Zack Wiesinger

I’m starting a new series of posts on my blog. I’m gonna try hard to do it every Wednesday, but if I miss one, I either forgot, or didn’t have access to my laptop, or internet is down or… Excuses. Excuses. Anyways, every Wednesday, I’d like to share with you the record or side of a record that got the most spins for me that week. I choose Wednesday, because it’s Hump Day, and it’s gives you enough time to try to find yourself a copy to enjoy over the weekend! This is my analog version of Last.fm. I’ll either take a picture of the album or pull one off the internet as long as it is the same exact cover that I have.

This week’s most played record is a tough one. I listened to about 30 sides of albums just the other day as I was doing a fictional writing exercise. Just blank paper, a stack of records, and a pen. I let the music dictate the different moods and twists in the story. As you could imagine over the course of 30 different records, the gears shift quite frequently, thus rendering the story a confused pile of words and thoughts, but it was a fun endeavor nonetheless. I recommend giving it a try. Maybe you’ll have better luck. I didn’t really repeat one side in that writing session, but for the past few weeks, Traffic’s Mr. Fantasy Side 2 has been getting a lot of spins at my place.

I found out that the producer Jimmy Miller and engineer Eddie Kramer, who did this record, also worked with The Rolling Stones and Beatles and Led Zeppelin among many other greats. So, the production value is definitely high quality. I think the three main things compelling me to keep playing this side are Steve Winwood’s soulful vocals, the song “Berkshire Poppies,” and the overall wide range of great grooves with catchy melodies and instrumentation. Maybe that’s slightly more than three reasons, but you get the point. Side one is also highly listenable, but I’m partial to side two! Good luck finding yourself a copy!