MULLIGAN MEETS OVERSELLING SONG TITLES

Earlier today I was talking to a friend named Alan. I met him a few years ago when music came up in the conversation. It wasn't in a music oriented place and I forget how the subject came up, but it turned out that he was a fiend like myself, into esoteric shit, jazz and, as I later learned, exotica (beyond just Martin Denny and the usual subjects). When we were talking today we were sharing a fondness for isolated listening, that is listening to music with zero distractions. It really is amazing what you hear when you close your eyes and or turn out the lights and just sit there and listen (even better if you dance like nobody's watching because nobody is watching).

About an hour ago, I was digging through some Chet Baker and Gerry Mulligan stuff. West Coast jazz, more chill than crazy. There was a song titled "Nights at The Turntable". It made me think of the earlier conversation, the listening to music thing. So I looked for more and just settled for the ones with most promising titles, none of which really live up to their titles. Regardless, I've gone this far...

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Listen:
Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker - Nights at The Turntable mp3 at Internet Archive
Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker - Funhouse mp3 at Internet Archive
Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker - Rocker mp3 at Internet Archive
Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker - Utter Chaos #1 mp3 at Internet Archive
Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker - Utter Chaos #2 mp3 at Internet Archive

MEANWHILE, IN LINE FOR THE EARLY BIRD SPECIAL

In a Target parking lot of all places. A burr headed, thick, neck-rolled character around late thirties or early forties in age, driving a newish boxy SUV driving toward the parking lot exit blasting the Sex Pistols. It was "EMI", a mid-deep cut in their relatively short discography. Burr Head either had the LP, or was well versed enough in the Pistols that he was on round two of favorites. Not a big deal? It was the first time I'd heard the Sex Pistols blasting from a car in what must be decades. I love it when I hear a great song in the wild.

 

It reminded me that I'd recently seen a live clip of Generation Sex. Generation Sex is two members of Generation X and two Sex Pistols. That is, Billy Idol and Tony James (bass) from Gen X, and Steve Jones (guitar) and Paul Cook (drums). The cool thing about the clip was that they all looked relatively healthy, particularly when you consider they're all in their sixties. The clip is from this years Glastonbury festival (or whatever it is). The odd thing was that Blondie played the same festival, with original Pistol Glen Matlock on bass. Ain't no Cash From Chaos I know.

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Listen:
Sex Pistols - Anarchy in the UK mp3 at Internet Archive
Sex Pistols - EMI  mp3 at Internet Archive Not the LP version. Dave Goodman/Spunk?
Generation X - Your Generation mp3 at Internet Archive
Watch:
Generation Sex - Full Concert, Lucca Summer Festival 2023 at YouTube Shot from audience

MUTE THE ADS

I can't believe I've never hear of this sucker. It's billed as "the last great jam of the sixties" but, c'mon...I don't care about the star power. There could have been a later, greater jam somewhere, in a garage or what have you. (I hate absolutes regardless.) So what this really is is different combinations of musicians, jazz, blues and rock, in a big room going off. Even though I think Eric Clapton is overrated, I can dig on seeing him play with Roland Kirk. That's just one combination.

To see the list of participants and the song list head to YouTube. Once there, to see where the individual songs/jams are, look at the second comment under the description, A @johnhenry4 kindly linked individual performances. I've only watched short snippets so I can't vouch for this "great" rating, but these musicians certainly are no hacks.

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Listen:
Supershow - The Last Great Jam Of The 60's at YouTube
Visit:
Supershow at Wikipedia

ON TAKING A BREATHER

I have a thousand excuses and don't need one of them. I'm, at this moment, sick of screens. I love writing and I love music, but I don't love having a post hanging over my head at the end of the day. I may have just hit a sourpuss speed bump, who knows. This shit hasn't been all that rewarding as of late, more of a chore. In other words, I'm taking a break, duration unspecified. It's been a while. There are literally thousands of posts to dig through if you're so inclined. Have at it. Click like you ass is on fire.

On second thought, that felt good just venting a little bit. No, uh, maybe...fuck, I may be back tomorrow. Who the hell knows?

PULL YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR SPOTIFIED ASS.

A kid across the alley knows who the Rolling Stones are but doesn't know who Keith Richards is. This is hard to stomach. He's a good guy, just a lot younger than me. What bugged me was that it's become apparent that the streaming generation doesn't really know what liner notes are, or if they do they just don't value them. If the guy didn't know who Keith Richards is, would he even be cognizant of a much lesser known band like the Cramps? And, let's just give him the benefit of the doubt and say he does know who they are. Would he know who Lux and Ivy are? Would he even care what music they listened to? What their influences were? Shit, probably not. All that came to mind when, via a chance visit to Kogar's (it's been a while) I saw that  he's remastered the tenth volume of Lux And Ivy's Favorites. If you're familiar with the series, you know. If you're not familiar with what Lux and Ivy's Favorites are, who they are or who the Cramps are, go find out. I'm not here to babysit.

