Issue 183

The most impactful blues artists have always been able to transcend the genre by seamlessly ushering in outside influences that add colors and texture to a foundation that is timeless but also fairly structured. Kenny Wayne Shepherd is among those who have lifted the blues to new heights by combining his seemingly endless sense of musical curiosity with boundless amounts of creativity. Since his onstage debut in the early 1980s at age 13, he has always found a way to pay homage to the past and balance it with an eye toward the future. 2023 is already shaping up to be a year where this mission will be expressed in ways that continue to wow his fans.

It begins with a revisit of his 1997 breakthrough record Trouble Is…, the longest-running album ever on the Billboard Blues charts. To celebrate the album’s 25^th anniversary, he reassembled almost everyone involved with the project and re-recorded it track by track. The new edition, Trouble Is…25, presents the music with a fidelity that is nuanced by experience from the road that make the songs’ sonic impact even stronger. It has more punch than the original and even more character.

Shepherd will also return to the road beginning in May with a follow-up to last year’s inaugural Backroads Blues Festival. It’s inspired by B.B. King’s famous annual Blues Festival tours, which ended with his passing back in 2015. Once again, the Backroads Blues Festival will find Shepherd operating as a traveling ambassador for the blues.

As if that wasn’t enough, Shepherd and his band made use of some rare downtime last fall and knocked out two new records worth of material. Copper had the opportunity to speak with Kenny about these projects and what gets his creative juices going. Given the recent passing of David Crosby, we also asked Shepherd what the odds are that he and Stephen Stills might be able to reunite their supergroup, The Rides, for one more spin.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Trouble Is…25, album cover.

Ray Chelstowski: How far in advance of the Backroads Blues Festival did you begin work on putting things together?

Kenny Wayne Shepherd: Well obviously it’s a process. As soon as we finished the one last year we were already in discussions about what we could do for this year and who we might want to have involved. The first thing we do is compile a list of where we want to go and who we want to be involved, then we begin to plan out all of the logistics involved in getting it off the ground.

Last year was the inaugural run. It was more about “proof of concept” and we had an amazing lineup with Buddy Guy, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, and my band. So this year to have Joe Bonamassa with us for a couple of shows and King Solomon Hicks, Eric Gales, and some others that we are talking to makes this about bringing the best people in the genre together.

RC: You’re going to take this on the road, but have you ever considered doing it in a single residency?

KWS: We could do something like that depending upon the market, but I don’t it should be exclusive to one market. I think being stuck for three to six months every night doing the same thing in the same city isn’t for us. If we ended up doing multiple nights at a place like the Beacon or the Ryman that would be fine because it wouldn’t be the beginning and end of the tour. To me, bringing the music to the people through traveling and everything that comes with it is all part of the experience.

Thinking forward, if this becomes something that always happens in the month of June or is peppered through the spring and summer touring experience, it can either help people plan ahead or allow us to have a different line up every night depending on the venue and the location. Either way works for us as long as we give the fans an amazing show.

RC: This festival was inspired by B.B. King. What inspired you to do the 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads documentary and what were you hoping to achieve?

KWS: The whole purpose of this was to give the blues community something really amazing that showed my appreciation for the genre and the artists who came before me. It was also a vehicle to get more exposure for some of the featured artists who maybe had never broken out into the mainstream; [but] not for any lack of talent. I also made it a point that every song that we wrote and performed for that project would be owned by the artist so that they would get publishing income from it. We didn’t want them to perform someone else’s music. I wanted these people to financially benefit from this. Lastly, it was an opportunity to play with some [musicians] who I had already known, and some who I were meeting for the first time.

RC: You’ve been able to expand the boundaries of the blues without losing your footing. How do you know how far you can push the music toward any other direction before it loses its connection to the blues?

KWS: That is something that you just know intuitively. But depending upon who you talk to, some hard-core blues fans might say that all of my music is too far in one direction. That’s all completely subjective. I’ve had my moments where I’ve known that the song I’m recording isn’t the blues. In fact, my fourth album (The Place You’re In) is a straight-up rock record. I had no problem doing that or admitting that at the time. I’m a multi-dimensional artist. I don’t think that I am placed in one box, nor do I want to be.

My musical aspirations are pretty wide. Although, the blues is the foundation of everything that I’ve done.

RC: You release new studio albums every two to three years. How do you know when it’s time to record?

KWS: A lot of it is schedule-related, trying to find an opening when we can go into the studio and seize the moment. We actually have almost two albums worth of material already recorded, mixed and ready to go. Back in October we had an opening in the schedule and we decided to do a rock and roll covers album recording “outside of the box” rock songs. When I cover songs I like to pick the ones that aren’t the most obvious. I like when people are surprised to hear that our band covered a certain song and that they think it sounds great. So we did a record of songs like that just for the fun of it. I love the creative process, the touring, and things that are fun. If we are having fun it translates through the music.

RC: Was there something that you have often wanted to revisit with Trouble Is…25 that this 25^th Anniversary edition allowed?

KWS: If there was ever an opportunity to go back and change something that’s been bothering you for 25 years this would have been it. When we went into the studio I told everyone that we were going to do two versions of this record. We’re going to do one where we get as close to the sound of the original as we possibly can without breaking it down to a molecular level. Then as soon as that was done I told them we were going to do the same songs but the way that we play them live, which is how they’ve evolved over all these years.

What’s interesting is that as I started listening back to decide which version we would put the finishing touches on, it became glaringly apparent to me that the further we got away from the original album the more we started to lose what was really special about the original record, which was the vibe. So the final version of the record is very close to the original with subtle changes on vocals and guitar, but that sounds like the album that [everyone has] been enjoying for 25 years. As they listen to this version a little more closely they’ll pick up on these adjustments and begin to like the record even more.

RC: Recently you’ve had a steady relationship with producer Marshall Altman. Did you turn to him for this anniversary project or did you reach back out to original producer Jerry Harrison [of the Modern Lovers, Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club and others]?

KWS: No, Jerry Harrison produced this too. We brought everyone back that we could. Tommy Shannon from Double Trouble had retired several years ago so we did didn’t have him on bass. But we had Chris Layton on drums, Reese Wynans on keys, myself, and Noah Hunt on vocals. We even had my old A&R guy come by the studio for a few days. So we kinda had the whole team back together. It was pretty awesome actually.

RC: With the passing of David Crosby, have you had any conversations with Stephen Stills about reuniting The Rides?

KWS: We were talking about making another record right before COVID happened. We just played together at a concert in San Francisco back in December, and we are actually going to be playing together next week in Las Vegas as part of an all-star group for my friend Jim Irsay (owner of the Indianapolis Colts) who puts on these free concerts. He and I love playing together, so who knows?

Header image courtesy of Mark Seliger.

Octave Records has released its first live album, jazz trumpeter Gabriel Mervine’s Live at Nocturne. Recorded in pure DSD 256 high-resolution audio, Live at Nocturne captures the you-are-there excitement, spontaneity and interplay of Gabriel’s quartet as they perform a set of Brazilian- and European-flavored jazz. The album showcases Gabriel’s virtuoso trumpet playing and the distinctive stylings of accordionist/vocalist Alicia Jo Straka, along with Patrick McDevitt on acoustic bass and drummer Braxton Kahn.

