Saturday, February 29, 2020

POST PLANET ROCK RADIO

I was looking for some Afrika Bambaataa stuff and ran across this archive of True School Radio Shows with his name attached, as DJ or whatever, it's immaterial. These archived shows (from 2005-2012) are awesome on their own merit, for those times when you just want to roll for a couple hours and you don't really want to hear stuff that you already have. If you can shake your ass to it, all the better.

They're available streaming or as downloads. Each show is roughly four hours. When you get to the page for whatever show you select, look to the right column, click on "Download Options".

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Listen:
True School Radio Show,  2012-04-10 at Internet Archive Afrika Bambaataa, Dr. Shaka Zulu, Lord Yoda X, Cutman LG, DJ Hektek, Universal Zulu Nation
True School Radio Show - More episodes at Internet Archive

Friday, February 28, 2020

HELL YEAH, JUST LIKE UNCLE FREDDY

I'm not going any further. An hour and a half of Alton Ellis as a podcast with all sorts of factoids and biographical information, Studio One and Treasure Isle stuff. This is the first time I've encountered this site, but the host seems to know his shit from Shinola. There's quite a few podcasts and they're available streaming and as downloads. You'll get why I'm bowing out. Unless you don't like reggae, in which case you're wrong so you don't matter anyway. In rocksteady, Ellis was the man. And his song "Rocksteady", the song that gave post-ska Jamaican music its name, it still gives me goosebumps.

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Listen:
Alton Ellis - Rocksteady mp3 at SLPSP (?)
Alton Ellis Special, House of Reggae Pt. 192 - Podcast at Podmatic Streaming or download
More House of Reggae podcasts

Thursday, February 27, 2020

PRE-PRETENDER

The Pretenders never really did much for me. That said, I've never really given them a chance. Regardless, always kinda had a thing for Chrissie Hynde if only because she was around the London punk scene early on, before the Pretenders. So when I see a post that says "If you think the idea of Chrissie Hynde singing in French sounds sexy as hell, you’d be right.", and the song in question is "Wild Thing", recorded in 1978, oh shit, you know it's an instant click. 

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Listen:
Chrissie Hynde and Strangeways - Chose Sauvage (Wild Thing) (streaming) at YouTube
Chrissie Hynde and Strangeways - Chose Sauvage (Wild Thing) mp3
at Crying All the Way to the Chip Shop Go there to get it.
Chrissie Hynde - Demos circa 1978
at Teenage Dogs in Trouble FLAC format, three songs in a zip.

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

THE BAND FROZE, AWED BY JULIUS

There are two African musicians that I search for periodically and never seem to find anything that I haven't run into before. Ebo Taylor and Orlando Julius. Last night I was jazzed, I ran into two from Orlando Julius with The Heliocentrics, from a fairly recent LP (2014). It's good stuff. I gotta hand it to the Heliocentrics, they're good students. I've heard stuff they did with Mulatu Astatke and it was pretty damn good as well.

Tonight I ran into a Ebo Taylor cut that I hadn't heard and that kind of sealed the deal. So, here's a couple from Julius and three from Taylor (two have been posted before). Do check out the video below, Julius with the Heliocentrics live in 2013, a spry seventy year old blowin' face. You know who I'd really dig being? That woman dancing. Imagine not just being there but being in the middle of it and having the freedom to shake it, and do it barefoot. Shit. Fucking YouTube. Now the perfect fantasy day will have to be edited. Again.


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Listen:
Orlando Julius with The Heliocentrics - Love Thy Neighbor mp3 at Soul Donuts
Orlando Julius with The Heliocentrics - Jaiyede Afro mp3
at Soul Donuts
Ebo Taylor - Ayesama mp3
at Bama Love Soul
Ebo Taylor - Victory mp3
at Mixtape Riot
Ebo Taylor - Mizin mp3
at Mixtape Riot

Monday, February 24, 2020

CRUNCH TIME

Here we go, one last Mardi Gras themed post before Fat Tuesday. This one with a few songs from Aaron Neville, Art Neville, Allen Toussaint, Eddie Bo, Ernie K-Doe, and Professor  Longhair, and links to a series of posts at Time Goes By, an Australian site for senior citizens that has among its ranks a blogger by the name of Peter Tibbles, who has wide ranging taste. Taste that doesn't always mirror mine but he's turned me on to enough good music to earn an enthusiastic tip of the hat. Oh, and then there's an hour of Ernie K-Doe on the airwaves, during his stint as a DJ on WWOZ in New Orleans.

