RESOLUTION #1: SHAKE RUMP MORE

I can't think of any better way to end a year and start a new one. Fuck, I don't have to do anything tonight. I'll just do what I advise you to do. Cue up some J.B.'s, turn it up and let it all hang out. Happy New Year and all that jazz. 2021 was kind of a shit year. Here's to a better '22. A reminder: rump shaking is technically exercise.

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Listen:
The J.B.'s - Pass the Peas mp3 at Internet Archive
The J.B.'s - Givin' Up Food for Funk mp3 at Smiles Davis
The J.B.'s - Hot Pants Road mp3 at Internet Archive
The J.B.'s - Gimme Some More mp3 at Internet Archive
The J.B.'s - The Grunt mp3 at Internet Archive

NORMAN WHITFIELD OWES ME THREE HOURS

I kind of knew this would happen. After mentioning the psychedelic soul-era Temptations yesterday, I figured it was time to give them some spins again. First the few below from old posts, then a couple hours in the living room in front of the stereo, digging my own rabbit hole. And then while prepping this post, an unrelated post from a couple years ago about Blaxploitation soundtracks popped up in the Boss Ten (left column on a desktop). Here we go. Shit never ends.

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Listen:
The Temptations - Can't Get Next to You mp3 at Box.net (?)
The Temptations - Cloud Nine mp3 at Box.net (?)
The Temptations - Ball of Confusion mp3 at Snuthing Anything
The Temptations - Psychedelic Shack mp3 at AM Then FM With spoken intro
The Temptations - Papa Was a Rolling Stone (7 minute version) mp3 at Lots of Fish

RICK FUCKIN DALTON VS REAL DON STEELE

If you've seen Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, you've heard Los Angeles Boss Radio. The AM radio station KHJ is all over the soundtrack. The movie takes place in 1969, the last gasp of the Boss Radio format, just before FM radio took all of the young listeners. But, and this is a justified but, there is something to be said for AM radio back then, even the top 40 stations. They played all sorts of music. You could hear soul back to back with rock 'n' roll. Over airwaves, without a subscription, without a tether and without being monitored. I still listen to a transistor radio sometimes at the beach. Alas, no Boss Radio. 

Here's a few hours of KHJ, from 1968 and 1970. The sound on them is real good, the music anyway. Because two of them are labeled "restored" I'm guessing some of the music was redubbed with the actual records. Regardless, these are great. Steppenwolf back to back with psychedelic soul-era Temptations? I'm biting.

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Listen:
The Real Don Steele - KHJ, July 4, 1968 (Part 1) mp3 at Internet Archive 1:17:33
The Real Don Steele - KHJ, July 4, 1968 (Part 2) mp3 at Internet Archive 58:40
Shadow Stevens - KHJ, Oct 18, 1970 mp3 at Internet Archive 1:38:52
Visit:
KHJ, L.A.’s Coolest AM Radio Station, Is Basically a Background Actor in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” at LA Mag

LAST CALL FAT MAN!

It might be kind of late for "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" but it's still Christmas for a few hours so if Santa hasn't shown up, take it from gravel- voiced Bahamian singer Joseph Spence, he is coming to town. Granted, if you're in Australia or somewhere in the Far East, he's coming next year. For good measure, there's another version below from India by Jayram Acharya. That one is soaked in sitar, with all sorts of oddball percussion. It should have you WTFing well into the new year

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Listen:
Joseph Spence - Santa Claus is Coming to Town mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Jayran Acharya - Santa Clause Is Coming to Town mp3 at Radiodiffusion International
More Joseph Spence (streaming) at YouTube
Visit:
Joseph Spence at Wikipedia

SHOW ME JOLLY BILL

There's three types. One type would view the animated short of William Burroughs's The Junky's Christmas and be repelled. It's a drag, a downer. Another type is one who eats up anything and everything Burroughs. They've been around for years. Then there are others that might have gone through a Burroughs phase, or at least are aware of him. They don't give a shit one way or another. Regardless, here it is. Francis Ford Coppola was involved, executive producer if I remember correctly.

