ASK ANY GUITAR PLAYER

Just look at that 1935 coolness. It's Django Reinhardt, a name I first heard in high school, bandied about by fledgling guitar players who no doubt got clued in by their guitar teachers. They knew the name, but when it came to actually buying anything by him, he took a back seat to rock guitarists. But the consensus was that he was someone they should be familiar with, so they just talked about him. Fair enough. I never got around to listening to him until years later, and it was apparent what got their guitar teachers all riled up. He is someone every guitar player, and everyone who loves guitar playing, should know. So here you go.

Here's one song by him, from a record released in 1954, but recorded in the thirties, the heyday of the Quintette of the Hot Club of France. Dig it, the whole 10" record, eight songs, can be found at Basement Rug. The liner notes too, a good read if you want to walk around like a know it all

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Listen:
Django Reinhardt - Rythme Futur mp3 at Basement Rug
The whole record:
Le Jazz Hot par Django Reinhardt et Q.H.C.F at Basement Rug Eight songs in a zip.
Previously:
Django. On the Radio. Plug Worthy.
Suitable for framing:
High resolution version of above photo

I CAN DIG IT

FUCK BACKSTAGE, THE BARON CHILLS ANYWHERE.

So, how do you get the Yardbirds to play in your back yard? Easy. Bag on Beatles fans. That's what Baron Willis did. His celebrity made it all the more public. He was an author, scriptwriter, and political activist. People listened. So the Yardbirds showed him. They showed up in his backyard. They rocked his ass.

Check the video linked below. It's not from the Baron's yard, but it is the Yardbirds. "I'm a Man", a five minute show stopper, Jimmy Page era. Keith Relf doing the vocal/harp swap thing very effectively. Then it goes into an extended jam, rock, blues, almost jazz, and then, whoop, here it comes, Page whips out the bow. Just when you think it won't get nuttier, it quiets down to the point that it starts to sound like Eno ambient stuff. Really. Then it blindsides you. It's quite a spectacle, yo.

The other three songs are the first random Yardbirds cuts I could find. The "White Summer" thing is an instrumental, live, with Jimmy Page showing off what would soon be Zeppelin's. Not my favorite era, but notable. But, man, do check that video.

I still think the whole thing would have been funnier if the Baron dissed the Yardbirds instead, and then the Beatles showed up in his backyard. Now I'm just getting greedy.

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Listen:
The Yardbirds - I'm Not Talkin' mp3 at ATumblr (?)
The Yardbirds - Boom Boom mp3 at Wandervogel
The Yardbirds - White Summer (live) mp3 at Speed of Dark (?)
Video:
The Yardbirds - I'm a Man at YouTube
Visit:
The Yardbirds Garden Gig at Voices of East Anglia More photos of the yard gig.

THE "LET'S PLAY TWO" MINDSET

A quick one here. I happened to run across a song by Ray Stanley, with Eddie Cochran on guitar, Who's Ray Stanley? Hell if I know. He's the guy that had Eddie Cochran on his record, that's what matters. While listening to it, I started to think about other guitarists from the fifties that were stars in their own right, but also played on sessions for others. The first person that came to mind was Mickey Baker, one half of Mickey and Sylvia, who had a hit with "Love Is Strange". Baker was no slouch, versed in blues, R & B, jazz and rock 'n' roll. And he was good in all of them. No, wait, excellent in all of them. He looked pretty cool doing it.

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Listen:
Ray Stanley (with Eddie Cochran on guitar) - Pushin' mp3 at Mp3 Rockabilly
Joe Clay (with Mickey Baker on guitar) -  Get on the Right Track mp3 at Rocky 52
Mickey and Sylvia - No Good Lover mp3 at RocknDog
Video:
Coleman Hawkins Quintet (with Mickey Baker) - South of France Blues 1966 at YouTube

THE ONE MAN CRASH COURSE

If you recognize that man above, you are no doubt a Studio One fiend. I will address you first so you don't have to read crap you already know. Instead, read this: Reggae Directory, June 1992 issue, It's a whole issue dedicated to Coxsone Dodd (above, but you know that) and his work, and the artists that recorded for him. The lengthiest piece is with Dodd, but there are snippets, most in interview format and most Studio One related. There's a few pages of images of 45 labels, from other Dodd created record labels (so his dominance of the charts would mot appear the result of payola). There's a few pages with the line ups of various Studio One backing bands and harmony groups. Yeah. Resist the urge to take your iPad to the john.