“This was a first endeavor for both Octave Records and myself,” said Gabriel, a world-class musician who has worked with Natalie Cole, Christian McBride, Terence Blanchard, the Temptations, the Who, and many others. “I picked music that was fun for the band to play, fun to learn, and fun for the audience to listen to. We kind of jumped in, set up the gear and went for it.”

Live at Nocturne was recorded in pure DSD 256 to capture the true sound of the quartet as it would be heard at a live performance. An AKG vintage C24 tube condenser mic was used as the main stereo microphone, placed in front of the group. All the sound from Gabriel’s horn was captured on this mic. Geffel M930 mics were employed for Alicia’s accordion and vocals, and a stereo pair of DPA 4006a omnidirectional overheads were used on the drums. The mics went into a Manley Force tube preamplifier and Merging Technologies Pyramix 14 recording system. The album was recorded and mixed by Paul McGowan in Octave Records’ state-of-the-art DSD facility, and mastered by Gus Skinas.

Live at Nocturne features Octave’s premium gold disc formulation, and the disc is playable on any SACD, CD, DVD, or Blu-ray player. It also has a high-resolution DSD layer that is accessible by using any SACD player or a PS Audio SACD transport. In addition, the master DSD and PCM files are available for purchase and download, including DSD 256, DSD 128, DSD 64, and DSDDirect Mastered 352.8 kHz/24-bit, 176.2 kHz/24-bit, 96 kHz/24-bit, and 44.1 kHz/16-bit PCM.

The album gets into a head-bopping groove with “Carioquinha,” with Gabriel and Alicia playing one of the many intricate dual-harmony lines they’ll bounce off each other throughout Live at Nocturne. Next up is another Brazilian-flavored tune, “Bossa Dorado,” where Gabriel takes off with a soaring solo. “Just One for Babik” spotlights the propulsive drumming of Braxton Kahn, with every nuance of his drum kit and playing heard with exceptional detail and dynamics. “Ménilmontant” features Alicia Jo Straka’s singing, evocative of the Paris neighborhood after which the song is named. Other album highlights include the band’s easy-swing take on “It Might As Well Be Spring,” and a contemplative version of Django Reinhart’s “Nuages.”

I talked with Gabriel about the making of Live at Nocturne.

Frank Doris: What made you decide to do a live album?

Gabriel Mervine: A live album is a very different experience mentally [and] musically, and a live performance can be a little difficult. But Octave Records really wanted to go for it, and so we just kind of jumped in and picked a date, set up the gear, and recorded it.

FD: Did you do it all on one night?

GM: Yes. This was really a first endeavor for myself and for Octave Records.

FD: Is this a group that you play with regularly, or did you put it together for the album?

GM: They’re musicians I work with quite frequently in different iterations, with the exception of Alicia. The music I get to play with her is unique to our group. I don’t really get to play that music much elsewhere – some of the French musette style, the waltzes, the Brazilian music – that makes it so much fun to get to work with her. She’s just got great energy and a great presence about her.

FD: She’s so distinctive and her playing gives the album such a unique flavor. How many jazz accordion players do you hear?

Why did you pick the songs that you did?

GM: When Octave Records initially approached me about doing a live recording, I more or less thought [it would be] a trial run.

FD: (laughs)

GM: They’d never recorded a live show. So I was kind of coming into it thinking, this is a good first step in this direction, but I’m gonna keep my focus on the live performance, what best suits this show tonight. Yeah. And just like any bandleader you think about pacing of a set, the faster tempos, the slower tempos, the major keys, the minor keys. What songs is she gonna sing, when can we have the right drum solo and bass solo. That actually ended up providing a lot of different styles for a live album.

One more thing to add is that rehearsal time was really at a minimum.

FD: Why does everybody always say that?!

GM: Alicia’s got a newborn. It’s tough to get four or five schedules lined up. And to be honest, as we all know, this isn’t the most lucrative profession. So we’re all trying to tie things together to make a living, to make our mortgage, support our families. And time is valuable. So, I take music that’s complicated enough that it’s fun for the audience and fun for the band to play, but not so complicated that we have to spend hours and hours working on it. With that being said, some of the faster…like the Brazilian tunes…I definitely sit down and practice those quite a bit.

The recording setup for Live at Nocturne.

FD: The band sounds tight, but has a little bit of an off-the-cuff kind of feel. Obviously when you and Alicia played those lines together it’s pretty tight. But it also has a little bit of a loose feel, which I think is a great combination.

GM: Yes. I had to remind myself of exactly what you just said, (laughs). ‘Cause I was hesitant to release this music, though Paul [McGowan] loved the vibe. And you know what, at a certain point I reminded myself of exactly what you just said. Some of my favorite recordings are where we [hear] the humanity and the musicians. That’s the true mirror.

It’s like I’m really peering into what it was like that day. One of my favorite things to listen to is the, the Miles Davis full version of “Freedom Jazz Dance” on YouTube. It’s 20 minutes long.

It’s not actually on the album. It’s basically 20 minutes of them trying to learn the song together. It ends with them starting the take of the actual version they released, which basically tells us they rehearsed the tune until they could play it and not a moment more. And then as soon as they could get through the song without falling apart, they made it for the album. (laughs) So I was reminding myself of that, that I love getting to peer into the lives of these heroes of mine through the imperfection.

And so I [thought] let’s just go for it [with Live at Nocturne]. And I really hope that this is the beginning of something, not the end. I would love to have more experience doing live recordings and just creating more music to contribute to the lineage of this art form.

FD: For the benefit of readers who might not have read our last interview (in Issue 132), who are some of your influences?

GM: On the trumpet, you know, I gotta say Freddie Hubbard, Miles Davis, Lee Morgan, Clifford Brown, Chet Baker. For some of the more Brazilian-inspired music I play with Alicia, Wynton Marsalis has a really cool recording of him playing a tune called “Um a Zero.” This is like my classical music, practicing this. Paquito D’Rivera.

My parents are both classical musicians. I listen to classical music all the time. I have too many influences to name. They ebb and flow quite a bit. And we’re so lucky that we can listen to any song we want at any time. 150 years ago, you were lucky to [even] hear your favorite symphony or whatever, three or four times in your life. And if you wanted to hear it, you had to know somebody who could play it, and who owned the instrument, or you had to buy the sheet music, and then learn it yourself.

FD: Or back in the day when you wanted to learn a song you would drop the needle on the record over and over again until you got the part down.

GM: I still do that quite a bit actually (laughs). And also, that’s just a fun way to learn music. I have my students do that. I do that myself. I’ll just play along with [the music] with my horn until I learn the whole thing. And then frequently I’ll end up writing out the rest of the parts, and then I can start playing that favorite song with my own band.

FD: It’s impossible to tell what it sounded like from the audience, but how well do you think Live at Nocturne got the sound of the band as you actually sound, playing in the club?

GM: I’m happy with it. Like I said, I, this was the very first time they brought out that recording rig, and this was our one and only night. It’s raw. But I feel like they did a really good job capturing what we were doing there. And I couldn’t feel more support from Octave and everyone. I really feel like they’re in my corner and they kind of emboldened me to release this.

