patricia

I believe you're referring to the experiment done at Stanford in which ordinary students were part of an experiment in human behaviour in which they were randomly divided into guards and prisoners. Within a very, very short time the experiment had to be discontinued because the participants had so embraced their roles that the safety of the "prisoners" was feared. This is a very well-known experiment, which is why I'm puzzled as to how anyone is surprised at the behaviour of guards at Abu Ghraib and similar American detention centres recently. At Abu Ghraib, guards who had not that long before held jobs at places like KFC in the U.S. suddenly had people's lives in their hands. The results were predictable. As for the normalcy of their lives otherwise, some who have spoken to journalists since they returned to the U.S. have only now begun to feel anything like remourse, and not all of them do. Normal is a very flexible condition. Whatever is happening as part of one's everyday routine becomes normal. You might want to look for "The Good Old Days - The Holocaust As Seen By It's Perpetrators and Bystanders" edited by Ernest Klee, Willi Dresson and Voelker Rees. It is a collection of fond memories of the personnel who ran the concentration camp, Treblinka. If anything, it reads like a memoir from summer camp, rather than a chronicle of evil. That's what's so horrifying about it.

Metronome All Stars - compilation of everyone from Harry James to Sinatra and June Christy and Charlie Christian, as well as a host, as they say, of others. - Harmony label.

Easy - Nancy Wilson - Capitol label. Nancy with Jimmy Jones' orchestra. The whole album has a romantic feeling which takes full advantage of Wilson's great voice. Nice.

Boys And Girls - Bryan Ferry - WB label

My Man - Walter Gates and his Orchestra - Swan label. The very first track is "Some Of These Days" and it always lifts my spirits. That and rest of the album is reminiscent of David Rose's "The Stripper." Love it!!

Damn good job they haven't decreed sleeve notes in Welsh and English here! MG

So, Chewy, short answer is no, you can't repair scratches on vinyl records. The reason that we vinyl freaks are so careful when we handle our records and become incensed when family or friends don't handle them with respect is that you can't repair scratches. Dirt can be cleaned. But scratches and warping [record was exposed to excessive heat] are death. Sorry.

Easing into the day with Blue Mist - Sam [the man] Taylor, his orchestra and chorus - one of the nicest tenor-sax records of the period, - on the MGM label - cleverly "electronically re-recorded to simulate stereo." This album has a very nice interpretation of one of my favourites, "Harlem Nocturne" on it. The cover notes are in two columns, one side in English and the opposite side in French. That's mandated here now, but it was unusual years ago.

Night Rider - Oscar Peterson and Count Basie - Pablo label - One of my most favourites. Then Bill Doggett's Soft on the King label. Nice.

This Is The Big Band Era - Various - RCA 2 record set. I quite often recommend collections like this to my young friends who know I love jazz and ask where they should start. By buying a compilation, or two, they are able to sample a clutch of artists, letting some of them make enough of an impression that someone with a budding interest in jazz has somewhere to start. This collection has a range of 20 tracks, from Benny Moten's Kansas City Orchestra, playing "South" in 1928 to Larry Clinton and his Orchestra playing "Study In Brown" in 1956. It's a virtual jazz buffet.

Heaven help me, I bought this today, and I've never seen an episode all the way through in my life. I'll see your "Friends" and raise you "Mad About You", the first season [the best] and the Collection, which is the best, according to those who compiled the collection. Still love this series. It crashed and burned when they introduced a baby into the mix. No offence to babies in general. Hurl gentle abuse on me if you wish, for being shallow. However, I think I can redeem myself by having had the complete "Danger, UXB" [a British series on VHS about bomb disposal in the UK and "The News Room", the best series about T.V. news people for years and still watching them.

Muggsy Spanier and his Dixieland Band - EmArcy label - 10" LP. This is one of my favourite records, starting with the first track, "Lazy Piano Man", right through to the end.

OK. A bit of embarrassing trivia. I mentioned earlier that I was listening to An American In Spain. Well, apart from putting it on when an uncontrollable urge strikes me to do a workmanlike flamenco, I had never read the liner notes. They are the predictable praise for the collection, but I never noticed that they were written by Jose Ferrer!! Damn!!! And, if that weren't enough, and God knows it should be. I watch re-runs of "Crossing Jorden" every day because his son Miguel is among the cast. Not amazing, but hey, how many things are? Now I am listening to Ellis In Wonderland - Ray Ellis - Columbia label. Good background for doing the pile of paperwork that never gets smaller. Apparently this record is best when played on a Columbia phonograph. These Columbia folks are not shy about promoting their related product.