If you're a semi-fiend or less, let me just say this. In my opinion, Coxsone Dodd is the single most influential person in the history of reggae. He operated sound systems, traveled abroad looking for records, started a studio, discovered raw talent, had several labels, and he sold liquor. He did everything but play the music. He wasn't always the best, he wasn't always the highest earning, and he didn't always get the credit, or even name recognition, that he deserved. But he was an innovator, and he was tireless. Go to Wikipedia. Check the music in the other Studio One posts (scroll down this page). Read the Reggae Directory thing. The sooner you get acquainted with Coxsone Dodd, the sooner you have an understanding of where reggae came from.

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Listen (totally random choices):
The Dynamics - Let's Make Love mp3 at Dusted
Horace Andy - Skylarking mp3 at ATumblr (?)
Sound Dimension - Drum Song mp3 at Leave You Wanting Less Errol Dunkley - Way Down Low mp3 at Pixie Radio
Ken Boothe - Set Me Free mp3 at Surface to Air
Many more songs on older posts Scroll down.
47 song mix:

Producer Series: Coxsone Dodd's Studio One mix (via Zippiy Share) at Underground Uncovered
Note: Do the "Captcha" thing in the top right, then click on "Download Now" right below it. Avoid all the other download buttons. You will probably get one pop-up, just close it.

Massive mix, 60+ songs:
Coxsone Dodd Rarities at Underground Undercover (where it says "LINK" at the end to the text) NOTE: Once at Zippy Share, enter the Captcha, and then click on the "Download Now" link, not the button that just says "Download"
Visit:
Reggae Directory - The Coxsonne Dodd/Studio One issue at Issuu June 1992

THE LAID BACK PISSED OFF DUALITY

Man. Neil Young. He and I go way back. The first record of his I bought was Harvest, after hearing "Heart of Gold" on the radio a zillion times. Kids are like that. For whatever reason, I happened to get sick to my stomach right when I got home from the record store. I decided to listen to it anyway. Big mistake. Ever since then, every time I hear anything from that LP, I think about how shitty I felt, with the exception of "Heart of Gold". I already had associations with that song prior to hearing the LP, so it remained free of that upset stomach patina.

There's no denying Neil Young has made some stinkers. I refuse to coddle him, or any other artist for that matter, those days are gone. If he makes something that sucks, fine for him, I ain't buying it. No hard feelings. But, he's kept my interest and respect for decades, even with intermittent crap. Hell yeah, I'll give him a pass. His discography is so deep in good shit, inconsistent as it can sometimes be, that I'll never get around to all of it.

Here's a couple of my favorites and some assorted oddballs. I gotta say, the documentary on the making of The Monsanto Years was much better than I expected it would be. He's backed by Promise of the Real, a band that includes two of Willie Nelson's sons. The kids seem to get it. And check the video of Tom Jones with Crosby, Stills, Nash  and Young, doing "Long Time Gone". Neil Young on guitar with Tom Jones singing, never thought I'd live to see the day. Jones belts that one out, pushing Stephen Stills to the limit of his vocal capabilities. And Young looks possessed.

