If you like Carbonara get the traditional type made with Guanciale instead of bacon or pancetta.

Spaghetti

Guanciale

Pepper

Salt

Peppered pecorino cheese

egg Yolk

(NO CREAM)

Created in 1944 Rome Italy

Val Garay

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The trick of the Trevi:

Go early and if you cant, go to the benetton and go upstairs in the store.  There is a window with an amazing view.

Also, if you want a great gelato, there is  a place that looks touristy but isn’t at the foot of the Spanish Steps.

Also, for an even better fountain, take a cab to the

“Il Fontanone”, The Gianicolo Hill Fountain

The fountain is GORGEOUS and the view of Rome up there is worth it.  You can walk down through Trastevere section and eat there.

Pick any place, the food there is phenom.

e

Ellyn Solis

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Go here to eat: https://www.allarampa.com/

You’re welcome.

Lisa Bancroft

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Don’t miss Giolitti for gelato. It’s the best you will have.

Todd Greene

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Bob… if still there.  ‘Piperno’.  You won’t be disappointed

Sari Leon

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Hi Bob,

Long time reader from Italy here.

I always go here to have a non touristic lunch in Rome:

https://www.trattorialuzzi.it/

Enjoy Italy. If you need anything, just drop me a line.

Best regards,

Paolo Bonsignore

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Make sure to also try pasta alla gricia and cacio pepe! Some of the simplest pastas but so good and truly Roman. The secret is all in the ingredients (esp. the guanciale).

There are a ton of tourist food traps in Roma with bad food, so i would ask local peeps for recommendations. F tiktok!

If you end up driving north, stop in Emilia Romagna (that’s where i grew up) and try the pork products. That’s our specialty. And if you drive south to Naples you must go to pizzeria Da Michele. I still remember the taste of that pizza from 20 years ago! Napoli also has the best coffee IMO.

Safe travels amongst my peoples!

Ettore Pasquini

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If you’re still in Roma, I’d highly recommend this place; we ate here by chance on a visit from London and returned for a second time on our final night.

Ristorante Il Fellini

Best,

Steve Reed

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Pizzarium bonci for the win

Philip Believable

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Giolitti’s gelato in Rome near the Pantheon is the best gelato (or any food) I have ever eaten.  Don’t miss it!

 

Dan Butler (he/him)

Head of Music, Business & Legal Affairs

Walt Disney Studios

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You want the best Gelato in Rome? Head to the Frigidarium. Indescribably good.

John LaGrou

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Check out Pasta Chef. Best pasta dishes you will ever find. They should start a franchise in the USA!

Bruce Foster

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The bar at Hotel Eden has a stunning view of Rome. Perfect for sunset viewing.

Nick Petropoulos

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If you love coffee, go to Tazzo D’Oro near the Pantheon…

Jason Ormeoryou

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Best carbonara across 2 weeks in Italy Sept 2023.  In Rome next to Piazza Navona.

Ponte e Parione – Ristorante Piazza Navona

https://maps.app.goo.gl/zukxVLnk9k7Evs458?g_st=ic

Rome and Italy are amazing.  Enjoy.

Rick Roeling

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I still miss the gelato, we had it every single night we were there. Also a great restaurant in the Piazza Navona, can’t remember the name but they had a killer pasta diavolo. Enjoy!!

Susan Hughes

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Great town! Depending how long you’re there I highly recommend Antica Pesa. High end Italian at its finest. Have a wonderful trip!

Edward Ryan

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best coffee and experience.  hands down

Home

John Rubeli

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Ristorante Camponeschi in the Piazza Farnese.

Excellent restaurant, elegant.

My cousin Alessandro owns it, tell him Slim Man says hello!

Buon appetito.

Slim Man

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Go to All’Antico Vinaio. Best sandwich in the country. A handful of locations all over Italy.

They just opened up a location in Abbott Kinney too, but don’t let that dissuade you. It’s an unbelievable sandwich.

