THE WOLFMAN HOWLS

Racking my brain trying to think of any additional Halloween shit I might have, I got as far as Howlin' Wolf's "Evil". Yeah, you don't have to tell me, it isn't really Halloween related but the title of the song and Wolf's voice is enough to scare away the trick or treaters. "Oh, that's nice, you're the tenth kid I've seen dressed as some pop culture person I've never heard of. I'm fresh out of gummies, here take a Snickers. Hey! It's the fun size goddamnit."  What the hell happened to mummies, Frankenstein, witches and yeah, Wolfman?! Hell, turn out the porch light, listen to Howlin' Wolf and eat all the candy yourself.

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Listen:
Howlin' Wolf - Evil mp3 at Internet Archive
Howlin' Wolf - Moanin' at Midnight mp3 at Internet Archive
Howlin' Wolf - Fourty Four mp3 at Internet Archive
Howlin' Wolf - Gettin' Old and Grey mp3 at Internet Archive

WANT MORE?!

Yikes! I'm so far out of partying mode that it just dawned on me that tonight is the last non-work night partying opportunity before Halloween, otherwise known to serious "I don't give a damn what day it falls on, I'm going to rage on Halloween" type people as poseurs' night. Here's two mixes. One is an instrumental Halloween mix and I'm not quite sure how that works. Sure, band names and song titles might have references to Halloween, but who's hearing that at a party? I've downloaded this mix before, but I don't remember if there's doors creaking, screaming or hokey fake Dracula accents sprinkled about. There are radio ads for movies, I do remember that. It was compiled by J. R. Williams and his mixes are always good. Anyway, I'm wasting time here. Here's the two mixes along with a couple token Cramps semi-related cuts. Get 'em drunk and turn it up.

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Listen:
The Cramps - I Was a Teenage Werewolf mp3 at Hey Cool Kid
The Cramps - Confessions of a Psycho Cat mp3 at Review Stalker
The Mixes: 
More Halloween Instrumentals mix at Boss Radio 66 Go there for the song list.
Trick or Treat Vol 10 mix (via Mediafire) at Grey Haus 36 songs in a zip (or streaming at Mixcloud)

CASTING SPELLS ALL OVER THE DAMN PLACE

Here you go ghouls, once a year whether you need 'em or not. I sure hope I don't have to tell you how essential the Sonics are (that's them with their muse above).. "The Witch" is one of their many great bashers. And Kip Tyler? Everything about "She's My Witch" is spot on. The guitar, the pace, the mood and, holy fuck, the filthy sax solo.

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Listen:
Kip Tyler - She's My Witch mp3 at Hey Cool Kid
The Sonics - The Witch mp3 at Internet Archive
The Lollipop Shoppe - You Must Be A Witch mp3 at Internet Archive

NOT BAD NOT REGGAE

I had to post these. Not because they're all that good, in fact they're not my bag at all. They're just reggae-lite related oddballs. I consider neither real reggae. The first is a seventeen minute cover of the Temptation' "My Girl" by jazz flutist Herbie Mann with Albert Lee and Mick Taylor on guitar, backed by the Tommy McCook Band. McCook was a legendary sax player springing forth from the Skatalites. So what you have is a jazz dude, a guy fresh out of the Stones and a reggae bona fide doing Motown. The other song is an Otis Redding cover by a reggae singer inna disco stylee. Judy Mowatt (seen above) was. one of the I-Threes, a vocal trio that backed Bob Marley (also including Rita Marley and Marcia Griffith). She later tried to crossover by doing some sort of disco reggae hybrid, not unlike Sly and Robbie's evolution around that time, that syn-drum bullshit. But she has a great voice and is better looking than Herbie Mann.

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Listen:
Herbie Mann - My Girl mp3 at Internet Archive
Judy Mowatt - Try A Little Tenderness mp3 at Internet Archive

TRICK.

Here's some more Halloween stuff and you have plenty of time to cherry pick for your ghoul infested soirée next weekend. These come from a bunch I ran into a few years ago and, surprise, surprise, the links are still good. So take a dip and see if any will work for your mix. A special note to anyone familiar with 45 Grave's early work, you'll be interested in Don Hinson's original version of  "Riboflavin Flavored Non-Carbonated Polyunsaturated Blood", a cover of which was, I think, the first thing 45 Grave ever committed to vinyl.

