STUBBED MY TOE ON COOL

Yee haw! Found a couple unexpected keepers tonight. Just cruising around Jukebox Mafia, looking through his old posts, and happened across a Raymond Lewis 45 he posted. What the hell, I decided to give it a whirl. It sounded very New Orleans R & B-ish. Then I looked at the songwriting credit. The co-writer, with Lewis, was one R. Neville. So, I thought this was a Neville Brother relative I hadn't heard of. Nope. But it is New Orleans: N. Neville is, according to this site, a name Allen Toussaint used in the sixties and seventies.

So part two of this screwing around tonight was spent looking for a random Allen Toussaint cut to pad things. I found "The Chokin' Kind," not at a blog, but though a good old fashioned search. There's nothing outrageous about it, but I really dig it. If you know Sticky Fingers era Stones well enough, you could well imagine where some of their grooves came from, or vice versa. Regardless, it has a very similar feel. Let it build. Towards the end, think "Can't You Hear Me Knockin'?"

Your unsolicited tip for today? Go dig through Jukebox Mafia. If you like 45s, and music of the well chosen "never heard it" variety, budget a big chunk of time.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Raymond Lewis - Miss Sticks mp3 at Jukebox Mafia
Raymond Lewis - Miss Sticks Again mp3 at Jukebox Mafia
Allen Toussaint - The Chokin' Kind mp3 at Cold Splinters

BUT CAN IT PUMP BLOOD?

Versions Galore, an all-covers blog, just put up three versions of Neil Young's "Heart of Gold," a song that can get messed up quite easily. Until yesterday, I don't recall ever hearing a cover of it that I liked. That's why I thought I'd give you a heads up. Two out of the three that they just posted are really good ones, and there's a third that you might also like. I'm only linking to the one by Betty LaVette (pictured above in her early years). It's really smooth version, with horns and a little flute (surprisingly, not annoying flute). The best one is by Charles Bradley, who is part of that whole Daptone mob. That's the one to get, really. Just trust me, go there to get it. Johnny Cash's version is down below for a little post related flair. And at the bottom are links to two live Neil Young shows, with Crazy Horse, of decent-good quality. Both can be downloaded as single songs or as a full sets. I'm partial to the one Captain's Dead, recorded at a 1987 UK show. (You won't be blamed if Dream Syndicate pops into your head.) The other one is at Visible Voice, from a 1976 Boston show.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Betty LaVette - Heart of Gold mp3 at Versions Galore
Charles Bradley - Heart of Gold mp3 at Versions Galore Go there to get it.
Johnny Cash - Heart of Gold mp3 at Glide Magazine
Full sets:
Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Birmingham England 1987 at Captain's Dead
Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Boston, MA, 1976 at Visible Voice

DOC WATSON CHECKED OUT

It's not been a good year for fans of bluegrass and hillbilly music. Just a couple months ago, Earl Scruggs passed away. Now, Doc Watson. I'm not going to sit here and pretend like I know much of anything about Watson. I do know that he's been around a long time, is highly respected, and that I've never heard anything by him that I didn't like. Even with just that, he's a few notches above most of the hacks in my collection.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Doc Watson - Little Maggie mp3 at The Rising Storm Note: May disable direct linking on this one. If so, that's too bad, because it's a good one.
Doc Watson - Crawdad Hole mp3 at Tiny Cat Pants
Doc Watson and David Grisman - Bluegrass Stomp mp3 at Sober Musicians
Doc Watson - Freight Train Boogie mp3 at TommyMarkham.com
Doc Watson - Deep River Blues mp3 at TommyMarkham.com
Read:
Doc Watson dies at 89 - Obituary and profile at Los Angeles Times

DUTCH FUZZ ALERT

Here's another one I couldn't resist. Look at that cover. You're curious too, right? You know you are. I'll tell you this, if you're expecting the Neal Hefti version of the Batman theme, or a surf type instrumental, and can't be bothered, you might want to rethink that. This sucker sounds like Davie Allan, with farfisa. It's got a whole different sound then most of the versions you've heard. That's good, because the download speed on this one is pretty slow. It might take a few minutes, but don't let it put you off, because it's worth it. The flip, a cover of the theme from "The Saint," ain't half bad either.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
De Maskers - Batman mp3 (via DivShare) at The Devil's Music
De Maskers - The Saint mp3 (via DivShare) at The Devil's Music

