SLEEPOVER AT SUN RA'S

As long as I'm on a two day roll about recent serendipitous musical moments, here's another one. I mentioned yesterday how I heard Koko Taylor on a jazz station. You might think, as I would, "WTF? A jazz station?" with all sorts of thoughts regarding jazz lite, cool jazz or whatever you want to call all of the shitty jazz that makes you want to stay away from the whole genre altogether. Well, the jazz station in question, KSDS, known to locals as Jazz88, plays a lot of good shit, a lot. They broadcast streaming online and if you join their Speakeasy club you can listen to past shows. I've got my favorites shows, particularly Latin Jazz followed by Jazz West Coast, the latter hosted by the stealthly cool old school Phil Dinsen, otherwise known as the only DJ to use the term "bitchen" on the air since 1965. Just between those two shows, five hours of Saturday afternoon transistor radio at the beach goodness. So, on Sunday night I was done, completely exhausted. In addition to getting in the water a couple times earlier in the day I tried out this sport I've been hearing about for years, housecleaning. Apparently very big with some folks, I seriously don't know what the fuss is about. But regardless, I was tuckered out and laid down with every intent to catch up on zzzs. I turned on the radio, a regular everyday radio, just in time to hear the DJ introduce an hour of Sun Ra. Holy shit. If you're familiar with Sun Ra, I don't have to tell you how dozing off in the midst of a block of his music will fuck with your REM. It was the best, most entertaining, night of sleep I've had in a long, long time.

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Listen:
Sun Ra - Astro Black mp3 at Destination-Out 1973
Sun Ra and the Myth Science Akestra - Eve mp at Now You're at Soundblaque
Sun Ra - Angels and Demons at Play mp3 at Destination Out
Sun Ra - The Sun Man Speaks mp3 at Now You're at Songblague 
Sun Ra - Door to the Cosmos mp3 at I'm Waking Up to... 
Sun Ra - Omnisonicism mp3 at Lost Tones 
Sun Ra with Blues Project - Batman Theme mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Sun Ra with Blues Project - Batman and Robin Over the Roofs mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Sun Ra - Intensity mp3 at Lost Tones

I DON'T CARE. IT'S STILL MAGIC.

I heard Koko Taylor on the radio today. "Wang Dang Doddle", on a jazz station. On a regular old portable radio. Powered by batteries, yo. To say that it was an unexpected surprise is an understatement. I amped out and sang along like a fool. I've heard it a million times and it never gets old. Neither does "Insane Asylum", her downer duet with Willie Dixon. When she comes in, and you had better wait for it, your skin will likely crawl.

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Listen:
Koko Taylor - Wang Dang Doodle mp3 at Clumsy & Shy
Wille Dixon and Koko Taylor - Insane Asylum mp3 at Beware of the Blog

NOTE TO SELF

About a half hour ago, I was watching The Last Man On Earth (a great show by the way), and the Kinks' "Till the End of the Day" played during a scene. Everything stopped. Reminded of its awesomesness, I needed to listen to it, and did. Again and again. So, I'll dutifully pass that reminder of its awesomeness on. Eat this, loud.

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Listen:
The Kinks - Till the End of the Day mp3 at Mosso (?)
Alternates:
The Kinks - Till the End of the Day mp3 at Johnvanhulst (?)
The Kinks - Till the End of the Day mp3 at Seeley Street

DIDDY WAH DIVERSION #46: MERRY CLAYTON

Geez, last night I was all over the place, thank you Diddy Wah very much for that. If you don't know Diddy Wah, he's a DJ, real name Adam something or other, based in London, utilizing only 45s. He spins "'50s and '60s blues, surf, rockabilly, R & B, gospel, garage, soul and rock'n'roll", in others word, a tempting smorgasbord. Still, even with that, things could go haywire. But his blog posts and mixes are an indication, he is a man of taste. I've mentioned him quite a bit over the years for good reason. His shit don't stink. Take it from me, or don't and go moping off.

