Send us a text On this week's episode, we dig into the the forth album by the band the National, 2007's Boxer. The National is a band, literally, of brothers (two pairs) and a friend all from Ohio that formed after all parties moved to New York. From the get go, the band's music leaned heavily on and atmospheric and stood out due to the deep baritone vocals of lead singer and lyricist Matt Berninger. After slowly but steadily building up a following, Boxer, their second album on t...
Feb 21, 2025•2 hr 58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text This week This Is Vinyl Tap discusses the criminally underrated album by Pure Prairie League, 1972's Bustin’ Out. Bustin' Out contains the band's most well known song, "Aime," a radio staple for the last 50 years. Oddly, while even the most casual of music listeners know the song, many would be hard pressed to name the band that performs it. As a result, Bustin' Out has been somewhat ignored, which is a shame, because it is a fantastic collection of c...
Feb 07, 2025•2 hr 55 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text On this episode, we take a deep dive into a “Listener Pick” - the fifth and final studio album by the Simon and Garfunkel, 1970's Bridge Over Trouble Water. While the partnership between Simon and Garfunkel was under immense strain that elementally led to its demise, the duo went out with a bang. Bridge Over Trouble Water was a commercial smash, and is regarded by many as Simon and Garfunkel's masterpiece. The album was their most ambitious and showed Simon had become a ...
Jan 25, 2025•2 hr 2 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text This week we dig into the 1973 self-titled debut by Bad Company. Coming off of the success of Free, Paul Rodgers hooked up with Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs, and along with former Free drummer Simon Kirk, and King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell, formed what may be the most American-sounding British band ever: Bad Company. Rodgers soulful and powerful voice and Ralphs crunchy guitars punctuate songs about the old west, ballads about sea birds, and tunes about physical love th...
Dec 31, 2024•2 hr 30 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text This week we dive head first into the 1968 psychedelic rock opera by the Pretty Things, S.F. Sorrow. Ask any music fan what was the first rock opera was and most would say Tommy by the Who. That answer would be wrong. Recorded on S.F. Sorrow started a year before the Who even went into the studio to begin Tommy. Unfortunately the release of the album was delayed and was released after Tommy, placing S.F. Sorrow into the "also ran" category for the vast majority of critic...
Dec 22, 2024•2 hr 51 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text We start Season Five off with a monster album, Eat a Peach , by the Allman Brothers Band. Released in 1972, it is a double album and simultaneously their 3rd studio album and their 2nd Live album. The Allman Brothers Band were perhaps the first "Southern Rock" band, but they were so much more than that. Steeped in the blues, the brothers Duane and Greg actually had careers as session musicians playing everything from soul to psychedelic folk. Their jams were inspired by ...
Nov 22, 2024•2 hr 55 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text On this episode, we have a listener pick: Nick Lowe and his 1994 album The Impossible Bird. Nick Lowe has been a topic of conversation several times on This Is Vinyl Tap due to the indelible mark the man has left on pop music. Lowe was a bass player, singer and songwriter of the influential pub rock band Brinsley Schwarz. He was a member of the the fabulous Rockpile. He is a producer of some note, having worked with countless artists including Elvis Costello, the Pretenders, Graha...
Oct 26, 2024•2 hr 57 min•Ep 23•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text Join us on this week's episode as we discuss the 1970 album by Thunderclap Newman: Hollywood Dream. Thunderclap Newman were comprised of Townshend protege (drummer, songwriter and lead singer) Speedy Keen, a 15-year-old guitar prodigy named Jimmy McColluch, and the band's namesake - the eccentric self-taught piano player Andy "Thunderclap" Newman. Hollywood Dream (their one and only album) was recorded to capitalize on the success of Thunderclap Newman's s...
Oct 08, 2024•2 hr 43 min•Ep 22•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text On this week's episode, we jump into Joe Jackson's fantastic sophomore LP, 1979's I'm the Man. When Joe Jackson's hit the airwaves in fall of 1978, critics labeled him as one of the new "angry young men" on British music, the other two significant members of that group being Elvis Costello and Graham Parker. This was lyrically mature music that owed a debt to the early 70's UK Pub Rock scene, but played with the aggressive attitude of Punk. ...
Sep 17, 2024•2 hr 33 min•Ep 21•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text On this week’s episode, we discuss what was once considered one of the hottest bands to come out of the late sixties San Francisco scene, Moby Grape and their debut album, 1967’s Moby Grape . Moby Grape is one of the most celebrated debut albums ever produced. Recorded by five musicians who could all write and sing, Moby Grape spans multiple genres (rock and roll, folk music, pop, blues, and country) and does so effortlessly. Add a three guitar attack, and some a amazing harmonies...