Hopefully, by now you know how to do the DivShare dance. Click on the green "Download" button, wait 15 seconds until the "Download" button reappears, and then click on it. It might not start right away, but wait a couple more seconds. The whole download takes longer than the length of the song, but it's a lot less than it takes to fly to the Netherlands and hit the thrift stores.
Bookmark this:
The Devil's Music

FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD

Honestly, what does that record cover above say to you? When I see something like that, I have to stop dead in my tracks. It's as if it's challenging me to shake the water out of my ear. This one, from Sri Lanka's The Three Sisters, has it all: East does West, simple album cover, traditional garb; and, is there a better title as an introduction to Sri Lankan pop music than The Three Sisters A Go-Go? Sucked me right in. "Malwage," is just the thing to throw in the middle of a mix, to break up that three chord shit you listen to. As semi-skewed the instrumentation is on that one, the other song, "Inunil Menika" throws sitar into the mix, trading licks with the guitar. (Still, I know, I like "Paint It Black" better too.) The hosting blog of these two songs, Radiodiffusion International, is amazing in its scope. There's a hell of a lot of research behind it, a lot of stuff you can learn, with music from roughly 75-100 countries. It's like going on a global thrift store spree and landing back at home with a bunch of records and the Encyclopedia Britannica.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Three Sisters - Malwage Api mp3 at Radiodiffusion Intl
The Three Sisters - Inunil Menika mp3 at Radiodiffusion Intl
More music from Sri Lanka at Radiodiffusion Intl
Music from all over at Radiodiffusion Intl

REALLY OLD SCHOOL

Robert Crumb is best known as an artist. He's also a big fan of old time music, as in very early blues, jazz, country, jug bands, string bands, hillbilly, and other really old roots stuff. He has a collection of around six thousand 78s, but isn't really a record collector in the stereotypical money grubbing sort of way. He won't pay exorbitant prices, preferring instead to trade drawings or play the Ebay waiting game. (Really, R. Crumb and Ebay exist in the same universe. What's next, Blues Hammer and blue jeans?). This is something he's been doing for the past five decades, so he probably knows a thing or two.

Whistler's Jug Band, 1930. One of the bands on Crumb's list.

The blog Doom & Gloom From the Tomb just posted a collection of four half hour BBC Radio shows on which Crumb was a guest, playing selections from his collection and talking about 78s. There's also a couple shows from WFMU's Antique Phonograph Music program down there, streaming, so you can get a taste of his (music) obsessions without downloading. There's a few mp3s for those of you who need an immediate fix, one from Crumb's band the Cheap Suit Serenaders, and two others, one each from the Hokum Boys and Bo Carter (from reissues that he did the artwork for). Ride the old wave.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
R Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders - Fine Artiste Blues mp3 at Carnival Saloon
Bo Carter - The Pencil Won't Write No More mp3 at Carnival Saloon
The Hokum Boys -You Can't Get Enough Of That Stuff mp3 at Carnival Saloon
Cheap Suit Serenaders - Get A Load of This (streaming) at Hell Hound on My Trail
Cheap Suit Serenaders - Cheap Suit Special (streaming) at Hell Hound on My Trail
Cheap Suit Serenaders - Suits' Crybaby Blues (streaming) at Hell Hound on My Trail
Robert Crumb - Interviews from BBC Radio at Doom & Gloom From the Tomb
Robert Crumb on WFMU, Part one (streaming)
Robert Crumb on WFMU, Part two (streaming)
The Antique Phonograph Show at WFMU Several years worth of shows, streaming.
Visit:
Robert Crumb official site Start with this page, where he reveals his thoughts on everybody from Laurel and Hardy to Obama. On Andy Warhol: " One of his lame-ass silk screen prints goes for more money than some original renaissance art." That's right. Crumb said "lame-ass." Blues Hammer here we come!
Robert Crumb at Wikipedia

WELCOME CANDYMOUTH

David Byrne's always been been one of the more interesting eggheads in music, hasn't he? The early Talking Heads were thrown in the whole CBGBs crowd, but they weren't punk rock, and it could be argued, not really new wave. By their third LP, they were clearly like nothing else around at the time. Then, in 1988, Byrne started Luaka Bop Records, initially just to release Brazilian music. That soon expanded to encompass any international music. With Byrne's name attached to the label, it was an obvious side trip for Talking Heads fans not necessarily used to foreign sounds (and, yes, I was one of them). In 1999 Byrne wrote an infamous piece for the New York Times, I Hate World Music. (I'd read it if I were you.) In it, he states his case about why the term world music is incorrect. Among other good points, he writes "It groups everything and anything that isn't 'us' into 'them.'" And the sting-like-a-bee zinger, "It's a none too subtle way of reasserting the hegemony of Western pop culture. It ghettoizes most of the world's music. A bold and audacious move, White Man!" Bam!

