NEVER HEARD OF HER.

I'm posting these for a few reasons. I never heard of Charline Arthur until a few hours ago. I'm reading a bland book about early rock 'n' roll. The stuff in it is the same stuff most of us know backwards and forwards. It a $1 used book and it's just holding me over until I get to the library. I've been tempted to put it down but have been holding out hope that there'd be some nugget of early rock trivia that I's missed, in this most basic book. There, mentioned between Janis Martin and Barbara Pttman was the name Charline Arthur. The book considers her rockabilly but, eh, it's really more country or hillbilly. But another reason I'm posting these is that, whether country, hillbilly or rockabilly, I knew Rocky 52 would have something. That he did. Five songs and a bio. Three of the songs are below and there's a link to the page at Rocky 52. Bookmark Rocky's site. It's invaluable when it comes to anything country, western, hillbilly, rockabilly, bluegrass or early rock 'n' roll. That's another reason for this post, props for Rocky 52.

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Listen:
Charline Arthur - I Heard About You mp3 at Rocky 52
Charline Arthur - Hello Baby mp3 at Rocky 52
Charline Arthur - Burn That Candle mp3 at Rocky 52
Charline Arthur - Two more, bio and discography at Rocky 52

YOU,...READY TO GO?

If you ever wanted to test your rapping skills but are so unbelievably white that you were embarrassed even thinking about it, I have just the thing. Pete Rock's instrumentals. There were three or four LPs worth (I think), in a series called PeteStrumentals (credited to Pete Rock and the Soul Brothers)  . Throw 'em on. Let 'em roll while you go about your business and see if you aren't singing, rhyming, rapping, or toasting after a few minutes.

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Listen:
Pete Rock and the Soul Brothers - Heavy mp3 at Internet Archive
Pete Rock and the Soul Brothers - Swag mp3 at Internet Archive
Pete Rock and the Soul Brothers - Tman Funk mp3 at Internet Archive
Pete Rock and the Soul Brothers - Super Soul Brother mp3 at Internet Archive

RIP LIFER

A few days ago I heard that Dexter Romweber had recently passed away. Fu-huck. This one hurts. He was the real deal, a little full of himself when he was younger but musically, man, pure manic rocker. That was in the Flat Duo Jets, a rockin' combo, good and raw. Even as a kid Romweber's taste was early rock 'n' roll and rockabilly. As he got older, it was still classic sounding shit but a little more under control. Here's just a few things, early stuff and a couple later cuts from the Dexter Bomweber Duo. The video below is from a 1987 music documentary about the Athens, GA scene, There's tons more stuff at YouTube, as well as clips of his later duo, the Dexter Bomweber Duo.


The party starts at 3:12

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Listen:
The Flat Duo Jets - Harlem Nocturne mp3 at Beware of the Blog
The Flat Duo Jets - Golden Stings mp3 at Leave You Wanting Less
Dexter Romweber Duo - Lookout mp3 at Internet Archive
Dexter Romweber Duo - Picture of You mp3 at Internet Archive
Video:
Flat Duo Jets - MTV 120 Minutes segment at YouTube 1985
Flat Duo Jets - Dark Night at YouTube 2016
The Flat duo Jets - Lonely Wolf at YouTube
The Flat Duo Jets - Hoy Hoy at YouTube
Visit:
Dexter Romweber, Raucous Torchbearer of the Power Duo, Dead at 57 at Indy Week

RIP DO-GOODER

I'd been away from things for a few days, limiting my online time to strictly necessary shit. So I didn't find out until this past weekend that Wayne Kramer had passed away (on February 2nd). Kramer was one of the guitarists in the MC5 (the other being Fred "Sonic" Smith). Proto-punk influence, "Kick Out the Jams", guitar hero, blah blah, blah. He was a great musician, if you know the MC5, you know that. But he was so much more than just another hot shit guitarist.

