A Tribute

A couple of days ago this item  has popped up on eBay.... If I had, well, some 100K$, I would definitely buy it right now. Maybe I could offer my price, but it will surely be insufficient to satisfy the seller. Ah, come what may - since my collection is built upon different principle I should not care much about this case. I will write a Tribute page instead.

Probably, this is the one and only album that connects me to the 60-s, the blessed years of the Flower Children. Only through the music on this record I can somehow feel the essence of that unique experience of the human being's existence on this planet. All other stuff does not catch me to that extent when I could miss those years and feel myself happy at the same time. I cannot think out any other example to serve for me.

Yes, it was then, some 45 years ago, when the times were changing, and the new music created in consequences of events, reflecting all that went before and projecting the future path. A true Here-and-Now music, which turned out to be timeless and unplaced.

Oh, sorry, you might have already asked "WTF??!! Why the price for that piece of plastic and cardboard is that high?!" Well, this copy is unique not only for the VdGG, but for all kind of vinyl/music/rarity collectors: this is the UK (!!!) test pressing of the first ever record made by Van der Graaf Generator. Actually the album was then released only in the USA (this has another interesting story with curious facts involved), so only a few copies of this specific record were pressed, and few copies of this sleeve too. The artworks for the official US-release was absolutely different, with different sleeve notes, and less attractive (in my humble modern opinion). Today almost anybody has a chance to own this piece of my world. One will take it soon.... I always thought I would never see this record on public sale in my life, so to say....

It seems to me that the Flower Children used all the possibilities the Life granted them with. What has left there for us, the modern people? I would say, the union of the Music, Love, and the Spirit. So, again we have everything to start creating what will be Ours. А new era is about to start. What shall come into this Life with this era? How should we be involved into it? How should we present it through our works? All depends on us, so let's do it now!

Today I am more than happy to realize, that the very first notes of the very first track of this very first album of Van der Graaf Generator - the No.1 music for me! - were the sounds created to tie me forever with this Music, to made me feel the Spirit, and still warming that Love inside me. So I shall be keeping this Spirit up and go forward with it!


Thanks go to the friends of mine Tigran Papyan (who brought all of that stuff to our attention and still spreads the word around), Araik Adamyan (R.I.P. - for sharing his tapes with the whole community of ours), Jeff (who shared his taped copy of the Aerosol with me) and, most of them all, to my brother George, who actually brought that tape home and pressed PLAY button. He would do that sooner or later anyway....

VDGG vinyl reissues

I think I am starting to understand the main point of the situation with the vinyl re-issues of Van Der Graaf Generator albums.

 

Peter Hammill speaks: "Virgin licensed the albums for vinyl release back in 2011. Once this happens, it's really up to the vinyl label to get on with it, as and when. As I say, these *are* official releases but they're also completely out of our control, apart from having given the original authorisation to Virgin for them."

 

It seems to me that Virgin, having received that original authorisation, found some vinyl labels and legalised their releases. It started with the American "4 Men With Beards" label whose announced the release of the first three albums on vinyl to happen on November 16, 2011; later that date shifted back to November 29, then once again to the middle of December, then to the middle of January 2012 (January 12, if I'm not mistaken), and once again to some day in March, and then back again to February 14 (currently). However, it has been several days already that European labels announced their HQ double vinyl releases. I say "labels" (in plural) because different web-pages show different names: Prog Classics (Cargo Records), Pid, Ais.... or maybe this could stand for something that I do not know.

Either the Bearded Four were forced to wait for the global release date, or they have had some internal issues, but their release dates are not far away from the European ones, announced to happen on February 24 (in some sources - 20 and 28).

Meanwhile I cancelled my order placed on Amazon, and decided not to buy European releases too, because:

1. those are American releases, and I prefer the "natives";
2. like it or not, those are reissues, and I prefer the first "originals";

3. those are regular reissues with no bonuses added;
4. the European releases prove to be double high-quality vinyls, with bonus material, however this probably be a simple transfer of the 2005 digit onto vinyl; if this is how the things will develop then I see no sense in buying them for myself;

5. after all, if I buy them, I will put them into the box (not even on the shelf) and will keep on listening to my digit. 

 

So would my purchase worth more than a hundred Euros? No, methinks. At least in my economical situation. Growing wiser!

A.H.: "I'm wondering what will happen with all this stuff after my death......?"

Hi A.,

Oh, this kind of thoughts constantly comes to my mind too.

What I am surely know is that we know the price of all this stuff, but we should not hope that other should. What comes after us.... it is only now when we think that way. Probably after our days come we will not even care about that. I don't know.

Each item in our collections tells us a story and has its own history, but for others they are nothing more but pieces of paper or plastic. In my opinion, an item does not possess any value or significance if it is not owned by anybody. Of course, things like pictures and statues in museums, memorials, movies, music, etc. are sometimes "invaluable", and they become the property of humanity at some point. But our collections will require to be owned by somebody. It is that we want our collections to remain as they are, however perishable they are and we can do nothing about that....

But should we? This is the moment when another (helping) thought comes to my mind: survival is in living this moment (as if there is no future). The Universe will take care of the rest. Instead, I started getting rid of the things that I do not actually need: tapes, CDs, DVDs, books, furniture, clothes - everything should be filtered, and you know, it becomes some kind easier "to breath" so to say, when you take out another needless item from your house. It is like being honest to yourself.

Yes, it is very sad to see how precious collections are being sold through eBay-like facilities, however people do it. Many times they say "cleaning up my space", "lightening my home up", "I don't need them any longer", or just sell everything like Fred T. did recently. Even more it is sad when you know that this comes from a collection of someone who passed away. However, if we look back and think a little about people like Jamie we would see only happiness in their eyes. Great Big Man he was, and he Is. Didn't he know that he is going to die someday? Of course he did, but he didn't care. He was turning each new day into a special day, and enjoyed it. If only all people could do that!

We can do that, can't we? :-)

Indeed, this is the life and we've only time to be alive right now!