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Watch:
William S. Burroughs - The Junky's Christmas at YouTube Animated short 21.:27

PARTY CHECKLIIST: PUKE PROOF THE CHAIR

There's some animals outside my kitchen in a scrap. Either possum or raccoons, I can't really listen to music when Death Match '21 is going on. It doesn't happen often, I don't want to intervene and upset the balance of nature, Especially after it's provided me with what may be my lamest excuse yet. Slackfest 2021 is so on.

Here's a link to three mixes on a post from 2014 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban. I've likely posed them before but I couldn't find them so...  The Ichiban crew, most from the orbit of WFMU, all have good taste. These are a mix of soul, country and western, instrumental,, garage, surf, corny vocals...all sorts of shit. Three mixes in mp3 format, each a little over an hour long, They're great, tons of oddballs.

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Listen:
Merry Twistmas From Ichiban at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban Three mixes (mp3s), total of 81 songs

IT'S GO POWER AT SLACKFEST TIME

Being someone without kids or immediate family under the same roof, the holiday season is something much more than gift giving, more than eggnog and Christmas caroling. It's more than a religious holiday and time off from work. It is the wonderful season of Slackfest. Hark, it's much easier to repost the Herald Angels. Soul Brother #1 falls under that category.

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Listen:
James Brown - Funky Christmas mp3 at SB Dave
James Brown - Go Power At Christmas Time mp3 at The Sound of Indie
James Brown - Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto mp3 at New Times
James Brown - Let's Unite the World at Christmas mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
James Brown - Let's Make Christmas Mean Something This Year mp3 at Big Hair and Plastic Grass

UH, KICK OUT THE JAMS?

I want to hate it. A song that goes nowhere sung by one of the least stylish front men of all time. Even by Slade standards it's bland. What is it with these guys? It's like they didn't get the memo, they were too busy making up ways to misspell song titles, Like I said, I want to hate it, the song and Slade themselves. But I don't, I love it because it is one of the reasons I've loved Slade for so many years. It reminds me, hey, it's just fucking Slade. Relax, it's not life or death. You don't have to take a stand one way or another. This video clawed at the old sour puss and made him smile.

C90 CHEER FROM THIS JOLLY FUCKER

I can't let the holidays go by without Lux Interior's Christmas mix tapes making an appearance. I guess it says something that he thought that much of the holidays, and friend Kristian Hoffman (who he made the tapes for), that he'd go though the hassle. Come to think of it, making mix tapes didn't seem like a chore back then. That's because you actually listened to the song, at the very least intently enough to anticipate the end so you could hit pause. Clicking away without listening is just not the same. Then again, back then time seemed more abundant. You weren't pulled away by "important" distractions like gaming, a thousand TV channels, streaming services, and a combination phone, camera, tracking device, shopping cart and vanity generator in your pocket.

Aw hell, this was supposed to be about Lux Interior's most excellent taste in music. Here's the cover of one so you get an idea of what you're in for.

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Listen:
Jeezus Fuck, It's Christmas!!! - A Lux Interior Christmas Tape at Boss Radio 66 37 cuts in two zips.
Christmas Beauty and Soul - A Lux Interior Christmas Tape at Boss Radio 66 26 mp3s in one zip.

CANDY CANE HATERS CLUB

It's that time. As I do just about every year, I have to endorse the Sonics' take on Christmas. They don't believe in it. Cited reasons: "didn't get nothing last year" "fat man didn't show" and the worst, "mistletoe doesn't work". They clocked out on the whole thing decades before covid made a mess of things. That would have merited an extended version.

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Listen:
The Sonics - Don't Believe In Christmas mp3 at Clayton Counts
The Sonics - Santa Claus (streaming) at YouTube

THE COOL CLIP FROM THE WEIRD MOVIE

A while back when I posted Graham Bond Organization's "Wade In the Water", my brother hepped me to a clip from a film called Gonks Go Beat. I keep going back to it because it's kind of bizarre, it's got so much going on. The film is a musical so there's dancers and assorted peripheral folks freaking out. Visually it's chaotic from both the editing and the camera angles. All the movements by the band are exaggerated. There's Graham Bond, organ and vocals, hamming it up, with an OG version of the look Jerry Dammers had back in the day. Jack Bruce on bass and harp, and some rather embarrassing moves. The coolest, Ginger Baker is shown briefly a few times. I love the way he's all hunched over. The clip as a whole is corny as hell but the song is so good and the style so cool that you get sucked in. Check the home made trailer that someone made advertising a showing of the film. It shows another clip with seven drummers playing the same solo (one of them, Baker). At YouTube one comment says of the film, "'The worst British film ever made', 'the Plan 9 From Outer Space of musicals' and 'So bad it's actually watchable'...None of these descriptions do justice to the sheer awfulness of this film." Maybe not, but all of those descriptions make me really want to see it.

