SKILLED WORKER

Frank Zappa is one of those guys who I can sort of appreciate, but I'm not all that nuts about actually listening to. I know he was talented, he's got all this shit going on in his songs. He was irreverent, and generally a freak. But a lot of his stuff, though I enjoy listening to it, it's primarily to appreciate the oddball arrangements and instrumentation. Most of his music doesn't really move me, but there are some songs, songs that really hit the spot. One is "Trouble Every Day", a Mothers of Invention era song from 1966. 

"Trouble Every Day" is hot shit. Get out the blender: Yardbirds, Byrds, Velvets, Television, Modern Lovers, shit, maybe even Robert Quine, and an ample amount of guitar interplay, put it in the garage, and throw in a bag of weed.

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Listen:
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention - Trouble Every Day mp3 at Gorveg (?)
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention - Motherly Love mp3 at Sukothai (?)
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention - Inca Roads mp3 at F.Roque2 (?)

MUST SEE TV

Billie Holiday, Ben Webster, Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, and Gerry Mulligan. 1957. This is good, and stays good for seven minutes. It's as if each guy is trying to woo Holiday with their solo, like some sort jazz version of "The Dating Game". Her facial expressions during the solos are goosebump material.

SONGS NRBQ TAUGHT US

I'd read about them for years, "the best bar band you never heard", or something like that. NRBQ's name had popped up with enough frequency that I was curious. It was a mention in Creem magazine that finally made me go out and buy one of their records. It was the pre-internet days. There were only two ways you could hear the oddball stuff. At someone's house with a bigger record collection than yours, or buy a copy and listen to it. So, I bit. I started with their first LP, recorded in 1969, and never ventured much past it. Later albums, while good and entirely listenable, just didn't seem to do it for me. I would find out a couple years later that the real way to experience NRBQ was live. Check the video below, of them playing "Rocket In My Pocket". Better yet, just check the second part of the guitar solo, starting at 3:02. Imagine a whole set with solos that are that tweaked. Good times.

But that first album was something else. All over the place, not at all what I expected. Covers included Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee's "C'mon If Your Comin'", Eddie Cockran's "C'mon Everybody", Bruce Chanel's "Hey Baby" and the most curious of the bunch, "Rocket #9", written and originally performed by some guy named Sun Ra. I'd never heard of him. Yeah. No matter what NRBQ did afterward, live or in the studio, the most important thing they did for me was to turn me onto Sun Ra. "Rocket #9" is a song NRBQ taught me, almost literally, and every second of Sun Ra I've listened to ever since can be traced back to that first exposure. It's remained my favorite NRBQ song, and my favorite Sun Ra song, for decades.

Here's their version (courtesy of The Devil's Music). I'd been keeping my eyes peeled for it for several years. A tip of the hat to ol' Devil Dick for posting it. Their one original below, "You Can't Hide" is down there because you need to imagine a sample juxtaposition, that it's the same band as "Rocket #9". You'd be all "WTF?" too. There's a few other songs down there that NRBQ covered. Check the original of "Rocket In My Pocket" by Jimmy Lloyd. Phew! Another monster. That was covered on a later NRBQ LP, but they taught me that one too.

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Listen:
NRBQ - Rocket #9 mp3 (via MediaFire) at The Devil's Music
NRBQ - You Can't Hide (streaming) at YouTube
Sun Ra - Rocket #9 (streaming) at YouTube
Jimmy Lloyd - I've Got a Rocket In My Pocket mp3 at Mp3 Rockabilly
Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee - C'mon If Your Comin' (streaming) at YouTube
Bruce Chanel - Hey Baby mp3 at Radio George

LET'S CRAWL BABY

I heard this one in the car today, and had to lay it on you. It's a solid hillbilly party jam by Little Jimmy Dickens, and if the lyrics are any indication, Dickens would give youngster Andrew W.K. a run for his money. Dude wants to wiggle with the worm, crawl with the snake, wear out fourteen pairs of shoes, and he threatens to climb the wall. And that's just in the first verse. "I'm on the prowl, it's my night to howl, turn out the lights and let's crawl along." Hell yeah, I'm on board!