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Listen:
Neil Young - Cowgirl in the Sand mp3 at Our Music Project
Neil Young - Down By the River mp3 at I Am Fuel You Are Friends
Neil Young - Revolution Blues mp3 at Essentially Eccentric
Neil Young - Heart of Gold mp3 at ATumblr (?) Mellow
Video:
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young - Down By the River (TV) at YouTube
Tom Jones with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young - Long Time Coming at YouTube
Neil Young & Promise of the Real - The Monsanto Years at Yahoo Music An hour long

TWO YEARS, SIX SINGLES, AND DONE

There's only one reason to not post Los Saicos. I've posted them before. But there's a thousand reasons I find it necessary, not the least of which is turning at least one person onto them. If you have never heard the glorious pipes of Erwin Flores, I suggest you listen to the first couple down there and see if you can go back to what you were doing. This is Peru, mid-sixties. A band that had only been playing for months fell into fame after a series of opportunities unfolded within a short amount of time, resulting in six singles and a TV show. When the Beatles were topping the charts singing la-la-la, Los Saicos were somewhere else near the bottom singing about destruction. It's all there, no translation needed. They rode it for two years and when they were done, they just stopped playing. They never broke up. They just stopped playing.

The prop says it all.

Here's eight of the twelve sides that they recorded, a link to all twelve streaming at YouTube and a short video profile for the uninitiated. Dig into these, and see if you can go back to whatever it is that's hot right now. You know what I'm talking about. That forced lo-fi self aware hipster jive.

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Listen:
Los Saicos - El Entierro De Los Gatos mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Los Saicos - Camisa de Fuerza mp3 at Laoficinalive (?)
Los Saicos - Fugitivo de Alcatraz mp3 at Berceuse Electrique
Los Saicos - Salvaje mp3 at Tape Wrecks
Los Saico's - Cemetenterio mp3 (via Box.net) at Pop Goes the Radio Download button at top right at Box.net
Los Saicos - Demolicion mp3 at Matula (?)
Los Saicos - Ana mp3 at ATumblr (?)
Los Saicos - Besando A Otras mp3 at ATumblr (?)
Los Saicos - Complete discography (streaming) at YouTube 12 songs
Video:
Was Punk Rock Born in Peru? - Los Saicos documentary at YouTube 13 minutes
Saicomania trailer at YouTube
Los Saicos - El Entierro De Los Gatos (live, Spain, 2010) at YouTube
Visit:
Where did punk begin? A cinema in Peru at The Guardian UK
Los Saicos at Wikipedia

PARTY STORE MASK REPLICA

If the sleeve above doesn't do anything for you, check this quote from Jerry Lott, aka the Phantom, about the recording of "Love Me": "...I didn't yell on the first take, but I yelled on the second, and blew one of the controls off the wall.... I'm telling you, It was wild. The drummer lost one of his sticks, the piano player screamed and knocked his stool over, the guitar player's glasses were hanging sideways over his eyes..." If that still doesn't do anything for you, go ahead and go to bed. We'll lock up.

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Listen:
The Phantom - Love Me (streaming) at YouTube
The Phantom - Love Me (unissued first take) (Streaming) at Mean Gene's Bull Session
The Phantom - Whisper your Love mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Visit:
The Phantom at Black Cat Rockabilly
The Phantom at Mean Gene's Bull Session

SHOULDN'T YOU BE IN OLD SCHOOL

Knowing full well that a few of you clowns don't have enough room on your plate for hip hop, I gotta say, I don't give a shit. Even if you don't care for hip hop in its present state, you should, at the very least, have a mild anthropological interest in it. Particularly the early years, the music formerly known as rap. Let's, for now, skim past the rappers and DJs, break dancing, and all of that. Just as integral were mix tapes. It wasn't just you bros in dorm rooms utilizing the medium between bong hits. Mix tapes were, and continue to be, part capital and part chain letter.

I ran into a blog called Old School Hip Hop Mix Tapes, and I guess that pretty much sums it up. A lot of them. Here's a link to the post of early Dr. Dre mixes, from KDAY, the Southern California radio station, big back in the day. A lot of interesting pieces, period samples and snippets abound. Yo.