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Video:
Graham Bond Organization - Harmonica at YouTube
Gonks Go Beat - Trailer (unofficial) at YouTube
Visit:
Gonks Go Beat - Entry at Wikipedia

MONKEE AS FREE AGENT

You might have heard Michael Nesmith died today. And you've probably heard enough Monkees to last a lifetime. Here's some non-Monkees stuff. A pre-Monkees instrumental (as Michael Blessing) that sounds like Davie Allan and Link Wray. Yeah baby. Then, the post-Monkees stuff. His top 40 hit from 1970, "Joanne" and an overview of his work from 1970-1975 at Aquarium Drunkard. In hindsight, he was kind of my favorite. That knit cap with the pom pom was stupid, but guess what? I had one.

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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 (streaming) at YouTube
The mix:
The Grand Ennui: Michael Nesmith 1970-1975 at Aquarium Drunkard 21 songs

'TIS THE SEASON FOR SLACKFEST

It's been three years since these have been posted (I think) so I'm taking slack whether it's granted or not. "Cut me some slack"? What's that all about anyway? I don't want some, I want all slack. I'm exaggerating of course. I will take partial slack for not saying anything about the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion Christmas record.

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Listen:
Jon Spencer - Big Yule Log Boogie mp3 at I Am Fuel You Are Friends
Jon Spencer - My Christmas Wish mp3 at I Am Fuel You Are Friends

AND THEN THE SECOND LEFT AFTER THE LIGHT

With music blogs going belly up left and right, take a tip from me: If you find a blog you like, dig through some of their older posts. Many will have a bunch of old posts that you can check out and many of those will still have links to mp3s, mixes and what-not. That goes for this blog too. There are 3615 posts here going back to 2007. Don't get too focused on just the latest posts.

I had to point that out because I was digging through old posts at Probe Is Turning-On the People (online since 2005) and ran into one from 2012 that I hadn't checked out. It's two different versions of Mable John's "Who Wouldn't Love A Man Like That?" One from 1960, the other from 1963, both on Tamla (Motown). What makes this interesting is that the later version, according to John, was not produced by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier as the official credits list, but by Stevie Wonder who was then 13 years old.

Here was another cool turn. I hadn't been to Motown Junkies (online since 2009) in a while so I went there to hopefully get the skinny on the two versions, not sure if they had them covered. To my surprise they had entries for both. The full stories behind both versions and why there were two. Very interesting reading, for geeks anyway. Hey, now I know that Mable John is the sister of Little Willie John ("Fever"). I didn't know any of this stuff this morning.

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Listen:
Mable John - Who Wouldn't Love A Man Like That (1960) mp3 at Probe Is Turning On the People
Mable John - Who Wouldn't Love A Man Like That (1963) mp3 at Probe Is Turning On the People
Read:
Mable John - Who Wouldn't Love A Man Like That (1960) at Motown Junkies
Mable John - Who Wouldn't Love A Man Like That (1963) at Motown Junkies

OH, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO (SLIGHT RETURN)

If the name Lester Bangs doesn't mean anything to you, then you're not the type of person who reads rock criticism from forty years ago. Bangs wrote for the San Diego Door, Rolling Stone, Creem, the Village Voice, New Musical Express,  Penthouse, Playboy and High Times among others. There are at least two collections of his writings and a biography written after his death in 1982. His writing reads like you're having beers with a smart well read friend who knows way more about music than you do, irreverent and eloquent, and he rants.

I just ran into the documentary, A Box Full of Rocks: The El Cajon Years of Lester Bangs, about Bang's high school and young adult years. I've only watched a few minutes of it and have already seen three friends. So I'm posting it before I watch it to be objective. If you're a Bangs freak, check the old post linked below. It's got some sloppy songs by him and Peter Laughner (Rocket From the Tomb, Pere Ubu).

