INTERACTIVE SPECIAL

I'm a little on edge. The hippies behind me are at it again. A horrible singer with rather limited chops is leading his people in rousing renditions of Elton John's "Rocket Man", ACDC's "You Shook Me All Night Long" and, the worst of all, "Amie" by the Pure Prairie League. Just going by their song choices for their damn love-in tells you how lame they are as hippies. I don't hate hippies in general. I try to give them the same consideration in regards to their chosen freak flag as I would anybody else. I just hate bad hippies. And this shit is bad. Rudimentary acoustic guitar accompanied by the most rhythmically challenged drumming and tambourine bashing that you can possibly imagine.

Somehow I started poking around and ran into a Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love", and then Johnny Burnette and the Rock 'n' Roll Trio's "Train Kept A Rollin'", both of which I've heard a million times, as I'm sure you have. But I was looking for a distraction from the ambient cluelessness wafting through the neighborhood, so I opened both songs and listened to them simultaneously. It doesn't matter that the beats don't match or any of that. It was just a bunch of crunchy guitar noise, and the louder I made it, the more it seemed the perfect thing to hear. It's horrible. It's fantastic. I'm going to go rent a P.A.

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Listen:
Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love mp3 at Semmicco (?)
Johnny Burnette and  the Rock 'n' Roll Trio - Train Kept A Rollin' mp3 at Beware of the Blog

ON THE LIST

Ooohh yeah, "Caravan", one of my favorite instrumentals of all time. When I first heard my brother's surf band play it back in the eighties, I had no clue who wrote it, or that its vintage predated surf music by decades. It was catchy and it fit their sound, and like "Miserlou", there was something about it's structure that landed it in that category of songs that are so good, it's damn near impossible to fuck them up. Years later I'd find out that it was first performed by Duke Ellington, and assumed that it was written by him. I found out later that it was written by Juan Tixol. Who? Shit, here we go again. I'll get to him in a few decades. Regardless, there you have it. I had my first favorite Duke Ellington song, and another name was added to the list. This is why it never ends. If you're a fiend, you know the feeling. The, "I'd been putting music of this alleged great off for so long, looks like there's no turning back now" feeling. You know as well as I, that list will never be completed. Shake it off. Bug out to these.

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Listen:
Duke Ellington - Caravan (1962) mp3 at Space Age Pop
Duke Ellington - Caravan (1947) mp3 at Space Age Pop
Thelonius Monk - Caravan (1955) mp3 at Space Age Pop

Takeshi Teruchi - Caravan (1965) mp3 at Beware of the Blog

Santo and Johnny - Caravan mp3 at Basement Rug

George Jenkins - Caravan mp3 at Diddy Wah Go there to get it.

The Strangers - Caravan (1970) mp3 at The Basement Rug

The Skatalites - Ska-Ra-Van (Caravan) mp3 at Tanyao (?)

COFFEE, I NEED COFFEE

I'm not even going to mess around here. If you like long slow instrumental jams that can make you slow down just listening to them, go over to Funky 16 Corners and check out Loading Zone's nine minute chill pill. Parts soul, jazz and rock, it's like the MGs got stoned. Same feel, though not sound, as the Budos Band's slower stuff, or Mulatu Askake. I can think of lots of uses for this one. Post beach barbeque, party kindling, love making, go home party closer, you get the idea. Rage it does not, but groove it does.

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Listen:
Loading Zone - Can I Dedicate mp3 at Funky 16 Corners Go there to get it, and get it quick because he doesn't let them linger.

THE HOLY SHIT

After just a passing mention of the Staple Singers yesterday, it occurred to me that there some of you may not be familiar with them. If you're older, I know. You probably remember their stuff well. After all, "I'll Take You There" and "Respect Yourself" were big hits, as in Top 40 hits, so if you're in that particular age group, you'd have to have tried to to be ignorant to have missed them. To you younger folks, I need to point out something. You've probably heard that gospel music has at times made it's way into popular music. Never was that as evident as in the Staples' music. Lest you thing that having a gospel thing going on robs music of its vitality or relevance to a secular mob, think again. The Staple Singers were funky, soulful and tight. I mean it. I remember hearing "I'll Take You There" and wondering why it was that I liked this song that wasn't at all like the other stuff I listened to. It bugged me, and no matter what, as the years passed, I still couldn't figure it out. So, I relaxed, and just went with it. The Staple Singers were just on a different plane all together, Different than rock, different than soul, different even than their label mates at Stax. It was a deep family groove, with Pops Staples's wickedly cool understated swamp type guitar punctuating the beautiful voices of his progeny.