I also ran into another site that has more mixes, and these you can stream. They're at Dat Piff, a rabbit hole if there ever was one. Holy shit. If, after hearing the Dre stuff, you're digging this stuff, you'll click yourself silly over there.

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Listen:
Dr Dre - KDAY 1580 AM Traffic Jam (streaming) at YouTube
Dr Dre Tapes Download Mania at Old School Hip Hop Mix Tapes Multiple mixes in a folder. Enter the captcha with the phrase show below it to open the folder for individual zips. You'll get it.
KDAY Traffic Jams at Dat Piff Mixes, streaming, all you can eat.

THE FRIEND'S ONE RECORD DISCOGRAPHY

This is such a great racket. It's a friend of mine's band from back in the day, around '79 or so. We barely knew each other back then, but hung around in the same crowd. We're much better friends now, mostly from run-ins at the beach.

I wasn't nuts about the record back when it was out, but now removed from the scene and after years of listening to much more music, I'm torn between thinking it completely amateurish or complete genius. Really, the days of records sounding this unconsciously raw, with this amount of over the top earnestness, are over.

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Listen:
The Xterninators - Microwave Radiation mp3 at Killed By Death Go there to get it.
The Xterminators - Occasional Lay mp3 at Killed By Death Ditto.

BUGGIN' USA

"When I was with Canned Heat in the mid-1970s, we toured with the Beach Boys (minus Brian). Al Jardine and Bruce Johnston were friendly, Carl was friendly but quiet, Dennis was always on us to share our stash and Mike Love was a complete dick."

That's from a comment left on a post at Facebook a while back, by Gene Taylor, who you might know as the pianist for the Blasters. Been saving that one.

Time for more Beach Boys crap. This time exorcising the bad and the ugly. Started out with the awful remix of "Wouldn't It Be Nice". This is technology enabled Mike Love level douchbaggery. Listen to it if you dare. If you need a chaser, the original is down there too.

Another thing is a recent Mike Love profile at Rolling Stone, which I haven't bothered to read. I'm not going there. Let's just say that my opinion is so locked in, that even if that article said we've had him all wrong all along, and his contributions are underappreciated, I'd still think he's an asshole. I don't care. Even his minor infractions land him on that list.

Also at Rolling Stone, a couple cuts I hadn't heard. Outtakes from the Party LP, covers of Dylan's "The Times They Are A- Changin'" and the Beatles' "Tell Me Why". They were recorded during the same live-in-studio fake party session that produced their cover of the Regents' "Barbara Ann". So, yeah, they suck as bad as that one.

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Listen:
The Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be Nice (Justin Caruso Remix) (streaming) at Soundcloud Awful
The Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be Nice mp3 at Review Stalker
The Beach Boys - The Times They Are A-Changin', and Tell Me Why (streaming) at Rolling Stone Bad
Visit:
The Ballad of Mike Love at Rolling Stone See earlier comments.
Much more Beach Boys in the old posts Scroll down.

THE STICK MEN

I ran into Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers' "Moanin'" and that was it. There I was, innocently thinking it about time to check in on Tibbles over at Time Goes By. His full name is Peter Tibbles, but I like referring to him as Tibbles. Sounds more mysterious. Like some sort of shadowy figure, lurking, slipping you cool shit on the sly. But he's not like that, well he sorta is, he does slip you the cool shit, but not in the way you're used to. Time Goes By is a snarky free site, for seniors. Really. Total hipster repellent. But, Tibbles, the man has taste, and is well versed in all types of music. He'll have a post about full-on old fart gold, and then a post about Willie DeVille that is more comprehensive in it's song samples than any I've come across.

Blakey's "Moanin'",the original nine and a half minute version, was on a post I happened to check. The post had several other versions, along with Dave Brubeck Quartet's "Time Out", and several of other versions of it too. That was it, or so I thought. Then, when looking for a Blakey image, I ran into the one above, with him and Milt Jackson. Cool, eh? Enough so that I went looking for Milt Jackson, and I knew just where to find him, at Groove Addict. You can see where this is going. No U-turns tonight.

