Attention vinyl lovers! Our friends at Heady Wax Fiends have projects of interest to bluegrass lovers over the next two months.
The Fiends are a subscription record club for vinyl audiophiles who offer limited run, high-quality re-issues of classic albums, with the support and approval of the labels and artists, of course. If sufficient copies remain after subscribers receive their monthly record allotment, they are offered to the public for sale, and pre-sale periods are announced before each run.
Recent vinyl re-issues have included J.D. Crowe & The New South(Rounder 0044) and Tony Rice’s Manzanita. Not all of their selections are bluegrass, or even acoustic, in nature. But they do appreciate fine bluegrass records, and what they produce are catalog numbers that should be in any vinyl collection.
Coming up as their April album is Doc Watson’s debut, self-titled LP from Vanguard that first hit in 1964. This is the one that started it all for this legendary North Carolina guitarist, banjo player, and singer. The pressing will be limited to 500 copies in Black Mountain colored vinyl, and the Fiends have kept the original monaural character of the recording.
Tracks include:
- Nashville Blues
- Sittin’ On Top of the World
- Intoxicated Rat
- Country Blues
- Talk About Suffering
- Born About Six Thousand Years Ago
- Black Mountain Rag
- Little Omie Wise
- Georgia Buck
- Doc’s Guitar
- Deep River Blues
- St. James Hospital
- Tom Dooley
The pre-order period for the Doc Watson reissue starts on April 1, with delivery expected by the end of the month.
Then in May comes Flight Of The Cosmic Hippo from Bêla Fleck & The Flecktones, the second LP from these iconic genre benders. Originally released in 1991, it was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, just as was its predecessor.
Pre-orders for this one are enabled now, with delivery by the end of May.
Subscriptions are also available for three or six month periods.
Be sure to look over the LPs still available from prior months, including Béla Fleck’s Drive, The Fretliners self-titled, and several others in addition to 0044 and Manzanita.
Well done, Heady Wax Fiends!