Censored version.

Byrne's solo records are worth a listen too. Being that he is unconcerned with what you call his music, or what other music may creep in as an influence, he's always created music that is uniquely his, resistant to pigeonholing. I call your attention to one particular song "Toe Jam," from 2009. It's what got me thinking about Byrne. I found it kind of unique in that I don't recall Byrne ever cussing. At :46 in the song, he sings "Everyday is fucking perfect, it's a paradise." Now, I'm sure he's slipped a few f-bombs in at some point in the last few decades, but this is the first one I've heard. So now he's got that going for him too. (He's human.) Two other reasons why he's A-OK in my book: he rides a bike for transportation. As in, not riding as some sort of workout regimen, or in a weekend pack. He rides to get from point A to point B. He's one practical motherfucker, ain't he? (See what he did? All his fault...) Oh, the other thing is that he's got a nice online journal, what others would call a blog. In this case, he is correct again. The term blog is almost as wrong as world music. Anyway, listen to him cuss, read his well written journal, and stream Luaka Bop releases while you goof off with his other stuff. Just because he said the f-word.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
BPA featuring David Byrne and Dizzee Rascal - Toe Jam mp3 at Grandpamini
David Byrne - Twistin' In the Wind mp3 at The Frump
David Byrne - Miss America mp3 at The Beiderbecke Affair
David Byrne - Everyone's In Love With You mp3 at Achtung Baby
Visit:
David Byrne - I Hate World Music, NY Times, October 3, 1999 at DavidByrne.com
David Byrne's Journal
David Byrne official site
Luaka Bop - The record label Poke around, there's stuff to stream all over the place.
Luaka Bop - The story behind it

THE GROW UP SO FAST

Redd Kross have a new LP coming out in August. Whether or not that either means something to you would depend on your age and/or your level of music geekness. It seems apropos that I heard about this from my old roommate and longtime friend Lydia, known to many from back in the day as the "habitual troublemaker," stemming from a wanted poster sort of flyer that was posted outside of a show back then, branding her just that, "Habitual Troublemaker." (She was also among the first in our then little scene to dye her hair a color not found in nature; which really doesn't take the guts these days that it did then.).

Sloppy roots. Santa Monica Pier 1982

The one song that's been released is "Researching the Blues," a song that isn't blues, but about researching the blues (presumably, because you have to struggle to make out the lyrics, and I'm too busy rocking out to be bothered with such petty details.) If you know their stuff, this is pretty much par for the course, which is to say rockin', with harmonies and loud guitars. They address the song, their history, and the reason for the fifteen year gap between albums in a video interview with Australia's ShockTV (posted on their site). If you're completely unfamiliar with Redd Kross, check out the Wikipedia thing and their site. I don't really feel like getting into it.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Redd Kross - Researching the Blues mp3 Consequence of Sound
Alternate link:
Redd Kross - Researching the Blues mp3 at Bradley's Almanac
Older stuff:
Redd Kross - Switchblade Sister mp3 at The Vague
Redd Kross - The Faith Healer and 2 more mp3s at Recidivism (Direct linking disabled. Go to the end of their post.)
Redd Kross - Burn Out (early 80's) mp3 at Recidivism (Direct linking disabled. Go to the end of their post.)
Redd Kross - Live set, Vancouver, 90's, mp3 at ReddKross.com
Video:
Redd Kross - Yesterday Once More video at YouTube
Redd Kross - Downtown (Live, Madrid, 2007) video at YouTube
Redd Kross - Annie's Gone video at YouTube
Redd Kross with Cherie Curie - Neon Angels on the Road to Ruin (live) at YouTube
Redd Kross Channel at YouTube
Read:
Redd Kross Official site
Redd Kross at Wikipedia
Redd Kross Facebook page

ODDBALL RECORD CHAMP

I shouldn't really have to go into a big long thing here about "Lowdown Monkey Blues," a song by Tom Waits and the Replacements. If you're in the probable majority (here, at least), you have more than a passing interest in both. Regardless, this should be a no-brainer. At minimum, for curiosity value. It was recorded around 1990, and other than that I know little of it's provenance. I particularly like the part right after Paul Westerberg sings "I'm a lowdown, lowdown sack of shit" (at 4:26). You hear Waits chuckle, and it sounds just like a stoner chuckle. I don't really see Waits as a stoner, so it's made all the funnier. (Unfortunately the song is cut off right after that part.)