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Music:
The Staple Singers - I'll Take You There mp3 at DK Presents
The Staple Singers - Respect Yourself mp3 at Inventati
The Staple Singers - Samson and Delilah mp3 at Beware of the Blog
The Staple Singers - Uncloudy Day mp3 at Liberated Syndication
The Staple Singers - Wade In the Water (streaming) at YouTube
Video:
The Staple Singers - Respect Yourself (Wattstax, 1972) at YouTube
The Staple Singers - I'll Take You There (Soul Train, 1972) at YouTube
The Staple Singers - I'll Take You There (Grammy Awards 1973) at YouTube
The Staple Singers - If You're Ready (Soul Train, 1973) at YouTube
The Staple Singers - When Will We Be Paid (live, 1971) at YouTube
The Staple Singers - Reach Out, Touch a Hand, Make a Friend (live 1981) at YouTube
A Short History of the Staple Singers at YouTube

THE DIGABLE ODDBALL

You know it's going to be one of those nights when the song that makes you stop dead in your tracks is a Soviet jazz cover of a Staple Singers song. The Melodiya Ensemble do a formidable job with the Staples' "Why Am I Treated So Bad", a surprisingly potent groove, low key though it is. If you really want a low key groove, check Cannonball Adderly's cover. It's total soul jazz for swinging stoners.

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Listen:
Melodiya Ensemble - Why Am I Treated So Bad? mp3 at Soul Sides
Ramsey Lewis - Why Am I Treated So Bad? mp3 at SD-6 (?)
Cannonball Adderly  - Why Am I Treated So Bad? mp3 at Pixie Radio
Staple Singers - Why Am I Treated So Bad? (streaming) at YouTube
Video
Staple Singers - Why Am I Treated So Bad? (Live) at YouTube

I AM SURFER

That guy above is Korla Pandit. I'm not interested in his back-story. I'm sure it's colorful. Maybe not. I just don't want to ruin the image I have my head, as some weirdo of yore. I ran into an old clip of him performing "Miserlou" and it was just my kind of old school low key weird. I thought it might be the original version, but the song actually dates back to 1927.  Regardless, I'd already started on this tack and I'll be damned if I'm going to rattle my skull for another topic. Besides, it's a great song, one of those that's really hard to fuck up. That kind of good. Assuming you know Dick Dale's version well, dig on the one by Ray Maxwell at Diddy Wah.

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Listen:
Korla Pandit - Miserlou mp3 at Dinosaur Gardens 1951
Fariborz Lachini - Miserlou mp3 at Lachini
Quadro Nuevo - Miserlou mp3 at Pierre Kaufmann 2004
Dick Dale and the Del-Tones - Miserlou mp3 at ATumlbr (?) 1962
Ray Maxwell - Miserlou mp3 at Diddy Wah Go there to get it.
Video:
Korla Pandit - Miserlou at YouTube

PLAY IT COOL

Every once in a while, no matter what your tastes are, there comes a time when you just want to sit back and relax, just take it all in. You might just feel like get a little dressed up, maybe invite a companion over for cocktails, and talk the night away, in faint tones to better hear the crackling fire. As you get closer, smelling their fresh scent, you pause for a moment to take one last sip before the make-or-break moment is upon you. Noting that is is an important event. you have taken care to set the mood. There is but one thing left. You lean over and put on the soothing sounds of Pissed Jeans, rip your clothes off and scream like a wild banshee.

