Tuesday, August 30, 2011

LET IT HANG OUT BABY


How do you know when a song is a good one? When you hear multiple versions and none of them suck. "Sookie Sookie" is like that. Really, is it me or is that song impossible to fuck up? Written by Don Covay in 1965, the first version I heard was by Steppenwolf, one that sounded like there was some sorta vulcan mind meld between Steppenwolf guitarist Michael Monarch and the MGs' Steve Cropper. Same could be said about the organ. It's soul music for heads. There's something about that song, maybe the funkiness of it, or the repetitive simplicity of the underlying groove. Regardless, back when I DJ'd, even the Steppenwolf version (that still manages to sound like Steppenwolf), would occasionally incite movements surpassing too-cool-for-school head nodding.



~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Ricardo Ray - Sookie Sookie mp3 at Funky 16 Corners
Tina Britt - Sookie Sookie mp3 at 45 Blog
The Ascots - Sookie Sookie mp3 at Iron Leg
Grant Green - Sookie Sookie mp3 at La Detente Generale
Orchestre African Fiesta mp3 at Voodoo Funk
Steppenwolf - Sookie Sookie at 4Shared (Click on blue "Download Now" button, and wait about fifteen seconds.)
Don Covay - Sookie Sookie (streaming) at So Many Records, So Little Time
Watch:
Steppenwolf - Sookie Sookie at YouTube This one looks like it's from Playboy After Dark. I like it when, halfway through the song, it's like someone turned on the "dance like a freak" switch.

Monday, August 29, 2011

LET ME HEAR YOU WHIP IT!


This one goes out to the Mystery Suggester, to whom I owe many debts, boss music notwithstanding. The latest thing I owe her for is for helping bury Die Antwoord in the Boss Ten, that little gadget on the top left of this page. It's automatically generated, so you can imagine my dismay at the presence of one random hip hoppish band that I wrote about months ago overstaying their welcome. The Mystery Suggester's two post suggestions, even with scant background info, managed to climb the chart, and as of this writing are at #1 and #3. Before I go any further, I should point out that, as there are no ads on this blog, I'm not all that concerned with hits. That is, unless it can bury said post for good, and give a tenth band, more representative of this whole shebang, a crack. I've been tempted to delete that post, just because it bugs me so much, but that would set a precedent, and pretty soon I'd be deleting posts all over the place. One more thing to add about the Boss 10. Have I told you visitors lately how proud I am of you, and the fact that you all seem to have well varied tastes? It makes me feel about as warm and fuzzy as I can handle, when I see reggae, rockabilly, punk rock, soul, surf, oddballs and what not, all mixed together like some sort of salad bowl of salaciousness. You guys rule. Every time I see a fat ass surge in hits from some tiny country, I just imagine someone running into this blog and devouring a bunch of the older posts. It makes me feel like this is all worthwhile. And Denmark, you especially rule (yes, I noticed). I've been meaning to dedicate a post to you, but I've got no idea where to find hot shit Danish sounds. I need a Danish Mystery Suggester.

Update 9/2/11 : Fuggit. Moved the Die Antwoord post to draft status. I'm sick of seeing them every time I go to the home page.

About the song below: it's another humdinger that has half the internet baffled. But it's my kinda stuff, and if I know the Mystery Suggester, she may well dig it too.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Pancho Villa and the Bandits - Ain't That Bad mp3 at Hell's Belles

Sunday, August 28, 2011

TAKIN' ONE FOR THE TEAM


My friend Ray, otherwise known as "the guy who always finds cool shit on YouTube," is at it again. This time with a clip from Jazz On A Summer Day, a documentary of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. The clip is of Chuck Berry, playing "Sweet Little Sixteen," with a back up band of jazz musicians (among them, Jack Teagarden, Buck Clayton and Jo Jones, if the comments on YouTube are correct). When you consider that rock n' roll had not quite fully reached critical mass, that it was a jazz event, and Chuck Berry's habit of playing with pick-up bands, it's not all that strange, in theory.



