FOUR KINDS OF CRAZY

Every time it seems like things are kind of slowing down, in terms of hearing anything that knocks me on my ass, I seem to run into a blog or two that nail it. Good text, wild music, and just the right amount of flippancy. In the right proportions that combination can eat up several nights, and that's probably what's going to happen, so I'll hep you to a handful of cuts at my newest instant favorite, and send you on your way.

On the Record is an unassuming looking blog, until you start poking around. Most of the links, even on the earliest posts are still good, and like I said, there's good text. Historical info, pretty detailed at that, along with snarky asides. Fucking awesome: a record fiend with attitude, and great records. Turn your attention now to first song linked below. That's right, you know him, you love him, you can't live without him, the Great One, Mr. Link Wray. Much fuss has been made here and elsewhere about his sinister licks. This, of course, is what put him on the map. As you may know he's dabbled in singing with mixed results. I honestly never thought one of his vocal songs would become a favorite, but then, I hadn't heard the one I just heard. Feast your ears on "Hidden Charms" by Wray and his Wraymen, circa 1966. That's right, smack dab in the middle of the garage rock explosion, our main man shows those bowl cuts a thing or two. Put it away teenagers, he means business. (Note: The outro is some seriously twisted licks.)

Also at the same site, the gold standard of nuts,"The Girl Can't Dance", which, of course, features the legendary larynx shredding of Bunker Hill. Did you know that it's Wray and his homies backing Hill? Now you do. Speaking of larynx schedding, remember ol' Joyce Harris' version of "Got My Mojo Working"? Of course you do. I was hyperventilating all over it on a post just...shit, it was six years ago. On the Record posted another a cut of hers, "No Way Out", that's as crazy as that earlier one. The last selection below is Dean Carter's cover of "Jailhouse Rock, which answers the question, if you were going to cover that song in 1967, how do you make it relevant? You go batshit crazy, that's how. Dig the guitar solo.

About DivShare, where On the Record hosts their stuff: From the site, click on the "share" button on the embedded DivShare player. A download link will appear (it might say "Link to mp3"). Click on that, it'll take you to DivShare. Once there, click on the green "Download" button. A bit of a hassle, but it will pay dividends.

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Listen:
Link Wray and the Raymen - Hidden Charms mp3 (via DivShare) at On the Record
Bunker Hill - The Girl Can't Dance mp3 (via DivShare) at On the Record
Joyce Harris - No Way Out mp3 (via DivShare) at On The Record
Dean Carter - Jailhouse Rock mp3 (via DivShare) at On the Record
Visit:
On the Record

THE OTHER SOUTHERN MUSIC

How does a search for a band with an apeshit drummer end up falling into a motherlode of vintage cajun? I knew you were going to ask that. I was just looking for a photo of a band, with said apeshit drummer, that must have been invisible, because I wasn't able to come up with anything, but I ran into the photo above (less the text) and thought,...I don't know, I wasn't really thinking anything. Just that it was a cool old timey photo. I honestly don't know what I thought I'd come across if I clicked on it. You do this shit long enough and you develop the instincts of a scavenger, I guess. The photo led me to a page called "Cajun Music Mp3", with the subtitle "Hadacol it something". Okay, right off the bat that reference to Hadacol told me that whoever was behind the page had knowledge of old school cheap highs. (Hadacol was a tonic, 12% alcohol, that sold well in dry states back in the day.)

Then I scanned a little lower. Stop. Right there: "78s recorded from the collections of Joe Bussard, Ron Brown, and others...". That first name, Joe Bussard. You remember him don't you? A 78 collector who is a diehard, full blown fiend. When asked if there was any genre he avoids, he said "Rock 'n' roll. Period. Any of it. Hate it. Worse thing that happened to music. Hurt all types of music. They took blues and ruined it. It’s the cancer of music….ate into everything. Killed Country music, that’s for sure.". What we got here is a purist of the highest order. Good for him. I prefer not to be such a nazi, but I can appreciate someone that hard core. So I scroll down further and there's, holy shit, there's roughly a couple hundred cajun songs, from the twenties all the way through the sixties. You might not be all that into cajun stuff, and to be honest I'm just kind of a dabbler, but you'll probably want to bookmark it for the next time, I don't know, you're downing a bunch of Hadacol.