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Listen:
Pissed Jeans - Closet Marine mp3 at Pissed Jeans
Pissed Jeans - Dream Smotherer mp3 at Subpop
Pissed Jeans - False Jesii Part 2 mp3 at Subpop
Pissed Jeans - People Person mp3 at Subpop
Pissed Jeans - I've Still Got You (Ice Cream) mp3 at Subpop
Pissed Jeans - The L Word mp3 at Sonic Masala

HIS FAULT

Man, oh man, no matter how much music you've heard, how many singers of any particular genre you can name, and how many others you're vaguely aware of, there's always an old post on some blog that reminds you that, in the overall scheme of things, you don't know shit. Earl Gaines was to be the subject of todays wild goose chase. A rhythm and blues and soul singer who began performing in the mid-fifties, starting out as a drummer before switching to vocals soon after. I had already started going down the Gaines aisle when I found out that he played drums on the original version of "Baby Lets Play House" by Arthur Gunter. And you can guess what happened. A detour to go off in search of Gunter stuff. To compound the distraction, after hearing Gaines's cover of the Mighty Hannibal's "Hymn Numder 5", now a Hannibal pit stop will be in order. It's going to be one of those nights.

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Listen:
Arthur Gunter - Baby Let's Play House mp3 at Peach Stealing Monkeys 1955, Gaines on drums
Earl Gaines - Baby, Baby, What's Wrong With You? mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu with Louis Brooks and His Hi-Toppers, 1955
Earl Gaines - Hymn Number 5 mp3 at The B Side 1973
Earl Gaines - I Can't Face It mp3 at The B Side 1973
Video:
Earl Gaines - It's Love Baby 24 Hours a Day at YouTube
The Mighty Hannibal - Jerkin' The Dog at YouTube Same studio stage as above
Visit:
Earl Games - Profile at The B Side

THE FUNKY MULE IS TIGHT AS HELL

Aw, screw it. I was going to go into some early stuff by Ike Turner and the Kings of Rhythm, but then I got sidetracked by stuff from 1969. Sucked in. Check these, all from the same LP. Do not skip "Funky Mule", you'll understand why. Check the drums. Dig the beat baby. It is insane.

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Listen:
Ike Turner and The Kings Of Rhythm - Black Beauty mp3 at Rock Town Hall
Ike Turner and The Kings Of Rhythm - Getting Nasty mp3 at Rock Town Hall
Ike Turner and the Kings of Rhythm - Funky Mule mp3 at ATumlr (?)

ANKA, WE'RE COOL. BUT BOONE,...

I don't know, if I was an Anka fan, maybe I would have been pissed. But I'm not. So the fact that he covered Nirvana doesn't bug me at all. Pat Boone on the other hand bugs me just because he exists. I don't even remember why, that's how old my distaste is...oh, wait! I do remember! It's because his white bread ass had the audacity to cover Little Richard back in the day. You can guess why. Figuring that Little Richard's music wouldn't sell to the goody two shoes, he recorded sanitized versions of "Tutti Frutti" and "Long Tall Sally", to take advantage of the demographic that might otherwise have been tempted to dig the savagery that is Little Richard. What a fuck. I'm starting to get pissed at him all over again.

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Listen:
Paul Anka - Smells Like Teen Spirit mp3 at Clayton Counts
Paul Anka - Jump mp3 at Super Zombie
Pat Boone - Paradise City mp3 at Dawayne Bailey
Pat Boone - Smoke On the Water mp3 at Review Stalker

I LIKE ALL PUNK ROCK

Whenever I hear someone say "I hate hip hop" it reminds me that the "I hate rap" people of the eighties now have children, and that the "disco sucks" generation likely have grandchildren. It's always declarative, and always sounds defensive. Like they're standing way up there, chest out, arms crossed, high atop some turret dotted wall, guarding Fort Rock. Just face it. Some of you rough and tumble rockers are unadventurous lily livered wussies. You can't flat out hate a whole genre if you haven't heard much of it. Don't try to say those are just a general opinions being spoken, you know as well as I do it's rarely shared like that. It's always with the overtones of someone who won't even take a few test spins.

To you young people who are the offspring of the rap haters and Grandma and Grandpa Disco Sucks, please pay attention to what I'm about to tell you. Lesson number one for any aspiring rocker is to like music your parents emphatically hate. That should be obvious. It doesn't have to take over your record collection. All it has to do is remind the old farts that there are things that you like, or at least give a listen to, that they don't understand. You don't go home and blast Hasil Adkins in the living room if your parents listen to Hasil Adkins. Your most important duty as an budding rocker is to make them squirm on the couch, with feelings of angst and confusion.  Piss off your parents. Not by doing bad things, or breaking the law and whatnot. By opening your mind and going one step further than their unadventurous lilly livered asses.