His once simple blog has gone fancy. Not a bad thing, because there's so much to get lost in. Gone are the mp3s in his new posts, he's switched to streaming, but the silver lining is that nearly all of his posts from 2014 have been updated with functioning mp3 links. The music used to be available for a couple weeks, but now you can revisit a bunch of last years links and pick up what you may have missed.  Or just settle in your cubicle at work and blast one of his mixes. Come to think of it, with all the technological doodads available these days, you can probably play them on your regular stereo via wireless router or some other thing that I'm late in adopting.

Dread at the control.

So, last night while dicking around over at his site, I ran into an old Raelets post, one that featured Merry Clayton on lead vocal, That's her at the top, not Diddy Wah. As far as I know he's never worn his hair like that. Clayton is best know for her vocal on the Stones "Gimme Shelter", the wail heard 'round the world. So, yeah, a Merry Clayton tear it was, in the midst of which I wound up back at an old post at Plain or Pan, where the host dutifully notes a point in "Gimme Shelter" at which her wail is so intense, her voice cracks. Accidental, and so effective it was left in. You can hear it in the isolated vocal only track linked below. Along the way, I ran into "It's In His Kiss", her original version of the song Betty Everett made a hit. Then there was a another, "Tell All the People", where her voice doesn't exactly crack, it's more of a squeal, but to much the same effect. Again, leaving it in was a smart move. She should have made a career out of those. Then there's a Dylan cover, a Neil Young cover and a song from the soundtrack of Performance, that one with Ry Cooder on guitar and produced by Jack Nitzsche. Yeah baby. You see where I'm going with this. It's all Diddy Wah's fault.

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Listen:
The Raelets - One Room Paradise mp3 at Diddy Wah
Merry Clayton -  It's In His Kiss (streaming) at YouTube
Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter (isolated vocal track) (streaming) at YouTube Voice crack at 3:00
Merry Clayton - Tell All the People mp3 at Art Decade Squeal at 2:30
Merry Clayton - Rainy Day Woman #13 & 35 mp3 at Cover Me
Merry Clayton - Southern Man mp3 at Stop Smiling
Merry Clayton - Poor White Hound Dog mp3 at The Rising Storm
Visit:
Diddy Wah - Home page
Diddy Wah blog - Single song posts

SWEATIN' TO THE OLDIES

I forget when the first Suicide LP came out, it was around 1977 or '78. Geez, what a whopper. It might sound corny or self indulgent in parts now, and some of Alan Vega's guttural yelps almost comical, but make no mistake, this shit was radical when it came out. And a little creepy. Industrial music had not really been identified as such yet. You didn't really know what to call it. I mean, what the fuck do you do with this?

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Listen:
Suicide - Frankie Teardrop mp3 at DK Presents
Suicide - Cheree mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu

LOS ANGELES '15 DBA

They're not from Mexico, and it's not '68. They from L.A., and this was released in August. Don't ask me. Band names are so crazy these days nothing surprises me. But these guys, they do it up right, so I don't care what they call themselves. It ain't Fela, but neither is Budos or Antibalas. Besides, when it comes to this type of music, the more takers the better. Especially if they seem to have a firm grasp on the subject at hand.

This is really good. You should go to The Melting Pot to read about it. You should go there anyway, not just for this particular post. The whole blog is chocked full of goodies you won't find anywhere else. Go on. Get outta here.

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Listen:
Mexico 68 Afrobeat Orchestra- Soon Dem Come mp3 at The Melting Pot
Mexico 68 Afrobeat Orchestra - Who Kill (streaming) at their Facebook page

EARLY THIS GUY

Here's some early U Roy. A couple cuts from his first LP, Version Galore, along with the riddim sources, two songs by the Paragons, "Tide Is High" and "Wear You To the Ball".  The video below is from the same period, and was the title song of the LP. I'm not really in the mood to explain who U Roy is, or why he was influential. If you don't know, shit, you're on the internet already. Use it.