There's a couple others Waits songs down there. I've always liked "Martha" a song from his first album (1973). It's sung in the character of an older guy calling an ex from decades earlier. As I've gotten older, I found it more and more remarkable that he wrote it in his mid-twenties. He does nail something in it. The last one, "Sea of Love," is a cover of the song you've heard a zillion times. Posted as filler.

You really ought to check out Big Rock Candy Mountain, the blog that posted the Waits/Replacements cut. There's a bunch of good stuff over there; worth getting lost. I'd been meaning to point you towards their last post, about the band catl.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Tom Waits and the Replacements - Lowdown Monkey Blues mp3 at Big Rock Candy Mountain
Tom Waits - Martha mp3 at Gigantic Club
Tom Waits - Sea of Love mp3 at Town Full of Losers

MORE BROKE-ASS SHIT PLEASE

Holy hell. It's been almost ten years. No wonder they sound so different. Remember how they sounded on that first one? The Big Come Up was produced by drummer Pat Carney "using his patented recording technique known as medium fidelity. This system requires equal parts broke-ass shit to equal parts hot ass shit." (I remember getting a good chuckle reading that one.). I don't know for sure if they added more broke-ass shit, or more hot-ass shit, but I think it's the latter. There are too many resources available to them. I like them with less. None of their later records sound as alive, as stripped down, as that first one. This is the stuff that initially put them on the map; small, though, the map may have been. Funny, you don't hear this stuff in commercials.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Black Keys - Heavy Soul mp3 at SB Dave
The Black Keys - She Said, She Said mp3 at Hear Ya Beatles cover. Good, raw Beatles cover.
The Black Keys - Brooklyn Bound mp3 at Hey Lisa
The Black Keys - Countdown mp3 at Seizure Chicken
The Black Keys - I'll Be Your Man mp3 at Susie Bright

MINT CONDITION DIRT, AS-IS

Try as I might to toss up a few newer things every now and then, sometimes trying to find anything that measures up to older stuff is like banging your head against a wall. It's not like there isn't enough new stuff out there, it's just that most of it is not of the "Who the hell is this?!" variety. My frustration tonight occurred primarily at The Hype Machine, a music blog aggregator, I clicked randomly through five or six pages of music blog posts and found nothing that would get me riled up. (The Hype Machine can be found here. If you find anything worthwhile, I'm all ears.)

So, here's a a few I found at one of the ol' reliables, Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban. The first one, "Guess I'm Falling In Love" by the Velvet Underground, has been posted (and slobbered on) here before. It's one of my favorites, a nearly perfect rock 'n' roll record. It does many things well; the pace of it, the stops and starts, the way the solo starts at :50, the outtake/demo+ quality of the recording, Nothing is overdone, nothing is extreme, It is just a compact song, with everything unnecessary left out (including vocals on this version). (I know the Velvets image above is the earlier incarnation, but it's a cool photo.)

It's from a old post of thirty songs that the A-Bones have covered. Two of the A-Bones, Billy Miller and Miriam Linna, run Norton Records, which means they are fully qualified to pick good songs, and these are good. Most of the songs are older than the Velvets cut, and some hover on the esoteric side of corny, but they all seem to have that certain something that makes the Hype Machine seem totally irrelevant.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Velvet Underground - Guess I'm Falling In Love mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
The Torquays - Stolen Moments mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Betty Dickson - Shanty Tramp mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Larry Williams - You Bug Me Baby mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Rudy Grayzell - Judy mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
The Sabres- Take Up the Slack Daddy-O mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Visit:
Songs the A-Bones Taught Us (part 1, 30 songs) at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Songs the A-Bones Taught Us (part 2, 19 songs) at Beware of the BlogNorton Records