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Listen:
Hackberry Ramblers - C'est Pas La Peine mp3 at Cajon Music Mp3s
Nathan Abshire - Hoola Hoop Two Step mp3 at Cajon Music Mp3s
Robert Bertrand - Corrina Corrina mp3 at Cajon Music Mp3s
Visit:
Cajon Music Mp3s - 200 plus cajun tunes, spanning fifty years
Video:
J'ai Été Au Bal - A film by Les Blank, 1989 at YouTube
This drummer is at the right gig, at 12:36 
A related earlier post:
Joe Bussard Hates Rock 'n' Roll

THE NEW ORLEANS MACHINE

With Fat Tuesday just a week away, I thought I'd get jump on things and start tracking down some good ol' fashioned New Orleans R&B. I got as far as Home of the Groove and ka-bamm! Distraction hit. I don't even resist it anymore. I just go with it. Tonight it was Dave Bartholomew.

At Home of the Groove there's a half dozen songs there that'll get you in the mood for the last gasp of the this carnival season. The first cut is Dave Bartholomew's "Carnival Song", a completely, unequivocally, funky-ass top shelf old school New Orleans rump bumper, circa 1950. You mix that with volume, and a hot, crowded, and sweaty room, and you've got something volatile. After that, I made a beeline to "The Monkey Speaks His Mind" which isn't all that New Orleans sounding, but it's good, the lyrics thought provoking, and the way Bartholomew says "Yeeeaaahhh..."? I could keep going back for more of that all day.

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Listen:
Dave Bartholomew - Carnival Time mp3 at Home of the Groove It the link doesn't work, go there to get it.

Dave Bartholomew - The Monkey Speaks His Mind mp3 at Snuhthing Anything

Carnival Season 2014, Part 1 at Home of the Groove Five more songs and some really good reading.

Visit:

Dave Bartholomew at Wikipedia

 

HEY SUN RA, LET'S PARTY

You should be used to this by now. Again, tonight, just one chance click sent me off on another joyride, This time it's Moondog, If you know Moondog, you know what happened. One toe in that rabbit hole and you can kiss your ass goodbye. It started with "Bird's Lament". I'd heard it before, it still hit the spot, but it just made me want more.

If you don't know anything about Moondog, a thumbnail can't really do him justice. He was a jazz musician who lived and performed for a number of years on the street, in his oddball get ups that were, to him, full of symbolism. A lot of people just thought he was some kook. You owe it to yourself to read up on him. Check out Wikipedia to get started. See how far you fall in.

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Listen:
Moondog - Bird's Lament mp3 at Nevver
Moondog - Dog Trop mp3 at ATumblr (?)
Moondog - Stomping Ground mp3 at Le Biglemoi
Moondog - Surf Session (streaming) at YouTube 

FORGOT ABOUT THIS ONE

There are so many ways to look at Sonic Youth. In one corner you have the diehards. They like everything that Sonic Youth ever did. You need to discount them, for now. In the other corner, you have the haters, or at least non-likers, a coalition of those too square to fathom, those wholly unfamiliar with them, and then the Super Haters. That there is a force to be reckoned with, those Super Haters. And it is to them I suggest the following. Relax. You don't have to like the band, or the fact that they signed to a major way back when and you never quite got over it. Take their good stuff on it's own merit and shut up.

The video for their song "Kool Thing" is Exhibit A. It's a good noisy song on its own, but the video is some kinda low-budge cool. I've no idea what the story behind it is, but I'm seeing the Exploding Plastic Inevitable Lite, Warhol Factory type stuff, with black and white segments that look like Robert Mapplethorpe shot it. The editing figures big too. It's just an excellent video. And I hate to say it, but it's sexy, real sexy. In a rock 'n' roll sexy sorta way. Haters may resume after viewing.

