The Blog Journal by Randy Wells – Where Cars, Photography & Nature Meet
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SLOT CAR RACING AGAIN
As a kid, I raced slot cars at commercial hobby tracks pretending to be the famous British driver, Sterling Moss. I still have my box of cars and controller. Twenty years ago, I started collecting the 1/32nd scale slot cars that were being produced at the time. Continue reading “”
FAST CAR
Tracy Chapman broke the airwaves in April 1988 with this song and others on her self-titled album. Singles from the record, like “Fast Car” and “Baby Can I Hold You” are still relevant today. The CD, or better yet, the record or the elusive 12″ single discs, are audiophile grade music. Check it out. Continue reading “”
TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER
Jackson Browne sang it best on “The Only Child”, but “Living in Another World”, a song by the British band Talk Talk, is just as good. It was recorded for their sophomore album The Colour of Spring in March of 1986.
I think it’s one of the more appropriate tunes for these uncertain times. I’m losing feathers too. “Life is what you make it” ain’t bad either. Continue reading “”
QUEEN OF THE SLIPSTREAM
OK, I’m on a Van binge. Here is one of my favorite tunes he wrote about a long distance relationship.
Now we call it social distancing.
HYMNS TO THE SILENCE
Recorded 20 years ago, this Van Morrison release is my go to album when I’m feeling the strains of being a freelance photographer, writer, and filmmaker. Continue reading “”
WAX
Folks who follow my blog know I am into vinyl… I’ve been collecting 12″ LPs since The Beatles first performed in the USA. Today’s anniversary seems like a long time ago.
Sadly, a Banning, CA facility housing Apollo/Transco Lacquer Manufacturing burned down last week and is apparently a total loss. Fortunately, nobody was injured. However, this facility’s production of vinyl pellets is critical to record plants in the USA, and it’s sudden disappearance will greatly impact LP production in the future unless another source is found. Continue reading “”
ON THE BEACH
So what’s the best Neil Young album?
For me, it has to be 1974’s On The Beach.
It encapsulates the NY ethos most succinctly, without calling attention to itself, plus it’s remained topical for decades. Continue reading “”
HAPPY NEW YEAR & 10th ANNIVERSARY!
Today, this blog celebrates its tenth year on the endless wire – pre-Instagram. Thanks to all for visiting this site and letting me share my life with you.
With an average of one new blog post every 5 days and an Instagram site now flourishing (@cars.randywells), it’s been an extremely satisfying last couple of years. It certainly helps me to keep writing!
Now, I just gotta keep up those New Year’s resolutions… Personally, I can’t wait for the 2020s.
(Photo: Motor Press Guild Best Film Award – March, 2019)
Continue reading “”
NEVER A DULL MOMENT
Life is nothing if not interesting. Here I am married to the most amazing woman for 25 years, and I’m still working on being a better husband. Continue reading “”
ABBEY ROAD
My favorite album by The Beatles was released 50 years ago this week. Continue reading “”
LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO
This has to be one of the lamest song titles in all of pop culture. Completely anti-Gene Smith philosophy. The reality is, unless you are being forced with bodily harm, nobody makes you do anything. Continue reading “”
TRUTH
It’s kind of hard to find today, but back in 1968 truth was (more) readily available.
That’s the year Jeff Beck laid waste to what had come before with his blues-rock album Truth. His band was an evolution of the Yardbirds and a foreshadowing of Faces. With Ron Wood on bass, vocals by Rod Stewart, and Beck’s electrifying guitar, this is the seminal electric blues, modified R&B, and psychedelically influenced rock and heavy-metal album. Continue reading “”
PINK MOON
OK, it’s the end of July, and I’ve somehow missed every one of this album’s significant anniversaries.
Still, this is probably the best article I’ve ever written about any subject, so here goes. Continue reading “”
NO GURU, NO METHOD, NO TEACHER
My favorite Van Morrison album was released 33 years ago. Recorded in part at The Record Plant in Sausalito, CA, it’s a magnificent record with David Hayes laying out on bass on “Foreign Window”. The lyrics can come off as obscure to most, but they’re transcendent to me. Check it out. Continue reading “”
HANDLE ME WITH CARE
On this day in 1941 – Bob Dylan (Robert Zimmerman) was born. Dylan went on to release over 40 albums and was a major influence on The Beatles and so many others.
His impact on popular music is incalculable. His hits included the 1965 single ‘Like A Rolling Stone’, probably the ultimate single ever released. He won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature and twelve Grammy Awards. Here he is with George Harrison and the Traveling Wilburys playing one of my favorite songs. Continue reading “”
PLASTIC ONO BAND
By March 20 1969, when John Lennon and Yoko Ono married, he had already started leaving The Beatles. It would be a traumatic separation. Continue reading “”