (1963-1967) 2. Neil Young - Homegrown 3. Tom Petty - Wildflowers and All the Rest 4. King Crimson - Complete 1969 Recordings 5. The Rolling Stones - Goats Head Soup Super Deluxe 6. Lou Reed - New YorkDeluxe 7. Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah UmMobile Fidelity 8. The Doors - Morrison Hotel 9. Paul Kantner/Grace Slick - Blows Against the Empire 10. Grateful Dead - American Beauty and Workingman's Dead 50th Anniversary Edition

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Anna Lathem

1. Ruston Kelly - Shape and Destroy 2. X - Alphabetland 3. Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters 4. Kacey Musgraves - The Kacey Musgraves Christmas Show 5. Elizabeth Cook - Aftermath 6. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher 7. The Killers - Imploding the Mirage 8. Nathaniel Rateliff - And It's Still Alright 9. Fantastic Negrito - Have You Lost Your Mind Yet 10. Bob Dylan - Rough & Rowdy Ways 11. Ron Miles - Rainbow Sign 12. Matt Berninger - Serpentine Prison 13. Khruangbin and Leon Bridges - Texas Sun (EP) 14. Prince - Sign O' the Times Reissue 15. Sylvan Esso - Free Love 16. The Chicks - Gaslighter

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Ben Sumner

1. Janos Starker - Plays Kodaly Cello Sonata 2. Dead Kennedys - "Nazi Punks Fuck Off" 3. Salah Ragab - Cairo Jazz Band 4. Kylie Minogue - Disco 5. Dariush Dolat-Shahi - Electronic Music, Tar and Sehtar 6. Hedzoleh Soundz - Hedzoleh 7. Nadine Shah - Kitchen Sink 8. Moğollar - Moğollar 9. Sarolta Zalatnay - Álmodj Velem... 10. Ottilie Patterson - 3000 Years With Ottilie 11. Folke Rabe - Was?? 12. Kamaal Williams - Wu Hen 13. Mort Garson - Music from Patch Cord Productions 14. Henry Jacobs - Highlights from Vortex 15. Ron Cornelius - Tin Luck 16. Debris' - Static Disposal 17. William Basinski - Lamentations 18. Los Lobos - Colossal Head 19. Joni Mitchell - Archive Vol. 1 20. Bill Evans - Symbiosis 21. Bruce Springsteen - Letter to You 22. Ivor Cutler - Dandruff 23. Dave & Toni Arthur - Hearken To The Witches Rune 24. Khruangbin - Mordechai 25. Jack Adkins - American Sunset

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Blake Britton

1. Black Market Brass - Undying Thirst 2. Khruangbin - Mordechai 3. Shabaka and the Ancestors - We Were Sent Here By History 4. The Strokes - The New Abnormal 5. Beatrice Dillon - Workaround 6. Angel Olsen - Whole New Mess 7. Beach Bunny - Honeymoon 8. Tengger - Nomad 9. Sylvan Esso - Free Love 10. Kelly Lee Owens - Inner Song 11. Laura Marling - Song for Our Daughter 12. Bohren & der Club of Gore - Patchouli Blue 13. Tame Impala - The Slow Rush 14. Yves Tumor - Heaven to a Tortured Mind 15. Fontaines D.C. - A Heroe's Death 16. R.A.P. Ferreira - Purple Moonlight Pages 17. Cold Beat - Mother (DFA Records <3) 18. Dan Deacon - Mystic Familiar 19. Haim - Women In Music Pt. III 20. Osees - Protean Threat

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Brian Albright

New Music 1. Jesse Daniel - Rollin' On 2. The Explorer's Club - The Explorer's Club 3. Young Fresh Fellows - Toxic Youth 4. Old 97's - Twelfth 5. Elizabeth Cook - Aftermath 6. The Lickerish Quartet - Threesome Vol. 1 7. X - Alphabetland 8. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Sideways to New Italy Reissues & Collections 1. Everly Brothers - Down in the Bottom: Country Rock Sessions 1966-'68 2. Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers - Just Coolin' 3. Tom Petty - Wildflowers & All the Rest 4. Van Duren - Are You Serious? 5. Various Artists - Strum & Thrum: The American Jangle Underground 1983-87 6. Redd Kross - Phaseshifter 7. Pylon - Chomp 8. Various Artists - Bob Stanley & Pete Wiggs Present: The Tears of Technology