While Berry's performance is pretty good (he was. after all, in his prime), the band's performance itself isn't really anything special, in fact it's pretty piss poor. But the dynamic is captivating. Berry, a jazz fan himself, is being backed by musicians who seem almost condescending, particularly Jo Jones, the drummer; as if rock n' roll is beneath them. The trouble is, they couldn't play rock n' roll. Even Jazz.com's Alan Kurtz, whose loyalties one would assume are with jazz musicians, wrote "Onstage, the Rock 'n' Roller was accompanied, more or less, by a pickup group of Swing Era jazzmen who mostly stood around with thumbs up their behinds looking bewildered and patronizing." Ouch! Regardless, Berry soldiers on, even when the clarinetist tries to derail his duck walk. And it's a safe bet that the audience shared the attitude of the jazz musicians. That is, with the exception of the young cooler-than-shit couple dancing (at 2:31 in the clip). (And that woman dancing? Let's just say, move over Sparkle Moore, once that Wayback Machine is up and running, you've got competition.)



Another thing that I like about this clip is the composition of the shots and the overall feel of it. It almost looks fake because it's so high quality given the era. Some of the shots look like Robert Frank photos, which makes sense because the filmmaker was Bert Stern, a photographer, who was hell bent on making a feature film before he turned thirty. The stage lighting, particularly on Berry, adds to the surreal feel. He's lit from below and, with that cage around the microphone, you just know David Lynch stole that for the scene in Blue Velvet when Dean Stockwell lip syncs Roy Orbison's "In Dreams" using a drop light as a microphone.

Now that I've spent about an hour obsessing about a four minute clip, one more thing: check out the write up at Jazz.com about the film. It's really worth a read. And all you mp3 cherry pickers can feed your habit with a few semi-deep Berry cuts below.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Chuck Berry - Downbound Train mp3 at Clumsy and Shy
Chuck Berry - Our Little Rendezvous mp3 at Fuck Yeah Go Team
Chuck Berry - Hey Pedro mp3 at Clumsy and Shy
Chuck Berry - That's My Desire mp3 at Clumsy and Shy
Watch:
More clips from Jazz On A Summer's Day
Visit:
Chuck Berry - Official site
Jazz On A Summers Day at Jazz.com Story of the film, track by track rundown of all of the filmed performances, and a list of notable performances that weren't included in the film.
Bert Stern - Official site

Saturday, August 27, 2011

MEXICAN PSYCH THERAPY


You should know about the Dug Dug's, or as there called south of the border Los Dug Dug's. Everybody and their mother seem to be frothing over their recent reissues. My initial reaction was rather fussless, but they've begun to grow on me. If it wasn't for the damn flute. You can thank ol' Ian Anderson for that. Somewhere in the back of my head, I've always considered the flute an instrument that should be left out of rock n' roll, and it all boils down to seeing Anderson (of Jethro Tull, for you kids) in his fucking medieval get-up. That's it. Stupid prejudice as that might be, it ruined flute in rock for me. It sent the damn flute off to the Sherwood Forest. What kind of band is gnarly enough to pull off having a flute player? I'd be tempted to say that the Monks or Sonics, but the mere thought of either one of those bands with a flute in it would have me running for the bathroom. Okay, Kraftwerk did a pretty good job of disguising it in the early clip I posted yesterday, but then again, look at all the shit Florian Schneider had attached to it. Maybe that's why I'm giving Los Dug Dug's a shot. Let Los Dug Dug's be my Tull eraser.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Los Dug Dug's - Los Somos Malos mp3 at The Days of Yore
Los Dug Dug's - Cual Es Tu Nombre mp3 at Raven Sings the Blues
Los Dug Dug's - Lost In My World mp3 at The Days of Yore
LPs:
Los Dug Dug's - Los Dug Dug's (1970, via MediaFire) at Rubber Soul
Los Dug Dug's - Smog (1972, via MediaFire) at Rubber Soul
Los Dug Dug's - Cambia, Cambia (1974, via MediaFire) at Rubber Soul
Los Dug Dug's - El Loco (1975, via MediaFire) at Rubber Soul
Visit:
Los Dug Dug's at Wikipedia

Friday, August 26, 2011

KRAZY KRAUTS KUT LOOSE!