LET'S WELCOME AGAIN,

Jody Reynolds has been here before, but it's been a while and seeing as how some of the old links are dead, I figured you could use another chance to familiarize yourself with the criminally overlooked singer. Reynolds was versatile, capable of almost Rick Nelson-like vocal stuff and some Duane Eddy type instrumentals (with guitar by his Storms band mate and future Wrecking Crew stalwart Al Casey). For many, though, Reynold's forte was the smoky proto-Cramps semi-creepy sounding stuff, and nowhere is that more evident than "Fire of Love," famously covered by the Gun Club (who put it on their second LP, after borrowing the title for their first LP) Ho, hum, you say, hot shot? Been there, done that? Despite your flippant know-it-all attitude, there's something down there for you too. A mix I practically tripped over, with Jody Reynolds kicking off a pretty good line up of others you probably have multiple copies of. Quit alphabetizing for a minute. Rock out.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Jody Reynolds - Fire of Love mp3 at Clumsy and Shy
Jody Reynolds - Thunder mp3 at Clumsy and Shy
Jody Reynolds - Closin' In mp3 at Clumsy and Shy
Jody Reynolds - Endless Sleep mp3 at Clumsy and Shy
Jody Reynolds - The Whipping Post mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
Jody Reynolds - I Want To Be With You Tonight mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
Jody Reynolds and Bobby Gentry - Ode to Love mp3 at Clumsy and Shy
Mix:
Nice Boys Don't Play Rock 'n' Roll - 35 song mix (via DivShare) at Ghetto Blasters and Switchblades With Jody Reynolds, the Cramps, the Scientists, the Saints, the Nomads,the Gories, the Weirdos, he Flesh Eaters, the Gun Club, X, the Oblivians, the Black Lips, Mudhoney, Pussy Galore, the Stooges, Ty Segall and more.
Visit:
Jody Reynolds - Profile at The Hound Blog

REGGAE GRAB BAG

After finding another reggae version of Dave Brubeck's "Take Five," this was going to be a one song post, but as is usually the case, well enough could not be left alone. So here's a grab bag of sorts, starting with Bennett's version of "Take Five" followed by another version by King Tubby. After that, Stranger Cole's "Rough and Tough," because it's a nice example of how bluebeat borrowed heavily from early R & B from the States. Alton Ellis and Pat Kelly are in there because I happened to run across them and dig them quite a bit. Roy and the Invaders' cut down there, "Fat Dog," is a bit of an oddity. Released on Coxsone Dodd's Iron Side imprint, it's one of very few reggae songs to prominently feature a harmonica. And the last of the songs down there, "Where The Healing Waters Flow," by Claris Brown, is one from another Dodd imprint, Tabernacle, a label he reserved for gospel oriented records. (Dodd had a bunch of labels. partly because his Studio One label dominated the Jamaican charts. He released records on different labels to try to avoid cries of radio station favoritism.

While on my rambling spree I ran across two other sites to add. Jamaican Archives has several great mixes, mostly vintage "Jamaican music created in the heyday of the 45rpm single." The all covers mix linked below has Alton Ellis' cover of "It's Your Thing," Slim Smith's cover of "Spanish Harlem," and the Pioneers' cover of "Papa Was A Rolling Stone," just to name three. I also ran across another site that I hadn't seen before. The imaginatively named Rasta Reggae Music has a ton of stuff, uploaded on Mediafire. (You'll figure it out.) Both LP and 45 downloads, so no matter what your attention span is, there should be something for you. And there's quite a bit too. It will keep you out of trouble for a while.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Val Bennett -Take Five mp3 at Beware of the Blog
King Tubby - Take Five (dubless) mp3 at 8106
Stranger Cole - Rough and Tough mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Alton Ellis - Cry Tough mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Pat Kelly - You Are Not My Kind mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Roy and the Invaders - Fat Dog mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Claris Brown - Where the Healing Waters Flow mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Mix:
Cover Me Jamaica - 21 song mix at Jamaican Archives
Reggae mish mash:
Rasta Reggae Music

WAIVER GRANTED

I am not one for disco. But the "disco sucks" people have got it all wrong. You can't say it all sucks, that's like saying the Yankees suck. You might not like the Yankees, or disco, but you have to acknowledge quality when it's right in front of you, even if it is the American League, or disco. So this is the time I include a couple disco songs. One reason is because Donna Summer's "Love to Love You" is like the "Johnny B. Goode" of sexy disco. All disco is inherently sexy, that's what disco does, but not all this well. So, Donna Summer's recent passing reminded me of the song, so I had to hear it again. Holy fake sex Batman! I remember there being a fuss when it came out, but forgot the specifics. Just listen to it. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you will.

