MEET SHIRLEY SCOTT

A jazz organist who's not named Jimmy? Yeah, I know, there's shitloads of them, but I don't know much about jazz, so Jimmy Smith and Jimmy McGriff are about the extent of my knowledge in that category. (Throw a beer can at me and be done with it.) The two songs below are by Shirley Scott, who was a pianist and trumpet player until she heard Jimmy Smith, which led to a switch to the Hammond. (So there's your Jimmy connection.) "Keep the Faith Baby" was what got my attention. The slow tempo and finger snapping conjure visions of smokey coffeehouses full of Hollywood type beatniks. You half expect Joe Friday to pop in and bust someone for reefer.

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Listen:
Shirley Scott Trio - Keep the Faith Baby mp3 at Discos y Monstruos
Shirley Scott Trio - Was the Time mp3 at All About Jazz

RIDDIM DEPOT. YEAH, WE GOT THAT.

Garret Mimms's "A Quiet Place" was just a slow tempo soul song when it was released in 1964, making it to #78 in the charts. Hardly a smash hit. But when it crossed the water over to Jamaica, boy, did it ever get legs. The Paragons recorded it at Duke Reid's in 1968, and the riddim (rhythm) that it was laid over has been mined for the past four decades. Usually referred to as the "Man Next Door" riddim, it's been used by U Roy, Doctor Alimatado, and I Roy, to toast over, and the song itself, with the riddim (as opposed to Simms's original version), has been covered by everybody from Horace Andy and Dennis Brown to the Slits. My personal favorite (which you should rightly not give a shit about) is Dr. Alimantado's version, "Poison Flour", because he incorporates Horace Andy's vocal tracks as well as the riddim, and, of course, his own spouting off . He must have like the song, because he used it twice, as did U Roy, John Holt (solo and with the Paragons), and Horace Andy (solo, with the Paragons, and with Massive Attack). And you just know the session musicians that came up with the riddim probably got the paid for the session, but squat for coming up with the very part of it that has proved so enduring. I've no clue if you can be paid royalties for just playing a song differently, but that opens up the biggest can of worms in reggae, who did what? It's like a damn free for all over there.

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Songs:
Garnet Simms - A Quite Place (streaming at YouTube
The Paragons - A Quiet Place mp3 at Essentially Eclectic
Horace Andy - Man Next Door (streaming) at YouTube With dub version.
Dr. Alimantado - Poison Flour mp3 at Le Blog de la Grande Chose
I Roy- Noisy Place (streaming) at YouTube
U Roy - Peace and Love In the Ghetto (streaming) at YouTube
Dennis Brown - Man Next Door mp3 at Essential Eclectic
The Slits - Man Next Door (live) mp3 at Essentially Eclectic

ROLL OVER RAVI

I thought about these three songs and what attracts me to them, They're from a compilation titled Psych Funk Sa Re Ga!, They're supposed to psych funk or some other nonsense. I can hear little of either. What I do hear is weird. In a good way. Do you think you can go wrong with rock bands from India? You cannot. This is not Bollywood or sitar jams. They're twisting Western music to compete with others doing the same, all trying to stand out, somehow. Actually, that could apply to all rock bands. These may just be a bit more twisted.

They're all worth hearing, but you really gotta hear the Black Beats' "The Mod Trade", it sounds like some lost bootleg of Robby Krieger and Keith Moon jamming. And check that "Psychedelia" by the X'lents, which is not psychedelic in the least. In these parts we would call it rudimentary Ventures type stuff, which of course elevates it to a whole other level of weird appeal. The rawness of the recording, lack of effects, reverb or otherwise, and the kit bashing just add to it. The cymbals sound like tin cans, that should tell you, The third band below, Atomic Forest, do a Deep Purple cover. Yes, it's suitably twisted, It features someone who loves their fuzz more than their mother. To the max.

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Listen:
X'Lent's - Psychedelia mp3 at Clumsy and Shy
The Black Beats - The Mod Trade mp3 at Pop Matters
Atomic Forest - Mary Long mp3 at Stones Throw

WELL, WHADDYA KNOW?