There's a whole lot I like about Kraftwerk. Number one on the list is that they practically invented a genre. But before the synthesizers and vocoders, they were lumped with the Krautrock bunch, and way back in the beginning, they made some pretty awesome noise. Beware of the Blog just posted a handful of their early videos, and as strange as it seems, the one below reminds me more of the Velvet Underground than anything else. Just a reminder, Kraftwerk weren't always the robotic wonders that we all know.



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Kraftwerk - More early videos at Beware of the Blog
Kraftwerk - Showroom Dummies at YouTube Notable because it show Kraftwerk dancing!
Proto Geek Cool - Earlier post about Kraftwerk

Thursday, August 25, 2011

PRESSING HER LUCK


The Mystery Suggester is at it again. Apparently either the dancing in fuzzy slippers or the martini(s) got to her, because she managed to find another solid swinger that was impossible to ignore. This one is "Hung Over" by the Martinis, yet another band that I've never heard of. I did manage to find a blurb where someone way more fiendish than I tries to piece together the background info, but, like a lot of other oddball songs, context can kill. At 1:55, it's a short song, so depending on your state, you may want to play it a few times in a row to get the required effect. Of note, you'll be lulled into a mellow vibe until, at :42 into it, you'll hear all the vocals a song called "Hung Over" needs. It's either an agonizing grunt, or someone calling O'Rourke. Either way, it adds that certain thing that makes it a certain right-click.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
The Martinis - Hung Over mp3 at Rare Funk On 45
The Martinis - Hung Over (audio only) at YouTube In case you want a taste before you click.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

MYSTERY SUGGESTER'S CHOICE


I'm not usually too keen on suggestions for post topics, because, quite frankly, most people who make suggestions want me to plug their band, or one of their friend's bands. In any case, the suggestions usually come without any regard to the music I like, despite the fact that I like a lot of different types of music. Today there was an exception. Not only is this Mystery Suggester one of the few people whose taste is nearly identical to mine, where our tastes do differ, gaps in our respective musical knowledge and collections are filled. So, her suggestion is not one taken lightly.

The song is the Parkay's "Last Date," and as I've been unable to find anything in the way of back story or even a photo of the Parkays, I'll leave it to the Mystery Suggester's enticing teaser, "This shit makes me want to do the Twist in fuzzy slippers with a martini in my hand."
Ooh la la!

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
The Parkays - Last Date mp3 (via DivShare) at The Devil's Music
The Parkays - Last Date (audio only) at YouTube In case you want to hear it prior to downloading.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

YOU OWE HIM BIG TIME


You've probably heard that Jerry Leiber, half of the Leiber-Stoller songwriting team, checked out yesterday. The duo is responsible for a shitload of R & B, doo wop, and early rock n' roll songs that you probably know like the back of your hand. (Really, check out the list of songs, and the artists that performed them here.) They were incredibly prolific. To wit, they wrote "Hound Dog" in twelve minutes. (That's less time than it takes me to make lunch.) Along with the songwriting teams of Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil, Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich, and Carole King & Gerry Goffin, Leiber & Stoller helped shape the music of the fifties and sixties. A major difference is that Leiber and Stoller also produced, and their production credits are almost more impressive than the writing credits. How's about Big Mama Thornton, Big Joe Turner, the Coasters, Ruth Brown, the Drifters, LaVern Baker, the Exciters, the Dixie Cups, and T-Bone Walker? Dude is royalty.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Big Mama Thornton - Hound Dog mp3 at The Beiderbecke Affair
Wilbert Harrison - Kansas City mp3 at The Soul Girl
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - Alligator Wine mp3 at Api.ning.com
Wanda Jackson - Riot In Cell Block Number 9 mp3 at Tillooman
The Coasters - Down In Mexico mp3 at Hell's Belles
The Clovers - Love Potion Number 9 mp3 at Hell's Belles
Peggy Lee - Is That All There Is? mp3 at Little Manatee Springs
The Cheers - Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots mp3 at Miami High 1955
Further listening:
Jerry Leiber at Funky 16 Corners Three obscure cuts and a nice tribute
Jerry Leiber at Probe is Turning-On the People (Scroll to Session 352) Seven song mix, including Leiber on vocals!
Visit:
Leiber & Stoller's Official site
Leiber & Stoller's songwriting discography
Leiber & Stollers production credits
Jerry Leiber at the Songwriters Hall of Fame
Jerry Leiber's obituary at the NY Times