I don't usually recommend specific albums, but the one I got this from is an unbelievable deal. It's titled "Rock 'n' Roll Box", and even though the generic title is a misnomer, if you're into the roots of rock 'n' roll, and know to expect some nascent stuff, you'll dig it. The bait is a handful of cuts by Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Bill Haley and the Comets. For anyone expecting the rest to be classic rock 'n' roll cuts, that would be where the whiners take over. But if you're into the ingredients that made up the earliest rock 'n' roll, particularly hillbilly and boogie in this set, it's a bargain. It's ten CD's, 180 songs, most of which will be new to even the most extreme of fiends. The hook? It's only about fifteen bucks. That's about eight cents a song. With that generic of a title it would be almost impossible to find, but just do a search of "Membran/Documents B000AAP7J4" and a number of online dealers should pop up. The fidelity isn't good by modern recording standards, but some of the songs were ripped from extremely rare vinyl copies. Dig it, or cry alone.

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Listen:
Little Jimmy Dickens - Hey Worm mp3 at Internet Archive
Song listing:
Rock 'n' Roll box track listing
Visit:
More Jimmy Dickens here

USED TOOLS FOR SALE

The Rolling Stones are reportedly playing a private party tonight, in a venue near San Diego that holds about 500 people. They are being paid by Ralph Whitworth, an ex-HP fat cat, reportedly to the tune of two million dollars. That's $2,000,000. That's a lot of cheese. This Whitworth fellow must have a deep wallet, and really, really want to impress his friends. I think it's disgusting.

There are a number of reasons why this sucks, if it is indeed happening. First, the money. Defenders would say that in many cases like this, the artist just designates a charity and the money goes to a noble cause. Bullshit, I do cry. If this was so charitable, why doesn't the artist just donate the money without playing? Hell, how about Mr. Bucks Deluxe? Another thing that bugs me, is that it's the Stones. Yeah, they've been an exclusive lot for a half a century, practically out of the gate. But what happened to those nose thumbing rebel rousers who once stated "We piss anywhere, man."? We all know that changed years ago, but c'mon. Suckups. (Note: You kids of today, nothing past "Exile". If you don't know what that means, you will.)

And then there's Whitworth. I don't know anything about him, other than he's obscenely wealthy, entirely out of touch, and insanely desperate for attention. And he's sucking our oxygen. Think I'm being harsh? Check this, the same guy hired another band to play as a surprise for his wife's birthday party, and that set him back one million dollars. I don't know if the band had a name, but the singer was some hack named Paul McCartney. True story. His money did go to charity, but again, just get out your checkbook and quit showing off like an asshole. 

That felt good.

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Listen:
The Rolling Stones - Salt of the Earth (streaming) at YouTube
Visit:
An ex-HP exec repotedly paid millions for a private Rolling Stones show near San Diego at Business Insider Found by web search, just so you know.
Rolling Stones rumor: Secret show Wednesday night? at CBS8 Video Report

TWO MINUTES OF BLISS

I listened to a lot of random stuff tonight. You do it too. One songs lead to another and there goes and hour. Towards the end of it, I ended up listening to Don and Dewey's "Justine". I had to stop there, because even though it's been posted many times before, and some of you may know it well, if I can turn one person onto it tonight who hasn't heard it, my job is done. The song is absolutely essential. I could go off about why it is essential at great length, were it not for my end of the day laziness. I'll cut to the chase. It's one of my favorite rock 'n' roll songs of all time. Scratch that, favorite songs of any genre of all time. Hell. If you really want to know, "Justine" is one of my favorite things of all time, living or dead, audible or physical. It is a reason to get up in the morning. It makes you feel alive. Yes it does.

The other three songs down there are every bit as mighty. And as a consolation to guitarists, I direct your attention to the guitar in the image at the top, a double cutaway Telecaster. Who knew? I sure didn't.