If you like the song, you presumably already have it. Regardless, you'll want to check the demo of it below. The guitars are more distorted, and the drums are just plain nuts. Quite a racket. Come to think of it, the haters may have been on to something. If this is what they sound like on an 8 track budget, maybe they should have never left.

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Listen:
Sonic Youth - Kool Thing (demo) mp3 at Muskrat Midldleberry (?)

WAH-WAHS DON'T SLEEP

Stone Coal White fits the bill tonight, perfectly. It's obscure, dirty, from left field (Dayton, Ohio to be exact), old, crusty and raw. It's overdone and under-polished stoner funk. Post-last call, home from the bar, let's drag this shit out type stuff, bass heavy, wah-wah abusing, sludge. It's fantastic.

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Listen:

Stone Coal White - Stone Coal White mp3 (via MediaFire) at Crotchbat 

NOTE: At MediaFire, click the green "Download" button on the top right. A pop-up will open, trying to fool you into downloading something else. Close it, it's not the download and may be harmful (your anti-pop up radar may automatically minimize it.). The download dialog box should be waiting behind it.

Stone Coal White - Stone Coal White (streaming) at Crotchbar

BETTER THAN BOSS?

The Rumblers' "Boss" is one of my favorite instrumentals of all time, by a band that named themselves after a song by the Great One, and recorded in the same studio, attached to a record store, that the Chantays recorded "Pipeline" in. Need I go further? Listen to it. It is most wicked. You will understand why I was elated to run across "I Don't Need You No More", a vocal number and the B-side of "Boss", at On the Flip-Side. After digging that one, I figured, what the hell, and finally decided to look for "Caterpillar Crawl" by the Strangers, the song that "Boss" is based on. It's even more wicked. It's more boss than "Boss". They don't even have a word for it; that's how baddass it is.

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Listen:
The Rumblers - Boss mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
The Strangers - Caterpillar Crawl mp3 at Rockin' Dog

The Rumblers - I Don't Need You No More mp3 (via DivShare) at On The Flip-Side Note: Once you get to DivShare, click on the green "Download" button, and scratch your head for fifteen seconds while the timer counts down. When the button reappears, you're good to go.

CHECK THE BROWN PAPER BAG

Have you ever heard Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings' version of "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition Your Condition Is In)"? If you've heard both hers and the version by Kenny Rogers and the First Edition, you know how cool the reinvented arrangement in Jones's version is. I'd always assumed it was the work of one of those Daptone soul eggheads. But tonight I was just kind of clicking around some old posts at Soul Garage, and ran into Bettye LaVette's cover, from 1968. That seems to be the source of the arrangement. It also happens to be the source of my new favorite version. The thing smokes.

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Listen:
Bettye LaVette - What Condition My Condition Is In mp3 at Soul Garage 1968
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings - Just Dropped in (To See What Condition My Condition Is In) mp3 at Passion of the Weiss 2004
Kenny Rogers and the First Edition - Just Dropped in (To See What Condition My Condition Is In) mp3 at Safety Fun  and Learning 1967
Mickey Newberry - Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Is In) (streaming) at YouTube The original,

LIEV TUK SUPERFAN NO 1

Roughly ten or fifteen years ago, a friend of mine sent me a mix, without a note or any explanation. She had written "Cambodia Rocks" on it, but there was no song listing. I had no clue why it was sent to me, and although I had more than a passing interest in international music, we were always so damn busy talking about rock 'n' roll and other Western music that I don't think we ever got there. So, having received this tape, I was intrigued. Then, I played it. Holy. Fucking. Shit. What a racket. I was not prepared to hear this wild exotic strain of music. I didn't even know it existed. My mind was sufficiently blown, and still is at the thought that my friend had me so pegged, with a music wholly unfamiliar to me. There are many similar compilations nowadays, but this one was the first I'd heard, and it came from left field. There was something mysterious about it too, the story behind it was nowhere to be found, not even a song listing. Even when it was circulating a second time there was squat in the way of details.It wouldn't be until 2007 that a song listing would appear over at Beware of the Blog. You will dig this: the post is still there with the song listings, the story behind it, mp3s of every song, and other links to further digging. It's fucking Candyland over there.