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Bridget Hartman

1. Jeff Parker - Suite for Max Brown 2. Ambrose Akinmusire - On the Tender Spot of Every Calloused Moment 3. Tame Impala - The Slow Rush 4. Khruangbin - Mordechai 5. Thundercat - It Is What It Is 6. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Chunky Shrapnel 7. Dan Deacon - Mystic Familiar 8. Osees - Protean Threat 9. Nubya Garcia - Source 10. Swamp Dogg - Sorry You Couldn’t Make It Reissue

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Chris Bjork

1. Nomadic Homes - Indecision 2. Frankie and the Witch Fingers - Monsters Eating People Eating Monsters 3. Bananagun - The True Story of Bananagun 4. Fleet Foxes - Shore 5. Fuzz - III 6. Beans - All Together Now 7. Osees - Protean Threat 8. Dead Ghosts - Automatic Changer 9. Dirtbike - Country Club Acres 10. Lance Bangs - Whammy

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Doug Anderson

1. Bill Frisell Trio - Valentine 2. Artemis - Artemis 3. Run the Jewels - RTJ4 4. Ron Miles - Rainbow Sign 5. Tame Impala - The Slow Rush 6. Jeff Parker - Suite for Max Brown 7. Osees - Protean Threat 8. Dead Ghosts - Automatic Changer 9. Dirtbike - Country Club Acres 10. Lance Bangs - Whammy

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Ethan Griggs

1. Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters 2. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher 3. Fleet Foxes - Shore 4. Kevin Morby - Sundowner 5. Khruangbin - Mordechai 6. Osees - Protean Threat 7. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Sideways to New Italy 8. Jeff Parker - Suite for Max Brown 9. Tame Impala - The Slow Rush 10. Lucinda Williams - Good Souls Better Angels

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Extra Kool

Vinyl 1. Atmosphere - The Day Before Halloween 2. Nigel - Tantrum 3. Aesop Rock - Spirit World Field Guide 4. Screamin' Jay Hawkins - What It Is 5. Screamin' Jay Hawkins - Because Is In Your Mind 6. Ron Miles - Rainbow Sign 7. Makeup & Vanity Set - The Heart of Batman 8. Run the Jewels - RTJ4 DVD & Blu-ray 1. Friday the 13th Box Set 2. Shivers 3. Psycho 60th Anniversary Edition 4. Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits 5. Solid Metal Nightmares: Shinya Tsukamoto box set 6. Batman - A Death in the Family 7. Daughters of Darkness 8. Joker

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Jonathan Eagle

Vinyl 1. Neil Young – Homegrown 2. Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou – May Our Chambers Be Full 3. Huey Lewis & the News – Weather 4. Steve Roach – Tomorrow 5. Deerhoof – Love/Lore 6. Blue Öyster Cult – The Symbol Remains 7. Mr. Bungle – The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny 8. Mort Garson – Music from Patch Cord Productions 9. Run the Jewels – RTJ4 10. Hum - Inlet 11. Alicia Keys – Alicia 12. Cirith Ungol – Forever Black 13. Bruce Springsteen – Letter to You 14. Shabaka & the Ancestors – We Are Sent Here by History 15. Elvis Costello – Hey, Clockface 16. Killah Priest – Rocket to Nebula 17. Mary Lattimore – Silver Ladders 18. Oneohtrix Point Never – Magic Oneohtrix Point Never 19. Yves Tumor – Heaven to a Tortured Mind 20. Autechre – Plus / Sign Film & TV 1. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan 2. The Gentlemen 3. I'm Thinking of Ending Things 4. Bill and Ted Face the Music 5. Daddy and Them 6. Fargo Season 4 7. Dear Mr. Watterson 8. The Sopranos (fifth re-watch) 9. The complete shitshow that was the presidential debates + election 10. The Parks and Rec Reunion

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Kevin McGrellis

Vinyl 1. Grimes - Miss Anthropocene 2. Lady Gaga - Chromatica 3. Emily A. Sprague - Hill, Flower, Fog 4. Adrianne Lenker - Songs & Instrumentals 5. Moor Mother - Circuit City 6. Touché Amoré - Lament 7. Shamir - Shamir 8. Hilary Woods - Birthmarks 9. Lomelda - Hannah 10. Taylor Swift - folklore.