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Listen:
The Paragons - Wear You To The Ball mp3 at Kazoo Wailers
U Roy - Wear You To The Ball mp3 at Grounds For Appeal
The Paragons - Tide Is High mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
U Roy - Tide Is High mp3 at A.Tumblr (?)

SPRAY TAN ROCK

Hey, I don't know where you are but, in my parts, today is the last day of summer. Sort of. I'm in Southern California. Fall colors here are radiant sunsets. September and October are the warmest, driest, and sunniest months. The ocean is at it's warmest. The crowds are gone. Shit, what's not to like?

I try to stay away from thematic posts, because a similar theme rarely means a common musical thread. The closest thing to a thread with these is that they're all great songs. They may not have the same feel, but they're all about the end of summer, or lack thereof. Dig the Dusty cut. She wins this one.

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Listen:
The Beach Boys - All Summer Long mp3 at The Pop History Dig
The Doors - Summer's Almost Gone (streaming) at YouTube
Dusty Spingfield - Summer Is Over mp3 at ATumblr (?)
The Drifters - Sand In My Shoes (streaming) at YouTube
The Sandals - The Endless Summer mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Bonus:
The Sandals - The Endless Summer (film soundtrack) at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban Twelve songs

SQUEAL RATTLE CRASH

Oh joy. A Sonic Youth pot luck. Had these links laying around and figured it was high time to clean house. A lot can be said about Sonic Youth; the feedback, the guitar disrespectin', the generally noisy, sometimes drawn out, sometimes arty; the whole damn thing. And they were everywhere. They toured all over the damn place. If you lived through the eighties and nineties and had the opportunity and didn't go see Sonic Youth at least once, I dare say you are a bonehead. You practically had to try to miss them. Even if you considered yourself above their music, thought them pandering to a lower species, you missed out on a reverence point you should have taken advantage of. One of the non-musical things I really liked about Sonic Youth was that they didn't get all gussied up. Not only did they play ratty ass guitars, they wore regular clothes, sometimes looking like they just came in from working in the yard. That alone is hard to do, for any band. Who could argue that it lent itself to a looser vibe all around. Slob core? Hell yeah, I'm on board.

Wacky Packages stickers? Who does that?

Here's a live set from '92 that was posted at Aquarium Drunkard, with pretty good sound, and enough guitar banging to keep their techs busy. Speaking of which, check the interactive set lists linked below. This is how the techs kept track of the constant guitar changes during their sets, Click on the guitar name to see a whole page devoted to the life and use of a particular guitar. Enter black hole.

Nice cheat sheet.

There's also a Mudhoney cover, a Beach Boys cover, and a link to the download page on their site, with all sorts of outtakes and five live cuts from 1990. Oh, and for you arty types, a film about Danceteria that Kim Gordon made in 1980.

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

Listen:
Sonic Youth - Kool Thing (demo) mp3 at Muskrat Midldleberry (?)
Sonic Youth - Touch Me I'm Sick mp3 at I Am Fuel, You Are Friends Mudhoney cover
Sonic Youth - I Know There's An Answer mp3 at Cover Me Beach Boys cover
Sonic Youth - Eric's Trip (live) mp3 at Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth - Outtakes and live stuff at Sonic Youth
Live set:
Sonic Youth - Complete live set, 1992 (via Mediafire) at Aquarium Drunkard Zip with 12 mp3s
Visit:
Internative set lists at Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth Illustrated Equipment Guide - See you next year.
Kim Gordon's Danceteria movie at Dangerous Minds 

ALWAYS ROOM FOR MORE

You may have to reach for your bigger palette on this one. Maybe not. It's from Ghana and it's Alhaji K. Frimpong. [The strictly rock folks scramble.] Still here? Good. Dig this, "Kyenkyen Bi Adi Mawu". It was Frimpong's biggee, though you probably won't know it. Join the club. But it's got a cool vibe. Check the drums. Original or not, that beat is badass. The organ too, all muffled exotic and all, and a cool trumpet solo. Then there's the repetitiveness. Six and a half minutes of hazy plodding funkiness from another land.

