“My personal hobbies are reading, listening to music, and silence.”
The street was wet this morning when I went to get the papers. The sky is still cloudy but not threatening. It will be warm today and is already 44˚. To some of you, I know 44˚ doesn’t sound warm, but this is winter in New England and 44˚ is just about balmy.
Today is back to reality. It is dump day. My trunk is filled as I didn’t go last week so I haven’t any choice this week.
I still have a bit of wrapping to do, gifts for my sister. I’m going to see her on Sunday, and we’ll exchange gifts. I do love an extended Christmas season.
My Christmas trees are getting dry, but they still have that wonderful pine aroma. I can smell it as soon as I get halfway down the stairs. Some mornings I just stand a little bit and take it in all in. Christmas trees have such a short season.
Peter, Paul and Mary are playing on my Victrola. The record was a gift from my sister. As soon as I lifted the arm and carefully placed it on the edge of the vinyl, I was reminded of my mother’s record player, a hifi my father got for her from his sales points. It was a marvel, one of the newest being sold. The sound was amazing or so we thought back in those days. I still have my record collection except for my Beatles. I bemoan their disappearance.
After I bought this record player, I had fun thumbing through my records and have found some gems including an early Joan Baez. I figure an inspection of those record albums would be the perfect way to guess my age. After PP&M finished, I loaded one of those finds, one of those gems, The Slightly Famous Limeliters, a record from 1961, a “New Orthophonic” RCA High Fidelity Recording. It is good to hear Glenn Yarbrough again. I do love the cracking sound the vinyl makes.
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December 27, 2019 at 2:53 pm
Hi Kat,
The real audiophiles not only like the warmer sound from vinyl records but also from vacuum tube amplifiers. Those 1950s HiFi record players were able to take advantage of the 33 and 1/3 RPM long playing record improved sound over 78 RPM or 45 RPM records. By the early 1960s engineers developed the stereophonic records which brought out depth of the sound from a record. I used to have records that took advantage of stereo sound with bouncing bongos going from left to right and back again. For a short time quadraphonic, 4 channel records were a fad.
Unfortunately, my ability to distinguish between analog music from vinyl records and digital music from MP4 files has been reduced by age and unprotected airplane noise. However, the clicking sound on vinyl records from either static electricity or dirt is and has been very annoying. I used to have record cleaning kits to reduce the noise on vinyl records which never worked at 100%. When I discovered the clean sound from the CD I was completely satisfied with my music. Theses days I can carry many albums on my iPhone which I can listen to with earbuds or through the car infotainment system. 🙂
Warm again today with partly cloudy skies and rising humidity.
December 27, 2019 at 4:19 pm
Hi Bob,
I had a 45 RPM player. That meant no longer putting the disk in the middle of the 45’s so I could play them on the hifi. The center of the player could hold 6 records and drop each in turn. Back in those days I’d buy 45’s of my favorite songs instead of having to buy the album.
I don’t think I ever had a stereo player. I went to cassettes next.
Some of my records are fifty years older or more. My taste in music hasn’t changed much in all those years. I also have wonderful 60’s rock albums.
It’s chilly now!
December 27, 2019 at 5:19 pm
I remember that RCA, who invented the 45, sold a record changer made specifically for 45s with a big fat changer spindle. Some HiFi record players came with a 45 RPM adapter that fit over the thin changing spindle for those records.
I remember that you could go into a record store in those days and enter a booth to play the record begotten you bought it. Record stores were also teen hangout places.
December 27, 2019 at 8:23 pm
The machine itself was rather small, just a little bit bigger than the 45’s. The spindle in the middle was not removable. I used mine all the time.
I still have some of the plastic circles you used with the 45 so it could play on any machine.
My town had no record store where you could listen before buying.
December 27, 2019 at 3:52 pm
The Limeliters reference made me smile. That was an introduction you made for me, and very happy one.
December 27, 2019 at 4:23 pm
Rowen,
I am amazed at how little my taste in music has changed. It has widened but I kept my favorites all along. The Limeliters are one of them. I’m glad their sound has a memory attached!