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Linden Jackson

DVD/Blu-ray 1. Color Out of Space 2. Relic 3. Possessor 4. Swallow 5. The Vast of Night 6. The Platform (El Hoyo) 7. His House 8. Beanpole 9. Sea Fever 10. Motel Hell Blu-ray steelbook

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(Not) Matt Cobos

Tunes I Jammed in Quar 1. Viagra Boys - all albums & EPs 2. CCR Headcleaner - Tear Down the Wall 3. Emily A. Sprague - Hill, Flower, Fog 4. Sakuran-Zensen - I Am Sakuran-Zensen 5. L.A. Witch - Play With Fire 6. RMFTM - Subversive II(single from upcoming LP) 7. Melvins - I Fuck Around (single from upcoming LP) 8. Osees - Protean Threat Crap I Watched in Quar 1. Joe’s Apartment 2. Dead Man on Campus 3. Nothing But Trouble 4. My Boyfriend’s Back 5. Multiplicity 6. Hubie Happween 7. Below Deck 8. Below Deck Mediterranean 9. Big Brother UK Season 5 10. The Circle 11. The Circle UK 12. 90 Day Fiance 13. 90 Day Fiance The Other Way 14. The Bachelorette Australia

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Max Kaufman

1. Jeff Rosenstock - No Dream 2. Run the Jewels - RTJ4 3. Freddie Gibbs and the Alchemist - Alfredo 4. Disheveled Cuss - Disheveled Cuss 5. Mr. Bungle - Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo 6. King Buzzo & Trevor Dunn - Gift of Sacrifice 7. Mr. Bungle - The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny 8. Nothing - The Great Dismal 9. Run the Jewels - RTJ4 10. Primitive Man - Immersion 11. Cirith Ungol - Forever Black 12. Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou - May Our Chambers Be Full 13. Gorillaz - Song Machine Season 1: Strange Times 14. Imperial Triumphant - Alphaville 15. Open Mike Eagle - Anime, Trauma, & Divorce 16. Thundercat - It Is What It Is 17. Idles - Ultra Mono 18. Metz - Atlas Vending 19. Clipping. - Visions of Bodies Being Burned 20. Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats - Unlocked 21. Oneohtrix Point Never - Magic Oneohtrix Point Never 22. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher

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Patrick Brown

MUSIC 1. Lucinda Williams - Good Souls Better Angels 2. Run the Jewels - RTJ4 3. Drive-By Truckers - The Unraveling 4. Serengeti - AJAI 5. Elizabeth Cook - Aftermath 6. Liberty Ellman - Last Desert 7. Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters 8. X - Alphabetland 9. Tabansi Studio Band - Wakar Alhazai Kano / Mus'en Sofoa 10. Ron Miles - Rainbow Sign 11. Thumbscrew - The Anthony Braxton Project 12. Tim Berne's Snakeoil - The Fantastic Mrs. 10 13. Old 97’s - Twelfth 14. Pet Shop Boys - Hotspot 15. Rolling Blackouts C.F. - Sideways to New Italy MOVIES 1. Vitalina Varela 2. Pain & Glory 3. Bacurau 4. Portrait of a Lady on Fire 5. Parasite 6. Young Ahmed 7. The House That Jack Built 8. Sorry We Missed You 7. First Cow 8. The Lighthouse Blu-ray Reissue 1. The Complete Films of Agnès Varda 2. Maya Deren Collection 3. Paris Is Burning 4. Beau Travail 5. There's Always Tomorrow