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Listen:
Aaron Neville - Humdinger mp3 at DJ Perro
Art Neville - Arabian Love Call mp3
at Office Naps
Al Tousan (Allen Toussaint) - Cow Cow Blues mp3
at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Ernie K-Doe - Wanted, $10.000 Reward mp3
at J Yuenger
Ernie K-Doe - Popeye Joe mp3
at Probe Is Turning-On the People
Eddie Bo - Roamin-itis mp3 at Groove Addict
Professor Longhair - Mardi Gras in New Orleans mp3
at Groove Addict
Professor Longhair - Tipitina mp3
at Groove Addict
New Orleans Music at Time Goes By
Part 1:
King Oliver, Sidney Bechet, Roy Brown, Lee Dorsey, Joe Jones, Bobby Charles, Dave Bartholomew, Jessie Hill, Coco Bobicheaux
Part 2:
Louis Armstrong, Professor Longhair, Lloyd Price, Eddie Bo, the Neville Brothers, Benny Spellman, the Dixie Cups, Smiley Lewis
Part 3:
Kid Ory, Johnny Dodds, Alvin Robinson, Fats Domino, Johnny Adams, Ernie K-Doe, Lonnie Johnson, Chris Kenner, The Meters, Dr, John
Part 4:
Jelly Roll Morton, Champion Jack Dupree, James Booker, Aaron Neville, Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas, Clarence "Frogman" Henry, Larry Williams, Shirley and Lee. Wynton Marsalis
Radio show:
Ernie K-Doe on WWOZ
at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban

Saturday, February 22, 2020

PARTY HARD. THEY'RE CHEAP PLASTIC BEADS.

Yikes! I forgot that Fat Tuesday, the big Mardi Gras blowout, is this coming week. That means all of the amateurs who prefer not to blow chunks at the office will be holding their Mardi Gras wing dings this weekend. And it's already Saturday night, so it's a might late for for posting this stuff. Sorry office zombies, save 'em for Tuesday and then just call in on Wednesday. 

Here's a handful of songs, but the real party fuel are the two mixes at Funky 16 Corners. Two hour long mixes in mp3s so you don't have to fuck around too much to download them. There will be more, but I wanted to get these posted for any Mardi Gras type shenanigans that might be happening tonight.

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Listen:
Joe Jones - You Talk Too Much mp3
at Time Goes By
Professor Longhair - Mardi Gras in New Orleans mp3
at Groove Addict
Ernie K-Doe - Popeye Joe mp3
at Probe Is Turning-On the People
Lee Dorsey - Workin' In a Coal Mine mp3
at Tumblr
Al Tousan (Allen Toussaint) - Moo Moo mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
The Mixes:
Funky16Corners Mardi Gras! at Funky 16 Corners Two fine mixes, Mardi Gras Boogaloo and Keep the Fire Burning. One click and mix the drinks.

Friday, February 21, 2020

DESTROY THE RIGHT WING. SOUNDS GOOD.

I picked a post from nine years ago at random and played the first song that still had a working link. It was Le Tigre's cover of the Pointer Sisters' "I'm So Excited". I happen to dig it. By the time I had heard their cover my original fondness for the song had long gone cold. It had an association with a corny movie, a movie that nonetheless had planted a seed in me that led to a solo trek in Europe a year or so later. After the trip and more than one re-viewing of the film, I decided that it was total crap. But the song remained likeable when I was able to listen to it without envisioning the accompanying scene from the film. So, Le Tigre's version came at an opportune time.

I went on to the second still-good link on the same old post, Le Tigre's "Get Off the Internet", which I'm taking as a damn good suggestion. Later.