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Listen:
Don Hinson and the Riga-Morticians - Riboflavin Flavored Non-Carbonated Polyunsaturated Blood mp3 at Franxman
Bobby Boris Jones - Surfer Smash mp3 at Franxman
The Abominable Surfmen - Monster Surfer mp3 at Franxman
Kenny and the Fiends - House on Haunted Hill mp3 at Franxman
Tarantula Ghoul and the Gravediggers - Graveyard Rock mp3 at Franxman
Glen Ryle - Wolf Gal mp3 at Franxman
The Zanies - Mad Scientist mp3 at Franxman
Frankie Stein and His Ghouls - Monster Motion mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
The collections:
Ghouls With Attitude (Disc 1) - 28 songs at Franxman Individual mp3s 
Ghouls With Attitude (Disc 2) - 23 songs at Franxman Ditto above

THIS SONG IS AT THE WRONG LABEL

If I was at Stax back in the sixties and seventies and someone suggested that a Stax artist cover a Motown song, I'd feel it my duty to discourage it. More like "Get the fuck out." It's not like Stax had any shortage of songwriters, and those songwriters had Stax artists in mind when the wrote songs. Why bother covering Motown? But they did. Here's three.

Eddie Floyd (the "Knock On Wood" guy) covered the Temptations' "My Girl". It's good, really good. If you didn't know the song, you'd never guess that it was a Motown cover. Isaac Hayes, no stranger to covers, completely changed the vibe of Jackson 5's "Never Can Say Goodbye" turning it into a stormy night lovers slow jam. Then again, he could do that with any song. Margie Joseph did a great version of the Supremes' "Stop! In the Name of Love" replete with a long spoken word intro and all sorts of dramatic strings. It's less pop, more story than the Supremes. Somehow all three work without a hint of a Motown sound.

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Listen:
Eddie Floyd - My Girl mp3 at Internet Archive
Isaac Hayes - Never Can Say Goodbye mp3 at Internet Archive
Margie Joseph - Stop! In the Name of Love mp3 at Internet Archive

IT CAME FROM THE 99¢ BIN

Here's another one from the 99¢ bin. I'm not sure if it still ends up there but there was a time when it was practically inescapable. If you frequented the 99¢ bins (and thrift stores) in the past some records were so omnipresent that it seemed like once a title was put in the bin, it began reproducing. One time a record store I frequented had so many Molly Hatchet records in their 99¢ bin that, while talking to the counter guy, I pretended to be browsing while I clandestinely pulled a bunch of the Molly Hatchet records and arranged them in their front display rack meant for featured or new releases. It's was funnier than it sounds. I knew the owner and he hated Molly Hatchet (as do I) and that was probably why all of them were in the 99¢ bin in the first place.

As I mentioned, this was one from the 99¢ bin and, man, it really shows how Buffalo Springfield was still trying to figure out what kind of band they were after their first LP. These are from their second, Buffalo Springfield Again. The first one is "Mr. Soul" penned and sung by Neil Young. It's a little harder edged, a harbinger of his solo stuff that came a few years later. It is also awesome. "Rock & Roll Woman" [sic] is a Stephen Stills song and it's, well, a laid back Laurel Canyon thing, not all that surprising considering Buffalo Springfield were part of that. The big surprise was "Good Time Boy", a blue eyed soul thing written by Richie Furay and sung by the drummer Dewey Martin. Here's to liner notes. If it weren't for liner notes I wouldn't have a fucking clue who Dewey Martin was.

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Listen:
Buffalo Springfield - Mr. Soul mp3 at Internet Archive
Buffalo Springfield - Rock & Roll Woman mp3 at Internet Archive
Buffalo Springfield - Good Time Boy mp3 at Internet Archive

NATIONAL [PREFERRED TERM] MONTH, PT 8

If you saw that photo above and didn't know who it was, you'd wonder what the the hell the guy was up to. He looks like an extra from a Quentin Tarantino or Robert Ramirez film, like that accordion is going to turn into a machine gun. I don't  know, there's something about that photo that sucks me in. Obviously he looks badass. Badass, as in don't make me put this thing down self assured badass.

