IT DON'T COME EASY

I can't be objective about Moe Tucker's first solo LP Playin' Possum. If you didn't know who she was and took it as just as it is, you would probably think it sucked, and objectively you'd probably be right. But knowing the Velvet Underground, the first thing you do is try to find the similarity. She was, after all, part of a rhythm section that plodded along, practically droning at times, making songs seem longer than the actually were.  When you realize that her lack of fills and other fancy drummer stuff that made her the perfect drummer for a band like the Velvet Underground, isn't necessarily apropos for covers of Little Richard, Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry, you start to realize that her plain Jane style of drumming was likely the result of being technically primitive. And that's part of what makes Playin' Possum so endearing.

Released in 1982, she recorded it her living room. She played all of the instruments, including sax and synthesizer. Just the thought of a post-Velvets semi-retired Tucker getting the hell out of New York, raising a family and then doing this in her living room - its all too much. I found a way to really dig it. Even after hearing that she was a Tea Partier, I took the record for what it was. A homemade rock 'n' roll record (with two different versions of Little Richard's "Slippin' and Slidin'" mind you), created in a critic free vacuum. That always rules.

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

Listen:
Maureen Tucker - Slippin' and Slidin' (Version 2) mp3 at Dinosaur Gardens
The whole LP:
Maureen Tucker - Playin' Possum at Dinosaur Gardens Nine individual mp3s