The New Vinyl by Tom Davis

the new

Vinyl issue one // may

2014

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EDITORIAL // image by Tom Davis BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME // images by U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Daniel Kramer and Hulton Archive ON THE RISE // images by Tom Davis SPINNING AROUND // art and images by Tom Davis THE MADCAP LAUGHS // images by Mick Rock, Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell (Hipgnosis)

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Tom Davis

FRONT COVER // image cover by Karrie Nodalo

don’t forget to support them along the way and help keep the vinyl communitty together. Enjoy our first issue and see below right for exactly what’s in store as well below for our list of thanks...

Editor

A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S

words and design by Tom Davis

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touters). But don’t let that mar your vinyl enjoyment. We have a whole host of articles for you to enjoy in this edition with features on album artwork by American folk-singer Bob Dylan and English eccentric Syd Barrett, along with an interview with Worcester’s independent record store, Rise. We also have the latest tips on playing all your vinyl purchases, plus plenty more. It’s likely that you’ve picked this up at one of our stockists, so

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ello and welcome one and all to the first edition of The New Vinyl which, as you’ve guessed, is all about your beloved vinyl records. It’s been a busy few weeks for vinyl lovers with Record Store Day taking part on April 19 (albeit not without controversy following Paul Weller’s withdrawal from the event due to online

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In this issue is an array of features, interviews and articles that discuss the culture of vinyl records. We start with Bob Dylan’s fifth studio album, Bringing It All Back Home (page 8), which caused outrage among his most faithful of followers for its use of electric guitar, but it also has intriguing album artwork. From famous faces to colourful additions scattered across the cover - just what did that all mean? Then we head over to independent store, Rise, in Worcester (page 14). With vinyl

sales here in the UK increasing, The New Vinyl thought it would explore what effect this surge in popularity is having on Worcester’s own independent store. Next we take a look at vinyl records themselves. It could be that you’re stuck on how to play your vinyl records, or looking for the best way to keep threm from scratching? Check out our guide

(page 20) on vinyl records and the best way to play them. We end with The Madcap Laughs (page 24), the debut release from Syd Barrett. With painted floorboards, a naked lodger and a blue flower vase resting on the floor, the artwork for this Barrett album was as irregular as his head. We look at the story behind it with help from photographer, Mick Rock.

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B R I N G ING IT ALL BACK HOME

ob Dylan was the sweetheart of folk music and, by all accounts, still is. Fresh-faced and just 23-years-old when “Bringing It All Back Home” was recorded and delivered to the public, Dylan was about to shock the world and cause outrage among his legion of loyal followers with what he had produced. Acoustic sounds had always been at the forefront of his music, yet his style radically evolved during this record and the album artwork is considered equally as pioneering. You would have been hard-pushed to have found anyone with greater power and influence in America than Dylan. His lyrical political protests saw him labelled as the ‘spokesman of a generation’ by the media and everything he touched, it seemed, turned to gold. But he began to face a mini-backlash when this album suggested a change in direction. Perhaps unsurprisingly given his hero—status in

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the world of folk, his inclusion of electric instruments for the first time was not soundly met. In fact, he was booed off stage during Newport Folk Festival for performing the album live with an electric guitar. Such was the effect, he did not return to the festival for 37 years. Album photographer, Daniel Kramer, knew the tracks on this album were ground-breaking in

Dylan’s history, quoted as saying it was “special and separate from everything else that was going on” which meant he “wanted to show that” in the artwork produced. And show that he did. Photographed with a softedged lens, Dylan sits at the centre with the surroundings around him blurred out. It allowed Dylan to be the focal point of the cover but also acted as a terrific metaphor of his mind. He was disillusioned with the fascination of him playing purely acoustic instruments. While he was focused and clear in his own thoughts, the industry around him, and indeed his fans, still held a blurred view about what his music should be. Kramer captures that perfectly. “Subterranean Homesick Blues” burst into action as the record’s first track and lead single (ironically, despite the outcry over its electric-feel, it became his first top 40 hit in the US). It is also cited as a precursor to rap and his much-loved music video (or much-mocked, depending on which side of the fence you sit) has been noted as one of the first video clips to accompany such music. Inspired by Chuck Berry, the song – and indeed the album – displayed the inner rock n’ roller inside of him and that can be seen throughout the entire first side. Yet he didn’t stray completely away from his folk roots and produced a second side purely of acoustic sounds, including big-hitter, “Mr Tambourine Man”. In doing so he created a fine fusion of folk, rock n’ roll and up-tempo sounds – a first on a Dylan record. Sitting alongside him on the artwork was Sally Grossman, the wife of his then-manager Albert Grossman, who he had roped into the shoot. To the right of her is the tip of “Another Side of Bob Dylan” – his album prior to this release. Pushed to the back and away from other LPs, it almost signals the end of his pure-acoustic roots. This is a new direction and Dylan wants you to know it. Elsewhere in the room (Sally Grossman’s house, to be precise) is an array of LPs that remind you of Dylan’s influences on this album. Soul-singers such as The

