Turntablin'

[twirlgrrl]

HEY GUYS I just got a new turntable! It is so cool, it has a built-in preamp and the company I got it from sent free upgrades (belt and stylus) so I am HAPPENING! I am freecycling my old, preamp-less turntable as we speak. And I listened to the first half of a Johnny Cash album that I haven't heard in forever. It is called The Last Gunfighter Ballad and it is the awesome. It has never been released in digital form, though. Some of the songs are hilariously bad and I can see why Johnny wouldn't want to put them out in the digisphere. My sister and I used to ape his loping off-key delivery on "I Will Dance With You," giggling madly under the dining room table. And the title track is like a Spinal Tap epic, country music version. But it also has the original version of "Far Side Banks of Jordan," a song that never fails to make me sob. My mom listened to it a lot after my brother died. June's warbling over the Carter chorus in the background is amazing. They released an older grayer version of this song on June's album Press On in 1999. Also, it has Give It Away, which starts with jaunty ragtime piano and brims with cheesy good cheer, the precursor to "Nothing left to do but smile smile smile" in my childhood. This is probably the kind of album you'd have to grow up with to truly appreciate, but I think it's brilliant.

Now I can listen to my old Sesame Street albums too!

:D