Man, did that feel good. Blame J.J.Fad. The first time I heard them was on a radio at work, and the first thought that came to mind was that they were punk rock. Not musically, but in terms of everything else, particularly lesson one. If you think that punk rock is leather, patches, buttons, spikey hair, three cords, and a mosh pit, you are wrong. That's lesson number two.

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Listen:
J.J. Fad - Supersonic mp3 at ATumblr
J.J. Fad - Cars That Go Boom mp3 at Southern Scene All about that bass

BLUE NOTES-PHOBIA CURED

You could find reasons to dismiss Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, particularly if you don't dig fancy threads, tight afros, and an abundance of strings with your soul. I did, for years. That was before I found out that a Big Youth song that I'd been listening to for a long time, "Wake Up Everybody" was a Blue Notes cover. I just listened to Big Youth's version today for the first time in a long time, really digging it, and thought about how it had made me less Blue Note phobic. I like it when that happens.

"Wake Up Everybody", the original, is a classic piece of syrupy string soaked seventies soul, a message song, the subject of which is hard to argue with, and as relevant today as it was when it was released in 1975. It was produced by Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff who practically invented syrupy string soaked seventies soul, their names synonymous with Philly soul. The duo were already successful hit makers before they started adding strings and whatnot, beginning with the Soul Survivors' "Expressway To Your Heart" in 1965, followed by Archie Bell and the Drells' "I Can't Stop Dancing" in 1968. Once they really hit their stride, chart appearances were regular, among them the O'Jays' "Love Train" and "Back Stabbers" and Billy Paul's "Me and Mrs. Jones".

But this was supposed to be about "Wake Up Everybody", before I got sidetracked. After listening to the two versions below, those of you familiar with Big Youth will note that his is a fairly straight forward cover. Released just a year after the original, it stays faithful to the original lyrically, with no toasting whatsoever. One could surmise it was because Big Youth had enough respect for the song itself not to fuck with it. Which is a good thing. Otherwise I'd have not given Melvin and mob a pass on the fancy threads and such.

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Listen:
Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes - Wake Up Everybody mp3 at Basement Rug
Big Youth - Wake Up Everybody (streaming) at YouTube
Gamble & Huff joints:
Soul Survivors - Expressway to Your Heart mp3 at LZ Center
Archie Bell and the Drells - I Just Can't Stop Dancing (streaming) at YouTube
The O'Jays - Back Stabbers mp3 at Setagaya Sounds
Visit:
Gamble and Huff at Wikipedia

EARLY RACKET

I'm not fucking around here. This mix hit the spot, and will continue to do so for the better part of the next hour. By then I'll be out of here, so just follow me. It's a mix of blues and rhythm and blues, from the mid-forties to the mid-sixties, and it's good stuff, with some a bunch of names you'll recognize, but few songs you'll know. In other words, low on hits, with exception of Little Junior Parker's "Mystery Train", That's a good thing, because you already have all the basic stuff, Elmore James, Little Walter, Johnny Otis, Guitar Slim, etc, etc., right?

Hearsay has a lot of old mixes laying around, of differing themes, and all I've heard are good, There's a new wave one that I can't vouch for, for reasons that should seem obvious. Here's a couple teasers from the one I'm digging on tonight. There's twenty four in all. The Little Walter cut is mindblowing, Total punk rock, just an insane racket. Everything is getting abused. You know, godhead. And then there's the drums on the Slim Harpo cut...

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Listen:
Little Walter - I Got To Go mp3 at Hearsay
Slim Harpo - Buzz Me Babe mp3 at Hearsay
Guitar Slim - Certainly All mp3 at Hearsay
The Otis Rush Blues Band - Rock mp3 at Hearsay
The mix:
So Many Days - Rhythm and Blues 1946 - 1966 at Hearsay 24 cuts, individually or in a zip

JUST MY TYPE

Quick, name five female rockabilly singers from the fifties. I know, a little tough isn't it? Wanda Jackson, Janis Martin, Lorrie Collins, Sparkle Moore, uh, uh, uh... That's how it went for me. There's not a whole lot that many of us know, excluding of course the rockabilly fiend elite. Well, I got schooled tonight. I happened to run across Betty Smith's "Yeah Baby", and dug it enough, it had me looking for more. I found squat. So, off I wander, in search of a way to wiggle it in here. Tonight's ticket, a handful of songs by second tier lady rockers. ("Female rockers"? "Women rockers"? "Lady rockers" sounds better.) 

