DOWN THERE AT THE END OF THE ALLEY

I wasn't looking for this because I didn't know it existed. It's a live set from the Gories from 1989, three years after they formed. What you'll notice is a, eh, somewhat sloppy performance. If you're worried about that, can't get past it, then you're probably not Gories material. It's raw, but not in a Stooges sort of way. To be honest, it sounds like they could use meatier amps. Had I never heard the Gories or Mick Collins's next band, the Dirtbombs, and the video was my first exposure, I'd probably dismiss them altogether. That is, until late in the set when they cover the Velvet Undergound's "Guess I'm Falling In Love". It's not an earth shattering cover but they do it as an instrumental. For me, that's key, because the Velvets' instrumental version is one of my all-time favorite songs.

I'm not exactly making the case for the Gories, but they're that kind of band. You're either in the sonically malnourished garage or the fancy one. I jam econo. There's a couple songs below along with a link to another live set from a 2005 reunion.

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Listen:
The Gories - Rat's Nest mp3 at Gramotunes
The Gories - The Chick Inn mp3 at Monkey (Total Hasil Adkins thing going on here)
Video:
The Gories at Burger Boogaloo 2015 (full set) at YouTube

DAD'S COOL WITH IT

A couple of days ago in the post about LA LOM, the description of their music (lifted from their web site) was "with the twang of Peruvian Chicha and Bakersfield Country." Shit, for the past few days I keep thinking about the Bakersfield sound. If you're not familiar with what the Bakersfield sound was, it was a California rebut to the glossy over-produced country music coming out of Nashville. Sounds like a similar challenge as that of punk rock vs glossy over-produced rock 'n' roll music coming out of everywhere. That's my analogy for the night and I'm stickin' to it.

Buck Owens was part and parcel of the Bakersfield sound, due in no small part to the superb chicken pickin' from Buckaroos lead guitarist Don Rich. Check the video above, annotated with comments about the simple but effective mic placement.

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Listen:

Buck Owens - World Famous Paradise Inn mp3 at Internet Archive
Buck Owens - Loves Gonna Live Here mp3 at Rocky 52
Buck Owens - I Don't Care (Just As Long As You Love Me) mp3 at Rocky 52
Buck Owens - Our Old Mansion mp3 at Internet Archive
Buck Owens - Rollin' In My Sweet Baby's Arms mp3 at Rocky 52
Buck Owens - Johnny B. Good mp3 at Rocky 52
Buck Owens - Corn Liquor mp3 at Rocky 52

Visit:
Buck Owens Brunch: The Tragic Story of Don Rich at Bigfoot Diaries This is a great read.

I'LL HAVE THE SIX PIECE NUGGET MEAL

Post-slack fest posts are always about righting the ship and getting back to meat and potatoes rock. At different times it's been punk rock, rockabilly or garage, in other words, stuff with dirt under the nails. Throw away the candy canes, garage is for dinner tonight. Fuzz and nasally vocals, you know the drill.

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Listen:
Count Five - Declaration of Independence mp3 at Internet Archive
Chocolate Watch Band - Let's Talk About Girls mp3 at Internet Archive
We the People - You Burn Me Up and Down mp3 at Internet Archive
The Woolies - Who Do You Love mp3 at Internet Archive
Kenny and the Kasuals - Nothing Better to Do mp3 at Internet Archive
Third Bard - I'm Five Years Ahead of my Time mp3 at Internet Archive

DECK THE HALLS WITH WTF

Because you need a little yuletide WTF, here's the Blue Star Chorus. That's right, chorus. And, no, these guys don't back a chorus, let alone a single singer. Their "Silent Night" is a Ventures-like instrumental. Not entirely an odd take, but the record cover that contains it pretty much takes care of that. It's kind of uncool to make fun of things, but it is not uncool to point out that there is an errant apostrophe between the "X" and "mas", that the Christmas tree is tilted, the uke player is sitting on his ass, the drummer is out front, the seated guitar player doesn't give enough of a shit to look at the camera let alone hold his guitar. No, I'm not pointing those things out to make fun of the sleeve. Au contraire, the sleeve is brilliant. Accidental brilliance perhaps, but it's doubtful that even one of your garden variety ironic hipsters could dream that shit up.

The Blue Star Chorus is from Taiwan. But, you ask, what would Christmas sound like in India? I'm glad you asked that question. In India it would sound much like Christmas music from the west, except with sitar. Because if you want to hook those looking for authentic Christmas music from India, sitar is a no brainer. Jayran Achary knows that.

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Listen:
Blue Star Chorus - Silent Night at Radiodiffusion International Taiwan
Jayran Achary - Santa Clause Is Coming to Town mp3 at Radiodiffusion International India

JOYFUL? CHECK. TRIUMPHANT? CHECK.