Just going about my business last night with the music on shuffle, I had to stop when "Te-Ni-Nee-Ni-Nu" by Slim Harpo came on. It was one of those songs that I probably listened to when I downloaded it, but had completely forgotten about. Regardless, it hit the spot. From 1968, it's a little later than most of his better known stuff, interesting in that it definitely sounds like him, but it has almost a New Orleans feel to it. It was followed by Groundhog's "Take It Off" which definitely borrows from Harpo's "Scratch My Back", albeit with a late night lovin' stoney feel.

Both of these were posted at Boogie Woogie Flu, back in 2012, with five others, all songs that Alex Chilton had covered at one time or another. 

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Listen:
Slim Harpo - Te-Ni-Nee-Ni-Nu mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Groundhog - Take It Off mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Five more songs that Chilton covered at Boogie Woogie Flu

THE ERSATZ BOX SET

Hats off to Ghetto Blasters and Switchblades. In the past year or so they've posted five volumes of mixes titled This Primitive Sound, featuring what could best be described as undistilled rock 'n' roll, leaning towards punk rock. All of these mixes are good cross-sections of old and new, recognizable and head scratchers, all five zips with with thirty individual mp3s, so you can ignore those that don't suit your fancy. The more familiar bands from the first volume include the Heartbreakers, the Saints, Thee Headcoats, the Gories, the Zeros, Crime, the Black Lips, and the Oblivians; so that's what you're in for. There's 150 cuts in all, so even you full on minutiae fiend punk collectors will likely be surprised (And let go of that collecting thing already!) 

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The mixes:
This Primitive Sound (via DivShare) at Ghetto Blasters and Switchblades
This Primitive Sound, Vol 2 (via DivShare) at Ghetto Blasters and Switchblades
This Primitive Sound, Vol 3 (via DivShare) at Ghetto Blasters and Switchblades
This Primitive Sound, Vol 4 (via DivShare) at Ghetto Blasters and Switchblades
This Primitive Sound, Vol 5 (via DivShare) at Ghetto Blasters and Switchblades
NOTE: Once you get to DivShare, click on the small green "Download" button underneath the streaming thing, and cratch your head for fifteen seconds while the timer counts down. When the button reappears, you're good to go.

A MISSING LINK

I'd never heard any of Cedric Brooks's later stuff until tonight, and...holy shit, what an eye opener. I knew he was in Sound Dimension, the Studio One backing band, and that that he had been in a later incarnation of the Skatalites, I knew he was an alumni of the Alpha Boys School, and had done some solo stuff, but everything I'd heard had been reggae related. I'd never heard his stuff mixing jazz with Rastafarian drums, afro-funk, and all sorts of other stuff (check "Africa"). These are some very cool sounds, genre defying and all that. The obituary at the Jamaican Gleaner (he died in 2013) noted "he established an association with the Arkestra of Sun Ra" which would explain why the stuff sounds out there, not really weird, just hard to pin down, like it's from some far away place, someplace exotic that you may or may not be able to find on a map.

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Listen:
Cedric Brooks - Ethiopia mp3 at Esentially Eccentric Studio One
Cedric Brooks - Silent Force mp3 at Pixie Radio
Cedric Brooks - Sly Mongoose mp3 at Pixie Radio
Cedric Brooks - Africa mp3 (via DivShare) at Village Dance Radio
NOTE: Once you get to DivShare, click on the small green "Download" button underneath the streaming thing, and scratch your head for fifteen seconds while the timer counts down. When the button reappears, you're good to go.
Visit:
Cedric Brooks profile at the Jamaican Gleaner

IT'S A NEW DAY BABY

Aaargh, A third day in a row with something from Ghetto Recordings' client page. Give me a pass. Some friends stopped by and it ate up a chunk of my night, so some shit ain't gonna get done. But I was going to point you to this one at some point. It's the Dirtbomb's cover of Lou Rawls's "Natural Man", one of many songs that they covered, and well, that never would have been considered by other bands, That's one thing to dig about the Dirtbombs. I gotta say, that Mick Collins sure does shit roses on occasion.