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Listen:
Lester Bangs - Let It Blurt (streaming) at YouTube
Lester Bangs . Live (streaming) at YouTube
Birdland with Lester Bangs - Kill Him Again (streaming) at YouTube
Lester Bangs and The Delinquents - Life is not Worth Living (But Suicide is a Waste of Time) (streaming) at YouTube
Lester Bangs and Peter Laughner - Six songs at this past post

THIS WOULD BE THE "LOOKING DOWN" SHOT

When all else fails, it's back to the garage. Here's four random cuts I ran across. A Count Five cut that isn't "Psychotic Reaction" and a Music Explosion cut that isn't "Little Bit of Soul". There's a certifiably crunchy cover of the Kinks' already crunchy "I Need You" and another by the lesser known Harbinger Complex because, well, fuzz.

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Listen:
The Count Five - Declaration Of Independence mp3 at Internet Archive
The Music Explosion - Let Yourself Go mp3 at Internet Archive
The Rationals -I Need You mp3 at Internet Archive
Harbinger Complex - I Think I'm Down mp3 at Internet Archive

YOU NEVER FORGET YOUR FIRST

Those headphones (above) are the same make and model as the first headphones that entered our household when I was a kid. We didn't use them much because we were kids, we moved around too much. I remember my first full on headphone moment. The Edgar Winter Group's "Frankenstein", the longer LP version. There's a synthesizer part that went back and forth through my skull. Up to that point all my experiences with stereo were with musicians in stationary locations, without any fading back and forth. It was the first time I'd ever heard the song too. I was blown away.

Yesterday I revisited Cornelius's Fantasma LP. That's what triggered the Edgar Winter memory. Fantasma is made for headphones, a sonic trip practically swirling around you. I closed my eyes and it was like being underwater. That's high praise here. It really pretty amazing that it's from 1996. If you can't listen with headphones, make sure you're dead center between the speakers. And it's a good idea to listen to it all the way through.

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Listen:
Cornelius - Fantasma (Full Album) (streaming) at YouTube

FIVE YEARS AND FUZZ WILL DO THAT

I've heard all sorts of stuff by the Wailers (the Northwest Wailers, not the Jamaican Wailers) and am well aware that their stuff can vary. But listening to a couple songs back to back, I was unprepared for the juxtaposition of their early cut "Driftwood" (1960) and "Hang Up" (1965). It's a remarkable contrast, from an almost exotica type instrumental to an orgy in fuzz. The photo above is singer/sax player Ron Gardner, who joined in '62. He would be part of the "Hang Up" Wailers. Contrast that swagger with the photo of the earlier "Driftwood" Wailers below. What a difference five years makes.

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Listen:
The Wailers - Driftwood mp3 at Office Naps
The Wailers - Hang Up (streaming) at YouTube

IT'S STONER ROCK SOMEWHERE

Whoah dad, I forgot all about the Sadies. I just ran into "Flash". Man, what a damn good band. The picking and guitar interplay is as good as it gets. On the dusky outskirts of Bakersfield with a flat tire and a bent rim. The Sadies always remind me of my friend John. He would always go off about bands that he liked. Sometimes I had no interest, but some of the times he was right. Two bands that he was always talking about that he was absolutely right about were the Fall and the Sadies. The Sadies backed all sorts of people. My first exposure was an album with them backing Neko Case. They've also backed Andre Williams and Neil Young among others. (Just as I typed that it occurred to me that Neil Young has been backed, at one time or another, by the Sadies, Devo, Pearl Jam and Booker T and the MGs.) Anyway, here's a few. Some awesome picking on these. Dig the videos. Tight.

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Listen:
The Sadies - Flash mp3 at Internet Archive
The Sadies - The Double Wide mp3 at Groover's Paradise
The Sadies - Milk and Scissors mp3 at Internet Archive
Neil Young with the Sadies - This Wheels on Fire mp3 at the Adios Lounge
Andre Williams with the Sadies - Shake a Tail Feather mp3 at Internet Archive
Video:
The Sadies - Flash at YouTube
The Sadies - Through Strange Eyes at YouTube

AND LIKE THAT, THE LIST GROWS

I was wondering why I hadn't heard of Tiny Topsy. She's my type of fifties, a throaty rhythm and blues singer not unlike Big Mama Thornton or Big Maybelle. One who really belts a song. So, I did some digging. She died at the age of 34 having only recorded nine singles. That explains why I've never run across her. The silver lining, if there is one, is being able to fit her entire recorded output on one compilation. Here's a few, including her radical reworking of Rosco Gordon's "Just A Little Bit". I have digging to do.

