Webmasters: Discography collaboration?

Parrot Monkey · Post by **Parrot Monkey** » November 14, 2004 9:19 am

OK, here’s the deal, I created this (http://www.geocities.com/parrotmonkey87/discography.htm) very small JB site on a Yahoo! Geocities free account and I’m sure many here have used Geocities and can relate to the trouble that it gives you. Well, for free, I suppose I have no right whatsoever to complain.

Anyway, the site is a discography site that I was inspired to do when I came across this layout on a Beatles discography site (http://www.jpgr.co.uk/pcs3075.html). Awhile ago I posted a link when I barely had anything done with it, but since then I have added full pages for YHTBT, BBB&B and LTC.

What it did first was took the scans of all the front covers from walmart.com (their images are the best resolution), took the available scans from Buffett World (thanks AMC and Bamafan, I really hope you guys don’t mind), fixed up the color, sharpened the blurry spots on those that needed it and then resized them.
For the images that were not available on Buffett World (the later CDs) I scanned them myself so they could be included. As you can see, I have a page already made for the majority of the albums, but only a few are complete with all the notes and track listings.

My first problem comes in here. I don’t own any of the vinyl records, as I have no luck in any used record shops of threft stores I go to. I can get some of the information by zooming in on some of the images on Buffett World and the liner notes on Margaritaville.com, but if that’s not possible I’m really out of options on being able to include the complete liner notes. The second problem is of course, the webspace. All I have to do is click on each of my pages once in an hour and it will deactivate the entire site for that hour. Huge pain and annoyance after you’ve worked hard for a long period of time typing out liner notes.

I’m kindly asking if there are any webmasters of JB sites here that would like such a discography to be added to their site. The “hard” parts are pretty much done, but there’s still a lot of tedious typing to go, but I believe it will be worth it when finished. I will be happy to collaborate and to incorporate my work into your site. BTW, I code all my stuff in HTML, as I prefer hand coding to using programs such as FrontPage and the Geocities program.

P.S., yes I do fear that posting a link will lead to a bandwidth overload after many people being to click on it. I’m crossing my fingers that the right people (webmasters) will be able to see it.

Also, be sure you close that darn ad on the right of the screen, as unless you have your display on a high resolution, you won’t see the pages the way intended.

Thanks.

Gumbo · Post by **Gumbo** » November 14, 2004 4:18 pm

Nice Work!

Bamafan · Post by **Bamafan** » November 14, 2004 4:52 pm

I have a awsome discography done with liner notes from every album but it's just never been added to the main ************ site. To be honest, i've just never really been pleased with it and i always thought it was a mess. I've been thinking about re-doing it for the last week, just never got started on it. If you wanna see a sample, go Here

sonofabeach · Post by **sonofabeach** » November 14, 2004 4:55 pm

Looks great PM!
I had not seen the artwork on a couple of them albums until just now.

Parrot Monkey · Post by **Parrot Monkey** » November 14, 2004 5:24 pm

Bamafan wrote:I have a awsome discography done with liner notes from every album but it's just never been added to the main ************ site. To be honest, i've just never really been pleased with it and i always thought it was a mess. I've been thinking about re-doing it for the last week, just never got started on it. If you wanna see a sample, go Here

I think it looks good and provides a good collection of information, especially the unreleased demo list. How many albums do you have done? Don’t loose confidence in the project, typing out liner notes is a tedious think to do, but I think it’s worth it, as it will be a great bank of information (especially for the people who only have the CDs) when it’s finished.

