Frank’s Last Review and Introducing Mike Marino

Received this lovely note and a review Frank had written but didn’t have time to get to me. Life…finds a way.

Hi Bob, I just learned that Frank Gutch Jr passed away and am so saddened by it. He recently did a review for our daughters’ latest album (released May 1), and I sent him an email this past week to see when he would be posting the review…now I know why he never responded. Fortunately, he had sent the review to us for our Kansas Bluegrass Association newsletter. Is there any way we could share this with you on your/his blog? He seemed to really enjoy the girls’ music and this was his third album review that he’d done for the girls. Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks so much, Bob. We really appreciate you sharing this. So sorry for your loss. – Debbie Vogts

…and when you are finished with Frank’s review…keep scrolling, and meet Mike Marino.

Frank Gutch Jr: The Second Time Around….

Editor’s Note – When I promised that Frank would always be here, I wasn’t kidding. In the weeks to come you will be introduced to one of Frank’s closest friends, whose writing will be presented here, as well as co-writes with Frank, and some of Frank’s work which has never been seen in these pages. The rest of the time on Tuesdays Frank’s original columns will be reproduced here, in the order in which they originally appeared, starting with this one…his first.From September 7th, 2011.

They say life is better the 2nd time around…Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr Frank Gutch Jr….

Darrell Vickers – Thank Frank

Over the decades, I have been admired and even lampooned for my over-the-top love of music. My irreversible spinal scoliosis can be directly linked to the carting of countless, uber-weighty, vinyl-filled boxes from hither to yon.

Roxanne Tellier – We All Loved You, Frank Gutch Jr – Tributes, Tales, and Tears

Yesterday I went through all of the private messages I’d shared with Frank Gutch Jr, since I’d first encountered him. It was in 2013, just after I’d begun writing this weekly column, and right from that first message, it was as though we were separated at birth.

A Frank Gutch Jr. Flashback from April 25th 2012: Opportunities Missed (Damn It!) Makes For Tomorrow’s Treasures….

I was digging through my tape drawer this week (yes, I still have cassettes) and while not bemoaning the death of tape, did bemoan the lack of success of a handful of incredible treasures which I have only on tape.  To my knowledge, they have never been available on any other format, though I am not sure.  Three of them— the only three commercially available— may have suffered because of that.  More than one person had made reference to cassette as a non-format in their world— to paraphrase them,“better to miss the music than have it on tape.”

Frank Gutch Jr: The Future Takes Forever, The Past Is But a Click Away; Plus Notes

One of the jobs I have laid out before me is writing reviews, not just of music I love but books and  other things which give me delight. It is fun most of the time but lately I am beginning to wonder if I have not taken on more than I can handle. Mentally, I find my self flagging, stacks of CDs and numerous digital files and the occasional vinyl LP/EP, ready to review when I first received them, still there, not reviewed. I want to get to them but for some the words don’t come and for others there is just not enough time. The problem is the listening. I have always prided myself on listening to each album numerous times before putting word to paper, as it were, but if I continue that I will eventually either quit out of frustration or guilt.

Frank Gutch Jr: Gypsy: Rock and Roll Nomads – The Documentary; Steve Lalor R.I.P.; Plus a Few Delicate Little Notes

Back in the days when music ruled the world, we all had our benchmarks. The night The Beatles played Ed Sullivan. That day at Altamont. The many deaths of greats and those who would have been greats, from Buddy Holly to Duane Allman and too many others. Musical moments which marked where you were in your life and how important music was. Because music used to be that important.

Frank Gutch Jr: Music Millennium: Still Weird After All These Years; Meet Sid Hagan; Plus Them Glorious Notes

It plays like a loop in my head, the first time I visited Music Millennium. I remember the drive to Portland from Eugene, parking down the hill on East Burnside, the walk up the street and even opening the door. Had I filmed it, it could not be any more clear. I had been in many record stores before— in  fact, the guys with me were all denizens of Eugene’s House of Records— but this was different. This was the famed Millennium, the seller of imports, the mecca of what record stores should be as far as many of us were concerned. Tower Records may have had stores open at the time (it was the summer of ’72, though I have been saying ’71 for years and have only recently discovered my mistake) but the Pac Northwest didn’t know it. Why should we have cared? We had the Millennium!

Frank Gutch Jr: For Vinyl Newbies: A Primer On Cutouts and Promos; 5 Seconds of Summer (Is 5 Seconds Too Long); Plus Aural and Visual Gems (Otherwise Known As Notes)

See what I did there? I made it seem like you might learn something. Jeez, the hoops we writers have to go through to make you pay attention. I was thinking I might have to revert go porn, but maybe explaining the fun side of the record biz might help. As Ron Davies wrote and Long John Baldry made famous, it ain’t easy.

Frank Gutch Jr: Aussies Pick the Aussies, Part Deux (My Favorite Musicians From Down Under Pick Their Favorites) and The New Journalism (Ethics Be Damned, Full Speed Ahead!)

Sometime back in the 1800s (actually, it was March of 2014), I posted a column which I  had hoped to update on a regular basis. I had titled it Down Under Down Under: Band Picks By My Favorite Aussie Musicians and it consisted of Australians choosing Australians in a musical landscape of sorts.