(...is it me or is this one of the finest giveaways we've ever offered? Well, ...no - it's not me.)
In celebration of our 60th Anniversary, and Record Store Day on April 17th, we at Vanguard Records are proud to present an exclusive vinyl re-issue of five seminal Vanguard Titles: Joan Baez ‘Joan Baez’, Mississippi John Hurt ‘Today’, John Fahey ‘The Yellow Princess’, Doc Watson ‘Doc Watson’, and Buddy Guy ‘A Man and the Blues’. Each title will be re-issued with original vinyl artwork.
One reader of The Vinyl District will be awarded a Vanguard Records 60th Anniversary Package of all five of the LPs in our exclusive TVD/Record Store Day Giveaway.
The rules are simple: in the comments section of this post, let us know what Vanguard Records or these individual artists have meant to you over the years. Suitably inspire the kind folks at TVD (who'll be choosing the winner) and the collection of all five LPs will be yours.
Remember to leave TVD your contact email address and they'll choose one winner for all five of the LPs on Monday, March 22. The complete set will mail to the winner during the week of Record Store Day.
“At the time of its release, Joan Baez’s debut album was something of a revelation… presenting a brace of traditional songs with an urgency and sincerity that makes the listener feel as though they were being sung for the first time” —All Music
“'Today' is Mississippi John Hurt’s first and finest studio release since his “rediscovery” on his Avalon farm by folklorist Tom Hoskins in 1963… Hurt himself never could explain his guitar playing, as he used to say, “I just make it sound like I think it out to.” Regardless, that sound along with a mellow and heartfelt voice, wizened here by decades, combine to make ‘Today’ an unforgettable whole. A truly essential album of the folk revival, unrivaled in its beauty and warmth.” —All Music
“If one were looking to own only one album by this unique guitarist, “The Yellow Princess” could be the one. The recording is among the best of his many releases; at the proper volume, the effect is as if one had taken up residency inside the sound hole of a giant acoustic guitar. The program of pieces if marvelously emotional and varied…” —All Music
“Watson’s arrival on the folk scene of the ‘60s was a major event in American music due mostly to his appearance at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival and the release of this self-titled album the following year. Not only did it revolutionize folk guitar picking, but it set the standard for the rest of his career with its mix of old-timey numbers, blues, gospel, and adapted fiddle tunes.”
—All Music
“The guitarist’s first album away from Chess - and to be truthful, it sounds as though it could have been cut at 2120 S. Michigan, with Guy’s deliciously understated guitar work and a tight combo anchored by three saxes and pianist Otis Spann laying down tough grooves on the vicious “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” I Can’t Quit the Blues,” and an exultant cover of Mercy Dee’s “One Room County Shack.” —All Music
4 comments:
Vanguard artists are of particular importance to me for a variety of reasons. If I'm in the need for a full-out car blasting sing-along I put on the Indigo Girls and it reminds me of taking my best friend to an IG concert as a surprise for her 18th birthday. If my heart is broken I need Linda Rondstadt stat, and if I want something a little newer, fresher perhaps I put on the Watson Twins who I had the opportunity to meet in Boston after one of their shows. Vanguard unbeknown to me until now is a prime time player on my iPod.
~Kaitlin
Kaitlin.Mattison@gmail.com
Doesn't listening to Mississippi John Hurt just make ya wanna cry?
I stole my older sister's Hootie & the Blowfish album sometime around 1996-'97. Ever since then I've been a diehard fan. I've seen Darius, Mark, Dean, and Soni 10-15 times, and have been backstage after the show nearly every time. I was excited about HBF's move to Vanguard because I felt it would give them a chance to put out the music they wanted to instead of what the music industry was trying to force them to put out. As a side note, with HBF moving to Vanguard, it opened me up to the Vanguard Street Team. I'd been a huge Shawn Mullins fan as well, and when he was putting on a show in downtown Nashville, the Street Team sent out an email looking for someone to work his Merch. table. I responded and had one of the best times at a show ever. Shawn came over and talked with my wife and I for about an hour before the show, and it felt like we were talking with an old friend rather than a world famous musician.
I met my ex while we were working in Berlin; he grew up on a cotton farm and is from the Mississippi Delta and I'm from just outside New York. When we used to visit his family in Mississippi, I used to take a detour on rainy days to Ole Miss, to the most extensive blues library in the country, I believe. I wanted to learn more about a place that was more foreign to me than Berlin and thought that one of the most intimate ways is through music. Though we're not together now, I still really love with Doc Watson and Mississippi John Hurt.
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