WENT FOR MR. BEAR, STAYED FOR THE HOUND.

Well shit, sometimes you reach a dead end. Revisiting a compilation that I'd pulled songs from for a Mickey Baker post, I relistened to a couple songs by a Mr. Bear and got to wondering. Who the fuck is this Mr. Bear that I've never heard of? I went looking. Couldn't find much at all. Even Discogs only listed two 45s. After stating "Of the other artists, there's little to say as I don't know much!", the liner notes of the compilation just say that his real name is Teddy McRae and that the songs came after a duet with Champion Jack Dupree for King Records. Then I went to The Hound Blog because he has extensive histories of a lot or real obscure rhythm and blues performers. Squat. You can dig further if you want. I'm going to resume browsing at The Hound. I forgot how great that site is. Yeah, yeah, the music links there don't work, but you can bet the songs are on YouTube. Regardless, his posts are so well researched and full of factoids, you get sucked in.

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Listen:
Mr. Bear - Peek-A-Boo mp3 at Internet Archive
Mr. Bear - Radar mp3 at Internet Archive
Mr. Bear - Mr. Bear Comes To Town mp3 at Internet Archive
Mr. Bear - How Come? mp3 at Internet Archive
Mr. Bear - The Bear Hug mp3 at Internet Archive
Visit:
The Hound Blog Dig through the old posts.

R.I.P. TERRY HALL

Well, shit. I just heard that Terry Hall died a little over a week ago. Pancreatic cancer. He was the lead singer of the Specials from 1979-1981, when the band was at the peak of their popularity and the most visible of the second generation of ska bands, primarily British and most on Two-Tone Records. After he left the Specials he continued with Fun Boy Three, then Colourfield and, well, a few other projects. He eventually re-joined the Specials for a reunion tour in 2009. When you think about it, and I have, the Specials are a big part of the reason that people, in the U.S. anyway, know that there was Jamaican popular music prior to reggae. Although I'm sure I'd heard a few ska songs by the time the Specials surfaced, I hadn't noticed a distinct difference from reggae. But, just as in going backwards to find the sources of old blues or rock 'n' roll songs, I was prodded to learn about the origins of ska after hearing Hall and the Specials. Dude was like the Elvis of ska, in that he was turning kids on to old music originally done by black musicians they never heard of.

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Listen:

The Specials - Gangsters mp3 at Tumblr
The Specials - Rat Race mp3 at Tumblr
The Specials - Too Hot mp3 at Tumblr
The Specials - Too Much Too Young mp3 at Tumblr
The Specials - Little Bitch mp3 at Tumblr
The Specials - Take Five mp3 at Tumblr
The Specials - Do the Dog mp3 at Tumblr
Video:
The Specials 30th Anniversary Tour at YouTube Full set, 24 songs
Visit:
2-Tone.Info - Extensive fan site

EVERY GENERATION HAS IT'S STANDARDS

I should have posted this last night but after setting out cookies and milk for the fat man I fell asleep. Though a day late, I can't let this holiday season go by without posting it. This is one of those you get it or you don't songs. Thankfully I do, probably because I heard it a million times. It was on just about every DJ's playlist during the holiday season at my old hang, the Pink Panther (RIP). For several years I had the Christmas Eve slot and it was always a riotous good time, one of those nights that they cover the pool table with plywood because they know there will be elevated dancing. Now that all the gift giving malarkey is over, pop a bottle and hug your squeeze.

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Listen:
The Pogues with Kirsty MacColl - Fairy Tale of New York mp3 at Internet Archive
Video:
The Pogues with Kirsty MacColl - Fairy Tale of New York at YouTube

TONIGHT AT THE SLACKFEST SIDE STAGE

If you're of a certain age, you probably recognize the horn intro to Run DMC's "Christmas in Hollis". MTV played the shit out of it back in the day, using it for holiday commercials and bumper music a thousand times a day. It might have been a year or two but it seems like much longer because it's so ingrained. Run DMC's choice of a sample from Clarence Carter's "Backdoor Santa" was somewhat of a deep pick, particularly because the sample itself, without being from a well recognized Christmas song, was still from a Christmas song. It's the most dominant sample in a song that also includes pieces of "Frosty the Snowman", "Jingle Bells", and "Joy to the World". For as little known as Carter's song was, they could have used a sample from any song and most people wouldn't have noticed one way or another. But had they done that, I wouldn't have been able to ramble on about their sample choice thirty years later. You gotta hand it to them, that blast of horns makes the song.