Santa must have been pretty lethal to have given the late Lux Interior the bug. Here's the proof. Two Christmas mix tapes, both posted here several times in the past but it wouldn't be slack fest without repeating the seasonal repost cop out. RIP Lux. Long live Ivy.

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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.

IT'S A HAMMOND CHRISTMAS CHARLIE BROWN

The jazz station just played Vince Guaraldi for the umpteenth time. Yeesh. I'm sick of that guy, at least the Christmas stuff that gets played to death every year. You gotta realize, growing up when and where I did, I've heard the music from "A Charlie Brown Christmas" every year for decades. Now, when I want keyboard driven holiday songs I need a little more meat on the bones. Jimmy Smith does a fine job. So do Booker T and the MGs.

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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
Booker T and the MGs - Jingle Bells mp3 at The Rising Storm
Booker T and the MGs - Santa Claus is Coming to Town mp3 at The Rising Storm

PARTY IN THE TRANSPORTER ROOM

Henry Rollins (Black Flag), Todd Rundgren, Ben Folds, Elliot Easton (Cars), Artimus Pyle (Lynyrd Skynyrd), Iggy Pop and Brad Paisley. That's just a partial list of the musicians that have played on records by William Shatner. It's like this massive in-joke shared by all of the people who consume his, er, music. The fact is, it is music and in most cases good music. So, is it the guilty pleasure factor? The tongue in cheekiness? Novelty? You decide.

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Listen:
William Shatner - Silent Night mp3 at Internet Archive with Iggy Pop
William Shatner - Run Rudolph Run mp3 at Internet Archive with Elliot Reaston
William Shatner - Blue Christmas mp3 at Internet Archive with Brad Paisley
William Shatner - Winter Wonderland mp3 at Internet Archive with Todd Rundgren, Artimus Pyle
William Shatner - T'was the Night Before Christmas mp3 at Internet Archive
William Shatner - White Christmas mp3 at Internet Archive
William Shatner - Little Drummer Boy mp3 at Internet Archive
William Shatner - Jingle Bells mp3 at Internet Archive with Henry Rollins
William Shatner - Feliz Navidad mp3 at Internet Archive
Bonus cut (for a friend):
William Shatner & Henry Rollins - I Can't Get Behind That mp3 at Internet Archive

ALGORITHIM AS SELECTOR

These guys have been around for a couple years and I had to be hepped by a goddamn sidebar. I hate when that happens but it really doesn't bother me as much these days. There's just too much stuff out there to keep track of everything. These guys though, whoa, from what little I've seen, they got a good sound going. I haven't done a deep dig yet. This I do know, LA LOM stands for "Los Angeles League of Musicians", so generic they might as well be called "Los Angeles Band". Started as a trio (which I guess constitutes a league), but some videos have as many as five members (adding pedal steel and Latin percussion on some). I haven't come across a full bio yet and there's little info on their site, but this description pretty much nails it: "They blend the sounds of Cumbia Sonidera, 60’s soul ballads and classic romantic boleros that emanate from radios, backyard parties and dance clubs of Los Angeles with the twang of Peruvian Chicha and Bakersfield Country." As odd as that combination sounds, all the ingredients point directly up my alley.

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Watch:
LA LOM - Their YouTube channel with a bunch of videos
Visit:
LA LOM - Official site
LA LOM - Online store Two 45s! (They're pricey though.)

GOT IT, FUNKY WITH GO POWER.

Yep, another Holiday Slackfest All-Star, the GFOS, once a year whether you need it or not. These reposts are getting to be a season all their own. Really though, were you gonna listen to these in July?

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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 - Let's Unite the World at Christmas mp3 at Panic Stream
James Brown - Please Come Home For Christmas mp3 at Panic Stream

CAN 2,218 COPIES BE A CASH-IN?

I gotta say, unless there's a good reason, Christmas records ought to be limited to 45s. A full album of Christmas tunes just seems too much like a cash-in. And if the Christmas songs are limited to a 45, all the better if they're original songs. I mean, c'mon, if we're even going to hope for new Christmas classics, there's going to have to be new material, and a steady supply because most aren't going to make the cut. While some might cite the Waitresses' "Christmas Wrapping" or Run DMC's "Christmas In Hollis" as modern Christmas classics, even those are a bit worn. I've got my own not-yet-worn playlist, and it includes Jon Spencer's 1992 Subpop Singles Club 45 (limited to 2,218 copies), "Big Yule Log Boogie" b/w "My Christmas Wish". Hell yeah.

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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

IT'S THE EGGNOG BABE.