The mix is at two locations. At Boss Radio 66 it's streaming, with a song list. At Kogar's its available to download. (I haven't yet but if it's like his others it's a zip with individual mp3s). The text at both posts is nearly identical (it may be). The exciting news is at the end of the posts, it says "Volume 11 will be next [to be remastered], and THEN (bongo roll!) the newest volume, number 18 will rear its moss covered skull! Until then enjoy this remaster of Volume 10." Kogar rules.

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Listen:
Lux and Ivy's Favorites Volume 10 (Remastered) at Boss Radio 66 Streaming with songlist
Lux and Ivy's Favorites Volume 10 (Remastered) at Kogar's Jungle Juice Download
More:
Past volumes of Lux and Ivy's Favorites posted previously Scroll down the page. Some links may be dead or have changed locations but there should be enough to make it worth your while.

DIG IT! UMBRELLA DRINK TIME IS HERE!

While the majority of the Southwest U.S. is baking in three digit heat, out here on the coast it's really nice, high seventies with the ocean water temperature about 67 degrees. After a swim today I was walking around the hood and passed a house on my route, about a half block from the beach. A bunch of bikes were on the sidewalk outside the house, raggedy ass beach cruisers. There were people on the front deck and from the smell they had some high grade weed. What struck me was that they were listening to. It was old school Hawaiian music, as in the pedal steel, lap steel type. Tourist-y shit.

I was just going to put a couple Jerry Byrd cuts up because he did just that sort of thing. I already had a couple bookmarked but decided to look for more. At Rocky 52, I saw that Byrd was one a part of Danny Huaana and the Islanders, so I headed to Internet Archive and just searched for "the Islanders", and found Harry Kalani And The Islanders. I listened to a few cuts and the music was a lot like Byrds'. So, did the Islanders just change band leaders? I headed to Discogs to look for credits (the LP cover has none) and I found what would be considered a warning that a rabbit hole was ahead. The search result came up with several different titles by different groups. I clicked on one at random, Willie Alunuai And His Band – Hawaiian Holiday. The song list was the same as the one on Harry Kalani And The Islanders. I scrolled to where I was hoping the credits would be and saw this: "Release is issued on at least 10 labels, and credited to..." and goes on to list seven different groups "(and possibly more)". At the end of the day, tourist-y cash-in or not, and no matter who did it, it's great. It's got a cool vibe and some neat variations. Dig the licks on "Hawaiian Holiday".

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Listen:
Jerry Byrd - Hanalei Moon mp3 at Rocky 52
Jerry Byrd - Elmer's Tune mp3 at Rocky 52
Harry Kalani And The Islanders – Hawaiian Holiday mp3 at Internet Archive
Harry Kalani And The Islanders – Luau Lei mp3 at Internet Archive
Harry Kalani And The Islanders – Aloha Oe mp3 at Internet Archive
Harry Kalani And The Islanders – Hawaiian Holiday (the whole LP) at Internet Archive

SKA'DBALLS

Here you go, a handful of ska tunes. Here's the rundown: Dandy Livingstone's (above) "Rudy, A Message to You" was covered by the Specials on their first single in 1979. A similar story with Prince Buster's "One Step Beyond", covered by Madness as their second 45 the same year. Carlos Malcolm's "Bonanza Ska" is a cover of the TV western of the same name. And the Skatalites' "Exodus" is a cover of the theme to the movie of the same name (directed by Otto Preminger). Roland Alphonso is down there because Roland Alphonso. And that's it. Hey, it's Friday.

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Listen:
Dandy Livingstone - Rudy, A Message to You mp3 at Internet Archive
Prince Buster - One Step Beyond mp3 at Internet Archive
Carlos Malcolm and the Afro Caribs - Bonanza Ska mp3 at Internet Archive
The Skatalites - Exodus mp3 at Internet Archive
Roland Alphonso - El Pussycat Ska at Internet Archive

BUT, BABY, IT WAS THE LINER NOTES FAULT!

I can't tell you how many times I passed by on the LP above over the years. Even when I was a teenager just getting into surf music, if I saw this in a thrift store I would smell a cash-in. "Wipe Out"? Really, that's the first cut? The majority of record-buying people wouldn't realize that it was not the original version. Only a fraction of people, those who knew surf music, would see it as a red flag. I did and I knew little about surf music but I did know the original version by the Surfaris. The fact that it was a cover and that the LP cover didn't have the band members' names or even a photo of the band on it was another couple of red fllags. Until today I had never bothered looking at the liner notes. Anonymous band plus cover of "Wipe Out" equaled don't bother. For years I thought that, decades. Today, there was a clue.