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Listen:
Run DMC - Christmas In Hollis mp3 at AM Then FM
Clarence Carter - Backdoor Santa mp3 at AM Than FM

WELL, IF IT AIN'T OL' SLACKFEST SPENCE.

It's time. I woke up this morning thinking about Joseph Spence and his rendition of "Santa Clause Is Coming To Town". If you haven't heard it let me tell you what's in store. Spence was a Bahamian singer, which doesn't tell you much. What if I were to tell you that he sounds like Tom Waits's drunk grandfather. If you know Tom Waits. you'll get it. And you'll wonder, as I have, what Tom Waits might have thought the first time he heard Spence. "Man, that guy stole my act!" would be the comical thought balloon. The only thing is, I'm convinced that Tom Wait's gruff voice isn't an act. I met him back in the later seventies and being that it was just him and a friend of mine in the conversation, there was no reason for him to keep up appearances. In other words, he was just as he is now, just a younger version. He's just a few years older than me but he sounded like a grizzled old barfly that had smoked a pack of Pall Malls in the half hour before I ran into him.

Looking through old posts for Spence's song, I was alarmed to find out that the link that I'd relied on so many times in the past no longer existed. Luckily I found another link, fortuitous because it was with another unusual holiday song, the Legendary Tiger Man's "Fuck Christmas, I Got The Blues". Who is the Legendary Tiger Man? I took a quick gander at his Bandcamp page. Interesting..., nope, not going down that road. Not tonight. I got shit to do. I am a very busy man. 

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Listen:
Joseph Spence - Santa Claus is Coming to Town mp3 at Beware of the Blog
The Legendary Tiger Man - Fuck Christmas, I Got The Blues mp3 at Beware of the Blog

GOD REST YE MERRY SLACKFESTERS

I know, you're thinking "Is there any end to Slackfest?" Yes, Virginia, there is an end to Slackfest. Just what do you think is celebrated on the twenty fifth of December? We have a few days to go and with the impending end of Slackfest and more holiday ditties to jam down your gullet, I was tempted to change course but, you know, most of these songs are only appropriate during the holiday season. Take these Jimmy Smith tunes. If these weren't posted for the holidays, when are you going to hear them? Besides, they're Jimmy Smith. As you well know, Jimmy Smith is cool and, as you will find out, these swing.

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Listen:
Jimmy Smith - Jingle Bells mp3 at Panic Stream
Jimmy Smith - Santa Claus is Coming to Town mp3 at Review Stalker
Jimmy Smith - God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman mp3 at Panic Stream

SLACKFEST FINDS THE MOP TOPS

It's time for the Beatles' Christmas records. Yeah, I know, another repost. Just rotating the stock. Anyway, they sent these out to fan club members from 1963-1969. It's interesting to hear how their personalities evolved during the height of Beatlemania. If you know a beginning Beatle freak who doesn't know these existed, a burned CD and a little cut and paste cover would be a quick way to cross one off your list. If you've never heard them, check them out. Skip around and hear the messages go from zany to thoughtful to weird.

The first link has mp3s, just click on the record labels of each individual record. The second link has the descriptions and click-able high resolution images of the covers.

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Listen:
The Beatles Christmas Records Records - 1963 - 1969 mp3s at The Beatles Source NOTE: Right click on record labels for mp3s.
The Beatles Christmas Records Records - 1963 - 1969 at All Dylan Right click on record labels for high resolution.

SLACKFEST PARTY PACK

Wow, would you look at the time! Holy shit, with Christmas Eve falling on next Saturday night, tonight's probably the Christmas party night! Here's three more mixes, these from Boss Radio 66 (formerly Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban) who, if you know that WFMU crowd, definitely have discerning taste. Each of the mixes are single mp3s, roughly an hour long. That'll get you to the point in the party that people will be smashed enough that you can roll them a second time from the beginning and they'll be too busy lurking under the mistletoe to notice. The bonus? Burn 'em on a flash drive or CD and viola! Last minute Christmas gifts!

You've got the big names, Otis Redding and Carla Thomas, Ike and Tina Turner, Elvis, the Ventures, the Beach Boys, the Supremes, Buck Owens, and the who the fugzits? The Barbary Coasters, the Hepsters, Jose Gonzalez and the Husky Team. All sorts of head scratchers to break things up. Yee haw.