Tonights distraction began with this trailer for the documentary Don't Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia's Lost Rock and Roll. There's a link to an article about it below..

Dig that first one below, "Rom Sue Sue" ("Dance Soul Soul") by Liev Tuk, a totally whacked out vocal version of Booker T and the MGs'  "Hip Hug Her". You gotta hear it. Definitely stick around for the guitar solo, followed a drum solo, both of similar skill levels, that is to say, beyond good or bad; weird, particularly with all of the grunting and carrying on. That it ends with canned applause is just the icing on the cake.

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Listen:
Liev Tuk - Rom Sue Sue (Dance Soul Soul) mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Sinn Sisamouth - Srolanh Srey Touch (I Love Petite Girl) mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Ros Sereysothea - Penh Jet Thai Bong Mouy (I Like Only You) mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Visit:
Cambodia Rocks - 22 individual songs and background info at Beware of the Blog
Long-awaited film tells the tale of Cambodia’s musical ‘golden age’ at The Phnom Penh Post

THERE'S SHAME HERE SOMEWHERE

A friend posted Ann Cole's version of "Got My Mojo Working'" on his Facebook page today, and it hit me that I knew there were some hijinks involved in the credits to the song, but had never bothered to go any further. Probably because I didn't want to think that Muddy Waters would knowingly steal a song. Think about how deep my fat head was buried in the sand. It's the blues. Probably the most pilfered type of music there is. 

You ought to read one or both of the accounts below. It's an interesting story. Oh, and Mickey Baker pops up again. He backed Cole on most of her recordings on the Baton label. That guy was everywhere.

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Listen:
Ann Cole - Got My Mojo Working mp3 at Soul Garage
Visit:
Ann Cole at Black Cat Rockabilly
Got My Mojo Working at Wikipedia

GREAT MOMENTS IN WINGING IT

The story behind Tyrone Schmidling's "You're Gone, I'm Left" is almost as nuts as the song is, and the song is about as nuts as they come. Back in 1958, there was a talent competition that his high school buddies told Schmidling should enter. He did, and then the next day he got a call from a DJ asking him to play guitar on a recording session for a vocal group. He agreed. He'd never been in a recording studio before in his life. During the session, he was asked what song he was going to do. He didn't know he was going to sing anything, so he said the first song that came to mind, "Honey Don't". They recorded it, in one take. Wait, it gets better. They then suggested they try recording one of his own songs. He had never written a song in his life. So they suggested that he just make something up, on the spot. It was just him and his guitar and "these black guys just banging on whatever was around". The gloriously raw, spontaneous, crazy, ramshackle result was "You're Gone, I'm Left". After you check it out, just ponder all of the things that had to come together for this perfect moment to happen. Talent contest, era, absolute naive earnestness, a producer who saw no need for perfection, rhythm players who were winging it just as much as Schmidling was, and a record label small enough and crazy enough to put it out.

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Listen:
Tyrone Schmidling - You're Gone, I'm Left mp3 at Rocky 52
Tyrone Schmidling - Honey Don't (streaming) at YouTube
Read:
Tyrone Schmidling - The story in his words From a out of print Norton reissue.

MIC PASSING DIVERSION

Just ran into a post with ten good reggae DJ (toaster type) cuts, with some of my favorites. U Roy, Dillinger, Dennis Alcapone, Trinity, Big Youth and so on. You'll recognize the backing tracks (riddims), a few of them have been used a lot. Even so, it's always interesting to hear what someone else does with it. Maybe not always, but often. Check Trinity's "Three Piece Suit", the riddim of which is used in Althea and Donna's "Uptown Top Ranking". Both of those have been here before, but I don't remember if I ever posted Big Youth's "Cool Breeze" which uses the the same riddim as Scotty's "Draw Your Brakes". Always had a soft spot for that one, "Draw Your Brakes". It was the first reggae DJ song I ever heard. (Scotty pictured above.) So that was the reason I started down this road. But, man, were things about to turn weird.

