I used to own this album in 1977 (the year it was released) but had to sell it to Moby Disc for money for some reason I totally forgot. Nevertheless, it has been in the back of my mind for 35 years of so. As I was taking one of my strolls down Glendale Blvd, I found a copy at Mono Records. A great record store. The best thing about a record store is when you go in to look for a specific album, and you find something else instead. And usually something much better than the other record you're looking for. The above John Cage album fits that category. Prepared Piano pieces on a double album, and on the great Tomato Records label. Beautifully mediative as well as intense. How does two work together is sort of like enjoying a Tom & Jerry cartoon. You need the violence, as well as the pairing of the duo.
On the same record store visit, I found this fantastic album by Jack Scott. Recorded in 1958, as well as in Detroit (I didn't know he lived or made music there). This is a fantastic rockabilly album of great strength . Jack wrote most of all (except one) of the songs on this album. "The Way I Walk" of course is the masterpiece here - and the extra happiness is that the recordings are in mono, which gives it that extra concentrated punch over the speakers. Released in France, this album must have been on a steam liner, and then crawled to Glendale Blvd. I'm happy to have it in my home. Also the combination of Cage and Scott is rather good. Again, going back to Tom & Jerry, the perfect yin and yang. Separate, but yet, together.
- Tosh Berman
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