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Listen:
Le Tigre - I'm So Excited mp3 at Kenny44200
Le Tigre - Get Off the Internet mp3
at Fimoculous

Thursday, February 20, 2020

PER U ROY, WAR IS VERY UGLY.

Hugh Roy? Man, ol' U Roy sure paid the price for having an oddball name. If the mislabeled records crediting him as Hugh Roy weren't enough, the original pressings of his Version Galore LP were credited to I Roy, a completely different DJ who probably had his own brand recognition problems.

Here we are, regardless of of the mislabeling. This one is for the reggae fiends that have gone past Marley, past Island Records, past all of the spit shined international publicity pushed artists. The fiends that dig the stuff that stayed in Jamaica. U Roy toasting over the Heptones, recorded at Joe Gibbs. It doesn't get more Jamaican than that. There might be only four of you going "hell yeah!". I don't care if it's three of you, tonight it's all about you. Well, two songs anyway.

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Listen:
U Roy and the Heptones - Make Love Not War mp3 at Bob Marley Discography
U Roy and the Heptones - Make Love Not War Version mp3
at Bob Marley Discography

Wednesday, February 19, 2020

YIKES! WHAT'S THIS WOOD THING ON ME?

I've posted Benny Joy stuff several times, I know. Humor me. One more time, because I was listening to him yesterday and hit me why he wasn't better known back in the day. Total palm-to-forehead doh! moment. Look at that photo above. That's not a live shot. That's not a candid shot. That is a posed photo, chosen as a promotional photo. Dude looks like a walking time bomb. Either that or he's worried that the guitar is diseased. The collegiate outfit just amplifies it. Oh, man, what coulda been.

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Listen:
Benny Joy - Miss Bobby Sox mp3 at Rockabilly Hall
Benny Joy - Crash the Party mp3
at Rocky 52
Benny Joy - Little Bittie Everything mp3
at Rocky 52

More Benny Joy here and here

Monday, February 17, 2020

THE OTHER QUEEN

The other night I ran into an X-Ray Spex song on a post somewhere and I got to thinking. Poly Styrene was a special breed, wasn't she? If you know X-Ray Spex, you know what I'm taking about. A great punk band, with her as singer, and a sax to boot. What really made her stand apart was that she really didn't seem to be beholden to punk rock. More than anything, she seemed emboldened by the whole DIY anything-goes thing. And she wrote good songs, really good songs. 

It got me thinking, actually worrying, that she might slowly be forgotten. I hadn't searched for anything regarding X-Ray Spex or Poly Styrene in a while so I did. I shouldn't have worried. There's a fuckload of stuff online now, and a semi-new biography and a documentary in the works. Good. Let it spread.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
X Ray Spex - Oh Bondage, Up Yours mp3 at Quit Mumbling
X Ray Spex - I'm A Poseur mp3
at BZH Rock
X Ray Spex - I Live Off You mp3
at BZH Rock
X Ray Spex - Identity mp3
at Tumblr
X Ray Spex - I'm A Cliché mp3
at Killed By Death
X Ray Spex - Art-I-ficial mp3
at Tumblr
X Ray Spex - I'm Obsessed With You mp3
at BZH Rock
Visit:
Dayglo! The Poly Styrene Story - Article about the book at The Vinyl Factory
X-Ray Spex - Germ Free Adolescence
- Long LP review at Pitchfork

Saturday, February 15, 2020

MY DOG ATE MY HOMEWORK

How in the hell could I not have posted someone as badass as Joe Bataan? I can't do him justice right now, I've got too much shit to do tonight. So if you dig these just go hunting. You are officially spared the blah blah blah.

None of the songs are from the LP above, I just dig the cover. The songs below are what I was able to find, a couple tight jams and a couple more Latin soul. They're all good though and it'll give you an idea of how versatile he was.