I ran into a track by one Dub Gabriel, with David J from Bauhaus on bass and U Roy on the mic. Boy oh boy, ain't no U Roy I know. You know what it sounds like? It sounds like a late night jam with Berlin/Low-era Bowie, Eno, U Roy, and..., hey look over there, there's Ralf and Florian smokin' a doobie. It's kind of unsettling if you're a purist, but it is interesting to hear. I guess. They kinda paved paradise there.

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Listen:
Scotty - Draw Your Breaks mp3 at La Grand Chose
Big Youth - Cool Breeze mp3 at For the Sake of the Song
Trinity - Three Piece Suit mp3 at For the Sake of the Song
Eight more prime DJ cuts at For the Sake of the Song
Althea and Donna - Uptown Top Ranking mp3 at Clumsy and Shy
Dub Gabriel with David J and U Roy - Luv n' Liv mp3 at Music to Die For

THAT TIME OF YEAR

Holy cow. Fat Tuesday is only a couple weeks away. I'm not one for all of the knucklehead amateurs' night shenanigans, but I dig this time of year because there's usually an good amount of New Orleans type music floating around. Being that I've got the damn flu, and not the boogie woogie type, I'm gonna bow out quick tonight with a heads up to check out "Home of the Groove" which is, in their words, "based on the premise that the true Home of the Groove, at least on the North American landmass, is the irreplaceable musical and cultural nexus, New Orleans." Right or wrong, they post some good stuff. (Hey, I just noticed, I cuss less when I'm sick.) A recent post is all Professor Longhair, James Booker and Ray Johnson. Here's a couple from the Professor not posted over there, to get you in the mood. (Hello bed. I've missed you so.)

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Listen:
Professor Longhair - In the Night mp3 at DJ Perro
Professor Longhair - Tipitina (live) mp3 (via Box.net) at Carnival Saloon
Visit:
Tasty Holiday Leftovers: Fess, Ray and JCB3 at Home of the Groove
Home of the Groove - Home page
Home of the Groove radio Stream that funky stuff

FACE SUCKERS REJOICE

Let's just say that a couple days ago you picked up Spread the Good Word's Bloody Love Mix Part 3. You figured you'd have a leg up on your crush's other potential suitor, by giving her a well curated mix from a vast record collection that you don't have. Then you find out that the other suitor, whom by certain unwritten rules is now classified as a jerk no matter how good of friends you once were, decides he's gonna do the same goddamn thing. Time for heavy artillery. Spread the Good Word has two other mixes buried in their digs, curiously titled "A Bloody Love Mix" (the original, from 2008) and "A Bloody Love Mix Part 2" (posted in 2011). These just might tip the scales. You could always seal the deal with Link Wray, but then again you don't want someone to faint when you're trying to woo them. 

The mixes were made by a man of taste, Reverend Tom Frost, whom many of you may know. I've gone on about him many times. If you've never checked out his music, the mixes will give you a good indication of what he's about. The Phantom, Slim Whitman, Roy Hamilton, Marvin Rainwater, Wanda Jackson, Benny Joy, Eddie Cochran, Lord Creator,...that's just random names. The list goes on and on. Now that I think of it, the mixes could serve as a litmus test. If the object of your desires ain't having any of it, they lack taste. Move on. There's more fish in the sea.and all of that jazz. What your Mom said when you were twelve.

 

Note: Once you get to Rapidshare, look for the bar that says "to download", then on the next page select the box next to the mix and click on "download selection": You do not have to register. I repeat, you do not have to register. Ignore that window when it comes up (you may have to close it) and a few seconds later, the download will start. Got that?

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The mixes:
A Bloody Love Mix at Spread the Good Word
A Bloody Love Mix Part 2 at Spread the Good Word
A Bloody Love Mix Part 3 at Spread the Good Word
Visit:
Reverend Tom Frost - Samples of his music at Rev. Tom Frost 
Reverend Tom Frost - Official site

BIG MAYBELLE POINTING AT HER HEAD

A couple of days ago, I utilized my go-to method of getting out of doing the full-on post about Mickey Baker by saying I got sidetracked. That was true. While digging into his session work, one detour led directly to Big Maybelle. Baker played on her version of "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On", which predated Jerry Lee Lewis's version by a couple years. Just looking into the history of the song is an serious distraction in itself. But listen to Baker's version, the whole thing is A-1 classic pre-rock 'n' roll R&B  Cardboard sounding drums, tambourine smashing and filthy sax. You'd get distracted too.

