music meme addendum (updated)

Sam and I were discussing our responses to the Great Internet Music Meme 2005, and we came up with additional categories:

Of which album do you own the most copies?

Okay, this answer depends. You see, I am a collector of ROIOs – a.k.a. bootlegs, pirates, etc. Most of what I collect is stuff that’s not officially available on CD, from live concert recordings to different mixes of legitimate albums that have yet to be issued on CD.

So I’ll divide this up. If you count ROIOs, then the winner is Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles is the clear winner. I have seven copies of this album in my collection: two copies of the Parlophone mono mix, two copies of the MFSL/Parlophone stereo mix, the Parlophone UHQR stereo mix, the Parlophone/UK stereo mix, and a DTS surround sound mix from Mirror Spock (bootlegger par excellence). All but one of these are ROIO CDs.

Close behind in the ROIO or ROIO/legit combo: A Hard Day’s Night by The Beatles (6 copies), Rubber Soul and Help! by The Beatles (5 copies), The Beatles (White Album), Revolver, Yesterday… And Today! and Please Please Me by The Beatles (4 copies), The Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd (4 copies).

If you count strictly legitimate releases, then Bridge Over Toubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel is the winner. I have five (six if you allow some creative license) copies of this Grammy-winning album. I have the UK Millennium Collection mini-LP sleeve version, the Sony/Legacy gold CD, the mini-LP sleeve version included withThe Complete Columbia Studio Recordings box set, and the original circa-1990 remaster that was included in the Collected Works box set, and a still-sealed vinyl copy. Additionally, you could count the fact that all of the album’s songs appear on the Old Friends box set, then there is my sixth copy.

Close behind at three copies each: Bookends by Simon & Garfunkel and The Division Bell by Pink Floyd.

Which band or performer have you seen the most times in concert?

Many years attending the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival have skewed this a bit.

• Vance Gilbert: 8 times (6 times @ Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, 1 @ Church House [with Eric Schwartz], 1 @ The Barns at Wolf Trap [with Ellis Paul])
• Paul Simon: 8 times (1991, 1993 @ Paramount Theatre [with Garfunkel], 1998 @ Jones Beach [with Bob Dylan], 1999 @ Tweeter Center/Great Woods [with Brian Wilson], twice in 2000 @ Beacon Theatre, twice in 2004 [with Garfunkel]
• Art Garfunkel: 6 times (1993 @ Paramount Theatre [with Paul Simon], 1994 @ Harkness State Park, 1996 @ Central Park Summerstage, 1997 @ Garde Arts Center, twice in 2004 [with Paul Simon])
• David Wilcox: 4 times (1991 @ Telluride Bluegrass Festival, 1998 and 2000 @ Iron Horse Music Hall, 2005 @ St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, DC)
• U2: 3 times (1997 @ Foxboro Stadium, twice in 2002 [Hartford and NYC])
• Brian Wilson: 3 times (1999 @ Tweeter Center/Great Woods [with Paul Simon], 2000 @ Oakdale, 2004 @ Warner Theatre)
• Paul McCartney: 3 times (1993 @ Silver Bowl, twice in 2002 [Hartford and Uniondale, Long Island])
• The Who: 3 times (1996 and 2001 @ Madison Square Garden, 1997 @ The Meadows)

Like I said, Falcon Ridge has caused some odd numbers. For instance, I’ve seen Erin McKeown, The Kennedys, The Nields, Moxy Früvous, and Eddie From Ohio numerous times at FRFF.

What are the top five six concerts you’ve attended?

In no particular order:

• “The Concert Event of a Lifetime” with Paul Simon and Simon & Garfunkel, 13 October 1993, Paramount Theatre, NYC
  This was a superb show with Paul Simon and a slew of guests, including the Dixie Hummingbirds, Phoebe Snow and Ladysmith Black Mombazo. But the real kicker was a rare Simon & Garfunkel reunion for the second half of the show. I saw this on Paul’s birthday, so Artie gave him a wand filled with glitter and a little Elvis figure – very funny, it cracked ’em both up. Three hours of musical bliss in a 3,000-seat auditorium in NYC – superb!
• Paul Simon, 16 January 1991, Salt Palace, Salt Lake City, UT
  On the eve of Operation Desert Storm, Simon and his hotshot band kicked it up a notch. Even though Paul had a cold, he was very moved by President Bush’s war declaration, and gave it his all during the show. They even did two versions of “You Can Call Me Al” because the first version was missing something (according to Paul). I sat 12th row center for this one – wow! Also the only time I saw Richard “Stuffy” Tee perform live – he was a great sideman for Simon.
• Paul McCartney, 14 April 1993, Silver Bowl, Las Vegas, NV
  I drove from SLC to Vegas with my friend, Chandra, to see Macca in concert. It was a blast – both the trip and the show. Macca was in fine form, and his band was really great. Chandra and I had a great time, as well, hitting every Denny’s on the Strip after the show. It was the only time I’d see Linda McCartney live (and she wasn’t bad at all). That same summer, I’d also see Ringo perform at ParkWest (now The Canyons), sitting second row center.
• Dar Williams and The Nields, 31 December 1999, Calvin Theatre, Northampton, MA
  This was a fun one – also viewed from close to the stage – that sprite and I had the pleasure to witness. The opened with Simon & Garfunkel’s “Keep The Customer Satisfied” in three-part harmony, which was really cool, and kept the energy up all night. What a way to ring in Y2K!
• Pink Floyd, 18 July 1994, Giants Stadium, Meadowlands, NJ
  This was a fun one, as Pink Floyd played the entirety of The Dark Side Of The Moon for tis second set. It was awesome to see the whole album performed live, and the whole show was most magical. I’d bought a special ticket and lodging package direct from the tour’s promoter, which meant great seats, too.
• Brian Wilson, 10 October 2004, Warner Theatre, Washington, DC
  A magical night, as Brian and the band performed SMiLE in its entirety. Brian was in a fine voice, and his band is top-notch. The brass instruments are actually played by horn players, the string parts by a string sextet. And the Warner is a wonderful old theatre, perfect for concerts like this.

Honorable mentions:

• “The Who present Quadrophenia,” 18 July 1996, Madison Square Garden, NYC
• Vance Gilbert, 28 April 2002, Church House Concerts, Haddam, CT
• Paul Simon, 8 December 2000, Beacon Theatre, NYC
• Neil Young, summer 1993, Park West, UT
• R.E.M., 1989 “Green Tour,” Salt Palace, UT
• … and many parts of the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival

What’s the worst concert you’ve attended?

• Sting at The Meadows Music Theatre, 28 June 2000, Hartford, CT
  sprite and I had seen him the previous November at the Oakdale in Wallingford, CT, which was a good show (though Sting kept saying “hello, New Haven,” which was pretty insulting to folks from Wallingford). However, his show at The Meadows was essentially a carbon copy of this same gig: same setlist, same inter-song banter, etc. It was so boring, far too workmanline, and I expect more from a guy touted to have good “stamina.”