Here's a desert island choice for sure. A great album by a great artist who is still among us. I've never seen Sonny Rollins live, but I hope it's not too late and that he comes to Sweden one more time, or anywhere else for that matter. I love Sonny Rollins, and this album is truly great. The sweet, caribbean calypso mood that the opening tune "St. Thomas" offers make you just wanna dream yourself away to a tropical island and have a cuba libre in your hand and the bare feet in the white powder sand. Perfect listening right now when it's cold and snowing in Stockholm. Personal favorites have to be, except for "St. Thomas", the ballad "You Don't Know What Love Is" and "Moritat". Wonderful album all the way through.
The copy I have is an original 1st pressing in very nice condition, with a VG++ cover and a M- vinyl. I just realized that I've ripped off a piece of the paper back slick on the bottom left. I don't know how that happened. It was not like that when I bought it. A pretty ugly discovery, but that just shows you that even if you always try to be very careful, handling your records, something like this can happen anyway. You can always drop a needle or drop the record or rip off a piece of paper or lamination from the cover when you're putting it back in the outer sleeve or some other accident. I just have to live with it I guess. I also play my 1st pressings, of course, not just letting them sit on a shelf. So, in 10, 20, 30 years from now maybe the condition of the vinyl will have deteriorated. But on the other hand, the whole point to my collecting is not to have perfect jackets and vinyl forever, but to enjoy the music on these rarities. That's what is important.
This is a must have, of course, in any jazz collection. And if you can get your hands on an original pressing in decent condition, don't hesitate to purchase it. I have lots of Sonny Rollins LP's left to collect and enjoy. Looking forward to that.
Right now, I'm listening to a newly purchased album. I got that together with another album a few days ago. Good stuff. Will post them here eventually.
Stay tuned for more beautiful collectibles from a dark, cold and snowy Stockholm.