The self assured badass is Esteban Jordan, a master of the accordion. Revered in squeeze box circles. He was the first to use effects with an accordion. Check this video. It's Tex Mex psych, like dub in places. The visual effects are total public access TV.

There's a few songs below and a link to a concise obituary profile from 2010 at NPR within it a first hand account of the author trying to interview him. I did not know he could get every bit as pissy as Mr. Baker.

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Listen:
Esteban Jordan - Las Coronelas mp3 at Let's Polka
Esteban Jordan - Squeeze Box Man mp3 at Super Sonido
Esteban Jordan - You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling mp3 at To the Sublime
Esteban Jordan - Polkaplex (streaming) at YouTube
Video:
Esteban Jordan - El Casabel at YouTube From Austin City Limits
Esteban Jordan - Clockwise at YouTube
Visit:
Remembering Esteban 'Steve' Jordan, Genius Of The Accordion at NPR

IT'S FRIDAY THE 13TH SOMEWHERE

Well here we are, Friday the 13th. Nothing bad has happened to me, yet. I remember thinking that on the way home from a Friday the 13th party years ago, "Nothing bad has happened ..." Ka-plunk!! Pfft! Pfft! Pssssss..." Two flat tires! Yeah. That was the mid-eighties because I remember that I was driving the '78 Chevette that I bought from my younger sister for $300. Anyway, staying home tonight, just in case.

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Listen:
Stevie Wonder - Superstition mp3 at Internet Archive 1972
Stevie Wonder - Superstition (Live) mp3 at Troubled Souls Unite 1974
Beck, Bogart and Appice - Superstition mp3 at Internet Archive 1973
Counterpoint:
Howlin' Wolf - I Ain't Superstitious mp3 at Internet Archive 1962

[DO NOT USE "CUCKOO FOR KOKO"]

"Wang Dang Doodle" was the gateway. It was on a reissue of Koko Taylor's first LP. I remember being a bargain, something like five bucks and I wanted the song anyway. After hearing the whole LP she became my go-to Chicago blues lady. The other essential cuts are "Fire" and "Insane Asylum", the latter one of my all-time favorites. The tension builds as Willie Dixon sings the intro, and right when the transition to Taylor happens it's just blam! The emphasis on the drums and her rough voice just grabs you by the collar and gets in your face. Listen to it loud.

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Listen:
Koko Taylor - Wang Dang Doodle mp3 at Internet Archive
Koko Taylor - Fire mp3 at Internet Archive
Koko Taylor - Insane Asylum mp3 at Internet Archive
Koko Taylor - I Got All You Need mp3 at Internet Archive
Koko Taylor - Egg or the Hen mp3 at Internet Archive
Video:
Koko Taylor with Little Walter - Wang Dang Doodle (live) at YouTube

WEIRD NOISE NIGHT

Only in OB. People say that all the time. OB stands for Ocean Beach, where I live. (Not the San Francisco Ocean Beach, the San Diego Ocean Beach.) Whenever something odd, bizarre, nasty, ugly or incredibly beautiful, someone is lurking saying "Only in OB". It's usually someone that doesn't live in OB. Today I caught myself saying "Only in OB". I had just gotten out of the water and was beginning the walk home when I saw this cat with what appeared to be a Theremin. It turned out it was. The guy practically forced me to play it, showing me how. He was dark skinned, healthy build with Willie Nelson type braids, some ink and a bunch of wrist accoutrements. Dude was in my face and super hyper. Didn't seem like a tweaker, was too energetic to be stoned and he didn't smell of hooch. My guess is he was always excitable and in someone's face. Either that or on acid.

Anyway, so I'm messing with his Theremin (it turns out it's a Moog Theremini) and I was still dripping wet from my dip. The guys showing me how to wiggle your hand around a wand, his instructions: "like you're in a pussy". Okay then, I guess it's Theremin lesson in "locker room talk". The guy was nice and everything but I had to get going. Walking up the alley, thinking about all the juxtapositions of the last half hour, I caught myself muttering "only in OB".