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Listen:
Big Maybelle - Whole Lotta Shakin' Going on mp3 at Internet Archive
Big Maybelle - New Kind of Mambo mp3 at I Pick My Nose
Big Maybelle - Ocean of Tears mp3 at Probe is Turning-On the People
Big Maybelle - One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Visit:
Big Maybelle at Wikipedia
Mickey Baker profile at The Hound Blog

HANDS OFF MY AX

I know very little about theremins. I know that you play them without your hands touching them, that the Beach Boys used one to make the weird noises on "Good Vibrations", and that a bunch of old sci-fi movies used them for eery sounds. Other than that, squat. I'm ignorant of all of the technical mumbo jumbo. There's a couple links below to Wikipedia entries if you're that into it. But the rest of you knuckleheads might find the online theremin simulating doohickey amusing. I just messed with it for a couple minutes and was able to replicate, accidentally, some familiar sounds. One hint, keep your right clicker down while you move the cursor around willy nilly. Depending on you propensity to indulge in time sucking distractions, you'll either find it very cool and fuck with it for hours on end, or, as I did, shrug meat. Cool nonetheless.

Theremin at Femur Design Online version, obviously not the real thing.
Theremin at Wikipedia
Léon Theremin at Wikipedia

MYSTO, OR NOT MYSTO?

I've got no clue about these things. I had never heard Warren Lee before last night. I don't know if it's someone I should have been cognizant of. I don't really care. "Funk Belly" is worth forgetting about all of that. It's very funky. Give a good listen to all the shit going on in it. It might sound like a thousand other funk songs, but there's something about it that grabs me. It's best not to think about it too much. (The above image is pre-"Funky Belly". It's the only one I could find.)

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Listen:
Warren Lee - Funky Belly at Boogaloo Time
Visit:
Warren Lee - Profile at Funky 16 Corners

I'LL ANSWER! I'LL ANSWER!

I had all sorts of Mickey Baker related stuff planned for tonight, until I got ten kinds of sidetracked. Baker was a session guitarist for several years before teaming up with Sylvia Robinson, his former guitar student. And that session work is what did it. it sent me all over the place. You know how it is, right? Totally sidetracked. So, I'll stick with just a few from Mickey and Sylvia, a couple of which are semi-on topic, being that this Friday is Valentine's Day. I regained my footing with "Love is Strange" a song you've probably heard many times. Listen to it again. Is sexy, no? And take a look at that photo above. Oh holy shit is that hot. That's my kinda porno.

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Listen:
Mickey and Sylvia - Love is Strange mp3 at Snuhthing Anything
Mickey and Sylvia - No Good Lover mp3 at RocknDog 
Mickey and Sylvia - Dearest mp3 at Surface to Air

KNOW THEM

I can't say anything about Impala that reads better than their bio over at Electrophonic. They rule (or did). I first heard them in the soundtrack of Teenage Tupelo, the film by Mike McCarthy (badass that). Nothing, though, could have prepared me for one of their long players, one song after another. Surf, strip tease, Morricone, Stax, noir, it's all there, in varying degrees. A real crafty instrumental salad bowl. You need to shell out for an album. That's how to listen to Impala. Really, open your fly catcher, a strong buy as they say. And do read the bio, it's a real hoot.

Scott Bomar, wherever you you are: I'm linking to your uploads. Wait, hear me out. I am honestly, sincerely encouraging people to buy your music. I'm linking to the songs below, because I assume you want them heard. If you'd rather I find some streaming versions, or not post them at all, say the word. Hope this finds you well. Your music kicks ass. 

Bomar was the bassist in Impala, is now a member of the Bo-keys, and the brains behind Electraphonic Recording.