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Listen:
The Dirtbombs - A Natural Man mp3 at Ghetto Recorders
Note: If the link is disabled, just go there to get it. Scroll a little over halfway down the page.
Lou Rawls - A Natural Man (streaming) at YouTube

I CARN'T SPELL

Do you ever follow of these links? You should. That one last night is one you should at least bookmark. Ghetto Recorders' client list is littered with loud stuff. The very first song, "I'm Cryin'" by Red Aunts was worth the trip alone. Enough so that I went out scrounging for more by them. I didn't find much, but it is the right type of noisy for tonight.

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Listen::
Red Aunts - Teach Me To Kill mp3 at Internet Archive
Red Aunts - Lethal Lolita mp3 at Internet Archive
Red Aunts - I'm Cryin' mp3 at Ghetto Recorders Go there to get it
Video:
Red Aunts - Live in the UK at YouTube
Visit:
Red Aunts at Wikipedia
Ghetto Recorders

MADE IN DETROIT

Oh so tempted to bag on that last post. The first order of business though is getting all of the hippy trippy shit out of my head. I had travel to other side of the universe. "Surfin' Bird". Twice. Yeah baby. It was like one of those heart zappers, Recovery is well under way. Right now I'm making time over at Ghetto Recorders. I ran into a link from an old post, and fell onto their client page. I'm gonna be there a while. They've done some good stuff, suitably raucous.. There's over forty songs, each by a different artist, including Andre Williams, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, the Dirtbombs and other names you might not recognize but are worth checking out. Those crafty sapsuckers over there disabled third party linking, so just go to their client page to get them. I'm not just being a flake, it really is worth that excruciating added click.

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Listen::
Ghetto Recorders - Client page 40+ artists with songs
Visit:
Ghetto Recorders
Jim Diamond and Ghetto Recorders at Wikipedia

HOW DID THIS THING GET IN HERE?

Todd Rundgren is just about the last person I thought I'd ever post here. For more than a few reasons, one in particular is that he never fully grabbed me. I'm sure many fiends would argue, but I find most of his stuff, the stuff I've heard anyway, boring. I can appreciate his craftiness, but that only goes so far, That all said, one LP, A Wizard, A True Star, has been in my collection for decades. When I first heard it, it filled a void. A second tier player taking a stab at making their own Sgt. Pepper's type layered weirdness. It actually holds up pretty well for that sort of thing. I guess, I'm not too well versed in layered weirdness. I might be blowing things out of proportion. But it's listenable, best when played in it's entirety. The segues and juxtaposition of styles keep it interesting. When it goes from "International Feel" and "Never Never Land", the first two cuts on the album, into an instrumental, you start to just go with it and take it in. Then it goes into "You Need Your Head", and you know you're going on a ride. I think that's what initially grabbed me, Listen to it and consider that it was 1973. Of course you're going to give the rest of it a shot. Check the medley of soul covers from the middle of side two. Good stuff, ending in "Cool Jerk", a jacked up version that kind of snaps you to attention for the final leg.

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Listen:
Todd Rundgren - International Feel mp3 at Blupawradio (?)
Todd Rundgren - Never Never Land mp3 at Tavie
Todd Rundgren - You Need Your Head (streaming) YouTube
Todd Rundgren - When the Shit Hits the Fan mp3 at Art Decade
Todd Rundgren - Medley: I'm So Proud / Ooh Baby Baby / La La Means I Love You / Cool Jerk (streaming) at YouTube
The whole LP:
Todd Rundgren - A Wizard, A True Star (streaming) at YouTube
Visit:

A Wizard, A True Star - Entry at Wikipedia

WALL OF OUTTAKES

Aw shit, I'd bookmarked a link to a song and made the mistake of revisiting it. The result: tonight's rabbit hole, a single song, but one of the most storied songs in pop music history; "River Deep Mountain High", by Ike and Tina Turner, the last thing Phil Spector produced before his long drawn out descent into wigs. 