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Listen:
Tiny Topsy - Aw Shucks Baby mp3 at Internet Archive
Tiny Topsy - Miss You So mp3 at Internet Archive
Tiny Topsy - Come On, Come On, Come On mp3 at Internet Archive
Tiny Topsy - You Shocked Me mp3 at Internet Archive
Tiny Topsy - Cha Cha Sue mp3 at Internet Archive
Tiny Topsy - Just A Little Bit mp3 at Internet Archive

THAT DAY THE ART DIRECTOR WAS HIGH

Here's a grab bag of covers. A couple surprises of note: The cover of "In the Ghetto" by Gene West is actually a young Barry White. And the lounge-y latin jazz cover of "Psychotic Reaction" that I thought might be some sort of corny retro outfit is actually Señor Soul who would later become War. That's them above, from an album cover. Pulling zero stops. They look like they're trying to cover all the bases, the guy on the far right dropping his mask going "Fuck this shit. This is ridiculous."

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Listen:
Señor Soul - Psychotic Reaction mp3 at Internet Archive Count Five cover
Gene West - In the Ghetto mp3 at Internet Archive Elvis cover
Lulu - Feelin' Alright mp3 at Internet Archive Joe Cocker cover
Aloe Blacc - Femme Fatale mp3 at Internet Archive Velvet Underground cover
Sugarman 3 - What the World Needs Now mp3 at Internet Archive Burt Bacharach cover

FROM BURMA WITH FUZZ

Yee haw! Radiodiffusion Internasionaal Annexe is posting again. If you dig oddball international music, you need to check it out. Not only does the host appreciate the unfamiliar aspect of unheard music from lands far away, he does a more than adequate job of tracking down background information. That's not easy when you're starting with scant information in another language. The song below was a semi-recent post. From Burma, it begins with roughly eight seconds of crazy fuzz and then bleeds into some primitive synth riffs. The song keeps changing and along with it the dominant instrument. Alas, the fuzz does not return. I could do without the singing, but the craziness of the music more than makes up for it.

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Listen:
Thein Tan -  Khaing Pann Sone / ခိုင်ပန်းစုံ mp3 at Radiodiffusion Internasionaal Annexe

OWE ME A COKE

Here's a juxtaposition for you. John Fogerty and Rick Nelson covering each other. Kinda sorta anyway. The Fogerty song that Nelson covers is "Almost Saturday Night" from Fogerty's eponymously titled second solo album. The Nelson song that Fogerty covers, "Hello Mary Lou", is not really Nelson's. It was written by Gene Pitney, but Nelson had the hit with it. And Fogerty didn't cover it himself per se, it was covered when he was in Creedence on their last LP, Mardis Gras. I have to say Creedence did better with "Hello Mary Lou" than Nelson did with "Almost Saturday Night". Creedence had more oomph than Nelson did later in his career. Check Fogerty's homage to James Burton's playing on "Hello Mary Lou", tone and licks. (Burton was the guitarist on Nelson's "Hello Mary Lou".)

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Listen:
Rick Nelson - Hello Mary Lou mp3 at Snuhthing Anything
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Hello Mary Lou mp3 at Internet Archive
John Fogerty - Almost Saturday Night (streaming) at YouTube
Rick Nelson - Almost Saturday Night mp3 at Internet Archive

BAKER? OUT BACK.

Here's a couple by Big Maybelle. "That's a Pretty Good Love" is awesome. In a moment that would have made my late brother Tim proud, I correctly identified the guitar player as Mickey Baker. Tim's the only one I know that would have appreciated that. We never discussed Baker back when he was alive, we'd never heard of him. But I know if he were still here, he'd have found Mickey Baker and he would have been impressed that I was able to ID the licks. Damn, I miss him.