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Listen:
Impala - Epilogue mp3 at Electraphonic Recording
Impala - Night Full of Sirens mp3 at Electraphonic Recording
Impala - Rope of Sand mp3 at Electraphonic Recording
Impala - Tomb of the Tupelo Twin mp3 at Electraphonic Recording
Visit:
Impala - Bio at Electraphonic Recording
Electrophonic Recording
Electrophonic Recording at Wikipedia
Guerillamonster, the World of Mike McCarthy A real cornucopia of cool shit.

YOU TOO LOVERBOY

I can't even believe I'm paying attention enough to remember what you had better remember. That is, if you're in a relationship, be it married, dating, or doing whatever the hell it is those guys who are always back from lunch late do. It's next Friday you dolt. Look at the calender. You've got a week left. I'm not one for giving advice on this topic. If romancing was a sport where you advance to different levels respective of your performance, let's say like baseball, you've got the major leagues, and way out there, way out past the parking lot, there's me. Playing Wiffle ball. So, no advice. I'm just throwing this out there as a public service. Grab, or at least bookmark, the Bloody Love Mix, Part 3 at Spread the Good Word. Do I have to spell it out for you? It's the back up plan, and it's a good mix to boot, low on schmaltz. Thank Rev. Tom Frost. Again. Long after his site went dormant, the lights are still on. It bears mentioning that he stopped updating the site to concentrate on his own music, which you should totally check out. If you're hanging around here with any amount of regularity, our tastes intersect somewhere, as mine do with Reverend Frost's, ergo, you will dig his shit.

Note: Once you get to Rapidshare, look for the bar that says "to download", then on the next page select the box next to the mix and click on "download selection": You do not have to register. I repeat, you do not have to register. Ignore that window when it comes up and a few seconds later, the download will start. Got that?

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

The mix:
The Bloody Love Mix, Pt 3 at Spread the Good Word Note: See last paragraph above for how to deal with Rapidshare's hurdles.
Rev. Frost's music:
Reverend Tom Frost - Gotta Travel mp3 at Big Rock Candy Mountain 
Reverend Tom Frost - A Bloody Life (streaming) at YouTube
Reverend Tom Frost - Dust to Dust (streaming) at YouTube
Reverend Tom Frost - More samples of his music at Rev. Tom Frost Check out "The Naked Witch"!
Visit:
Reverend Tom Frost - Official site

RAD SEGUE

Speaking of McCartney, did you see that McCartney won a Grammy along, with three co-writers, for the song "Cut Me Some Slack"? Not all that remarkable, even when you consider that two of the co-writers were ex-members of Nirvana, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic. The part that's really kind of mind blowing, is that the fourth writer was Pat Smear (above, bottom left). He was in Nirvana for a short time, but before that, he was in the seminal L.A. punk band the Germs. Though that may even be of ho-hum nature to most of you, as someone who saw the Germs many times in their heyday, just the thought of one of the Germs winning a Grammy with one of the Beatles is something straight out of Bizarro World. And it's also a good way to bury that McCartney post, but quick. 

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Listen:
The Germs - Richie Dagger's Crime at The Adios Lounge
The Germs - Communist Eyes mp3 at Punk Sounds
The Germs - Lexicon Devil mp3 at 7 Inch Punk

THIRTY YEAR BUGABOO

This is of interest for several reasons, even if you don't like the Beatles. It's a letter written by Paul McCartney, who seems more than a little pissed off at Phil Spector's fix up of "The Long and Winding Road". Though the letter appears to be written to Allen Klein (manager of John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr), both Phil Spector and John Eastman (Paul McCartney's manager at the time), were copied on it. Imagine McCartney's thought process. First hearing the Spector reworked version, then, rather then getting on the horn with a "WTF?!?" with his bandmates, he decides to make it official. (Oh, to be a fly on the wall during ensuing discussions...) Regardless, he would have to wait thirty three years to release the version he preferred, which appeared on the 2003 semi-reissue Let It Be... Naked. "The Long and Winding Road" is far from a favorite of mine, but I like his spunk.