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Listen:
Joe Bataan - Latin Strut mp3 at Gazfunk
Joe Bataan - Subway Joe mp3
at Tumblr
Joe Bataan - Call My Name mp3
at Essentially Eclectic
Joe Bataan - If I Were a King mp3
at Leave You Wanting Less

Friday, February 14, 2020

LAST MINUTE KISSY KISSY POO POO

Oh holy hell, I completely jelled. I forgot today was Valentines Day. It's not like I'm going to be in the dog house. I am currently squeezeless, so there's no one to yell at me. But there was talk all day about Valentines Day, so I was reminded that I forgot to post some kissy-kissy stuff. Then, when I got home a couple hours ago, I found my screen door with heart shaped stickers on it, and a small bouquet of sour grass. I looked around at the other doors in the complex and my door was the only one decorated like that. Someone did something to brighten my day today and I don't know who it was. The gesture was so sweet, and it really did make me feel, I don't know, liked? Liked enough for someone to have done that. Shit like that rarely happens to me and I'm not going to ruin it by trying to figure it out. Because of the sour grass angle a guess would be someone on a budget. Or someone that knows that fancy and me don't mix. Or one of the kids in the neighborhood grabbing the closest thing they could find that represented flowers. I don't know, but it worked. I had a momentary warm and fuzzy moment.

Then it hit me. It's Friday. Tomorrow's Saturday. There might be some people still celebrating Valentines Day tomorrow, so I might not too late. Cue Reverend Tom Frost, mix meister of South of Hell, France. Here's three mixes that he posted in 2008-2012 that are still lurking on Mixcloud. Each are good for about an hour of uninterrupted face sucking.

That photo at the top is from a wedding I went to a few months ago. The person who took  it, a sister of one of the subjects,  said that it was a spur of the moment shot and she didn't realize that her phone was set on black and white. But I love the photo, there's nothing in it that would peg it as being recently taken and it's about as candid as it gets. Nice wheels too. On to the mixes...

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Listen:
Spread the Good Word's A Bloody Love Mix, Volume 3
John Buck & The Blazers, Bobby Freeman, Dorsey Burnette, Donnie & Ronnie, the Del-Vikings, Don Johnston, Marvin Rainwater, Piano Red, B.B. King, Ann Cole, the Valentinos, Soul Brothers Six, the Duetts, the Highway Q.C.'s, Del Shannon, Tom Reeves, Jimmy Kirkland, Lord Creator, Johnny Burnette, Sanford Clark, Eddie Cochran, the Four Dreamers, and the Animals

Spread the Good Word's A Bloody Love Mix, Volume 2

The Cramps, the World Famous Upsetters, Ronnie Love, Lavern Baker, Mickie Most & His Playboys, the Mustangs, the Righteous Brothers, Johnny Cash, the Wild Ones, Etta James, Benny Joy, Elvis Presley, Roy Hamilton, Bracey Everett, Shouting Thomas Torment, Billy Fury, Little Willie John, Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs, Otis Redding, Jackie Wilson, Renato Carosone, Irving Aaronson & His Commanders, Ric Cartey, and the ever amorous Wild Man Fischer.

Spread the Good Word's A Bloody Love Mix, Volume 1

Joe Houston Orchestra, The Phantom, The Victors, Sonny Terry & Buster Brown, Heavy Trash, Kris Jensen, Sammy Myers, The Royal Jokers, Fire Escape, The Del-Rios, The Raelets, Wanda Jackson, Eddie Taylor, Johnny Angel, Ole Miss Down Beats, Ronnie Hawkins And The Hawks, Bernie Hardison, Ric Cartey, Johnny Watson, The Blues Busters, Slim Whitman.
 

Thursday, February 13, 2020

THE AGGROVATORS ON A TRUCK

The Aggrovators got me tonight. A studio band at Bunny Lee's, King Tubby's mix meat and a rotating line up chocked full of reggae A-listers. To wit: Tony Chin, Ansel Collins, Carlton "Santa" Davis, Bobby Ellis, Vin Gordon, Tommy McCook, Robbie Shakespeare, Earl "Chinna" Smith, George "Fully" Fullwood, Sly Dunbar, Carlton Barrett, Aston "Family Man" Barrett and Winston Wright. It you don't recognize those names just imagine a reggae version of Booker T and the MGs with the Mar-Keys being dubbed to death.