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Listen:
Don and Dewey - Justine mp3 at Beware of the Blog Specialty 631 A-side
Don and Dewey - Bim Bam mp3 at Diddy Wah  Specialty 631 B-side
Don and Dewey - Farmer John mp3 at Rock Town Hall Specialty 659 A-side
Don and Dewey - Jungle Hop mp3 at The Adios Lounge Specialty 599 A-side

LEAVE ME OUTTA THIS

Roughly seven years ago I posted a thing about the origin of the fuzz on Johnny Burnette and the Rock 'n' Roll Trio's cover of Tiny Bradshaw's "Train Kept a Rollin'", and the debate over who actually played lead on it. Some people claim it was Paul Burlison, Burnette's regular guitar player, and the fuzz was a serendipitous accident, the result of a loose tube in his amp. Others claim it was Grady Martin, a Nashville session musician, having found fuzz on a previous recording session through different accidental means, a faulty channel in a mixing board.

I'm not trying to further the debate. Actually, that's not really the case. A little innocent shit stirring never hurt anyone. But, to be honest, I don't care who was playing on it or who invented fuzz.  It's killer song no matter who played the lead guitar. But after seeing the debate occurring again at Rubber City Review (which is an excellent blog by the way), I figured I'd post some other stuff Grady Martin did play on, because there is no debating that he was hot shit. The bonus, the feel good moment if you will, is that one common thread that Burlison and Martin share. Regardless of who played lead on "Train Kept a Rollin'", the fuzz was found by accidental means. Fuck ups rule.

Martin was on a hell of a lot of other stuff, and a lot of it you're heard. He's the only guitarist to play with both Hank Williams and Elvis Presley (I read that somewhere, but, yeah, citation needed). He played on Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman", Willie Nelson's "On The Road Again", and sides by Lefty Frizzell, Brenda Lee, Marty Robbins, Johnny Horton. Loretta Lynn, Conway Twitty, Kris Kristofferson, and on and on. Here's a handful.

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Listen:

Johnny Burnette and the Rock 'n' Roll Trio - Train Kept a Rollin' mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Don Woody - Bird Dog mp3 at Rockabilly Bash
Wayne Walker - All I Can Do Is Cry mp3 at Rocky 52
Inman Autry - It Would Be a Doggone Lie mp3 at Rocky 52

Johnny Carrol - Crazy, Crazy Lovin' mp3 at Rocky 52

Marty Robbins - Don't Worry mp3 at Beware  of the Blog Extreme country fuzz, wait for it.

Visit:
Grady Martin: Roughneck Blues at Rubber City Review Excellent, with sound snippets and three videos with Grady shredding.
Here Come Da Fuzz - The old post here. Bulison's son chimes in, in the comments.

Did Paul Burlison or Grady Martin play guitar for Johnny Burnette & The Rock'n'Roll Trio? Long dissertation by Victor Gordon & Peter Dijkema at the Rockabilly Guitar Page

Grady Martin at Wikipedia

EBO TO THE RESCUE

Here's some Ebo Taylor, aka a guy from Africa that isn't Fela. I'll just leave it at that. Afrobeat, afrofunk,or highlife, I don't care what you call it. It just seemed to hit the spot tonight after being gone five plus hours with no access to any kind of music that moved me. Do you get that? Some sort of anxiousness, like you can't wait to play something that will end that dry spell? And then when you do play something, it sounds better than it ever has? Ebo Taylor did that for me tonight. He guided me in. Yeah, baby.

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Listen:
Ebo Taylor - Nga Mga mp3 at Dusted
Ebo Taylor - Ayesama mp3 at Bama Love Soul
Ebo Taylor - Heaven mp3 at Dusted

Ebo Taylor - Victory mp3 + Mizin mp3 at Mixtape Riot Go there to get them. It's worth the trip.

Visit:

Ebo Taylor at Wikipedia

THE SQUIRT ON SUN

Shit! We forgot Carl Mann! The sixteen year old kid on Sun with the hopped up version of "Mona Lisa". Well, let's fix that damn oversight right now. Here's a few of his, all good regardless of his youth. Not as crazy as Jerry Lee or Billy Lee Riley, but the bare bones sound is there. I'm digging on "Gonna Rock 'n' Roll Tonight", which is pre-Sun. Check the crazy echo, dad!