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Listen:
Big Maybelle - That's a Pretty Good Love mp3 at Internet Archive
Big Maybelle - I've Got a Feelin' mp3 at Rocky 52

YOU'RE CONFUSING EVERYBODY

Ah hell, that's what I was thinking. I ran into some Percy Mayfield cuts and wanted to post them but didn't feel like, you know, doing the leg work. Mayfield was a lesser known rhythm and blues singer, but good. He wrote too ("Hit the Road Jack") and he recorded for a few different labels, among them Specialty and Chess. Even you fiends in training know that those two labels alone warrant a listen. He kind of reminds me of Andre Williams without the cussing. The first one below is an early r and b cut, the second one is a laugh riot from later in his career. It's a anti-hippie song with a guitar player who has gum stuck on his wah-wah foot. The backing vocals are classic. Luckily, being that I'm not in much of a mood for legwork, there is a lengthy bio at The Hound.

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Listen:
Percy Mayfield - I Made It Just the Same mp3 at Internet Archive
Percy Mayfield - You Wear Your Hair Too Long mp3 at Internet Archive
Visit:
Percy Mayfield profile at The Hound

HELL YEAH IT WAS A DIFFERENT TIME

I wasn't cognizant of a lot of soul music when it was originally released. I was alive but so young that I didn't even know what music was. My first exposure was hearing some coming out of the garage from my Dad's workbench radio while he was sorting fasteners or whatever the fuck he did in there while we were outside doing yard work. I didn't know the titles as they weren't my per-adolescent bag, man.

Once in our teens my brothers and I would listen to the oldies station and some of the songs that had been playing in the garage were familiar enough to have had an association. A lot were one hit wonders, most way out of the scope of a Motown, Stax or Atlantic. I've always liked those types of soul records, the B-listers, from that particular era. Here's a few that will be very  familiar to some of you. One thing that I always try to keep in mind, there are twenty somethings walking around who have no idea who the Beatles are. It boggles my mind but it is truth. Scarier, there are people with normal day to day lives, responsible citizens, who have never heard the O'kaysions' "Girl Watcher".

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Listen:
J,J, Jackson - But It's Alright mp3 at Internet Archive
O'kaysions - Girl Watcher mp3 at Internet Archive
Archie Bell and the Drells - Tighten Up mp3 at Internet Archive
Cliff Nobles and Co. - The Horse mp3 at Internet Archive

NEW TO ME FUNK GRAB BAG NIGHT

Just like other genres, when funk was the happening thing, there were so many bands doing the same type of stuff that to stand out from the masses you had to have that certain thing. A solid bass line, accomplished drum breaks, percussive horns, those are three that nearly every good funk single had. So what else? That's where the obscure funk bands take over. The people you never heard of because they mistakenly thought they could take a short cut with a clever or silly song title, exaggerated singing,  over-doing the grunts. Some fully committed with a goofy-ass band name. But that's why I like obscure funk. I gravitate toward the imperfect, the slightly off. Seems more human. Add wah-wah and I'm off to the races.

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Listen:
Wee Willie and Winners - Get Some mp3 at Internet Archive
Little Oscar - The Funky Buzzard mp3 at Internet Archive
Soul Tornados - Crazy Legs mp3 at Internet Archive

DEFINITELY NOT GOOD-BAD.

Man, I've heard it a million times and it still makes my hair stand on end, Howlin' Wolf's "Evil" is one of the most authentically menacing three minutes ever cut into vinyl. Everything about it, his voice, the tempo and Hubert Sumlin's guitar playing and tone is absolutely cut to the bone perfect. After listening to it, all I needed was an excuse to post it again. I went to see how long it had been since I posted it, bam!! Found my excuse. The link to the Howlin' Wolf documentary had moved. So here's both, "Evil" and a new link to the documentary, plus a couple others.

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Listen:
Howlin' Wolf - Evil mp3 at Internet Archive
Howlin' Wolf - Break of Day mp3 at Internet Archive
Howlin' Wolf - Forty Four mp3 at Internet Archive
Howlin' Wolf - Moanin' at Midnight mp3 at Internet Archive
The documentary:
The Howlin' Wolf Story: The Secret History Of Rock And Roll at YouTube 2003

HEH, I GOT YOUR ORGAN RIGHT HERE.