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Listen:
Alhaji K. Frimpong - Kyenkyen Bi Adi Mawu mp3 at Awesome Tapes from Africa
Alhaji K. Frimpong - Seven more songs at Awesome Tapes From Africa Right click on titles

MORE HOT SHIT HAMMOND

This is not at all what I was expecting to sink my teeth into tonight, but it's hard to resist. Hammond grooves by the other Jimmy, Jimmy McGriff. A shitload of his stuff over at Groove Addict. Man, they got it going on over there. That damn blog is exhaustive. Low on text, but just what you need. A sample song, album credits and a link to a full album download. From McGriff's debut to LPs released decades later, twenty something in all. And that's just the McGriff posts. Go on now, get lost.

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Listen:
Jimmy McGriff - Discotheque USA mp3 at Groove Addict
Jimmy McGriff - Funky Junk mp3 at Groove Addict
Jimmy McGriff - After Hours mp3 at Groove Addict
Visit:
Jimmy McGriff posts at Groove Addict

CAN'T TOUCH THIS

I don't know what particular taste of mine Rufus Thomas appeals to. Sure funk, soul, Stax and all of that. But there's something else about him that I dig that really isn't tangible. Maybe it is, I don't know. That's another thing about him. He defies you to overthink things. You just to go with it.

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Listen:
Rufus Thomas - Memphis Train mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Rufus Thomas - Walking the Dog mp3 at Finley House (?)
Rufus Thomas - Funky Hot Grits mp3 at This Is My Island
Rufus Thomas - Do the Funky Chicken mp3 at Sunrise Musics
Rufus Thomas - Pink Pussy Cat Wine (Radio spot) mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Video:
Rufus Thomas - Walking the Dog (1965) at YouTube
Rufus Thomas - Breakdown/Funky Chicken (Wattstax 1973) at YouTube

DOUBLE YOUR FUN

I've heard both of these versions of "For What It's Worth" too many times to count, but it never occurred to me to listen to them back to back. You should try it, First the Staple Singers' cover, and then the original by Buffalo Springfield. Because it beats not bothering with it. It's a great song anyway, one that you should know, and hearing them back to back enhances both versions.

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Listen:
The Staple Singers - For What It's Worth mp3 at Now That's What I Call Bullshit Go there for three more Staples songs
Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth mp3 at LZ Center

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE LISTENABLE

Here's three covers. One good, one competent but could use some more flair, and one that I couldn't even listen to, just because of the people involved in it. It seemed too contrived. A super group has to be organic, not just "this project that can't help but be a sure seller". But we'll get to that.

First up is Motörhead's cover of "Sympathy For the Devil", a song that's been covered a zillion times, but few measure up, because the original is so far superior. Motörhead, though, does it in their own inimitable style, which is to say they rip it a new one. That's the nice surprise tonight. In second place, the Black Lips with Boy George doing T Rex's "Bang A Gong". Interesting, if only because that combination seems so unlikely, but it's kind of tepid. Hands down, the dog of the night goes to the Hollywood Vampires. Oh holy shit, it's like Ringo Starr's All Star rejects piled into the Rainbow Bar and Grill. Alice Cooper dreamt the project up, and it could be seen as just some old rockers on a joy ride, but I don't like this idea one bit. This grouping just seems to be too self aware. I'm almost positive a few are narcissists. Cooper recruited Johnny Depp, Joe Perry, Paul McCartney, Perry Farrell, Dave Grohl, Brian Johnson, Robbie Krieger, Slash, Joe Walsh, someone named Orianthi and motherfucking Kip Winger. Thankfully Mike Love was busy that night.