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Listen:
Carl Mann - Gonna Rock 'n' Roll Tonight mp3 at Rubber City Review
Carl Mann - Mona Lisa mp3 at Mp3 Rockabilly
Carl Mann - Rockin' Love mp3 at Mp3 Rockabilly
Visit:
Carl Mann - Excellent interview at Craig Morrison

WE MISSED THE FIRST BAND

It seems like a bad idea, suggesting to someone to take it slow going into a long weekend by listening to a song called "Cocaine", so I won't. But it is a slow burner, and it takes me back to the pre-show hanging out that occurred back when it was played a lot, and not because people I hung out with were doing coke. It feels like a buildup to something, more of music comradery and beer drinking type thing than anything else.

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Listen:
Dillinger - Cocaine (In My Brain) mp3 at Isodisco LP version
Dillinger - Cocaine (In My Brain) mp3 at Giant Panther
People's Choice - Do It Any Way You Wanna (streaming) at YouTub Riddim source

MORE THAN REVERB

Oh yeah baby, this weekend is Memorial Day weekend, three days off with plenty of time to get in the water, roast weenies, and toss back some cool ones. You will, of course, need a soundtrack, and what better soundtrack than surf music? Many surfers would poo poo the idea that reverb drenched guitar instrumentals are what real surfers listen to, but I don't care, because Dick Dale invented the genre and he surfed. And I don't care what his skills were in the water, he's good with a guitar and he's a nice guy. I know, I've met him and had a pretty lengthy conversation with him. The man is unguarded and genuine. Check this video. This was years after my encounter, and he's every bit as generous with his time as he was decades earlier. Someone asks him if he has any advice for up and coming musicians. He lays it all out, barely coming up for air, as if he'd given the same advice many times before. You might know it as Punk Rock Distribution 101, or the SST business model. Nearly two decades earlier, there was Deltone Records. The man knows of what he speaks. And that is why the system hates Dick Dale.

Even if he sucked as a musician, that short clip would be worth viewing. But he doesn't suck. And anyone who might think of disputing his rightful ownership of his self invented title, King of the Surf Guitar, is not worth arguing with. I know a guy who dismissed him outright because he didn't like his voice. Yes, I know how it is. Raquel Welch's knees turn my stomach too.

A dripping wet tip of the hat to Adam over at Diddy Wah for posting "Night Rider", the flip side of "The Wedge". That's what prompted me to re-post that video and reaffirm my utmost respect. Say what you want. In this house, Dick Dale is king.

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Listen:
Dick Dale and His Del-Tones - The Wedge mp3 at Internet Archive 1963
Dick Dale and His Del-Tones - Night Rider mp3 at Diddy Wah Go there to get it 
Dick Dale and His Del-Tones - Surf Beat mp3 at Beware of the Blog 1962
Dick Dale and His Del-Tones - Mr. Eliminator mp3 at Hell's Belles 1964
Dick Dale and His Del-Tones - Peter Gunn mp3 at ATumblr.com (?) 1975 
Dick Dale and His Del-Tones - Deltone Rock mp3 at Review Stalker 1961

SIX STRING ESPERANTO

Here's an few international guitar instrumentals bordering on surf. It was going to be strictly Mexican bands, but then I ran into the Spotnicks, who were from Sweden. But just look at them. You can't tell me that photo wouldn't hijack your attention. As if the photo and their version of "Ghostriders in the Sky" weren't enough, check the video linked below. Krafwerk stage moves and outfits Devo wish they thought of, never mind Bob Log.

Los Indonesios' "Surfin' Gypsy" is the best of the bunch. Though I wouldn't really call it surf, it's more like Duane Eddy meets Jörgen Ingmann. Speaking of whom, Ingmann's "Apache" is covered below by Los Rangers, who might as well be Las Shaggs. It's amazing the record was even released, considering they sound they're struggling to keep it together for, what, three minutes? There's messed up playing twice in the intro alone. Yes. I can dig it.

