Rediscovering vinyl

This past weekend, they were calling for an ice storm, so Don finished setting up my new Ion turntable that allows me to transfer songs from vinyl records to mp3 files on our computer, so I can play the songs on my iPod. Finally, I could go down to the basement and dredge up the hundreds of songs I have only on vinyl and hear them again after roughly 13 years without a working turntable in the house. Yay!!

However, it turns out that I have far more songs from my past already on CD or mp3 than I realized. I could only come up with a sparse little handful of LPs and 45s to scuttle upstairs with. (I have hundreds more records living in my mom's basement, and when I visited her on Sunday, I grabbed one more handful; I'm sure I'll find more when she deigns to let me into my old bedroom, which has become her "stuffed with crap" room, where most of my vinyl is.) The first thing I transferred (is "ripped" the right word?) was a double album by Kenny Rogers & The First Edition called The Ballad of Calico, more about which I will write another day.

Then I did a few 45s, including the single of Loggins & Messina's "Thinking of You," which is a re-recorded version of the album song and unavailable on CD. I also did my 45 of "The Court of the Crimson King," a 3-1/2 minute single version of a 9 minute album song--I have the album on CD (pictured), but I wanted the short version just for kicks. The ripping is very easy to do and went quite smoothly. Right now, I'm using the standard software which does not allow for altering the sound quality, so the vinyl pops and hisses transfer right over to mp3 with the music, but I don't really mind; I kept my records in fairly decent shape so the noises aren't distracting, just enough to remind me that I'm listening to vinyl. An advanced software is available if I need to become a mad sound scientist someday.

I still cling to the belief that vinyl has a warmer, richer sound than CD, and if I want, I can use the turntable and software to simply listen to my vinyl at the computer. While I'm not planning any wholesale re-ripping of songs I already have on CD or mp3, I may test my theory about Motown 45s: I find that the Motown hits of the 60's and 70's have never sounded as good as they did on vinyl 45's. I know that their singles were mixed for a crisper, brighter sound for maximum enjoyment on AM radios, and I truly believe that the Supremes, Temptations, Smokey, et al. have never sounded as good on LP or CD as they did on 45s. Same with Altantic's Aretha Franklin songs; I own her 2-disc hits collection and the songs just don't sound as full and rich as they did on my old 45s. So next up, as soon as I find them: "Love Child," "I Can't Get Next to You," "Tears of a Clown," and "Until You Come Back to Me"!