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Listen:
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - Moanin' mp3 at Time Goes By
Milt Jackson with the Ray Brown Big Band - Braddok Breakdown mp3 at Groove Addict
More versions of Moanin' (and Take Five) at Time Goes By
More Milt Jackson at Groove Merchant

I'M GONNA NEED MORE PAPER

Lulu Reed? Me neither. But now I have and the list just got one singer longer. Who knows where this will lead to. Another duet with a different singer and another name on the list, Backed by who? This shit never lets up.

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Listen:
Freddy King and Lulu Reed - You Can't Hide mp3 at Soul Garage
Lulu Reed - Lovin' (streaming) at The Listening Post
Lulu Reed - Say Hey Pretty Baby (streaming) at YouTube

LOAD-IN TIME FOR THE NEU TRIBUTE BAND

That's not Neu! above, that's them below. And it is not a Neu! tribute band. I just couldn't resist posting that photo of the rather normal looking Bowie and Iggy in Berlin, circa '76. Some of you might know the connection. Regardless, you might hear it. This one, "Negativeland", sort of grows on you, like fungus. Neu! was two early Kraftwerk defectors. By the sounds of things, they got the guitars and amps.

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Listen:
Neu! - Negativeland mp3 at Said the Gramaphone

THE UNKNOWN SOUL SISTER

Marie Queenie Lyons. With a name like that, you have to go one step further. You do if you have a predilection for cool names. After hearing her, I have to recommend listening regardless, cool name predilection of not. Blink at your peril, you're not likely to run across her name often. A handful of singles, one LP and poof. That's it. But the first one down there is better than top notch, it is a righteous groove.

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Listen:
Marie Queenie Lyons - See and Don't See mp3 at Le Mellotron
Marie Queenie Lyons - You Used Me mp3 at Dub Lab
The LP:
Marie Queenie Lyons - Soul Fever (streaming) at YouTube
Visit:
Marie Queenie Lyons - Short profile at Song of the Day

NEVERMIND THE FANCY LID

That's Marcus Garvey up there. He was a Jamaican civil rights leader and advocate of Pan-Africanism, a movement that recognized that all Africans have roots in Africa, and to that end sought to unify them globally. An important movement that influenced the Rastafari movement, which most of you may associate with dreadlocks and copious amounts of weed. It's more than that. You're online right now, do some digging.

Club Cortez just posted an awesome Max Roach cut that, while not really touching on too much lyrically, is titled "Garvey's Ghost". It sounds like a long lost Sun Ra cut if you ask me, that is to say totally flipped out, and unequivocally cool. It reminded me of a Burning Spear LP of the same name. The similarities end there though, Burning Spear's LP is a dub version of his previous LP, Marcus Garvey, and is strictly roots reggae. But it's all Marcus Garvey, so who needs a better tie-in?

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Listen:
Max Roach - Garvey's Ghost mp3 at Club Cortez Go there to get it.
Burning Spear - Marcus Garvey mp3 at DK Presents
Burning Spear - Garvey's Ghost (entire LP) at YouTube

WADE IN THE WATER DEPOT

"Wade In the Water" is a Negro spiritual that dates back to the days of the underground railroad, first recorded in 1901. Since then, it's been recorded a million times. The years 1965-68 produced these kick ass versions, my favorites, of what I've heard so far anyway. I'll never hear all of them. Neither will you.

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Listen:
The Staple Singers - Wade in the Water (streaming) at YouTube 1965
The Graham Bond Organization - Wade in the Water mp3 at Rising Storm 1965
Ramsey Lewis Trio - Wade in the Water mp3 at Soul Treats 1966
Marlena Shaw - Wade in the Water mp3 at Le Mellotron 1966
Big Mama Thornton - Wade in the Water mp3 at Joshua Vorbis (?) 1968

THE GARAGE-FATHER

I don't know what Link Wray was hopped up on when he recorded "Hidden Charms". It may well have been nothing more than his inert Wrayness. But, ho-ly shit, does it get it down to business. One of the rawest rock 'n' roll records you'll hear this week. And it continues to get dirtier all the way through the fade out, ending with a seriously tweaked solo.