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Listen:

Los Aragón - Surfin' en Alcapulco mp3 at Vuelve Primavera
The Spotnicks - Ghost Riders In the Sky mp3 at Vuelve Primavera
Los Indonesios - Surfin' Gypsy mp3 at Vuelve Primavera
Los Rangers - Apache mp3 at Vuelve Primavera

Video:

The Spotnicks - Rocket Man at YouTube Weirdness from 1962

"HEY! OVER HERE!" SAID THE GUITAR

There's been plenty said about Bikini Kill. Their role in the riot grrrl thing, being groundbreaking punk feminists and so on. I'm all for that, okay. Tonight though, I'm digging on the guitar. Played with zero flash and a good amount of distortion by Billy Karren. It's easy to forget that they were a good band even without their back story and, really, beyond the guitar. I like Kathleen Hanna's voice too. Sort of flat, like Poly Styrene's. The whole package, it's what we all came for. Me anyway. Basic loud stuff.

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Listen:

Bikini Kill - Jet Ski mp3 at ATumblr (?)

Bikini Kill - Magnetic mp3 at ATumblr (?)
Bikini Kill - Strawberry Julius mp3 at Tiscali (?)
Bikini Kill - Capri Pants mp3 at ATumblr (?)

Visit:
Bikini Kill official site
Bikini Kill at Wikipedia

ELECTIVE

What the hell, I decided to open the "band" folder and post the first image that I didn't remember downloading. Out of a zillion thumbnails, the one that I was drawn to was that of the postage stamp above. Okay, hands down, this is one of my favorite stamps of all time. This is why the U.S. Postal Service whips the UPS's ass.

But, hey, Lydia Mendoza, "The Lark of the Border", "the First Lady of Tejano" (or something like that); if it weren't for the bitchen stamp, I would not be familiar with her. Damn thing did it's job. Postage stamps not only get things from one place to another, after they're done moving our paper, they sit around waiting for someone to look at them.

Check out these by Mendoza. It's old school border music. Read the thing at NPR if you want a profile. Just do a web search. I don't care. I'm too tired from blabbing about postage stamps.

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Listen:

Lydia Mendoza - Aunque Me Odies mp3 at Libsyn (?)
Lydia Mendoza - Mal Hombe mp3 at Mexican Pictures
Lydia Mendoza - Los Besos De Mi Negra mp3 at Internet Archive

Lydia Mendoza - Audio profile (streaming) at NPR

Visit:

Lydia Mendoza - Profile at NPR
Lydia Mendoza at Wikipedia

THE SLOW BUILD

The Nashville Ramblers take their sweet ass time. They've been together since 1985 but have released only one 45. Recorded in 1986, "The Trains" first appeared in the boxed set "Children of Nuggets" in 2005, but the record itself wasn't released until 2011. There was talk a few years ago about a compilation of all of their unreleased recordings, but I haven't seen one. Again, taking their sweet ass time.

Despite living on opposite coasts, the trio still manage a handful of gigs a year and if the live videos are any indication, they haven't lost a step. Which is why I'm kicking myself. They played locally last night and I completely forgot about it until this morning. Never mind the fact that getting out every Friday and Saturday night has lost some urgency in the past several years, I've got no excuse for this one. I know the members, one as far back as high school, and I consider all three among the best musicians to come out of San Diego in the last several decades. You might say I fucked up.

Their sole 45 was put out by Ugly Things. Here's your official alert. There were only 1,000 pressed and there are only six left, as of this moment. That could change really fast. And don't let the price fool you. When it was first released it wasn't priced as high. But Ugly Things' supply was sold out and these last six were in the possession of band members. Believe me, at $20 it's still a bargain, it's that good. Recorded on analog and tube equipment, if it was released in a different time period, say 1965, it would have been a massive hit. Than again, if it would have been released when it was recorded in 1986, it'd already be highly sought after ultra collectable fiend meat. (Wait until they're gone and you'll see what happens.) In a perfect world it would remain widely available, but that ain't happening. It is an imperfect world. America's got talent.

