Wednesday, January 31, 2018

IF FUZZ IS THE JOURNEY, I'M ALL IN

Way back when I first heard "Joanne" by Michael Nesmith and the First National Band [mumble-mumble] years ago, it was on AM radio. It slowly climbed the charts and became a top 40 hit, the only one by an ex-Monkee. It was nothing like the Monkees. It was country, pedal steel, the whole shooting match. Because it was an excellent song, though not at all my type of music, I made a mental note to check out his new band. It only took decades to do it.

Aquarium Drunkard recently posted a twenty one song mix of Nesmith's stuff with the First National Band and his later Second National Band, so now I have a general idea of what he was doing from 1970-1975. It's pretty much country stuff, predating the whole country rock hyphenated crap. Let's just say that if you like pedal steel, you won't be disappointed. Orville “Red” Rhodes is the pedal steel player and he is hot shit, duly added to the list, and I didn't have to wait for decades to hear more of his stuff.  At the bottom of the post there's a link to a mix of stuff Rhodes played on, some semi-big hitters among them. Brewer and Shipley, the Everly Brothers, Hoyt Axton, Cass Eklliot. Rick Nelson, the Lovin' Spoonful, Delaney and Bonnie. Okay, okay, I get it.

Michael Nesmith, country, pedal steel, yeah, yeah, that's all well and good. We cannot mention Nesmith without a bow to his nasty ass guitar playing as his earlier alter ego, Michael Blessing, on the B-side of a pre-Monkees 45. The song is "A Journey With Michael Blessing" and it is all-time. A budget casserole of Davie Allan and Link Wray. That two minutes of understated badassness rules tonight.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Michael Blessing - A Journey With Michael Blessing mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People Scroll down to "Session 180"

Michael Nesmith and the First National Band - Joanne mp3 at When You Awake
The mixes:
The Grand Ennui: Michael Nesmith 1970-1975 at Aquarium Drunkard 21 songs
All Roads Lead To Red: A Pedal Steel Mixtape / Tribute
at Aquarium Drunkard 21 songs

Monday, January 29, 2018

IT'S COMING.

I just started reading a bio of the Neville Brothers that I've had laying around for years but never bothered to read. It reminded me that all that Mardi Gras shit is coming up, which made me think about Professor Longhair. So here's a couple nice ones by him. Dig his delivery on "Tipitina". Whether he is or not, it sure sounds late night loaded to me.

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Listen:
Professor Longhair - In the Night mp3
at DJ Perro
Professor Longhair - Tipitina (live) mp3 (via Box.net)
at Carnival Saloon

Sunday, January 28, 2018

HEY LOOK OVER THERE! IT'S THE MAYTALS!

One spin of one side of Jackie Mittoo's Evening Time LP turned into a two day Maytals binge. Mitto is a great organist, a huge part of the sound of Studio One, but the album had a riddim that was the backing of a Maytals song, and that was exactly where the diversion went. Shit, once I put on the Maytals it was all over. Toots Hibberts has such a distinctive voice, all gravely and soulful and shit, that he could sing just about anything and make it sound good. Case in point: John Denver's "Country Roads". I don't like John Denver so the original has never done much for me, but Toots and the Maytals' version is do-able, no, it's actually better that you'd expect. It's no "Pressure Drop", but it beats most reggae these days (is there even any?) and it's a hell of a lot more enjoyable then the original.

Toots split from the Maytals, went solo, then reconstructed a new Maytals. He's done a few too many novelty things for my taste (an LP of duets will non-reggae artists, a Radiohead cover, etc.) but he has always had that voice and that's what really slays me.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Toots and the Maytals - Sweet and Dandy mp3 at ATumblr (?)
Toots and the Maytals - Freedom Train mp3
at Keep the Coffee Coming
Toots and the Maytals - Gold and Silver mp3
at The Fader
Toots and the Maytals - Monkey Man mp3
at SpacePack
Toots and the Maytals - Reggae Got Soul mp3
at ATumblr (?)
Toots and the Maytals - Six more songs
at Soul Garage

Thursday, January 25, 2018

THE HOTTEST BAND AT THAT ONE PARTY

Try to forget everything you know about Cheap Trick and then listen to the Steve Albini-produced 1997 re-recording of "Clock Strikes Ten". Yee haw, almost makes me sorry I ever doubted them.