If you don't know about his incarceration and his prison reform activism after his release, Capital & Main, a Califonia based non-profit site, has a great article about all that. That part of Kramer puts him on a whole other tier. Read the article. For now, here's my favorite clip of him, doing a cover of Ted Taylor's "Ramblin' Rose" with the MC5 (followed by "Kick Out the Jams"), from 1970. Check his foot work. (Look out Prince.) There's a few other MC5 things down there to keep you from the dishes..

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Listen:
MC5 - Ramblin' Rose mp3 at Internet Archive
Ted Taylor - Ramblin' Rose mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
MC5 - Kick Out the Jams mp3 at Internet Archive
MC5 - Rocket Reducer#2 (Rama Lama Fa Fa) mp3 at Internet Archive
Video:
MC5 - Kick Out the Jams (live) at YouTube Colorized version of the clip above. Had me fooled.
Visit:
Wayne Kramer’s Rage Against the Prison Machine at Capital & Main "Years behind bars for drug dealing led the influential proto-punk rocker to work for criminal justice reform."

SHIT! CAME EARLY THIS YEAR!

Everything below was posted last year. I wasn't paying attention this year and just realizede that tomorrow's Fat Tuesday, so it's too late to start from scratch. Most of below should still be good. Don't miss the Funky Sixteen Corners mixes. Here's the old post:

It's crunch time! Here's the last of the New Orleans shake that I was able to scrounge up, including a couple other mixes from Funky 16 Corners and a radio show from the eighties with rip roaring Ernie K-Doe as DJ.  In case you should whoop it up too much tomorrow night, these might even hold your hair while you puke.

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 Listen:
Al Tousan (Allen Toussaint) - Cow Cow Blues mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Eddie Bo - Check Mr. Popeye mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
Al Tousan (Allen Toussaint) - Moo Moo mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Lee Dorsey - Yes We Can, Pt 2 mp3 at Videogotz
Clifton Chenier - Zydeco Sont Pas Sale mp3 at Let's Polka
Huey "Piano" Smith - Would You Believe It mp3 at Modern Kicks 
Jessie Hill - Oogsey Moo mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Jessie Hill - Whip It On Me mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Shirley and Lee - Feel So Good mp3 at Rocky 52 
Lee Dorsey - Holy Cow mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
Al Tousan (Allen Toussaint) - Pelican Parade mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban  
Huey "Piano" Smith - Popeye mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
The Mixes:
Funky Nawlins, Volume 1 at Funky 16 Corners 16 songs Go here for the song list (fifth mix down)
Funky Nawlins, Volume 2 at Funky 16 Corners 17 songs Go here for the song list (tenth mix down)
Vintage ranting
Ernie-K Doe on WWOZ, New Orleans (1980s) mp3 at Beware of the Blog An hour and ten minutes of K Doe going off, DJing, ranting and actually playing some records.
Listen live:
WWOZ "Guardians of the Groove" streaming here

PARTY LIKE IT'S 1956

It's a Big Jay McNeely Friday Night Honkin' Sax Special. Here's a bunch of stuff from the one guy that pretty much defines "honkin'". The photo above says it all. Basically, "Blow, baby, blow!!" I think I remember someone commenting here on another McNeely post in the past saying that they didn't like honkin' sax. Fine, they can go listen to Kenny G somewhere else. The rest of you guys can let 'er rip. Drink cheap beer and shake those ruffled tail feathers.

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Listen:
Big Jay McNeely - Nervous Man Nervous mp3 at Internet Archive
Big Jay McNeely - Psycho Serenade mp3 at Internet Archive
Big Jay McNeely - Wild Wig mp3 at Internet Archive
Big Jay McNeely - Insect Ball mp3 at Internet Archive
Big Jay McNeely - Just Crazy mp3 at Internet Archive
Big Jay McNeely - Jay's Frantic mp3 at Internet Archive
Big Jay McNeely - Mule Milk mp3 at Internet Archive
Big Jay McNeely - Whipped Cream mp3 at Internet Archive
Big Jay McNeely - Rock Candy mp3 at Internet Archive

STUDIO ONE GOES TO THE MOVIES

Oh yeahhhh. These suckers are right up my alley. I love instrumentals, I love movie soundtracks, I love reggae and Studio One is my favorite reggae record label. Put those together and you have something close to a royal flush. I'm on it.