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Impressions, blues-man Robert Johnson and classical composer Ravi Shankar all earn their place on his collection at the time. Sat there, with a stubborn look on his face, he’s almost asking why if he can open his mind to different genres of musical instruments, then heck, listeners of this record should be okay with an electric guitar, surely?

ut there isn’t all change. Dylan still retains his voice on political matters with tracks such as “Maggie’s Farm” and, indeed, the inclusion of then-president Lyndon B. Johnson on the cover of Time magazine – under the arm of Sally – demonstrates his interests have not faded. A harmonica resting on the table to the left is another reminder of his keen folk roots and one he continues to use throughout this record. Even the cufflinks worn have meaning, given to him as a gift by Joan Baez – a friend and popular figure on

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the folk circuit of whom he toured with extensively (pictured earlier). So, while there is an evident focus on a new change in direction in his musical style, there is also a nod to the past and a set of influences that remain close to his heart. Just as pioneering was the intention to remove track listings from the front and keep them rooted to the back cover. It was the first album released by Dylan that didn’t include song titles. Excluding track listings at all was irregular at the time of release, particularly for his record label, Columbia. Sure enough, in the 30 studio albums released across the 49 years that followed, not one included track listings on the front cover ever again which signifies the importance of this change. If fans thought these changes were too much to take, then they can consider themselves fortunate “Bringing It All Back Home” wasn’t entirely electric as it could have conceivably been. Studio sessions (above) lasted just two

days across January 13-15 on the year of release, although Dylan supposedly recorded electric versions of every song. A Dylan album featuring simply an electric guitar? Surely the world would go into overload as they very nearly did when this record was released for the first time? His hair may have greyed, his skin may have grown wrinklier, and his voice may have fallen down a few keys, but Dylan still holds power in the music industry and commands tremendous respect. As for “Bringing It All Back Home”? Well, Rolling Stone ranked it as 31 in their list of 500 greatest albums of all-time, and not because Dylan’s cat pictured with him on the front cover is called ‘Rolling Stone’. 49 years on, critics cite the album as one of the greatest recordings of all time, so it would appear it was indeed Dylan who had the last laugh.

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/ / Just how have vinyl sales improved? And what is the appeal? The New Vinyl takes a look at the popularity of vinyl records and its effect on independent record store, Rise. Tom Davis chats to staff member, Tom Rozwadowski . . . //

urking somewhere amidst a dusty attic is my first ever musical purchase, which, as far as my ears are concerned now, is the best place for it. It was bought as a sixyear-old from the era of the short-lived cassette tape, just as its rival, the compact disc, began to rise in prominence. It was here in the 1990s where vinyl records experienced its first real downward trend in sales, knocked down as the third most popular format of physical music. Nowadays, the vinyl is even more of a niche in a market dominated by digital music sales and streaming sites. But it is showing signs of recovery. From vinyl, to cassette, to compact discs and now digital downloads, recent figures on the sales of vinyl records suggest a mini-revival for the much-loved grandfathers of music. Last year, The British Recorded Music Industry (BPI) announced an increase of 101 per cent in vinyl sales from 2012 and over 270 per cent from five years prior. It meant

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vinyl album sales were at their highest for 15 years as big-selling hits, such as the Arctic Monkeys’ AM, helped push it back to the forefront. After two decades in the dark, it is a long time coming. In many ways, the music format has gone full circle. Fast-forward a decade from my musical purchases as a six-year-old and the first vinyl record is vastly different. “Birth of Success”, an eight-track release of material from Jimi Hendrix, was picked up in a record fair. As a bootleg recording, its quality of sound is not as crisp and warm as vinyls are renowned for, but it does sum up the so-called vinyl revival perfectly. The Dutch-made record, released in 1970, recorded his early days in the New York blues scene as a backing guitarist to Curtis Knight & the Squires. It’s not a classic but it does offer something old to the new. That’s the appeal.