In the few credits there are was "Arranger: Paul Johnson". Paul Johnson is a favorite of mine, as a member of the Bel-Airs ("Mr. Moto") and his later bands, PJ and the Galaxies among them. Another credit, "Cover photo: Bruce Brown Productions". OK, cool. They knew enough to go to the source rather than use a stock photo. (Bruce Brown was a surf film-maker. His sixth was the smash Endless Summer.) Then I saw who the producer was, Richard Delvey, former member of the Bel-Airs and then the Challengers. Okay, somethin's up. I went to Discogs and they had a later dubious looking CD-R version of it listed and on that listing it said that the Surfriders were the Challengers under a different name. Even they didn't want to be known doing a Surfaris cover. Okay, now I'll listen.

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Listen:
The Surfriders - Wipe Out mp3 at Internet Archive
The Surfriders - Surf Beat mp3 at Internet Archive
The Surfriders - Rum Runner mp3 at Internet Archive
The Surfriders - Sunset Surfing mp3 at Internet Archive
The Surfriders - (Ghost) Riders in the Sky mp3 at Internet Archive

HEY! GO OVER THERE!

Electric Banana? Who the hell is that? I know, I was thinking the same thing. It's the Pretty Things using a different name to record for a different label. Such oddballs cannot be ignored. These are from 1967-1969. In other words more psych than Bo Diddley. There's an interesting story behind them that you can check at The Rising Storm. It's worth the read and if you're really into the Pretty Things, dig around over there. They/he/she (?) are Pretty Things fiends so there's a bunch of their stuff.

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Listen:
Electric Banana - Alexander mp3 at The Rising Storm
Electric Banana - Eagle's Son mp3 at The Rising Storm
Electric Banana - Love, Dance and Sing mp3 at The Rising Storm

SOUNDS FROM THE 99 CENT BIN

There are three types of people. People who have heard the single version of "Green-Eyed Lady" by Sugarloaf, those who have not heard "Green-Eyed Lady" by Sugarloaf, and those that have heard "Green-Eyed Lady" by Sugarloaf, the single version and the extended LP version. For 99 cents, I joined the latter. That's the beauty of 99 cent bins. It's not like you're looking for rarities. I don't really know anything at all about Sugarloaf and really don't care but that one particular song was a hit (1971) and I associate it with a surf movie soundtrack (I don't even remember the name of the movie). I can't be objective about this song because I've heard it so many times, but the full extended version (6:52) is a nice change.

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Listen:
Sugarloaf - Green-Eyed Lady mp3 at Internet Archive

WAY LATE TO THIS PARTY

Last night just before shutting down the fort and going to bed, I clicked on one last thing just for the hell of it, a random African looking video in the YouTube sidebar . Mdou Moctar. Never heard of him. Click. Holy shit. I'm sure this outfit is well known, the gotta be. They're simply too interesting not to be. The video I checked documents what was supposed to be a video shoot of a band playing in someones yard in the outskirts of town in Niamey, Niger. From the description of the video: "One day, we quietly set up in front of the house to film a few songs. Despite our relative isolation, the noise of the band inevitably attracted a crowd. What started as the four of us simply playing a few songs for a camera turned into a three-night run of rowdy concerts, bringing in hundreds of eager listeners." Cool.

So what does he/they sound like? Hard to describe. His Wikipedia page says his music is "modern rock music inspired by Tuareg guitar music". So what is "Tuareg guitar music"? This is where it gets sticky. Wikipedia says that is what critics refer to it as a "fusion of blues and rock music with Tuareg, Malian or North African music". That tells you as much as it tells me. So, here's my take. First off, I wouldn't really call it rock music, psych yes, though when I was listening a few unrelated bands came to mind, whether it was the instrumentation or overall sound.  I'm sure that they weren't influences, only a shared sound. Some of the music was drone-like, sort of like the Velvet Underground at their most repetitive. Other parts reminded me of the Talking Heads, Stereolab or the first Modern Lovers LP. The one thing that really struck me was that, in parts, this is what the Beatles were attempting when George hauled out the sitar. It's good shit if you like exotic sounds with really intricate guitar. Seriously, the playing is amazing. Oh yeah, that's another thing. The interplay with the stringed instruments brought to mind Televsion's fret work.

When I did a web search I found tons of shit. The stuff posted here is just the tip of the iceberg. In other words, there goes my night.

