12/9/14 - LA

Was woken up at 7:45 by a 'phone call from the Virgin rep, so had less than six rather fitful hours' sleep. I had a moan about Alamo, but then she did give me some useful information about how best to get to Hollywood which I used later in the day. So I was actually glad of the call.

I unpacked, had breakfast (expensive but very good), made a 'phone call, and sorted myself out for the day. I drove to Atlantic Station in East LA, where there's free parking and a Metro Line into Downtown LA. I caught the train at about 13:00, changed at Union Station, and reached the stop at Hollywood and Vine at 14:00. From there it was straight to Amoeba Records, where I bought a few really great CDs including new ones from Robyn Hitchcock and Ty Segall, a Johnny Winter live recording, the New York Dolls second album, and a couple of Martin Newell remastered compilations which I was delighted to find since I only have that material on poor-quality cassette copies. I only got the Newell CDs because they were playing them in the shop. Had a brief chat with the guy on the Info counter about Martin Newell, Ty Segall, and other little-known but brilliant artists. It's always nice to come across other people who share my sometimes obscure tastes. 

I got back to the car park at about 16:00, but then it took me 90 mins due to the traffic on I-5 to drive to the hotel. Never mind - I was enjoying the Grateful Dead CD I bought yesterday. It's a magical performance from 1972 which is when the group were at the full height of their improvisatory powers, plus the songs from that period are their strongest. So that kept me happy all the way to Anaheim. I'm now totally shattered and will be having an early night after a few iced beers and a light supper.