Monday, August 22, 2011

TAKE OFF YOUR PORK PIE, IT'S RICO


The other day, after running into a video of Jerry Dammer's Spatial AKA Orchestra that I hadn't seen, I had cause to stop and change directions, because there was a familiar face in the band, trombonist Rico Rodriguez. To be honest, I was flabbergasted that he was still playing because he's no spring chicken. He's 76 years old, and you know what? That unassuming man in the photo above could very well be cooler than you will ever hope to be. He's the real thing, an original ska horn, taught the instrument by the legendary Don Drummond, while both were students at the Alpha Boys School. (The alumni of the Alpha Boys School includes some of the most familiar names in ska and early reggae.)


Jerry Dammers' Spatial AKA Orchestra - Ghost Planet (Rico Rodriguez solo at 2:14.)

After seeing the above video, I had to stop and think why I dig Rico Rodriguez so much. After becoming familiar with him through his work with the Specials back in the eighties, I had done some backtracking. So I knew that a lot of early ska and reggae was peppered with his work (discography linked below). And I had a couple of his albums, one of which is two CD compilation of his early work (download link below). So I knew all that, but couldn't figure out why the above video struck such a chord, after all he is shaking a little while soloing, and the solo itself is not entirely breathtaking. Then it hit me today, after seeing, of all things, an older apartment building in the midst of having it's wood framed windows replaced by vinyl windows (which I detest). Sure, the wood windows may have been worn, and probably didn't work as well as they should, but old wood windows have infinitely more soul than that cheap new fangled shit. They have stories to tell, and while their usefulness diminishes with age, they have longevity, history and soul. Just like Rico. After fifty-plus years of music, he's still smack dab in cool.


Rico Rodriguez with the Specials (1979). He played on the 1967 original version by Dandy Livingstone too.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
The Skatalites w/Rico Rodriguez - Yard Broom mp3 at Everybody Taste
Rico & the Rudies - Jumping the Gun mp3 at DJ No DJ
Toots & the Maytals w/Rico Rodriguez - Rastaman (1976) mp3 at Melting Pot
Rico Rodriguez - Africa mp3 at 4Shared Click on blue "download now" button.
Full LPs:
Rico Rodriguez - Man From Wareika at ReggaeActivo Chile (click on palm tree to download)
Rico Rodriguez - Full length fan mix at (-)
Rico Rodriguez - Trombone Man at Ska, Rocksteady & Reggae Beat 2 CD comp of work from '61 - '71
Rico Rodriguez - Warrika Dub at In Times Like Those
Rico Rodriguez w/Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra - The L-O-V-E EP at Musical Shark Attack (Rico sings!)
Video:
The Legacy: The Rico Rodriguez Story - Trailer of documentary at YouTube
Rico Rodriguez and Dancing Mood - Take Five at YouTube
Alpha Boys School - Trailer for documentary of reunion show at YouTube
Visit:
Jama Rico - Extensive Wikia page with excellent bio, and an amazing discography
Jama Rico discography Wow.
Rico Rodriguez at 2-Tone collectors site

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Friday, August 19, 2011

WELCOME TO THE CLUB


For all of you complete Sonics nuts, who like to have every fart they ever recorded, here's a fan club record that I ran across at Beware of the Blog (link below). For everybody else, here is the excuse I needed to repost some of their essentials, and add a few non-mandatory. God forbid there should be anyone reading this who is not familiar with them. If there is, let me lay it out for you: get some Sonics now. Period. You will know immediately. You will either really dig them, or you can go back to what you were doing. I will say this: If you aren't hooked by the first few seconds of "Psycho," there is no hope.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Fan club record:
The Sonics - Introduction to the Sonics mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Eat it up:
The Sonics - Psycho mp3 at Bag of Songs
The Sonics - Strychnine mp3 at Gimmetinnitus
The Sonics - The Witch mp3 at Tinyvices
The Sonics - Money mp3 at Girl Juke Box
The Sonics - Maintaining My Cool mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Other audio:
Interview with Sonics guitarist Larry Parypa (1998) at Beware of the Blog This is excellent. Click on blue and white arrow button to hear audio.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

HOW HARD CAN IT BE?


