Tavares

It was late in the 1970s when I accepted a position at the CBS-affiliated TV station in New Bedford, MA, WTEV.  I had never heard of New Bedford or knew anything about the Cape Verdean people, many of who settled in the New England region, including New Bedford until I arrived in that quaint New England town. While living there, I learned that one of my favorite singing groups, Tavares, were Cape Verdean and headquartered in New Bedford. But this post ain't about me. It's about Tavares.

The singing group, known as Tavares, is an African American soul group that performed R & B, funk and disco music. They were born in Providence, Rhode Island but later moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts. Their family was originally from the Cape Verde Islands which are located off the coast of Northwest Africa. The group consists of five brothers, Butch (Feliciano Vierra Tavares, Jr.), Chubby (Antone Lee Tavares), Pooch (Arthur Paul Tavares), Ralph (Ralph Edward Vierra Tavares) and Tiny (Perry Lee Tavares). In 2014, the group was inducted into the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame.

The five brothers began performing in 1959 and had several major hits including “More Than A Woman”, “It Only Takes A Minute”, “Remember What I Told You to Forget” and my favorite, “Bad Times.” These tracks are from an era when great popular music made you feel good all over and will always be “timeless.”
  

Track Listings

 The Best of Tavares

  1. It Only Takes A Minute

  2. She's Gone

  3. Remember What I Told You To Forget

  4. Never Had A Love Like This Before

  5. Whodunit

  6. Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel

  7. More Than A Woman

  8. Free Ride

  9. Bad Times (Theme From Defiance)

  10. Check It Out

A DUAL AUDIO CASSETTE DECK

Pyle Home PT649D Dual Cassette Deck

I know what you're wondering. You're wondering why I posted a dual-deck audio cassette machine on this blog page. Well, it's like this. I'd bet you have a good number of audio cassettes that were purchased during the 70s and 80s. Right? And, if you're like me, you don't have the money to replace them all with CDs or MP3 files. But, if you've got the time and a working cassette deck, you can do the conversions yourself. Or maybe you're looking for that rare old track that you skated to at the local rink that's impossible to find on a CD. But one day, lucky you found one on eBay that won't bust your bank account. If you have a deck, you're in business. If not, you're still in business 'cause cassette decks are still available at Amazon. So I posted information about one of them. Check it out. In a future post, we're going to explore some of the software options available for converting analog music files to their digital equivalents.

• Normal & high-speed audio cassette dubbing, Dynamic noise reduction
• 3-digit tape counter, Recording level control
• Dual color fluorescent display, Record/play level meter
  
  

  Product Description

  The PT649D is a classic piece of hardware: the dual-cassette tape deck. It's got all the features you've come to expect from a quality tape deck, including one button recording, a 3 digit tape counter, dynamic noise reduction, and normal & high-speed dubbing. The dual color fluorescent display displays relevant information. Rec/play level meters let you know if your sound is too loud, too quiet, or just right. Plays regular and CrO2 tapes. Use it to make mixtapes or simply play back your old favorites and recordings. Stereo RCA outputs. This deck is also rack-mountable and runs on 110 or 220 V.

   

  
  

 

 

Etta James - At Last

Here's the question. What does jazz, soul, gospel, rock and roll, R & B, drug addition, and the Grammy Hall of Fame have in common? Or, maybe it should not be what, but who? Many performing artist would probably come to mind, but there's one in particular, Etta James, that's a perfect match. Etta began her singing career in 1954, and by the time she was done, she had earned almost every award possible including The Blues Music Award, and numerous Grammys, as well as several Hall of Fame inductions. Rolling Stone magazine even ranked her as number 22 on its list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. Quite an accomplishment in spite of the many personal problems she faced. Her “At Last” album, listed here, contains many of the performances that led to her status and recognition as being one of the greatest. 1. Anything to Say You're Mine   2. My Dearest Darling   3. Trust in Me   4. Sunday Kind of Love   5. Tough Mary   6. Don't Cry Baby   7. You Know What I Mean   8. I Just Want to Make Love to You   9. At Last   10. All I Could Do Was Cry   11. Stormy Weather   12. Girl of My Dreams (Rendered As Boy of My Dreams)   13. I'll Dry My Tears   14. Seven Day Fool

Ausdom F01 Lightweight Over-ear Wired Stereo Headphones

Ausdom F01 Lightweight Over-ear Wired Stereo Headphones with Built-in Mic for Hands-free calling on PC MP3 MP4 iPod iPhone iPad Tablet (Blue) Price: $25.99 Sale: $9.99 3.5mm jack with inline MIC -- It fitted with a universal 3.5 mm jack which supports a wide range of mobile devices, multimedia devices, Computing and Gaming devices Full range response (100Hz-16KHz)) provide you rich and powerful sound, Dynamic components giving a high clear frequency response Stylish and durable headphone allows you to listen to your music anywhere you are Comfortable wearing long -- Adjustable headband to secure fit for any size; lightweight, soft ear pads & adjustable length Built-in microphone, offers you hands-free experience and never miss a call I just ordered a pair of these headphones and will post a more comprehensive review after using them for a while.

