On The Player Now III

Introduction

A year ago, I published this playlist of what I was listening to, so I thought it might be fun to do another one, and I published the one below four months ago:

I share the songs on Instagram with the hashtag #OnthePlayerNow, and you can follow this link. I think I am the only person using that hashtag at the moment, and have shared over 900 on Instagram/Facebook with 90 seconds of a song from the album on the Instagram post.

I have decided to publish one of these every hundred Instagram posts or so.

So, I will share a few of my current posts with links to the songs and albums that they are from.

These are just things that I have picked out of the CD pile, although some are CD boxed sets, and a selection from my vinyl collection.

Deep Purple - "Speed King" from "In Rock" and "Deepest Purple"

I picked a copy of "Deepest Purple" on vinyl from Action Records in Preston on Thursday, and though I have all the songs digitally, it is a decent compilation from their Harvest years.

I remember getting the single "Black Night", and I always would check out "B" sides and was even more impressed with "Speed King", which was also the opener to their "In Rock" album, which I bought as a teenager, and still love. I have a reissued vinyl copy in my collection now.

The The - "Uncertain Smile" from "45RPM"

I always thought "The The" was an awkward band name, but Matt Johnson is an incredible songwriter, and this brilliant song opens the compilation that is part of my CD collection. I am unaware of a vinyl equivalent, but if I see a copy of the album it originates from, "Soul Mining", I will probably add it to my collection.

King Crimson - "Red" from the eponymous album

King Crimson are often credited with effectively instigating "Progressive Rock" with impeccable musicianship fusing classical, jazz, rock and pop and other genres. "Red" is their seventh album, and they are currently recording a new album as we speak.

I wrote this piece on their incredible leader, Bob Fripp if you want to explore a little further.

Traffic - "Empty Pages" from "El Pea"

I recently acquired a copy of the Island vinyl compilation "El Pea", which I documented here:

"Empty Pages" is the opening song from the album but originates from the excellent "John Barleycorn Must Die" album, which I only have on CD, but it does get a lot of plays.

Ginger Baker's Airforce - "Sweet Wine" from "Bombers" and "2"

I picked up a copy of "Bombers" from Preston Market, a Polydor compilation from the early seventies, and this was the first song on the album.

The song sounded familiar, but I didn't know why. Then I remembered it was a Cream song from their album "Fresh Cream", and Ginger Baker was Cream's drummer.

Hawkwind - "Mirror Of Illusion" from their eponymous album.

I got a copy of this as a single as a teenager, and then progressed to the album, with its long trippy songs, and I love the cover design, which I included on my Instagram post here if you want to see a little more.

Mountain - "Theme From An Imaginary Western" from "Twin Peaks"

I bought this album for the amazing artwork by Gail Collins Pappalardi, but the music is excellent too. You can see more of her work here:

This is a Jack Bruce song, and Jack played with Leslie West in "West, Bruce and Laing", but it is an absolute beauty and a great way to close this playlist.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you found something that you enjoyed.