t’s why record fairs, and indeed independent stores, are now becoming a hot-bed for music lovers or all ages, shapes and sizes, but are particularly

enjoying a renaissance from a new generation of listeners. One such independent record store, Rise, has profited from the resurgence in vinyl sales at a time when purchasing physical music at all is something of an anomaly. And 26-year-old Tom Rozwadowski, from the Worcester branch of Rise, believes the ‘romance’ of the vinyl can sustain its popularity and prove itself as not just another trend given its appeal across different areas. “There’s a good mix,” he said. “There’s people who have always been into records; people who have been into records, sold their record players and bought them back 20 years later; there’s new kids getting into them who see them spinning around as more romantic than an MP3. You can’t take a record player in your car with you so it’s good to have different ways. I think the sales have increased because it has kind of become a trend. But if you’ve got a nice system and everything it does sound better. It’s a different sound as well. Hopefully it’s not just a trend that will die away but I think a lot of people are getting back into it and it’ll keep going for ages.”

art of the appeal, according to Rozwadowski, is the physicality of the artwork inside and the joy consumers get from milling around a record store. People come to independent record stores to discover new or old releases. Not only that, but they can also ask for recommendations from those working in the store, including the friendly face of Tom or his colleagues (below right) or – in the case of Rise – pick up music from local, unsigned acts that Rozwadowsi believes offers the chance to “support the people”. It’s the physicality of vinyl records and the community it generates that has helped this specific store. “People miss the physical aspect,” he said. “Whether it’s preferred or whether its better I think people miss the fact they can go to a shop. With websites you often go there looking for something you know you want, whereas in a shop you come in and look through all the stuff and you might see something and say ‘oh I didn’t think I wanted that’ when you see it. There are lots of shops, like a shop called Christina Records in London, who are very specific about what they stock. It’s kind of like it’s not just a record shop, it’s a place that recommends things as well. You go in there and everything you know in there is stuff

they’ve picked out specifically.” It’s perhaps why a recent survey from the Entertainment Retailers Association in the United Kingdom found consumers were willing to pay on average £16.30 for a vinyl record in comparison to £7.82 for a CD and £6.80 for a digital download. They’re paying for a fuller experience, some might say. But, in paying more, they expect more. The artwork inside as well as the addition of possible MP3 downloads or bonus material adds to its complex appeal and, as the surge of sales is being made public, Rozwadowski thinks record companies are making extra efforts to supply the need.

“There are a lot of new records that come out and are quite expensive,” he said. “Sometimes people don’t even think of spending £25 on a record unless they really want it. With a record you can have a triple fold-out, an extra 10-inch EP and some fancy artwork and you get the CD as well so people are willing to spend more. On a CD you don’t get any of that. When they do buy something they want it to be nice artwork so they don’t mind paying £15-20 on a record. Some people won’t spend £12 on a CD because they can download and it’ll be a lot cheaper – or free. So they don’t get any physical aspect on that side and it’ll be a lot cheaper

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or free. So they don’t get any physical aspect on that side. “We definitely sell a couple of records every day. There’s hardly been a day where we haven’t sold a record. I’ve only been working here about a year and a half but from what I’ve seen the last two or three years has seen the biggest increase as companies realise that records are getting more popular. Back-catalogues of artists are getting re-issued too. A couple of years ago people would come in and ask for a certain Led Zeppelin record but it’s not been re-issued on vinyl. It’s not been re-issued but it’s going to be re-issued soon. Companies are getting wise to people wanting records so they’re re-issuing more classic albums. Nowadays of course almost everything comes out on CD and vinyl.”

ut no vinyl record can be played with a record player. A growing trend for the modern-day music lover is to have a vinyl player that can also convert their material to digital formats. In an age of mobile music courtesy of an array of portable music players, it is arguably the biggest drawback to vinyl records. So it is no surprise new models of vinyl players come equipped with your own MP3 converter. It’s also no great surprise that vinyl records also come packed with a digital download link. As Rozwadowski mentioned, combatting illegal downloads is now key to the vinyl recovery.

“A lot of people want both [physical and digital copies]. A lot of companies will give a record and a CD or a record and an MP3. Sometimes it does feel like you’ve

“We sell r e c o r d s every day” “A lot of people want both [physical and digital copies]. A lot of companies will give a record and a CD or a record and an MP3. Sometimes it does feel like you’ve been cheated if you buy the record and you have to buy the download or the CD if you want to listen to it in your car or your headphones so that’s one way of dealing with it. We’ve got record players that do digital conversions but we’ve only had them in for a year, maybe three quarters of a year. They’re big sellers – mostly around Christmas. They’re at a good price as some record players you can get at £400, £600 to £1000 so we try and get entry level ones that are affordable too. A key player in the vinyl revival here in the United Kingdom is the introduction of the annual event, Record Store Day. Observed o the third Saturday of April each year, the event is designed to celebrate the culture of independent record stores with exclusive vinyl releases.