Drums, Drums, Drums and More Drums

Akai Professional MPK Mini MKII 25-Key Ultra-Portable USB MIDI Drum Pad and Keyboard Controller with Joystick Ships from and sold by Amazon.com in easy-to-open packaging. Gift-wrap available. Compact keyboard controller easily fits backpack and studio production desk (12.4" long, 1.6 lbs) Powered by USB connection to computer, with free virtual-instrument download packages Crammed full of all the features you need to play and edit musical ideas 25-synth-action mini-keys, 8 velocity-sensitive rubber drum pads with two banks, and eight assignable control knobs Dedicated buttons for Note Repeat, Full Level, and Octave Up and Down The new MPK Mini MKII is an ultra-compact keyboard controller designed to easily fit in the laptop-toting musician's backpack and still earn its spot on the desktop producer's crowded table space. For maximum portability, the MPK Mini MKII requires no software drivers or external power adapter for operation. It supports plug-and-play connectivity, features USB-MIDI, and powers up with a single USB connection to your computer. With an array of hardware controls, the MPK mini MKII lets you record, compose, and perform with virtual instruments, effect plugins, and Digital Audio Workstations whenever inspiration strikes. It features 25 velocity-sensitive synth-action keys, a 4-way thumb stick for dynamic pitch and modulation manipulation, 8 backlit velocity-sensitive MPC-style pads, and 8 assignable Q-Link knobs. Plus, two banks expand the number of MPC-style pads to 16 for extended creative capabilities. The MPK mini MKII includes all the essentials for quickly laying down and expanding upon your musical ideas. Finally, it comes bundled with professional production software and virtual instruments for immediate music creation.

Full Size Electric Guitar with Amp

This may just be the perfect gift for that young aspiring guitar player in the house. This guitar is proudly made in America and is ideal for someone just getting started. The price is right, it's beautiful and has an excellent sound. Everything that is needed to rock the stage is included in this kit. It comes with a practice amp, guitar cord, a strap and even the picks. The only that is required for the user to supply is plenty of practice. With proper care, this guitar should last for many years.

What You Get

Full-Scale Vintage Sunburst Electric Guitar
10 Watt Guitar Amp with Overdrive/Distortion
Case Strap Pitchpipe Picks Stringwinder Cord
Humbucker Pickup For Rock Sound
Everything You Need To Start Playing

Lem Winchester - Vibe Player

If you love the sound of vibes, you're gonna really love this CD.  Lem Winchester was one of the most promising young vibraphone artists of all time. He would be right up there with the likes of Milt Jackson, Roy Ayers Johnny Lytle and Victor Feldman if he had survived a shooting accident. Mr. Winchester was a cop in Willmington, Deleware who just happened to have as a hobby,  playing the vibes.

After appearing at the Newport Jazz Festival, Lem turned to playing the vibes professionally appearing with performing artists like saxophonist Oliver Nelson, and organist Jack McDuff and Shirley Scott. He also debuted on an album with a young piano player based out of Chicago by the name of Ramsey Lewis on the old Argo label of Chess Records.

This CD set which was recorded in 1960, contains two complete Lem Winchester albums along with tracks featuring vocalist Etta Jones. In this set, Lem demonstrates his abilities as both a leader and an accompanist. An out-of-print album titled “With Feeling” recorded at Rudy van Gelder's Englewood Cliffs, NJ studio, provides the first eight tracks. This is what makes this compilation so valuable.  The personnel included Richard Wyands on piano, Roy Haynes on drums and George Duvivier on bass. The remaining tracks on Disk One as well as the first three on Disk Two are a collaboration between Lem Winchester and Oliver Nelson who played both alto and tenor saxophones.  On the other track on the album, Winchester is a sideman on cuts led by vocalist, Etta Jones.

• Audio CD (October 18, 2012)

• Number of Discs: 2

• Label: Fresh Sound Records (FSR 737)