In case you're reading this on one of those gizmo-phones, and can't read the image of the letter, here's the text:

Dear Sir,
In the future no one will be allowed to add to or subtract from a recording of one of my songs without my permission.

I had considered orchestrating "The Long and Winding Road" but I decided against it. I therefore want it altered to these specifications:-

1. Strings, horns, voices and all added noises to be reduced in volume.
2. Vocal and Beatle instrumentation to be brought up in volume.
3. Harp to be removed completely at the end of the song and original piano notes to be substituted.
4. Don't ever do it again.
 

Signed Paul McCartney

Here's two versions of "The Long and Winding Road" (both streaming because I don't want Klein or Eastman snooping around here). Full on disclaimer: I'm not posting these because I like the song, It is decidedly not my bag. I'm posting it so you can hear what the fuss was about. Keep in mind the 1970 released version was released just three weeks after the letter was written. That's pretty late in the game to still be wrangling about production. Too late in this case.

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Listen:
The Beatles - The Long and Winding Road (streaming) at YouTube 1970
The Beatles - The Long and Winding Road ("Naked" version) (streaming) at YouTube 2003
Visit:
Let It Be... Naked at Wikipedia

NOT WHAT IT IMPLIES

What the hell. After hearing the song below I spent an inordinate amount of time looking at pulp novel art.  I'm sick of looking at a screen, so Ill make it short. Here's a smokey number with a great title, from a post at Office Naps about hard luck lounge singers, or something like that. Haven't read the whole thing yet but this song is reason enough to go back. Plus there's a lot of older posts that'll suck you in. This one's from 2009. Office Naps rules. You should just scram, go over there. I'm sick of looking at your pixelated face.

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Listen:
Henry Thome - Wolf Bait mp3 at Office Naps
Bookmark this:
Office Naps

600 PEOPLE CAN'T BE WRONG

There's so many interesting things about this sucker. Recorded live at the New Orleans Old World night club in Austin in 1966. It was, at the time, to be the final show of the 13th Floor Elevators (obviously the photo above was much earlier). The first thing that grabs you is that the on-air host is a total square. Comically so. Get used to him, he chimes in quite regularly. But not quite as unrelentingly as the designated hooter, who gets pretty annoying. It becomes a little less annoying when you imagine this guy as someone who has given up any hope of getting laid. This is a guy who came to the show with a couple of his buddies, the three of them passing a bottle of Jack in the parking lot. They came to rock and roll, and hoot. Fuck yeah!  He's okay now.

The 13th Floor Elevators. You get five songs. Two are Beatles covers ("The Word" and "I'm Down") and one is Them's "Gloria". When they finally play "You're Gonna Miss Me", it cuts off to go the next show "Jazz Dixieland Style". The on-air host is the shit on that show.

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The live broadcast:
The 13th Floor Elevators - Live, Austin 1966 Radio Broadcast (streaming) at YouTube 30 minutes
Listen:
13th Floor Elevators - You're Gonna Miss Me (mono) mp3* at The Rising Storm
13th Floor Elevators - You're Gonna Miss Me (stereo) mp3* at The Rising Storm
*Direct linking may be disabled. If so, just go to the site to hear them
Roky Erickson - Don't Shake Me Lucifer mp3 at Nevver 1980(?)
More songs and links at this earlier post Several of the song links are still good
Visit:
The 13th Floor Elevator Men at Nitro-Retro Where I found the live thing. Good text and one song.

DUDE, STICK TO SHARKSKIN

Here's a good reason to veer away from career spanning compilations and greatest hits collections. If you don't, you'll never run into the odd out of character gem. This particular one is Wilson Pickett, produced by Gamble & Huff with a heavy nod to Norman Whitfield. Six minutes of extended instrumental hijinks, fuzz, congas and, yes, plenty of cowbell. And Pickett, he's definitely picking up a little sumpin' sumpin' from the GFOS.

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Listen:
Wilson Pickett - Get Me Back On Time (Engine Number Nine) mp3 at The Melting Pot
Wilson Pickett - Two others from the same LP at The Melting Pot Go there to get them.