This also might be the only opportunity to plug Giorgio Moroder. Listen to "I Feel Love." It's like Kraftwerk backing Donna Summer. Moroder did that. This was about the time of Kraftwerk's Man Machine, in case you're wondering. There is a great long and detailed story about the song at Sound On Sound, if you're interested. It includes some pretty interesting tidbits. If you have any interest in the genesis of the Summer/Moroder collaborations (three LPs), or Moroder in general, you should read it. Disco night is now over. Take that goddamn ball with you.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Donna Summer - Love to Love You Baby mp3 at Blaxpolitation
Donna Summer - I Feel Love (Patrick Cowley remix) mp3 at Loft and Lost
Giorgio Moroder - Chase mp3 at Disco Workout From the soundtrack to the film Midnight Express
Visit:
Classic Tracks: Donna Summer "I Feel Love" at Sound On Sound

BEATS MOONDANCE BY A MILE

What I know, or care to know, about Van Morrison is pretty close to squat. I know he's put out highly acclaimed solo albums that I've never gotten around to, save Moondance, which was inescapable when I was in high school. I know Astral Weeks is always on Best LPs of All Time type lists, and it's one I should probably check out at some point (but seriously, I haven't gotten around to Dusty In Memphis yet). There is that one indisputable fact: I like Them a lot more than I do Moondance. Once again, the early stuff wins out.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Them - I Can Only Give You Everything .mp3 at Pretty Goes With Pretty
Them - It's All Over Now, Baby Blue .mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Them - Mystic Eyes .mp3 at Smiles Davis
Them - One Two Brown Eyes .mp3 at Smiles Davis
Them - Three more at Boogie Woogie Flu
Video:
Them - Baby Please Don't Go at YouTube
Them - Gloria at YouTube
Visit:
Them - Exhaustive bio at Garage Hangover

DO THE SAINT VITUS

I would be mighty surprised if a bunch of you didn't already know Little Willie John's "I'm Shakin'" from the Blasters cover of it. Then again, that was the eighties and if you aren't a middle age person who had good taste back then, or a younger person who's done their homework, you may not know it. Come to think of it, a lot of you may not know it. Well, it's high time we fix that, because, although I'm sure I've brought it up it before, it bears repeating. It's a damn fine song, and you should know it like the back of your hand. Being that the Blasters are the ones that turned me onto it, I can think of no better segue, so here's a link to a great post at Beware of the Blog, "Songs the Blasters Taught Us." It's the original versions of a mess of songs the Blasters have covered. Yep, I know, I've posted it before. But did you get them all back then? I didn't think so cherry picker. Go school yourself.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Little Willie John - I'm Shakin' mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Little Junior Parker - Barefoot Rock mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Lee Allen - Walkin' With Mr. Lee mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Thirty more! at Beware of the Blog

YOU DECIDE!

A couple days ago, I was listening to Nick Curran, wondering why more artists don't embrace the dirty, honking sort of R & B/rock 'n' roll like he does, particularly the type stuff Don and Dewey and Little Richard put out on Specialty.  You might know what I'm talking about, the stuff that sounds like the singer has some wear and tear on their vocal chords, the kind with the dirty sax.  With that still in the back of my head, I happened to be perusing The Slow Drag last night, and came across someone I was unfamiliar with, JD McPherson.  I have to admit, I had to listen to the song a couple of times to shake the image that appeared on the post, one of McPherson sitting in a too clean retro type setting, with nary a beer can or ashtray in sight.  The photo belied the song, I finally hit the stop button until further investigating could be done.

JD McPherson

So, I did a little digging and this is what I found out.  Dude's an artist.  That could be a demerit.  (Nothing against artists, but when they get their hands in anything roots music oriented, particularly if they do it well, you have to wonder if it's some sort of art project they've got going on.) But, he did say this, "There are little subcultures within the roots scene, where people are really into rockabilly, traditional hillbilly stuff or old-timey music, but there aren’t a whole lot of folks making hard-core rhythm & blues hearkening back to Specialty, Vee-Jay or labels like that. That’s what Jimmy [his producer] and I really like, and our only intention going in was just to make a solid rhythm & blues/rock ’n’ roll record." Hmmm. Then I read that Nick Curran's sax player is on his LP.  It was looking good for McPherson.  Just before I was about to complete this slack investigation, I read that his favorite band is the Pixies.  Shit. There will be no demerits for the choice of band, but for confusing the hell out of me, he's on thin ice.  Fuck it, throw in the "further listening" stack.

Nick Curran and the Lowlifes

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen: 
JD McPherson – North Side Gal mp3 at Indieball 
Nick Curran - Kill My Baby mp3 at KEXP
JD McPherson - Wolf Teeth mp3 (via Box.com) at The Slow Drag  
JD McPherson – A Gentle Awakening mp3 at Indieball
Video:
JD McPherson - North Side Gal (Live, acoustic) at YouTube 
Nick Curran and the Lowlifes - No Fun/Shot Down at YouTube Listen to what he's doing with the Stooges.  He's going backwards.  Nut.