FD: What kind of trumpet do you play?

GM: I’m a big-time student of the instrument, and I love working at it. I practice all the time, and I frequently change equipment. Different horns, different mouthpieces. It helps me become a better teacher, a better player. On this recording I was playing sort of the standard professional trumpet fare, a Bach Stradivarius. For the initiated, with a Bach 3C mouthpiece.

FD: It’s a good combination of richness and cutting.

GM: That’s a great deal of what I work on. I really gravitate towards the sound of the fluegelhorn, [and] the mellowness of the trumpet. But as somebody who plays trumpet for a living, I get called to also play larger ensemble gigs, louder gigs, big band gigs, funk gigs. You gotta have a sound that can cut over a rhythm section and an amplified rhythm section a lot of the time. So I try and toe the line somewhere in the middle of that sound where I can get a mellow, beautiful sound for those ballads and small group jazz work like we were doing [on Live at Nocturne], and then also play equipment and develop a embouchure and control of my instrument where I can also light up that sound and really create a brighter timbre to sing over the ensemble.

FD: The album isn’t your typical “jazz” album in some respects.

GM: That’s honestly one of my goals with performing with my instrument – always be evolving and growing and keep myself progressing by playing new styles of music.

CTI Records was home to many artists, among them a handful of guitarists who backed other artists and led their own recording dates, along with a bassist whose decades-long career continues to this day.

One of those guitarists, George Benson, recorded some of his finest work on the five albums he recorded for the label. While his first handful under CTI’s affiliation with A&M Records were uneven, his albums on the independent CTI were much more interesting. The album Bad Benson was anything but. Here, Benson is set against a combo featuring Phil Upchurch, Kenny Barron, Steve Gadd, and Ron Carter. This is his unique twist on Paul Desmond’s “Take Five.”

In another unusual arrangement from the album White Rabbit, Benson covers a hit track of the era, “California Dreamin’,” interspersed with moody keyboards and strings, and flamenco flourishes throughout.

Although Joe Beck frequently backed fellow Kudu Records artist Esther Phillips, he recorded only a single album under his own name, Beck, for Kudu, although it was later reissued by Columbia as Beck & Sanborn. That revised title gives us a clue as to the contents of the record, as alto saxophonist David Sanborn puts his instantly recognizable mark on the album. On the track “Texas Ann,” Beck and Sanborn are featured alongside keyboardist Don Grolnick, with ample room to stretch out.

One album where Joe Beck is featured is on drummer Idris Muhammad’s album Power of Soul, one of my favorites in the Kudu catalog. Along with penning the song “The Saddest Thing” on this record, his prominent rhythm guitar work throughout the track adds a fluid groove to the arrangement. The track also features Bob James, Randy Brecker, and Grover Washington, Jr. as soloists. It’s a laid-back soul-jazz treat!

Guitarist Eric Gale was also featured on numerous CTI recordings, yet he only has one album to his name via his Kudu album Forecast. Here’s a pleasant tropical-themed track he penned, “Cleopatra,” which includes the omnipresent CTI musician Hubert Laws on a piccolo solo.

One of Grant Green’s final albums as a leader, The Main Attraction, was recorded for CTI Records. The album certainly wasn’t the strongest of Green’s all-too-brief career and the album jacket is kind of cheesy, but it still has some good soul-jazz licks to contribute alongside Hubert Laws, Steve Khan, and Don Grolnick on this record. Here is “Creature,” which closes out the album.

The understated guitarist Jim Hall was featured on a few CTI recordings where he was teamed up with other artists. He co-led an album with flugelhorn player Art Farmer, and recorded the following album, Studio Trieste, in the company of Chet Baker and Hubert Laws. Here’s a low-key take on the Miles Davis classic “All Blues,” with plenty of room for the trio of leaders to take extended solos.

Hungarian-born guitarist Gabor Szabo’s third album for CTI, Macho, has quite the varied lineup of musicians on this record – Bob James and Ian Underwood (from the Mothers of Invention) on keyboards, Harvey Mason on drums, and Louis Johnson (of the Brothers Johnson) on fretless electric bass. While other tracks on the album were drifting into funk and disco territory, the simmering Szabo original “Time” is a solid groove-jazz highlight on the album.

Chicago-based Phil Upchurch was another guitarist whose work was peppered among a number of CTI albums, but his Kudu album with pianist/vocalist Tennyson Stephens (Upchurch/Tennyson) was a soul-jazz high water mark for the label. The duo’s version of the Stevie Wonder song “Tell Me Something Good” takes it to a different place than the popular version by Rufus and Chaka Khan.

Next time, we will focus on another group of instruments, and the artists who played them, featured in the CTI and Kudu Records catalogs.

Back when the Grand Ole Opry was just a one-hour radio show called “WSM Barn Dance,” one of the greatest harmonica players of all time was tapped to be a regular. DeFord Bailey’s endlessly inventive playing was an audience favorite from 1927 to 1941, his fanbase growing right along with the Opry itself.

Sadly, little of that adulation and respect followed him off the stage. As a Black man with a limp and a humpback, Bailey was treated like the dirt on his family farm back in Tennessee. It was especially a problem when he toured. He nearly died of pneumonia one winter because he wasn’t allowed to stay where white musicians could, and no hotel would take him in. But he never missed a chance to shine onstage.

Known in Nashville as the “Harmonica Wizard,” Bailey had been born in rural Tennessee in 1899. His mother died when he was a baby, and as a toddler he contracted polio. During the year he was bedridden, at age three, he taught himself to play the harmonica. Many of his relatives were accomplished musicians, particularly his grandfather, an award-winning fiddler.

Although Bailey’s strength and mobility were permanently hampered by his illness, he always considered himself lucky. He believed God had kept him from playing outside with other kids so that he could become a better musician. He also gave credit to his father and aunts, grateful they’d given him a “harp” instead of a “rattler” to play with.

Before the Civil War, enslaved Black people were encouraged to learn the fiddle to provide entertainment on the plantations. After Emancipation, the harmonica gradually overtook the fiddle in Black rural communities. Bailey’s timing was perfect, coming in at the height of this trend. His original composition, “Pan American Blues,” is thought to be the first recording ever made of a blues harmonica solo.

For Bailey, everything in the world around him was music. He thought of the animals on the farm and other natural sounds as elements he should incorporate into his playing. After he moved to Nashville at age 18, he absorbed everything he heard there. From the early jazz of Louis Armstrong to the clatter of trains and streetcars, he blended all of it into his unique harmonica style.

As you can hear on “Davidson County Blues,” he was comfortable jumping quickly from high to low registers and back. He could change the texture of his sound for half a beat and had absolute control over how many notes he was playing at a time.

Not long after arriving in Nashville, he became a recurring guest on the radio station WDAD. Soon he went down the street to WSM and joined the (otherwise all-white) Possum Hunters, led by Dr. Humphrey Bate, one of the first groups to play the show that would become the “Grand Ole Opry.” The Possum Hunters were billed as an “Old-Time show,” and listeners would have thought of Bailey’s music as “hillbilly.”