With the nature the CDs were released in with such a lack of packaging replication, JB’s catalogue cries out for databanks of discography information to be available.

conched · Post by **conched** » November 14, 2004 7:35 pm

Here's something for you to copy and paste or format for Havana Daydreamin

Liner notes from gatefold of Havana Daydreamin' ABCD-914

Here I am at album four. There are still blue skies on the cover and a few more "character" lines around the eyes. Crustacean fascinations are now Havana Daydreams, and the white suit and the parakeet are still waiting for that future date when we really sail away to Martinique.
There are now real Coral Reefers that have replaced the ficticious characters I used to employ. (Farewell Marvin Gardens and Company.) The band had its embryonic origin in a claustrophobic dressing room in Raleigh, North Carolina. Surrounded on three sides by appreciative but fanatic fans who wouldn't let us out, I turned to Roger, (the mono-Reefer then), and calmly screamed, "I can't do this s*** much longer. If I don't get a band, I'll go crazy."
The band has come and is a welcome addition to the "Coral Reefer Madness." In all, I am happy with what I am doing, where I am living, and who I am loving. Tonight I'm Havana Daydreamin', tomorrow who knows?
Jimmy Buffett
November '75
Key West, Florida

Set One
Woman Goin' Crazy on Caroline Street 4:08
My Head Hurts, My Feet Stink And I Don't Love Jesus 2:35
The Captain And The Kid 3:16
Big Rig 3:30
Defying Gravity 2:41

Set Two
Havana Daydreamin' 3:38
Cliches 2:45
Something So Feminine About A Mandolin 3:32
Kick It In Second Wind 3:56
This Hotel Room3:07

THE CORAL REEFER BAND
Jimmy Buffett: Guitar and Vocals
Roger Bartlett: Lead Guitar
Greg "Fingers" Taylor: Harmonica, Piano
Harry Dailey: Bass
Phillip Fajardo: Drums

FRIENDS AND HONORARY CORAL REEFERS
Jerry McGee: Guitar
Joe Osborne: Bass
Mike Utley: Piano
Doyle Grisham: Pedal Steel
Sammy Creason: Drums
Johnny Gimble: Fiddle
Ferrel Morris: Percussion
Steve Goodman: Guitar (Appears courtesy of Asylum Records)
Background Vocals: Don Gant, Buzz Cason, Bergen White,
Ginger Hollady and Anita Ball
The Oak Ridge Boys appear courtesy of Columbia Records, Inc.)

Horns on "Big Rig" by the Muscle Shoals
Arranged by Harrison Calloway, Jr
Strings arranged by Bergen White
Engineered by Chip Young and Brent Meaher
Recorded at Youngun Sound
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
and Creative Workshop
Berry Hill, Tennessee

Art Direction: Tom Wilkes
Designer: Martin Donald
Cover Illustration: David Jarvis
Interior Photography: Jane Slagsvol

Produced by Don Gant
Personal Management: Don Light

Dedicated to the memory of
my grandfather, Captain James Delaney Buffett,
the better half of the Captain and the kid
whose picture appears in the album.

Parrot Monkey · Post by **Parrot Monkey** » November 14, 2004 8:38 pm

conched wrote:Dedicated to the memory of
my grandfather, Captain James Delaney Buffett,
the better half of the Captain and the kid
whose picture appears in the album.

This here is what really sickens me most about that Compact Price bull. I apologize in advance for sounding like a broken record, but I just have to stop in say shame on the individual(s) at MCA who had the "bright" idea of the CDCP series. I can't believe Jimmy never got riled up about that whole issue. You would have thought it would have hit a mark in Jimmy's heart that an album that was once dedicated to his grandfather, probably the biggest inspiration on his life, suddenly turned into a near faceless product for MCA. I don’t care if the album art isn’t what we buy the discs for. I don’t care if we solely buy them for the music. The graphics and documentation is important no matter what in the package is driving me to trade in my cash for it. I’m currently in a Programming Theory class at my high school, and the teacher can’t stress enough on how important documentation is on any piece of media, whether it be a piece of software, a video game or a recording of any kind. There needs to be paperwork included that advises the user on what the data encoded in the disc or tape is all about. It’s one thing for a piece of media not to include documentation in the first place (it would then be the original creator’s fault), but to just thoughtlessly remove all the printed material upon reissue and replace it with commercial ads that could be placed in hundreds of other areas is so low in makes me want to puke, no exaggeration.