OH, WHAT THE HELL

Here's a couple that feature guitarists playing on instrumentals under names you might not recognize.  The first is a restrained Link Wray playing with the Moon Men, presumably a name used for throwaway instrumentals.  Playing almost as if he's looking at his watch, it sounds like he's hearing the rhythm for the first time, like he's just making it up on the spot.  Just a reminder that Link Wray, contrary to what was commonly thought around here, was, in fact, mortal.  Nowhere near his sinister sounding best.  The other song features a young Roy Buchanan, who put out some blues rock stuff that I used to go nuts over when I was in my mid-late teens.  (Listen to his version of "Hey Joe" at YouTube.  Listen to the lead that starts at about 2:57.  Hard to believe that I used to get off on that sort of stuff.  How do you even come close to shaking what you got to that?)  In the case of these two songs, I think I'd appreciate them more if I didn't know who was playing on them.  I tell you what though, I will not rest until I can acquire twenty four hours of faceless dime store variety instrumentals; and these suckers will take up about five or six minutes.  Get outta my way, I've got a project goin' here.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen: 
The Moon Men - Some Kinda Nut mp3 (via Box.net) at The Slow Drag
Bobby Gregg - Potato Peeler mp3 at Diddy Wah

ANOTHER KIND OF CRAZY MUSIC

Now I've heard everything.  I was cruising around today and I ran into this stuff called jazz (sp?).  It's weird; instruments all over the place, sometimes it slows down, like someone went on a piss break.  Weird.  It's supposed to be popular with smart people, old people (beatniks and such), and sometimes nerds.  I'll have to check it out some day.

Village Dance Radio is a good place to start.  There's a lot to check out.  It's not what you might be looking for, but I'd bookmark it if I were you.  You might not be a smart person, or a nerd, but you will get old, so a bookmark might come in handy.  I bookmarked it, just in case.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Pharaoh Sanders - Village Of The Pharaohs, Pts. 1-3 mp3 at Village Dance Radio
Art Blakey & The Afro-Drum Ensemble - Ayiko, Ayiko mp3 at Village Dance Radio

THE BASS PLAYER

Donald "Duck" Dunn has passed away.  Steve Cropper, his off and on band mate of over fifty years, first posted the news on his Facebook page earlier today, "Today I lost my best friend, the World has lost the best guy and bass player to ever live. Duck Dunn died in his sleep Sunday morning May 13 in Tokyo Japan after finishing two shows at the Blue Note Night Club."

Booker T and the MGs - Booker-Loo.  French TV, 1968.  Duck Dunn is feeling it. You'll wish you were there.

You should know who he is.  If you don't, you've really got a bit of catching up to do.  His most visible role was that of bass player for Booker T & the MG's, but his groove is all over Stax releases from their golden era, from '61 - '68.  That's just for starters.  He played with a shitload of people, both live and in the studio.  You'd be heard pressed to find any bass player ever with his resume: The Mar-Keys, Booker T and the MGs, Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Johnny Taylor, Wilson Pickett, Rufus Thomas, Eddie Floyd, the Staple Singers, Isaac Hayes,  Albert King, Freddy King, Eric Clapton, Leon Russell, Wilson Picket, Muddy Waters, Roy Buchanan, Bob Dylan, Jerry Lee Lewis, Willie Dixon, Ray Charles, and Neil Young; and that's only about half of them. A striking thing about this list is that he played live, or toured with, a great many of those names.  So, it's not like he was just a hired gun playing in the studio.  

The moving part of this whole thing is that it was Steve Cropper who announced it.  They started playing in bands together in high school, the first band being the Royal Spades, which also included classmate Packy Axton.  Shortly after that, it was Booker T & the MGs, all the while backing other Stax artists.  When you listen to anything on Stax up until about '68, chances are Dunn, Cropper, MG's drummer Al Jackson, or some combination of the three are on it.  And, when someone like Steve Cropper refers to him as the best bass player that ever lived, you better listen.  There maybe technically better bass players, faster, more advanced, or whatever, but one thing that is lost on many is the bass player's role in the rhythm section.  They're the groove makers.  And there is absolutely no question, he had that down.  Even if he wasn't the best that ever lived, he was a great, great bass player, one of the very best, and he cannot be replaced.  It will always be "he plays like Duck Dunn." 

