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Showing posts from May, 2012

Lucky Thirteen!

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It’s hard to believe, but my website Rarebird’s Rock and Roll Rarity Reviews is now 13 years old. May 31st of 1999 was the day the site “went live”, with just six album reviews on four pages. I didn’t think the site would grow much bigger than that, but once I started building it, I didn’t want to stop. I am proud of the site I’ve created, and I intend to keep it alive as long as possible. I remember receiving an e-mail back in 2006 saying this: Thanks…for keeping the spirit of the (record) search alive. There is nothing like going from record store to record store in search of the unique. Now (because of) eBay and the internet, the “rock and roll Lewises and Clarks” are extinct…Keep your head above water because you are one of the last. I knew exactly what this person meant. Back in the ‘90’s, I loved shopping around in indie and used record stores in search of hard-to-find items, a hobby that led to the creation of my site and blog. In the late ‘90’s and early ‘00’s, the indi

Third Man Records vinyl exclusives, Part 11

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Last week I received the eleventh pair of exclusive vinyl items offered to platinum members of Third Man Records’ Vault service. For those who are unaware, Third Man Records is the label owned by Jack White, who is the leader of the White Stripes, the Raconteurs, and the Dead Weather, and is now a solo artist as well. The Vault service promises to deliver exclusive vinyl-only records (one full-length album and one 7” single) to its platinum members every three months. According to the postmark, my package was sent on May 18th. I received it on the 21st. This eleventh set of items consists of a 3-LP compilation of Third Man Records singles released in 2011, and a 7” single containing alternate takes of two songs by the White Stripes. The bonus item is a black t-shirt with a reflective white Third Man logo that turns yellow in sunlight. The White Stripes single contains early versions of two songs, both of which were recorded in 1999: “Dead Leaves”, which was re-recorded as “Dead Le

White Duck (1971)

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On the John Hiatt page , I reviewed the second album by an early-‘70’s country-rock band called White Duck, titled In Season , because that was the first recording that Hiatt played on. Hiatt had not yet joined the band when they recorded their self-titled debut album White Duck from 1971. I’ve finally listened to this album after being curious about it for many years. I must say I am disappointed. The Hiatt-less album does feature the other three musicians who would soon play on In Season , all three of whom hailed from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin: Don Kloetzke, Paul Tabet, and Mario Friedel. They were rounded out by brothers Lanny Fiel (formerly of Willie and the Red Rubber Band) and Rick Fiel (who played with an apparently unsigned band called Prince of America). Reportedly, all of these musicians (as well as producer Buzz Cason) had worked with the then-unknown Jimmy Buffett shortly before recording this album. Unlike the later album, on which all of the members took lead vocal tur