Very few solo instrumentalists got to do regular sets at the Opry, but Bailey was an exception. He would bring out an old Coca-Cola crate, set it upside down, and rest his right foot on it. His solo harmonica set might last for as long as 15 minutes, leaving both the live and radio audiences mesmerized. Over the years, he added in a few songs, which he accompanied on guitar.

There was nothing he couldn’t make the harmonica do. He even developed a way of whooping and singing in the beats between phrases on his harp. This technique features on one of his most popular tunes, “Fox Chase.”

Although he did compose most of the melodies that made him famous, Bailey also charmed his fans with distinctive interpretations of some of their favorite traditional tunes. For example, he put his stamp on the cowboy classic “Red River Valley.”

In his version, the famous melody is always clear and present while he simultaneously adds in bursts of off-beat harmonies that also provide toe-tapping rhythm. You may be thinking, “What’s the big deal? That’s what you’re supposed to do with a harmonica.” Sure, after Bailey did it in the 1920s and 1930s, that’s what everyone thought of as the standard for harmonica playing!

Although Bailey lived until 1982, his career effectively ended in 1941, when he became collateral damage in a legal dispute between ASCAP and BMI. The result of the suit prevented him from playing much of his usual repertoire, so WSM (which still ran the Grand Ole Opry show) fired him. Unable to get his performing career off the ground again, or perhaps too deflated to try, he spent much of his remaining decades shining shoes. Some have speculated that WSM used the lawsuit as an excuse to get rid of Bailey in an industry that had almost no other Black stars.

It’s hard to overstate Bailey’s popularity at its height. Roy Acuff took him on tour to boost ticket sales. Bill Monroe did the same. In fact, Acuff was responsible for bringing him back to the Opry for an unscheduled guest appearance in 1947 to sing “Kansas City Blues.” This recording is doubly rare for preserving Bailey singing a song and playing the guitar. Although he had done this at the Opry regularly during his heyday, no recordings earlier than this one exist.

Without some determination on the part of music historians, Bailey’s legacy might have been lost. In the 1970s, the Tennessee Folklore Society convinced him to come into the studio and record some tracks. The result was an album called The Legendary DeFord Bailey, which included this lively rendition of “Lost John.”

The work to preserve Bailey’s contributions to American music continued after his death. In 1993, David C. Morton and Charles K. Wolfe released a book called DeFord Bailey: A Black Star in Early Country Music. That was followed in 2005 by a PBS documentary about Bailey, the same year he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. On the Hall of Fame website, Bailey is described as “a bridge between the rural folk music of his youth and the modern world of commercial popular music.”

He was a virtuoso on his instrument and an all-around great entertainer.

Header image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Marilyn K. Morton.

What I set out to make was essentially a character piece, something that would define recordings of suitable styles of music that were done within my own facility.

It was intended to set itself apart from the EMT plates or the various examples of spring reverb units, as described in Issue 182. (Part One of this series appeared in Issue 181.) After all, if you are looking for the classic EMT 140 sound, the only way to authentically obtain it is by using an EMT 140.

I wanted my character piece to have low noise; be bandwidth-limited by the electromechanical transducer system and not by the electronics; have low-order harmonic distortion only; and have the ability to be overdriven with a wide range of creatively-usable sounds rather than just breaking up into gross distortion. I also wanted it to have balanced inputs and outputs, a full-bodied reverb sound with a slow, gradual decay, and the ability to also work gracefully with low-frequency content.

I decided to use a spring system with special high-impedance transducers. The power supply would be kept in a separate housing, to assist with maintaining the lowest-attainable noise floor (these electromechanical transducers do tend to pick up any stray EMI/RFI, and huge power transformers in close proximity are best avoided).

For convenience it was decided to house the reverb units and power supply in 19-inch rack-mountable boxes. Since I was not bound by any size limitations that would negatively impact the future marketability of these units, the boxes could be made as large as needed. A multi-spring system of the largest size that would physically still fit within the format envisaged was used and since we had decided to let go of reason and practicality right from the onset, we would use vacuum-tube electronics.

No, not another 12AX7-based design, capacitor-coupled to the next half with a clumsy electrolytic cap bypassing the cathode bias resistor! Please no! Enough of these 12AX7 tubes; they are everywhere by now. Also, it is not like we have a shortage of other tubes, in fact, we do have MUCH better tubes than the 12AX7 available for audio applications. Some are even still being manufactured today. But I won’t be using any of these either; that would be too easy.

Several vacuum tube reverb units and power supply units at the assembly line at the Agnew Analog Precision Engineering Laboratory.

There was a time and a place where fine vacuum tubes were being manufactured in large quantities with outstanding quality. A select few found their way into audio equipment of the time. The rest were used in a wide range of other applications. Outside the audio world, a few HF/RF (high-frequency/radio frequency) applications, and certain mission-critical systems for the defense sector, not many care much about vacuum tubes anymore. Consequently, the tube types that were never used in audio products are still largely out there, collecting dust in warehouses whose owners are eager to get rid of them, since nobody wants them. The only catch is nobody will tell you which ones are the good ones. You need to be able to figure that out on your own.

It just so turns out that this is a little hobby of mine. I dig for seriously obsolete tubes that have never been used in audio. I obtain samples and test them for linearity, emission, noise, and manufacturing tolerances. I make my own charts and take detailed notes about potential applications for them. If we are to truly preserve the vacuum tube and ensure its continued use, we need to look further than the 12AX7. A very positive consequence of this is that it is not possible to just outright copy existing designs – you need to actually do the design work and come up with a truly unique product. Some of these entirely-unknown-in-the-audio-world tube types are available by the millions, more than enough of a lifetime supply to base a new product on, and ensuring a very long-term supply of replacement tubes.

Given that each spring reverb system can only support one channel of audio, it was decided to build these units as monoblocks, where two would be needed for stereo. This would make the system more flexible for stereophonic imaging control.

Balanced inputs and outputs are pretty much a standard feature in professional (and some high-end) audio equipment, but more often than not, the internal circuitry is actually unbalanced, only changing over to balanced for the inputs and outputs. In the more expensive units, this is done with transformers, while in cheaper designs, electronic balancing is often used. Since I wanted true balanced inputs and outputs and I am a hardcore minimalist when it comes to the design of audio electronics, I decided to use a circuit topology that I really like to use for its simplicity. I call this a minimal-component-count approach, using a fully-balanced Class A circuit from start to finish, transformer-coupled throughout, with almost no electronic components present apart from the tubes and transformers.

A row of vacuum tube reverb units on the bench.

Pairs of triodes are used to form differential amplifiers, with the transformer primary as the plate load, a single cathode resistor shared by both triodes in the differential pair, and a transformer or transducer directly tied to the grids. It sounds very simple, but it all needs to be very carefully calculated. The spring transducers are electrically floating (not connected to ground), driven in a balanced differential manner and likewise collected at the pick-up end. There is no negative feedback used in the circuit, relying instead on very carefully-matched pairs of extremely linear triodes with a mu of 25: The RCA 9002. Never heard of it? Uncle Sam did, and sold me his leftover stock. These are single triodes (as opposed to the 12AX7, which is a dual triode, containing two triodes within the same glass envelope), with a small 7-pin base and pleasantly low capacitance, with the lowish mu rendering the Miller Effect insignificant. This allows very- ide- andwidth designs to be accomplished, if the transformers are designed appropriately.