Smith's "Yeah Baby" is a great song. What I really love is the sound of that record. Seriously, it really does sound like it was recorded in a garage, or a minimally equipped studio at best. Like the band is playing right in front of you. You'll recognize the sound, particularly the drums. Good stuff. Then there's Laura Lee Perkins (pictured above), who was billed as the female Jerry Lee Lewis. C'mon, you think I'm not going to bite? I don't care how accurate that description is, I'm there. The click was not wasted. Perkins does a bang up job. Though light on the keys, she makes up for it. She wails. There's two other mysto-ladies down there, but I'm talked out. Dig them on your own.

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Listen:
Betty Smith - Yeah Baby mp3 at Mp3 Rockabilly
Laura Lee Perkins - Gonna Rock My Baby Tonight mp3 at Rocky 52
Joyce Green - Black Cadillac mp3 at Rocky 52
Barbara Allen - Sweet Willie mp3 at Mp3 Rockabilly

OCCUPATION: THORN IN SIDE

Kim Fowley died today. You might think of him as a creep. You might be right. His solo output was somewhere between shit and entirely listenable, some would say brilliant. But he was always interesting, a self promoting square peg that found his way into one round hole after another, as often as he avoided them. A songwriter, producer, leech, hitmaker, promoter, manager, advisor, dirty old man, svengali, and an opportunistic music biz miscreant who who spent the better part of his professional life fucking with peoples heads. He was a professional mind fucker. Not the best, but he clocked in every day. It's getting harder and harder to find freaks like that in the music industry these days, particularly those who just don't give a fuck. It's near impossible to name someone who did it longer and more consistently than Fowley did. Creep or not, I admire that.

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Listen:
Kim Fowley - Underground Lady mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Kim Fowley - The Trip mp3 at ATumblr (?)
Kim Fowley - Born To Be Wild mp3 at Cover Me Instrumental
Kim Fowley - Animal mp3 at Still In Rock
Kim Fowley - Caught In the Middle mp3 at Still In Rock
Kim Fowley - California Swamp Dance mp3 at Raven Sings the Blues
Kim Fowley - World 99 mp3 at Flat Disk Network

THE TIME DELAYED SALES TOOL

You'd bite too. I mean, look at that. That's art of the highest order right there. I mean it. That sleeve may have had to fester for several decades, but it has done its job. It made me want to hear the music that was in it. Isn't that what a picture sleeve is supposed to do? It sure doesn't hurt to have a ridiculous song title. These guys deserve a listen, no matter what they sound like, for assembling a crack marketing team.

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Listen:
Los Caballeros - Cha Cha Dracula mp3 at Radiodiffusion International

THE DEWEY DECIBEL SYSTEM

Have you checked out the air checks at Beware of the Blog? They're some cool audio time capsules. Take this one for instance, an hour of Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips on the air in the late fifties. This is good stuff. Phillips, a fast talking hillbilly nut, spins Rosco Gordon, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Larry Williams, Bill Dogget, and so on. And he talks a lot, pitches two brands of beer, furniture suits and all sorts of stuff.

Phillips was the first DJ to play Elvis, and the two were friends for years. They did have some sort of falling out at some point, and then made up (read it here.) Regardless, he was there, he played a role, he had taste, and he was a hillbilly nut. Did I mention the part about hillbilly nut? Hell yeah, good enough for me.