The song was written by Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, and Spector, specifically for Tina Turner to sing. It's a combination of three unfinished songs, one from each co-writer, The record itself, produced by Spector and arranged by Jack Nitzsche, was one of Spector's big ass Wall of Sound recordings, utilizing twenty members of the Wrecking Crew, among them Carol Kaye, Leon Russell, Barney Kessell, Glen Campbell, and Earl Palmer and/or Hal Blaine (both have been credited for the drums). It cost $22,000 to record, and $20,000 went to Ike Turner to stay away from the sessions. Really. Even a crazy pop genius knew to avoid that conflict. Hence, Ike Turner's co-credit as performer, even though he had no participation in it whatsoever.

The cover of the LP that contained the song featured photography by Dennis Hopper. I'd never looked closely, but according to Bob Krasnow, then president of Blue Thumb Records, the background is actually a billboard for a movie, the shot taken at a sign company. 

There's some outtakes from the sessions below, and if you let them roll, you'll hear between take booth talk ("Jack, you don't have a more substantial tambourine out there, do you?"), instruments as they're being added, the surprisingly simple bass lines of Carol Kaye, and cowbell. There's also a later Wall of Sound-less version by Ike and Tina Turner, and a few covers. (Dig the brass band version by the Peace Artistes.) If you still want more there's the promo film from back in the day.

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Listen: 
Ike and Tina Turner - River Deep Mountain High mp3 at Ahangbaz.org (?) cleanest rip
Ike and Tina Turner - River Deep Mountain High mp3 at Corky (just in case)
Outtakes:

Outtake 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 at Tina Turner blog

Covers:

Ike and Tina Turner - River Deep Mountain High (later version) mp3 at Connect 4 Education

Deep Purple - River Deep Mountain High (streaming) at YouTube Over ten minutes, vocals show up after the four minute mark.

The Supremes and the Four Tops - River Deep Mountain High mp3 at SD Network Status (?)

The Saints - River Deep Mountain High (streaming) at YouTube

The Peace Artistes - River Deep Mountain High mp3 at Relevant Music

Video:

Ike and Tina Turner - River Deep Mountain High (promo) at YouTube 1966

MOVIE NIGHT

After mentioning the film The Girl Can't Help It yesterday, I figured I'd look for the prime musical moments for you. I know, if you're like me, you'd put it on the back burner until you have the time, Well, you lazy sapsucker, I did the legwork for you. Along the way I ran into the whole move, along with high resolution scans of stills of Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps and Little Richard, good enough to print on that fancy paper, pop into a frame and give to your friend, the aging old school diehard.

Note: If you're inclined, I wouldn't lag. Clips from this movie don't stay online for long. You could always start a search from scratch, but that's another thing you may never get around to. While the film isn't exactly high art, where else are you going to see Gene Vincent, Little Richard and Eddie Cochran in the same movie? There's a bunch of other acts in it as well (complete list here). Plus, a bonus for you dogs, Jayne Mansfield. Like I said, it's not high art. 

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The title song:
Little Richard - The Girl Can't Help It mp3 at Happy Parts
Video:
Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps - Be Bop A Lula at YouTube
Little Richard - Reddy Teddy, She's Got It at YouTube
Eddie Cochran - Twenty Flight Rock at YouTube
Fats Domino - Blue Monday at Dailymotion
Publicity material:
Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps - High resolution movie still at All Things 50s
Little Richard - High resolution movie still at All Things 50s
More promotional material - Photos, posters, etc at All Things 50s

RAMPART ROCK

Any of you who happen to watch old reruns on MeTV may have run across old episodes of Emergency, a seventies era series about paramedics, produced by perpetual sourpuss Jack Webb. It actually holds up pretty well, but the draw, for me anyway,  is the backdrop of Los Angeles, in all of it's seventies glory: the neighborhoods, the storefronts, the gas stations, signage, the cars, all that vintage stuff. If the series is new to you, you may not know that Bobby Troup and Julie London are in it. Come to think of it, you may not know who Bobby Troup and Julie London are. Troup was originally a jazz singer and pianist, best known for writing "Route 66". London was a singer as well, and sultry as all get out. Both started acting, and at the time of these roles, were married to each other. The photo above is London, around '57, looking a lot like a Roxy Music album cover, n'est-ce pas? The photo below is their cosplay phase.