It's such an easy formula, it is astounding so many bands get it wrong. You get four guys, bass, guitars, drums, adequately abrasive vocals, some loud amps, a decent knowledge of predecessors, and, wholla!, a great rock n' roll band. Right? It's not at all that complicated. So why is it that so many bands can't seem to do even that? Mudhoney kept to the basics. With that everydude look, combined with the proper mix of those simple ingredients, they got it down.



~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Mudhoney - This Gift mp3 at Krucoff
Mudhoney - In 'n' Out of Grace mp3 at Krucoff
Mudhoney - Burn It Clean mp3 at Sonic Itch
Mudhoney - Some Young Thing mp3 at Album of the Day
Mudhoney - Hard-On For War mp3 at Album of the Day
Mudhoney - You Give Me the Creeps mp3 at Cows Are Just Food
Mudhoney - Good Enough mp3 at X818
Mudhoney - Sonic Infusion mp3 at Live365
Mudhoney - I'm Now mp3 at Spin.com
Mudhoney - You Stupid Asshole mp3 at Cows Are Just Food
Promo only CD:
Mudhoney - On Tour, 1973 promo live CD - 8 individual mp3s at Captain's Dead Direct linking to mp3s disabled, go there to get them
Video:
Mudhoney - Let It Slide at YouTube
Mudhoney with Kurt Cobain at YouTube
Mudhoney - Blinding Sun at YouTube

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

NO ELVIS, BEATLES OR WHATEVER


Just ran into an old NME cassette compilation that includes a Clash demo, and an alternate take of "Submission" by the Sex Pistols. I know, big whoop, eh? There's also a bunch of stuff you old farts probably already have (Buzzcocks, Damned, Wire, Sham 69, Slits, ATV). My first thought when I see a collection like that is that I'm over it, saturated to the teeth with early punk rock that I've heard a thousand times. But you know what? Some of you may not have. So here's the Clash demo, and you can head over to Dalston Oxfam Shop for the rest. (He also ripped other comps here.)

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
The Clash - 1977 (demo) mp3 at Dalston Oxfam Shop

Monday, August 15, 2011

VA-VA-VA-TURN IT UP


Even if you're a rockabilly fan, you can probably count early female rockabilly singers on one hand. The short list would include Wanda Jackson, Lorrie Collins, and Janis Martin, but the baddest of them all was Sparkle Moore. I gotta admit, I've always had a soft spot for Moore, a time travel crush if you will, particularly because even though she was easy on the eyes, she didn't seem to dame down her act. She was out there to compete with the guys, and she looked kinda butch, with her blond pompadour and guys clothes, especially when you line her up with her female contemporaries. She ran away from home to play music, got signed, toured with Gene Vincent. Drool. When she decided to move to California, she did it with her guitar strapped to a motorcycle. Seriously Sherman, turn on the goddamn Wayback Machine.



~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Sparkle Moore - Rock-A-Bop mp3 at Rocky-52.net
Sparkle Moore - Skull and Crossbones mp3 at Rocky-52.net
Sparkle Moore - Killer mp3 at Rocky-52.net
Visit:
Sparkle Moore's Official site
Sparkle Moore at the Iowa Rock & Roll Association's Hall of Fame
Sparkle Moore's Spark-a-billy at CDBaby Please, someone sign her and put Deke Dickerson or someone like that with her. A real band anyway. Calling Mark Neil! Liam Watson! Hell, even Jack White. You gotta know someone!

Saturday, August 13, 2011

WE'RE NEW HERE


I'm by no means a Led Zeppelin fiend, but I know a lot of people who are, and when it comes right down to it, they were a pretty remarkable outfit back in the day. I mean, c'mon, "Immigrant Song" on top 40 AM radio? Just think how many kids had their transistor radios turned up full blast listening to a distorted static laced version of that, sandwiched between the Osmonds and Melanie. Anyway, for you Led Zepp fiends, here's a link to the earliest known soundboard recordings of them, playing at Fillmore West in San Francisco, the day before their first LP was released.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Led Zeppelin - Live at Fillmore West, 1/11/69 at Your Mother Should Know I Can't Quit You, Dazed and Confused, You Shook Me, How Many More Times, Communication Breakdown, all posted as individual mp3s.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

JUST GO TOUR, WOULDYA?