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Listen:

Dewey Phillips - On the Air mp3 at Beware of the Blog An hour of his WHMQ "Red Hot and Blue" show

Dewey Phillips - The same show (streaming) at Memphis Music Hall of Fame

Dewey Phillips - On the Air (streaming) at YouTube 16 minutes

Dewey Phillips - On the Air, 1952 (streaming) at YouTube 4 minutes

Other Airchecks at Beware of the Blog Scroll down, in the right column

Video:

Dewey Phillips interviews Jerry Lee Lewis, 1957 at YouTube

Dewey Phillips - Short narrative profile at YouTube Described by Knox Phillips, Sam Phillips's son

Visit:

Dewey Phillips at Memphis Music Hall of Fame

Dewey Phillips at Wikipedia

GET YOUR FEET WET

I've mulled it over for a couple days, after seeing something about a new documentary about Fela Kuti. What would be the best way to introduce people unfamiliar with Fela to his music and his rather radical career? Some of you already know him well. Where to start, right? There's just so much to digest. For those of you unfamiliar with him, pick any of the links below and get acquainted. With percussion heavy grooves as funky as James Brown's seventies stuff, the politics of an underdog with a mind all his own living in a corrupt state, and a cocksuredness worthy of Mick Jagger when he mattered, there's plenty to delight and entertain. You may want to dig further. You should dig further. Yeah, there are a few warts, but he's an important figure for you to know nonetheless. The nerd jive will continue at a later date.

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Listen:
Fela Kuti - Chop and Quench mp3 at Online Nigeria
Fela Kuti - Expensive Shit mp3 at Review Stalker
Fela Kuti and the Africa 70 - Who're You? mp3 at Dusted
Fela Kuti - Zombie mp3 at Truants
Ginger Baker with Fela - Tiwa mp3 at Likembe
Video:
Fela - Live in Lagos, early 70s at YouTube
Fela - Live in Berlin, 1978 at YouTube Two hours
Finding Fela - Documentary trailer at YouTube
Visit:
Finding Fela - Profile and documentary review at SF Examiner
Fela Kuti at Wikipedia
Old posts here about Fela (once on the page, scroll down)

REFRESHER COURSE

THE SELECTOR FROM BEYOND

Every year I pause on January 13, for two reasons. One is that it is my late brother's birthday. He was the best rock 'n' roll friend I've ever had. Which brings up reason number two for pausing. It was on the day he was born that "Good Golly Miss Molly" by Little Richard was released, something he'd point out to you if he was still around. Guess what? In this dump that I call home, he is still around, and I'll be damned if he hasn't deemed it Little Richard Night. Fu-huck yeah.

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Listen:

Little Richard - Good Golly Miss Molly mp3 at Internet Archive The A side

Little Richard - Hey Hey Hey Hey mp3 at Internet Archive The B Side

Little Richard - The Girl Can't Help It mp3 at Happy Parts
Little Richard - Keep A Knockin' mp3 at Beware of the Blog

Little Richard - Jenny Jenny mp3 at Internet Archive
Little Richard - Rip It Up (Rehearsal and Take 14) mp3 at Electric Adolescence

Little Richard - I Got It mp3 at Teenage Kicks USA (?) Different version of "She's Got It"

RETURN OF THE STONE COLD CLASSIC

I'm not even going to mess around with this one. If you dig vintage reggae and don't have Horace Andy's Skylarking LP, don't sleep on this. It's his first LP, released in 1969 when he was eighteen, his voice super smooth, before age did its work (minor as it was). It is post rocksteady, pre-roots, golden era, and all of that, recorded at Studio One, at a time when label owner Coxsone Dodd had everything dialed in. The studio and label of the same name were unstoppable, dominant enough that Dodd made up other labels so radio DJs wouldn't have to shy away fearing claims of favoritism. In short, Studio One was the most important record label in the history of the genre; the archetype, both in sound and riddims (rhythms). To put it in non-reggae perspective, the studio and label belong in the ranks of other legendary labels like Stax, Motown, Sun or Chess. And like those studios, a big part of it was the house band, in this case the Sound Dimension, whose riddims are still being used in reggae today. 

The LP has been posted here before, but the link went dead and it was a few years ago, so you probably missed it anyway. A heads up here, if you go looking to buy it, beware. There are Horace Andy compilations with the same title. Make sure it's the Studio One version, otherwise you'll be hearing a re-recorded version of the song, and other songs not on this LP. The album may be out of print, at least on CD. I haven't been able to find it anyways, and I've looked. (I have the vinyl, so no idea there.) The download linked below is fast, maybe a minute or two. Sleep on it at your peril.

