I grew up in the ’60s and ’70s, acquiring my “real” stereo in the mid-70s. As such, I still collect 70s albums when I come across them in record shops or online. A recent addition surprised me in that the inner sleeve was not just white paper but a music newspaper called “The Inner Sleeve”. It has columns like a newspaper, short articles, and small black-and-white pictures. Its main function is to promote other “new releases” by giving background information on the band and the album.
There are a total of 10 articles for the music-minded. A rant on the city of Chicago only to turn to hype the band Chicago and Live at Carnegie Hall. An interview with Miles Davis on his “Live - Evil” album. An in-depth analysis of Santana and its wide variety of music styles from the same band promoting its Abraxas album.
And my favorite, a review of The Raiders (formerly Paul Revere and The Raiders) Indian Reservation album recorded in… wait…Quadraphonic! “SQ - the Quadraphonic disc. It makes 4-channel sound possible… Three-dimensional sound, with real (rather than illusionary) depth. All you need is an SQ decoder for the SQ albums.” However, the disc will play normal stereo for us mere mortals if required.
And finally, an “ask” for the reader to join an Epic A&R Advisor group. Send them $3 to cover shipping and handling and you become a member of “Playback”. You will receive a special 7-inch, 33-⅓ RPM record with unreleased tracks to evaluate and provide feedback on what should and should not be promoted. Cool! I guess I kind of do that now as a DJ playing new releases on air for you…
I was going back to my childhood and certainly enjoying the trip….