It is an event that caused controversy this year from Modrocker, Paul Weller, over re-sales of releases from online touters. Yet despite this set-back, Record Store Day has only helped increase their popularity and added to an already existing audience. It is an event I regularly attend myself, this year travelling up to the oldest independent record store in Birtmingham - The Diskers (see below). With people of all age ranges and backgrounds coming together, it’s a chance to soak up vinyl music and take a slice of the fun by purchasing one of the exclusive releases from the day. Fail that, simply spend the day chatting away to the workers in the store and discuss your mutual appreciation of music. It’s days spent like this, Rozwadowski believes, that means vinyl sales will remain strong. “Record Store Day is the biggest day of the year. It’s meant to be about independent record stores, providing a product that people want and it’s only available from them and it’s not available online. It’s about creating relationships with the customers and they’ll come in and say ‘oh, what’s out this Record Store Day’. There’s a lot of interesting stuff that comes out as well. Last year we had Stephen Malkmus from Pavement covering a whole Can album and it was only released with 500 copies. But it’s something special that you could only get on the day. “I think it will just keep on getting stronger,” he added, when asked what he feels the future direction for vinyl records will be. “It might be that some people who are into it where it was just a trend, they might drop off, but there will also be a core range of people that prefer records to something else. I think it will just keep getting stronger, especially now more things are available and there are more places to get your records from.”

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Spinning around How to play a vinyl record

or this, we did ponder inviting a ‘vinyl record expert’ along to talk us through the steps and stages of playing your beloved records. But, truth is, we’re not so sure such a position even exists – at least not in qualified terms. Our expert comes in the form of the writers’ father, who welcomed the novelty of the position with a strange degree of enthusiasm (and is now contemplating a new career as a professional hand model). So exactly what is the best way to play your favourite records? Each turntable will be slightly different but they will all have a dust cover fitted to help keep all the components inside nice and clean when not in use. You can lift this up in preparation for the record and place it firmly back down again once it is in play (or take it off completely if it’s fitted loose and not actually connected to the table itself). Pick out your record of choice from the

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shelves. “Hotel California” was our selection here although others are of course available. Take the sleeve containing the record out but be gentle with it. It should have been stored with the sleeve opening facing upwards to help prevent it from sliding out if tilted one way or another. Not all of the above applies if you’re playing a 7” single of course, but the carefully-does-it approach still does.

hoose the side of the record you wish to play. Always hold records by the edges. You don’t want to smear your greasy mits over the surface and leave it ruined for when the needle runs through it. So slide it out of the sleeve and, holding it by the edges, place it down on the record platter through the centre of the hold in the record. Keep it lowered until it rests on the foam matt underneath. With the record firmly placed on the platter, flick the switch from ‘off’ to ’45 rpm’ or whichever speed you wish to play at. Lift the arm

of the needle by the head and the record will begin to spin. Handle the arm with great care and position the needle of the arm directly over the outermost groove on your record, lowering it with care until it connects gently with the record. Not all record players have the same functions but you can either stop the record by flicking the ‘off’ switch or by lifting the arm manually. Again, on some automatic tables, it may do this itself once the record finishes. Be sure to return the needle to its original position unless of course you wish to flip the record over and repeat the steps for the second side. Once all listening is complete, return the record to its sleeve and place the turntable dust cover back into its usual position.Then it’s simply a question of repeating the process to enjoy your vinyl records!

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THE MADC A P LAUGHS //

An English eccentric and significant chapter in the booming psycadelia of the sixties, Syd Barrett was an enigma even to those who knew him. Tom Davis explores the artwork behind his debut release . . . / /

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and his solo releases. But his drug use undoubtedly fuelled his lifestyle and creative spirit on an album that displayed his usual charming lyrics and childlike imagery. It meant, according to Rock, he was ‘absolutely incoherent’ at a few studio sessions.