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Listen:
Horace Andy - Skylarking mp3 at ATumblr (?)
The full LP:
Horace Andy - Skylarking (streaming) at YouTube
Horace Andy - Skylarking (download) at Global Grooves Click on the green download button, fill in the captcha, and you're gold baby.
Visit:
Other Studio One posts (scroll down)

RESPITE VIA CHEAP ASS GUITAR

If you were around during the eighties, and by that I mean out of your mothers womb and of musically cognizant age, you'll remember what it was like. The music was shit. Hair bands, synth based or hair metal, they were everywhere. Less than a decade after punk rock, it seemed all of that back to basics stuff was for naught. Rock 'n' roll was just as bad off, if not worse, than it was in the seventies. One night back then, I'm flipping through the dial and see a nineteen year old, living in a shithole he refers to as "the mausoleum", giving a guided tour of the shack. He points out pictures he's got on his walls, Elvis, Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent, Little Richard and James Brown. It was pretty refreshing to see youthful reverence, particularly on a channel that might be showing the Flock of Seagulls. Then there's a short clip of him and his drummer playing outside of the shack. Guitar, drums, and a good voice. Primitive as all get out, with virtually everything unnecessary stripped away, No bass player, rhythm guitarist, stage, or "proper" equipment. None of that nonsense. I was sucked in. It was my first exposure to the Flat Duo Jets.

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Listen:
The Flat Duo Jets - Rockin' Bones mp3 at The Walrus
The Flat Duo Jets - Go This Way mp3 at The Datas In
The Flat Duo Jets - Harlem Nocturne mp3 at Beware of the Blog
The Flat Duo Jets - Golden Stings mp3 at Leave You Wanting Less
Video:
Crazy Hazy Kisses at YouTube

PROPER ATTIRE? SURE...

Take a look at these guys. They look fairly tame. Maybe an instrumental combo, or a vocal group. If you gave them the benefit of the doubt, maybe you'd figure them as some early Northwest type garage band. That Night Raiders name does sound vaguely tough. Never would have I imagined though, that they were rockabilly or raw fifties rock 'n' roll, or whatever it is that you'd call them. I don't care, raw and rockin' is exactly what they are, and that's good enough for me.

Mickey Hawks was the singer on these, he's the guy in the back, a third or fourth tier guy in rockabilly circles. You might not know him, but you can get caught up real fast with a detailed bio over at the ever reliable Hound Blog. Now soak your skull in these.

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Listen:
The Night Raiders - Bip Bop Boom mp3 at Mp3 Rockabilly
The Night Raiders - Screamin' Mimi Jeanie mp3 at Mp3 Rockabilly
Mickey Hawks - Rock and Roll Rhythm mp3 at Rocky 52
Visit:
Mickey Hawks and the Night Raiders at The Hound Blog

THE NEEDED FIX

Every once in a while I look at the stats to see if many of the old links are being visited on that particular day. Today someone had clicked a few times on an old post about the Weirdos (I notice these things). This is for them, the clicker. Because the links were dead on that old post, and I think you, whoever you are, should hear the Weirdos. Everybody should hear the Weirdos.

Los Angeles, 1977. The Weirdos were among the most active bands in the still motley scene. They could seem aggressive, but not really in a fist pumping way. More stealth. They kinda fucked with your head, particularly that first year or so, when there really wasn't much basis for comparison. Just a suffocatingly huge control group. And then, this.

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Listen:
The Weirdos - Destroy All Music mp3 at Killed By Death Go there to get it.
The Weirdos - Life of Crime mp3 at Killed By Death Ditto
The Weirdos - Why Do You Exist mp3 at Killed By Death Ditto
The Weirdos - We Got the Neutron Bomb at Killed By Death Go here to get it.
The Weirdos - Solitary Confinement mp3 at Killed By Death Ditto

COLLECTORS USE SIDE DOOR

How many times do we go digging for old beat up records and end up coming home with some soul also-rans that, if we pick them apart, we can find some break, horn section, or bass line that we are convinced elevate them to some unheard classic. We're dipshits. Sharon Jones has put out readily available top notch, as good as any ever recorded, soul records since 2002. I mean really, what are we? Scarcity whores? I'm thinking that we all better check our digger's pride at the door. That shit doesn't mean anything when it comes to Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. You can buy their stuff brand new and they'll sell you all you want. Your digging skills are powerless here big boy. Try to find a reason not to dig them. It all comes down to availability. That's why they aren't some zillion dollar white whale. Why they aren't insanely popular, that comes down to the cold hard brutal fact that the public at large has shit for taste. Fuck 'em, and fuck poo-pooing soul collectors. I like good soul music, period. And I love Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings.