This minimalist approach to audio electronics design places a much higher burden on the design of the power supply unit. Here, w again opted for a vacuum tube power supply unit, with enough iron as to make me unpopular with whoever is expected to lift these units. Several transformers and inductors of considerable size are employed, all within a cage, with the massive, ceramic-based, military-spec 5R4WGB rectifier, manufactured by Tung-Sol on a defense contract, sitting outside for improved heat dissipation.

The result sounded how I had hoped it would: .Uique, powerful, full of character. It’s eEtremely responsive to dynamics, offering a wide tonal palette through the use of different levels to drive the spring transducer, from subtle reverberation all the way to overdriven saturated spring wash. The reverb units were designated Agnew Analog Reference Instrument Type 302, while the power supply unit was assigned Type 102.

The units, as expected, are rather large and heavy. They utilizeUquality components throughout, from the tubes themselves to the iron cores of the transformers, the wire used for the windings and ,he electronic components to ,he heavy- auge aluminum enclosures, the spring transducer suspension, the engraved stainless steel nameplates, and the stainless steel fasteners, many of them.

Outrageous and unmarketable, I thought. But then it happened. I was discussing the details of the (then still at the project planning stage) new Octave Records studio with Paul McGowan (CEO of PS Audio and publisher of Copper) and was excitedly describing my new reverb units for my own studio, when he decided to place an order. Not for one, but for six of them, along with three power supply units!

I was of course happy to share my special creation with someone as passionate about audio as Paul, and thrilled to have contributed to Octave Records as a record label maintaining a very high standard in their work, setting an example that many would be well advised to take note of. After all, our beloved audio equipment does what it does best when reproducing outstanding recordings.

If your ears are well-trained in sound recording and music production, listen for the new “secret weapon” of Octave Records when it comes to reverberation with a unique flavor.

Vacuum tube filaments glowing in the dark during testing.

All images courtesy of Agnew Analog Reference Instruments.

The vacuum tube (or thermionic valve in British usage) is probably the greatest invention of the 20^th century. It heralded the beginning of the information age, an event as significant as the invention of the steam engine that brought humankind into the industrial age (with all its benefits and pitfalls). It made possible for the first time the amplification of electrical signals, which is the foundation for telecommunications, mass entertainment and information technology. Copper readers are probably most interested in the role these devices played in the development of sound recording and reproduction. Even though vacuum tubes have been replaced by semiconductors in most sectors of the electronic industry, they remain stubbornly present in our hobby. Is this a sign of anachronism, or do these ancient devices still have unique advantages despite the amazing technological advances made during the past century?

The phenomenon of thermionic emission, the emission of electrons from a heated element, was reported by Thomas Edison and others independently in the 1870s and 1880s. The first practical vacuum tube device, the diode, was invented by John Ambrose Fleming at the Marconi company. The fact that electrons only travel in one direction, from the cathode (negative voltage potential) to the anode (positive voltage potential), was useful for rectifying an alternating current into a direct current. In 1907, inventor Lee de Forest placed a metal grid between the anode and the cathode of a diode, and noted that by altering the voltage potential of the grid relative to the cathode, he was able to control the current flow. A small change in the voltage of the grid can effect a much greater voltage change at the anode. This became the basis for a voltage amplifier, which he called an Audion, and more generally known as a triode. In early versions of the triode tube, the cathode was directly heated by an electric current. Subsequent developments used heaters that were separate from the cathode, insulating the signal from the noise of the heater supply.

A De Forest Audion tube from 1906. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Gregory F. Maxwell.

The capacitance (called Miller capacitance or the Miller effect) between the grid and the anode limits the frequency bandwidth at which a triode can operate. By placing a separate grid (called a screen grid) between the control grid and the anode to create a tetrode, the Miller capacitance is significantly reduced, allowing the tube to operate at higher frequencies. This also significantly increases the amplification factor. Since the screen grid is at a positive voltage potential, it captures the secondary electron emission coming from the anode. As the secondary emission increases with the anode voltage, it reaches a point where the anode current starts to decline, and the screen grid current increases. This is known as the “tetrode kink.” An additional grid (called a suppressor grid) placed between the screen grid and the anode, and electrically connected to the cathode (and thus remaining at a negative potential), repels these electrons back to the anode and solves this problem. This type of tube with five elements is called a pentode. Another way to solve the problem is by aligning the electron emission from the cathode with the apertures of the control grid. These beams of electrons alter the space charge between the screen grid and the anode, limiting the transfer of electrons from the anode to the screen grid. These so called beam tetrodes have the advantages of higher transconductance and better linearity than pentodes.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of vacuum tubes? Tubes are transconductance amplifiers, meaning the anode current is controlled by the grid voltage. As long as the control grid remains at negative potential relative to the cathode, very little current flows through the grid. This means the device has a very high input resistance (i.e. it draws very little current). This is advantageous, since the capacitance C of the coupling capacitor in parallel with the input resistance R of the tube forms a high-pass filter with a cutoff frequency of 1/(2πRC). A low RC value will result in the early rolloff of the low frequencies. With a large R, only a small C is needed. In a typical tube circuit, coupling capacitors with values less than 1µF would often suffice, allowing the use of high-quality film capacitors.

An early triode tube. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Author Departments of the Army and the Air Force/public domain.

Transistors, on the other hand, are current amplifiers, which means the collector-emitter current is influenced by the base-emitter current. These devices therefore have a low input resistance, requiring large value coupling capacitors, usually of the electrolytic type. Electrolytic capacitors are inferior to film capacitors in a variety of performance parameters for reasons that are beyond the scope of this discussion.

On the other hand, tubes tend to have rather high output resistance. There are different ways to address this issue. In situations where very low output resistance is needed, such as when driving typical dynamic loudspeakers with load impedance of 16 ohms or less, transformers are often used to lower the output impedance. High-quality output transformers are bulky and expensive, and even the best ones have a sonic signature. It is possible to design tube amplifiers without output transformers, usually by using a large number of devices in parallel, but this solution presents its own challenges. Transistor amplifiers generally do not need output transformers (even though some manufacturers such as McIntosh opt to use them as “seasoning”), since power transistors can output large amounts of current. Output impedance can be further reduced by using parallel devices and negative feedback, where a portion of the output signal is fed back into the input in order to reduce noise, cancel distortion, increase stability and provide other benefits. In situations where higher output impedance can be tolerated, such as in preamplifiers, special tube circuit topologies with low output impedance, such as the cathode follower, can be employed. However, some designers believe the cathode follower is in the same league as followers of Satan.

Negative feedback (NFB) is a sensitive subject in the high-end audio field. Some designers, usually those who favor single-ended amplifiers with directly-heated triodes, consider NFB to be anathema. These are usually the same people who consider the cathode follower as akin to Satan, since the cathode follower employs 100 percent negative feedback (albeit only locally).  But Satan can be rather enticing; otherwise nobody would worship him. Aside from the aforementioned lowering of output impedance, negative feedback also extends the frequency response and reduces total harmonic distortion. So, what is not to like?