Joel Dauten

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Bob, I lived in Rome for almost 5 years and learned that the best restaurants are the ones Italians take you to (where they eat) or refer you to, and the best food is what they order. The best meals I had were as guests of Italians. As a visitor, stay away from restaurants obviously patronized mostly by tourists. I wouldn’t take a recommendation from an American on TikTok unless they lived there.

I would refer to you my favorite restaurant in Rome but unfortunately it closed. I’ve probably been gone too long to be a good source.

Hope you enjoy your visit.
Tom Moore

Fairfax, VA

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We were there a few months ago.    The earth tones they use, like those in Paris, cause the buildings to blend so magically with the sun and sky.    And the trees…I have a neighbor who cuts all the lower limbs off of his cedars trying to get the same effect.

 

I didn’t know I cared about sculpture until I did a tour at the Borghese Gallery.   “This is a masterpiece” the guide said of “Apollo and Daphne” by Bernini.   “No sh*t!” almost came flying out of my mouth.  I was floored by the sculptures and paintings there.   How did I get to my age without knowing about this?

 

Yeah they’re still digging ancient stuff up.   And the Romans support it.

Michael Alex

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bob, right, you can’t trust the wisdom of TikTok.

You CAN trust the wisdom of YELP for restaurants in Europe. YELP led me to some of my best meals in Italy.

George Kahn

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Was just in Rome 3 weeks ago.  Excellent meals at the following places:

Cuccagna – Piazza Navona

Sospiro Trastevere

Il Giardino Antica Trattoria

And if you go to Florence make a reservation for Osteria Pastella

Gary Greenstein

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If you’re looking for great healthy food in Roma try https://gingersaporiesalute.com/menus/

Simon Shaw

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We were in Rome in October & this was my most memorable pizza. Deroma.

Steve Tipp

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You want carbonara in Roma?

Head here

Home

Paul Howarth

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Bob, sorry to hear TikTok ruined an opportunity to eat well.

Here’s some Roman restaurant recommendations that I’ve been to, and will not disappoint:

– Trattoria Al Moro, Trevi

– Supplizio, Regola

– Roscioli, Regola

– Da Enzo al 29, Trastevere

– Roma Sparita, Trastevere

Enjoy!

Benedict Curran

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Forget tiktok recommendations!

You simply must go across the river to Trestevere and get suppli from Suppli Roma. But you don’t have to take my word for it: https://maps.app.goo.gl/a7EaHWLp87bVAY9r7

I would recommend the Cacio e Pepe.

Buon viaggio!

-Chris Sartori

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I don’t know where else you are headed but as you may know my sister lives just outside Orvieto about an hour 15 train ride from Rome to Orvieto. It is one of my favorite Italian towns. A hilltop medieval gem. You can drive up or take the funicular train stright up. It is magnificent and there are five senstional restaurants there. My favorite is La Palumba. A day trip is perfect if you are done with Rome, it’s not nearly as touristy.
I’ve got plenty more as we have been from top to bottom of Italy. Screw TikTok.

John Brodey

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If you want to see how much things have changed, you will enjoy watching Roman Holiday where there are kids literally swinging from the horse’s nose and climbing all over the statues…..different times. I find the best time to walk Centro Storico is late at night when you can have Trevi Fountain and many other sights to yourself. It’s an amazing experience. Most of the tourist restaurants aren’t that good and all the best meals I’ve had have been at someone’s house.

Michael Friedman

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I spend about 3 months a year in Italy and a good portion of it in Rome and we keep track of every place we eat. We do it because we eat at so many places (our trip we just finished came in at 105 different restaurants) and we also give the document out to friends to help them navigate the social media list of lies and exaggerations. I know many Italy Travel posters(bloggers) and they often admit to me that they review places they have never been to!