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Listen:
Cheap Trick - Clock Strikes Ten mp3 at Xtrmntr
Cheap Trick - Hello There mp3 at Xtrmntrt

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

LONG LIVE THE SOURPUSS

Well shit. Mark E. Smith died today. I'm not enough of a Fall fiend to have kept up with his health issues of the last year or so. I'm not going to bullshit like I'm all that knowledgeable about the sixty some odd band members he's had in the 40 years the Fall has existed as a band ("even if it's me and your grand mother on bongos, it's still the Fall"). There's no way I'd be able to totally absorb 32 albums by anyone, let alone someone I've only been listening to ten years or so. Relatively speaking, I am a Fall newbie, but that's irrelevant. What I liked about him and still do, goner he may be, is his don't give a fuck attitude. Not that he didn't give a fuck. He just didn't give a fuck about anyone who debated whether he gave a fuck or not. That's the most important type of not giving a fuck that exists.


~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
The Fall - Mr. Pharmacist mp3
at Plain or Pan
The Fall - Funnel of Love mp3
at Randomville
Imaginary compilations (ten songs each):
An Imaginary Compilation: #137: The Fall (2)
at The Vinyl Villain
NOTE: Songs are hosted at Box.com, Hit the play button to stream, hit the blue button in the top right corner to download.
An Imaginary Compilation: #144: The Fall (3)
at The Vinyl Villain Ditto
An Imaginary Compilation: #147: The Fall (4)
at The Vinyl Villian Ditto
Video:
Mark E. Smith - Interview
at YouTube February 15, 2016
The Fall live at Glastonbury 2015 - Full Set
at YouTube
It's Not Repetition, Its Discipline - Documentary trailer
at YouTube 

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

I LIKE BIG HAIR AND I CANNOT LIE

Fuck, "Fujiyama Mama" turned into a rabbit hole. I heard Eileen Barton's version, sounding surprisingly rockabilly for something recorded in 1955. Not all that different from Wanda Jackson's cover from '57. That's the one that everybody seems to know and most assume is the original. It is not, but that's where things get going good. Released earlier in 1955, Annisten Allen's version is the original and it's full r&b. It's not often you get to hear an r&b version and a rockabilly (or at least hillbilly) version released no more than months apart.

The fourth version (if what I read online is accurate), was Pearl Harbour's 1980 version. (That's her, above,) It was produced by Mickey Gallagher, the pianist for Ian Dury, and the Clash's touring keyboard player. Pearl Harbor was, at the time, seeing Paul Simonon. Because of those two things, I'd always assumed that one or more of the Clash was on Don't Follow Me, I'm Lost Too, her LP that contained "Fujiyama Mama". After seeing them back her doing it live (video here) I realized that they can't play the song for shit.
 
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Listen:

Monday, January 22, 2018

HAMMOND LADY TO THE RESCUE

I went to a record store a couple days ago and there were several gambles made. One of the gambles was a Shirley Scott LP and it came at the right time because I also gambled on a Mongo Santamaria LP which was pretty lightweight. It lacked the oomph he's capable of. Shirley Scott saved the day.

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Listen:
Shirley Scott Trio - Keep the Faith Baby mp3 at Discos y Monstruos
Shirley Scott - Messie Bessie mp3 at Saxasaurus (?)

Sunday, January 21, 2018

RALPH STANLEY COVERS THE VELVETS

I've got no idea how this slipped past me. Wait, I do. I'm not enough of a Bowie fiend, or even Velvet Underground fiend, to know about every burp and fart they ever recorded. So the fact that an early cover of the Velvet Underground's "I'm Waiting For the Man" by a band called Riot Act, with Bowie on vocals, slipped past me shouldn't surprise me. What did surprise me is that the Riot Squad was covering it practically before it was released. In late 1966, Bowie's manager at the time returned from a trip to New York with an pre-release acetate of the first Velvet's album, given to him by Andy Warhol. The Riot Act started performing "I'm Waiting For the Man" right away. Bowie was only in the band for a couple months, so the recording was done soon thereafter. It didn't see release until 2013.


After hearing it, I started thinking about the whole Lou Reed/Bowie thing. That top photo above appeared in a magazine around 1972, and led to speculation that they were more than just friends. I don't remember being all that surprised by it, rather I found it funny because another photo in the sequence revealed that the third wheel obscured by their smooch is Mick Jagger. After all of the ostracizing dynamics of the Stones, it was nice to see him the odd man out.


Here's a smattering of versions of two Velvet Underground songs, "I'm Waiting For the Man" and "White Light, White Heat", another song that Bowie and Reed shared more than once. The real oddball down there is unrelated to Bowie or Reed (other than Reed's authorship). It's a cover of "White Light, White Heat" by bluegrass icon Ralph Stanley. The shit you find...