Check the video below of London singing her biggee "Cry Me A River", from the film The Girl Can't Help It. It's a crack up, Actor Tom Ewell's character, Tom Miller, comes home so loaded that, in every room he enters, he ends up running into London, looking sultrier in each successive room, at one point singing from his bed. That had to have the fifties kids thinking all sorts of things. If you haven't seen The Girl Can't Help It, consider it essential viewing. Not because of London, or star Jayne Mansfield. The movie has Little Richard, Fats Domino, Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent and his Blue Caps, in the best quality footage you're likely to see. Yeah. So quit standing around.

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Listen:
Julie London - Cry Me a River mp3 at David Fulmer (?)
Video:
Julie London - Cry Me a River at YouTube From The Girl Can't Help It
Bobby Troup - Route 66 at YouTude

TWELVE BAR BICKERING

If you've ever run across the LP above and passed on it, it's understandable. What's the point when there are still Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley solo records that you hadn't picked up? Even if you just concentrated on their prime stuff, it would still a challenge. Here's the thing: there's just so much top notch stuff by each one of them, you'll never get to this one. Take a break. It may be relatively late (from 1967) but it's worth hearing just to hear them rib each other. Howlin' Wolf dissing Muddy Waters? Bo butting in? This is good stuff,

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Listen:
The Super, Super Blues Band - Spoonful mp3 at Tumblr (?) Howlin' Wolf, Muddy waters and Bo Diddley, with Otis Spann on piano
The Super, Super Blues Band - Little Red Rooster (streaming) at YouTube
The Super, Super Blues Band - Diddly Daddy (streaming) at YouTube
The Super, Super Blues Band - Goin' Down Slow (streaming) at YouTube

FOUR PACK OF MIX MEAT

Here's a handful of good old fashioned skull expanders, all of them buried in old posts at Beware of the Blog. They're from a series of posts by WFMUs Debbie D that were collections of songs covered by this band or that. One post might be songs the Blasters covered, or Untamed Youth, the Fall, and so on. So, the songs have traveled far to reach you. From the original record, to the band who dug them enough to cover them, to the person who tracked down the originals to the post at Beware of the Blog, to the links below, to you. That's a lot cooler than me dragging some crusty 45 out of my collection and starting the slobbering from scratch.

Check these out and click on the site links after the titles for a lot more. While you're at it, check the other sites listed in the left margin under "Get Lost". All have similarly turned me onto sounds I might never had heard again. I troll old posts a lot. I'm just a damn scavenger. (You gonna eat all that?)

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Listen:
Flash & The Memphis Casuals - Uptight Tonight mp3 at Beware of the Blog
The Other Half - Mr. Pharmacist mp3 at Beware of the Blog
The Creeps - Hi Hi Pretty Girl mp3 at Beware of the Blog
The Keggs - To Find Out mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Visit:
Debbie Ds posts at Beware of the Blog

WHAT BECOMES A LEGEND MOST?

Man, oh man, any time I get discombobulated about what a clueless fucked up world it is that we live in, I know who to turn to. The Legendary Stardust Cowboy. When I listen to his records, there are moments that convince me to stop trying to make sense out of anything. For fleeting moments, everything becomes irrelevant. It's his total abandon of anything "normal". The most recent comparison to the Ledge's undefinable thing came a few weeks ago, I saw a kid that was about three or four at the beach, plowing the sand with his face, literally, as in crawling with his face in it, leaving a trail behind him. As I watched from a good distance away, I could not stop laughing. That's about as close to the Legendary Stardust Cowboy's appeal as I can really convey. Because watching this kid, I was not laughing at him, I was reacting to one of those moments that really defies rational explanation, the pure what the fuck joy. A toddler with his face in the sand just doesn't give a fuck. Don't we all wish we had a little of that? The Ledge has a lot of it.

The Legendary Stardust Cowboy is a self taught musician who is far from what a normal person would consider talented. But through perseverance, he's eked out a four and a half decade career being just as nuts as he wants. He managed to get signed to Mercury Records, appear on national television, have the "Stardust" part of his name lifted by David Bowie. He's actually had a song covered by Bowie. He's the only musician to have his music banned by NASA, and he's been backed by three members of the Gun Club. (Check the links below.) He's been the subject of many written pieces trying to make sense of him, trying to figure out just what makes him tick. From all appearances, the guy is bat shit crazy. But, really now. The world is batshit crazy. He's normal.