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Listen:
Merry Twistmas from Ichiban!!! - Three mixes at Boss Radio 66
If you don't need the playlists, here's links to the mixes:
Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban Christmas Mix 3 at Boss Radio 66 23 songs
Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban Christmas Mix 2 at Boss Radio 66 27 songs
Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban Christmas Mix 1 at Boss Radio 66 31 songs

CHILLIN' WITH (BLANK), COULDA HAPPENED.

Years ago when I was in my twenties I was traveling in Europe and met an ex-roommate of Chris Bailey's. Bailey, at the time, was the lead singer of the Saints, a punk band from Australia. (I loved the Saints.) Harriet, the ex-roommate was a music geek and really sweet. We were only in the same city (Florence) for a few days, and managed to talk a lot, right off the bat. Anyway, I've always associated her with Bailey and the Saints, enough so that when I hear Chris Bailey's voice I always imagine sitting around with the two of them and having a beer or ten. Obviously, that never happened, key word: imagine. When I heard the Saints today, I realized that's what it was. That was the criteria. If you can't imagine hanging with the band (or singer), fuck 'em. You probably shouldn't be listening to them anyway. Oh fuck. Now I really want to go get smashed with Sun Ra.

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Listen:
The Saints - Wild About You mp3 at Internet Archive
The Saints - Lipstick On Your Collar mp3 at Internet Archive

ORIGINAL RAY'S LUX TAPE LINKS

Time to crank the Slackfest up to 11. So here's a Christmas mix made on cassette tape by Lux Interior from the Cramps. He made it for Kristian Hoffman, a former member of the Mumps who was later involved with No Wavers Lydia Lunch and James White and the Blacks, among others. The mix is 26 songs split into two separate zips, one for each side of the cassette.

But wait, there's more! Another Lux Interior curated Christmas mix posted a couple years later. Who would've guessed that Interior had that much spirit in him? I mean, Halloween is right up his alley, but Christmas?

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

ON THE FOURTH DAY OF SLACKFEST

Here we go, Jon Spencer's "Big Yule Log Boogie", released as a Subpop Singles Club thing in 1992. With the flip, "My Christmas Wish", there were only 2,218 copies released. It's still relatively easy to find if you're so inclined. It's not his best but it's far from his worst. I don't know, as long as I listen to it only once a year I'm not going to over analyze it.

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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

TRAMPLE MY LAWN FOR ALL I CARE

Here's your feel good moment. Remember the Linda Linda's? When I posted them a year and a half ago they were 10-16 years old. A couple days ago they were on Jinny Kimmel doing "Groovy Christmas". In just a year and a half they went from the Los Angeles Public Library to network television. Good for them. No, excellent for them. Make that awesome for them. Whatever, here's the clip. Big ol' bonus points for name dropping Charlie Brown and the Grinch in the same song.

More videos:
The Linda Lindas - Racist Sexist Boy at LA Public Library's Twitter
TEENtastic Tuesdays: AAPI Heritage Month Kick-off with The Linda Lindas at YouTube Entire show
The Linda Lindas - Rebel Girl at YouTube

RANDOM NUGGETISTIC SLABS

Blah, blah, blah, garage bands. What can be said that hasn't been? You know, kids in a garage hoping to be the next Stones or Kinks, blah, blah, blah,  with bowl haircuts and  pointy shoes, blah blah, recorded in questionable studios for shitty little labels. Whatever generalizations you want to throw out there do nothing to diminish the charge I get out of loud fuzz, Farfisa and snotty vocal deliveries. And there's usually something a little overreaching. The less known you are, the more you have to do to stand out. You have to be the fuzziest, snottiest, or have the craziest drummer. There's always something that, once you hear it it, cannot un-hear it.

The bands below aren't that obscure but I had already rounded them up and I'll be damned if I'm going to go hunting just to find other garage bands that are more obscure.