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Listen:

Friday, January 19, 2018

ROCK OVER INTERMISSION

Digging through old bookmarks I came across one for All I Want, a blog that posted trashy rock 'n' roll, later punk and garage stuff. They haven't posted since September 2016, but wait! The links for downloads are still good. So, yeah, I'm cherry pickin', lapping up stuff that I somehow missed back when I bookmarked the site. Two of the first few posts that I checked out were immediate click bait. One is an Oblivians EP that I somehow missed, and seeing as how the Oblivians song I posted a few days ago seems to be getting some spins, it's a "give the people what they want" sorta thing. If that's pandering or selling out, gripe all you want.

Impala

The other post is an Impala EP. Impala was an instrumental outfit, specializing in pre-surf r&b flavored instrumentals not unlike the assorted vintage shakers posted yesterday, This is especially true of the EP posted at All I Want. These are indeed of the shaker variety, and you'd be forgiven for pegging their vintage a couple of decades off. Which brings me to the movie part of of the show.

Mike McCarthy


The movies, The Sore Losers and Teenage Tupelo are by Mike McCarthy, who's forte is unashamed C-movies steeped in questionable acting and boss soundtracks. It was the latter movie that turned me on to Impala. The Sore Losers has good stuff in the soundtrack as well, a more varied set by Guitar Wolf, the Royal Pendletons, 68 Comeback and others in McCarthy's wheelhouse. All in all, you've got a few hours of trashy entertainment that's likely to make you late for whatever you're doing tonight. If that doesn't satiate you, try digging through McCarthy's site. It's a black hole, a cornucopia of low budget trash. The guy doesn't sit still. You'll see.

The EPs

Thursday, January 18, 2018

BARBASOL VS THE HIPSTERS

I just spent a good chunk of time listening to old school strip tease type instrumentals, usually referred to shakers or twirlers of some sort, and watching old stripper footage at YouTube. The clips are part of the Something Weird Video collection. When you get there, just bookmark it. It's more than just jiggle clips. It's all sorts of oddball B-movie trailers and exploitation of this and that.


The mix:
Hubba Hubba at Music For Maniacs 27 cuts, fast download
The clips:

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

OH HELL YEAH.

You try listening to this two times in a row and see how much you feel like doing a tidy well thought out blog post. Fuck mature. At this moment, this song is precisely what I needed to hear.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Oblivians - I'm Not a Sicko, There's a Plate in My Head mp3 at Internet Archive

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

THE SINGER NOT THE SONG

Above: Not Rik L. Rik. Some other Negative Trend singer.
Negative Trend was one of those second tier punk bands that I never actively sought out, and even though I'd seen them a couple times, and had a compilation with a couple of their songs, that was it. I knew that, on the songs on the comp, Rik L. Rik, ex-F-Word singer (another second tier band, bla-bla-bla) was singing. I knew they had a presence in San Francisco via either Slash or Search and Destroy (or both), and that Chris Desjardin put out the compilation. That's about all I knew of the band.

There was one song of theirs on that compilation that I really dug, and still do, "Mercenaries". The way Rik L. Rik sings it, that's what does it for me. He draws out words and, doesn't as much shout the words, or scream them. It's really more like yelling. Just yelling his fucking lungs out. I'm diggin' it.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~ 
Listen:
Negative Trend (Rik L. Rik: vocals)- Mercenaries (streaming) at YouTube From the Tooth and Nail compilation 1979
Negative Trend (Mikal Waters: vocals)- Mercenaries mp3 at Killed By Death From dedut EP 1978
Negative Trend (Waters era) - Three more at Killed By Death

Sunday, January 14, 2018

MEANWHILE AT THE ESTEBAN JORDAN FAN CLUB

In the last, I don't know, hour or so, I went from Roxy Music to Hot Club of Cowtown, with stops at Chic, Grace Jones, and the Sugarhill Gang. It all started with an old clip of Roxy Music doing "Love is the Drug". It's such an excellent song. That fucking bass line. The up stroke guitar playing, or whatever it's called, the reggae sorta thing. It's island glam funk, dad. Check the video. Not so sure about Bryan Ferry's swivel hips, but the eye patch and his get-up look like some '50s comic book character.


