Return to Vinyls podcast is about music: jazz, soul and the blues. From the classics era to today's artists who draw inspiration from the classics. It is also about the creative process and how artists deal with the obstacles that can get in the way of doing what they do best. Give us a listen.

It is not unusual for a song to come out and basically be ignored, but then it is plucked from obscurity and used in a movie or TV show. And all of the sudden it is everywhere. Downloads or streaming make that a pretty easy task. But what about back in the days when vinyl was the only choice?

What if Clint Eastwood, known for his great fondness for jazz, took one of those now forgotten songs two years later and used it in a feature film. That is exactly what happened with Roberta Flack’s "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and Eastwood’s directorial debut, the 1971 film "Play Misty for Me." The song became a number 1 hit and achieved the remarkable feat of becoming the Billboard Year-End top selling single of 1972. Something no sleeper hit had done before or since.

"Roberta Flack First Takes" has been released in a new mastering and pressing. Add to that her demo recordings made before that album, called "Roberta Flack Lost Takes." Together they show a star rising from the unknown and lighting up the music world. Both are now available on 180 gram vinyl and the music is amazing.

Miles Davis was a true jazz lovers — jazz musician. Well, if the criteria is that he was never very popular with mainstream music buyers. Unlike other jazz greats like Louis Armstrong, Stan Getz, Dave Brubeck and Cannonball Adderley, Miles Davis never had a hit record in spite of releasing 57 singles. He had just a few albums that charted in the top 100. So no, Miles Davis never crossed over into popular music circles.
Supposedly, you have to really know something about jazz to understand his music. Which is too bad because he did record a whole heck of a lot of accessible music. And he did create the best selling jazz album of all times. Sure there are all these categories when looking at Miles: Bebop, Cool Jazz, Hard Bop / Post Bop, Modal jazz, Jazz Rock / Fusion and orchestral / third wave music. But in the end they are just names. What matters is the music. And Miles Davis produced some truly great music. And amongst the best of the best is Kind of Blue, that five times platinum album.