Confessions Of A Vinyl Collector

I tried to put a cap on it until Christmas but there was a pressing problem. Last time I was over at Slipped Disc in Carmarthen I notice the rather superb Slade album “Slayed?” sat, quite rightly under “S” of course, and thought something along the lines of “that looks a nice copy, but I think I’ve got it”… I hadn’t. Therefore this Confession records the visit back to Carmarthen to buy it and also an album I picked up cheap on eBay thanks to a seller misspelling the artists name.

First then, £20 of records from Slipped Disc (well it would have been rude to just buy the one album wouldn’t it?)….

(1) Slade - Slayed? …. released at their pomp, this is the album with “Mama Weer All Crazee Now”, “Gudbuy T’Jane” and the excellent Janis Joplin cover “Move Over”. Noddy and the boys at the height of their powers!

(2) Scorpions - In Trance …. early Uli Jon Roth era Scorpions with the excellent title track that remains a favourite with me today. Not too much to say about this album though as a full post will be on this in the week.

(3) Groundhogs - Split …. Early ’70s blues-rock power trio album in a very good condition gatefold sleeve. Interesting to note that although it was produced by singer/guitarist Tony McPhee, the engineer on the album was none other than Martin Birch of Deep Purple/Iron Maiden fame.

(4) John Lennon - Mind Games …. it’s been years since I’d bought a Lennon album on vinyl! 1973’s Mind Games benefits in that only the title track has been issued on the many Collections since his death so its like discovering new Lennon music in some ways. It also benefits in that it was before he was alternating tracks with Yoko!

(5) John Lennon - Imagine …. probably Lennon’s most famous album, certainly his most famous song this release from 1971 also has the excellent Jealous Guy, developed from the White Album outtake Child Of Nature, the acerbic How Do You Sleep? and Gimme Some Truth on it. I even quite like Oh Yoko! on this but its generally not one I’d sing out loud.

Finally, the ebay purchase…

(6) Deke Leonard - Iceberg …. on a low Buy It Now (about £2.50 I think) and credited in the item heading to Duke Leonard this was an album I was looking for upon finishing Leonard’s “Rhino’s, Wino’s & Lunatics” book. That of course was the story of Man in his own words and this was the first solo album he released when he was sacked from the band in the early 70s. “Razor Blade and Rattlesnake” and the superb “7171 551″ stand out as great tracks but it’s good to compare this to the Man output without him.

So that’s it for this Confession… once again I aim to wait now until Christmas although just sitting and writing about recent purchases gives me the itch to go hunting once more….

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And just ‘cos I fancy it on an easy click for a few days here’s Man performing Leonard’s “7171 550″ when he was back with the band. Deke Leonard is the one on the white guitar by the way…

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BL