When I saw that there was no Eno, I realized I didn't know who the fuck that was playing piano. So, off to the page at Wikipedia, where I learned it was Eddie Jobson, but in the blurb about the song itself it says "In the DVD, More Than This: The Story of Roxy Music, Nile Rodgers of Chic states that the song was a big influence as the bass timing is almost identical to the one in Chic's song, 'Good Times'" Accurate or not, I was off to hear that, and from there to "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang, what with the sample and all that.

Just dipped my toe into looking for covers. There's just too many and most suck. Here's a few. Grace Jones's has Sly and Robbie. Yeah, no. Hot Club of Cowtown's version because it's an oddball for them. And the Hot Rat's live because there's something almost no wave about it.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~ 
Listen:
Roxy Music - Love is the Drug mp3 at Thee Mightee Kittens
Chic - Good Times mp3
at Sizzling Sound
Sugarhill Gang - Rapper's Delight mp3
at Leigion of Health (?)
Hot Club of Cowtown - Love is the Drug
(streaming) at YouTube
Video:
Grace Jones - Love is the Drug
at YouTube
Hot Rats - Love is the Drug (live)
at YouTube

Thursday, January 11, 2018

WAITNG. WONDERING. IMAGINING. THUD, INTERNET.

Try as they might, the background vocals can't ruin the Troggs "I Can't Control Myself". I can't let them. I have too much vested it the song. Forty years ago I read somewhere, likely Sniffin' Glue, that the Buzzcocks covered this Troggs song. I'd never heard of it. Remember this was early, Howard Devoto was still in the band. There was no Google, YouTube, fucking smart phones, email, internet or even home computers. Fuck, you'd be lucky to hear "Wild Thing". I carried that damn song title in my head for over three decades before I finally heard it. Now the song won't leave my head. Those backing vocals ain't taking this one.


Dig the video, "I Can Only Give You Everything" live with more than sufficient fuzz. In fact, the fuzz makes it. Thanks to Nitro-Retro for posting it.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
The Troggs - I Can't Control Myself mp3 at Bastien 641 (?)
The Troggs - Gonna Make You mp3
at ATumblr (?)
The Troggs - Night of the Long Knives
at Atumbr (?)

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

IN THE WHO'S WHO OF KICK ASS

Don and Dewey again. As if I have to give a reason. You know as well as I do that they are criminally under-recognized. If you don't know them, it proves my point. They're the package. Both possess gravel ridden pipes and both play multiple instruments (violin/guitar and keyboards/guitar respectively). They are to the Righteous Brothers what Little Richard was to Pat Boone. The wild and crazy OGs vs light weight blue eyed shit.

To try to stretch out, I went looking a little further for stuff than I have in the past. The first few down are the no-brainers. They should be considered absolutely essential if you ever hope to experience something beyond American Graffiti level oldies. The other stuff is lesser known. Man, though, for a duo that are as unknown as they are, they sure recorded a lot together. Check their discography. (Dig the entry from '64, Don and Dewey and Larry (Williams) and Johnny ("Guitar" Watson)! Holy fuckin' Wilburys, Batman!

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Don and Dewey - Justine mp3 at Diddy Wah
Don and Dewey - Bim Bam mp3
at Diddy Wah
Don and Dewey - Farmer John mp3
at Rock Town Hall
Don and Dewey - Jungle Hop
(streaming) at YouTube
Don and Dewey - Koko Joe
(streaming) at YouTube
Don and Dewey - Miss Sue
(streaming) at YouTube
Don and Dewey - Heartattack
(streaming) at YouTube
Don and Dewey - Soul Motion
(streaming) at YouTube

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

TULL ALMOST RUINED IT FOR HIM

I have a hate affair with the flute. It has always seemed like a wussy instrument best reserved for classical music. I think the first time I heard it in any sort of music that I'd be interested in was in my high school art class, when students could bring in records to play while the class painted. The surf chicks that were in that class were always playing two records, one being It's a Beautiful Day (blech) and the other The Turning Point by John Mayall. When I first heard "Room to Move" from the Mayall LP, I remember thinking, "What's that flute doing in there?". Then Tull happened. I hate Jethro Tull. They, Ian Anderson in particular, practically wiped flute from my life altogether. Don't ask. If you don't hate Jethro Tull already, you probably wouldn't understand.

Johnny Winter pretty much saved the flute from the abyss that is music I hate. Seriously, after Tull I didn't think it would ever be cool with me. But Johnny Winter's semi-comeback Still, Alive and Well had a song called "Too Much Seconal" with flute by Jeremy Steig. It fit the song well. Flute was back, or at least on double secret probation.