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Quinn Theis

1. Ron Miles - Rainbow Sign 2. E-40 - Give Me 6' 3. Joni Mitchell - Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963-1967) 4. Wire - Mind Hive 5. Bob Dylan - Rough & Rowdy Ways 6. Sparks - A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip 7. Gooch Palms - III 8. Shabaka and The Ancestors - We Are Sent Here by History 9. Deerhoof - Love-Lore 10. Adrianne Lenker - Songs and Instrumentals 11. Autechre - Forever Black 12. Bruce Springsteen - Plus/Sign 13. R.A.P. Ferreira - Purple Moonlight Pages 14. Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters 15. Tobe Nwigwe - The Pandemic Project 16. Jen Curtis/Tyshawn Sorey - Invisible Ritual 17. Killah Priest - Music from Patch Cord Productions 18. Kelly Lee Owens - Inner Song 19. Jhene Aiko - Chilombo 20. Natalia Lafourcade - Un Canto por Mexico, Vol. 1

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Reggie Jordan

1. Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia 2. Sofi Tukker - Dancing on the People EP 3. Grimes - Miss Anthropocene 4. Yelle - L'ere du Verseau 5. Adult. - Perception is/as/of Deception 6. Garmarna - Forbundet 7. Charli XCX - How I'm Feeling Now 8. Katie Gately - Loom 9. Lady Gaga - Chromatica 10. Mr. Bungle - Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny

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Rory Dumas

1. Khruangbin - Mordechai 2. Nick Cave - Idiot Prayer 3. Thundercat - It Is What It Is 4. Yelle - L'ere du Verseau 5. Run the Jewels - RTJ4 6. Budos Band - Long In the Tooth 7. Fuzz - III 8. Khruangbin & Leon Bridges - Texas Sun 9. Lady Gaga - Chromatica 10. Antibalas - Fu Chronicles

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Stephanie Rendon

1. Thundercat - It Is What It Is 2. Aminé - Limbo 3. Westside Gunn - Pray for Paris 4. Idles - Ultra Mono 5. Freddie Gibbs & the Alchemist - Alfredo 6. Mac Miller - Circles 7. Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia 8. Lady Gaga - Chromatica 9. Grimes - Miss Anthropocene 10. Lil Uzi Vert - Eternal Atake 11. Action Bronson - Only for Dolphins 12. Budos Band - Long In the Tooth 13. Alicia Keys - Alicia 14. Butcher Brown - #KingButch 15. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Chunky Shrapnel 16. Khruangbin - Mordechai

The Rolling Stones

In the early 60’s when The Ed Sullivan Show was one of the main outlets for actually seeing the bands we heard on the radio, I remember seeing both The Beatles and The Stones and getting into a small competition with my brother about who was better. We both loved The Beatles, but my brother was taken aback by The Stones’ scruffy appearance. I loved it, and immediately became a Stones booster. The early singles I remember hearing-Satisfaction, Ruby Tuesday, Paint It Black, Mother’s Little Helper were just magic to my ears. And the way they looked! They weren’t perfect kewpie dolls like The Beatles, they looked like well-dressed street-toughs.

Mick Jagger and Jr. Wells-October -
70-photo by Dick Waterman

Ultra Rare 1st press mono of their 1st album
with the poster

Throughout the 1970’s, they offered up a string of incredible albums that helped create the idea of album-oriented rock. “Sticky Fingers,” “Exile on Main Street,” “It’s Only Rock N Roll,” “Goat’s Head Soup” and “Some Girls” defined the era for me as much as any albums. They also continued to be the most visually stimulating band. Seeing both “Gimme Shelter” and “Ladies And Gentlemen The Rolling Stones” in the theatre was a frequent and moving experience. I remember seeing “Ladies and Gentlemen” at a movie theatre on Evans and Monaco that later became the Rainbow Music Hall. That movie remains one of my favorite rock and roll documentaries. The band is absolutely at their peak-Mick is the master of the universe, counterbalanced by new boy Mick Taylor’s expressionless performance. While barely moving, he sprays out the most incendiary, fluid lead guitar lines you’ve ever heard. He doesn’t get the attention that many other 60’s peers get, perhaps because of his short tenure, but his playing in that movie stands up against any other lead guitar player of the era. Between them stands the greatest rock star of all time-Keith Richards. If you have never understood the appeal of Keith, I’d point you to that movie. Like some protean form of human quicksilver, he oozes around the stage, seemingly barely conscious, except for the fact that the human riff machine is the chugging engine behind every song, providing the chunky rhythm and memorable hooks to every classic, then stepping up to play the heroic leads on songs like Sympathy For The Devil or Jumpin’ Jack Flash. Even today, Keith is still the coolest. Like a modern-day pirate with a guitar instead of a scabbard, he’s on the ship-friggin’ in the riggin’ for all of us.