Scooter Pietsch

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Still a lot of grandmas on Vespas? It’s a wonderful city… enjoy! Travel safely!
Anthony Napoli
Beacon, NY

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Have fun, Bob. I have been to Rome several times for a couple of weeks at a time to work in the studio and gigs. So I was hanging with the locals and sightseeing. You might like Basilica of San Clemente. It’s near the Collosseum. A small church (with Cosmati tile floor), built on a pagan temple, built on a Roman house. You can go down to see all of them. I went when there were few people…mindblowing. * They close for a while in the afternoon so check the schedule.

Carbonara, of course! If you haven’t had Cacio e Pepe, it’s a Roman pasta specialty. Very simple, but you won’t get the correct cheese anywhere outside the region. If you are in Trastevere, there is a good place sort of down the far end where it is more quiet that seemed to be popular with the Romans, Ristorante le Mani in Pasta. Mainly seafood, not too big, you might eat downstairs, and vibey. We stayed just around the corner (about 5 years ago), walked past it alot, lover the food and it was not overly touristy but busy. Mostly Romans.

Have a great trip! I love Rome and the people are very cool.

Robert Bond

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we were just there in November.  there is a restaurant called That’s Amore, which is hilarious because it’s almost like they are poking fun of Americanized Italian food in the U.S……but I had some of the best eggplant parm that I’ve ever had there.

also, this was right across from our hotel and we ate there twice because the pizza and pasta was amazing (as it is in most places there, but it was next level there):

Al Forno della Soffitta

Mike Farley

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remember this about TikTok, et al

most people posting aren’t all the exposed or sophisticated… and you know nothing about their palette

so lots of people love it
which means “ooooh, McDonalds” in a different margin

you’re worldly. ask your friends who travel.

that’s how I found Taillevent in Paris, where i went for my mother’s 58th birthday. it was so exquisite, i even intimidated my snobby mother…
just a thought from someone who’s not an obsessive foodie, but knows the difference.

Holly Gleason

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OMG! Mietek, my sister Jillian and her husband Arnold and their goddaughter and I spent basically a month last July -August in Rome, the hottest days in history and the trip went from agony to ecstasy at the end and we all love and miss Rome now.
Rick Steves described it as a ‘brutal city’, which it is, but we came to love it and I’d go back right now if I could, insane crowds and all.
We stayed in Trastevere and discovered Roman cooking—even took some cooking classes. Took the train up to Verona and to Venice.
If indeed you are there, I wish you a fantastic trip!

Wendy Waldman

P.S. Il Matto in Trastevere, local, fantastic real Roman food.
Also near there, Giuffre, one of the best gelato places in town, awarded multiple ‘cones’

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Hey Bob – I’ve lived in Florence for a year now – it’s been great.  Agree with you on many of the TikToc suggestions, but some of them are right on. You just never know. Lots of hype though, for sure.

Those trees are called Umbrella Pines.

The Euro is worth $1.06, so more than a buck right now. Dollar is worth .94 Euro, maybe that’s what you were seeing.

Great restaurant in Rome:  Rascioli (they just opened one in NYC). Sit at the counter like a sushi bar. Fun!

Also: Felice a Testaccio

If you come to Florence let me know and I can give you some suggestions!

Tony George

P.S. Sorry “Stone Pine”, informally called Umbrella Pine.

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My wife and I were in Rome in November for 10 days – I hope your trip is as magnificent as ours was! – a few thoughts/suggestions:

 

1) We were amazed at how almost *every* vehicle in Rome was an EV!  It proved to us how effective the oil & gas industry in the US has been at fighting off normalizing EVs here in the States

 

2) The locals in Rome were incredibly welcoming to us as American tourists – very patient, very warm, very helpful, always pleasant – we rarely came across anyone who was your stereotypical rude European who had nothing but disdain for US tourists

 

3) Italy has the high-speed train system figured out – if only we had a similar system here in the US (again, shows how effective the oil & gas lobby has been over the years)

 

4) Words cannot adequately describe The Vatican and, in particular, St. Paul’s Cathedral – and *every* single church in Rome, no matter how small or how large, has incredible artwork on display

 

5) All of which shows us as Americans how isolated we are – we have almost 250+ years of history to lean on – Italy (and I presume the rest of Europe) has THOUSANDS of years of history to relish

 

6) The food in Roma was incredible – and there are little Trattorias all over the place, seemingly on every corner – but the best meal we had was at Trattoria Sora Lella on a little island in the Tiber near Trastevere – homey ambiance, delicious food, excellent service – they told to eat like the Romans eat so we did!

