Johnny Jenkins – Ton-Ton Macoute!

Nice heavy cardboard gatefold , the way it ought to be. Poly liner. Chunky vinyl that's clean and flat with good sound. The one drawback? Mastered low. Unless I find an OG in the wild, I'll be happy with this one.

The second greatest version of"Gilded Splinters", after Cher's.

Excellent album but the sound on thie release is really bad compared to an original LP.

I just learned this is where Beck got the drums for 'Loser'.

The instrumentation is great (hell, it's got members of the Allman Brothers included!), and so are the arrangements. Good selection of tracks as well. This is one of the more interesting one-offs to come out of the 1970s, from a guy who dressed like Jimi Hendrix (or did Jimi dress like him?) and wanted to sound like Taj Mahal. I just don't think Jenkins has the vocal chops for it. His voice sort of peaks out a lot, which isn't the best quality when you want to sing in a heart-wrenching soul style. But for the most part, he's able to at least carry the songs. Unfortunately, he gave up on music early on and waited almost 30 years before recording again.

Right off the bat you'll notice that the packaging is top notch with it's very sturdy gatefold tip on jacket and an anti static inner sleeve. For a 4MWB pressing the quality is actually pretty damn good as well. No pops, clicks or noise fill anywhere in sight believe it or not. The instrumentals are punchy and dynamic both in the highs and lows (Duane Allman sounds killer). You may have to turn the volume up just a little to really make it pop but nothing major. I don't own an original but the vocals appeared to be a little low in the mix on my copy. Again though, it wasn't bad enough to be a real problem as I could still understand every word. I'd actually recommend this pressing to you guys.

...and, here's where Beck got his drum sample on "Loser" from.

On my CD (Capricorn Records ‎– 314 536 106-2 version), there is a problem on the last track (My Love Will Never Die). The music stop suddenly at 4'58. The player seems to read correctly the CD (the player keeps counting the time) but the end of the track seems empty. I got two others CD (same reissue) and the prolem is the same. I finally found the Acadia reissue and it's ok with it.