Live, The Stones are the only band from the 60’s that still offer a reasonable facsimile of what they once were. Their shows are still thrilling spectacles filled with surprises and songs you actually want to hear. They constantly defy expectation. They are the only band I’ll still travel to see, and when I do it’s never a disappointment, because that magic still exists. I’ve had the opportunity to meet them several times, and interestingly they are the opposite in person. Tiny, chalk-white, humble, polite and sweet they were completely disarming in their ordinary courtesy. When my wife leaned into Mick’s ear and said “I’ve loved you since the 60’s and you’re even better looking in person” he got a huge grin on his face “Thank you daaahling, that’s so kind of you.” How many times has he heard that? A billion maybe? He acted like it was the first compliment he’d ever received. Keith slouched around, his handshake like a dead fish, but he had a wink and a backslap for everybody. He knows exactly who he is-so few people can claim that.

Keith reaches nirvana At Folsom Field,
Boulder 1981

Poster from The 1965 Denver Coliseum show,
and photo from that show

Maybe that’s the real magic behind The Rolling Stones-they represent the pinnacle of rock elite, yet they still seem connected to their roots at some very primal level. They ARE the rock and roll dream. Local boys who done very, very good. Here’s some of my favorite stuff.

Paul Epstein

Led Zeppelin

 It started with a babysitter. In 1969, my parents went out of town and left me and my brother with one of my father’s graduate students. I was almost 11. She was fun and attractive and quickly figured out that we were young rockers. One night she had to go to her house to feed her dog. She took us along. I remember she cut up a couple of hot dogs for her German Shepherd, and then went over to her record collection and pulled out something she was excited about. “Have you heard this yet?” She brandished an LP with a black and white photo of the Hindenburg going down. I knew all about the Hindenburg because of an LP called I Can Hear It Now, a compilation of news clips that included that famous breathless reporter describing the giant airship bursting into flames and crashing in 1937. I was immediately intrigued. She put it on, and like much great music, it scared me. It was heavy with intense guitar and the singer actually seemed to be screaming. It was very different than most of the stuff I was hearing on the radio. Within a few weeks my brother had procured his own copy of Led Zeppelin I. We listened obsessively. This stuff was earthy and exotic at the same time. The music actually matched that incredible image on the cover-especially the side A closer “Dazed and Confused” which defined heavy to my ears. It was the sound of “gee-wiz” popular music crashing and burning on the ground.

Not too long after, Led Zeppelin II was released. Amazingly it had that same image of the burning Zeppelin on the cover again. This time with a sepia-toned photo of the band dressed as World War flying aces superimposed over it. I couldn’t believe their audacity and their confidence. When I heard the single “Whole Lotta Love” on the radio, I just about shit. It once again pushed the boundaries of heavy-with the most punishing opening riff of all time, and a multi-part epic that covers so much ground it feels like you’ve traveled the world in 5 and a half minutes. Led Zeppelin II perfectly describes the end of the 60’s and beginning of the 70’s to me. It has the color and mystery of much of the best stuff of the 60’s but it takes a giant, thudding step forward to a new heaviosity. Years later, when I owned a record store, I learned about and actually got a copy of the rare “Sterling RL.” copy of the album. With recording engineer Robert Ludwig’s initials carved into the trail-off wax, this version of the album is cut much louder than a normal record. It is a profound listening experience.

I can only think of one or two other bands that changed the way Zep did musically. Like The Beatles, every one of their subsequent albums was completely different that the others, and they always seemed to break some new sonic ground. Led Zeppelin III had one of the greatest covers of all time, Houses of the Holy felt like an invocation to a witches ritual, IV contained anthem after anthem, and Physical Graffiti was so full of amazing songs and different styles you just couldn’t believe it was one band doing all this. It still seems like some huge career-spanning best-of instead of just another album in their catalog.