Aug 29, 2024•2 hr 43 min•Ep 20•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text On this weeks episode, we discuss King Crimson's 1969 debut: In the Court of the Crimson King. Not only is In the Court of the Crimson King regarded as one of the greatest and most influential progressive rock (or prog rock) albums of all time, it is considered by many to be the album that defined the genre. Like all prog rock musicians, Robert Fripp, Greg Lake, Micheal Giles, and Ian McDonald all know their way around their instruments. But what makes King Crimson stand out ...
Jul 31, 2024•2 hr 41 min•Ep 19•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text It's a violation episode!! Often times we wonder how much the members of the This Is Vinyl Tap team are actually paying attention to what we do around here. In an effort to find out, we present the first ever This Is Vinyl Tap "Trivia From The Vault" episode, where we ask each other in-depth questions pertaining to past episodes to determine who has (and who has not) been asleep on the job. Of course we invite you, the listener, to play along at home. Feel free to l...
Jul 02, 2024•28 min•Ep 18•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text On this episode, we discuss one of the seminal bands of what would become the alternative country and Americana movement: the Long Ryders, and their 1984 debut LP Native Sons. Formed in Los Angeles in the early 1980s, the Long Ryders were a counter to the synth-heavy music that was in vogue at the time. Drawing on their diverse musical backgrounds (punk and garage rock, ska, country, and hard rock), the band combined their broad musical pallet to create a sound that was guitar bas...
Jun 23, 2024•2 hr 55 min•Ep 17•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text On this episode, we tackle a BIG album, the 1967 debut LP by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Are You Experienced. Heralded by many as the greatest rock guitarist of all time, to many Jimi Hendrix, along with his band the Jimi Hendrix Experience (bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell) seemingly came out of nowhere. However, in reality, Hendrix more than paid his dues, playing in relative obscurity backing a myriad of musicians on the "Chitlin' Circuit," includ...
Jun 01, 2024•2 hr 4 min•Ep 16•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text On this episode we discuss the debut LP by the seminal psychedelic rock band, the 13th Floor Elevators: 1966's The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators. The 13th Floor Elevators were one of the the first well-known bands to come out of the Austin music scene in the 1960's, and one of the first band's nationwide to purposely embrace the term "psychedelic rock." The band possessed a lead singer with a one of a kind voice (and screech) in Roky Erick...
May 19, 2024•2 hr 59 min•Ep 15•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text On this episode we tackle the Rolling Stones 1968 LP Beggars Banquet. 1968 was a tumultuous year for much of the world and a transitional time for the Rolling Stones. Their founder and original leader, Brian Jones, was increasingly absent due to his drug use, and their long-time manager/producer Andrew Loog Oldham had grown disinterested in the band due to his own drug and alcohol use, leaving them to produce their next album on their own. The result, 1967's Their Satanic Maj...
May 01, 2024•2 hr 7 min•Ep 14•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text On this episode of the podcast, we discuss Spirit and their fourth album Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus. The band Spirit sports an impressive pedigree. Drummer Ed Cassidy (20 years older than the rest of the band) was an established jazz musician, having played drums with many jazz greats throughout the 1940s and 1950s. His stepson Randy California (né Randy Wolfe) was a young guitar prodigy, who at 15 years old impressed Jimi Hendrix enough to be asked to join his band Jimmy Jam...
Apr 16, 2024•2 hr 48 min•Ep 13•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text This week, we dig into the debut LP by the Scottish jangle pop band Aztec Camera , 1983's High Land, Hard Rain. The creative force behind the band was Roddy Frame, a fine singer, remarkable guitarist, and very gifted songwriter, who started his career at 15, and was 18 when this album was recorded. Completed in just three weeks, the album is filled with wonderful pop songs that touch on jazz and soul, and often defy categorization. Upon its release it was a commercial success...
Apr 04, 2024•2 hr 41 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text On this week's episode we look a one of the finest songwriters to come out of Texas, Guy Clark, and his 1975 debut LP Old No. 1. While Clark is considered one of the great county and folk songwriters of the latter half of the 20th Century, he is also one of the least appreciated when it comes to recording his own songs. On Old No. 1 , he records his own songs, many of which had already been made famous by the likes of the Everly Brothers and Jerry Jeff Walker, among many othe...
Mar 25, 2024•2 hr 55 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text On this weeks episode, we take on a big LP, the 1979 monster hit by Supertramp, Breakfast in America. Supertramp struggled early in their career to find an audience. The two main song writers brought different strengths to the band. Founding member Rick Davies leaned more to the progressive rock side of things, where as Roger Hodgson was more pop oriented. Every album after their breakout LP Crime of the Century showed them gaining popularity. But Breakfast in America is their mag...