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Listen:

Kenny and the Kasuals - Nothin' Better to Do mp3 at Internet Archive
The Music Machine - Let Yourself Go mp3 at Internet Archive
The Remains - You Got A Hard Time Comin' mp3 at Internet Archive
We The People - You Burn Me Up And Down mp3 at Internet Archive
The Other Half - Mr. Pharmacist mp3 at Internet Archive

"MUDDY AND GENEVA" (DOPE COMPOSITION)

Call me dense. I've been listening to Muddy Waters since high school and have known the song "I Can't Be Satisfied" for decades. I did not realize that it was his first record and that it was on the awkwardly named The Aristocrat of Sound label, released in 1948. The song is on all sorts of Chess Records compilations so I'd always assumed that it was a Chess product. Did Chess license the recording? Just like that I slipped into a two day Chess Records rabbit hole. Long story short: Leonard and Phil Chess recorded Muddy Waters for Aristocrat and then bought the label itself and changed the name. They were jazz guys and this was the first blues thing they took a stab at. It quickly sold out. From that we have not only Muddy Waters's prime years, but Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry and on and on. An awesome gamble.

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Listen:
Muddy Waters - I Can't Be Satisfied mp3 at Internet Archive 1948
Muddy Waters - You're Gonna Miss Me mp3 at Internet Archive 1949
Muddy Waters - Rollin' and Tumblin' mp3 at Internet Archive 1949
Muddy Waters - Where's My Woman Been? mp3 at Internet Archive 1950

BAH, INDEED. HERE'S SOME ODDBALLS.

The internet is great if you're into obscure music. It must have pissed off the pre-internet collectors and archivists. All the work they put in to network now wide open to the casual collectors with deep pockets. They forget that the real value is the music. And you can find even the rarest records somewhere online if hearing the music is your priority. If collecting is the biggest part of it, sorry. The same thing happened with baseball cards and a lot of other collectibles with no aural value at all. Maybe some collectors will remember what drew them to music in the first place.

Here's a few quality tunes by people that I've never heard of before tonight. They sound like they're from the late fifties to maybe the early sixties, definitely regional. Nothing earth shattering, but that's part of the allure. As much as I like well produced records, I really love records that sound like the artist and producer were trying their hardest to find that magic that makes a hit but, well, due to limitations coming up with a quirky record that someone will, by chance, listen to over fifty years later. That's your job. Dig it. Cardboard sounding drums, exaggerated vocal deliveries, wonky solos. Basically the shit that make obscure oddballs like these so endearing.

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Listen:
Jeff Daniels - Switch Blade Sam mp3 at Internet Archive
Rick Johnson - Eenie Meenie Minie Mo mp3 at Internet Archive
Blue Charlie - Watch That Crow mp3 at Internet Archive
Tommy Strange - Nervous and Shakin' All Over mp3 at Internet Archive
Joe Carl & the Dukes of Rhythm - Rockin' Fever Sam mp3 at Internet Archive

TIME TO CHECK IN AGAIN.

It seems like yesterday, the last time I posted Fela's "Expensive Shit". In actuality it's been nine years. That mp3 link has been dead for some time. Good enough excuse to post some of his stuff again. You regulars know I'm nuts about Fela, so I can't resist. If you're not familiar with Fela, a thumbnail snagged from an earlier post:

He spent some time in the US in the late 60's, where he was inspired by the Black Panthers and the Black Power movement. Soon after, he was deported and returned to Nigeria, bringing with him a new direction. He created his own compound that included a commune, a disco and a recording studio, took 27 wives and proclaimed his independence from the Nigerian state, which ultimately landed him on the government's shit list. A flagrant pothead, in 1974 Nigerian police planted a joint in his home to have an excuse to drag his ass in for a time-out. He ate the joint, thereby destroying the evidence. As if a scene from a Pink Panther movie, they brought him in anyway, to wait for the joint to pass. In the interim, he acquired a stool from another inmate, presented the joint-free duty, and was later released. Thumbing his nose at the authorities, he wrote a song about the incident, naming it, poignantly, "Expensive Shit". 

So, here's the deal, if you don't know Fela's music, you should. Read up on him, its Afro-beat at it's finest. Most of these are long (the longest is 31:00), going through many changes keeping things interesting., the rhythm keeps you locked in. It's all about letting the groove take over. If you are familiar with Fela and dig him, you know that his catalog is pretty vast so a few more should be welcomed. Besides "Expensive Shit", I tried to pick the others at random. I've posted his stuff too many times and I'm too lazy to go backwards and survey old posts to see if any of these are repeats.

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Listen:
Fela Kuti - Expensive Shit mp3 at Internet Archive
Fela Kuti - Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense mp3 at Internet Archive
Fela Kuti - Unknown Soldier (Pts 1 & 2) mp3 at Internet Archive
Fela Kuti - Roforofo  mp3 at Internet Archive
Fela Kuti - He Miss Road mp3 at Internet Archive

YES VIRGINIA, THERE IS FUZZ.