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Listen:

The Legendary Stardust Cowboy - Paralyzed mp3 at Beware of the Blog

The Legendary Stardust Cowboy - Who's Knocking At My Door mp3 at Beware of the Blog

The Legendary Stardust Cowboy - My Underwear Froze to the Clothesline mp3 at Monkey.org
The Legendary Stardust Cowboy - Space Oddity (streaming) at YouTube, Bowie covered him first. Video below.

Audio interview:

Kid Congo on Touring with the Ledge mp3 at New York Night Train

Video:

The Legendary Stardust Cowboy - Who's Knocking at My Door (live) at YouTube With former members of Gun Club: Kid Congo Powers, Patricia Morrison, and Desperate.  This sounds just like you'd think it would. Plus the Ledge strips down to his skivvies and dances around like a completely normal person.

David Bowie - I Took A Trip On Gemini Spacecraft at YouTube A Legendary Stardust Cowboy cover, Top of the Pops 2002.

David Bowie - Paralyzed (Impromptu, introduction only) at YouTube

Visit:

Wide Open Space Cadet at Perfect Sound Forever Excellent bio by Irwin Chusid

The Ledge NASA Connection Banned by space agency!

THINK OF THE CHILDREN

If there is one person out there unfamiliar with Devo, it is for you that I shant be the asshole. No spoilers here. I suggest that you, Mr. Person, listen to one or two of these songs, without seeing a photo or video of them, and make up your own mind. I'm not even going to tell you the approximate years that these were recorded. If you are one of those that don't know their work, it is with a sense of duty that I bore the fuck out of everybody else to afford you the opportunity to hear them for the first time without any interference. Start with "Jocko Homo", then move on to the others, a couple covers that will give you some sort of reference point. For kicks, Lee Dorsey's original version of "Workin' In a Coal Mine is down there. If you don't know the original "Satisfaction", I throw in the towel.

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Listen:
Devo - Jocko Homo mp3 at Synthesis Radio (?)
Devo - Satisfaction mp3 at Killed By Death Go there to get it, plus one more
Devo - Working In a Coal Mine mp3 at USMRA (?)
Lee Dorsey - Working In a Coal Mine mp3 at Synthesis Radio (?)

FAST FRIENDS

Years ago my brother was flipping through my CDs and stopped for a second, and pulled one out, saying "Where did you get this?" It was a Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant compilation, and my brother, a guitarist and a fiend of excellent pickers, was surprised that I was even cognizant of the duo. When I told him that a women I knew had given it to me, he said "God, she must really like you." That made me feel good, both because it was a stamp of approval from my brother, and because the women was, and continues to be, someone special, someone who knows my taste so well, that when she turns me on to this person or that, I absolutely follow up on it. (Within these pages, she's known as the Mystery Suggester.)

West was a pedal steel player, and Bryant was a guitarist, Both, as my brother well knew, were excellent pickers, fast and clean, insanely fast on some stuff (listen to "Old Joe Clark"). They met each other playing in backing bands in Los Angeles in the forties, the catalyst for their friendship being a mutual appreciation of each other's playing. They would end up playing on hundreds of sessions together over the next couple decades.

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Listen:
Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant - Flippin' the Lid mp3 at Ari Zucker
Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant - Old Joe Clark mp3 at Rocky 52
Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant - Sleep Walker's Lullaby mp3 at Rocky 52
Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant - Yodeling Guitar mp3 at Rocky 52
Video:
Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant - Flyin' High at YouTube
Visit:
Speedy West at Rockabilly Hall of Fame
Jimmy Bryant at Wikipedia
Primordial Pickers - Old post about other, uh, pickers 