 

There’s so much more we can say but it’s such an incredible place, get away from the phone/computer and enjoy all that Rome has to offer!

 

Christopher Perry

Norman, OK

P.S. Man, I blew it – St. Peter’s!

 

St. Peter’s, St. Paul’s, St. Paul’s, St. Peter’s, Oprah, Uma….d’oh!

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Just had an excellent meal at Ristorante EDY. Local while in center.  Some great art on the walls collected by the owner. Worth a shot, Bob

Won’t fawn over you, if I run into you.

Here for a few months. Sold everything in the US. On the road for now 9 years. Still checking US new through the NYTimes. Yes, life goes on here.  Same as Buenos Aires which after 5 months we just left.

Yet… in both Rome & Buenos Aires the U.S. situation is mentioned in the local news and seeps into conversations with locals….  Most are very concerned by possibly The Loofah Faced Sh*t Gibbon getting back in the WH…. I know I am. Dual citizenship gives me options, yet the U.S. is home regardless where I am.

Enjoy Rome.

To be continued,

Sjaak

___________________________________

Been following you since the heady days of the early internet wars when the majors thought they could simply sue the p2p’ers out of existence but, I have not written before.

If you have not seen ‘The Great Beauty’ and you get a chance to see it when you’re still in Rome, please try. You will see a side to Rome that is beneath the surface and I suspect, hidden from even Gen TT. I split my time between Southern Italy and London and I return to that film very often.

Thanks for the years of thought provocation and I hope in a small way I have returned the favour.

Best

Jim Gottlieb

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“And the Euro is worth less than a buck.”

€1 = $1.06, which means it’s worth a bit more. Usually is.

The one to look at is the Swiss Franc. Forty years ago it was 3 Francs to a dollar. Now it’s $1.10 to the Franc. Go back a century it was about 20 Francs to the dollar.

The dollar is mighty no more.

Ross Fitzsimons

___________________________________

No. You must be reading it wrong. 4668 euro is what you get for 5k as of today. 93 to 1.00. I lose 400 bucks if I want to pay my artisans today. My bank just asked me if I wanted to lock in. Dollar is still weak but gained from the 90-1 that prevailed for the last 8 months.

Patti Jones

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Your statement “And the Euro is worth less than a buck” is misleading. Currently and for  some time 1 Euro is worth more than a 1 Dollar (today $1,06 to be exact). You could say the purchasing power of 1 Euro in Rome is less than 1 dollar in LA. Comparing costs of living in US vs Europe is a little more complex than it seems.

I found that as soon as you get out of the touristy places in Italy you can get a fresh $6 personal pizza pie that beats anything in America.

Cheers,

Andy Altmann

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hey careful…. euro is worth $1.06 right now. It hasn’t been less than a $1 for a while.

Bit of advice: if you use your US ATM card , use it only at real bank ATM’s. Anywhere else will fee you to death. Also when you swipe your card at a restaurant or shop the machine asks you if you want to pay in Euros or Dollars. Always choose EUROS. If you fall for their “scam” and choose the Dollar conversion the CC company offers you automatically pay x% fee on gtop of the conversion rate, I’ve seen as high as 15%. Your US bank will not take an exorbitant fee(usually, if they are decent) and will give you a much better exchange rate.

Enjoy Roma!

James Kirst

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The bigger the crowd, the less it knows. Katie Parla is knowledgeable https://katieparla.com/city-guides/rome/

The Euro is worth slightly more than a buck @ 1.06€ to the $.