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Listen:
Mdou Moctar - Chismiten mp3 at Internet Archive
Mdou Moctar - Taliat mp3 at Internet Archive
Mdou Moctar - Ya Habibti mp3 at Internet Archive
Mdou Moctar - Six more at Internet Archive
Video:
Mdou Moctar - Live at the Niger River at YouTube

LET ME READ TO YOU MY PROSE

Talk about a rabbit hole. I'm reading a biography written by a friend of mine, Barry Alfonso, about multi-media hustler Rod McKuen. (Voice of the Warm, Backbeat Books, 2019) I couldn't have been less interested in McKuen, but as I know the author, his taste and his writing (plus he was a hoot to hang out with when he lived in town) I thought I'd give it a shot. It's actually really good!

There were a few things I learned about the McKuen guy I didn't give a shit about. I think we all know that Richard Hell and the Void Oids' "Blank Generation" was based on the McKuen penned "The Beat Generation". I've posted it before but did not know that the Dor that it is co-credited to (along with Bob McFadden), is in fact McKuen (the three letters of his first name backassward). Another thing I didn't know was that the band on it was none other than Bill Haley and his Comets. That's an oddball factoid for you.

The book has tons of stuff like that. I don't want to give any more of it away. It's a good read. Check the interview with Barry about "The Beat Generation". I haven't read it yet but if I trusted him enough to shell out for a book, I think I trust him enough to click. There's a racoon loose in the store.

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Listen:
Don McFadden and Dor - The Beat Generation mp3 at Internet Archive
Richard Hell & the Voidoids - Blank Generation mp3 at Plain or Pan (1976 Ork Records 45 version)
Rod McKuen - No Pictures Please mp3 at Internet Archive
Visit:
Interview #4: Barry Alfonso at Rock and the Beat Generation

DON'T ASK ME ABOUT FLAG WAVING TODAY

I occasionally look at what posts people are clicking on. It lets me know if people are actually digging through old posts. When they do, I'm stoked. Because at some point I'll stop posting and leave this thing to rot online. Just remember, there is a ton of old posts with links that are still working.

Today I saw that someone had been checking out a post with cumbia 78s. Having just had a conversation with an alley dog walker about cumbia, I was in the mood anyway. So I searched here and found some good stuff. See? It works!

Here's a handful from a post at Super Sonido with chicha 45s. Chicha is Peruvian cumbia, with psychedelic or garage overtones. It's awesome, entirely different from what you just listened to. There's also a lengthy article at Perfect Sound Forever (Check that blog. It's real musical egghead territory in a good way.) That should take care of things tonight. Not feeling patriotic with all the shit going on here in the states. America has more idiots in it than I thought. And yes that means MAGAts.

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Listen:
Juaneco y Su Combo - La Cumbia De Los Cuervos mp3 at Super Sonido
Los Vagos De Paramonga - La Muerte Del Lobo mp3 at Super Sonido
Manzanita y Su Conjunto - Asi Asi Asi at Super Sonido
Four more chicha bombs at Super Sonido
Visit:
Peruvian Chicha at Perfect Sound Forever

CALLING CANCEL CULTURE ON SHIT WEEK

Shit. Rick Froberg passed away a few days ago. Big loss in this town. He was in three bands that were all pretty significant in San Diego post-post-punk pantheon, Pitchfork, Drive Like Jehu and Hot Snakes. Later he started another band, the Obits.

He was a great artist too, as shown in the painting above for a Rocket From The Crypt LP cover (Rocket singer and guitarist John Reis was also in Jehu and Hot Snakes). Froberg was 55 and it's been reported that he died of natural causes. At 55? We'll probably never know...

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Listen:

Drive Like Jehu - Luau mp3 at Pretty Goes With Pretty
Drive Like Jehu - New Math mp3  at Review Stalker

Drive Like Jehu - Golden Brown mp3 at New Martini
Drive Like Jehu - Future Home of Stucco Monstrosity mp3 at Pretty Goes With Pretty
Visit:
Rick Froberg was the perfect punk vocalist at NPR

CHILLIN'

I'm doing just what Ray Charles is doing in the above photo. He's the one who put me in the mood to just relax. So that's my excuse for keeping it short. Try it, it might get you out of doing the dishes.

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Listen:
Ray Charles - Drown In My Tears mp3 at Internet Archive
Ray Charles - Hallelujah, I Love Her So mp3 at Internet Archive
Ray Charles - Lonely Avenue mp3 at Internet Archive
Ray Charles - The Right Time mp3 at Internet Archive
Ray Charles - Mess Around mp3 at Internet Archive
Ray Charles - I've Got News For You mp3 at Internet Archive