I'd forgotten all about this one. Obviously, you can see it's the Hives with Cyndi Lauper. Ho-hum, right? Go on thinking that. Go on, play it for your granny without listening to it first. Ho-hum it up. I wish I could be there.

There are some colorful lyrics in this one, made more potent with the big production. It really is like a Spector Wall of Sound thing. Loud.

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Listen:
The Hives and Cyndi Lauper - A Christmas Duel mp3 at Blogbdon

ATTN: PARTY PLANNING COMITTEE

You knew this was coming. The holiday tradition, at the peak of laziness and in need of breathing room, the annual reposting of Reverend Tom Frost's Bloody Xmas Mixes.

For all of you party planners running around like headless chickens, a reminder is in order. Spread the Good Word's Bloody Christmas mixes are still online. They used to be downloads, but they're now streaming (click on the "download" links below the song lists). Though they are streaming, I'm sure someone you know is savvy enough to run them through your sound system.

The Mixes:
Spread The Good Word Bloody Holiday Mix 9
Spread The Good Word Bloody Holiday Mix 8
Spread The Good Word Bloody Holiday Mix 7
Spread The Good Word Bloody Holiday Mix 6
Spread The Good Word Bloody Holiday Mix 5
Spread The Good Word Bloody Holiday Mix 4
Spread The Good Word Bloody Holiday Mix 3
Spread The Good Word Bloody Holiday Mix 2
Spread The Good Word Bloody Holiday Mix 1
From the Reverend
Reverend Tom Frost - A Bloody Life (streaming) at YouTube
Reverend Tom Frost - Much more at YouTube
Visit:
Reverend Tom Frost at BandCamp

CHRISTMAS CAROL THIS

Let's just get this out of the way. Ninety percent of Christmas is just total crap. You might argue with that figure, but you know that it's drifted far off course. It's just an excuse to spend a lot of money on unneeded crap, and eat more food than your body is designed to handle. Are we fucking nuts? 

We all have our varying beliefs, and I can totally see why many devout Christians take offense at their day of reflection and worship being appropriated for financial gain. How'd you like it? Let's say you, Joe Blow, it's your birthday. We are going to mark the day, nay, the season, by buying so much worthless crap, and eating so much total junk, that we'll forget who you even are. 

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Listen:
The Sonics - Don't Believe In Christmas mp3 at Clayton Counts

THERE IS NO ESCAPE

Here's a mixed bag of Christmas themed reggae cuts. I tried to avoid the overly corny covers that were overt cash-ins (most of them heavy with synthesizers). The few familiar songs are at least interesting to hear ("Santa Claus is Ska-ing to Town", "Santa Claus Dub"). I think some of these are originals, I'm not sure. Gotta say, I'm diggin' the Lord Stitt cut. (Stitt was one of the very first DJs, recording before the big DJ explosion ushered in by U Roy, followed by I Roy, Dennis Alcapone, Dillinger, Dr. Alimantado, et al.) Christmas themed reggae covers aren't really my bag but, hey, it's better than Bing Crosby. Along those lines, I had to add the song "Reggae Christmas" because it's funny, obviously a parody. With a generic reggae riddim it includes lines like "Reggae, is totally unrelated to Christmas", It's lame and brilliant at the same time, perfect for those like myself that have a mild aversion to reggae Christmas songs. Avert these.

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Listen:
Johnny Clarke- I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus mp3 at Internet Archive
The Ethiopians - Ding Dong Bell mp3 at Internet Archive
The Maytals - Happy Christmas mp3 at Internet Archive 
King Stitt - Christmas Tree mp3 at Internet Archive
The Aggrovators - Santa Claus Dub mp3 at Internet Archive
Lee Perry and Sandra Robinson - Merry Christmas mp3 at Internet Archive
Granville Williams Orchestra - Santa Clause Is Ska-ing to Town mp3 at Internet Archive
TimDrum - Reggae Christmas (streaming) at YouTube

SOUNDS DIFFERENT

You might have heard, Shane MacGowan passed away a week ago. He was the lead singer of the Pogues. I've thought about him and the Pogues over the past few days but not nearly as much as I thought about my friends. Back in the day, a lot of my friends from the music scene were into the Pogues and, looking back, I realized that there was a certain type of person that liked the band. I can't really put my finger on it but it was beyond the binary cool/not cool classification. It was like a secret that this small slice of the scene "got" while others were trying too hard to be the coolest in the room. I started thinking about those friends, some now deceased, and got all warm and fuzzy, remembering the Christmas Eve DJ gigs my friend Julie and I had (at the Pink Panther and later the Casbah) and the reaction that "Fairytale of New York" would get whether we played it or one of our DJ friends did.. All of the faces of drunk friends, cigarette smoke softening the view, a few on the plywood covered pool table that did double duty as a dance floor when things got crowded. Shane MacGowan was one of us on those nights.