Christopher Randall

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Expect you’ve already heard, but you have your exchange rate backward. A Euro will cost you a bit more than $1.06, not the other way around.

Jim Collins

___________________________________

Bob, I’ve lived in Germany since 2001. I grew up in Alaska, not real America. Nothing we watched on TV reflected our lives. Funny how that describes so many lives.

So: cars in Europe continue to grow in size, while parking spaces remain tight. I’ll tell you it’s hard not to hit the next car with your door in Europe in normal parking spaces. So maybe you don’t see it as a tourist, but as a long-time resident… and that’s not mentioning the poor design of parking garages here, where cars are expected to turn 90 degrees.

America’s politics are broken. Congress has been non-functional in a long time. Why is that an issue? It sends a message. Putin thinks, why stop with Ukraine? Iran thinks, why not bomb Israel? And so on and so forth. If the US isn’t setting the agenda for the world, who do we want to do so? It feels it doesn’t matter in a small town in a smaller country, but only until it does matter.

Enjoy your carbonara and get back to hastening the revolution!

Best regards,
Phillips Hofmann

___________________________________

I enjoyed reading your email about Rome, Bob.  I have an Italian co-worker who is based in Rome whose English is excellent (she studied history at Oxford), and if you’d like to get off the beaten path a bit, I can put you two in contact.  She knows the city, restaurants, things to do, where to go, etc. quite well.  If you’d like me have her reach out to you, please let me know.  Her name is Giulia, and I think you’ll like her a lot.

Best,

Brownlee Ferguson

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Dear Bob,

Anyone who believes restaurant recommendations from TikTok deserves to eat there. Come to London and I’ll take you for real Italian food.

Paul Ruta

London N1

___________________________________

I’m totally wired in Rome. How long will you be there? Vacation or conference?

It’s my favourite city on earth. I’ve visited many times and worked there quite a few times as well.

Do you want to meet some interesting people while you’re there? I should introduce you to Father Brian. He was my assistant engineer in LA, then moved with us to Connecticut and had a spiritual pivot. He’s now a Catholic priest studying at the Vatican. He’s a truly special human. Also there’s Mario Tronco, the founder of the Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio (who I produced eons ago) and his cousin Arianna Tronco who is the most important literary agent in Italy with a stable of awesome writers. And more…would you like to see The Forum Music Village (Ennio Morricone’s amazing studio where all his best film scores were done and where I worked with 2Cellos, Lang Lang and Zuccherro)? Marco Patrignani is the manager there and speaks English very well. He’s a super cool guy.

Are you into Caravaggio? Some of his best are in Rome. Here’s a list of where they are:

Caravaggio in Rome: where and how to see Caravaggio’s paintings in the Eternal City (with map)

Where are you staying?

Bob Ezrin

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Bob:  Great hearing from you re Rome!  Gigi and I will be in Rome, Bologna and Tuscany October18-27 hosting a KJAZZ Promo Tour so please don’t leave any unpaid bills around with my name on them.  Thanks much.

Jerry Sharell

___________________________________

You’re never gonna read this,

but if you’re still in Rome I’m your

longest time reader here in the eternal city,

anything you need from a local just ask

I’ll be at your service, no charge.

besides music I also worked tourism.

all the best

Lele Lunadei

Well I guess you can’t trust the wisdom of TikTok.

Waiting for our room to be ready, I surfed the social network looking for eats. We wanted something quick, as most of the day had already slipped away. The most popular, the most talked about place was called Trapizzino. One after another TikTokker raved. To the point where I felt if I missed the place, my trip to Italy would have suffered. There are multiple locations and after perusing the Colosseo we took a cab to the closest one, in the Mercado, which turned out to be part of the train station. And we couldn’t find it. All the TikTokkers showed lines, that was what I was looking for. Ultimately the Mercado map told us that Trapizzino was in the corner, but I figured it had to be another Trapizzino, since there was nobody there, and there were three bored attendants behind the counter. But it was the place.

