Name: Stories
Brand: David Blue

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

MTE 073LP

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Colour

Black

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2022-09-16

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Rough Trade NYC

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

769791981782

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Total Cap

1 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / black

Artist

David Blue

Genre GB

Classic

Label GB

David Blue was an American singer-songwriter and actor, born on February 18, 1941 in Providence, Rhode Island. He passed away on December 2, 1982 in New York. Known for his unique blend of folk and rock music, David Blue's recordings from 2023 showcased his talent backed by a four-piece rock band.

Throughout his career, David Blue drew inspiration from a variety of artists including Eric Andersen, David Ackles, Tom Rush, Fred Neil, Dino Valente, Gene Clark, Paul Siebel, Roger McGuinn, Dillard & Clark, Judee Sill and many others. His music resonated with audiences who appreciated the introspective lyrics and heartfelt melodies that defined his sound.

Although he may no longer be with us today, David Blue's contributions to the music industry continue to inspire aspiring musicians and touch the hearts of listeners around the world.

"David Blue was the peer of any singer in this country, and he knew it, and he coveted their audiences and their power, he claimed them as his rightful due. And when he could not have them, his disappointment became so dazzling, his greed assumed such purity, his appetite such honesty, &amp; he stretched his arms so wide, that we were all able to recognize ourselves, and we fell in love with him." (Leonard Cohen). 

David Blue is the 'Blue' in Bob Dylan's "Baby Blue", the voluble chain-smoking pinball loner in Renaldo &amp; Clara, a companion of Joni Mitchell's during the time she made Blue, the "blue's not right" art collector in Wim Wender's The American Friend. The second artist signed to David Geffen's fledgling Asylum records (after Judee Sill), Blue's 1971 Asylum debut Stories sold a woeful 2000 copies. Perhaps a factor in the album's spectacular failure to achieve traction is the almost harrowing emotional vulnerability of Blue's songs &amp; performances. 

About Stories, Blue himself said "if you listen to the record &amp; say, 'god, what a downer,' then I've succeeded in doing exactly what I wanted to do." Recorded with Blue's foil, guitarist Bob Rafkin, and an A-list ensemble of LA session musicians that includes among others Ry Cooder, Rita Coolidge, Chris Ethridge, &amp; Russ Kunkel, engineered by Henry Lewy (Blue, Gilded Palace of Sin) with string arrangements by Jack Nitzsche, Stories is the one true masterpiece of David Blue's short life (Blue died age 42 from a heart-attack while jogging in Washington Square Park). Aficionados of the "stoners&amp;loners" genre have slept on Stories, whose finest moments foreshadow dark classics from later in the decade such as Gene Clark's No Other, Neil Young's Ditch Trilogy &amp; Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blue, spirit albums in which the artists' torments are transfigured into high art through bummer song. Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio remastered the music from the original tapes &amp; cut the lacquers. Pressed on premium audiophile 120 gram vinyl at RTI, Stories is presented in a retro flipback jacket with a 12x12 hand screenprinted (in peacock blue ink) insert by Alan Sherry / Siwa that reproduces in-full Leonard Cohen's 1982 eulogy for David Blue.

Stories

Music GB