The other versions below are by Charles Clark and Howlin' Wolf. Clark's version is the earliest I could find and could be the original as he's backed by the Willie Dixon Band, and the song was written by Dixon. The Howlin' Wolf version, though good, is not nearly as great as one would imagine, particularly for a Willie Dixon song. Better is his original version of Dixon's "Down in the Bottom". I bring that up for a reason. Wray's treatment of "Hidden Charms" reminded me of the Groupies' version of "Down in the Bottom", another unhinged take down of a Dixon song. Here's the lot of them, in chronological order.

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Listen:
Charles Clark and the Willie Dixon Band - Hidden Charms (streaming) at YouTube 1958
Howlin' Wolf -Down in the Bottom (streaming) at YouTube 1961
Howlin' Wolf - Hidden Charms (streaming) at YouTube 1963
The Groupies - Down in the Bottom (streaming) at YouTube 1965
Link Wray - Hidden Charms mp3 at Beware of the Blog 1966
Old links (more music). Scroll down these pages:
Willie Dixon
Howln' Wolf
Link Wray

MUSIC FOR COOL MINDED MARTIANS

If you know Dave Brubeck, you likely have the LP Time Out, the record with his biggest song, "Take Five". The same LP has "Blue Rondo la Turk", a six and a half minute whopper. All sorts of time changes, solos, and movements, it's like a half dozen songs all rolled into one. He's recorded it multiple times, and there's a live version out there that just smokes. Brubeck won bonus points in my book when I read that he considered his music "for cool minded martians". What a nut!

The other song down there is from a post at Soul Sides. "Nubian Lady" by Roy Meriwether, whoever the hell he is, is close to twenty minutes long and it's a sneaky rascal. It starts out slow, and you just go about your business. Then at some point, as the tempo builds, it will grab your attention. It goes really well back to back with the Brubeck song.

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Listen:
Dave Brubeck Quartet - Blue Rondo a la Turk mp3 at Tistory Really good loud. Trust me.
Roy Meriwether - Nubian Lady mp3 at Soul Sides Go there to get it.

THE NO HIT WONDER

There are some rock 'n' roll records that are great, because they are great, superb, red hot, rip you a new one great. And there are those that are great because they aren't great. There's nothing on paper exceptional about them. The solos aren't technically difficult, the singing isn't the best, but it ain't the worst, and the songs themselves aren't that complicated. But there's something about them, some sort of fermenting craziness. Tom Brown and the Tom Toms made a couple of those.

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Listen:
Tom Brown and the Tom Toms - Tomahawk mp3 at Beware of the Blog 1960
Tom Brown and the Tom Toms - Kentucky Waltz mp3 at Rocky 52 1960
Tom Brown - That Cat mp3 at Rocky 52 1960

FOR WHIT (AND GABBY)

I was in the kitchen, pouring coffee and minding my own business. For some odd reason, George Jones's "The Race Is On" came into my head and I started sort of singing it. Then it wouldn't leave my head. Neither would Whitney, a dear departed friend who turned me on to the song many years ago. He was a roots guy. Blues, country and western and rockabilly were his bag. And he was a baddass guitar player with a bitchen old Ranchero, '61 if I remember correctly. The type of guy who would see a cast iron pan you might like at a garage sale, take it home, clean it and season it, and then just drop by and lay it on you. I DJ'd a few times with him and it was always a gas. He loved turning people on to shit, be it music, or the flipped out photo of Muddy Waters from the inside cover of Electric Mud, which he had hanging on his wall. He liked George Jones enough that he got himself an almost flat top, in the eighties.  Here's a photo right in an early incarnation of the Paladins, circa 1982, when they were a four piece, Whit's on the right. (Photo by Harold Gee.)