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Listen:
The Hollywood Vampires - My Generation (streaming) at Cover Me Plus a more favorable blurb.
The Black Lips with Boy George - Bang a Gong (video) at Vimeo
Motörhead - Sympathy For the Devil (streaming) at Soundcloud

BIG TIME CHARLIES, REPENT!

I was in a completely different world when I first saw Heavy Metal Parking Lot. It was only a couple years old and still being traded via VHS oddball tapes, so the prevailing behavior of metal heads may not have been all that different from what's shown in the video. But, being that it was not at all my crowd, and I very seldom crossed paths with metal freaks, the appeal, then as now, was all anthropological. Oh, I howled the first time I saw it, you bet I did. But my attitude towards it has changed over time. Not that I agree with what's said, or how ridiculous some of the behavior is. It is like a bad eighties movie, USA Up All Night, yo. But it was real, and, in hindsight, no more ridiculous than a foot high mohawk. Oi dude.

Further viewing:

Neil Diamond Parking Lot (1997) at YouTube

1986 Heavy Metal Parking Lot Alumni: Where Are They Now? (2006) at YouTube

ATTN: SO CAL GEEZERS

Those of you already familiar with the Dream Syndicate (above) may, like me, prefer the original line up over later incarnations. For my dollar, the line up of Steve Wynn, Kendra Smith, Karl Precoda and Dennis Duck was it. Maybe you too have lamented the fact that they recorded just a couple records before personnel changes started watering things down. Shit, I think it was only an EP, an album, and a live B-side. I think that's it. Regardless, there's a lot more available with later line ups. I'd given up looking for other early stuff long ago, so I was pleased as punch when I checked today and found out that they just released an expanded version of their debut LP, The Days of Wine and Roses. Granted the added tracks are from rehearsals, it might still be cool to hear. Another release I wasn't aware of The Day Before Wine and Roses, an album made up of much of the same material, recorded live in the studio of radio station KPFK, a few weeks before they recorded the LP. That's the one I gotta get my mitts on. For now, here's a few from the original LP.  Be reminded of how freakishly good this stuff was (check the build in that last one, "Until Lately"). Note to the uninitiated, if you dig the Velvet Underground, Television, the Modern Lovers, early Neil Young, or any combination of them, you'll dig these.

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

Listen:
The Dream Syndicate - Definitely Clean mp3 at The Walrus
The Dream Syndicate - Halloween mp3 at Now That's What I Call Bullshit
The Dream Syndicate - Tell Me When It’s Over mp3 at Now That's What I Call Bullshit
The Dream Syndicate - Then She Remembers mp3 at Now That's What I Call Bullshit
The Dream Syndicate - Until Lately mp3 at Now That's What I Call Bullshit
Visit:
Halloween [Concise bio of Dream Syndicate] at Now That's What I call Bullshit 

IN THIS TOGETHER

It's not their fault, the Syrian refugees. Their homes and normal day to day life are history. What would you do? Their crisis is our crisis, the worst since the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Here we are, twenty years later, with one difference though; there are far more accessible tools to help now. But it still costs money. It's up to us, fellow citizens of earth (sounds corny, but there's something science fiction flick cool saying it that way, and it's true). If you're reading this, you're a a position to pony up. I'm not going to go on and on, just do a web search. Read about what they're going through. And the insane numbers, the masses, over two million leaving their country so far, and four million plus displaced within the Syrian borders. A real mind fuck. So yeah, skip a seven dollar beer.

As you've come to expect cheese with the whine, here's a couple cuts from Syrian artists, both found at Radiodiffusion International. One was a white whale for the host of the blog, "Al Ghaba" by Assa’d Khoury with his Oriental Electronic Organ and Band (try fitting that on a drum head), for reasons that become obvious.  Billed as "Electronic Touches Belly Dance", if that's the case, the belly dancer had better be a contortionist. Don't pass it up if the intro doesn't grab you, because it gets weirder. And funkier. It's nuts. I don't get worked up by much around here, but this thing is a masterpiece of fucked up shit.

