Elvis and Neil's Band.

Lately I`ve been buying classic vynil records for one or two euro a piece. Three of my best buys are Elvis Costello's "This year's model", The Band's "Music of the big pink" and Neil Young's "Zuma"


I stumbled over This year's model when I was looking in a not so promising collection of albums and somebodies stand. Although it was a bit worn, I still decided to buy it because you don`t see Elvis Costello records at markets where mostly junk is sold. The good records are often left home, or already grabbed away by collecters. Since the only song I knew from Elvis was "She", the sounds of this record came as a complete surprise for me. Each song is short, but very, very sweet. Side A is especially great..no weak or boring song there. I especially like Pump it Up; It is fast, catchy, and a feet-mover. It is a positive up-temp album with a few perfect pop-songs on it. Some of the single-producers of these days should listen to this album.


Neil Young's Zuma is maybe one of the less famous albums of Neil, but that does not mean it is a lesser album compared to others. I bought it because "Cortez the Killer" is on this album, which in my opinion is one of Neil's best songs together with Crazy Horse. The song starts with an instrumental intro of almost 3 minutes. Slow and heavy Neil and the band start this song with a typical "solo" of Neil, putting you back a few hunderd of years when Cortez invaded south america. The band just moves on and on in the same steady tempo while Neil sings and plays his guitar with a lot of emotion. Stupid Girl is also a nice little song, with Neil singing in a very unusual low voice. Danger Bird is another song in the style of Cortez the Killer. And the other songs..well..actually I failed to find any weak song on this album. A great album.



The Band's Music of the big pink is probably the best of the three. Also the oldest. Dating from 1968 it dates back from the period when the beatles released "Seargent Pepper". In general, all songs are great with their multiple vocals (all with a lot of character) and instrumental diversity. My favorite song is Chest Fever. Its grande opening with the organ really shows the beauty and power of the instrument. Then the organ settles and starts to play the main rythm: papaa, paapaaa. Again Rick (bass) and Levon (drums) do the vocals perfectly and the tempo changes really make this a great song to listen too. Also Robbertsons guitar play has to be admired. Instead of filling each song with chords and endless solos he plays in between the bass, drums, piana, organ. He fills the gaps with his guitar, instead of really letting the guitar dominate the whole music. Something you hear a lot in todays music. Everybody knows The Weight, a classic song, but other personal favorites of mine on this album are Tears of rage, To kingdom come and this wheel's on fire.