The early transistor amplifiers of the 1970s tended to have very high levels of NFB in order to win the “measurements wars” of the era, where specs were everything (well, to some people). However, the semiconductor devices of the era, with their limited open-loop gain, did not do well with high levels of negative feedback, producing distortions that the designers of the day were ignorant of. Consumers who relied on their ears rather than on reading equipment reviews knew something was wrong, but it took the industry a lot longer to figure it out. This experience put a generation of audiophiles off solid-state, and kept the manufacturers of tube equipment alive, but solid-state amplifiers today bear little resemblance to those of that era. Most solid-state equipment employs some NFB, whereas many tube designs eschew the use of negative feedback entirely. This is possible due to the fact that vacuum tubes are inherently linear devices. Moreover, the distortion produced by a triode is mostly second- and third-order harmonic distortion, which is only noticeable at very high levels. It is therefore unnecessary to reduce the distortion by using NFB. Tube amplifiers with output transformers also do not require NFB to achieve a low output impedance. Therefore, for those listeners allergic to negative feedback, tube equipment is the way to go. NFB is often accused of robbing the music of color and purity, but again, it all comes down to implementation.

Vintage RCA 6L6GC “blackplate” beam power tubes made for McIntosh. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Joe Haupt.

Even though I own tube equipment, I am agnostic as far as the tube vs. solid-state debate goes. Both technologies are capable of state-of-the-art performance, and it is all in the details. For me, tubes have several attractions. Tube equipment can often be built using the point-to-point construction method, where the components are directly wired to each other without the use of printed circuit boards (another option is to connect the components to turret boards). Point-to-point is useful for an amateur like me with little competence in designing printed circuit boards. And why fuss around with, say, 30 volts in a solid-state circuit when you can live the excitement of working with a vacuum-tube amp with internal voltages of 500 or even 1,000 volts DC? There is also the fun of discovering the flavors of different tubes, the so called tube-rolling experience. This is not something one can normally do with solid-state consumer audio equipment.

In the next few installments, I will discuss commonly-used tube types and circuit designs, as well as some tips on tube collecting.

Header image: vacuum tubes in a vintage McIntosh MC240 amplifier. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Sebastian Nizan.

I have to think that most our readers are familiar with the concept of “Desert Island Discs.” The premise is to make a list of albums (usually 10) that one would take if stranded on a desert island, forsaking all others (assuming, of course, that there was a sustainable means of playback for said albums).

For me, and many others, it is a daunting task – paring one’s collection to the 10 core works of musical art that could, hopefully, sustain one over the remaining years. I would prefer to be given the option of creating 10 album-length compilations, therefore providing a much wider range of performances, but that’s cheating.

What if, instead of 10 discs, you could only take one? Are there any albums in your collection that could hold up over innumerable repeat plays, one that would provide lasting satisfaction the rest of your life? I’ve thought about it, and I think I have two or three that, for my musical tastes, would qualify. I surprised myself, in that, despite the fact that progressive rock is my favorite genre, my selections do not include any in that style, nor are the candidates any of the influential albums from my youth. In this article I will focus on just one of those choices. (It’s the old Hollywood tactic of leaving room for sequels.)

I think that, to hold up under such challenging conditions, an album would have to incorporate the following elements: 1) a reasonably wide variety of moods and styles, 2) arrangements that are complex and interesting, and 3) high-quality engineering and production sufficient to satisfy my audiophile idiosyncrasies. A lot of records would qualify if two out of three were enough, but all three?

Jellyfish, Bellybutton, front and back covers.

One record that checks all the boxes for me is Bellybutton, by the group Jellyfish. I don’t expect that many of you are familiar with it, but I think it is one of the most impressive debut rock albums ever made. Jellyfish was a San Francisco-area quartet that put out just two albums. They sported a decidedly retro-psychedelic look on the Bellybutton album cover and in their videos. For a relatively obscure (and defunct) band, they have a seriously loyal fan base. On one YouTube entry, called “The Greatest Band That Never Made It,” the comments section amply demonstrates the high regard in which the band is held by those who have heard them.

Bellybutton was produced by Albhy Galuten (Grammy-winning producer of the Bee Gees, Eric Clapton, Barbra Streisand, and many others) and engineered/co-produced by Jack Joseph Puig (Toto, Randy Newman, Eric Clapton, etc.). That’s a pair of industry heavyweights of the caliber you don’t often see working on a relatively unknown band’s first record, but the results speak for themselves. The sonics are exceptionally clean, complementing the songwriting, instrumental work, and arrangements to make a compelling package.

On this album, the band is comprised of Andy Sturmer (vocals, drums, some guitar and keyboards), Roger Manning (keyboards and vocals), Jason Falkner (guitars, basses, backing vocals), and Chris Manning (credited as “band witch doctor and mime”). Guest musicians included John Pattitucci on upright bass and Lenny Castro and Luis Conte on percussion. The songs were written by Sturmer and Roger Manning, with the exception of two that were composed by Sturmer alone.

There is a level of sophistication way beyond what you find on most first albums. The vocal harmonies are stunningly polished, and there are no tracks that I would want to skip. Someone once told me that they practiced their harmonies for hours on end, day in and day out, and it shows. Check out the official (lip-synced) video for one of my favorite tracks, “That Is Why.”

And listen to the singing on “The King Is Half-Undressed.”

Andy Sturmer plays a fairly basic set of drums standing up while he sings, but the drumming is certainly not basic. When the band played live, they did a remarkable job of re-creating the sound they got in the studio, as evidenced by this excerpt from a German broadcast. Go to 1:01:20, where they show their Beatles influence using Paul McCartney and Wings’ “Let ‘em In” as an intro to “That Is Why.”

If I have one quibble with the album, it’s the sequencing. The choice of “The Man I Used to Be” as the leadoff track is not what I would have picked. It’s a fine cut, but it’s not as representative of the band’s style compared to a lot of the other songs.

I also would have chosen “Baby’s Coming Back” over “Calling Sarah” to close out the set. Despite the conflicted lyrics, “Baby’s Coming Back” is such a happy-sounding track that it makes me want to start the record all over again.

Another track that shows the band’s range is “Bedspring Kiss,” with a mood more reminiscent of a jazzy lounge act.

“All I Want Is Everything” is an up-tempo number with a nod to one of their biggest influences. When Andy sings, “I think I’d like to play guitar and be a Beatle, that’d be so swell,” check out the backing vocals on that last word (00:56).

Speaking of the Beatles, when I had my CD/record store, Andy Sturmer came in and I told him how much I liked their first album, preferring it to their second one, Spilt Milk. He said something to the effect that “there’s no accounting for taste. We think of our first album as fast food, where the second is a banquet.” What I didn’t say (but I was thinking it) was that on their first album, it seemed like they wanted to be the Beatles, and they nailed it; but on the second one, they wanted to be Queen, and I don’t really care for Queen.

In fact, I’ll probably raise some eyebrows here, but I think that if the Beatles had lasted longer, they might have done something very much like Bellybutton. I’ve made my case – readers (and fellow writers) are encouraged to come up with their own choice for a desert island disc.

Header image courtesy of Pexels.com/RIccardo.