I didn't post "Fairytale of New York" right away because I was hoping to find a quality mp3 version and this will have to do. There really is a lot going on in it. The video above is my favorite live version. In doinking around looking at Pogues stuff the past few days I ran into a trailer for a documentary, Crock of Gold - A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan that I didn't know existed (link below). It's by Julian Temple who did the Sex Pistols flick The Filth and the Fury. But, back to the song, it does something to me. It's very real, a lot of it is the interplay between MacGowan and Kirsty MacColl. At points you forget it's a song.

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Listen:
The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl - Fairytale of New York mp3 at Internet Archive
Documentary trailer:
Crock of Gold - A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan - Official Trailer

THE GODMOTHER (SLIGHT RETURN)

Man, it's kind of disheartening how many younger kids can't name a single Rolling Stone or even one of the Beatles, let alone knowing who Muddy Waters or Chuck Berry were. Even with the internet at their disposal, they seem to lack the interest in looking backward to find their favorite musicians early influences. That kills me. I had to wait for the internet to arrive to find out who Sister Rosetta Tharpe was. If you don't know who she is, she's one of the few musicians that Chuck Berry had cited as a guitar influence. Before the internet I had no clue who she was. That occurred to me yesterday as I happened to run across a sidebar link to a Sister Rosetta Tharpe documentary. I checked, I'd posted it nine years ago, but the link to it no longer functioned. It was about time for a refresher anyway. So here it is again, along with a few songs. I also ran across a compilation clip of her guitar solos from various films and live clips. As you'll see, she really was a link between gospel and rock 'n' roll. Consider her essential. If you don't know who any of the Rolling Stones are, go back to square one.

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Listen:
Sister Rosetta Tharpe -  Didn't It Rain mp3 at Keep the Coffee Coming
Sister Rosetta Tharpe -  Up Above My Head mp3 at More Things
Sister Rosetta Tharpe -  Strange Things Happen Every Day mp3 at More Things
Sister Rosetta Tharpe -  Rock Daniel mp3 at Internet Archive
Watch:
Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Guitar Solos in Motion Pictures at YouTube

KIDS GET A PASS.

Shit, it's only December 3rd and I'm already reposting a Christmas thing. I was planning on going light on the holiday fare this year. The big reason is that I can't really, with a good conscience, continue to be a part of the rampant consumer gluttony. Granted posting holiday songs isn't quite like whispering "buy more useless crap" into someone's ear, but it sure doesn't discourage the practice. Think of it, starting with the most ridiculous: a fucking giant red bow on a brand new car. Really? To me that's just obscene. But what do you have at the other end? Stocking stuffers that might get a chuckle before they're added to the landfill. And even stocking stuffers are expensive. Then you have the actual food gluttony. I could go on and on and sound like a Scrooge but the reality is that everyone has been conditioned to think that all that is normal. We've been hoodwinked into thinking this behavior is acceptable. Of course all of this goes out the window if there are kids involved. Do you want your kid to be the first one at school to say that Santa is made up bullshit?

So why a Christmas song? I was at the grocery store yesterday and it was the first appearance of the Salvation Army's red kettle. The person manning it has been the same for the past three or four years, an elderly guy with reddened eyes that appears almost animatronic. Like years past, he was repeating "Thank you very much god bless you thank you very much god bless you..." over and over, in a gruff voice that out-Waits-ed Tom Waits.  All the time ringing the bell. He even did it when there was no one near him, as if he was in a trance and couldn't break it. Then he would stop for a minute, as if to re-charge, and then start up again for four or five minutes. (All this culled from several observations over the years.) Yesterday it finally hit me. The guy's voice sounded just like Joseph Spence (seen above), a Bahamian folksinger that, well, sounded like he was drunk. Come to think of it, I wonder if the Salvation Army dude carries a bottle?

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Listen:
Joseph Spence - Santa Claus is Coming to Town mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Oddball bonus:
Jayran Acharya - Santa Clause Is Coming to Town mp3 at Radiodiffusion International India

WHOA, DODGED THAT BULLET.

I can relax now. I managed to avoid it for years and in now looks like I'm in the clear. Kiss has played their final concert and I can rest assured that for the years going forward I shall never have to fear turning a corner and finding myself in the thick of it at a Kiss concert. Nor will I ever have to hear inane stage banter from Paul Stanley. If I had accidentally found myself at a Kiss concert and heard the insipid remarks coming out of Star Face, I'd also find myself rushing the stage to slap him upside the head. And then I'd find myself in the clink for assault. Man, I lucked out.

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Listen:

45 Minutes of Paul Stanley Stage Banter - Curated by Chris Ames at Soundcloud