Newsgroups: bit.listserv.allmusic
Date:         Tue, 8 Sep 1992 08:40:00 EST
From:         gmgettie@THAMA1.APGEA.ARMY.MIL
Subject:      The Quest For Sharrock

cmv sed:

>   All excellent suggestions.  You have learned your lessons well,
>grasshoppers.  ;*)  Knowing Gary's fondness for metal, I'd probably go first
>with _Seize The Rainbow_.  But, seeing as how he also gets into new age,
>_Faith Moves_ wouldn't be a bad choice either.  Odds are, if you buy one of
>them, you eventually want more anyway.  So why not start with _S.T.R._, and
>buy _F.M._ second.

Oh, sure, that's easy for you to say. I'm sure in Texas, you can walk into
any music store and pick up a Sonny Sharrock CD. Well, it isn't that simple
here in Baltimore. Stay tuned for details...

I first tried the CD Club. I have taken advantage of the 800 number I have
found for the Columbia CD Club. I always call it to get complete listings
of certain types. I've already done it for New Age and Reggae. But, the
operator told me that Jazz was too big to send out a complete listing. She
said they do send out listings for certain artists, though. (I'm thinking,
hey this is great). Well, after I spelled "Sharrock" for her 3 times, she
informed me that they had nothing by him. She talked me into a regular Jazz
catalog, and a list of Miles Davis albums.

On a rainy Saturday, my father (who just got his first CD player) and I set out
on a CD excursion. He was looking for a collection of "The Crusaders" greatest
hits on CD; I for some Sharrock and some new Reggae. I easily picked up
_Legalize It_ by Peter Tosh, but the Sharrock would not be as easy. Much to my
father's happiness, The Crusaders just released a 3 CD compilation of their
greatest hits, so he indulged, forking out 34 big ones.

The first place I went to had _HighLife_ (?) and _Ask The Ages_ by Sharrock.
Someone tried to tease me and had _Seize The Rainbow_ marked on the little
sticker that was on the _Highlife_ CD, but I didn't fall for it.

I left this place thinking "OK, this place had Sharrock, it'll be easy to find
his stuff at another place".....WRONG!!! I went to 10 other places, 10!!!.
I went to a place called "Record Theatre" (which is a silly name since they
don't even sell any records) This is the place "that always has what the
others never have." They have a Jazz bin a quarter of a mile long and nary a
one by Sonny Sharrock, not even a Sonny Sharrock marker which let's you know
"we had his stuff but are currently out of it right now." Just to be sure,
I checked the Heavy Metal (hey, ya never know), Rock, New Age, and probably
every other bin --> no Sharrock. Hey I even looked under "Sonny" instead of
"Sharrock", thinking maybe the guy who ordered the CDs didn't know better.

It was much the same at the other 9 places. One of these places had a special
extra big Jazz room. I asked the guy here if he had any Sharrock and he
pointed me to the New Age section. What an idiot. Well, Chuck did say one of
his albums was kinda New Agey, but *still*.

Disgusted and Sharrock-less, I went back to the one and only store that did
have Sharrock and inquired as to whether I could order the CD I wanted. He
looked for _Seize The Rainbow_ in two books (one big and one small). He
informed me that _Axiom_ was the only listing by Sharrock in the small
book. (I later found out that Axiom is the label that _Ask The Ages_ is on,
hence realizing that this guy didn't know what he was looking for [Unless
Sharrock *did* do an album called _Axiom_...did he?])

He then looked in this HUGE book, that must have every album ever made since
the beginning of time in it, but (you guessed it) _Seize The Rainbow_. He
told me that album was probably out of print. After I left, I wondered why,
that if _STR_ was out of print, they had _Highlife_ mislabelled as _STR_.

BTW, I did check for Sharrock cassettes (even though I refuse to buy
cassettes) at every store -> none.

I refused to go home Sharrock-less so I bought _Ask The Ages_. I've listened
to it via the "Lee" way and I can say I like it. It is certainly different
than anything I have, but then any Jazz would be new to me, so I really
have nothing to compare it to. Sharrock does play a mean guitar, and the guy
on Sax ain't bad either.

So, Black Jacques Sharrock, tell me, is his stuff easy to pick up in Texas?
If so, that's cool, I'll be in Texas (San Antonio more specifically) at the
end of next month. Is there any chain of stores, in particular, I should
check out?

The above is a true story.
Well, I did exagerate a little about the length of the Jazz bin at "Record
Theatre."

Seeya,
Gary