On my list is a new vinyl turntable. A while ago, I decided to throw all my old vinyl out and then at the very last minute,
decided not to. I had too many great memories invested in those LPs. I remembered that I also had some old JBL studio
monitors stashed away, identical to the ones Bill Szymczyk and all the producers would have used at Criteria Studios in
Miami, where we recorded several albums in the 1970s. I decided to rig up a system to recreate how I would have
actually listened to the music as it went down in the control room and later, as I'd listen to the final mastered recordings
that were produced back then. Incidentally, as our fans will know, Wishbone Ash has recently released the Live at
Metropolis vinyl disc as well as a vinyl version of Blue Horizon. Vinyl is popular once again and we actually still have
some of those discs available for the connoisseur should you wish to pick one of those up on our upcoming European
tour (wishboneash.com/tourdates) or from our webstore (http://wishboneash.bigcartel.com)

The Wishbone Ash disc I chose to spin on my new turntable was There's the Rub. The sound was immediately there
and it was novel to hear the songs in order with the correct gaps between tracks and to go through the process of
turning over the disc for the second side featuring the track FUBB, while sipping on a nice glass of wine. All of this got
my juices flowing, and so next up was the album Hotel California by the Eagles another Szymczyk produced disc
featuring twin lead guitars aplenty. How would the guitar solos sound coming directly of the vinyl platter? Not bad, as it
turns out. Definitely different from the digital version I'd grown accustomed to in recent years. The same goes for the
bass end and drums. This was an interesting experiment because the two albums are related.

Our recording sessions in 1975 were kind of like the sound check for this global hit by the Eagles. I know Bill honed
many of his editing and tape-splicing chops a lot by working with us and the same goes for his recording techniques.
The Eagles were loading their gear into studio 3 while we were in the process of reviewing our final mixes in the control
room there. Both discs have a lot of similarities in their production values, being recorded in that same studio, mixed in
the same control room (on those JBL monitors) with Bill and his engineer, Alan Blazyk, handling the engineering. As a
side note, while I was listening, I remembered how taken aback Bill had been when he'd met us at Miami International
Airport and instead of Ted Turner walking to greet him, the new guy, Laurie Wisefield, turned up. No one had informed
Bill of the personnel change! No matter, he still got to record some stellar guitar tracks and then, directly after six weeks
in the studio with us, eve n more stellar guitar with the Eagles, culminating in their worldwide classic album.

Anyway, as all these memories came flooding back during my reacquaintance with my vinyl collection, I was reminded
how Christmas is like this, a time to reflect and a time to recharge batteries. I'm rarely able to do this kind of thing so I'm
enjoying the vinyl experience as well as catching up on my reading.