Robert Baird

And Finally...

Robert Baird  |  Mar 23, 2015

And finally, no trip to Austin would be complete without some quality crate digging for LPs in stores like Waterloo, End of an Ear, Antone's and Friends of Sound, where I encountered this memorable scene. Now that's what I call a category!

COMMENTS
Osgood Crinkly III's picture
Submitted by Osgood Crinkly III on March 23, 2015 - 3:14pm

I got to say, Baird, I don't agree with you very much, but I get a kick out of the way you diggin' them potatoes.

Lofty's picture
Submitted by Lofty on March 23, 2015 - 8:16pm

Self-titled album by Mom's Apple Pie (1972).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mom's_Apple_Pie

Michael Fremer: Do you have this album?

ednazarko's picture
Submitted by ednazarko on March 24, 2015 - 7:15am

Despite having about 24 linear feet of LPs still stored, and a really nice Michel turntable, 100% of my listening for the last five years has been digital. I never much enjoyed the rituals of vinyl - multiple types of cleaning, de-static, adjusting the tone arm and stylus in multiple dimensions. Back before digital files, 100% of my LP purchases were recorded to reel to reel tape the first time they were played, and then were played little if at all afterwards.

Why do I still have the LPs then? Because every once in awhile I go down to where they're stored, sit in a nice comfy rolling chair, and pull albums out here and there to appreciate the cover art and liner notes. The extensive liner notes on jazz and classical albums were the beginning of my music history interests and education, and the cover art, particularly the photography-based ones, launched my interest in photography that continues to today. Back when most of my listening was from the reel to reel rips, I almost always pulled the album covers out to read and appreciate when listening to the tape.

As hard as record labels tried in the CD era to replicate the experience, it never measured up. Sometimes size does matter. I truly miss album cover art and liner notes today. Even surfing the web on a tablet while listening doesn't quite measure up because my email is there tugging at me, there's as much junk on the search results as education.

And yes, this is truly an amazing album cover - fantastically executed art direction, with a snicker-out-loud result.

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