Spy music is rad. The best thing about secret agent/spy/James Bond themes is that the songs are generally so good it doesn't really matter who's doing them, they usually come out okay. The era in which spy music was popular (roughly late fifties through the late sixties) was also about the time that cash-in records were popular. Any group of capable studio musicians could piece together an ersatz compilation of a dozen or so songs that were already recognizable to the tightwads that didn't want to shell out for the OG versions. Apply that process to instrumentals and you have the whole Ventures, Billy Strange, Al Caiola, Hugo Montenegro clusterfuck.

Todays featured carpetbagger is Reg Guest and his combo The Reg Guest Syndicate. I gotta say, he does a bang-up job. It's big sound, orchestration and all the trimmings. There's a few Guest originals in there too. "Underworld" is a good one, albeit borrowing a riddim from "Green Onions". But, ho-ly shit, does the instrumentation make up for it. The unrelenting extreme fuzz on the guitar sets the mood on the whole thing. It's Steve Cropper playing Davie Allan's rig, turned up to 11 with Paul Burlison dropping the amp. Alas, this was the Reg Guest Syndicate's sole release. I'm guessing that he (Guest) went back to faceless studio work. Anyway, I tip my hat to the under-valued yet more than competent person of any trade. Why can't it be the same for some no-name band leader?

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Listen:
The Reg Guest Syndicate - Underworld mp3 at Internet Archive
The Reg Guest Syndicate - James Bond Theme mp3 at Internet Archive
The Reg Guest Syndicate - Man From U.N.C.L.E. mp3 at Internet Archive
The Reg Guest Syndicate - Thunderball mp3 at Internet Archive

HOPE THEY AREN'T WHAT THEY MIGHT BE

It's not often that I click on a record because I like the cover and the music happens to back it up. That's the case for these guys. I'm not even going to tempt fate by looking for a bio or anything about their background. If they can sound kind of like a mix of At The Drive-In and the Dead Kennedys, even if it's just this record, I'm okay with that. I hope it's authentic, not, you know, the guys all in varying black, dark grey, and olive drab clothing, stern mugs with too much attention to grooming. Them there are whatcha might call poseurs.

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

Listen:
Auxes - I Can't Pause It mp3 at Internet Archive
Auxes - Tit For Tat mp3 at Internet Archive
Auxes - Does It Matter mp3 at Internet Archive
Auxes - Paranoia mp3 at Internet Archive

I AM 18 AND I'M KING OF THE ALLEY

Remember the kids that I mentioned a few days ago on the Black Sabbath post? They reminded me of a few Flamin' Groovies things I've been meaning to post, "Teenage Head" in particular. If you're not familiar with the song, it's not about fellatio (blow jobs for you illiterates). The opening lyrics: "I'm a monster, got a revved up teenage head. Teenage monster, California born and bred. Half a boy and half a man, I'm half at sea and half on land, oh my. Bye, bye." Never mind the fact that the singer was no longer a teenager, this is an JD anthem for the ages, particularly if you are California born and bred. In the presence of the these two kids, who party, ride skateboards, chase skirts and, if they're drunk enough, fight each other, I was reminded of that first verse of "Teenage Head" which in turn reminded me of an interesting LP that has the 1986 version of the Groovies recorded live in a studio in Australia. It's one of the few places you're going to hear the same version of the Groovies play both "Teenage Head" from their earlier 1971 incarnation (often described as an American version of the Stones) and "Shake Some Action", from the later 1976 incarnation (sounding more like the Beatles) in a studio setting.. Of course the later recording is from a decade later but that's kind of why I like it. It's a tad grittier both in performance and in the mix. Cyril Jordan sounds like Paul Westerberg on "Shake Some Action", a little worn having been recorded at the end of an Australian tour. I'm digging both of these later versions because I've heard the originals so many times they've lost a little of their punch.