I really wish that Universal and the majority of the Buffett phans and PHs out there would discontinue the apathy they have towards album documentation. I really don’t intend to offend anyone here and I deeply apologize if I do, but come on. People care about seeing pictures of JB, people care about reading about JB, and they want to hear the music. With those facts, I fail to understand why so many don't care about the pictures and text that come WITH the music. I don’t get it why people don’t want to fight the CDCP series because the information and graphics “won’t fit” in CD inserts when there are an uncountable amount of CD issues of vinyl originating albums on the shelve as we speak that just happen to have everything the artist, art directors and note writers put there back in the day. Sure there were gatefold images in many of those albums. Do you know what do with those? They print them somewhere inside the booklet. The centerfold works fine for the job. Sure there are those huge images that were printed on the inner sleeves. You know what they did with those? They shrinked them down a few sizes and placed them on a page or the back cover of the booklet. Sure, some albums have all the lyrics printed on the back cover. Do they simply shrink the lyrics down to a horrible below 2-point font size so it’s unreadable to the human eye? No, they simply “adapt” the album art to a smaller package and reprint it all inside the handy booklet. Sure the material isn’t the same as it was back in the day, but it’s still there and satisfies me. While to most the absence of album art and documentation in CD packages is just a trivial issue that you get over, to me it’s a serious act of disrespect and a kick in the face to the artist who worked their tales off crafting and performing the albums.

Yes, I do realize I sound like a broken record and a apologize again, but reading Jimmy’s dedication just made my heart sink and threw me on my soapbox.

Anyway, I thank you very much for taking the time to type out those notes Conched. I will apply them to the site when time permits. And no, you did not open a “can of worms”. The rambling is entirely my doing and my choice.

Bamafan · Post by **Bamafan** » November 14, 2004 11:45 pm

Parrot Monkey wrote:
Bamafan wrote:I have a awsome discography done with liner notes from every album but it's just never been added to the main ************ site. To be honest, i've just never really been pleased with it and i always thought it was a mess. I've been thinking about re-doing it for the last week, just never got started on it. If you wanna see a sample, go Here
I think it looks good and provides a good collection of information, especially the unreleased demo list. How many albums do you have done? Don’t loose confidence in the project, typing out liner notes is a tedious think to do, but I think it’s worth it, as it will be a great bank of information (especially for the people who only have the CDs) when it’s finished.

With the nature the CDs were released in with such a lack of packaging replication, JB’s catalogue cries out for databanks of discography information to be available.

I have every album done from Down to Earth to Live in Mansfield. I need to do Live in Hawaii and License to Chill, but Live in Hawaii has no liner notes and LTC has very few. I'll talk to Josh about maybe adding to the site.

conched · Post by **conched** » November 15, 2004 4:49 pm

Do you have this photo from the poster/lyrics insert for Livin and Dyin?

Parrot Monkey · Post by **Parrot Monkey** » November 15, 2004 9:10 pm

conched wrote:Do you have this photo from the poster/lyrics insert for Livin and Dyin?

You mean the b/w one where he's shirtless in his totaled boat? I've seen a of picture of it from Cartmill's collection, but no one has scanned it yet.

conched · Post by **conched** » November 15, 2004 10:25 pm

Here's that photo

I have removed the photo...poof!

Parrot Monkey · Post by **Parrot Monkey** » November 16, 2004 5:31 pm

That's good scanning work, but what you have to do to get an image of an entire section from a vinyl package is to scan it several times and then combine those seperate images.

Bamafan · Post by **Bamafan** » November 16, 2004 7:23 pm

My discography pages are now up, click Here to see them

conched · Post by **conched** » November 16, 2004 7:26 pm

Parrot Monkey wrote:That's good scanning work, but what you have to do to get an image of an entire section from a vinyl package is to scan it several times and then combine those seperate images.

Sounds like it would look bad...I know I can't piece it all together right.