I came home and started digging through my old posts that were tagged "theremin" and, lo and behold, I came across an online Theremin that approximates a real one, except it's not the movement of your hand, but the cursor. Here's what I wrote back then:

I know very little about theremins. I know that you play them without your hands touching them, that the Beach Boys used one to make the weird noises on "Good Vibrations", and that a bunch of old sci-fi movies used them for eerie sounds. Other than that, squat. I'm ignorant of all of the technical mumbo jumbo. There's a couple links below to Wikipedia entries if you're that into it. But the rest of you knuckleheads might find the online theremin simulating doohickey amusing. I just messed with it for a couple minutes and was able to replicate, accidentally, some familiar sounds. (NOTE: To start, click on the circle in the top right of the screen. It will tell you that you have to download an app but that's only for phones. On a laptop or desktop, you're good to go. One hint, keep your right clicker down while you move the cursor around willy nilly.) Depending on you propensity to indulge in time sucking distractions, you'll either find it very cool and fuck with it for hours on end, or, as I did, shrug meat. Cool nonetheless.

The songs from Messer Chups are down there because they feature Lydia Kavina (pictured above), who is apparently renowned and has been playing the Theremin since age nine. She also happens to be the granddaughter of Léon Theremin's first cousin. No mention of Kevin Bacon.

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Listen:
Messer Chups - Instro Monster Cresendo mp3 at Internet Archive
Messer Chups - Orgia of the Dead mp3 at Internet Archive
Messer Chups - Devil Exit From Fashion mp3 at Internet Archive

Visit:
Theremin at Femur Design Online version, obviously not the real thing.
Theremin at Wikipedia
Léon Theremin at Wikipedia

KNOW THY FULL ALBUM

You have to have lived with an album for a number of years before you all of a sudden realize that you have a handful of go-to deep cuts that were never consciously on your map.. The Faces' Ohh La La is like that for me, a great album, I must have bought at least four or five used copies over the years. Because it doesn't have any hits, or even well known songs (with the possible exception of the title cut) people dump them, or at least they used to, often landing in 99 cent bins. But it really is a great LP. Here's two go-tos.:

"Fly In the Ointment" sounds as if the Faces (sans Stewart) are trying to come up with their version of a Booker T and the MGs thing, with. Ian McLagan as Booker T and Ron Wood as Steve Cropper, in roles anyway. While it ain't no Memphis I know, it's an awesome jam. The other song, "Borstal Boys" is down there because I've never heard it played in the wild and it really should be heard. A great completely overlooked rocker.

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Listen:
The Faces - Fly In the Ointment mp3 at Internet Archive
The Faces - Borstal Boys mp3 at Internet Archive

NATIONAL [PREFERRED TERM] MONTH, PT 7

I would have gotten to this one before the month was out but I had to post it right away after seeing this video. A friend just posted a live thing from a Carlos Santana show in 2019. His brother, Jorge Santana, joins him on stage for "Suavecito". Jorge Santana was in Malo, the band that had a hit with it in 1972. (The LP cover is above.) The thing about the video is a moment when Carlos, in the hat on the left, walks over, pinches his brother, drapes his arm over his shoulder and then pats him on the back of his head. (It's at 0:14.) It's such a brotherly moment, I OD'd on all the warm and fuzzy, chicken soup, heart string pulling power of it. This is for Tim. He'd dig it. The Malo version is at the bottom. He'd dig that more.

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Listen:
Malo - Suavecito mp3 at Tumblr 1972

SOUNDTRACK FOR TEENAGE AIR GUITAR

A couple days ago I read a thing about a recently released expanded version of Who's Next, the Who album from '71. It's the usual routine: different versions of formats varying in price depending on the shit that's included. I've got my own routine. Wait until after Christmas when the unwanted gifts end up in the used bins. All the boxed sets are out of my rational price range when they're first released and I don't really need to hear every burp and fart recorded during sessions, landmark album or not.


Who's Next is a great album, no doubt about it. After I saw the thing about the expanded version(s), I listed to the original and, I gotta say, it still sounds fresh even after listening to it for years. Here's a handful from it and the reasons vary for each selection. "Baba O'Riley", for the intro. Imagine being a teenager back in the day, before the use of synthesizers was widespread. Having heard a lot of guitar based music, I was unprepared for the introduction of "Baba O'Riley". My first thought was "What the fuck is this?". A glance at the liner notes provided the answer and another question. "Oh, that was something called , uh, an ARP2600? What the fuck is an ARP2600 ?". A year later the liner notes for the Edgar Winter Group's "They Only Come Out at Night" also credited the ARP2600 (on "Frankenstein").