When you think of Northwest rock n' roll of the sixties, there are a lot of great bands that you might think of before you even considered Paul Revere and the Raiders. The Sonics, the Wailers, and the Kingsmen are three obvious ones. But if you were a sixteen year old girl, nowhere near the Northwest, Paul Revere and the Raiders were practically the Beatles, or at least the Monkees. They were always smiling and they spent a ton on clothes. There were certainly not the Sonics, the Wailers, or the Kingsmen.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Paul Revere & the Raiders - Hungry mp3 at Event Magic
Paul Revere & the Raiders - Just Like Me mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Paul Revere & the Raiders - The Great American Airplane Strike mp3 at Iron Leg
Paul Revere & the Raiders - Have Love Will Travel mp3 at Music Pop Hits
Paul Revere & the Raiders - Kicks mp3 at Nakoma1
Paul Revere & the Raiders - Powder Blue Mercedes Queen mp3 at Box.net
Paul Revere & the Raiders - Why, Why, Why, Is It So Hard mp3 at the Rising Storm
Fiends delight:
Paul Revere & the Raiders - Acetates & Demos at Guitar 101 Seventeen oddballs and alternate mixes (via Megaupload)

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

YOU'RE MY LINER NOTE HERO


Al Casey: Guitar. That credit has been on hundreds of recordings, many of which you've heard. That photo up above is a young Casey in high school, a kid with a muffled confident smirk for good reason. He had already been playing pedal steel for over ten years, and it's not an easy instrument to play. With a start like that, playing a regular six string (that requires only the use of your hands, and not your feet and knees) must have been a cake walk. Within five years the whizz kid would be playing and co-writing with Duane Eddy. He dabbled in rockabilly, and later in surf-type instrumentals, and as a member of the Wrecking Crew played on recordings by the Beach Boys, Phil Spector, Elvis Presley, Glen Campbell, The Association, The Monkees, Johnny Cash, Eddy Arnold, Simon & Garfunkel, The 5th Dimension, Harry Nilsson, The Partridge Family, Frank Sinatra, and Nancy Sinatra. Look at the photo again. Doe it not look like he knows he's the shit?

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Al Casey - Teenage Blues mp3 at Rocky-52.net
Jody Reynolds (Al Casey: guitar) - Daisy Mae mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
Jody Reynolds (Al Casey: Guitar) - The Fire of Love mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
Al Casey - Baja mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
Al Casey & the K.C.-ettes - Surfin' Hootnanny at Rocky-52.net On this one he apes Dick Dale, the Ventures and Duane Eddy
Nancy Sinatra (Al Casey: Guitar) - These Boots Are Made For Walkin' mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Visit:

Al Casey at Spectropop
Al Casey at Wikipedia
Al Casey at The Rockabilly Hall of Fame
Earlier post about the Wrecking Crew

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

ODDBALL DIVERSION #47


A TV horror hostess from Portland. Music quality is dubious, but overall a worthy curiosity. Posting for my friends in Portland, and assorted freaks elsewhere.

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Visit:
Profile of Tarantula Ghoul at Our Favorite Horror hosts
Listen:
Tarantula Ghoul & her Gravediggers - Graveyard Rock / King Kong mp3 (via Box.net)
Source:
Label image and source of all links

All found via link on WFMU's Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban

