I went to a local record fair today

 And without even looking for it or planning on it, I stumbled across my Holy Grail of vinyl records- Dave Van Ronk's Van Ronk Sings! This has been important to me ever since I heard his rendition of "Dink's Song" for the first time. (TRIVIA TIME: Oscar Isaac based his own performance of"Dink's Song" for the film Inside Llewyn Davis" on this recording.) I'll say it a million times- his voice is like a knife cutting me open. That song alone made me want the album on vinyl, but while I've discovered caches of DVR records throughout shops here and there, I never could find this one, and doubted it would even be in a playable condition if I did. I resigned myself to waiting a few years for Smithsonian Folkways to reissue the album- and then, lo and behold, I found it at a vendor at the record fair, and it is PRISTINE! Sounds amazing on vinyl and well-worth the wait.

I also picked up Joni Mitchell's first album, Song to a Seagull, though I haven't listened to it yet. One of the tracks is called "Marcie." I only know this song from Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau's cover of it, but while I've been listening to their collaborative album for months, it wasn't until a few weeks ago that I looked the song up and discovered that Joni had written it. I thought it was a Leonard Cohen or Randy Newman song- not sure why I thought that. (SIDE NOTE: for a while, I thought their album consisted of only covers, until I found out that the songs "Noise Machine" and "Shade Tree" were written by Chris Thile- and go figure, they both happen to be my favorite tracks on the album.)

Lastly, I also got Tim Buckley's album Goodbye and Hello, and it was the only album my father and I listened to together after attending the record fair. He proclaimed it "excellent," and it hit me right in the heart. After listening to it and then driving home,I felt as if I were full of emotions, and I needed a needle to prick me and let the emotions flow out, like stabbing a water balloon. Tim Buckley's voice doesn't have the same effect on me as Dave Van Ronk's, but it is a beautiful, passionate voice and I admire that. I'm not sure I admire Buckley as a person, though, given that I am foremost a fan of his son, Jeff Buckley, and while "I Never Asked to Be Your Mountain" is my favorite of Tim's songs, I can't help but think of how shameful that song is, knowing he wrote it to explain why he about abandoned his wife and child. He shows no regret and I feel uncomfortable about that. 

We also listened to one of my father's picks, A Passion Play by Jethro Tull, some of which I found silly but most of which was awesome. It has been a good day for indulging in my favorite pastime.