Another song down there, "My Wife" is of interest, to me anyway, because of the vocals and the horns. John Entwistle's vocals on it are double tracked or something, I'm not sure what the technical term is but if you listen closely, it's the same voice and same lyrics coming out of the speakers, but the timing is off by a split second making it reminiscent of Jeff Lynne's  vocals with Electric Light Orchestra (or the lead vocals on a lot of Offspring's stuff). The horns, while not dominant, punctuate the song a lot like some Stax stuff. "Going Mobile" is down there because it's possibly the most rocking song I've heard that doesn't feature an electric guitar until halfway through. I'd heard the song for years before I realized that the only electrified instrument that runs all the way through the song is Entwistle's bass. Mid-song it starts, crazy licks and a lotta shit going on. Still, the driving force of the song is Entwistle and Keith Moon. Very effective. The last song down there is "Won't Get Fooled Again" because, uh, the scream. If you know the song, you know.

One thing I gotta add after just watching a performance of "Baba O'Riley" from 2019. After a really long intro, it kicks in and it's really pretty good. Obviously Daltry and Townshend are the only OGs, it's still much better than I expected and they're backed by an orchestra. So I'm cruising along digging it, then it 3:04, right after Daltry sings "Let's get together, before we get much older" he fucking looks at his watch. In the middle of a song, in the middle of "Baba O'Riley". At Wembley Stadium, with an orchestra backing him. Dude, where ya gotta be?

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Listen:
The Who - Baba O'Riley mp3 at Internet Archive
The Who - My Wife mp3 at Internet Archive
The Who - Going Mobile mp3 at Internet Archive
The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again mp3 at Internet Archive
Video:
The Who, Isobel Griffiths Orchestra - Baba O’Riley (Live At Wembley, UK / 2019)

NATIONAL [PREFERRED TERM] MONTH, PT 6

I've listened to a good amount of Tito Puente over the years, of all different eras. He did it all, big band, mambo, cha cha cha, salsa, boogaloo, Afro-cuban jazz. One thing I didn't expect to hear was a song that sounded like a soundtrack to a blaxploitatio flick or a 70s cop show. I should've guessed it by the title, "Black Brothers". Listen to the other three down there first to get a feel of why I was not expecting "Black Brothers". If you are under a certain age, I should point out that "Oye Como Va" was later covered by Santana. If you do not know who Santana is, go ask your parents.

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Listen:
Tito Puente - Oye Como Va mp3 at Internet Archive
Tito Puente - Fiesta Con Puente mp3 at Internet Archive
Tito Puente - Salsa y Sabor mp3 at Internet Archive
Tito Puente - Black Brothers mp3 at Internet Archive

NATIONAL [PREFERRED TERM] MONTH, PT 5

Yee haw! An excuse to post some early Freddy Fender. Back when "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" was a hit, I never dreamed that I'd be listening to his music decades later and digging him more than ever. He's done so much over the years. Here's just a few from the early years. Baldemar Huerta was his birth name, Eddie Medina was a name he used to record for one record label while under contract to another under his real name.

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Listen:
Freddy Fender and the Comancheros - Boogaloo en Monterey mp3 at Super Sonido
Baldemar Huerta - Pancha Rock mp3 at Vuelve  Primavera 
Eddie y Los Shades - Acapulco Rock mp3 at Vuelve  Primavera

MYSTO BAND OF THE DAY

Man, I know nothing about this band. All I could really find out was that they were active in mid-sixties West Germany. I would have given it a little more effort but I got distracted by videos of the Pretty Things in the sidebar at YouTube. Once that grasp of researching is loosened, it's time to ditch it. I'll dig later.

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Listen:
The Boots - Mama Keep Your Big Mouth Shut mp3 at Internet Archive
The Boots - Whatcha Gonna Do About It? mp3 at Internet Archive
The Boots - Got Love If You Want It mp3 at Internet Archive