I've heard a handful of reggae versions of the theme from "Shaft" over the years and Cedric Im Brooks's (seen above) version is the one that really sounds still deeply rooted in Jamaica. Other reggae versions are good, they just stray too far. Jackie Mittoo's version of "Hang 'em High" strays quite a ways, still, it's great. Mittoo was part of the house band at Studio One, the Sound Dimension. He pretty much has a license to do anything. An earlier band, the Soul Brothers, is represented by "007", an earlier cut that's really ska. Still cool.

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Listen:
Cedric Im Brooks - Shaft mp3 at Internet Archive
Jackie Mittoo - Hang 'em High mp3 at Internet Archive
Soul Brothers - 007 mp3 at Internet Archive

MORE WOLF

In the U.S. it's Black History Month. Per the White House, "This National Black History Month, we celebrate the vast contributions of Black Americans to our country and recognize that Black history is American history and that Black culture, stories, and triumphs are at the core of who we are as a Nation." Hear, hear!   That goes triple for the contribution to the music we listen to. Black Americans are responsible for 90% of what's considered American music. Where to start? I was mulling that over when I was talking to a friend today. He's in his late twenties. I mentioned Howlin' Wolf. He didn't know who he was. We can't have that.

I'm trusting you all know how to search for a Howlin' Wolf bio, so no regurgitating here. One thing I do want to point out. The songs below were all released on Chess Records with the exception of two, recorded by Sam Phillips at Sun. One of the songs, "Mr. Highway Man" is represented twice, one on Chess and one on Sun, so you can hear how much more raw the Sun sides were. Alas, per usual, the superior version was on the smaller label so it's also the lesser heard. I highly recommend starting with his stuff on Sun (entry at Discogs here).

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Listen:
Howlin' Wolf - Smokestack Lightnin' mp3 at Internet Archive Chess
Howlin' Wolf - Evil mp3 at Internet Archive Chess
Howlin' Wolf - Forty Four mp3 at Internet Archive Chess
Howlin' Wolf - Mr. Highway Man mp3 at Internet Archive Chess
Howlin' Wolf - Mr. Highway Man (streaming) at YouTube Sun
Howlin' Wolf - Howlin' Wolf Boogie mp3 at Internet Archive Sun

IT'S NOT REALLY ABOUT YOU DAVE

Most of you know David Bowie once had an LP that was all covers, Pin Ups. It was covers of songs that were hits in the UK between 1964 and 1967. He did a shitload of other covers throughout his career and they're all over the map. I chose the ones below because they illustrate that tendency. You've got a Velvet Underground cover, a John Lennon cover, a Nat King Cole cover (w/Massive Attack) and, drum roll, an extended mix of a Legendary Stardust Cowboy cover. That last one is the one that slays me. If you're not familiar with the Legendary Stardust Cowboy, I encourage you to listen to "Paralyzed" first, then watch the video of Bowie telling Jools Holland how he ended up doing a Legendary Stardust Cowboy cover in the first place. And yes, I'll use any excuse to post the Legendary Stardust Cowboy.

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Listen:
David Bowie w/Massive Attack - Nature Boy mp3 at Internet Archive Nat King Cole cover
David Bowie - Mother mp3 at Internet Archive John Lennon cover
David Bowie - White Light White Heat (live) mp3 at Internet Archive Velvet Underground cover
David Bowie - I Took A Trip On A Gemini Spaceship mp3 at Internet Archive Legendary Stardust Cowboy cover
Recommended:
Legendary Stardust Cowboy - Paralyzed mp3 at Beware of the Blog
David Bowie on the Legendary Stardust Cowboy connection at YouTube Interview w/Jools Holland