The other song is more of what could be considered a traditional Syrian jam. The album title says "Rhythms and Dances From Syria Belly Dances" but judging from the LP cover, it still ain't no belly dancing I know.

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Listen:
Assa’d Khoury with his Oriental Electronic Organ & Band- Al Ghaba mp3 at Radiodiffusion International
Damascus Music Group -  Raksat Al Mindill mp3 at Radiodiffusion International
Donate:
The UN Refugee Agency
Five more groups at Public Radio International With short podcast.

HE STILL WALKS AMONG US.

It probably happens to you every so often. You binge on one favorite artist or another, and try your utmost to put all of the familiarity and your listening experiences behind you and really, really listen to someone you've heard a million times before. You pick it apart and try to figure out what it is that moves you. My binge started a couple weeks ago, and I've walked away from it with a refortified respect for Chuck Berry. Every recording of his I have has been revisited in the fast few weeks, some of it over and over again. His lyrics, his song structures, and his seemingly simple solos, not to mention the piano of his right hand man Johnnie Johnson, all of it. I've come away from it thinking the man is a freak. No one learns this shit, not like this. Gotta be innate. He put words, chords and notes together seamlessly, before there was a template. Dude was the template. Naysayers will point out that most songs are just twelve bar blues progressions, and his songs were formulaic. Okay then, you do it. See how far you get. Hell, hail, hail rock 'n' roll, yeah.

With a pick up band. Sloppy, but dig the solo!

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Listen:
Chuck Berry - Promised Land mp3 at Archive.org
Chuck Berry - Maybellene mp3 at Rocky 52
Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode mp3 at Tune the Proletariat
Chuck Berry - Downbound Train mp3 at Clumsy and Shy
Chuck Berry - Roll Over Beethoven mp3 Thierry's Official Web Site
Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode mp3 at Enmadolu (?)
Chuck Berry - Memphis mp3 at Taking Over the Internet
Chuck Berry - Back In the USA mp3 at Riddell Family (?)
Chuck Berry - It's My Own Business mp3 at the Rising Storm
Chuck Berry - Duece mp3 at The Rising Storm
Instrumental mix (Highly recommended) (Hell, all of this is stuff is highly recommended.):
Chuck Berry - A Berry Rainy Day mp3 at Basement Rug 30 minute mix, go there to get the song list.
Visit:
Chuck Berry Official site

GREAT MOMENTS IN SNOTTY VOCAL HISTORY

I don't know anything about the Mourning After. Looking at the sleeve, you might think they were a hard rock outfit, thank you very much Mr. Facial Hair. That's what I thought, but ho-ly shit, is their "Do Your Thing" one nice slab of raucous garage snot rock. It reminded me of what the Gravedigger V sounded like live, which, good as their records were, was never quite successfully captured on vinyl. But that "who you lookin' at?" tone in the vocals manages to cut through even the muddiest production.

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Listen:
The Mourning After - Do Your Thing (streaming) at YouTube Unable to locate an mp3 of this one. That's when this comes in handy. There are others.
The Gravedigger V - She Got mp3 at Mr. Suave

THURSDAY NIGHT HELL YEAH

Oh holy hell, this hits the spot at this particular moment. I listened to the Pretty Things in the car today and I'm still riding that. Hop in if you want. But you better go now, we're not stopping.

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Listen:
The Pretty Things - Don't Bring Me Down mp3 at ATumblr (?)
The Pretty Things - Roadrunner mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
The Pretty Things - Come See Me mp3 at Beware of the Blog
The Pretty Things - Buzz The Jerk mp3 at Beware of the Blog
The Pretty Things - Cold Stone mp3 at Bedazzled
The Pretty Things - All Light Up mp3 at Smokers Club
Visit:
The Pretty Things at Wikipedia
Ugly Things All credit to the man who unknowingly turned me on to them.