Parrot Monkey · Post by **Parrot Monkey** » November 17, 2004 5:08 pm

Bamafan wrote:My discography pages are now up, click Here to see them

Very good, you typed out quite a load of information there. Realize that the majority of that material you typed has been non-existent since the original vinyls went out-of-print all those years ago. Thanks for digging it all out of the archives, Bamafan. Since I don’t own any vinyl records, I myself was oblivious to the majority of those liner notes. I hope many people that only own the CDs get around to stopping by your site and reading all the notes on BW for all the albums they own on CD. Jimmy went above and beyond with writing liner notes on all his albums so the listener would be well informed, and well, I pretty much covered everything I wanted to say in my long post above. The oblivion on all those liner notes and graphics needs to end. Say I’m obsessed, I don’t care. There’s way too much lost material there to be obsessed in my opinion.

It boggles me on how Jimmy can just let this slide. I mean, put yourself in Jimmy’s shoes. You dedicate an album to your late grandfather, you dedicate an album to your wife and daughter etc. and suddenly those dedications (as well as many other things in those recordings) are senselessly erased with a format re-issue. How, just how could you possibly not care? I really wish I could get a letter or e-mail message directly to Jimmy, but the closest thing (Margaritaville.com and Mailboat.com) just keep telling me it’s out of their hands. Sure, they, as record companies they can’t tell the owners, Universal what to do, but I’m sure the artist who created the recordings all those years ago could do something.

Shumpy · Post by **Shumpy** » November 17, 2004 6:43 pm

Parrot Monkey that is a great collection you've got working there.
I'll have to see what I can do to contribute.

Parrot Monkey · Post by **Parrot Monkey** » November 17, 2004 6:50 pm

Shumpy wrote:Parrot Monkey that is a great collection you've got working there.
I'll have to see what I can do to contribute.

Thanks. If we can't get the CDs re-issued, making all the info avalible online is the next best thing.

conched wrote:Sounds like it would look bad...I know I can't piece it all together right.

You don't have to do the image editing work. If you can just get a colllection of image pieces, I could do the rest.

Parrot Monkey · Post by **Parrot Monkey** » November 17, 2004 7:08 pm

It may sound strange, but I would also like scans of the package parts that just have text on them also. Even if no eye candy is there (picture or art), I believe it all should be there for completeness (that's what the Beatles Discography site does).

My mission is to create a Buffett discography site that looks similar to this one which is for the Beatles and their solo careers: http://www.jpgr.co.uk/i_beatleslp_date.html

I believe if we collect and combine all the information from my site, Buffett World, COBO, Margartiaville.com as well as all the generous help BNers are willing to give, we can make one heck of a Buffett Discography site that will look very similar to those Beatles pages in the end.

It may take awhile to complete, but it’s a long term goal of mine. I would make a great group effort.

springparrot · Post by **springparrot** » November 17, 2004 7:10 pm

You know what vinyl I have...let me know if I can help.

Parrot Monkey · Post by **Parrot Monkey** » November 17, 2004 7:22 pm

springparrot wrote:You know what vinyl I have...let me know if I can help.

Let's see... According to your PM image, you have:

Volcano:
Images: Pics of front and back of the sleeve.

CILCIA:
Images: Pics of both sides of the inner sleeve.

Coconut Telegraph:
Images: Everything inside.

Living and Dying in ¾ Time:
Images: Inside fold out.

SYKBH:
Images: All inner stuff.

Floridays:
Images: Front and Back of the insert.
Text: Everything on image side of the insert.

YHTBT:
Hmmm… Looks like yours is the reissue, seeing that it has the gold sticker on the front. I need scans of the inner sleeve photos, but unfortunately yours doesn’t have them.

A-1-A:
All set here.

Riddles in the Sand:
Images: Scans both sides of the inner sleeves.

AWSCAPC:
Image: Scan of back cover.

OPH:
Images: Scans of each part of the insert. (front, back, inside)

SOC:
All set here.

Yes, it’s a lot, but you seem willing and I appreciate it. I do understand the size difference between album packaging and the image area on scanners. You can try what I instructed to Conched above with the pieces. If it’s not possible (or a pain to do), don’t worry about it.

I thank you very much for your dedication.