Mar 13, 2024•2 hr 53 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text On this weeks episode, we take a listen to the second LP by one of the foundational bands of 1970's power pop: Fresh by the the Raspberries. The Raspberries were an intentional antithesis to everything that was going on in the early Seventies. Instead of focusing on the extended (and as they saw it, self-indulgent) musical jams, the Raspberries would craft three-and-a-half-minute pop songs that leaned heavily on early British Invasion groups like the Beatles, the Who and the ...
Mar 03, 2024•2 hr 52 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text On this week's episode, we discuss Beck and his twelfth studio album, 2014’s Morning Phase . Beck is known for embracing a wide-range of genres, to include folk, lo-fi, funk, soul, hip hop, electronic, alternative rock, country, and psychedelia (just to name a few). He often glides between genres on the same album, and sometimes even on the same song. What makes Morning Phase stand out is Beck’s willingness to maintain a beautiful consistency throughout. Beck has traveled sim...
Feb 21, 2024•2 hr 1 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text When Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood started hanging out and jamming together after the dissolution of their previous bands (Cream and Traffic respectively), there was no set plan to start a band together. That changed when Cream drummer Ginger Baker joined the fun. With the addition of bassist Ric Grech from the band Family, Blind Faith was born. Their one and only album combined the best (and sometimes the worst) of both Cream and Traffic. It doesn’t always work, but when it does...
Feb 12, 2024•2 hr 44 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text On this week's episode, we dig into Pete Townshend's official debut solo LP, 1980's Empty Glass. As the main songwriter for The Who, Pete Townshend crafted songs that let singer Roger Daultrey flex his powerful voice and lets the rhythm section stretch out and indulge their bombastic sides. But on Empty Glass , Townshend is able to show that he can write songs that require a softer, perhaps more nimble, touch. His voice is sweet, almost delicate in places, but its t...
Jan 22, 2024•2 hr 52 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text On this episode, we turn our attention to one of the most successful bands from the late 1960s and early 1970's, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and what is considered by many their masterpiece, Cosmo's Factory . 1970 was a fertile year for music. While the English Invasion was still dominating the airwaves and the psychedelic scene was still influencing everything from movies to fashion to music, CCR formed near the center of all that was "happening" and making ...
Jan 14, 2024•2 hr 5 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text On this week's episode we discuss Sunflower , the1970 LP by the Beach Boys. The Beach Boys' songwriting was mainly Brian Wilson's department, especially after their masterpiece, Pet Sounds . But on 1970's Sunflower , all members contributed to the songwriting, instrumentation, vocals (with some help from other background singers and members of the great Wrecking Crew ), and even the production. And they are fine contributions indeed. Though this was their lowes...
Dec 30, 2023•2 hr 43 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text This week's podcast is a listener's pick and boy are we grateful to have it be Shake Some Action by the Flamin' Groovies. Shake Some Action is nothing short of a power pop masterpiece. With its British Invasion vibe, it's hard to believe it came from 1976. There a bunch of great covers, including one that goes back to 1914. But it's the originals where the band shines. The songs are full of hooks and great harmonies, that will make you want to dance or sin...
Dec 22, 2023•2 hr 45 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text On this week's episode, we revisit an artist we discussed during our first season - Van Morrison when we talked about his 1974 album V eedon Fleece . This time we discuss his 1986 LP No Guru. No Method, No Teacher. Morrison is known for making albums rich in spiritual themes and Celtic lore. Around the time of No Guru , he was also writing songs from the perspective of a curmudgeonly angry guy complaining that "copycats have ripped off his songs". While this album h...
Dec 13, 2023•2 hr 47 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text On this week's episode, we explore the 1973 LP by one of progressive rock’s most interesting (and entertaining) bands, Selling England by the Pound by Genesis. Considered by many to be the best album of the Peter Gabriel era of Genesis, it is definitely the most accessible, and even gave the band their first Top 40 single int he UK with “I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) which peaked just shy of the Top 20. The overall theme of the album laments the Americanization and co...
Nov 25, 2023•2 hr•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text On this week's episode, we discuss the debut album by Kris Kristofferson 1970's Kristofferson . A man of many talents, Kris Kristofferson is a scholar, an athlete, a pilot, an actor, a performer, and most importantly, one of country music's most beloved (and most successful) songwriters. On par with Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt, and John Prine, he has penned some of country music's most endearing songs. Many of the songs on this album have been covered before an...
Oct 29, 2023•2 hr 55 min•Ep 28•Transcript available on Metacast 