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Listen:
Flamin' Groovies - Teenage Head (1971) mp3 at Internet Archive
Flamin' Groovies - Teenage Head (1986) mp3 at Internet Archive
Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action (1976) mp3 at Margauxville
Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action (1986) mp3 at Internet Archive

WHEN HALEY WAS HILLBILLY

Last night, from out of nowhere the jazz station played Bill Haley and the Saddlemen's "Rock This Joint" followed by Otis Blackwell's "Daddy Rolling Stone", neither of which would really qualify as jazz. I did not ask questions. I was digging them. Cool too, it was on a regular FM radio station. That would have been a nice surprise had I been out somewhere with my transistor radio with me. I still keep one with me sometimes around the neighborhood, like a walk to the pier or something. Hearing it like that would have been good, had I been on the pier with my transistor radio. It was good enough to know that it was still possible to hear stuff like that on regular airwaves on a fifteen dollar radio with two AA batteries and telescoping antenna. On a radio that you didn't have to subscribe to, doesn't cost anything, does not take your info and cannot track you. You give up a lot for convenience if your phone is you music source. You never would have got around to looking for, let alone listening to, Bill Haley and the Saddlemen or Otis Blackwell on your phone. I don't think the new i-Phones can handle anything that doesn't have Auto-Tune. Fuck, unplug for a minute. Don't give away the game. Rant on.

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

Listen:
Bill Haley and the Saddlemen - Rock The Joint (streaming) at YouTube
Bill Haley and ths Saddleman - Rocket 88 mp3 at Rocky 52
Otis Blackwell - Daddy Rolling Stone mp3 at Rocky 52

DEEP COOL

I keep forgetting to post this. "Arabia" by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. For you non-jazz people, this is a good one to snag because it has a little bit of everything. Drums from an all time skin beater, and horns absolutely going off. It's nine minutes long, long enough that you can get into it, let it digest, ferment or whatever, and then listen to it again. One thing I like about this mp3 is it's flaw. Right before the music starts, a couple spoken syllables in a woman's voice. It sounds like she's saying "buddify". For whatever reason it's the damn je ne sais quoi of this, for me anyway. It reminds me of editing fuck ups in the days of cassettes. Following any other song on a mix, the two syllables shock you into a transition. In other words, this would do well in a mix right after a completely different type of music. As the song advances the tune sounds as exotic as it's title, kinda. Another cool thing is that there are multiple solos, it's nine minutes long after all. For you jazz people, it's a 1961 Rudy Van Gelder recording with Wayne Shorter and Freddie Hubbard....Fuck. I just noticed that I posted this song about four months ago. Oh well, too late now. There's a couple other Rudy Van Gelder joints down there to make up for it. Dig it.

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

Listen:
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - Arabia mp3 at Internet Archive
Dexter Gordon - Coppin' the Haven mp3 at Internet Archive
Lee Morgan - Filet of Soul mp3 at Internet Archive
Hank Mobley - Beverly mp3 at Internet Archive

FU-HUCK. THAT GUITAR TONE.

True confessions: I've never owned a Black Sabbath LP. When I was growing up, my brother had Black Sabbath Vol. 4. Besides that and the occasional playing of Sabbath on FM radio and at keg parties and such, I figured that if I really did want to hunker down and listen to a bunch of Sabbath, they were popular enough that their records would never go out of print. That's pretty much true, their music has never been all that hard to find. But their heyday was long ago, in the early seventies.

The other night I was out in the alley and a guy on a skateboard at the end of the alley was blasting "War Pigs". I could only see his silhouette until he got closer. I recognized him when the light hit on him. He was the friend of the kid that lives in the apartment in back. Both are eighteen years old, at the prime beer drinking, pot smoking, skirt chasing age. They do all three. They also get into all sorts of mischief and fuck ups. They crack me up. A few months ago they had a bullhorn and were walking around the neighborhood saying ridiculous things with a total deadpan delivery over the bullhorn. Imagine walking down the street and hearing, from a half block away someone you couldn't even see, say over a bullhorn "I just shit myself". I happened to hear it from my kitchen window and almost shit myself laughing. When these kids aren't getting fucked and up falling off their skateboards, they're beating each other up (a few weeks ago, a black eye, bloody noses and a trip to the ER for the instigator, all among friends). They're goofy in a good way. They always spill their guts to me because I'm simpatico. I would have made a terrible parent. Anyway, this kid, eighteen years old, was blasting music that was over fifty years old. That's the thing that got me. Would I have been listening to music that was fifty years old when I was eighteen?  Hell no. That's how bad current music is. Here's three fifty year old classics, all from Sabbath's second LP.