Indeed. Brook Benton did have a great voice. Sadly, by the time he died he was almost forgotten, even by those who heard him in his prime. Interestingly, although the instrumental version of "Walk On The Wild Side" by Elmer Bernstein was used in the film by the same name, Brook Benton appeared in the film, singing in a scene in the brothel. His vocal version was played in it's complete version while the credits ran at the end. That was made me buy the album for the first time, after I had seen that film and loved the soundtrack. Not only did I find another copy of the album. I also bought the film on DVD which was the first time I realized that Benton appeared in it, although briefly. Odd what we remember, and what we don't. ................................. Spinning now, An American In Spain - Peter Evans [El Rubio de California] An album of fairly familiar flamenco guitar tracks. Not bad.

One of my favourite albums of all time is playing as I type this. It's "Brook Benton - Golden Hits Vol 2" Mercury label. mono. I looked for this replacement for a record that held a place of honour in my teenage collection. Found it after years of searching. One of the great voices of the '60s.

The Unpredictable Jimmy Smith - Verve label - mono. This has my favourite version of Walk On The Wild Side on it, backed by a great Big Band. I love Elmer Bernstein's [which is the one which was on the Laurence Harvey/Barbara Stanwick film of the same name], but this is pleasurable. Side 1's tracks are all backed by the big band. Side 2's are with his trio, Jimmy Warren on guitar and Don Bailey on drums. Nice album.

Easy Does It - Jackie Davis Quartet - Warner Bros. label The quartet consists of Davis on the Hammond, Barney Kessel on guitar, Earl Palmer on drums and Joe Comfort on bass. Side I 'round Midnight Blues In the Night, Sleepy Time Gal Five Minutes More, Lonely Wine, Night Train Side II If I Could Be With You Midnight Sun In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning Easy Does It One For My Baby St Louis Blues [my favourite] Very relaxing.

Jack Teagarden - Pee Wee Russell - Archive of Jazz Vol 16 - BYG label. Cover notes in French, Alain Gerber. Side 1 is Jack Teagarden's Big Eight which includes an excellent version of one of my favourites, "St James Infirmary. Side 2 is Pee Wee Russell's Rhythm Makers and it has a very nice take on another of my favourites, "There'll Be Some Changes Made." Pee Wee and "T". A two-fer. Love it.

The Boss - Jimmy Smith - Verve label Recorded live at Paschal's La Carousel in Atlanta Ga. I love Smith's live albums because of the energy in the room. Great! Earlier, The Ray Charles Story - Vol. I recorded in 1962 - Atlantic label.

Leonard Feather's Encyclopedia of Jazz of the '60s Vol. 3. Voices; Traditional and Modern Mavis Rivers, Irma Curry, Juanita Hall, Bill Henderson, Lightnin' Hopkins, Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, Sarah Vaughan, Joe Williams, Dinah Washington, Jimmy Witherspoon, Ann Richards and Brownie McGhee. I don't listen to a lot of vocals, but this is an exceptional collection. Following it up with Feather's Jazz in the '70s, since I'm on a roll. 2 record set.

Cozy Cole and his All-Stars - Featuring Red Norvo, Don Byas and Clyde Hart. - Plymouth Hi Fi label. No track list or personnel list on the cover. Just a very nice black and white candid shot of the Cozy man himself.

"Bird" Is Free - Charlie Parker- Esquire label- Charlie Parker records Recorded live at a concert-dance in New York City, "presumably" in 1950 or 1951. Personnel: "probably" Barney Kessel on guitar Walter Bishop on piano Teddy Kotick on bass Max Roach on drums Cover notes by Ronald Atkins. Track list: Rocker Laura Sly Mongoose Moose the Mooch Star Eyes This Time The Dream's On Me Cool Blues My Little Suede Shoes Lester Leaps In

Do you find that you often have a backlog of LPs that you've snapped up and haven't had time to actually listen to them? I blush to admit that I do. Now: Bernstein plays Brubeck Plays Bernstein - The New York Philharmonic with the Dave Brubeck Quartet conducted by Leonard Bernstein. "Dialogues for Jazz Combo and Orchestra" by Howard Brubeck. This is a much more interesting collection than I thought it would be.

The Best of Dinah Washington - Roulette label The lady could sing!!

The Most - Volumes I and IV. The other two [Volumes II and III] are on CDs cut for me by a friend from his vinyl, so don't belong on this thread. Fabulous compilations on the Roulette label. Birdland series.