Oh but that Ron Burgundy, he kicked the flute door down. LAMF. After seeing Will Farrell's character Burgundy in the movie Anchorman, I realized that I was making too big of a deal out of it. It's really just a weird instrument, all skinny and frail n' shit. You can't really convincingly rock out with it. When you're not playing it, you look weird walking around with it. Even the cases look weird. I laughed. I gave Herbie Mann a shot. Some of his stuff sounds like some sort of a hipster jazz dude's version of yacht rock. But I'm sorta digging it and that scares the hell out of me.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
John Mayall - Room to Move (streaming) at YouTube John Almond - Flute
Johnny Winter - Too Much Seconal mp3
at ATumblr (?) Jeremy Steig - Flute
Herbie Mann - Harlem Nocturne mp3
at Beware of the Blog
Herbie Mann - Odalisque mp3
at Roy Ayers Project
Herbie Mann - Blues In the Closet mp3
at Groove Addict

Sunday, January 7, 2018

NO DEAD WEIGHT ON THIS ONE

This simple two minute rock 'n' roll record sent me into two days of hall closet excavating, digging through 45s just to play some shit I forgot I had. There are still a few that I've never listened to, just bought because I liked the name of the band or the song title. That's actually why I first listened to "Get Hot or Go Home'', the title. I came for the song title, and stayed for the crappy studio sound. I love the drums on this one, total cardboard. Taken as a whole, this is one fine example of an economic rocker. It's crazy though, it was recorded in 1965 but sounds much earlier.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
John Kerby - Get Hot or Go Home mp3 at Mp3 Rockabilly
Visit:
Norton Records has the 45 for ten bucks.

Thursday, January 4, 2018

HALL OF FAME

Rick Hall, the producer, owner and proprietor of FAME Studios died on Tuesday. Man. He pretty much invented the Muscle Shoals sound. And the Muscle Shoals sound put the shitty little city on the map. Hell, it probably wasn't shitty, that just seemed like it would sound good. Everyone from Aretha to Etta, Pickett to Conley, made their way there. Later some guys from FAME broke out and started their own studio, imaginatively named Muscle Shoals. Hall persevered. He was an unlikely giant in Southern soul. Here's some of his work.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Etta James - I'm Gonna to Take What He's Got mp3 at Groove Addict
Etta James - Tell Mama mp3
at Blog Rage
Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You) mp3
at Funky 16 Corners
Irma Thomas - Cheater Man mp3
at Groove Addict
Willie Hightower = You Used Me Baby mp3
at The B Side
Jimmy Hughes - Neighbor, Neighbor mp3
at The A Side
Arthur Conley - I Can't Stop (No, No, No) mp3
at The A Side
Clarence Carter - She Ain't Gonna Do Right mp3
at The B Side
The FAME Gang - Grits n' Gravy mp3 at The A Side Awesome instrumental

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

HERE WE GO AGAIN

Another day, another Studio One compilation from Soul Jazz, this one Black Man's Pride, The one sorry thing about getting a whole bunch of different compilations culled from one source, be it studio or record label, is that sooner or later there is going to be an overlapping of content. Thankfully the discography of Studio One is so vast that there's still some surprises on just about every compilation.

I'd never heard the Classics' "Got to Be Cool" before last night. After hearing it and then playing snippets of other songs from the comp at Soul Jazz I think I may have to bite. Kind of reluctantly. Soul Jazz releases are pricey, and a personal bugaboo is their shit CD/LP covers. Not all of them, not the one for this album, but most of them.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
The Classics - Got to Be Cool mp3
at For The Sake of the Song Go there to get it.
Black Man's Pride - Song samples from the LP (streaming) at Soul Jazz

Monday, January 1, 2018

BARDOT DEPOT

Fuck. Just a quick listen to a Brigitte Bardot song, that's all it was going to be. It was okay, one more can't hurt. An hour and a half later I'm reminding myself to limit casual clicks. When I can get all wrapped up for an hour and a half of Brigitte Bardot's music, I'm spending way too much time online.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Brigitte Bardot - Je Danse Donc Je Suis mp3 at Le Mellotron
Brigitte Bardot - Oh Qu'il est Villian mp3
at Surreptitious Music
Brigitte Bardot - La Madrague mp3
at Mots Locaux
Brigitte Bardot - Le Soleil mp3
at Internet Archive
Brigitte Bardot - Mot Te Joue mp3
at Bobo Parisienne
Video:
Les chansons de Brigitte Bardot - Musique
at YouTube 53 minutes of music clips