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

Listen:
Black Sabbath - War Pigs mp3 at Internet Archive
Black Sabbath - Paranoid mp3 at Internet Archive
Black Sabbath - Iron Man mp3 at Internet Archive

SO HOT SHE NEEDS TWO GUNS

There's one thing about Blaxploitation film soundtracks. You can't just listen to one song and then go listen to something else. I don't know if it's the drum breaks, the wah-wah, congas, horns or what but I always have to hear a few cuts in a row. Just to let myself sink into it. Then I don't want to leave. These got me started and I'm just now binging on a couple compilations in the living room. I know that once I start watching one of the movies (link below) I'm not coming back.

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

Listen:
Curtis Mayfield - Superfly mp3 at Internet Archive
Johnny Pate - Shaft In Africa mp3 at Internet Archive
Gene Page - Blacula mp3 at Internet Archive
Willie Hutch - Theme From Foxy Brown mp3 at Internet Archive
Curtis Mayfield - Freddie's Dead mp3 at Internet Archive
Dennis Coffey - Theme From Black Belt Jones mp3 at Internet Archive
Curtis Mayfield - Pusher Man mp3 at Internet Archive
Watch:
Blaxploitation flicks at YouTube Tons of them. Tip: Jim Kelly.

GAL COSTA, REST IN PEACE

On the way home tonight I heard that Gal Costa died yesterday. I really love her music. Every thing below was posted back in June and it's not about her in particular but there's a few of her songs. Given the circumstances I've no reservations about re-posting it. Plus I'm lazy.

I have a new next door neighbor, a Brazilian. There's a lot of Brazilians in my neighborhood. Let me tell you, they know how to have a good time. Several years ago when there were other Brazilians living in my complex, it was when Brazil won the World Cup. They went absolutely ape shit. I put on some Brazilian music as a soundtrack to the spectacle in the courtyard and they barged in my apartment and were jumping up and down on my couch. That vision had me hearing music in my head the for last 24 hours. Os Mutantes, bossa nova, Gal Costa, the whole damn Gilberto family, all the Brazilian stuff I was familiar with. Then, on the way home from the beach today I walked by a house that had bossa nova playing, floating out the screen door. That settled it. When I got home I went looking for some bossa nova that I didn't have, something new to me. I found it, a great mix, but shit. Turns out the first hour of the mix was bossa nova and the second hour was anything goes including douchebags. It's indelibly tainted, it includes a song by Mike Love, king of all popular music douchebags. I cannot, in good conscience, pass that on. I feel tainted just mentioning his name. So, what the fuck, here's a few Brazilian things

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

Listen:
Gal Costa - Vou Recomecar mp3 at Super Sonido
Gal Costa - Relance mp3 at Super Sonido
Gal Costa - Acauã mp3 at Super Sonido Wait for the freakout.
Gal Costa - Pontos de Luz mp3 at Super Sonido
Gal Costa & Gilberto Gil - Sebastiania mp3 at Super Sonido Freakout endings seem to be a trend.
Jorge Ben - Mais Que Nada mp3 ('65) at Guizzz Orleans
Os Mutantes - Dom Quixotet mp3 at Archive.org

GANG OF BURMA GUN SYNDICATE

A lot of people will tell you that music sucked in the eighties. That's really true, that is if you're talking about popular music. But, if you were living back then (maybe you were), would you have been listening to popular music? Probably not, not if you're on this blog. What the masses like rarely has anything to do with quality, it's all about the marketing, the push by the record companies and, especially back then, how much screen time the band gets. Back then it was all MTV all the time. (Believe it, they used to actually play music videos.) Anyway, my friends and I weren't paying attention to MTV or mainstream music rags like Rolling Stone. We were in the clubs, record stores and parties. I can't tell you how much music I was turned on to in living rooms with loud stereos. None of that streaming "you might also like" bullshit. More like "you might also spill beer on this". Here's a handful from back then. These were played a lot on drinking nights. Most nights were drinking nights.

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Listen:
Dream Syndicate - Tell Me When It's Over mp3 at Internet Archive
Mission of Burma - That's When I Reach For My Revolver mp3 at Internet Archive
Gang of Four - To Hell With Poverty mp3 at Internet Archive
Gun Club - Sex Beat mp3 at Internet Archive