So what Trapizzino specializes in… Well, let’s just say it’s a pizza pocket filled with…fillings. And we got the eggplant and… This is what everybody is talking about? This is what we came for? I must tell you the bread was superior to all you find in Los Angeles other than at a couple of the finest restaurants, but I can’t say the entire concoction was tasty, rather it was fast food, and not piping hot, and that was a disappointment. To cleanse our palates we got gelato thereafter, which was superior to any I’ve had in the U.S. But if TikTokkers can be so wrong on Trapizzino, what else are they wrong about? The internet is all about the wisdom of the crowd. Maybe the crowd doesn’t know so much.

Now you immediately know you’re in a foreign country because of the trees. They’re akin to mushrooms, albeit with much longer stems. I’d like to tell you what kind they are, but I missed that day in school.

And the color of the buildings. There are earth tones used that are very rare in America.

And it was gray and humid, which I know about as a result of my salad days on the east coast, but these days are extremely rare in Los Angeles.

As for the SUV-ization of the Continent… Not so in Rome. That’s what they say, big cars have invaded Europe, on tiny streets. But I didn’t see any. I saw some baby SUVs… And I also saw a Maserati hearse! But mostly tiny vehicles, some so small that they parked butt end to the curb. I wish we drove such tiny machines in the U.S.

So we walked to the Trevi Fountain, which was uber-crowded, I remember being able to get much closer, and I also remember it being at street level. But my memories are fifty years old, fifty two in fact, maybe something has changed in half a century.

And we walked to the Forum… And saw Trajan’s Column… I also remember being able to walk amongst the ruins, which you can do a bit if you pay today, but I remember an open scenario, and my memory is pretty good. Then again, some of the excavations were new. And I must admit I’d forgotten a bit too much from art history class in college, but I was utterly fascinated still. How subsequent generations tore stuff down for the marble, built upon the ruins. As for the Colosseum… It’d be like stumbling upon the original Yankee Stadium two thousand years later, can you imagine that?

It’s not complete culture shock going to a foreign country these days. First and foremost, your phone works. And you can use Google Images as your guide, never mind the map apps. Then again, reading about the Trump trial reminded me of Joni Mitchell:

“Reading the news and it sure looks bad”

I mean I was just in the U.S. yesterday, but it seems so far away.

And the Euro is worth less than a buck. Which is pretty astounding…if only the hoi polloi were aware of this, but the hoi polloi don’t have a passport. Then again, as good as Biden says the economy is, that’s not the way so many feel. Did you read that piece in yesterday’s “New York Times”?

“Why Is Biden Struggling? Because America Is Broken”

Free link: https://rb.gy/lnep0o

I think this guy’s solutions are hogwash, but as far as a description of today’s America, he’s right on. I don’t care which side of the political fence you’re on, I think you’re going to nod your head when you read this.

But people are living just fine in Rome. And we flew an Airbus over, so the door plug didn’t blow out.

Looking forward to some carbonara…

THIS IS A LIVE SHOW, SO FEEL FREE TO CALL IN!

Tune in Saturday April 13th to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West.

Phone #: 844-686-5863

Twitter: @lefsetz

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz

Frampton@50: In the Studio 1972-1975 Limited Edition Vinyl Box Set: https://shorturl.at/wzJSZ

1

I bought my records on Friday.

Friday is a school holiday, after classes end. Sunday is a work day, studying, at least when I was in college and law school. But by Friday at noon I was free. Free to do what I really wanted to do, to follow my interests, which was not the paradigm when I was growing up. There were not courses in popular culture, you studied the classics, or classically, and delayed fulfillment to time in some distant future, certainly after college. We were working in a coal mine and we didn’t think we had an option.

But we had interests we squeezed in.