Monday, August 8, 2011

AWESOME SITES FROM INTERNET


Wow. The African music gravy train just keeps going. Three years ago I posted something about the then current onslaught of reissues of African music. It doesn't seem likely to let up anytime soon. Back then there were a handful of labels in the game, and now a few years later the diggers are taking it deep indie. Instead of doing the dirty work for compilations on established independents, they're starting to get into the game themselves. One such notable is Frank Gossner, a DJ and ultra digger, who has traveled Africa extensively. His buys often include records that even he, an expert in African music, hasn't heard of. He writes about his hunts, and scores, on Voodoo Funk. And the accurately named Awesome Tapes From Africa is getting ready to release their first reissue of music by Nahawa Doumbia. Check out their site; it's just what it's named. No frills, just rips of awesome cassette tapes from Africa. The styles vary, which makes it fun to go there and just snoop around. Two other sites you should check out are American Athlete and Mixtape Riot, both of which feature African music regularly.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Ebo Taylor - Atwer Aroba mp3 at American Athlete
Ebo Taylor - Victory mp3 at Mixtape Riot
Ebo Taylor - Mizin mp3 at Mixtape Riot
Ebo Taylor - Peace On Earth mp3 at American Athlete
Ebo Taylor - Nga Nga mp3 at American Athlete
Orlando Julius & His Modern Aces - Mapani mp3 at Slumberland Records
Orlando Julius and His Afro Sounders - James Brown Ride On mp3 at Arkitipintel
Orlando Julius - Home Sweet Home mp3 at American Athlete
Shina Willams & his African Percussionists - Agboju Logun mp3 at Mixtape Riot
C.K. Mann & Carousel 7 - Asafo Beesuon/Obaa Yaa Aye Me Bone mp3 at American Athlete
Nahawa Doumbia – Banani mp3 at Altered Zones
Mixes:
Colorful Environments at Voodoo Funk Visit site for track listing
Dancing Shadows at Voodoo Funk Visit site for track listing
Afro 45s - The Music That Makes You Happy at Dreams In Audio Visit site for track listing
Video:

The Psychedelic Aliens see their reissued LP for the first time
Visit:
Voodoo Funk (Exclusively African)
Awesome Tapes From Africa (Exclusively African)
American Athlete (Often features African music.)
Mixtape Riot (Often features African music.)
Earlier posts here with African music (Some links may be dead)

Sunday, August 7, 2011

78 COMEBACK SPECIAL


"Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr (May 2, 1929 – November 5, 2005) was an American rock and roll guitarist..." That's the first line of the Wikipedia entry for Link Wray. So there are some things on Wikipedia that are true. (Need a citation? Listen to "Rumble." It's all right there.)

As much as I like to heap praise on Wray, he was not infallible. He did some stuff in the early seventies that sort of strayed from what he did best, some bordering on country rock. Just in the nick of time, in the late seventies he teamed up with Robert Gordon, playing rockabilly. Not quite a return to form, his forte really was the simpler distort-o-menace, but he did get back to his greaser roots. And the Gordon sets would allow him to drag out some of his own stuff. Check the 1978 video below and tell me, just how badass do you want your forty nine year old guitar player to be? Dude reeks switchblade. In spirit anyway.


Check his moves at 2:30, just before the first guitar freakout.

Of course his playing isn't technically that challenging. And on his vocal stuff, he's no Pavarotti. To some, his whole package may seem a little over the top. But, come on, "Rumble"? You really think he fights in alleys? Link Wray was an American rock n' roll guitarist, a really great badass rock n' roll guitarist. (No citation needed.)

A couple notes: "Oddball" is take two of "Rumble," before it was called "Rumble." (Dig the effects near the end.) And give a listen to "Run Chicken Run." He's 68 years young on that one.


~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Link Wray - Oddball mp3 at Probe Is Turning On the People
Link Wray - Rumble mp3 at JohnRook.com
Link Wray - Jack the Ripper mp3 at Cocktails and Records
Link Wray - Run Chicken Run (Live, 1998) mp3 at Cold Fury
Link Wray - The Fuzz mp3 at Record Brother
Link Wray - Batman Theme mp3 at Record Brother
Link Wray - Rawhide '63 mp3 at Merry Swankster
Link Wray - Comanche mp3 at RocknDog
Robert Gordon with Link Wray- Rockabilly Boogie mp3 at Rocky-52.net
Visit:
Be Wild, Not Evil: The Link Wray Story at Perfect Sound Forever Massive six part bio.
Excellent high resolution early live photo of Wray at I Am Not Jerry
Link Wray at Wikipedia

Saturday, August 6, 2011

¡HOLA LOCOS!