MEANWILE, IN A BACK ROOM ON MICHIGAN AVE

You know Chess Records. You should. I'd guess that most music freaks can probably name a half dozen blues or rock 'n' roll artists that recorded for Chess. The biggees being Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Koko Taylor, Sonny Boy Williamson, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and so on. Chess did put out some oddballs, some of which have only been reissued in box sets or other compilations. These are three random ones from a box set. The first one is not only the sole 45 that Billy Curley Barrix did for Chess, it's also the only rockabilly song Barrix had released. Starting with his next record a few years later, dude went country. The Clifton Chenier cut is interesting because it's early (around '59) and it's not zydeco, it's blues. Not to worry, his accordion is in there, just there as a guitar or piano would be. It doesn't maintain the boogie like his zydeco sound. But the accordion makes the song regardless. The Billy Miranda cut is down there for two reasons. One is that it sounds like some cross between Screamin' Jay Hawkins and Hasil Adkins. The other reason it's down there is because it's rare these days for me to want to reach through my speakers and slap the singer at the other end upside the head. This Miranda guy is a hysterical whiner.

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Listen:
Billy Curley Barrix - Cool Off Baby mp3 at Internet Archive
Clifton Chenier - My Soul mp3 at Internet Archive
Billy Miranda - Go Ahead mp3 at Internet Archive

IS THIS THE SEARS CATALOG AUDITION?

Yeah, I've been watching the World Series and feeling lazy. Last night I went on a Booker T and the MGs binge and it hasn't subsided. Besides being the house band at Stax, their discography as their own band is an aural rabbit hole. Here's a random selection. "Hip Hug Her"'s my jam.

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Listen:
Booker T & the MGs - Hip Hug-Her mp3 at Internet Archive
Booker T & the MGs - Hang 'em High mp3 at Internet Archive
Booker T & the MGs - Soul Limbo mp3 at Internet Archive
Booker T & the MGs - The Exodus Song mp3 at Internet Archive
Booker T & the MGs - Born Under A Bad Sign mp3 at Internet Archive

THE MASK CONTEST JUDGES DELIBERATED.

Here's some last minute Halloween shake. By the way, I saw the worst costume ever over the weekend. Some dickweed in a store wearing a Santa hat. Ain't nobody got time for that. In other Halloween news, it's 8:20 and I haven't had one damn trick or treater. And you know as well as I do, if I didn't buy candy they'd be knocking the damn door down. Screw 'em. I'll eat the two fucking bags of candy myself.

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Listen:
Billy Strange - The Munsters (Theme) mp3 at Boss Radio 66
Glen Ryle - Wolf Gal mp3 at Franxman
The Cramps - I Was A Teenage Werewolf mp3 at Hey Cool Kid
Screamin' Jay Hawlins - I Put a Spell On You mp3 at Clayton Counts
Bobby Boris Jones - Surfer Smash mp3 at Franxman
Don Hinson and the Riga-Morticians - Ribloflavin Flavored Non-Carbonated Blood mp3 at Franxman
The Cramps - Confessions of a Psycho Cat mp3 at Review Stalker
The Dead Kennedys - Halloween mp3 at Hey Cool Kid

RIP THE KILLER

I just heard the news this morning. The Killer is dead. Jerry Lee Lewis passed away on Friday after a bout of pneumonia. He was 87 years old. This one really fucking hurts. He was the last of the tier one original rockers. I have total respect for Lewis, not just as a rockabilly artist, not just for his singing, his piano playing, showmanship, or his ability to make any song sound like a Jerry Lee Lewis song. The one quality that he had that evaded a lot of the early rockers: he made mistakes and, this is important, owned them. He fucked up as many high profile rockers did, but he was honest enough to cop to them, right or wrong. You might disagree with some of the things he did, but you cannot accuse him of shrinking away from his actions. Most of them anyway.

All day today I was toying with doing a mammoth post but there's just too much to say. Jerry Lee Lewis has been on the top of my list of all-timers for decades. I guess the shit hasn't sunk in yet. Before I go to mourn one of the greatest rockers that ever lived, I should mention two books. I highly recommend Nick Tosches's 1982 Lewis biography Hellfire. It's probably the best biography I've ever read. Rick Bragg's 2014 authorized biography based on interviews with Lewis, Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story, is good too. In addition to Lewis's version of the years covered by Tosches's book, it fills the gap between '82 and '14. Let's get on with it. Here's a few random songs. RIP The Killer.

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Listen:
Jerry Lee Lewis - Great Balls of Fire mp3 at Bousculade
Jerry Lee Lewis - Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On mp3 at OTSOTM
Jerry Lee Lewis - Breathless mp3 at Internet Archive
Jerry Lee Lewis - Lewis Boogie mp3 at Internet Archive
Jerry Lee Lewis - High School Confidential mp3 at Rocky 52