Then there is the photo. Early on in the store, I had a great customer named Steve “Jellyroll” Morton. A true fan and a great guitar player in his own right, he was a big part of the early store. One day he came into the store with a photo. He said, “Did you know Zeppelin played their first American show in Denver?” I didn’t. They had been the opening act for Spirit at Denver auditorium in 1968. Jellyroll had gone to see Spirit, but stuck his camera up over his head and randomly taken a shot of the opening act. The photo was amazing! Jimmy Page onstage playing his psychedelically hand-painted strat with a violin bow. Wow! This could not be cooler. I begged Jellyroll to make me a copy. He finally relented and I proudly hung it up in the store. As it turned out the psychedelically painted strat was stolen from Page shortly after the Denver show. Somehow it got back to Page that we had this picture and he wanted a copy. I contacted Jellyroll and Page was given a copy of this amazing photo when Plant and Page played at Fiddler’s Green. A number of years later, a guy from England called me out of the blue and had also heard about the photo. He wanted it because it showed a rare amplifier in the background. I made him a copy too. Another great piece of Denver rock and roll history. Thanks, Jellyroll!

Jimmy Page at Led Zeppelin's first American show-Denver Auditorium 1968-
with the fated Stratocaster 

And then there was the time I had a whole convention’s worth of record store owners in my living room sometime in the early 2000’s. At just the right moment, when everybody was lit up just bright enough, I slipped in disc 2 of The Led Zeppelin DVD set (possibly the greatest selection of live performances ever assembled of any band) and cued up The Ocean from Madison Square Garden lou-ow-d. A room full of 30, 40 and 50 something hipsters all dropped their jaws and collectively reveled in a moment of pure rock and roll bliss. It was great and to a person everyone came up to me and said some variation of “OMG, I forgot how great Zep was.” It never fails.

Paul Epstein

The Who

Tommy Artwork autographed
 by Daltrey

It all happened between 1969 and 1971 for me. Tommy, Woodstock, Live at Leeds, Meaty, Beaty Big And Bouncy and Who’s Next. What a 3 three year run for any band. Starting with Tommy-the first rock opera. Big, bold, pretentious, full of incredible music. As an eleven-year-old I wasn’t sure what it all meant, but it sure seemed like Pete Townshend was the most ambitious, thoughtful guy in rock. Seeing Woodstock in the theatre was a formative experience in a number of ways, but The Who proved to be the most electrifying part of the movie for me. Townshend’s true-believer energy was just off the hook, John Entwhistle’s stoic reserve and lightning bass runs were the definition of cool, Keith Moon’s manic energy was thrilling and Roger Daltrey’s washboard stomach, golden locks and crystal blue eyes were all things I would never have, but badly wanted. Their music was thrilling and energetic, their lyrics were thought-provoking and searching and physically they were unbeatable. They were the distilled, idealized perfection of the pre-teen “me.” The scared me that I was, and the brash me that I wanted to be.

They followed up Woodstock with Live at Leeds a live set just as incendiary as Woodstock but all housed in an incredible gatefold sleeve filled with pictures, posters and paperwork-a pirate’s ransom of clues to who these guys were. I obsessed over that album like few others. The poster and pictures adorned my walls, I memorized every detail of the contracts and memos, and the songs lived on my turntable non-stop. Their version of Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues” was a pounding masterpiece. Shit, the whole album rocked like nothing I’d ever heard. The long, jammed-out “My Generation” that anchored side two covered so much ground. I wanted to see this band live (it wouldn’t happen until Keith Moon’s final tour in 1975-but well worth the wait).

When The Who By Numbers was released in 1975, Budget Tapes and Records on Colorado Boulevard ran a promotion whereby you could color in a copy of the cover and enter it into a contest. For some reason, I never turned it in, and kept it all these years. Years later, when I got a promotional poster that advertised the very same promotion, I framed it along with my colored-in entry.