I happened by a post at For The Sake of the Song with a couple vintage Aggrovators cuts, then went to YouTube and got totally fucking devoured by a mess of their stuff. Not fighting it. Like a title of one of their compilations says, let dub change your mind. It kind of did. I went from lazy to lazier.

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Listen:
The Aggrovators - Skilful Dub mp3 at For the Sake of the Song
The Aggrovators - Babylon Dub mp3
at For the Sake of the Song Go there to get it
The Aggrovators - At King Tubby's Studio
(streaming) at YouTube Full LP

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

BECK'S MOM AND SOME LOSER

Did you know Jack Kerouac's daughter cut a record as a member of a girl group? I did not. I didn't know he had a daughter. And I didn't know that Bibbe Hansen, Al Hansen's daughter and Beck's mother, was also in the group as well, and I didn't know that as a young teen Hansen was in Warhol's orbit actually appearing in one of his screen tests and in a film, Prison, with Edie Sedgwick. That's a lot of I don't knows. She (Hansen) was a New York kid that spent her early teens hanging out on the street with other kids, Janet Kerouac among them. The whole story of how the record came about can be found at an old post at Lost In the Groove. A thing about how Hansen ended up in Warhol's orbit at the age of thirteen can be found at her own site. The actual record isn't all that special. The thing that gets me, and it really shouldn't, is that despite the fact that Warhol and Jack Kerouac were alive at the same time and likely knew the same people and possibly each other, it never occurred to me until tonight that they might even exist in the same universe. I guess I just never thought about them interacting. Who cares?

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
The Whippets - I Want To Talk With You mp3
at Probe Is Turning-On the People
The Whippets - Go Go Go With Ringo
(streaming) at YouTube
Visit:
The Secret History of the Whippets, a NYC girl group
at Lost In the Grooves
Andy's Baby - Bibbe Hansen profile

Monday, February 10, 2020

OVERGROOMING IS A THING

I watched part of the Oscars last night and in the background bumper music they played part of the theme from The Magnificent Seven. Hadn't heard it in a while so it I went and listened to it. I came away with the decision to not be so hard on ol' Hugo Montenegro. In the past, if I haven't done it here, I know I've done it in offline conversations, slagging Montenegro for his Morricone-lite interpretations of spaghetti western themes. That was because I was comparing him to Morricone, who was inventive in his use of instruments, including the non-verbal human voice, what with the grunts and the ho huh, ho-huh! and the whistling. I half-joked that Montenegro was a sell out, a figurative new-waver in the wake of a true soundtrack punker. But then I heard the original version of The Magnificent Seven theme by Elmer Berstein. A great soundtrack tune, without a doubt, but Montenegro's version has more punch. That's what made me re-access his versions of Morricone's material. In revisiting them it seems that he disposed of the weirder elements to make them, I don't know, radio friendly? That must have been it because Montenegro had a hit with his version of "The Good The Bad and The Ugly", hitting #3 on the Billboard charts in 1968. I don't think Morricone ever came close enough to sniff the charts.


That's the LP up there. That sucker was in every thrift store in town back in the seventies and eighties. Shit, for what was usually less than a buck it was like an Ennio Morricone compilation, except it wasn't Morricone's versions. That didn't stop half the people I knew from having it in their collection. I didn't even know who Ennio Morricone was until years later, but I'd seen the films and I knew some of the songs. So, I guess this Montenegro guy was onto something.

The video below is unrelated to Montenegro, It is The Danish National Symphony Orchestra performing Morricone's "For A Few Dollars More" and it is totally faithful to the original, complete with the odd instrumentation and background vocals. If you know the original well, turn this one up and go full screen. That good.



