“I spent quite a bit of time thinking about what I wanted to say in this article.”
“I’m embarrassed to say that my introduction to vinyl was less than romantic. If I remember correctly, the first vinyl I listened to was a compilation of Ella Fitzgerald songs. I know for certain that the record player was from Urban Outfitters. In other words, it was a piece of shit. The sound quality was terrible. I must have been 15 or 16. Now, I’ve always been a big fan of Ella. I attribute much of my vocal quality to listening to hers for so long. But when I put that record on for the first time, I wasn’t transported back in time, I wasn’t mystified by the turning of the black disc, I wasn’t thrilled. I didn’t understand the hype.”
Over the years, I fiddled around with buying records for my small collection. But I rarely chose to listen to them over my iPod. I’ve always always always been obsessed with and deeply devoted to music. My mother used to make fun of me for falling asleep with my headphones on every night. Every morning I’d ride my bike to school listening to my yellow hand radio in elementary school. I’ve gotten in trouble for listening to music at every single one of my day jobs.
Music has always been my life. Even now, I usually end every night by blasting music in my headphones while I dance. For me, I need the good mix, the high volume, and the cleanness that digital offers. I want to hear everything. I just couldn’t understand why someone would want to listen to the old and therefore lesser quality when it came to vinyl. It wasn’t until this last Christmas that my relationship with vinyl completely changed. And it’s all because of Linda Martell.
My boyfriend had introduced me to Linda about a year ago. I’ve been very into ’60s folk for the past 2 years and when my he showed me Linda, I was instantly in love. Let me explain her sound first. Her musicality, so effortless and delicate. The tone of her voice is incredibly impressive. She has a lovely little twang in the bass of her voice that gives us the country, but the ability she has in every section of her range cradles the listener when she sings her rich little tunes. It just feels oh so nice to play her music at night once the day has settled down and you’ve tucked in. But above all, her story is what brings tears to my eyes.
Linda Martell put out her debut album in the closing of the ’60s that earned her a hit on the country charts, something no other black female country artist had ever done. She was a sensation in her our right. A few years of incredible shows and radio hits, and her record label decided to put her on the back burner to focus more on their white artists.
Faced with clear racism, she made the decision to stand with her dignity and walk away from the label to continue her career in her own way. Certainly she could find a label that would understand and care for her at this point in her already impressive career. However, the cost of her dignity ended up being her career. She never was able to put out another record. A lost and unknown relic of the music industry. She’s now a bus driver. Oh, and that record company’s name? Plantation Records.
I decided to buy my boyfriend a 45 of Linda’s hit song, “Color Him Father” for Christmas. It was the only copy I could find online. When it arrived, I could hardly wait to listen to it. The poor record was so old that it scratched the entire time it played. But I didn’t care. Half-way through my first listen I was already in tears. I could hear the effort. I could hear the genius and artistry. I could hear the hope in her voice for this track to become a hit.
Linda Martell deserved the world. But the world wasn’t ready. Her achievements were ahead of her time. As a struggling artist myself who would give anything for my music, it breaks my heart to imagine getting everything I ever wanted only for it all to disappear so suddenly. And so cruelly. As artists, we live for the music. It’s more than a paycheck or a stream. It’s a way of living. It’s a way of breathing and dreaming.
This was the realization I had in listening to that old 45. Vinyl had finally clicked for me. Now I’m simply obsessed with the unique quality it has to offer to the ear. My current favorite is my signed copy of Yola’s Walk Through Fire. Yola, like Linda Martell, is sheer perfection and truly comes alive on vinyl.”
—Austin P. McKenzie
“Summer of Love,” the new single from Austin P. McKenzie is in stores now.