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Listen:
The Nashville Ramblers - The Trains mp3 at Che Underground
The Nashville Ramblers - Fragile Child (streaming) at YouTube Golliwogs (pre-Creedence) cover
The Golliwogs - Fragile Child (streaming) at YouTube Creedence, pre-name change
Video:
The Nashville Ramblers -  Encore at Bordello in LA at YouTube 2010
The Nashville Ramblers - More videos at You Tube Tons, go weed.
Visit: 
The Nashville Ramblers - Profile at SD Reader
The Nashville Ramblers - Facebook page

THE DEAD END

Oh man, here's a wild one. A musical theater troupe morphs into a band, a very noisy band called Les Rallizes Dénudés, in Japan in 1967. They make a name for themselves as leftists, and the Communist bass player hijacks a plane to North Korea. The guitarist and lead singer of the band becomes reclusive, and is practically invisible in ensuing decades. Rumored to be of ill health, in fear of the law due to his association with the bass player, or just trying to further his mystique, depending on who you ask. And no one seems to know for sure.

One of the first things I ran into said that they were influenced by the Exploding Plastic Inevitable and Blue Cheer. That would explain the musical theater troupe. It would also explain the long drawn out distortion and feedback workout that is "The Last One". It's a mother lovin' noise buffet. If you listen long enough you'll finally just succumb to the drone of excess.

If you're as intrigued as I was, let me save you the time. No one knows for sure about much of anything about these guys. Read the account at Red Bull Academy about one man's search for answers. Even with web searches, email contacts and responses from others within their circles of associates, and experts on Japanese rock music, the guy comes up with more questions than any speck of certainty. There ain't shit in the way of concrete conclusions. Just more bread on your head, dad.

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Listen: 
Les Rallizes Dénudés - The Last One mp3 at Avant Avant NOTE: Go there to get it. Right click on the arrow.
Les Rallizes Dénudés - 造花の原野 mp3 at Avant Avant Ditto
Visit:
In Search of Les Rallizes Dénudés at Red Bull Academy Great read with a mess of videos
Les Rallizes Dénudés at Wikipedia

WHILE LUCILLE WEEPS

You probably already know, B.B. King has passed away. Stop for a second. Before you shrug your shoulders and move on with your day, thinking that B.B.King was not raunchy enough to make it in your bag of blues, step back and consider what the man did to bring blues to the masses. You may be all about delta blues, Chicago blues, Memphis blues, rhythm and blues, dirty blues, blues rock or whatever, but you would be hard pressed to find another blues man better known to dabblers than B.B. King. Taken for granted by many? Yeah, particularly by those music snobs that consider his music too accessible. But if you think that there haven't been times when blues was under appreciated, or in danger dying altogether, you're wrong. The blues revival of the early sixties brought new appreciation for Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and others, but it was King who was omnipresent on the air, particularly television, at least in the states. He was on variety shows, telethons, awards shows, you name it. Even your parents sitting back in their recliners knew who B.B. King was.

I'm not going to lie to you. I don't listen to B.B. King all that much. He's not someone I turn to when I want to hear blues. So, yeah, maybe I could be seen as one of those music snobs, but that's not why I rarely listen to him. Maybe it is, I don't know. I like hearing train wrecks and a train wreck he decidedly wasn't. Thinking about it, I don't recall ever hearing him play a note out of place. So I guess all this yapping is me scolding myself. But I guarantee you, my parents knew who B.B. King was.

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

Listen:

B.B. King - Hully Gully Twist mp3 at Diddy Wah 1962
B.B. King - Fur Slippers mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu Dylan cover 1999
B.B. King - Night Life mp3 at Cover Me Willie Nelson cover
B.B. King - Going Down Slow mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu With Bobby "Blue" Bland
Visit:
B.B. King at Wikipedia
B.B. King Official site
B.B. King - High resolution version of above photo at Ace Records

TUBBY MEETS WHITFIELD IN A CAR

A car just drove past my apartment complex blasting the O'Jays' "For the Love of Money". Someone in my neighborhood. Blasting that almighty jam. I would not have thought that possible. I love the song, a Gamble and Huff produced slab of Philly style psychedelic soul. If you have never heard the long version, turn this sucker up and listen to all the shit going on in it. It almost borders on dub in places. I was in the mood so I'm dragging you along with me.