Garage from Argentina? Okay, I'll bite. These guys do seem to have just enough to keep things interesting, with just a tiny touch of corniness. Apparently they've been around quite a while. The fact that I didn't know that just tells me that I've fallen out of touch with the Argentinian garage scene. I really do need to get out more.



~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Los Peyotes - Te Pegare mp3 at Cows Are Just Food
Watch:
Los Peyotes - Bdaaa! (live) at YouTube
Los Peyotes - No Tengo Nada at YouTube If someone is going to spend hours on end to make a claymation video of a naked lady with a skull head, I will post it.
Visit:
Los Peyotes at MySpace

Friday, August 5, 2011

PART OF A DYING BREED



Face it, one of America's national treasures has a potty mouth. Now that we got that out of the way, take a moment to appreciate the colorful career and enduring talent of Andre Williams. His raw eloquence and off color character have had him in and out of hipness for over fifty years. He's recorded for Fortune, and imprints of both Motown (Miracle) and Chess (Checker), co-written with Stevie Wonder, partied hard, and been homeless. Pulled out of destitute nowhere-bound obscurity in the nineties, he is not letting his second chance go to waste, and we are the better for it. He is part of dying breed, the sort of person that a young Tom Waits wrote about. Hasn't looked at a J.C. Penny ad in thirty years, spits, cusses, and lives in a world were memes don't exist. He is openly and honestly flawed.


Andre Williams and his Orchestra - Sweet Little Pussycat, starring Sheree In Her Original Tiger Dance.

If you're unfamiliar with Williams, the perfect place to start is the hour and a half documentary, Agile, Mobile, Hostile: A Year With Andre Williams. The entire film is available online, and if you don't have time to watch it now, you really ought to bookmark it.



~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Andre Williams - Agile, Mobile, Hostile (1998) mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Andre Williams & the Don Juans - Pulling Time (1955) mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Andre Williams - Bacon Fat (1956) mp3 (via MediaFire) at Metal Bastard Goes Soft
Andre Williams - Jail Bait (1960) mp3 at Anitnomian
Andre Williams - You Got it and I Want It (1967) mp3 at Go Retro
Andre Williams & the Sadies - Psycho (1999) mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Andre Williams & the Diplomats of Solid Soul - Three Sisters (2006) mp3 (via MediaFire) at Metal Bastard Goes Soft
Andre Williams & the Diplomats of Solid Soul - I'm Not Worthy (2006) mp3 (via MediaFire) at Metal Bastard Goes Soft
Andre Williams - That's All I Need (2010) mp3 at KEXP
Andre Williams - Chicken Thighs mp3 at Public Collectors
Watch:
Agile, Mobile, Hostile: A Year With Andrew Williams - Documentary, 2008, 1 hr 27 min at Hulu.com
Visit:
Andre Williams at Wikiedia

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

SIR LORD WHO?


For every person who's ever heard Sir Lord Baltimore's debut Kingdom Come, there's a story about how they first heard the 1970 hard rock tour de force. Some may have first heard of it from the gushing review that Metal Mike Saunders wrote of it, in an issue of Creem magazine in 1971 (which included the first documented use of the term "heavy metal"). Some may have heard of it from a friend, some may have heard of it from a much later write up (Mojo, or Head Heritage). And you can bet it's part of stoner rock lore. However anyone finds it, it sure seems like those who have heard it regard it as untouchable. As someone who has always had a thing for heavy 70's power trios, I'm shamefully late to the party. It's been around for 41 years, and I just recently heard it for the first time. Let me just say, it lives up to the hype.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Sir Lord Baltimore - Helium Head (I Got a Love) (via Box.net) mp3 at If There Is a Hell Below
Sir Lord Baltimore - Lady of Fire mp3 at The Cargo Culte
LP Download:

Sir Lord Baltimore - Kingdom Come LP download (via Megaupload) at Why Dontcha?
Visit:
Sir Lord Baltimore at Wikipedia
Sir Lord Baltimore - Reviews of first two LPs by Julian Cope at Head Heritage
Sir Lord Baltimore - Review of Kingdom Come by Metal Mike Saunders, Creem Magazine 1971
Sir Lord Baltimore - Official Site