So, these are for Whit, and Gabby, the cute as hell bartender who would always request "The Race Is On" whenever we DJ'd.

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Listen:
George Jones - The Race Is On mp3 at David Fullmer
George Jones - White Lightning mp3 at Rocky-52
Video:
George Jones - The Race Is On (Hee-Haw) at YouTube

CLOCK OUT, DAD!

To quote a former roommate, "It's Saturday, you fuckhead!" He actually said that, years ago, at a loud Saturday afternoon party that was descended upon by angry neighbors. What he so eloquently expressed could be loosely translated as "Relax, it's the weekend, we have a license to party."

I was feeling like it was high time to do an informative post, all chocked full of factoids and stuff. But then I started my Friday evening listening to ska. To paraphrase my my old roomie, it's Friday you fuckhead.

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Listen:
Prince Buster - Enjoy Yourself mp3 at Audio Drums

Don Drummond - Alipang mp3 at Groove Addict

The Skatalites - Exodus mp3 at Iniva (?)

Roland Alphonso - Lee Harvey Oswald mp3 at Soul Garage

Carlos Malcolm and His Afro-Jamaican Rhythms - Ska-mania mp3 at Basement Rug 1962

More:

Tons more in these past posts.

MOST BADASS THING YOU'LL HEAR TODAY

I heard these two songs in successive days. Reason enough to get enveloped in the beat. May you do the same.

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Listen:
Bo Diddley - Who Do You Love? mp3 at Rocky-52.net
Bo Diddley - Pretty Thing mp3 at Boogaloo Time
Earlier Bo Diddley posts. Lot's more music, scroll down the page.

THE EARS OF THE OPERATION

As you probably know by now, George Martin died today. And you probably know that he's responsible for the sound of the Beatles in their formative years, "the fifth Beatle" and all that jazz. So you definitely know his work, with them anyways. Have you ever heard any of the other stuff he's produced? Likely, but you might not know it. Here's a cross section, the best of it early, because that's when he really dominated the charts, post 1962. Listen to the Temperance Seven's "You're Driving Me Crazy", from 1961, back to back with Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas "Bad to Me" from 1963, and guess who Martin met in 1962.

Dude loved his strings.

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Listen:
George Martin - And I Love Her mp3 at Motor City Radio Flashbacks 1964
George Martin - Ringo's Theme (This Boy) mp3 at Motor City Radio Flashbacks 1964
George Martin - A Hard Days Night mp3 at Motor City Radio Flashbacks 1964
As producer:
Sidney Torch – Barwick Green (The Archers theme) (streaming) at YouTube 1951
Eve Boswell - Pickin' a Chicken' (streaming) at YouTube 1955
The Temperance Seven - You're Driving Me Crazy (streaming) at YouTube 1961
Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas - Bad to Me mp3 at Serendipitous Music 1963
Cilla Black - You're My World (streaming) at YouTube 1964
Gerry and the Pacemakers - Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying mp3 at Seeley Street 1964
Shirley Bassey - Goldfinger mp3 at ATumblr (?) 1965
Cheap Trick - All Shook Up (streaming) at YouTube 1980
Ultravox - Reap the Wild (streaming) at YouTube 1982
Goldie Hawn - A Hard Days Night mp3 at Rock Town Hall 1998
Sean Connery - In My Life mp3 at Rock Town Hall 1998
This is a good read:
By George -- We'll Miss Him! A Personal Appreciation Of Sir George Martin by Martin Lewis at Huffington Post

WHAT YOU MISSED

I'm not a total Clash nut, but after running into these all within a few days it seemed like a way to get them out of my hair immediately. It's some early demos of the Clash, and some early live stuff that's never been released. The latter was posted on YouTube by Keith Levene, who was in the band when they were recorded. Completists, have your way.