~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Elmer Berstein - Theme from The Magnificent Seven mp3 at East-Cross
Hugo Montenegro - Theme from The Magnificent Seven
(streaming) at YouTube
Ennio Morricone - The Good, The Bad and the Ugly mp3
at Adhocc (?)
Hugo Montenegro - The Good, The Bad and the Ugly mp3
at The Basement Rug
Ennio Morricone - A Fistful of Dollars mp3 at Gyerekek Kedvencei (?)
Hugo Montenegro - A Fistful of Dollars mp3
at The Basement Rug

Ennio Morricone - For A Few Dollars More mp3 at Blondin
Hugo Montenegro - For A Few Dollars More
(streaming) at YouTube
Bonus:
Dominic Frontiere - Hang 'em High
(streaming) at YouTube Another Montenegro victim
Hugo Montenegro - Hang 'em High mp3
at The Basement Rug
Al Caiola - Theme from The Magnificent Seven mp3
at Tumblr

Saturday, February 8, 2020

VERSION MEAT FROM MEMPHIS

Big Youth's "Weeping in the Night" started it. I just had to go and see if his toasting was over Lee Perry's version of the riddim from "Jungle Lion", which is itself based on Al Green's "Love and Happiness". After digging around looking for details online, I couldn't even find what studio it was recorded at or who played on it. I did find out that Big Youth produced it, which tells me Perry wasn't likely involved. It was released in 1973, as was his (Big Youth's) cover of "Love and Happiness", also self-produced. Perry's "Jungle Lion was, I think, also released in 1973, as was Al Green's original version of "Love and Happiness". 



Just when you think it can't get more crowded, make room for Leroy Smart's version, which also came out in 1973, and it was produced by Big Youth and released on his label. That's four reggae versions (of one kind or another) released the same year as Al Green's original. I couldn't find any dates other than the year, so I'm not sure of the order. My guess is that Perry's "Jungle Lion" was the earliest of the reggae versions, just because I can't imagine him doing it after Big Youth. And Youth's cover was probably after that, and then either Smart's cover, or Youth's toasting version and then Smart's cover. Or I could have the order all wrong. See, this is where the shit gets crazy, because if you know reggae, there are versions upon versions utilizing the same riddim, and a single riddim was sometimes used over and over for decades. If there were four "Love and Happiness" based records in one year (and there were probably others), how many came after those four? Look into it, would you?

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Al Green - Love and Happiness mp3 at Keaner (?)
Lee Perry - Jungle Lion mp3 at Stop Smiling
Big Youth - Love and Happiness  (streaming) at YouTube
Big Youth - Weeping in the Night  (streaming) at YouTube
Leroy Smart - Love and Happiness (streaming) at YouTube

Thursday, February 6, 2020

OBSCURE ETHIO JAZZ MIX OF THE WEEK

Ethio jazz in not a music I know much about. I know Hailu Mergia and I know Mulatu Astatke, a little. That's probably the equivalent of knowing only Elvis and Chuck Berry as rock 'n' roll. If I was in Ethiopia and all that I heard of rock 'n' roll was Elvis and Chuck Berry, do you know what I'd do to learn more about it? Listen to more of it. So here we go, a mix of Ethio jazz. It's great, some down-tempo mourning sort of stuff, and some good ol' fashioned Ethiopian whacked out shit. It'll keep you guessing while feeding you two hours of music you ain't never heard before.

That photo up there, that's Asnakech Worku who is not on this mix. I just dig the image. She is Ethiopian, and recorded with Hailu Mergia who is on the mix, so there's at least that connection. The mix is below. An mp4 download or streaming online. Blast it on Friday in your cubicle. Start your weekend way the fuck away from here.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
In Ethio Mood Again - Mix by Nicky mp4 (via Mediafire) at My Passion For Ethiopian Music
In Ethio Mood Again - Mix by Nicky
(streaming) at Mixcloud Song list here

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

EVEN EARL PALMER FARTS

There have been a number of drum related posts here, I know. You know who you can thank for that? My friend PJ. A drummer going back to the seventies. I'm sure that a lot of rock and blues drummers respect drummers of other disciplines. Drummers dig drummers. But PJ seems like a student whenever he starts talking about drummers. I saw it first years ago. In the front of my recent plays was vintage Gene Krupa LP that I'd rescued from the ninety nine cent bin. Dude was practically drooling. I gave him the record because it meant a whole lot more to him than it did to me. He is a drummer who is massively appreciative of any skin beating deity. He is also the guy who turned me on to The Ultimate Elvin Jones.