HER FAULT. (HEY, LOOK! IT'S ESG!)

I don't rightly know what to make of half of this shit. The lady that started it all tonight is Jeanette (above), a Belgian/Spanish singer, and her "Porgue Te Vas". I don't care about the backstory. I'm diggin' on the horns and the pace. Lanquid, somber, funky or stony, groove, beat, or whatever you want to call it, the pace makes the song. Survey says: Budos ye-ye.

The hosting post mentions a later cover by "the US/Mexican indie group Los Super Elegantes". Never heard of them. They might be uncool to like. I don't care. I'm a wild man. What the hell, I went browsing. Stop. An ESG cover. Okay, stopping there. I don't want to go any further. I'd really rather just listen to ESG. Wow, that Los Super Elegantes phase of mine went quick.

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

Visit:
Jeanette - Porqe Te Vas mp3 at Club Cortez
Los Super Elegates - Por Que Te Vas mp3 at ATumblr (?)
Los Super Elegantes - Dance mp3 at Matula (?)
ESG - Dance mp3 at Self Titled
ESG - Erase You mp3 at ATumblr (?) Because the link on the old ESG post is dead and you need it.

GUESS WHO? AGAIN.

Reverend Beat Man is one of those go-to guys. When it gets slow around here I go looking for stuff of his that I haven't seen or heard. There's a ton of it. Performing solo as a one man band or as a member of the Monsters, or even the stuff he's released on his record label, Voodoo Rhythm, He's always interesting and often a little nuts. This time I didn't even have to go looking, thanks to a comment left on a post. I tell you, this place is better than Yelp.

Having not seen him live, I cannot think of a better person to share a first hand account of his show than Espen Egeland, lead singer of Norway's The Better Men Than You, a frequent visitor here, and father of the infamous Isak, who, as a twelve year old, presented a report about Moondog for his English class. Check the comment Espen left on this post and then watch he video of the show he saw. And if you haven't already done so, check the other Beat Man posts for more goodies.

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Visit:

Past Beat Man posts (Scroll down) More videos and mp3s (and gals: more photos!)

THE LIFER

You may have heard. Rico Rodriguez died a few days ago at the age of eighty. That's a bummer. Real bummer. He was a trombone player, one of the last links to pre-reggae Jamaican music still up and around, performing up until a couple years ago. He went to the Alpha Boys School, the former school of several musicians who would figure heavily in ska and early reggae. But Rico was one of few who kept at it throughout their life. From early sides for Coxsone Dodd, Duke Reid and Prince Buster and other Jamaican producers, to the UK and Trojan, a stint with the Specials, Special AKA, Jerry Dammer's Spatial AKA Orchestra, and Jools Holland's band, the guy was everywhere. He played on Dandy Livingstone's "Message to You Rudy" and on the Specials' cover of it twenty years later. As a sideman and as a solo artist, he was a constant for anyone keen to him. I'll miss that, seeing where he'd pop up next. Thankfully there is a plethora of stuff available. Here's just a taste.

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Listen:
Rico Rodriguez - Rico Special mp3 at Soul Garage
Forster Orchestra Featuring Rico – Lightning Street mp3 at Soul Garage
Rico Rodriguez - Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra - L-O-V-E mp3 at ATumblr (?)
Toots & the Maytals w/Rico Rodriguez - Rastaman mp3 at Melting Pot
Dandy Livingstone -  Rudy A Message to You (streaming) at YouTube
The Specials -  A Message to You Rudy mp3 at Reselect
The Specials - Ghost Town mp3 at BlahBlahBlahScience
Video:
The Specials - A Message to You Rudy at YouTube
The Specials featuring Rico - Jungle Music at YouTube
Rico Rodriquez playlist at YouTube
Visit:
Jerry Dammers on Rico Rodriquez at NME
Rico Rodriquez at Wikipedia

DEALING WITH THE FUNKY SIDEWALK

I just felt like hearing it again, it all it's goofy glory. "Double Dutch Bus" by Frankie Smith. This one, Kurtis Blow's "The Breaks", and "Rappers' Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang were the big three, pre-"The Message". Early rap, before shit got serious. Everyone was just sort of figuring things out. It's just insane, all of the stuff that sprang from stuff like this. Contrast these two. It could have anyone for that second one, I just thought of Childish Gambino because his production always sounds thick, and he's relatively current.