For my 12^th birthday, my brother gave me Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy, a collection of their early singles, and again the wonderful music within was more than matched by the incredible cover. Showing a group of English youth hanging out on a grimy stoop with the adult Who wistfully looking at them out a window, you turned it over and they had morphed into the adult band on the stoop, looking cooler than you can imagine, with the kids now looking out the window. It spoke to both the youth and the young man in me. It remains one of my favorite album covers.

Pete Townshend at Denver’s Mammoth Gardens (now the Fillmore) 1969.
Photo by the great Denver rock photographer Dan Fong

The final piece of my obsession came into view as four English millionaires pissed on a stone monolith on the cover of their masterpiece Who’s Next. It still remains one of the most mature and far-reaching albums of the era. When they sang “Black ash from the foundry/hangs like a hood, But the air is perfumed by the burning fire wood” on Love Ain’t For Keeping I understood that rock lyrics could reach for more than a teenage crush-this was poetry.

Pete Townshend in Chicago 1969-Giant reproduction hanging in Twist and Shout-also taken by Dan Fong

Pete Townshend remains the gold-standard of thoughtful rock stars. He has publicly struggled with the meaning of rock and roll to a functioning adult. He continued to search, but never quite matched that magic period at the dawn of a new decade when he and his band flew the flag for rock music that spoke to the brain as much as the hips.

Paul Epstein

Pink Floyd

Just holding an LP by Pink Floyd immediately takes me to a very special place. From my first experience with them, they have been the exemplars of what mysterious, art-rock looks like. In 1970 our local PBS station (now known as Rocky Mountain PBS) aired “An Hour with Pink Floyd,” which was recorded at KQED studios in San Francisco on April 30, 1970. Because it was on PBS it inherently had our parents blessing. Little did they know! The show featured the band playing six songs ripped from the beating heart of their super-psychedelic post-Barrett period. My 12-year old mind was blown. Atom Heart Mother confused, Grantchester Meadows and Green Is the Colour soothed and Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun and Careful with That Axe Eugene terrified me. Much of the music I hold dearest started out scaring me. It’s true, my first reaction to Bitches Brew, The Shape of Jazz to Come, Live Dead and Electric Ladyland was fear. These records pushed the limit of traditional song and imagery into more adult realms. This wasn’t verse, chorus, verse. This was staring at yourself in the mirror until you had to look away. Yeah-that’s for me! After seeing An Hour with Pink Floyd I went with my brother to Underground Records at 724 S. Pearl St. and purchased Ummagumma. 18 years later, I would buy Underground Records at a tax auction and turn it into Twist and Shout. I was again, thrilled and scared by this album. The cover was awesome, especially the back cover where two members of the band’s road crew stood in the middle of a country road surrounded by all the band’s gear artfully displayed in a giant V. I was so sold on this band!

My next major experience with the band came when the movie Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii was shown at midnight at The Vogue Theatre on South Pearl Street. Once again, I was both excited and terrified by the futuristic music the band was creating. Once again, I went to Underground Records and headed straight for the Pink Floyd section. This time, I was greeted by a strange album with minimal information. It just said Pink Floyd Fillmore West. My brother told me it was a bootleg and encouraged me to get it. I saved my allowance over the next few months, and when I finally had 15 bucks saved up, we went back and I got it. We breathlessly listened to it.  The album gave no clue what songs the band played at the concert, but we were excited when the program was very similar the PBS special. On the back of the album, you can see the home-made setlist I typed up on my father’s Royal typewriter. (the same one on which he wrote 10 novels). I was so psyched. This was going to be my band.

I continued to follow Pink Floyd, buying every one of their new albums the day it came out, and eventually finding all their older ones. I also got heavily into Syd Barrett and his two incredible solo albums. His descent into madness stuck with me throughout my young life and remains a poignant touchstone to the reality that art and madness often walk a parallel path. When Wish You Were Here came out I was 18 and the messages of alienation and societal oppression could not have been more timely for me. Again, the artwork was so memorable. Instead of covering the album in clear plastic shrink-wrap, this album had a custom blue shrink, so you had to buy the album to see all the artwork.

Animals promotional item. Last week I mentioned Corey over at Furthur Frames.
This piece might represent the apex of his work for me. It’s hard to see in the picture but the display is
3 dimensional and the pig in the bottom half is hanging in there and can swing freely.