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Booker T and the MGs - Green Onions mp3 at La Detente Generale
Booker T and the MGs - Hip Hug Her mp3 at 8106
Booker T and the MGs - Hang 'em High mp3 at LZ Center 
Booker T and the MGs - Melting Pot mp3 at Aerial Noise 
Booker T and the MGs - Bootleg mp3 at Planet Mondo  
Booker T and the MGs - Time Is Tight mp3 at LZ Center 
Booker T and the MGs - Chicken Pox mp3 (via Mediafire) at Tonegents Annoying pop-up, but worth it. 
Video: 
Steve Cropper on the MGs and Stax at YouTube Mandatory. 
Booker T and the MGs - Green Onions (hollywood A Go-Go, 1965) at YouTube 
Booket T and the MGs - Hip Hug Her (the opening credits of Barfly) at YouTube 
Booker T and the MGs - Green Onions (the race scene in American Graffiti) at YouTube 
Visit: 
Donald "Duck" Dunn at Wikipedia 
Donald "Duck" Dunn at The Stax Site (France?) An excellent comprehensive fan site. 
Donald "Duck" Dunn official site 
Donald "Duck" Dunn - Discography

GO SAAKA YOURSELF

Holy hell, seems like yesterday.  The first time I heard Scotty's "Draw Your Bakes" it was from the soundtrack of the film The Harder They Come, where many of you may have been introduced to it.  It was the first reggae DJ cut I'd ever heard.  I didn't even know what to compare it to.  But the combination of the excellent backing rhythm (which has been used several times over the years), and my first exposure to toasting, made it all that more interesting.  That was a long, long time ago, and it still does something to me.  I never thought I'd get to see a video of him performing it.  Though not an early performance, it is faithful to the record, and, if you ask me, very cool. The way he start's off, "Oh my gosh...have mercy!", and his delivery; he flows like few DJs can.  For the ultimate test, listen to it without watching the video, as you would a record.  If you like the original recorded version, this is a must.

To those of you who know "Draw Your Brakes," the recorded version, and always wondered just what he's yelping at the beginning if it, check out this site.  A guy was curious so he tracked down an expert in Jamaican patois.  After wondering for literally two thirds of my life, I just found out he's saying "Forward and payaaka, manhangle and den go saaka,” which means “go and take away a next man’s girl, grab her and then go have sex with her.”  Dude, uncool.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Scotty - Draw Your Breaks mp3 at La Grand Chose
Scotty - Do I Worry mp3 at La Grand Chose
Scotty - Musical Chariot mp3 at La Grand Chose
Scotty - Shocking Love mp3 at La Grand Chose  
Scotty - Lonely Man mp3 at La Grand Chose
Visit:
Scotty at Wikipedia 
Draw Your Brakes - A Jamiacan Creole Shout at Steve Cotler

BEST SHOW IN TOWN

It's heard to describe the sense of community and grassroots pipeline of information that was California punk rock in 1977-1978 to someone who wasn't there. At that point, there wasn't the plethora of bands that would come down the pike within the next couple of few years. There were just a handful of bands in each of the major cities, and even the biggest names would play venues with capacities of only a couple hundred or so. No one was making it rich, or necessarily trying to get signed. The labels were small DIY outfits, and many of the deals were done on a handshake (or less). When you wanted to book a band, you might get their phone number from another band, and call and ask that they tell you when they'd be in your area. So it was that a couple friends and I would book shows in a teen disco, rented out one night a week, for a run of Monday nights in the summer of 1978.

One particular night we had a bill that, in retrospect, was a decent representation of where things were at the time. The Avengers from San Francisco, the Last from L.A., and a very early Crawdaddys, from San Diego. It was a good show. And, thanks to a page of a old tour diary, in the booklet that comes with the Avengers' The American In Me posthumous compilation, I see that we paid them $150. I think the sound guy was about $50. Who the hell knows what the Last and the Crawdads were paid. Anyway you look at it, it was a damn bargain.

Just a month later, the Avengers would be in the studio with Steve Jones producing. Those sessions, long out of print, were just reissued in an expanded version today. You can read about it here. Their cuts below are from their first record, released either late '77 or early '78.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Avengers - We Are The One mp3 at Killed By Death
The Avengers - I Believe In Me mp3 at Killed By Death
The Avengers - Car Crash mp3 at Killed By Death
The Avengers - Corpus Christi mp3 at Combat Music Radio
The Last - She Don't Know Why I'm Here mp3 (via DivShare) at Student Drivers
The Last - Bombing of London mp3 (via DivShare) at Student Drivers
The Last - Century City Rag mp3 (via DivShare) at Student Drivers
The Crawdaddys - Oh Baby Doll mp3 at Che Underground
The Crawdaddys - I'm Dissatisfied mp3 at Che Underground
The Crawdaddys - I Just Don't Understand mp3 at Che Underground