33 1/3

Today, we will discuss briefly a most wonderful series of entertaining little books, the 33 1/3 series. I first discovered these little bundles of joy when my brother gave me #30 Paul’s Boutique as a gift. I think Rolling Stone got it right when they stated, “Ideal for the rock geek who thinks liner notes just aren’t enough.” Well, I’m most certainly a “rock geek,” and I simply looooove liner notes. So, there you go.

Now, I’m reading #18 Exile On Main St. This one was written by Bill Janovitz of Buffalo Tom. Check out this brilliant description from pp. 8-9, also featured on the back cover: “Exile is exactly what rock & roll should sound like: a bunch of musicians playing a bunch of great songs in a room together, playing off of each other, musical communion, sounds bleeding into each other, snare drum rattling away even while not being hit, amps humming, bottles falling, feet shuffling, ghostly voices mumbling on and off-mike, whoops of excitement, shouts of encouragement, performances without a net, masks off, urgency. It is the kind of record that goes beyond the songs themselves to create a monolithic sense of atmosphere. It conveys a sense of time and place and spirit, yet it is timeless. Its influence is still heard today. Keith Richards has said, tongue in cheek, the record ‘was the first grunge record.’”

This line totally cracks me up: “‘Royalty’s having a baby,’ was a refrain often heard from a sneering Keith Richards down in Nellcote, while Mick was off with Bianca during her pregnancy, concurrent with the recording of Exile on Main St.”

More to come…