THROWING OUT A WILD SOUND

Somewhere over the course of my adulthood, my opinion of Hugh Hefner went from ambivalent to thinking he was kind of an old school out of touch clueless dick, much like my opinion of the whole Playboy brand. I've questioned it over the years, thinking that maybe I've been too hard on the old geezer. I'm then reminded, by another incident or factoid about the Playboy empire that presents itself. Case in point, a recent viewing of the musical segments from his short lived TV show, Playboy After Dark, The video is interesting for the flying juxtapositions alone, and some of the musical performances are great. It's interesting to see Deep Purple, Iron Butterfly, Taj Mahal, B.B. King, Canned Heat, the Byrds, the Sir Douglas Quintet, Ike and Tina Turner, and Steppenwolf all playing the same odd stage, Speaking of Steppenwolf, how about that work of art above? I call it "Two Assholes Listening to Steppenwolf", because that's what it is. It's Hugh Hefner and his lady friend, Barbi Benton, right after John Kay sings "You fill this house with things of gold, while handing crumbs to the poor and old, and then you preach about being pure, and wonder why we're laughing" Look at the two of them. (Face in palms) So..fucking...square.

The whole crowd is square, cluelessly so, Even the room is, unless some Brady Bunch bachelor pad full of swinging squares happens to be your thing. then I suppose it wouldn't bug you. Just consider that these performances are from 1969-'72. Half the bands probably played the Fillmore in the same week, so playing this room was, for most, an alien venture. I like watching the reaction of the beautiful people, particularly interesting when they try to make sense of the scuzzier bands. I haven't watched the whole thing, but it's worth skipping around. The first Canned Heat song, "Turpentine Howl" is pretty cool (at 27:50). The guitar solos are both sufficiently dirty, the tone and sloppiness of the second solo was enough to watch a second time. You'll want to stick around for Hefner interviewing Bob "Bear" Hite about his 78 collection, and, of course, Hefner's gem "You guys are really throwing out a wild sound". But do skip around for some of the whitest freak out dancing you're likely to see. Plus, where else are you going to see a well dressed asshole curled up in front of a speaker cabinet sucking his thumb? This is two worlds colliding. It's not pretty, but it is funny,

Note: Go to YouTube for the song listings and other bands, 14 bands and 29 songs..

GET REAL

Can you say "Don Steele" without preceding it with "the real"? No, you can't. Not if you were around Southern California in the sixties or seventies. The Real Don Steele was an AM radio dynamo on several stations, notably in Los Angeles where he was the king of KHJ, boss radio at it's bossest. He had bit parts in movies (ala Death Race 2000), and had his own TV show. One thing I like about him is that he had a catch phrase that he said on the air, and was sometimes on the music surveys when he was the featured boss jock. "Tina Delgado Is Alive!" No one knew what it meant. After his death in 1997, his wife Shaune said she didn't even know who Tina Delgado was. "He never told me and I never asked,. I felt if I had asked him that when we were dating, we never would have gotten married." Alas, in July, on the Tina Delgado Is Alive, Alive Facebook page (?), some spoiler named Grady Nailey posted "Tina Delgado was a real person. I played guitar for her. check rolling stone concert in san jose, may, 1965.. her real name was Mahialani Lee." [sic, all over the place] Nevertheless, Steele name-checked an ultra obscure singer for years. And he took his own personal in-joke to his grave. Hell yeah to that.

Check the two radio shows below, hosted by Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban, both roughly an hour long. One is from his time in Portland in 1964, and the other undated show is from his real heyday, at Los Angeles' KHJ, judging from the songs and the ads, about 1966 or '67. You should play them in your car and pretend you're driving something cool. And dig on the Steele's own slab (sort of), a fuzz drenched instrumental called "Tina Delgado Is Alive",  He basically just shouts "Tina Delgado Is Alive" at the beginning, but there craft in this instrumental. Halfway through it, there's a pause, and you're waiting for him to yelp in again. He doesn't, You find yourself saying "Tina Delgado is alive"to yourself just to fill in the blank, and then it kicks in again. Very effective. The outro just adds to the craziness.

