Vinyl Returns But Don’t Sell Your Cd Player Just Yet

Vinyl’s making a comeback. Everyone’s putting out vinyl in addition to CDs today. People say it sounds better. The covers are better. It’s the way to go.

Yeah, yeah. When it comes down to it, we’re all voting with our pocketbooks. The outcome: We still bow to our shiny silver digital god and do whatever it tells us. CD is king.

If you weren’t already sure of this - or if you were actually believing the vinyl-comeback hype - check out the new figures from the Recording Industry Association of America.

You spent $9 billion on CDs last year. Probably most of that was on Hootie and the Blowfish. You spent just $25 million on vinyl. Probably mostly on Pearl Jam and Pavement LPs.

That breaks down to more than 65 percent of all the music being sold as full-length CDs. Vinyl was half of 1 percent. Even CD singles outdistanced vinyl LPs at 2.6 percent.

Think of it this way: Vinyl records outpaced extinct formats such as 8-tracks, 78s and Edison cylindrical records by just a half-percent.

And - surprise! - they’re charging us more for all of it. Number of units sold dropped by 1 percent last year, but the money the industry took in went up 2 percent.

Pearl Jam postpones Letterman

Pearl Jam was supposed to do a secret David Letterman appearance this month, but it got postponed; watch for something to be announced soon. Lots of confusion as to whether a new album is imminent.

Young, Crazy Horse album due

The new Neil Young and Crazy Horse album is looking like it might really come out in late June or early July. He recorded a series of tiny bar gigs he did in Northern California recently and could include a live version of Jimmy Reed’s “Baby What You Want Me to Do” on the album.

Speaking of Young, collectors have come into possession of great copies of his 1971 BBC television concert, which included then-unreleased songs such as “Heart of Gold” and “Old Man.” It’s interesting on its own, but what strikes you right away is how much the BBC in ‘71 has inspired “MTV Unplugged” in 1996, from the stage awash in blue lights to the swooping, soaring camera work.

Johnny Cash ‘Addicted to Love’

Johnny Cash has recorded 30 songs for his album, including Neil Young’s “Pocahontas” and - seriously - Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love.” All might not end up on the album, but you gotta hope those two do.