Now the sixties were all about Beatlemania and the following British invasion and then the San Francisco scene and then Hendrix and Cream and the heyday of album rock. By the seventies the business was mature and respected. Newspapers reviewed and respected rock music. The financial world recognized the record world, because of the immense profits being thrown off, in excess of those of the movie studios, and in the parlance of the techies, music scaled. The cost to produce the millionth album was de minimis compared to the first. In other words, once recording costs were recouped nearly every dollar was profit.

Now of course, the heyday was the eighties, when not only did MTV blast acts to the moon, but CDs were sold at double the price at the old vinyl/tape royalty rate to the musicians. Those at the labels thought it would go on forever, they didn’t foresee the internet coming along and blowing their model to hell.

Now people still buy vinyl records today, you can’t help but reading about the resurgence. However, in truth it’s a tiny sliver of overall consumption. And most people don’t have the equipment to truly extract the sound from these discs, assuming they play them at all. Oftentimes vinyl is seen as a souvenir, a collectible, but back in the day it was all about what was in the grooves. After all, one of the most famous Beatle albums had nothing on the cover at all.

Now there were records I had to buy, always albums, I gave up singles back in the mid-sixties, all serious collectors, all serious devotees did. Albums were the essence, statements, platters from gods, and we devoured them.

After we paid for them.

So the new superstar release, you purchased. But more interesting were the records you’d heard about but had never heard. That was part of the process, taking a risk.

And one album was not enough. You’d walk through the store with a pile under your arm. And you’d extract and replace and ultimately bring the final count to the cash register.

And then you’d go home and break the shrink-wrap, which was an indelible part of the process. From the store to you. After you’d slice the shrink-wrap you owned the LP, you were involved.

And then you put it on the turntable and dropped the needle.

Which you had purchased from the standalone stereo shop with all your money.

Hard to believe stereo shops were plentiful. They were meccas. You’d walk the aisles and contemplate what you wanted and what you could afford. And some purchased their system all at once. Others built their system component by component, after reading “Stereo Review,” “High Fidelity” and even “Audio.” This was when information was scarce and we wanted all we could get.

And the goal was to get as close to the sound as possible. To eliminate all the static, all the possible distortion between the act and you. One of the relevant statistics was Total Harmonic Distortion. The key was a clean, rich sound. That you could play at top volume without distortion.

And on Friday afternoons, after breaking the shrink-wrap, deciding what album to play first, I’d drop the needle, turn up the volume so it filled the entire room and stood back and listened. There was no multitasking, not at first. This was a message from God, this was a religion, listening to these albums was the most important part of your life, at least mine. You were waiting for the surprise, ready to go on the adventure, because usually most of what you heard you’d never heard before. I can still remember hearing “Gimmie Shelter” for the first time. And “Hotel California.” Totally cold. No context. It was personal, and astounding. 

2

Now I don’t understand vinyl versions of digital recordings. Technically that makes no sense. What you end up with is a distorted version of the original, it’s a fetish, because vinyl is inherently compromised. It does have a warm sound, but if you want to hear the record exactly the way the act recorded it…

And digital recording can be very cheap.

But not analog. Most acts never made it to the recording studio. What you needed was a deep pocket to fund recording. Which is what the label provided. And at first you got a limited budget and a limited amount of time. But if you proved your mettle, which meant selling a lot of records, you got more money, which yielded more time. And more experimentation. More risk. A greater desire to capture lightning in a bottle. As years went by and time went on you could punch in and fix mistakes, which many saw as the beginning of the end, eliminating humanity from the discs, but that was late in the game. Going to the studio was like going to the lab. The engineer was a mad scientist, the producer akin to an orchestra conductor, about creativity and feel more than tech, and the goal was to lay down something that had an indescribable element that would make people want to buy and listen.

And most times the creators failed. Most records did not succeed. But some did. Some were instant hits and were instantly forgotten, seen as disposable. And then there were those that had a limited audience, which grew. The act toured after every LP, and if you wanted to hear the songs from the latest album, you had to go, because some of them might never be played again. And you didn’t connect with your compatriots on social media, you just sat in the hall knowing you were on the same page, and that was enough. And concerts were not casual, and not parties. The venues had seats and when done right you had a direct connection to the performer, and it was just about the two of you, no one else mattered, the music set your mind free.