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Listen:
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - You're Gonna Get It mp3 at I Am Fuel You Are Friends
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - Let Them Knock mp3 at KEXP
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - Retreat mp3 at KEXP
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - How Long mp3 at ATumblr (?)
Greyboy with Sharon Jones and Quantic - Got To Be Love mp3 at Ear It Now  Snappy breaks
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - Pick It Up Lay It In the Cup mp3 at Gemini Radio Funky, this one.
Visit:
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - Official Site
Daptone Records

THE REAL THING

These two songs were on two successive 45s released in 1954. I dig them. I got nothing else. Just digging on these two, over and over. Because I feel like it. I'm a wild man. I didn't wash the dishes.

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Listen: 
Papa Lightfoot - Wine, Women, Whiskey mp3 at Mississippi en Conserve
Papa Lightfoot - Mean Old Train (streaming) at YouTube

THE TIRELESS GEEK

Deke Dickerson is one guy I don't even try to keep up with. His catalog is too vast, talent too tight, and he just doesn't slow down. I don't care how hard working you think you are, he'll make you feel lazy. Really, check the discography on his site. Plus he's a guitar geek extraordinaire, and you know how guitar geeks are, particularly those who can back up the vintage mumbo jumbo with expert picking. Dickerson took it one step further and hosted guitar geek festivals for ten or so years running. Just before you throw in the towel, add record collector and music historian. And he had a record label. And he's a writer. A good writer. Besides liner notes and bios, his blog, though seldom updated, is some good reading. By the time you finish one of his posts, you'll swear that you know him. It's that aw shucks.

His last post, which is over a year old, is titled "Why I Am Not A Punk Rocker" and runs down how he was into punk rock in high school and decided he wasn't cut out for it. The bonus of that post was a twenty minute movie he did while in still in school that is, okay, corny and lame, like most high school films are. But it's Deke Dickerson and he's a guitar geek's guitar geek, and it's him cutting his teeth, so it's worth watching. (The link on his blog is gone, but it's still up at YouTube.) There's a few other things down there too, including a video of his first band, Untamed Youth, on a public access TV show in the eighties, notable because it's got fellow fiend Ron Silva (Crawdaddys, Nashville Ramblers, etc) filling in on drums (Playing standing up. The nut!).

There's a tour diary down there two, in two parts. There are live music sequences and total fiend minutiae. Old sites of record studios, regional tidbits, plus the table that Merle Travis died while seated at, still in use in a guitar shop. Now that I think about it, that might just be why I've yet to fully dive in. Every time I put a toe in this Dickerson pool, I get totally distracted. Before I know it, I'm in amateur geek mode, wandering aimlessly through surf, hillbilly, multi-necked guitars, and aw shucks all over the place. That's why I like this guy. He makes me want to learn.

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

Listen:
Untamed Youth - Pabst Blue Ribbon mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Dave and Deke Combo - Deke's Hot Guitar mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Dave and Deke Combo - Chew Tobacco Rag mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Deke Dickerson - Muleskinner Blues mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Deke Dickerson and the Ecco-fonics - Tons of live stuff at Internet Archive
Video:
Deke Dickerson - Rock 'n' Roll High School at YouTube The high school film
Untamed Youth - Hey Elly Mae at YouTube Ron Silva on drums
Deke Dickerson - 2013 Tour Diary, Part 1 at YouTube
Deke Dickerson - 2013 Tour Diary, Part 2 at YouTube
Visit:
Why I'm Not a Punk Rocker - Deke Dickerson at Musings of a Mule Skinner His blog
Deke Dickerson - Official site Don't miss his gallery of bizarre LPs