purchase [Alone Together]
Up until about 30 years ago, I had a 6-foot-long collection of 33 1/3 RPM LPs purchased between 1967 and 1978. I wasn't listening to them and my better half pushed to have them disappear: they were given away to a local radio station. All except for about 1 foot's worth.
If you know your history, 30 years ago is when the SONY Walkman appeared on the market, and the LP collection was duly re-populated with hundreds of cassettes. Slightly less space consumed, but no less unruly.
The 50 or so that I kept included original copies (well used) of classics like Sgt. Peppers, Are You Experienced, Axis: Bold As Love, Blind Faith and Clapton's first solo ...
And Dave Mason's first solo album <Alone Together>. Even if I don't actually spin them any longer these days, I would never get rid of Dave Mason's Alone Together. For the music, and for the archaeological value of the copy I have: it's the marbled vinyl version with the hang-on-the-wall cover. Not the "anniversary edition", it appears to be worth a "bit" more than I paid for it at Tower Records in downtown Philly in 1970.
Mason had gone off on his own following his on-agin/off-again stint with Traffic, and all songs on the album were written by him. Apparently part of his frictions with Traffic stem from writing material that he wanted the band to perform/conform. Out on his own, he became free to do his thing his way.
There are critics that weren't altogether impressed ("more potential than realization" and "trivial lyrics"). Over his later career, I wouldn't argue with the trivial lyrics argument, but I have always felt that the album's sequence - from start to end - worked well as a "whole". Even today, there aren't any songs that I would skip over/fast forward to the next in line. That makes it a bit tough to pick the one that best suits our "Alone" theme. Let's try these 3 (selected lyrics that seem to me to highlight <alone>):
Cant Stop Worrying:
Who am I talking to it's just myself
Waitin on You:
Well there's no one that I can believe no, no
It's all because I couldn't see
That the best friend that I have is me
Look At You, Look At Me:
But I'm happy just to be a part of all I see