And, ultimately, this is what is so great about Pink Floyd. Every move they made was intelligent, beautiful, calculated. They are the ultimate art-rock band.

Paul Epstein

Jimi Hendrix

Famous Flying Eyeball by Rick Griffin

Poster from the Denver Pop Festival June 1969
Final show by The Jimi Hendrix Experience

To my mind Jimi Hendrix is one of the three greatest rock stars. When I say that, I am putting a big emphasis on the “star” part of that phrase. I’m talking about people who are both extraordinary as musicians, but who also embody another quality which sets them apart from other mere mortals. Their behavior, dress, politics, etc. all become part of their fame, and very consciously so. Some get there and recoil or struggle with it. Leonard Cohen, Laura Nyro and Van Morrison spring right to mind as people who while unreal musicians, are not comfortable rock stars. For the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis, Keith Richards and Jimi Hendrix though, they seemed to live it every second. They couldn’t not look cool, break rules and get away with it, or look great on stage come hell or high water. I have some interesting proof of that last one. Once, when pricing some Jimi records a Polaroid photo fell out. It was Jimi on stage. No information other than the date Oct. 68. It is a beautiful representation of any given moment of Jimi. Eyes closed, deep in a solo, he still looks entirely poised and in control. His clothes are great, his hair looks big and beautiful-it’s a perfect image of Jimi, but it is just one random second caught on a Polaroid in the fall of ’68. When you think about it -have you ever seen an image of Jimi where he doesn’t look great?

Mystery Polaroid

 The other two guys have ultimately managed to survive with much of their dignity and reputations intact, but Jimi Hendrix tragically died at 27 leaving nothing but a legendary reputation. His guitar playing is beyond compare-the best players still can’t figure out how he did what he did with the technology available to him. Hi sense of style, while very groovy, still looks incredibly cool. He played with gender, race and lifestyle like he owned them-which of course he did. The three albums (four if you count Band Of Gypsys”) he made during his lifetime are unimpeachable from both a musical and a cultural standpoint. They sound better with each year that passes, and their influence on successive generations of musicians is titanic. Other than a couple of the Buddy Miles-led songs on Band Of Gypsys it’s hard to find anything less than transcendent in his catalog. His music was both earthy and rootsy while being a million miles ahead of anyone else. “Are You Experienced” could be the greatest debut album in history, Axis: Bold As Love defines psychedelic hard rock and Electric Ladyland is perhaps the most ambitious two LP set of the 60’s (I know, I Know, White Album, Trout Mask Replica, etc.). Band Of Gypsys is simultaneously soulful and heavy pointing to two directions he might have pursued had he lived. He was scheduled to jam with Miles Davis shortly after he died-the mind reels.

Another good record store story is the time a guy named Daniel came in to the store on Alameda and told me he had gone to the Regis Field House concert on Valentines Day 1968. He told me he had just returned from Vietnam and he was at the concert the day after and had recorded it himself. He was a bit rattled in the details but I convinced him to bring the tape in and let me listen to it. I wasn’t getting my hopes up. About a week later he came back with a tape and after much assuring, let me take it home. It was incredible. A really good recording of the Denver show. At one point, Hendrix says, “Good to be in Denver-a mile high!” So clearly it is that show. He plays a totally unique jam that night I’ve never heard anywhere else. Daniel resurfaces every decade or so and has me make him another copy of the show. I hope he’s still doing well. The Regis show, and the posters that go with it, and the fact that Otis Taylor jammed with Hendrix late that night at the legendary Family Dog on Evans make this show an important part of Denver music history.

Poster and handbills from Jimi's Regis University show 
Denver 2/14/68

His records have really always been highly desirable since I’ve had the store. Most artists’ popularity waxes and wanes but Hendrix is evergreen in our racks. When I get a new piece of stereo equipment, the first song played is very important. It has to be something that I know inside out, that has great production dynamics, and that still gets me excited. For years, All Along The Watchtower from Electric Ladyland has been that test song for me. The minute that monster guitar part comes screaming out, I’m right there. Jimi’s the greatest!

Jimi in a record store 

Paul Epstein