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Listen:
The O'Jays - For the Love of Money mp3 at AMPS (?)
Visit:
For the Love of Money at Wikipedia Production notes and more
Gamble and Huff at Wikipedia

MEANWHILE IN NORTH BEACH

I can't say the exact moment jazz crept into my psyche. I do remember when I first realized that its hard core old school followers must have a cool subculture of their own. My chosen subculture at the time was punk rock. It was years before I bought any jazz records, and I really didn't have any interest in it. I was in San Francisco, North Beach to be exact, in the shadows of the Condor Club (where Carol Doda put topless dancing on the map). There was a used record store, so of course I had to check it out. It was dimly lit, stocked almost entirely with old jazz records. The guy at the counter was smoking and what natural light there was filtered in the front door and between the album covers and signs covering most of the window, and through the smoke, illuminating dust particles like some miniature solar system. The place smelled of old vinyl, dusty cardboard, cigarette smoke and that kind of musty smell that could be mildew or buried treasure. I don't know what was playing, and didn't even think to ask. But I do remember it being the perfect music for that scenario. When I did eventually start giving jazz a fair shake (not all that long ago), the stuff I gravitated to was what I imagined might have been on the turntable at that record store. This one by Charles Mingus is one of those.

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Listen:
Charles Mingus - Haitian Fight Song mp3 at House o' Excess (?)
12 minutes, 1957

FORTIFICATION

Hanging out with some good friends last night, in the music portion of our conversation (because there always is one) there was a mention of rhythm and blues, before moving onto jazz, early blues and other types of music. (Damn, I forgot Cesaria Evora!) That brief mention of rhythm and blues had me jonesing all day. The songs below hit the spot.

One thing that may hit you when you listen to these is how prevalent sax and piano were in the days just prior to rock 'n' roll proper. They were all but essential. In less than twenty years, the lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass and drums instrumentation would bust down the door, turn it up and basically act like assholes. (What? Sax and piano not flash enough?) Dare I say it, the first rock 'n' roll band to exclude both sax and piano may have been the very first rock 'n' roll sellouts.

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

Listen:
Pete Johnson - Death Ray Boogie mp3 at Hearsay
Big Joe Turner and Pete Johnson - Roll 'em Pete mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Louis Brooks and His Hi-Toppers - Baby, Baby, What's Wrong With You? mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Dave Bartholomew - Carnival Time mp3 at Home of the Groove
Robbin Ray – Love My Baby mp3 at Hearsay This one is just nuts.

RUN ALONG

I'm not going to get in your way for this one. If you have any interest in the L.A. scene from 1977-1987. Scavenged Luxury will keep you busy all night. As billed, it's "post-punk, art rock and power pop", and that includes all points in between. Read the whole description once you get there. This is just gluttony, the good kind if there is such a thing. There's a ton, I mean dozens of mixes, most so long that they're posted in two parts. (Each one is a fast download with individual mp3s in a zip.) If you're from that era and lived in Southern California, you'll recognize a lot of names, many that you forgot about. From the better known Sparks and Kim Fowley, to 100 Flowers, Rain Parade, Human Hands, Peter Ivers, the Deadbeats, the Romans, Minutemen, Twisted Roots, the Crawdaddys, and on and on. The playlists are well informed cross sections with enough obscurities to keep even the geeks of that era busy.

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Visit:

Scavenged Luxury: L.A. Post-Punk, Art Rock and Power Pop
NOTE: The mixes are hosted at ZippyShare and are quick downloads, zips with individual mp3s. There is one pop up, but just close it and be on your way.

MISSED IT BY THAT MUCH

That's an interesting sleeve. The guys look pretty tough. It seems as though that they got the bowl cut memo, and the one about looking holding back the smiles. And, give them credit, two ciggies on one sleeve; when was the last time you saw that? I don't know what to think about that raggedy ass broom.