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Listen:
The Real Don Steele - Tina Delgado Is Alive (streaming) at YouTube
The Real Don Steele - On the air, KISN, Portland. 1964 mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
The Real Don Steele - On the air, KHJ Los Angeles, mid-60s mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban

PAST CURFEW WITH THE WAILERS

Check this, the (Fabulous) Wailers backing fifteen year old Gail Harris in 1962, live. I couldn't find a decent photo of her, but I had that messed with image of the Wailers laying around, so that's what that's all about. Listen to Harris's voice though, quite a larynx for a kid, no?  Holy, shit is it ever.

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Listen:
Gail Harris with the Wailers - I Idolize You mp3 at Newer
The Wailers - Out of Our Tree mp3 at Beware of the Blog
The Wailers - Mashi mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Visit:
The Wailers at Wikipedia

FOR SISTER LADY SPINSTA

I know I've linked to them on several occasions, but have you ever actually visited Sir Shambling's Deep Soul Heaven? You should. I was kickin' it over there today and ran into Betty Harris's "Trouble With My Lover". Damn thing gave me chills. Her voice, the swamp guitar, the horns, punctuated by the of baritone sax, the New Orleans beat, the spooky background vocals. This is the package. Oh, okay, I just read the blurb by Pete Nickols at Sir Shambling's, which I hadn't before writing that description, and he points out those very same elements. So you know. Wait, now that I think of it, why would I care that you know that? I'm just pointing you to an awesome site and a great song. Other than that, I don't give a shit. I'm a wild man. I own two flyswatters.

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Listen:

Betty Harris - Trouble With My Lover mp3 at Sir Shambling's Deep Soul Heaven

Betty Harris - Extensive bio with eight more songs at Sir Shambling's Click on the linked song titles within the bio.

Betty Harris - Break In the Road mp3 at this post Posted just a few months ago, but an insanely good song.

PRIDE OF NAPOLEON'S

Did you know there was an animation film of Tom Waits's "For No One " that dates back to 1979? I did not. Before computer animation, before CGI and all of that. Before MTV. It's hand drawn from film shot from different angles in a studio. It was made as a test for a new kind of animation process that Lyon Lamb Video Animation Systems was trying to sell. The site for the short film has the complete animated version and a short clip of the source film, of Waits in the studio with some sultry lady.  (YouTube links for both are below). 

That got me poking around for accompanying stuff. I was jazzed to find that the posting of Waits's set at the San Diego Folk Festival (1974) is back online at Captain's Dead. The set is great, particularly if you like his early stuff. It's just him, no band, and it's raw, but really well recorded with a lot of good between song patter, His disparaging remarks about VWs in the intro to "Looking For the Heart of Saturday Night" are yuk worthy. And any of you from San Diego who remember the Greyhound Depot of yore, will appreciate his description of those glory days in the intro to "Depot Depot", There's a few other things below too.

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Listen:
Tom Waits - New Coat of Paint mp3 at Missy Oshimura (?)
Tom Waits - I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You mp3 at Sensuous Summons
Tom Waits - Bad As Me mp3 at In All Caps
Tom Waits - Three more songs at In All Caps
The live set:
Tow Waits - San Diego Folk Festival, 1974 at Captain's Dead 11 songs, go there to get them.
Video:
Tom Waits - For No One (anitmated) at YouTube
Tom Waits - For No One (source clip for above) at YouTube
Tom Waits on Fernwood Tonight , 1977 at YouTube This is great. Stick around for the interview.
Tom Waits - San Diego Serenade (live) at YouTube
Visit:
Tom Waits For No One The story behind it, sketch books, clips, etc.

WHO'DA THUNK?

I remember the first time I ever heard Dean Parrish, It was about an hour ago. If you're as clueless as I was an hour and and a half ago. you will not believe what that guy above sounds like, If I told you his "Skate" sounds like Otis Redding's cousin doing Lee Dorsey, you wouldn't believe me. Trust me on this one, this sucker smokes. I suggest you listen to it, and add Mr. Deceiving Looks to the list.

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Listen:
Dean Parrish - Skate, Pt 1 mp3 at Discos y Monstruos
Dean Parrish - Skate, Pt 2 mp3 at Discos y Monstruos Go there to get it.
Dean Parrish - Determination mp3 at Northern Soul Music