Last week PJ stopped by with his squeeze and I was finally able to give him something I'd been holding onto for a while. An Earl Palmer LP, autographed on the cover by the man himself. The record was beat up, and it was just semi-throwaway instrumentals, likely joined by his Wrecking Crew cohorts. But, hey, it was Earl Palmer's autograph, he actually held the album cover. So when I was giving it to PJ, I was handling an album cover that touched the hands that held the drum sticks that played on a bunch of Little Richards early cuts.

Palmer started out in New Orleans, playing on records by Little Richard, Fats Domino, Professor Longhair, Lloyd Price, and Smiley Lewis. That's enough right there. He then moved to Hollywood in 1957 and snuggled in with the Wrecking Crew, playing on sessions for Frank Sinatra, Phil Spector, Ricky Nelson, Bobby Vee, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Eddie Cochran, Ritchie Valens, Bobby Day, Don and Dewey, Jan and Dean, the Beach Boys, Larry Williams, Gene McDaniels, Bobby Darin, and Neil Young, and with jazz artists David Axelrod, Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Bostic, and Count Basie. The guy was the shit, some of his work in New Orleans, particularly with Little Richard, is like a rock 'n' roll template for drummers.



A couple days after PJ's visit, I came across a period Moog related LP, circa '69, with the corniest synth cover versions you can possibly imagine. Okay, this would be bookmarked for a slow night. That's what I thought. Then I scrolled down to the credits. Drums: Earl Palmer. Yikes! Double yikes!! Then I remembered, put things in perspective. The dude was a session drummer. You show up, you're handed the sheets, you play your part, you get your check. But this Moog gig of Palmer's is just plain embarrassing for a drummer of his caliber.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Little Richard - Tutti Frutti mp3 at Drummer World
Little Richard - Lucille mp3
at Drummer World
Ike and Tina Turner - River Deep, Mountain High mp3
at Drummer World
Yikes session:

Plastic Cow - Sunshine of Your Love mp3
at Internet Archive
Plastic Cow - Born To Be Wild mp3
at Internet Archive
Visit:
Earl Palmer profile
at Drummer World More music, bio and videos
The Plastic Cow Goes Mooooog
at Internet Archive

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

WHO IS YOUR STYLIST? "INDICA."

I had some video playing in the background and when it ended it flipped over to a live video of Rose Hill Drive. Yowz. The sixteen year old me was getting pumped. I had to have heard of these guys at some point, but I can't remember, Maybe I'm thinking of the Datsuns. Regardless, the sound of the video threw me back to the pre-punk days when bands like Rose Hill Drive were all over the place. In my neck of the woods bands like them would play in some big ol' party and you'd hear it a half mile away. Barefoot or shoes? Let's go.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Rose Hill Drive - Trans-Am mp3
at Austin Town Hall
Video:
Rose Hill Drive - Live set at the Mercury Lounge, NYC
at Baeblelmusic 2006

Saturday, February 1, 2020

THIS GUY RIPPED

You may have heard, Andy Gill passed away today. He was a founding member and guitarist for Gang of Four. You might have to be old enough to have been through the late seventies punk rock era to really appreciate how groundbreaking the Gang of Four were. When their first LP was released, punk rock had had its moment, but was definitely still around. Black Flag's first LP was still a year away. But Gang of Four forged their own path. Grating guitar, heavy drums, deep bass; jerky, funky and abrasive. "Every part of it had to be radical. It was building musical tension in a precise way," is how Gill put it (NY Times, 2005). When I think of post-punk, I think of musicians who retained the mentality that punk rock instilled, but moved on musically. Listen to the first few songs below and imagine hearing them in 1979. What the hell do you compare that too? Nada. Bam! New genre.


~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Gang of Four - Ether mp3 at Tumblr 1979
Gang of Four - Natural's Not In It mp3
at Tumblr 1979
Gang of Four - Not Great Men mp3
at AVC 1979
Gang of Four - Damage Goods mp3
at Boebis 1979
Gang of Four - Return the Gift mp3
at Tumblr 1979
Gang of Four - Guns Before Butter mp3
at Tumblr 1979
Gang of Four - He'd Send the Army mp3
at Tumblr 1981
Gang of Four - Is This Love mp3
at Internet Archive 1983