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

Listen:
Frankie Smith - Double Dutch Bus mp3 at ATumblr (?)
Childish Gambino - Sunrise mp3 at Friday Mix Tape

TRUTH IN ADVERTISING

Years ago, before any of this online tomfoolery, before home computers, you did your digging at thrift stores and garage sales. That is where the oddballs and obscurities resided. All the shit that's collectible now was there for pocket change. You took all sorts of chances, and sometimes, you scored. That's where my younger brother scored. The Fabulous Wailers. You know it, you love it. You had better. One of his more memorable finds. Another oddball he brought home was the Rumblers' "Boss". Before the internet existed, for years, all I knew of the Rumblers was that record. (Ahem, let me clear my throat here.) You damn snot-nosed iphoneheads don't know how good you've got it. Pipe down. Yeah? I don't even have a lawn, that's how off of it you are.

That little mini-tirade comes to you courtesy of the Rumblers' "It's A Gas", posted recently at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban. It got me thinking how availability is taken for granted. Fret not. The payoff of my pissy attitude is the Rumblers flotsam below, nearly all of it inaccessible pre-internet. Oh joyous day.

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

Listen:
The Rumblers - Boss mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban 1963
The Strangers - Caterpillar Crawl mp3 at Rockin' Dog 1959 The source
The Rumblers - It's A Gas mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban 1963
The Rumblers - Soulful Jerk mp3 at Royal Punkness 1964
Bel Cantos - Feel Aw Right - Part 1 (streaming) at YouTube 1965 Later incarnation, produced by Barry White
Visit:
The Rumbers at Surf Guitar 101 Forum
The Rumblers at All Music

MUSIC FOR LATE SUMMER WEEKNIGHTS

Oh hell yeah. Nothing better for a day like today. It was mid-seventies, clear, water temp 73 degrees, and I ran into the perfect soundtrack, Don Drummond stuff at Groove Addict. Like I said, oh hell yeah. With apologies to people mired in shitty weather.

Drummond was a founding member of the Skatalites. One of the musicians responsible for the carrying jazz and R&B into ska.  Check the first two below, and then go to Groove Addict for a few more. Drummond is backed by the Skatalites on these, and some of you will appreciate what that means: the A squad, Jackie Mittoo, Rolando Alphonso and Tommy McCook. Yee-haw!

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

Listen:

Don Drummond - Alipang mp3 at Groove Addict

Don Drummond - Cool Smoke mp3 at Groove Addict

More Don Drummond at Groove Addict Scroll down

More Don Drummond here

Skatalites here

HAD ME AT "HUH, HUH, HAAAWW!"

Jan Davis didn't screw around. He was in B. Bumble and the Stingers, did the yell at the beginning of Dick Dale's "Miserlou", and years later popped up on an Exene Cervenka album. Over the span of a few decades, he played everything from rockabilly to flamenco. And he played some really, really wacked out surf. I can't believe I walked around for years not even knowing Jan Davis existed. Don't you be that fool.

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

Listen:
Jan Davis - Destination Love mp3 at Rocky 52
The Ricco-Shays - Damascus (streaming) at YouTube
Jan Davis - Snow Surfin Matador mp3 at Clayton Counts
Jan Davis - Watusi Zombie (streaming) at YouTube
Jan Davis - Two more recent songs at Reverbnation