Continuing our series on in-ear monitors (IEMs, also known as in-ear headphones or earbuds), we now speak to two key people at Comply, makers of memory foam eartips for IEMs. Comply is the flagship brand of Hearing Components, Inc., which also makes other products for consumer, military, and industrial use. (The first installments in this series appeared in Issue 182 and Issue 181.)

My first personal experience of Comply Foam eartips was via the RBH Sound EP3 noise-isolating earphones. I was particularly impressed by their sound quality and decided to find out more as to what was making such an audible difference.

Comply Foam eartips have become the most popular choice for the discerning audiophile. What has contributed to their effectiveness, success and popularity over the years? We asked Scott Smith, Comply Global Business Manager, and Tadd Swanlund, Director of New Product Development and Engineering, what makes for a premium-sounding product and what technologies have gone into producing their eartips.

Russ Welton: What were the origins of the Comply Foam concept as originated by your founder, Dr. Robert Oliveira, PhD.?

Scott Smith: Our story began in 1990 when biochemist and inventor “Dr. Bob” Oliveira, PhD founded Hearing Components, Inc. Dr. Bob had previously worked at 3M company and his expertise [in] how the ear canal operates helped to lead the team responsible for developing the first FDA-approved cochlear implant. Dr. Bob leveraged his knowledge of the dynamics [of the] ear canal to create solutions for [remedying] ill-fitting and uncomfortable hearing aids and earbuds, as well as enabling clear communications for critical missions required by military forces around the world with the world’s first, patented memory foam eartip, and other products. The Hearing Components mission is, “We protect and preserve hearing while transforming how the world listens. We seek to be the world’s number one connection to the ear where our customers experience no hearing loss, no sore ears, and hear exactly what they want, wherever they want, and for as long as they want.”

Over the years, our team of chemists and engineers have developed numerous proprietary earbud tips and earphone seals that are compatible with thousands of devices. Comply Foam tips are compatible with more devices than any other manufacturer of foam tips. They were the original, and are still considered the gold standard in the industry.

Scott Smith, Comply Global Business Manager.

RW: What are some of the sonic properties of memory foam as a chosen material for ear tips?

Tadd Swanlund: Seal is everything when it comes to IEMs/earbuds. Without it, you’ll never achieve the acoustical performance the device was designed to provide. Comply Foam tips can seal around the smallest of obstacles and dynamically react to the changes in the ear canal, which is constantly shifting in shape and form throughout the day due to factors such as jaw movement, eating, drinking, and physical activity, [which] can dislodge silicone tips or custom-molded devices. The challenges presented by the “dynamic inner ear” are the driving forces behind our memory foam tips, and were a key focus of Dr. Bob’s research on the human ear canal.

Certain formulations such as those used in Comply Foam tips can outperform many other materials when it comes to noise attenuation. The first property of Comply Foam that is important from a sonic perspective is its slow recovery characteristic. At room temperature, if you compress the foam it takes a while to recover fully. However, at body temperature, the foam recovers much more quickly. Without [this] slow recovery it would be difficult to get the eartip fitted properly in the ear canal. Otherwise, if you rolled the tip down it would spring back right away. This is especially important with deeper-insertion devices like in-ear monitors. The slow recovery allows you to compress the tip and position it in your ear before it heats up and springs back, to create a robust acoustic seal.

One characteristic of viscoelastic materials is their ability to absorb energy. Have you seen a mattress demo where they drop a bowling ball on the bed, and it doesn’t bounce? Something similar can happen acoustically. However, instead of damping the falling ball and converting its kinetic energy into heat, acoustic sound energy is converted into heat within the foam. This is why foam earplugs can achieve higher hearing protection scores compared to their silicone counterparts.

Tadd Swanlund, Comply Director of New Product Development and Engineering.

RW: As memory foam wants to revert to its natural state, how is it possible to mold it into different form factors?

TS: When you roll down a Comply Foam tip and it is allowed to recover, it will expand to fill the finest details in the ear canal. A simple hair can often be enough of an obstacle to prevent a silicone eartip from sealing properly. The engineers at Comply have performed acoustical measurements and recordings to demonstrate this. What they found is what countless Comply customers experienced the first time they tried the tips – that the foam tip will create a seal when other tips cannot. Comply Foam tips will conform so well you can see your fingerprint on them momentarily after handling. If you remove a foam tip from your ear and immediately look at its shape, you’ll be able to see your ear’s unique geometry.

Comply Premium Foam Tips feature an advanced, hydrophobic (water-hating) foam chemistry that provides consistent performance and doesn’t swell in the presence of moisture. Generic, hydrophilic (water-loving) foams swell in moisture and can lose their recovery properties permanently.

RW: How is performance of IEMs generally affected with the use of different Comply eartips?

SS: Comply Professional Series (P-Series) tips have a narrow core specially designed for compatibility with professional in ear monitors and ear plugs. They are rated for up to 30 dB noise reduction, which will vary by frequency and device. They are 50 percent longer than our standard tips, for maximum isolation and seal.

Comply has also developed a product called Soft Wraps, which are small strips of foam tape designed for custom IEMs. Entertainers such as Bruno Mars, Metallica, and Styx utilize these wraps [in conjunction] with their acrylic, custom IEMs to provide in-ear stability [even] when they are sweating profusely and jumping around on the stage. The Soft Wraps can also be used with ill-fitting and uncomfortable hearing aids to provide all-day wearability.

Comply eartips for Apple AirPods Pro.

RW: How did the Comply fitment solution initially gain so much popularity?

Scott Smith: Dr. Bob [has been] very passionate about the Comply experience and loved sharing it with everyone he could. Hearing is believing and the most effective marketing tool was an in-person demonstration. Initial popularity was garnered by visiting as many audio shows as possible demonstrating the experience – Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, CanJam, CES, NAMM, etc. The audiophile community became Comply evangelists and helped to spread the word.

When people realized the comfort and how well their earbuds stayed in place using Comply Foam tips, Hearing Components enjoyed success [with] being the in-box solution with many original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of IEMs and earbuds, including the likes of Astell & Kern, Audeze, Audio-Technica, Bang & Olufsen, Beyerdynamic, Denon, Jaybird, JH Audio, Klipsch, MEE Audio, Miiego, Sennheiser, and Shure to name just a few. Most recently, Comply has collaborated with larger consumer brands to exclusively design Comply Foam tips for aftermarket resale with companies such as Google and Samsung. This [has] provided a great deal of additional exposure.

In Part Two of our interview, we will look at the Comply approach to passive noise cancellation, the function of Sweat Guard, how to choose the correct eartips, and more.

All images courtesy of Comply.

As a founding member of America’s surf-rock legends the Beach Boys, Al Jardine didn’t need to make a solo record back in 2010; he wanted to. And that might be why A Postcard from California wound up taking him so long to make.

After performing with Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson and company since the group’s founding in 1961, who could blame Jardine for wanting to take his time in creating his first solo album almost 50 years later? Musically, the album sounds like a logical progression from his Beach Boys days, while still retaining the sonic and production values he gained through that experience.

I recently asked Al Jardine about this perhaps-overlooked gem, which was reissued at the end of 2022.