“Syd was already a heavy user, sometimes dangerously so”

ink Floyd’s transformation to a David Gilmore-inspired five-fold is well-documented, etched into the history books of the rock’ n’ roll as they began a career celebrated with international acclaim. But the gloomy demise of its once charismatic front-man, Syd Barrett, is more a tale of melancholy than any celebration. Roger Keith Barrett, known as Syd, was the driving force behind an emerging Floyd who combined light shows and improvised sets to spearhead a new underground psychedelic scene. His eye for words and genius was undeniable. He was, at this stage of his career, breaking boundaries yet to be broken. But there is no great genius without some touch of madness – of which Syd had plenty. The Madcap Laughs, the first of two solo releases from Barrett, was a difficult record to produce. When a declining mental health forced Barrett to leave band, their management team of Peter Jenner and Andrew King also followed suit. The idea was to help him begin work on solo material but, invariably, it wasn’t that straightforward with the singer showing a reluctance in the studio and ending the year in psychiatric care in his hometown of Cambridge.

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Perhaps unsurprisingly, Barrett’s eagerness to record the next year following rehabilitation was knocked back by Jenner and King with both turning him down. But where they rejected him, others took him on. It was during the space of four short months where the majority of the album’s tracks were recorded – in fact, all but “Late Night” were completed then, albeit under two different producers. Malcolm Jones, head of EMI’s sub-label, Harvest, had started the proceedings in April before Barrett asked former-bandmates Gilmour and Roger Waters to complete the rest. It was also during this period that the album’s artwork was

produced under the creative direction of London design group, Hipgnosis. Photography came from employee and friend of Barrett, Mick Rock, who was keen on using his seventh-floor flat on Earls Court Square as the backdrop for the shoots. “Syd asked me to take the pictures,” he recalls of the photo-shoots in his 2007 book, Psychedelic Renegades: Photos of Syd Barrett. “The idea was that I would shoot Syd inside in his room. We had talked about the shoot for a while, and the day before it happened I told Storm [Thorgerson] from Hipgnosis, so he came along because they were putting the package together. There had been at least three other occasions before the actual day that Syd and I had arranged for me to go over and shoot him. But these days fell through, either because Syd wouldn’t answer, or he was busy or something.” From mandrax to acid he was still heavily-induced by drugs. A keen painter and Camberwell College of Arts graduate, he had always been creative. He loved art and was a keen connoisseur of literature, reportedly reading the likes of Grimm’s Fairy Tales and Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings during writing with Floyd

“By the time he came to record The Madcap Laughs, Syd was already a heavy user, sometimes dangerously so. I remember going to at least two or three recording sessions for Madcap and Syd would be absolutely incoherent. I think it was probably the Mandrax. I used to take a half, may be one, or at the most two on a wild night, but Syd took a lot. Syd had this quality of being a kind of mad bohemian poet, and that’s how I saw him. In these images he exudes that kind of aura.” With just a mattress and a record player among the furniture, his room was

bare, although the latter showing his love of music – and vinyl – was still apparent. Both rested on the orange and turquoise floorboards he had painted. He was sitting, perched on his hands and toes, with those now trademark Barrett floorboards creating an iconic cover image. Equally as eye-catching was the inclusion of a female accomplice on the back sleeve, sat naked on a chair. Simply known as ‘Iggy’, she only briefly entered the life of the troubled musician and little is known of her story. But that fitted perfectly to the haphazard nature of Barrett’s life at the time, adding to the fascination of the album artwork. “He lived in a great big room with only a mattress and a record player,” Rock admitted when describing his then-home. “There wasn’t a single chair, so you had to sit on either the floor or the bed. It was Syd’s last residence in London. Those who visited the flat would be greeted by decaying rubbish in the doorway, rancid milk bottles and the offspring of Syd’s cats Pink and Floyd. I visited him there and we’d hang out and get stoned, and have conversations which were very associative and lateral. They probably only made sense to Syd and me. “Soon after Syd moved in he painted alternating floorboards orange and turquoise. Syd did not wash the dusty and cigarette-end littered floor beforehand, and he didn’t move the bed but just painted around it. Iggy the Eskimo was also there although I don’t think that was

part of the plan. With no job and little to call her own, Iggy epitomised the free natured spirit of the psychedelic underground. She was frequently seen to answer the door of the flat completely naked. It was largely unknown where she came from, or where she left to – one of the many faces to come and go from the flat.”

ainted floorboards, a naked Eskimo-girl on a chair and a Van Gogh-style flower vase were the only additional elements alongside Barrett in this shoot. But they were all so detached from one another and this only heightened his fragility. His mind often strayed and it was during this period that he began to become drawn to the confines of his room – possibly the beginning of his reclusive state. So it is perhaps fitting that Rock’s decision for the location of the shoots were indeed at the very place Barrett felt most at home, and most free within himself. For a short time, this was Syd’s world and we were let inside. * Psychedelic Renegades, published 2007 by Ginko Press (available ~£10)

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