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

Listen:

The Clash - Polydor demos (1976) at Mustard Rellics. Five mp3s, scroll down to the middle of the post, just below the baseball caps.. Songs: Career Opportunities, White Riot, Janie Jones, London’s Burning, 1977
The Clash - Mickey Foote demos (1977) and the Polydor demos at Teenage Dogs in Trouble The five songs above and eight others, two rar downloads
The Clash - 6 Unrecorded unreleased tracks (live 1976) (streaming) at YouTube With Keith Levene

TROPICAL TIME TRAVEL

Dig it. Here's a mix of vintage cumbia, from 78s. I'm not going to try to convince you how badass it is. If you're not interested, go listen to stuff you've already heard before. Your loss. The rest of you, you know, come on through here....

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

Listen:

Cumbia 78 RPM Mix - Quantic mix mp3 at Paris DJs 28 minute mix, single mp3, awesome.

THE SUPER SMOOTH, JAMAICA

Ever had one of those record shopping trips that later proves to be more fortuitous than originally thought? I had one years ago. The Sensational Maytals, Duke Reid's Greatest Hits and Alton Ellis Sings Rock and Soul, all three in one fell swoop, and they were cheap. I don't remember how much, but cheap enough to take a chance just based on the album covers. I knew the Maytals, but Duke Reid and Alton Ellis were totally unknown to me (It was a long time ago.) The three of them introduced me to rock steady. They also introduced me to shitty sounding reggae records. Not the music, but the fidelity and the pressings. I'd been used to the U.S. major label stuff, most of it on Island Records or Mango. But I got over the muddy productions. Once I imagined the music coming out of a shitty transistor radio, it made sense. Ever since then, Alton Ellis's voice coming out of a radio has been my white whale.

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

Listen:

Alton Ellis - Rock Steady mp3 at Dinosaur Gardens

Alton Ellis - I'm Still In Love With You mp3 at Fitted Hawaii

Alton Ellis - La La Means I Love You mp3 at Roots and Culture

Alton Ellis - What Does It Take (To Win Your Love) mp3 at ATumblr (?)

Alton Ellis -  Something You've Got mp3 at Hearsay Early

THE SAD ENDING

I started down this path tonight just throwing on the Clash while I made dinner. After hearing their version of "I Fought the Law", it occurred to me that I hadn't ever even mentioned the Bobby Fuller Four, and then I was reminded why. He died a suspicious death at the peak of his career, and it wasn't pretty. It wasn't blood and guts, but it was every bit as gruesome.

I remembered that there was something sordid about it, and then I ran into a lengthy description at You Better Shut Up and Listen. I read most of it, that was enough. It you're in one of your death moods. it's linked below, as well as an account from the period, from a 1966 issue of KRLA Beat, "America's Largest Teen Paper". That, I haven't yet read; but it's the whole paper so worth a look.

Goin' native for Vox.

If you can't get enough, there's a whole book written on the subject, I Fought the Law, by Miriam Linna (the lady from Kicks) and Randall Fuller. I only need the thumbnail version, thanks.

If you only know "I Fought the Law", dig on the other songs below. There's Crickets and Everlys crawling all over them. Better than that death stuff.

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

Listen:

Bobby Fuller Four - I Fought the Law mp3 at Internet Archive 1965
Bobby Fuller Four - I Fought the Law (demo) (streaming) at YouTube 1964
The Clash - I Fought the Law mp3 at ATumblr (?) 1979
More Fuller:
Bobby Fuller Four - Love's Made A Fool of You mp3 at Rocky 52 1966
Bobby Fuller Four - Let Her Dance mp3 at ATumblr (?) 1965
Bobby Fuller Four - A New Shade of Blue mp3 at You Better Shut Up and Listen 1966
Bobby Fuller Four - Fool of Love mp3 at The Rising Storm 1965

Visit:
The Mysterious Death of Bobby Fuller; or How the Law Won at You Better Shut Up and Listen
KRLA Beat - August 1966, entire issue at KRLA Beat
I Fought the Law by Miriam Linna and Randall Fuller at Kicks Books