“The [idea for the] record actually started with a song called “Don’t Fight the Sea,'” recalls Jardine. “It was [originally going to be] a Beach Boys song, with a title that originated from Terry Jacks (writer of “Seasons in the Sun”), who I really respect. We tried to record it for the 15 Big Ones album in 1976, but it didn’t work out. From there, I started kicking around the idea of the solo record. Even though we couldn’t get [“Don’t Fight the Sea”] done in the 1970s, Terry had a big hit with it. I always thought it had potential as a Beach Boys song, though, and I like that all the Beach Boys are singing on my [A Postcard from California] version.”

Al Jardine, A Postcard from California, album cover.

As the author of standout Beach Boys songs such as “South Bay Surfer (The Old Folks Home),” “How She Boogalooed It,” and “Don’t Go Near the Water,” Jardine proved to be a key cog in the Beach Boys wheel, providing deep cuts juxtaposed to Brian Wilson’s pop bliss. But did Jardine feel indebted to the Beach Boys tried-and-true sound when he recorded A Postcard from California?

“It’s hard to say because that sound is very close to my heart,” Jardine said. “But the group was more or less disbanded as a recording band [at the time], and I sort of got lonely for some musical company. It took me a while to find something that worked – I was in no rush – and I started gathering a different sort of local blend together and compiling music.”

“I made a ton of phone calls and brought in a lot of dear friends, all of [whom] helped me find a sound that was familiar but also new,” Jardine reminisced. “Of note is the vocal that Glen Campbell provided for the title track, and then Neil Young, David Crosby, and Stephen Stills did a wonderful job on “A California Saga.” These are just a few things that make this album distinct from my Beach Boys work.”

As personal as A Postcard from California is, Jardine, like the rest of the Beach Boys, couldn’t entirely escape Brian Wilson’s influence and genius as one of the greatest songwriters of all time. And so, instead of casting them aside, Jardine embraced the things his longtime bandmate taught him, deeply rooting them in the musical fabric of his own record.

“It was important to me to include Brian,” recounts Jardine. “Brian always told me, ‘Al, you have to finish your songs,’ and as simple as that sounds, I took it to heart. And Brian is on the record in a few places like ‘Drivin” and ‘Honkin’ Down the Highway.’ Brian taught me so much, and he’s been an important person in my life; A Postcard from California is a celebration of all of that rather than trying to be separate from it.”

Familiar sounds aside, the real personal touch of A Postcard from California lies in the lyrics. After years of singing about surfing big waves and California girls, Jardine took the opportunity to sing about the ideals that meant the most to him.

“A Postcard from California is a true representation of the West Coast as I see it,” Jardine noted. “A life on the West Coast, in many ways, is a passionate one, looked at through the lens of escapism. Being able to take that journey musically meant a lot to me. I wanted to paint a musical picture about taking a cool drive down the highway along the coast.”

“It’s a lifestyle and a culture that is still vibrant out here,” continued Jardine. “That’s a lifestyle I’ve lived and loved for a long time. I wanted to share that with people, and I wanted it to be apparent in the music. I’ve always wanted to capture the excitement and joy of surfing and express my concern and love for the environment. I think A Postcard from California does both.”

Never one to rush anything, some 12 years after A Postcard from California’s original 2010 release, Jardine’s first and still-only solo record was reissued on CD at the end of 2022. The album was initially released on CD in 2010 only in limited numbers, then briefly reissued through Yamaha Music & Visuals in 2012, but has been out of print since. So, an obvious question is, why re-issue it now?

“Ten years out of print is too long,” Jardine joked. “Honestly, that’s a good question. I suppose we just felt it was time. And with more Beach Boys-related material that [recently] came out on the Sail on Sailor – 1972 [deluxe box set], we felt it was as good a time as any to get A Postcard from California out there again too. Hopefully, it gains some momentum from the [recent release of the] Beach Boys box set and gains some new life, too.”

For Beach Boys and Al Jardine fans this is an exciting time, with much new unreleased and perhaps forgotten music seeing the light of day. While it seems evident that the Beach Boys’ vaults still contain some unheard gems, how about Jardine’s personal archives?

Al Jardine with the Beach Boys in 1964. Courtesy of Capitol Records.

“I love my vinyl,” Jardine beamed. “I’ve kept a little box of LPs I’ve had forever, and I listen to them now and again. I think it’s a great medium. But what’s interesting is that my attention has been focused back on cassettes lately by my media guy, Spud. I have a lot of unfinished material on cassettes, and I’ve seen that they’re making a comeback. Of all things, I wouldn’t have expected that. So, along with A Postcard from California, there’s more to come. We’ll be reviewing a lot of cassettes and demos from the last half century and see what we have.”

Since the Beach Boys’ inception, Al Jardine has been a pillar of the surf rock community. He’s a man unhesitant to champion his love for the ocean and the sand. At age 80, Jardine’s love for music and life is as voracious as ever. Considering that Jardine has only offered up one solo record to date, one has to wonder if he’ll leave his fans forever wanting more…

“I’m not sure if I’ll do another,” Jardine admitted. “I still love to play music, but this one took me a long time. (laughs) Regardless, I think A Postcard from California holds up pretty well. The music has been received very warmly. I’m very appreciative of that.”

“I think it’s quite beautiful musically, and that’s why I dedicated it to my wife, Mary Ann,” Jardine noted. “I feel fortunate to [now] have it re-released by Universal Music Group because it was never properly distributed before and fell under the radar. So, maybe it’ll get a second chance at a broader audience who will enjoy it beyond our little West Coast community. Beyond that, I’ve got plenty of music left to play.”

Header image courtesy of Jeff McEvoy.

With its enormous 14.9-inch, high-def color touchscreen, top-notch performance, ability to output video as well as audio, and gorgeously overbuilt chassis, no product has seemingly come from the blue to so thoroughly win over the hearts and minds of audiophiles as has HiFi Rose’s RS150B High-Performance Network Streamer ($4,995).

Audiophiles will likely view the RS150B as confirmation that we are in an age where five large (and sometimes even less) can bring high-end digital sound. All others will likely be enamored by that touchscreen, which can display, among other things, menus, album cover art, 4K video, graphical representations of VU meters in assorted styles and colors, numerous clock faces (each with weather information), and even an old-school-style stereo receiver interface that’s complete with a digital flywheel. Undoubtedly, HiFi Rose could charge more for this component and it would still represent an excellent value.

Until I finished photographing the RS150B, though, the task brought me nothing but trepidation. Shooting illuminated displays is never easy. The large size and gorgeous colors of the HiFi Rose just made my job that much more difficult. Luckily, when I was finished, I was able to just sit back and listen.

Audio chameleon: the RS150B’s clean, minimalist faceplate can transform into any number of displays.

The display is of extremely high quality.

Who doesn’t like looking at meters?

The RS150B offers some of the most comprehensive connectivity options we’ve seen.

How retro do you want to go?

Howard Kneller’s audiophile adventures are documented on his YouTube channel (The Listening Chair with Howard Kneller) and on Instagram (@howardkneller). His art and photography can also be found on Instagram (@howardkneller.photog). Finally, he posts a bit of everything on Facebook (@howardkneller).