On old mix at Funky 16 Corners got me going on a Hammond binge. Once I saw his mix Hammond Internationale did truly include international artists (Jackie Mittoo: Jamaica, Walter Wanderly: Brazil, etc) and knowing host Larry's taste, I found it odd that it didn't have Graham Bond (though it does have Brian Auger). Throwing a few additional songs down there allows me to re-post Graham Bond Organization's version of "Wade In the Water". It's so smooth. It fully swings, and it's got Ginger Baker on drums, his very first record. The second one down there by the Artwoods has as organist a pre-Deep Purple Jon Lord.

The mix is great. I've been listening to it for the past half hour or so. It's kinda cool because the songs are all different styles but the fact that they all have that Hammond sound kind of ties them together more cohesively then you'd expect.

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Listen:
Graham Bond Organization - Wade In the Water mp3 at Rising Storm
The Artwoods - Walk On the Wild Side mp3 at Rising Storm
Merit Hemmingson – Pata Pata mp3 at Funky 16 Corners
The Mix:
Hammond Internationale mix at Funky 16 Corners Scroll down to the eighth mix for the song list.

THE WHOLE PACKAGE

Oh man, I just revisited Al Green. The very first notes of "Here I Am" hooked me, changed my mood. The production is so fucking good I had to drag out an f-bomb just to tell you how good it is. Willie Mitchell was the producer, as he was for a lot of Al Green's hits. Obviously the songs are good and Green's voice is amazing, but the production just wraps around you. Check the intro to "Love and Happiness". If that doesn't suck you in it's your loss. Here's a few of Green's and two earlier cuts by Mitchell himself.

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Listen:
Al Green - Here I Am mp3 at Internet Archive
Al Green - Love and Happiness mp3 at Internet Archive
Al Green - Take Me to the River mp3 at Internet Archive
Willie Mitchell - Monkey Jump mp3 at The "B" Side
Willie Mitchell - Woodchopper's Ball mp3 at The "B" Side

I PREFER "POST-DRIVEWAY"

Usually a series of days without posting here is an indication of laziness or being tied up with something else. Not the case this time. I had started posts the past few nights only to dump what I'd written because it was just paragraphs of me ragging about current music. You know, my periodic anti-Auto-Tune tirade, lack of challenging music, rhymes without teeth, blah blah, blah. Yeah. I don't have a lawn but get off it anyways.

Here's some sixties garage stuff. I hadn't run across much in the past couple years because music blogs are dropping like flies, but I have found some that someone had posted at Internet Archive. They're of the Nuggets variety, in other words there might be some that you're familiar with and some you aren't. Fuzz is in there, snotty vocals and a dash of attitude. Not a lick of Auto-Tune. (That's the Gonn pictured above.)

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

Listen:
The Gonn - Blackout of Gretely mp3 at Internet Archive
The Standells - Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White mp3 at Internet Archive
Third Bardo - I'm Five Years Ahead of Time mp3 at Internet Archive
The Uniques - You Ain't Tuff mp3 at Internet Archive
We the People - You Burn Me Up mp3 at Internet Archive
Music Machine - Double Yellow Line mp3 at Internet Archive
Mouse and the Traps - Maid of Sugar, Maid of Spice mp3 at Internet Archive

YOUR FIRST PHOTO SESSION?

I ran into a few obscure funky soul sides from New Orleans. I was just listening to them roll, then I heard one that sounded mid-sixties and was thinking Damn, this sounds like the Dap-Kings. I knew it wasn't. The Dap-Kings didn't exist back then. I looked at the playlist to see who it was. Ernie and the Top Notes. Okay. (That's them, above.) Then I looked at the title: "Dap Walk". Fuckin' A, Also, it has  a more than passing resemblance to Archie Bell and the Drell's "Tighten Up". We can always use more of that. Here's that one and a couple others, all three by artists unknown to me an hour ago. It's nice to be reminded of your ignorance. Check the Eldridge Holmes cut, right at 1:00, when the horns kick back in. That's tonights moment. But wait, there's more. Dig the drums in "Stay".