The Larks were a Chilean band, and had three vocalists among them. That's notable, because on their cover of the Four Tops "Reach Out, I'll Be There", whoever is singing lead is doing his best garage band nasaly sneer type vocal. On the rest of the several songs posted at Vuelve Primervera, the band sounds rather tame. But on that one cover ("Buscame y Me Encontraras" in Spanish), the nasaly Lark does his best to get to that garage, no easy feat with an abundance of hand claps and absence of fuzz. That memo must have got lost.

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

Listen:
Los Larks - Buscame y Me Encontraras at Vuelve Primavera "Reach Out, I'll Be There" cover
Los Larks - Four more songs at Vuelve Primavera

NICE WINGTIPS

Man, it ain't like the good ol' days. I don't mean the days of old school bump and grind, I mean the old days when people used to post old school bump and grind type music. It's referred to these days as all sorts of things, tassel twirlers, shakers, burlesque, and the one that's grown to bug me, titty shakers. Whatever it is you want to call them, they used to be posted on blogs all the time. Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban posted a lot of good ones, and mixes. And for a while they had a "Tassel Twirler Tuesday" (or something like that). Diddy Wah has posted his fair share. I don't know the reason, but you don't run into them that often anymore. Damn shame. But Music For Maniacs recently posted a good mix. Though there are a few radio ads for sexploitation flicks, and not all of the songs are bona fide shakers, but there's some good ones and a few oddballs. The original version of "Baby Let Me Bang Your Box" by the Bangers, Jayne Mansfield's "Suey" with a young Jimi Hendrix on guitar, and Big Jay McNeely's "Striptease Swing" are standouts, but there are lots of them and the zip contains individual files, so you can have yourself a pick and choose party.

There's a handful of other ones to get you in the mood. The ones posted by Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban are the real "Go baby go!" shit. They set the bar.

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

Listen:
The Executioners - Dead End Part One mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Jimmy Heap - Gizmo mp3 at Hell's Belles
Saxie Russell - El Monkey mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Aris Garandanis - Alba's Shake mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Louie and the Fat Man - Fat Man mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Edgar Allen & the Po' Boys - Panic Button mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
The Frantics - The Whip mp3 at Unnecessary Umlaut
Rock 'n' Soul Shakers, 10 prime mp3s at Beware of the Blog
The mix:
Hubba Hubba at Music For Maniacs 27 cuts, fast download

I DON'T CARE

A Mexican psych band well acquainted with fuzz and F-bombs, doing a song called "The Second Smoke", from their 1969 album titled Society Is a Shit. The LP was banned two weeks after its release. That's enough. I'm listening.

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

Listen:
Pop Music Team - The Second Smoke mp3 at Vuelve Primavera
The whole LP:
Pop Music Team - Society Is a Shit (zip via Mediafire) at Garage Latino
Visit:
Pop Music Team at Wikipedia

COOLNESS CAPTURED

That photo above is something, ain't it? Ron Gardner of the Wailers knows he's tough. The guy is showing swagger just standing there. Shit, he's not even fully standing, he's leaning. Regardless, with the backstage visitors and the imagined scenario, it's one of my favorite candid rock 'n' roll photos of all time. I now know who took it, along with other iconic photos of the Wailers, the Sonics and other Northwest bands. Her name was Jini Dellaccio. She was a fashion photographer when she accepted an assignment to photograph what she thought was going to be whalers. Making the most of the serendipitous turn, she would end up taking some of the best band photos in existence of the Northwest mob.

There is a book, and according to the website for it, prints will be available for purchase at some point, though I'm sure they'll be out of my reach. Hey, at least now I have a name. Thank you Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban for the tip.

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

Listen:
The Wailers - Out of Our Tree mp3 at Beware of the Blog
The Wailers - Mashi mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Video
Her Aim Is True (trailer) at YouTube Documentary about Jini Dellacio
Visit:
Jini Dellacio - Official site
Her Aim Is True - Documentary site
A Look Back At Rock Photography Pioneer at Seattle Times