The Johnny Almond Music Machine

Sorry I haven't posted in forever. I could go on and on about how much of a chore this all seems to be sometimes. Everything seems to be a chore fore me lately. So, between buying records, doing the dishes, and working I haven't been very motivated to write anything. I know, I know, save it for the shrink, where are the mp3s?

During this holiday weekend I traveled to good old Fresno, California where I visited my family, ate more food than I should have, watched cable t.v., and refused to do anything active at all. I did however find time to do some record shopping in downtown Fresno thrift stores after visiting a unbelievably cheap Basque restaurant and walking amongst Chicano murals, African-American biker gang club houses, and homeless tent cities.

Today, San Francisco presented me with a grey rainy day that has allowed me to spend the whole time inside my apartment ripping records and taking photos of album covers. All I will need to do in the future is write a little paragraph in order to create a new post for my blog. That way, it won't be four months between posts. This is all theory though so don't get your hopes up.

So, the first record I will share from my downtown Fresno excursion is The Johnny Almond Music Machine's "Patent Pending". This was the only worthwhile record out of about 200 Christian records that were displayed on a wall in the corner of a Salvation Army right next to the 41. I've never heard of The Johnny Almond Music Machine and almost passed on it thinking that it was a religious children's record. The cover looks kind of like a kid's record to me, and I'm pretty sure I've picked up a crappy kid's record called "The Music Machine". It wasn't until I looked at the back of the album that I realized it was probably worth picking up. The second track on the album is a cover of Yusef Lateef's "Before Dawn" and Roland Kirk's influence is mentioned a few times in the liner notes in addition to a song recorded in tribute to him.I didn't have a record player with me, or where I was staying in Fresno, so I had to wait until I returned to San Francisco to listen to my records. I was pretty happy when I finally got a chance to listen to it.


Ensingle by The Johnny Almond Music Machine from Patent Pending
Before Dawn by The Johnny Almond Music Machine from Patent Pending
Solar Level by The Johnny Almond Music Machine from Patent Pending
To R.K. by The Johnny Almond Music Machine from Patent Pending
Tales of Junior by The Johnny Almond Music Machine from Patent Pending