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

Listen:
Ernie and the Top Notes - Dap Walk mp3 at Internet Archive
Eldridge Holmes - Pop Popcorn Children mp3 at Internet Archive
Chuck Colbert/Viewpoint - Stay mp3 at Internet Archive

HALF ASSED COSTUME FINALISTS

After seeing the photo above I realized something. It was so creepy I gave it some thought. You can buy whatever fancy expensive over the top Halloween costume you want and you wouldn't be half as scary as that menagerie of lame costumes. Man, if I ran across a mob like them I'd be scared shitless. Why was that? Was it because it's an old photo? Not really. Part of it is because all of their faces are covered. Part of it is that their costumes are so crudely put together. And part of it is because it just looks fucking scary.

Here's a link to a Halloween mix at Grey Haas. Haven't listened to it yet but I've heard others by her/him/it and they were good. Shit, I dunno...

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

Listen:
Trick or Treat Vol 7 mix at Grey Haus 25 songs most from the 60s. Click on "Grab it HERE"

YOU LOOK GREAT. WHAT'S YOUR SECRET?

Both song titles below seem to fall in with a Halloween theme. I can't speak to the subject  matter or the lyrics, I'll have to look into that. They both have cool intros and start with a good scream. Sets the mood. Stretch first.

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Listen:
Rocket From the Crypt - I Drink Blood mp3 at Xtrmntr
Dead Kennedys - Halloween mp3 at Hey Cool Kid

IT"S LONG BLACKA HAIR LAZY REPOST TIME!

While a Halloween party isn't really legit without a witch, I can't think of the last time I saw an adult dressed as one. Maybe it's because you can do other costumes half-assed, but if you do a witch costume half-assed, it damages the franchise, and being that particular franchise, all sorts of bad things can prevail.

If you're party lacks a true witch, best to honor the hag in song, and I can think of no two better witch related songs than those below, by the Sonics (seen above with a fairly lame one) and Kip Tyler. Represent!

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Listen:
The Sonics - The Witch mp3 at Tinyvices Essential

Kip Tyler - She's My Witch mp3 at Hey Cool Kids Ditto

THUG FOR LIFE

Tonight's post was just going to be Frankenstein related. I did not expect to find the original six minute version of "Frankenstein" by the New York Dolls. If the version on Too Much Too Soon is overly familiar to you at this point, check the one below. I could be wrong, the original may be better but I'm not going to play them back to back for the same reason I don't often play the LP. That version is too familiar, This one, to me, is shit hot. It really hit the spot tonight. Now I worry about it becoming too familiar. There's a couple other Frankenstein related songs down there too, but you Dolls freaks will get to those later.

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

Listen:
New York Dolls - Frankenstein (original version) mp3 at Probe Is Turning On the People
The Castle Kings - You Can Get Him Frankenstein mp3 at Probe Is Turning On the People
The Crystals - Frankenstein Twist mp3 at Probe Is Turning On the People

DID THE PIONEERS COVER THEIR COVER?

Every genre has them. Covers. Some are good and some are bad. In reggae there is a fine line between a good cover and and a bad one. The good covers are usually either instrumentals, soul covers or Motown, or some older vocal thing. Rock covers by reggae artists are on double secret probation. One thing that absolutely shouldn't be done: incorporating rock riffs in a chunka chunka riddim. Listen to a few of the covers down there and then listen to Alpha Blondy's cover of "Whole Lotta Love". I'm sure some may like it. I don't. It just seems to be a little desperate for attention.

I've got an semi-related request. I really don't think anyone who reads this will have the answer (to crowd source successfully you must first have a crowd), but I have to ask: does anyone know the story of the version of "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" below by the Pioneers. The one I have was produced by Joe Gibbs. The one below sounds different, cleaner and mixed differently. I spent a bit of time trying to find out and found squat, So, just throwing it out there. Gibb's version is better anyway.

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

Listen:
Alton Ellis - It's A Shame mp3 at Internet Archive
Horace Andy - Ain't No Sunshine mp3 at Internet Archive
The Pioneers - Papa Was Rolling Stone mp3 at Internet Archive
Faye and Mystic - California Soul mp3 at Internet Archive
Nostalgia 77 ft Alice Russell - Seven Nation Army mp3 at Internet Archive
Alpha Blondy - Whole Lotta Love mp3 at Internet Archive