3

Most people sold their vinyl not long after the CD was introduced. Back when CDs sounded poor. A ton of improvement was done over the years, ergo the remastering, before it became a gimmick, a dash for cash.

And, in truth, vinyl is a pain in the ass. We know all the album tracks because we didn’t want to get up off the couch to return the needle to the hit, we let the side play out. And back then the arm returned all by itself, you didn’t have to worry about that endless click of the needle in the runout groove. And if you had a Technics direct drive turntable you could dial up the number of times you wanted to hear the album repeated. But we never stacked our records, we respected our records, they were our most important possession. We might not even have a car. And an auto was mute in a way records were not, we loved our records.

But I’ve still got all my vinyl, I’ve still got my big stereo, and I enjoy cranking it up, but honestly I rarely do, because it’s too much of a pain, hi-res digital through the Genelecs is not only convenient, it sounds incredible.

But those early Frampton records were cut analog. One can argue quite strongly that the proper way to listen to them is on vinyl, and that’s what I’m doing right now with Intervention Records’ remasters.

4

Now the first time I listened to “Wind of Change,” I’d never heard it before. No one else I knew owned it, I don’t think anybody else in the dorm knew who Frampton was. He was part of Humble Pie who were suddenly successful with a hard-rocking, party-oriented double live album. But Peter was gone by then. And “Wind of Change” wasn’t a completely different direction, “Shine On” was a harbinger of what was to come, but when I dropped the needle on “Fig Tree Bay”… I realized I was on an adventure, a journey to somewhere I’d never been before. That’s what a great album provided. And, once again, it was completely personal. Unless you were right there in the room with me, there was no communication other than with the performer, and that was enough.

So I broke the shrink-wrap on this triple album vinyl set, and of course the first cut I wanted to hear was “Fig Tree Bay.”

But my fully manual turntable was set to 45 RPM, and unlike in the old days I just couldn’t flip a switch, I had to turn off the motor, lift off the entire platter, move the belt to a different part of the flywheel and then Peter sounded like who he was, and not a chipmunk.

Now after listening to these vinyl records you get used to the sound, but at first it’s a shock, because the records don’t resemble today’s digital productions. They breathe, they were cut before the loudness wars and they sound exactly like what they are…recordings of people playing in a recording studio, a room. The guitar is full-bodied. It’s not straight from the axe to your ear, rather the sound is captured in a space that makes the end result three-dimensional, once again it’s hard to describe, but you know it when you hear it. Let me analogize… You can look at people in photos all day long, but when they’re right in front of you, it’s completely different. They exist in space, they have shape, they evidence personality, you’re suddenly involved instead of removed. That’s what it was like listening to “Fig Tree Bay.”

I flipped the vinyl over to my favorite Frampton cut, “All I Want to Be (is by your side),” and it was the same effect, the same feeling. There was a human being inside the system, coming out of the speakers, it was not 2-D, and the sound was human in a way that digital can never be. Sure, it’s a sound, but even more it’s a feeling, on this early Friday evening in April. My work is done. Now my time is mine. And suddenly I’m in the space I’ve been in so many times before in my life, but a long time ago. I don’t need to tell you how great the record is, I don’t really have to tell you anything other than the feeling I’m having. One of completeness, of the music being enough, not feeling bored, but my mind floating in and over the music on a trip no other medium can take me, that has me relaxing and cogitating at the same time.

“Can’t you see what it’s doing to me”

Maybe you can’t. But it doesn’t matter.

Because Frampton just came alive, as a matter of fact he’s always alive, whenever I want to drop the needle on this vinyl. And he’s only alive in my house, on my stereo. Vinyl is not a portable medium, nor the stereos of yore, upon which I’m listening. I’m parked, having an experience, maybe you understand what I’m talking about.